School Desk Makeover and Serious Roller Coasters

A customer of mine brought me an old school desk she had been keeping for years. She wanted it re-painted for her son and daughter to both use.

That can be tricky.

In case you've never noticed, boys and girls like totally different things. There is no great way to incorporate footballs and Cinderella into one tasteful piece of furniture.



So, I decided to go with the green/brown combination. In my opinion, brown is one of the most versatile colors out there. It really works for boys and girls - and green is gender neutral too.



Stripes and dots make it youthful.





A mix of girlish and boyish bugs.





Todd and I are all smiles in this picture.

You would be smiling too if you had just left your kids with their grandparents for a full 36 hours.





We spent a saturday at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. It's the roller coaster capitol of the world, and it's right on Lake Erie.




Oh, yeah. I rode this.



You have the choice of being dropped from the top, or sent flying from the ground up.

We chose to be dropped.

I have a fear of heights, but I tried to pretend I didn't for a day.




This is the Millenium Force. Probably not a good idea for us height fearing folks.

Todd said I didn't even scream, I just moaned or squeaked occasionally throughout the ride.

Here's the downward view.

Next up: Top Thrill Dragster

This thing is 420 high.

Straight up.

Straight down.

Here's the view from the top.

This thing went 120 miles an hour, and only lasted 17 seconds. when it came to a stop, my eyes were watering, and I think may nose may have been running, but I was so stunned I barely noticed.

The first ride we went on when we got to the park had this patch job.

Duct tape and a missing screw. We didn't notice until the end of the ride, thank goodness, and, clearly, we survived.

Between rides, we enjoyed a little people watching.

I love people watching.

This whole "pants on the ground" thing has always confused me. It can't be comfortable. It certainly isn't functional.

Surely thugs realize they can't get away from the po-lice with their belt around their thighs.

But, if you're gonna do it, take a hint from this guy.

If you're gonna show the world your drawers, make 'em flashy.

And make sure the bling on your belt matches.

LittlebitsDesigns.com

Twas' the night before church camp....

We dropped our oldest off for his first week of church camp on Sunday.

Despite my near depression over leaving him, everything went well.

Well, other than some of the other parents laughing at my OCD style of packing. (...and bed making, and sanitizing...)

Everything was in a ziploc, and I labeled everything from his toothbrush to his box of band-aids. For his towels, I moved beyond the Sharpie.

I bought a pack of iron-on knee patches from Hobby Lobby for $1.49.

I typed Jackson's name in word, and printed it on paper.



I then taped the patch, shiny side down, to the paper over the words.





I then ran the paper back thru the printer.



I got better at this on my second try. I was able to turn the patch, and fit the names on them twice.




All I had to do now was cut them out, and iron them on. The heat from the iron as you adhere them will set the ink.



I think i'll iron these onto anything and everything. Lilly needs some pink ones....

Just as a little extra, here's a bowl my mom brought for me to paint. I think it came from Goodwill. It was unfinished wood, and I painted it green. She wants to use it to stash some of the vegetables my dad brings in from his garden every day . Since they can't eat several pounds of tomatos, squash, cucumbers and peppers each day - they can at least look pretty in this bowl.

I mixed some stain , and rubbed it on in a circular pattern.

And, of course, I had to distress the edges. What would a painting project be without distressed edges??

LittlebitsDesigns.com

Flowers, critters, and lazy wine drinkers.

I'm a bad, bad, blogger.

Summer has me in a bit of a time warp. We've been so busy, time slips by, and before I know it, I've gone a week without writing anything.

Not that you've missed me.

I've been wanting to try making a fabric flower out of scrap fabrics. I finally tried it while the kids snacked on sugary cereal and watched television.

You do what you gotta do.



I made the flower to match a little polka dot skirt that I had scraps from. It looks like a really huge corsage in this picture. It's more balanced out when you can see all of her head.




I'm not sure what emotion this is.
Spunky?
Inquisitive?
Angry at me for taking her picture without brushing her hair or insisting on shoes?

Earlier in the day...


What are these guys looking at?


This little guy.


My dad is a big gardener.He has trouble with critters sneaking in and eating all his veggies. If they made a deer sized cage, he would have one. Almost every morning the kids want to know if grandaddy had anything in a trap. If he does, we have to go take a look.
While trying to satisfy the midnight munchies - this racoon was lured into one of the traps.



Before you get all excited and call PETA, let me say he takes all critters to the nearby lake, and releases them.
Even possums. (opossums??)
Well, with the exception of skunks - but I won't get into that.



I let each of the kids take a carrot to feed the racoon.

Lilly got greedy.

Next critter...



The new baby calf.

For some reason, the momma cow (or, as my dad ikes to say, heffer), refuses to nurse her baby. My cousin and her grandaughter came to give him a bottle. A BIG bottle.




