Halloween Photos-Barking up a Family Tree

The Mighty Senior (a very jolly colonel)

Mrs. Casey

The Mighty Casey as a wee baby.

I can't wait to print these out and proudly display them on the mantle.

I used the GREAT tutorial here:

http://www.cantstopmakingthings.com/2010/09/dog-portraits.html

Try it!

Indigo Twin

I recently purchased a sculpture of our dog Mighty Casey on Etsy. You send these wonderful sisters pictures of your pet and they create a folk art style sculpture. It turned out sooo cute! We love it. Casey loves it too.
Here is their info: http://www.etsy.com/shop/indigotwin?ref=seller_info

And....because I have a very unique sense of humor, here is one of my other favorite items that they sell.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/55018100/dead-halloween-cat-ready-to-ship

"Dead Halloween Cat"

Don't worry it's not a real dead cat...see it has only one eye exed out. That means it has 4 and a half lives left. Don't be so sensitive.

Board and Batten-Wainscoting-Paneling.....

Image: Sawdust and Paperscraps
Let me begin by saying that this is the picture that started it all! I emailed Sandra for some tips and she emailed me right back. Thanks Sandra!

Then before we got started working my friend Tami drew out the plans....I KNOW she is amazing!! I had NO IDEA she had this trick up her sleeve!! We put all of the boards out and switched the sizes of boards to see what we liked. Then I took my drawings to the Home Depot 6 thousand times to have the MDF cut. (Norbert misses me I'm sure. Hiii Norbert!)

These are the measurements that we used. (Click to enlarge) We used half inch MDF cut into 3 and 6 inch "boards".
And by "we" I mean *Keys. He did all of the work, I made 6,583,467 trips to the Home Depot. (He likes to keep me "busy") No he is not my husband, he is a friend of ours/carpenter. My husband doesn't believe in power tools, and he thinks that I will cut my hands off if I use them. Notice in this picture the builder said. "We'll just throw on some weird angles of wood and no one will ever notice."
We (*see above) added "boards" to create symmetry on the staircase.
Ahhhhh! Much better!

The walls look spray-tan orange in this picture.....have no idea why...Notice the Brushed Nickle hardware is now Oil Rubbed Bronze..
Wow! Love it!

Before

Ahhhhh After!

Before...Our Picture Wall

After...Clean and Bright (I think new pictures are going up.)

I just took off the Brushed Nickle hardware and spray painted it Oil Rubbed Bronze. I did a few light coats and then a few coats of sealer on top. Don't tell on me, am I currently banned from spray paint. Which I take to mean spray all you want while the hubby is at work, and then cover your tracks.
See how pretty it looks!

I'm taking my son to 39 Steps tonight, which reminded me of a little story. A few years ago I asked my husband to take me to the ballet. I wanted the entire family to go. Since I spent 100 thousand hours on a baseball field I thought that it was my turn. Reluctantly he agreed. Everyone dressed up (well appropriately anyway) and off we went to dinner before the ballet. Let's say that I drank waaay to much iced tea. I can't stay awake past 8 o'clock so I figured the caffeine would do me good.

We got there in plenty of time and right before it starts I realize that I should probably use the ladies room one more time. As I left, I asked the very helpful doorman if I had enough time before the doors were closed for good. He cheerfully said "Yes!" and promptly shut the door when I was out of eyesight. Sooo I got locked out of the ballet for the entire first half!!! Oh you should have seen the adoring glances from the three men I left behind in there!! Thank goodness we were in a crowded room!

Lesson learned.

The ballet wasn't that great anyway. I'm picking the IHOP for waffles next time.

How many trips to the Home Depot will this take?

Here's a sneak peek of what is going on around here. Keys is installing board and batten in my entry way and up the staircase. Did you know that Keys does not enjoy my "help" so he sends me to the Home Depot 14 trillion times a day.

That's ok because I just hang out with Norbert my favorite wood cutting guy at the Home Depot. If you are planning on tackling the board and batten look you will want to make friends with someone in the lumber department! I personally have made friends with Norbert. I wonder if he is going to miss seeing me 5 thousand times a day. Oh, thankfully Norbert also is good at math because he saved me from cutting waaaaay too much wood!

You know how bloggers say, "Oh, so I put up board and batten this weekend." I'm not making any accusations but big fat liar comes to mind. My house has been torn apart foooooreeeeeever. If Keys would let me "help him" paint for example then this would go much faster.
I "helped him" once and I've been banned from painting in my own house ever since.

Seeing Double

Wait......What? Top photo G-Dub, bottom photo Rue Magazine.......they shop at the Dub too?

A Quick Snack

Have you ever tried making Hummus? It's really easy, it tastes great, and it is really good for you. It is the perfect afternoon snack to fill you up.
This is all you need to get started....oooops! I forgot to put the tahini paste in the picture. (Come to think of it, I may have forgotten to put it in.... It was still good!)

