Little mint green felt bird by Sea Pinks
Forest sprite bronze leaf hair comb by Penny Masquerade
In The Sea print by Mae Chevrette
Flower child vintage necklace by Domenica's
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Random hearts
Little mint green felt bird by Sea Pinks
Forest sprite bronze leaf hair comb by Penny Masquerade
In The Sea print by Mae Chevrette
Flower child vintage necklace by Domenica's
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Snow day!
Seriously, the snow's not even that bad - they told us we could get up to 40 cm (15 inches) but it doesn't even look like 10 cm out there. But I'll take the day off. :)
Monday, January 31, 2011
Weekend project - diy chalkboard
Since we moved into our cave townhouse, we've been trying to figure out what to do with the long wall that stretches from the entry, past the kitchen, and leads to the living room. It's dark, and it would be nice to put some lamps or a little table, but the hallway is narrow, there's a heater smack in the middle of it, and no plugs.
A couple of weeks ago when I joined Pinterest, I noticed a chalkboard trend emerging, and I immediately knew I must jump on board and have a chalkboard on that wall. Davis, of course, had to be practical.
"We can't hang anything really heavy from that wall," he said.
I found chalkboard contact paper.
"We live in a cave," he said. "We can't put that much black anywhere."
Finally I triumphed, with Martha Stewart's help: custom colour chalkboard paint. Davis had no more rebuttals, and on Saturday afternoon we went to Home Depot to buy the following supplies:
Our paint colour is called Ships At Sea - not black, and picked to complement the Hokusai prints we have hanging in the kitchen.
Martha recommended a ratio of 1 cup of paint to 2 tablespoons of tile grout. In retrospect, I would recommend sifting the grout to get the chunkies out, but we found another way to deal with them. Because we thought we'd use a fair amount of paint, we poured it into an empty container which made it easier to stir the grout in.
Then we got to painting!
We did four coats - we sanded after the second coat and found some of those grout chunkies I told you about, and they made nasty white streaks across the paint. For the next two coats, Davis just rolled the paint really hard and squished down the chunks and then painted over them right away - but it probably would have been easier to sift the grout at the beginning.
We also didn't want to leave out the wet board overnight (see above picture) so after the third coat was dry we wrapped up the board in drop sheets and started the last coat Sunday morning.
Once the last coat was dry and sanded (no more streaks!), we had to prime the chalkboard - which is something you're supposed to do even with pre-made chalkboards - by rubbing a piece of chalk over the entire surface and wiping it off.
Et voila! Davis hung the chalkboard, and we were done.
I'm very happy with my chalkboard - it works really well, although it doesn't wipe quite as clean as a normal chalkboard would. But it's totally worth it to have a blue chalkboard.
All together, the materials cost about $60. This was a little pricey, when a pre-made chalkboard that was a few feet larger was the same price. I think the biggest cost was the tile grout at $20 - because it only came in a giant box, and I only needed a few tablespoons. If they'd had it in a smaller size, that would have saved some money. The boxes of screws and anchors were probably about $15 together too, so if you already had four screws lying around you could also save that amount as well. Otherwise, the rest of it was pretty cheap - $5 for the board, $13 for the paint, and less than $10 for the painting supplies. Even with the $60, I still think it's worth it - paintings can cost that much, and this will be a constantly evolving creative space - like having a different artwork every day!
A couple of weeks ago when I joined Pinterest, I noticed a chalkboard trend emerging, and I immediately knew I must jump on board and have a chalkboard on that wall. Davis, of course, had to be practical.
"We can't hang anything really heavy from that wall," he said.
I found chalkboard contact paper.
"We live in a cave," he said. "We can't put that much black anywhere."
Finally I triumphed, with Martha Stewart's help: custom colour chalkboard paint. Davis had no more rebuttals, and on Saturday afternoon we went to Home Depot to buy the following supplies:
- thin wooden board
- unsanded tile grout
- paint
- painting supplies (roller, tray, drop sheets)
- sand paper
- screws and anchors to hang
- chalk
Our paint colour is called Ships At Sea - not black, and picked to complement the Hokusai prints we have hanging in the kitchen.
Martha recommended a ratio of 1 cup of paint to 2 tablespoons of tile grout. In retrospect, I would recommend sifting the grout to get the chunkies out, but we found another way to deal with them. Because we thought we'd use a fair amount of paint, we poured it into an empty container which made it easier to stir the grout in.
Then we got to painting!
We did four coats - we sanded after the second coat and found some of those grout chunkies I told you about, and they made nasty white streaks across the paint. For the next two coats, Davis just rolled the paint really hard and squished down the chunks and then painted over them right away - but it probably would have been easier to sift the grout at the beginning.
We also didn't want to leave out the wet board overnight (see above picture) so after the third coat was dry we wrapped up the board in drop sheets and started the last coat Sunday morning.
