Mom & Dad Ducks

so my parents are in town for two weeks.  that means not many opportunities to blog, oh well. they’re more important.

but i just wanted to let you know that, while family comes first, i do still hope that my friends (and whoever else stumbles onto this thing) know that there are more projects to come!

in the mean time, we’ll be discussing all sorts of things like our plans for little ducklings, going back to school, my parent’s thoughts on becoming snow-birds and making this visit an annual thing, etc.

family’s VERY important to me, even though it may not seem like it since they’re all 1600 miles away.

Project Discussion

after no responses to my ‘project poll’ post, i’m still debating my next project.

i was able to narrow it down from 7 projects to 4.  woop-dee-doo! really i just eliminated the ones that would take too long.  lately i’ve been very much in need of near instant gratification.  i’m not exactly happy about that fact, but admitting you have a problem is the first step towards recovery, right?

well, from the original 7, here are the 4 i’m still considering next:

1. re-covering the window seat in the office
2. organizing my fabric stash
3. make a rosette pillow
4. make a crinkle square/triangle/any shape

to try to help myself think my way through these last four and finally make a decision, i hope you don’t mind if i rationalize a bit on here.

Project Poll

i’m debating, and i’d like your input.

which of the following projects should i tackle next:

1. design (and build) the cat shelf wall to replace the extra tall extra tacky cat tree in our foyer
2. re-cover the office window seat (currently is leopard print, want to make it solid dark khaki)
3. organize all my fabrics in some spiffy container system (baskets in the office, plastic storage under the bed, etc)
4. make myself a new purse (i’m thinking one of these Puffy Pouches, tutorial by the Pink Penguin)
5. make a pillow with rosette clusters (tutorial on Etsy’s How-Tuesday) for either our couch or as a house-warming gift for my older sister who’s currently waiting to hear if her offer on her first house has been accepted
6. make a crinkle square for my cousin’s adorable little boy (tutorial on Joy’s Hope)
7. pick something from this amazing looking top 100 Tutorials list from thelongthread.com (just picking something will be a project in and of itself!)

well, what do you think?

Hungry Heights

recently, one of our cats has had some issues with keeping his food down.  we’ve researched on a few different sites, and think that adding some height to their food bowls may help the situation.

since we’ve done so many projects, we have plenty of scrap wood in the garage.  it was just a matter of measuring the diameter and placement of the bowls to determine how wide of a platform to make.  turned out to be about 10″ x 17″.  then we grabbed some wood from the garage (we chose scrap MDF for the platform), marked it off with a straight edge and pencil, and cut out our pieces.

we didn’t want it to be too high off the ground, so our little stumpy platform legs (made from leftover 2 x 8s ) were measured out to only 4″ high.

we attached the legs using some screws, and then grabbed some leftover vinyl we’d used to cover some old bar stools.

we measured it out, cut, and started staple-gunning it to the underside.  the corners took a couple extra staples to hold the excess material.

here’s the finished product:

we also want to add some kind of anti-slip material to the bottom of the bare 2×8s so they don’t push it around.

but so far it’s worked well.  we’ll see if it helps with Bentley’s regurgitation practice as time passes.

Ducklings on the Go – Completed!

tada! here’s the big reveal of the daiper & wiper to go pack i made for a coworker who’s expecting:

oops, that’s not right! let’s try that again:

so what do ya think? will it be a hit?

i personally don’t like velcro all that much, but i must admit that this is an application where it is DEFINITELY the closure method of choice.  buttons and snaps take too much work and too much force to open and close.  and when you’re trying to hold down a kid and open your Daiper & Wipers pack, you need all the ease you can get!

one of the amazing things about this little project (other than the $2.50 price tag and the minimal time investment) is that it can be used for MORE than just daipers & wipers! how about

• a pair of pull ups and dry shorts for outings during the potty training stage
• a small notepad and some crayons/pencils for an on-th-go art activity kit
• add a shoulder strap for baby girl’s first purse!
• add a shoulder strap for baby boy’s first exploring knapsack (then have him fill with all his amazing finds!)
• flashcards for school kid’s multiplication tables or vocabulary words
• or keep it for yourself and put paint chips and fabric swatches inside

not sure what the next project will be.  i guess that depends on what strikes my fancy.  we’ve got plenty of other things to do in the mean time. check back soon for more little projects!