All of this critter interaction takes place down the street from Nashville International Airport.

I love Nashville.




I snapped this picture of Baker, my shirtless wonder, because I love his curls, and I'm about to get him a haircut. It's cute dry , but when it's wet at the pool, he's sporting a serious mullet. Jackson won't stop saying "business in the front, party in the back", and I'm afraid he's going to catch on to the joke.


And, finally, I spotted this advertisement in my Atlanta market guide.




How lazy do you have to be to wear your wine around your neck?





The phone number is clearly visible, and you can order one if you too hate to use your hands while drinking.




LittlebitsDesigns.com

Friday Fives

Top Five songs

This was a tough one, I love music. I've never really been into 'top 40' type music, even in high school, so don't look for any boy bands or J-Lo. I miss having the time to listen to music like I used to. The CD from VBS doesn't count as me listening to music, as far as I'm concerned.
Here's a few...

Lovely Day - Bill Withers

I have always loved this song.

A Little Less Conversation - Elvis Presley

This is not my favorite version of this song, but this video was to good to pass up.
Some things to look for:
1) The hokey computer thing. I guess they figured that's what the future would look like.
2) Girl in pink dancing like Elaine from Seinfeld.
3) Redheaded man,in a silky brown vest, breaking out his white man's overbite and best limbo moves.
4) An old guy making out with a young blonde (eewww :p )
5) A groovy dude in a silky blue shirt, jeweled medallion, and a black shawl. Yes, a shawl.
6) Oh, yeah, the middle aged playboy bunny.




Come To Jesus - Mindy Smith

I like lots of Mindy Smith songs, but I had to pick one. Download "True Love of Mine" right now.

Least Complicated - Indigo Girls

I love a good harmony with acoustic guitar. I saw the Indigo Girls open for REM when I was in 8th grade, and I was more impressed with them than REM.(I will not reveal what year that was...)
There are a couple other of their songs I thought about listing, but the videos just showed them as lesbians in mom jeans. So, I went with the one where they are mostly in the dark - it wasn't as distracting.

Spotlight - Mutemath

I never get tired of this song for some reason. It makes me pick up the pace on the treadmill.



I had to add a sixth one. Jack Johnson.




Other favorites:
Glenn Phillips
All American Rejects
Nickel creek
The Sundays
Barenaked Ladies
Muse
The Doors ( my kids love The Doors too!)
Better Than Ezra



LittlebitsDesigns.com

Wordless Wednesday

How to make a quickie hammock

My kids are my top priority- but I have to have time to complete work for clients.

Summer is a tough balance. I love that my kids are all out of school/preschool, but I would be a total liar to say that keeping them entertained is easy. I have a wide age range. I can't tell my 10 year old, "Go play in the sandbox with your sister."

I struggle to find ways to keep all three happily occupied, even if only for a little while.

Out of the blue, the boys decided they really wanted a hammock. Right now.

I called around, and the cheapest thing I could find was $99. I don't think so.

So, I pulled out some heavyweight fabric I had. I measured the distance between the two trees I wanted to hang the hammock from. I cut the fabric this length plus 6 inches.



The fabric I had was 54" wide, so I just left the finished selvage edge.

I used the added 6 inches to make a casing on each end. I sewed this seam several times for strength.





I bought this package of 2 lashing straps for $3.19. These are to go around each tree. But before tightening them...



I ran these 2 zip ties through the casings, and underneath the lashing straps before fastening them.





I tightened the straps, and that was it. Instant hammock.

Well, that was it except for having to cover the ugly yellow straps with leftover strips of fabric. I know it's pointless and silly, but I just couldn't look at those bright yellow straps. (they don't come in a nice chocolate brown).

They played for hours, and have used it everyday since.

We actually ended up attatching the hammock to the treehouse on one side - so it would not interfere with their favorite thing in our yard - a rope our columbian tree trimmer once tied way up high for them to swing on.

Spend 2 summers building a treehouse - they play on a $5 rope.




Well, a rope and a hammock.

( On a side note, I eventually replaced the 2 zip ties with 2 more sets of lashing straps. It only took Lilly plummeting to the ground once to make that change :)



LittlebitsDesigns.com

A total fluff piece....

I'm not big into celebrity gossip ( that's Beth's job, she keeps me informed). The only man I recognized on dancing with the stars was old Buzz Aldrin.
But, since I live in Nashville, I recognize most country music artists, even if I don't listen to them. Lady Antebellum I both recognize and listen to. In some older posts I talked about the flood at my son's school, and the fact that Hillary Scott is an alumni. (here and here) Lady Antebellum showed up at the school to make a donation for the restoration efforts.

I just thought it was cool to see them with our headmaster.




That one guy is really tall....





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