Gettin' Crafty

Don't let the title of this blog post fool you. I'm not especially crafty or domestic. It's not that I don't appreciate those skills, I just don't find as much joy in doing those activities as others. I don't sew other than out of practicality, i.e., the occasional pair of pants that need hemming, and even then would be prone to ask my mother or mother-in-law first, or even go to the alterations place, before picking up a needle. Buttons I do - but that's about it. Fortunately, I have a wonderfully talented and generous mother-in-law who has made almost all the drapes and most of the pillow in my house. I get compliments on them frequently, and its' all because of her. I am most grateful.

What I do love is making something old into something new. I'm a big fan of thrift stores and craigslist and yard sales. I love to find a piece of furniture that someone else has given up on entirely and give it new life. Paint is my friend - primarily because it brings me near-instant gratification. I lose interest in long-term projects, but those only-gonna-take-me-a-few-hours projects are my best friends.

So, after recently amassing a ridiculous number (pretty much tripled my collection) of cute, dangling earrings (for less than $2.00 each at - of all places - SteinMart!), I realized I needed one of those fun picture frame earring holders. I found some online that were custom made for $50+! Yikes!

Then I found these easy how-to instructions and decided to take a stab at it. As you can see from the pic, it didn't turn out to shabby.

I decided to skip the step of painting an old frame and purchased a new one on sale instead. Then I had to track down some screen netting like what you would find in a screen door. Apparently, you have to buy this is large quantities, so if you're in the market see me. I spent $7 at Lowe's for a large role, and have a ton left over. I originally planned to staple the screen to the frame, but our staples were two large and would have pierced through the front of the frame. Instead, I opted for the hot glue route, which worked fine. I attached some black fabric to the back, again using hot glue, and ta-da. A finished product. I would have preferred to somehow made it so I could have inserted the original frame back to stand it up like you would a stand-alone frame, but it wasn't going to work that way. However, it looks great just propped against the mirror on my dresser.

Super fun project, and didn't take long at all. For more like it, or just for inspiration, check out one of my favorite blogs - DesignSponge. It's also listed among my favorite blogs links. You can also follow Grace Bonney, the blog writer/creater, on Twitter - @designsponge.

I especially love Wednesday when she posts reader-submitted DIYs and Thursday when she features reader-submitted before and afters. Good stuff and great inspiration.

Snow Boots and Snowmen

Last Friday UAB officially closed at 2 p.m. due to the inclement weather. When I got home in the early afternoon, the yard was already covered in snow. I had to run a few errands, and after changing from my business suit to jeans realized - with pure joy - that I could whip out my show boots which I hadn't worn in almost 2 years! I love being able to use those items in my closet that rarely see the light of day because they are entirely impractical for our Southern climate.

We had our Sunday School class over Friday night for a Winter Olympics 2010 Kick-Off Party (cheesy, I know, but turned out to be super fun - here's the evite pic), and I ended up spending all night at the party in my snow boots becase I never got around to changing (figured they actually went fairly well with the party theme).

I used them again on Saturday morning when I took a nice walk through our neighborhood.

Though everything else was covered in snow, the roads were completely clear, and since I never once ventured off of them, my legs were exhausted from my half hour walk in heavy boots when tennis shoes would have entirely sufficed. Needless to say, they were quickly retired back to the closet (all the novelty long gone) after I finally made it back home at a much slower pace than when I first started. (Definitely got my calf workout in for the day.)

Long intro to get to the main part of this blog post - snowmen. On my walk, I quickly realized people in Homewood love to build snowmen. They were everywhere. And some of them were beyond creative. Others were hilarious in their various states of form. Let's just say in Alabama, the life expectancy of a snowman is short. I snapped pics of the ones I was brave enough to take a picture of without looking like a creepy person w ith a camera stalking everyone's yards. These are some of my favorites - with the cheesy names I've given them.

"True Fan" - you all know why. RTR.

"Valley Forge" - doesn't he look just like George Washington?

"Feeling the Spirit" - something about that second one just makes me think of a north Alabama spiritual revival where everyone is full of the spirit and falling out on the floor - or a robbery.

"Old Green Eyes" - sorry, I know I'm streaching, but I figured a slightly revised Frank Sinatra reference couldn't hurt. What are those? Easter eggs?

"Mount Wannahackaloogie" - I don't know why this one makes me think of that scene in Finding Nemo, but does. And Lost, and any other surviver-like, tribal movie. Yes, that's a dead mum in his head. You can't tell it but this one was huge. Probably as tall as me. Very impressive.

"Camellia" - props for using the state flower.

"Morrie" - becuase for some reason this one reminds me of what Morrie would look like from Tuesdays with Morrie. Actually never read the book, so I could be completely bombing this one.

"Morning After" - this guy was done in either by the rising temps, the ball, or the all-night neighborhood snowman party. Note the Coors Light beer can in the middle forefront. Hilarious.

"There's a Snake in my Boots" - everyone loves a cowboy...and Toy Story.

"Short and Stumpy" - because we're all special, regardless of body type. This is coming from a girl who has to buy petite jeans and can never find them in the perfect length.

What's That Fuzzy White Stuff?

That's right. It's SNOW. The stuff we never ever get in Alabama but somehow have gotten not once but twice in the last four days. It actually snowed some this evening too - just enough to give us a light dusting. It wasn't near the 2 inches we got last Friday though. Saturday morning it was still pretty until later in the day when the temps rose and it all finally melted. I was able to snap some pics of our house and the neighborhood while it was still covered Saturday morning. I have to say, Birmingham sure does look good in winter white!