Condo Blues

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Topsy Turvey Bookcases

I was beyond happy when we bought our house and replaced our mish mosh of overflowing bookshelves with one wall of matching bookshelves in our computer room.  Seeing all of our books in one place made me giddy.

Then we bought more books.

And a few more.

And a few more.

We could use more shelves.

I started poking around for arty book shelves because it is way more fun than sorting through and donating our old and outdated books. Yes, yes. I’ll get to it. It is on the punch list for our computer room revamp project.

In the meantime, let’s have some fun and check out some crazy fun bookshelves. For what they don’t hold in the amount of stuff, they make up for in the amount of whimsy they add to a room.

I can’t help but look at the Woodcurve Curved Bookshelf  and smile. This piece was inspired by the Dr. Seuss books as are several of the pieces in Woodcurve’s Etsy shop.


Woodcurvebookcase
Warning: Curves Ahead!

Sunday, October 20, 2013

21 Ways to Decorate Real Halloween Pumpkins

Husband suggested I bump up my Halloween décor for Lacey since it is her first Halloween with us.

pumpkinlacey
ALL of these are for me to eat?!


That’s right. He said for Lacey.

It’s not like the guy likes Halloween or pumpkins or manipulating me into doing something he wants for Lacey (and I certainly do not do this on him because it works 100% of the time on both of us.)


I usually keep the pumpkins plain because I bake, puree, and freeze our pumpkins after Halloween. Cute but not as festive.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

How to Make Outdoor Flying Bat Halloween Decorations #HalloweenMP

Husband and I are decorating the house for Lacey’s first Halloween.

I asked Lacey what type of  Halloween decorations she wante on the front porch she asked for a swarm of 3D flying bats she can chase. Typical spaniel. Lacey loves to “hunt” anything that flies.

howtomakeflyingbatdecorations



I knew how I wanted Lacey's bats to look but I wasn't sure what materials I could make them from. I can shape paper but it won't hold up outdoors in damp weather (is was drizzling when I took the outdoor photos for this post.)

Hm…think, think, thinkidy, think.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

How to Fake Crown Molding with Paint

This post brought to you by FrogTape brand painter’s tape. All opinions are 100% mine.

I knew I picked the right wall color in my guest room/craft room the minute I moved my antique black and white table into the room. It it popped against the yellow wall. I am smitten with color scheme!

However, I'm not smitten with the closet.

I never liked the doors or oak stain on the molding at the top. I know I'm supposed to like wood molding but the oak stain makes it look cheap. I tried to hide the molding by painting it the same color as the wall. It is not as awful but it still use a little something while I'm thinking about what to do with the closet doors.

how to fake crown molding with paint



Thursday, October 10, 2013

One Eco Dress, Three Looks, and a $75 Giveaway!

Happy news! I met my weight loss goal! I am now back into what is considered thedressyOasisdress healthy range of my Body Mass Index (BMI.) I realize BMI measurements and numbers aren’t a perfect indication of health because there are other factors in play such as muscle mass that can skew BMI numbers to the overweight range of a perfectly healthy and fit person.

I’m using BMI as a healthier target range for my height instead of  picking an arbitrary weight or saying that I want be a size 2 like I was in high school. Not realistic and probably unhealthy skinny for my only slightly older than high school body. (I may not lie about my weight but age is fair game!)

Eating a whole foods, no trans fat, no hydrogenated oil, no processed food from a box diet to lose the weight wasn’t difficult. In fact, I’m following the same no bad stuff diet that made me gain the extra 25 pounds I had to lose. I’m proof that if you eat too much of anything, even very good for you things, and get little to no exercise you will gain weight.

Thanks to my trainer and high energy exercise buddy Lacey, I lost the last of those 25 extra pounds. I feel better (especially now that my waist is no longer larger than Husband’s.) I also have a new problem. My clothes don’t fit! I need new duds.


Sunday, October 6, 2013

How to Make Halloween Zombie Skull Bath Bombs

Fall brings corn mazes, jumping in leaf piles, hay rides, and other good dirty fall fun.

Why not extend it into bath time and give your little monsters an incentive to scrub a dub dub in the tub with a Halloween bath bomb?





Don't worry, your tub won't really explode after you plunk them in water. We are making Halloween bath fizzies!

How to Make Exploding Skull Bath Bombs for Halloween