Monthly Archives: January 2012
26/01/12 Super Easy Homemade Cat Toys
This poor hand-me-down cat toy made it through four kittens before it finally decided to completely disintegrate. It’s time for new cat toys, especially for ones that keep a kitten’s interest. Do you think I found something cheaper than what it would cost me to buy a couple new toys at a pet store? You bet I did!
First, I re-purposed an old pair of PJ bottoms that were shredding and were in no way salvageable.
Then I found some catnip in the cupboard that I have occasionally used to sprinkle in the cat food. (Did you know that catnip is actually really good for a cat’s digestive system? Apparently, in the wild, cats eat catnip two to three times a week.) As you can see, Oliver was excited about the catnip before I even opened it up!! He refused to stay out of the picture.
Then I cut out a piece of flannel along one of the leg seams. This way, one seam was already stitched for me. My goal was certainly not to make anything pretty, but to make something the cats would enjoy and be able to destroy without making me feel like I had wasted much time.
I stitched two of the remaining sides closed with bright red thread, filled the square loosely with dried catnip and stitched the last side closed.
Romeo gave this new toy a “bite” of approval.
For the second toy, I used a smaller square of material. I turned the material inside out, folded it in half and sewed closed the seam that was opposite the fold. Then I used embroidery floss to tie one end shut tightly. After filling the little cylinder with catnip, I tied the other end closed as well. And toy number two was done!
All the cats were intrigued. In fact, they went a little nuts chewing on the toys, rolling around on them and practicing all their tracking and hunting skills in general.
These took me about ten minutes to make and in turn will give my cats hours of playtime. Another added bonus? Maybe they’ll stop playing with my living room decorations!
Tags: cat toys, catnip, embroidery floss, homemade cat toys, kittens
25/01/12 … And the Reception
Here’s a glance at the decorations for my wedding ceremony and reception. Perhaps it will give some of you some good ideas if you are planning your own wedding or helping someone else plan theirs. The cute card holder above is by Wilton. It is very modern and cute. It has a little heart-shaped lock on the front and looks great on a gift table.
We swirled silver tulle and purple chiffon ribbon together and attached them to the altar railing in the church sanctuary.
Our unity candle was very plain and I loved its simplicity. I got an ivory pillar candle and two ivory taper candles at Walmart and put a ribbon around the pillar candle to match the wedding colors. I wanted something that would not detract from the service itself. Plus, I figured that only the people in the first couple rows would even be able to see the details if I got ornate unity candles.
We had a small, intimate wedding and reception. Since we had a very small wedding party, we set up our head table in a not very traditionl way. We sat the wedding party as well as both of our immediate families with us.
Since the theme for decorating was “winter,” I focused the decorations on pinecones, candles, snow and tree branches.
These large vases are from Ikea and I filled them with pinecones from the backyard and amazing (and cheap) Ikea potpourri.
We also sprinkled tiny iridescent snowflakes and glitter over the ivory tablecloths.
I absolutely loved this arrangement of four pillar candles of different heights tied together with purple satin ribbon!
We had three vases like this one in front of the head table. I sprayed tree branches from the backyard with fake snow, put clear and silver marbles at the bottom of the vase and added some silver glittered curly branches.
I put the taller branches in a couple of larger vases in the corners of the room. I used white sand at the bottom of the vases to look like snow.
We got purple napkins with our names printed on them. These were actually pretty cheap through David’s Bridal and they helped pull the look together.
I absolutely adored these tealight holders from Ikea! With lights coiled around them, they really sparkle.
Our wedding favors were snowflake ornaments with tags. On one side, our names and wedding date were printed while on the other side our theme wedding Bible verse was printed.
Our cake was simply… AMAZING! We had a buttery white cake with fudge filling and chocolate icing. The baker piped white frosting to look like lace and draped real flowers that matched my bouquet down the side.
(Once again, thanks to Abby at Studio A Photo in Detroit Lakes for the amazing pictures!)
Tags: ceremony, Ikea, pillar candles, pinecones, reception, snowflake ornaments, Studio A Photo, tealight holders, tree branches, unity candle, wedding
- Leave a comment
- Posted under Wedding
24/01/12 And Now for the Wedding…
I thought I would give you all a peak at some of my wedding pictures. Next time I blog, I’ll show you some of the decorations since some of them I made or designed myself.
