Pet Nicknames

I don't know about you, but my pets always seem to have about 10 zillion nicknames. They start out with one or two cute ones, then over the course of a few years these names evolve into these wacky exaggerated names that I don't even remember how or why we even started calling them that!

 I recently made a new collar for my pooch, and decided to add all his nicknames along side his actual name in the middle.

My sister saw this collar, and really liked the nickname idea too (she's also a nut with nicknames). So I decided to make her doggy a collar too!

These were so much fun to make! And the doggies look super cool wearing them.

Maybe I should make my chickens collars too???

Just kidding... =)

DIY Home Week.

You know how you have all these ideas in your head of projects you want to do around the house? The kind of ideas you get because you've been cooped up in the house all winter and your just sick and tired of looking at the same old stuff on your walls? Well, my husband and I decided to tackle a couple of those yearning projects last week. Project 1.) Chalk paint wall. This idea sounded so cool to me. A wall that we could make into a huge chalk board! Instead of using that boring old white erase board we had on the wall before, we could have this neato thing! And my daughter could have fun drawing on the lower portion of it. We used chalk paint you can purchase at Home Depot, it comes in a variety of colors. Just paint on a surface you want, and let dry for a few days before using.  I like how it looks, but my only complaints would be the chalk can get kinda messy (you have to clean up chalk dust on the floor ever time you use it), and the surface is bumpy because of the textured wall behind it, so it's not smooth to write on. Also, it's hard to get completely rid of all the chalk smears after you erase something. I've been using a soap and water solution in a spray bottle  and it seems to do an okay job. But other than that, this wall is pretty fun, huh?! I've seen this paint used on mason jars and other containers too. You can create an erasable label surface. So many cool uses for chalk paint!

Project 2.) Industrial hanging shelf. My husband and I came up with this this super simple hanging shelf. We have high ceilings in our living room, and we needed something to fill up the wall space above the TV. We took a scrap piece of pine we had lying around, and purchased some thick industrial chain from Home Depot. The end result is this cute shelf that now hangs in the corner of our living room!

We also decided to re-vamp the master bathroom. I've yet to take pictures of that one because it's still a work in progress. It's being painted a lovely lagoon blue, and I'm needing to take a trip to the coast to snag up a big piece of driftwood I have plans to make a shelf out of.

Ideas, ideas! Soon it'll be spring and our DIY projects will turn outdoors. We have big plans for this  blackberry infested, weed filled yard of ours.

Happy Monday!

-Becky

Houses in the trees

I love treehouses. There's something about them that's just magical. Today I thought I would do a little tribute to all houses in the trees, to hopefully spark a little magic in your life too . Enjoy!

Here is an AMAZING photo print of a 3d paper treehouse done by artist, Jayme Mcgowan. I think this is so cute! A little old lady sitting up in her treehouse. Jayme has a wonderful etsy shop you can check out here http://www.etsy.com/shop/Roadside

And this crazy globe in the woods...it's a treehouse you can actually stay in! How cool is that. It's located in Vancouver BC, Canada. You can visit their webpage here http://www.freespiritspheres.com/

The beloved Berstain Bears treehouse. Remember these story books? It's not so much a treehouse as more of a house-inside-a-tree...but you know what I'm getting at =). I always thought their house was the neatest thing ever. I grew up reading these books. Now I read them to my daughter, even though she's only 2 she totally digs the treehouse too!

OH MY GOODNESS look at this thing. A 5ft tall extremely detailed fairy treehouse. It has 14 rooms, and is completely handmade. Everything, including the furnishings, are made of twigs and things from nature . WOW. I'm blown away. Check out their etsy shop here http://www.etsy.com/shop/Sunflowerhouse 

This isn't technically a "treehouse" either, but it sits up high and has a view of many trees! It's a forest service cabin lookout tower. I'm actually going to be staying in one similar to this in the summer. It's a rustic form of cabin camping, supplying the bare amenities. But the view...and the experience... sounds amazing! Can't wait! There are lots of forest service lookout towers all over the US available to rent out. Check out this website to find one in your area http://www.recreation.gov/

Happy Thursday!

-Becky

knife sheath

Well, hello there! So as my last blog post suggested I was going to change the look of my vintage shop a bit (stone wall background in my photos???). Well... being the Gemini that I am, I changed my mind =). Now I'm feeling out the red suitcase background ...any feedback? (click on my vintage shop link to your right).

Other than that I've been doing a little leather work lately and it feels good. After the holiday rush I focused so much on my vintage shop that the leather stuff went on the back burner. I'm making this leather sheath right now for a customer and I wanted to share the process with you.

The first photo is obviously the raw leather before I stained and assembled the sheath. I wanted to show that photo because I get asked a lot how the leather looks before I paint/stain it. This is a custom piece that I'm about 90% done with now. I just have to finish stitching up the outer edges with the thread and needle shown, wah-lah! All done.

Now that I'm back in the groove with my leather work again, I really want to make a few purses to sell in my shop. It's been a while since I've made a purse, (mostly because they are time consuming projects) but I have some cool ideas that are NEEDING to take form. So, I'll keep you posted.

Happy Wednesday,

-Becky