Blend up:

2 cans of Garbanzo beans

(or one can White Northern Beans, and one Garbanzo)
2 or 3 tablespoons of tahini paste (sesame paste)

(you might have to ask where to find it in the grocery store.)
Juice of lemon (to taste)

Herb of your choice: Basil, Flat leaf parsley, mint....whatever you like.

Garlic- You can use fresh, roasted, garlic powder or garlic oil.

Greek Yogurt to taste. Once again you can use regular yogurt or sour cream even.

Water to smoooooth it out

Hummus is a taste thing. Just put in whatever tastes good to you! It's your house, do what you want!

Perfect for the 3 o'clock luullllll. Bake up some whole wheat pita chips at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes and you have yourself a nice, healthy snack.

Deeelicious!

Nancy made me do it....

See this sweet baby? She loooooves it when my husband sings Barry White songs to her, and seriously who wouldn't, but that isn't what were talking about here today. If you have a weak stomach you might want to head over to Butterflies and Unicorns.com because well this is a doozy!
So I was watching "Sweet Baby" above for an hour or so while her daddy ran an errand. Let's preface this story by saying he didn't bring the diaper bag, or a single diaper, or a single wipe. Ok.....moving on. So I'm blissfully holding said baby and I hear a little rumbly in her tummy. Ok, I think to myself I'll just wait and see what happens. So then a little chooo chooo train toot emerges.....still safe and then it happens.....it started slow and manageable....and then the wee one sneezed...hard.....hay fever - honking - saved it up for days - sneeze. From there it was a blur of Exorcist like protrusions of epic proportions. Biblical Disaster amounts of flowing.......I don't even know the proper noun here.....let's just say there was baby p@@p flowing down my bare legs into my shoes into a large puddle on the floor with some wall damage as well. I was frozen into place only long enough to yell "Take my picture!!" But "Keys" who was working on the entry way could only stop gagging long enough to yell back, "Run! I'll get the door!" So I squishingly John Wayne walked her next door to her own home to give her a bath.
When a baby has a blow out of epic proportions how does one get the onsie off without fowling the rest of said baby's tummy, head, neck, face, and hair? I guess we'll never know. Cutting it off paramedic style? If I had purchased that onsie at the G-Dub I would have used the scissors. But I didn't so the fowling began. I bathed baby in the tub, left the mess for her daddy to clean up, put a new onsie on and trekked back to my house only to wait for her daddy to get her so I could scrub myself from head to toe. Twice.

If you are still reading and haven't gagged yourself thank my neighbor Nancy for telling me to blog about this little adventure! Thanks Nancy!

What time is it??

I have no idea. This is what I see when I look at a clock. Not easy. I'm pretty good with 12, 3, 6, and 9. Those seem easy. 11? Forget. it.

So for now I just use a digital clock and hope for the best. Everything but 11....

Weird? I try not to worry about it, and really I should be doing the worksheets but I've been busy lately..... I Got a J......O.......B! My Dream JOB!! I get to Blog for the G-Dub!!! Weeeeee! You can catch me here: ThriftingDenver.Wordpress.com

I'm sooo proud!

Here is the latest Goodwill Dress Up Costume.

My little model is a "Dressage Rider".

Or "Horse-Riding Girl" works too! We are lucky to have such amazing items to choose from at our local Goodwills here. I picked up the Dressage helmet at the store on Belleview, but the store in Parker is horse-heaven. The Parker store had a helmet as well as numerous horse and rodeo related items.

We walked over to a barn near our house and shot away!

We left the tags on so that you could see the ENTIRE outfit is from G-Dub.

Black Blouse with bow $4.99

Harlequin Sweater $3.99

Black pants $4.99

Helmet $5.99

(you could use black softball/baseball pants or sweats even.)

I found these custom made cowboy boots at the store on Parker and Belleview. They didn't have a size listed, but they were most likely a size 7.

$12.99 (the splurge)

(too small for the model! ouch!)

We put this costume together entirely of Goodwill items, but you could always cut costs by adding things from your own closet.

I love that she looks adorable, she is modestly dressed, and that she could use any of the items later!

Halloween at the G-Dub

I wanted to do a post about putting together costumes from the G-Dub so I gathered my goodies..... hung them all up...

Invited all of the neighborhood kids over for a little dress-up and a photo shoot!

Look at all of the great things I found....

(Leetsdale and Belleview Goodwill Stores)

Who do we have here?...Well it's baby Yoda, Princess Leia, and Hans Solo at the door. Why yes, Hans loves himself some Crocs!! All from G-Dub! The Yoda is a baby or toddler costume and I added a green baby hat all from the store on Belleview. (49 cents with the tags still on!) My little friend next door wanted all of the Star Wars family costumes, but then when it was her turn to dress up she backed out. She's three.....a girl has the right to change her mind! We tried!!

There are racks of ready made costumes at Goodwill right now. Shop now for your dress-up closet for pennies! (really pennies) Wash them up and you can save some money to buy the BIG Snickers bars! (to hide in the freezer for when the kids are at school!)

Happy Shopping!