My amazing sister-in-law Abby owns Studio A Photo in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, and did all of my wedding photography for me along with her assistant, Rita Paul. (You should really check out Abby’s portfolio over at www.studioaphoto.net)
Enjoy the pictures!
The colors and theme were pearls and silver, ivory and a rich, dark purple. I wanted a winter wedding – not a Christmas wedding.
I opted for no veil since I have never been a huge fan of them anyway.
We took some of our bridal portraits and wedding party photos at the local train depot. It was COLD!!
We were jumping to stay warm, but then it turned into a photo op!
I love downtown. I love the old storefronts and the character.
Come check out the reception pictures tomorrow!
Tags: bridal portraitis, Detroit Lakes, pearls, reception, silver, Studio A Photo, wedding, winter
- Leave a comment
- Posted under Wedding
20/01/12 Honeymoon Revisited
My husband and I took a nice ten day honeymoon right after our wedding. We had amazingly beautiful weather – especially for December. We barely saw any snow driving from Minnesota to Colorado Springs. We both enjoyed the drive for the most part. We took three days to get there and two to get back. The first evening we drove to Sioux Falls, SD. We saw a gorgeous sunset that night.
We stopped in Grand Island, Nebraska the second night. On the third day of driving, we drove past the first Pony Express Station in Gothenburg, Nebraska. We made a spontaneous decision to stop there since we were getting tired of sitting in the car anyway. Even though the building wasn’t open for tours when we were there, it was still interesting to look through the windows, snap a few photos and read about its history.
When we got to Colorado Springs, we stayed at a fabulous bed and breakfast called the Holden House. It’s a home built in 1902 which was converted into a B&B in the ’80′s I believe. It has three rooms in the main house, one room in a second house and two rooms in the carriage house. It’s located in Old Colorado City which is a historic area of town since it had been the capital of the Colorado Territory. The Holden House was all decorated for Christmas when we were there. Absolutely gorgeous!
This is the Carriage House where we stayed on the main floor.
The Carriage House has its own living room and kitchenette which are shared between the two rooms.
This was our suite, the Silverton.
It had its own sitting room with a TV and DVD player.
The bathroom was great because there was a large Roman soaking tub.
We visited downtown Colorado City which is filled with tourist shops, art galleries and eateries.
We also visited Garden of the Gods which was about five minutes away. The pictures were taken right before sunset.
We also went up Pike’s Peak. Pike’s Peak is over 14,000 feet high. We were planning on taking the train up but then decided at the last minute to drive up ourselves. It was certainly an experience to remember! It was a nineteen mile drive but it takes about an hour to get to the top because of the elevation, hairpin turns and icy roads. The side of the mountain that had the sun shining on it looked like this.
But then when you turn a corner onto the shady side of the mountain, the roads start looking like this! We were glad that we had 4 wheel drive.
This next picture was taken especially for my mom. She hates driving on roads that have bad drop-offs and don’t have any kind of barrier. Most of the time, there was practically no shoulder on the road and it got a bit scary when you could see hundreds of feet down the side of the mountain while you were driving on ice. (Then again, I had it good since my husband did all the driving.)
After a while, we hit the permafrost where no vegetation can grow. The only word I can use to describe it is desolate.
I think this was the worst turn (so bad in fact that they put up a tiny 8-inch tall barrier).
Check out the curves on this road!
I hope you’ve enjoyed looking at some of our honeymoon pictures. Have a great weekend!
Tags: Colorado Springs, first Pony Express station, Garden of the Gods, Holden House, honeymoon, Old Colorado City, Pike's Peak
- Leave a comment
- Posted under Traveling, Wedding
19/01/12 My Virtual Bulletin Board
I have finally jumped on the bandwagon and joined Pinterest! And I am loving every minute of it! It’s so fun to look at other great things that people have found online and connecting with people who have similar interests.
My favorite pins are those dealing with home organization, decor and DIY projects. I got pretty excited yesterday about a few of my finds. I’m even more excited because I am planning on purchasing a sewing machine in the next six months or so. Then more of these projects will become a reality. It’s fun to see the things you can make with just a little creativity, imagination and courage to try. Here are a few of my favorite finds so far.
