Month: September 2012

Dog Days of Invitations

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We’ve got two upcoming events that I made invitations for.  A dog themed party for V, per his request.  Specifically, a Jack party.  Right when he said that, I thought of Kim’s adorable Pet Shop paintings.

I spotted this adorable Husky Print that looks just like Jack.  It was perfect.

So I emailed Kim begging asking her if I could pretty please with a cherry on top use this painting for the invitation design.  Luckily, Kim is fantastic and said I could use the image, so long as I don’t use it on anything else.  Not a problem.  So, I saved the image and opened it in Photoshop.  Wanting a white background, I right clicked on the eraser tool.  Right clicking brings up the options.  Click on the Magic Eraser Tool.

Then click an area of the background.  This handy little tool picks out any of the same colors, and erases it.  Seriously, this Magic Eraser is just as handy as the Mr. Clean version.  And really magic.

A small area between the front legs didn’t go with it, so I clicked again and gone.  After a transfer to my invite, I had an adorable design.
Because we’ve been so busy working on the house, I’ve really slacked in the birthday decoration department.  We’ll have a small celebration at our house on Friday, and another larger party with my family in Minnesota a few weeks from now.  What are we doing in Minnesota?  Going to my sister’s wedding, which I also created invitations for.  My sister has a modern aesthetic (we’ve shared her stair bookcase) so something clean and simple was in order.  The invitation is 5 by 7, focusing on the text.

For a dose of fun, we added diagonal stripes on the backs.  The wedding is small, so I also made pretty wrap around address labels.

These invites are one of my favorite designs yet.  V loves his dog invitation.  And Ashley loves her wedding invites.  Which makes me a happy camper.  I aim to please.

What do you think of the designs?  Do you like simple designs?  Or something more decorated?  What did you do over the weekend?

Gimme a Giveaway: Norwex

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This giveaway is closed.  Thanks for entering!  See who won here.  

As we’ve mentioned, we’re fans of the Norwex cleaning cloths.  If you’ve never tried them, you just might get a chance today.  Generous Sarah is giving away a set of cleaning cloths to one lucky reader.  This set includes one Enviro Cloth and one Window Cloth.

After cleaning the bathroom last night, I can say I still love these.  Quick, streak free (and lint free!) shine without chemicals.  What are you waiting for.  Here’s what you need to know to get in on this action.

The Goods: A set of Norwex Cleaning Cloths.

To Enter:  Leave a comment, which can (but doesn’t have to) include our Just for Fun question.

Just for Fun: To clean with these cloths, tell us something you like to make shine.  A curbside treasure?  Old silver?

For additional entries:

1.  Like Sarah’s Norwex page, then let us know so you get another entry. 

Contest Closes: Thursday, September 20th at 11:59 pm, central time.

Number of Winners: One!

Ships: Anywhere in the United States and Canada.

Other Info: We will select the winner using random.org and announce on Friday, September 21st.  Good luck!!

Gimme a Giveaway Winner: Mohawk Rug & Behind the Scenes

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For the past week, our weather has been fantastic.  Highs in the seventies, lows in the forties, and clear, sunny skies.  To top it all off, today is Friday!  Which means, we’ve got a winner of the Mohawk rug!

Angela S., you’re the lucky one!

Yesterday, Ben started excavation work.  He borrowed the Bobcat from his work and dug up the hillside by the garage.

It took a while to gently slope the hill, but after that, Ben got to work scraping out the sand.

And here’s a sneak peek at a project I’m starting.

P.S.  The Mohawk giveaway kind of messed up our usual timeline, so we’ll be back in a few hours with another fun giveaway!

Green = Green: Window Shopping…Literally

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Right now, replacing windows at the back of the house is the focus for a few reasons.  It’s small, not highly visible, and one of the windows by the sliding door had only the inner pane of glass.  Somehow, the previous owner shattered the outside pane, leaving us with this:

Then we went on a hunt for the perfect windows.  In a Utopian world, we could have black windows.  Unfortunately for us, black windows would fade easily on the south-facing front of our house.  So, we’re stuck with white.  Cohesion is the name of the game, so we want the windows to match.  Ideally, Ben wants windows that allow high solar heat gain on the front of the house.  It seems US companies don’t often make these windows.

After checking tons of companies (Anderson and Pella to name a few) we landed right where we did six years ago.  Alside white vinyl sliding and double hung windows; same brand and same line (UltraMaxx) we used at our first house.  Alside makes custom sizes and the prices are about half of the other brands.  We had six years to live with these at the other house and no complaints.  Vinyl is low maintenance, not needing paint or stain.

So what makes these windows green?  Well, they’re Energy Star rated, for starters.

These windows also seal tightly, preventing air infiltration.  Which means your heater or air conditioner doesn’t have to work as hard to keep up temperature.

For sunny climates, the solar heat gain coefficient is great.

Aside from the eco standpoint, the windows function well.  Sliding windows open smoothly and quietly.  And the double hung windows allow us to open the top and/or bottom for maximum air flow.

Our slider picture slider windows also have a fun feature.  The picture window also slides and all panels are completely removable.  Cleaning the windows is super easy because of this.  And, if you’ve got a large piece of furniture that won’t fit through the door, pull out all panels and you’ve got a large opening.

The hardware isn’t ugly, either.

We’ll use the same windows throughout the rest of the house, too.  Maybe not the front windows, but we’ll have to see what we can find for those.

Do you have a favorite window brand?  I know some people swear by Anderson.  Are you looking for the perfect window?

P.S.  We were not compensated or perked for this post, we simply love the windows we’ve purchased and want to share with you.

Side-Splitting Skinny Dipping

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Sometimes, projects we tackle are big.  Others are little and not worthy of an individual blog post.  Today, you get a two for one.  One part side-splitting, one part skinny dipping.  One of our map cut out frames took a spill while I was in Minnesota.  Somehow (Ben still isn’t giving full details) the frame fell, but he caught it before the glass shattered.

But he didn’t catch the frame before the right corner hit the floor, splitting and denting the joint.

After living with the broken frame on my desktop for a month and a half, I finally got annoyed enough to fix it.  I dug around in the garage to find the staple gun and staples.  That’s all it took to fix the frame.  So, I took out the metal pieces that held the frame together before.

And put five staples in the corner.  Sure, it looks like Frankenstein’s monster, but it works.

Then I sprayed the dented corner with a little white paint.

Good as new(ish) back up on the wall, thus concluding today’s side-splitting segment.

Now to the skinny dipping segment.  I’ve wanted to dip furniture legs for a while now.  I love the look and the bit of fun dipped legs add.  While making our bed one morning, I realized the boring white Ikea Lindved tables we’re using as night stands could use some fun.

Using a ruler, I measured five inches on each leg, made a mark with a pencil, and taped off each leg.

Outside, I gave each leg a coat of gold spray paint.

Ten minutes later, I gave the legs another coat and left the tables to dry.  Outside, I loved how the legs looked.  But when I brought them inside, not so much.

The gold paint blended in with the wood floors.  Boo.  But, I had a can of silver spray paint left over from another project.  Why not try it?  After taping off the legs and spraying the legs a few time, I’m much happier with the results.

More fun than the boring white tables, but still simple.  Who knows, when we decide on a color scheme for the room, I might change it up again.  Perhaps a fun teal?  Or kelly green?  I don’t know, but the possibilities are endless.

How do you fix picture frames?  Does it take you a month and a half to get around to a simple fix?  Maybe you’ve dip painted furniture legs?