Once the last coat was dry and sanded (no more streaks!), we had to prime the chalkboard - which is something you're supposed to do even with pre-made chalkboards - by rubbing a piece of chalk over the entire surface and wiping it off.
Et voila! Davis hung the chalkboard, and we were done.
I'm very happy with my chalkboard - it works really well, although it doesn't wipe quite as clean as a normal chalkboard would. But it's totally worth it to have a blue chalkboard.
All together, the materials cost about $60. This was a little pricey, when a pre-made chalkboard that was a few feet larger was the same price. I think the biggest cost was the tile grout at $20 - because it only came in a giant box, and I only needed a few tablespoons. If they'd had it in a smaller size, that would have saved some money. The boxes of screws and anchors were probably about $15 together too, so if you already had four screws lying around you could also save that amount as well. Otherwise, the rest of it was pretty cheap - $5 for the board, $13 for the paint, and less than $10 for the painting supplies. Even with the $60, I still think it's worth it - paintings can cost that much, and this will be a constantly evolving creative space - like having a different artwork every day!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Day in the life of a vet student - sheep tipping edition
For real, this is a legit sheep restraint method, and goes something like this:
1. Chase sheep around a pen until you're sweaty and tired and they're just getting warmed up.
2. Grab a sheep by its jaw. This will stop the sheep from going forward.
3. Put your leg behind the sheep's butt. This will stop the sheep from going backward and might also leave a nice rorschach smear on your pant leg.
4. Flip the sheep onto its butt, like a judo twist.
5. The sheep will sit quietly between your knees, and will mostly allow you to examine it.
[Disclaimer: don't try this at home unless you're an experienced sheep tipper or are being supervised by one. Also don't try this with anything other than sheep, such as cows, bears, or cats. Also, it goes without saying, but no sheep were harmed during this exercise - just cuddled a bit.]
1. Chase sheep around a pen until you're sweaty and tired and they're just getting warmed up.
2. Grab a sheep by its jaw. This will stop the sheep from going forward.
3. Put your leg behind the sheep's butt. This will stop the sheep from going backward and might also leave a nice rorschach smear on your pant leg.
4. Flip the sheep onto its butt, like a judo twist.
5. The sheep will sit quietly between your knees, and will mostly allow you to examine it.
Monday, January 24, 2011
The spice of life
I've been buying spices in bulk for a couple of years now, because I can't bear to spend $5 on a little glass bottle of paprika at the grocery store. But this meant that I unfortunately had a basket full of little baggies twist-tied with spices in them - not the most attractive or organized presentation.
When we moved to Guelph, I decided to buy a spice rack to fill with bulk spices - we found a really cool magnetic system that stood on the counter, which seemed like a good idea because we didn't have much cupboard space (we don't have much counter space either, but it didn't seem like much of an issue at the time). We bought a few extra tins that we figured we'd cram onto the easel, and went home.
I'm not sure how it transpired that Davis figured out that - being magnetic - the tins would also stick to the fridge, but as far as I'm concerned this discovery is right up there with penicillin, flubber, and the theory of relativity. I still remember the dawning look of revelation on his face as he stood there, still holding the tin stuck to the fridge door. We returned the easel set, and bought a bunch more individual tins. And they've been multiplying ever since.
[note also Davis's hercules beetle magnet and the requisite bird on top of the wine rack - well, I assure you it's a bird, it looks more like a blob]
I've labeled the back of each of them and arranged them in alphabetical order - primarily because I'm a nerd, but it also makes things easier to find.
I love my spice rack. Realistically, I'll never run out of room, the tins are just over a dollar each, and if I decide for some unknown reason I never want to eat cardamom anymore, I can just wash the tin and stick a new label on. And most importantly, I can buy spices in bulk without sorting through a bunch of baggies every time I want to cook.
When we moved to Guelph, I decided to buy a spice rack to fill with bulk spices - we found a really cool magnetic system that stood on the counter, which seemed like a good idea because we didn't have much cupboard space (we don't have much counter space either, but it didn't seem like much of an issue at the time). We bought a few extra tins that we figured we'd cram onto the easel, and went home.
I'm not sure how it transpired that Davis figured out that - being magnetic - the tins would also stick to the fridge, but as far as I'm concerned this discovery is right up there with penicillin, flubber, and the theory of relativity. I still remember the dawning look of revelation on his face as he stood there, still holding the tin stuck to the fridge door. We returned the easel set, and bought a bunch more individual tins. And they've been multiplying ever since.
[note also Davis's hercules beetle magnet and the requisite bird on top of the wine rack - well, I assure you it's a bird, it looks more like a blob]
I've labeled the back of each of them and arranged them in alphabetical order - primarily because I'm a nerd, but it also makes things easier to find.
I love my spice rack. Realistically, I'll never run out of room, the tins are just over a dollar each, and if I decide for some unknown reason I never want to eat cardamom anymore, I can just wash the tin and stick a new label on. And most importantly, I can buy spices in bulk without sorting through a bunch of baggies every time I want to cook.
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