A plain pillow with tiny, colorful felt birds sewn on.
A make-it-yourself cute sweatshirt.
A secret bookshelf storage container.
If you’re interested, you can click on my Pinterest button on the right side of this page and join the fun!
Tags: DIY projects, Pinterest, sewing machine
- Leave a comment
- Posted under Crafting, Decorating
18/01/12 A Not-As-Bad-As-I-Thought Habit
Here’s some good news for everyone out there who has a terrible time cutting snacks after supper. I’ve always felt guilty for this, but NOW I have the experts on my side!
According to some researchers at Georgia State University (whom I would like to sincerely thank), one’s metabolism drastically slows when blood sugar levels drop. This is why many nutritionists recommend eating up to five or six light meals through the day. This regular supply of energy from the food keeps blood sugar levels fairly stable. Apparently, blood sugar drops about every three hours so what do they recommend? A bedtime snack!!! Apparently a smart snack can keep your metabolism working even while you sleep.
Now if I could just get research to defend my chocolate-laden snacks…
Tags: metabolism, snacks
12/01/12 Why Pay a Barber?
As newlyweds, my husband and I are terribly interested in saving money in as many ways as possible. I don’t think my latest idea impressed him too much, but I believe when it was all said and done, I definitely redeemed myself.
He normally gets his hair cut by a barber every month. However, they just seem to never get it right. No matter what he tells them to do, he always ends up with shorter hair than he requested and with some hair that still needs to be trimmed. By this time, I was getting pretty good at trimming around his ears and trimming his sideburns. I was ready for the big guns!
I ***ahem*** surprised him one day by coming home with the Remington hair and beard trimmers. It was totally affordable since it would pay for itself after only two haircuts. I love the fact that it has fifteen trimming lengths which means that I could taper his hair length to look professional. It was also perfect for giving his sideburns a perfect trim. I think he may have been a little worried as I came with him saying stuff like, “I wonder how you do this?” “Oops!” “Oh, I see!” while laughing hysterically at times. However, my husband deserves a medal for putting up with that and trusting me to not completely ruin his head of hair.
Other good things about this trimmer? It can be used with a cord or without and can charge from a wall outlet or (not sure why you would want this) from your computer since it is a USB charger. (Maybe if you want to give yourself a haircut while checking out sports scores???) The blade also pops out so that it can be washed under a faucet and thoroughly cleaned.
End result? Both of us were EXTREMELY happy with how his haircut looked and both of us agreed that it looked way better than what the barber normally does. So, I figure that’s a savings of almost $200 per year if you include tips.
Interested in checking it out for yourself? You can find it on Amazon by clicking this link.
Before I go, here’s a random fact for the day.
Last year I decided to keep track of how many books I read and how many pages I read. I was surprised to find out that I read 30 books for a total of 12,612 pages in 2011. Uffda!
Tags: barber, books, haircut, newlyweds, Remington hair and beard trimmer, saving money, savings, USB charger
- Leave a comment
- Posted under Saving Money
11/01/12 Necessity Certainly IS the Mother of Invention!
The entryway at our house is really just a part of the kitchen. While in some ways this is convenient, it also means that a lot of dirt and grime can easily get in to the kitchen – a room in the house that I would like to be as clean as possible. Adding to the problem is the fact that the bottom of the door is level with the floor and the weatherstripping cannot fit over any rug, no matter how thin it may be.
This is what our dirty entryway looked like before I decided to do something about it.
We had several rugs that are excellent for dirty or wet shoes. However, they simply didn’t fit anywhere. Solution? A scissors works wonders!
Now this rug fits perfectly beside the door and can hold about three pairs of shoes, which is a definite improvement. I also added two small rugs that extend farther into the kitchen. I considered purchasing a runner but instead purchased two rugs that could be placed next to each other. This way, should I ever change my mind (I am a woman; changing of my mind is a distinct possibility) or want to put these rugs elsewhere, I can easily move them.
With all these rugs, the dirt and grime is miraculously corraled into the small circle around the door, even in these winter months.
- Leave a comment
- Posted under Decorating
