Persia's New Watch Tower

My final monthly challenge is a "do-it-yourself" home improvement.  Each month a different material is drawn and we have the month to make some functional for our homes using that item.

January was rope or cording.

It took me forever to decide what I needed to put together.  Then I saw cat hair on my computer...

The little monkey has been jumping onto my desk when we are gone so she can see out the window.  She has the big to-the-floor windows in the living room but all she can see is the deck.  From the bedroom she can see out into the yard.

So I pulled out of the shed a bar stool I got at Hobby Lobby for about $7.00 on clearance.  It is very heavy duty and quite stable.

A few hours of weaving some sisal rope (oh my poor hands!) and I now have a kitty watch tower!

That is 100 feet of uncut sisal rope...

So now Princess Persia has her very own perch to look into the yard.  She can glare at the neighbor's cat Chandler as he goes 'moling'.

Or she can watch the birds as the swoop past from grabbing a bit to eat from the deck.

And when she feels like it, she can give her claws a workout with on the leg or the weaving.

Purrfect for a kitty!

Before And After: Hiding the AC Unit

I've had one yard project that just kept dragging on...never getting done.  It was to cover the ugly air conditioner unit.  I showed you a sneak peek a few weeks ago.

But you didn't see what I started with.

Bleh.

Here's my stash of 4x4 from Dad and the fence pickets from the ReStore.

Got the frame up - then it sat for a while.  Again.

I was finally DONE with it not being done.  A flurry of activity brought it to the point of your sneak peek.

Which looked good... waaaaay better than I started with but not yet 'done' enough.

NOW I'm done!

What do you think?

Linked at:
It really does work!

Ahhhhh... A Spa Day

Spa time!

I decided it was way past time to have a 'pamper Teri' day.  The stresses of everyday life, getting serious again with the weight loss thing, and the toll of working hard in the yard were starting to show a bit too much.  

First activity on the agenda... a detox bath.

I did a bit of research to find a detox bath recipe that I was comfortable using.  OK... I'm doing the opt out bit here -- I'm no expert and I am NOT saying you should do exactly as I did.  You need to do your own research and decide what is best (if anything) for you personally.

There were a lot of cautions no matter where I researched.  From 'make sure you drink a lot before as it is dehydrating' and 'you might feel very light-headed' all the way to 'you might have flu-like symptoms'.  Because of those warnings, I made sure Himself was home when I did this.

This is the recipe I used for my bath waters:

2 cups Epsom salt

1 cup baking soda

1/4 cup sea salt (I had a lavender bath salt already and used that)

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon ground ginger

A few drops lavender oil

I filled the tub with the hottest water I could stand and started my soak in my own little personal Dead Sea.  For a good 15 minutes I felt nothing different than a regular soak in the tub (other than slippery water).  At 15 minutes my hands started reacting.  It was a weird achy/itchy feeling that made me really want to rub them.  I did so in the 'spa massage' sort of way... from from fingertips stroking up towards the heart.  A few minutes later my feet and lower legs got that feeling and I rubbed them in the same way.  Felt good.

At 20 minutes the sweating started.  Sauna kind of sweating.  Wow.

At 30 minutes the light-headed feeling started.  And that is where I finished.  I called Himself to start up a cool shower for me.  Almost all of the instruction sites said that rinsing off the salt was "optional".  Well, it wasn't optional for me...it was coming off!  I rinsed without soap since my pores were wide open.

While rinsing, I did some smoothing of my feet to prepare for the pedicure portion of my spa day.

Time to chill out for a bit while sipping some hot tea.  Ahhhhhhh...  I was a noodle for several hours and slept great that night.

For my spa day facial, I used a Rodan & Fields sample gift from my friend Brenda Hagood ( http://brendahagood.myrandf.com )  Very nice stuff.  Brightened my skin and didn't cause any issues for me (I have sensitive face skin).

Next up for pampering were the fingers and toes... mani/pedi time!

With continued yard work in my very near future (like tomorrow) I didn't waste too much effort with my hands.  

I did try a whitening technique I found on Pinterest.  

Soak your nails for a few minutes in very warm water, then give them a good washing.  Spread over and under your nails a mixture of 2.5 TBS of baking soda and 1 TBS of hydrogen peroxide.  Let sit for 3 minutes then rinse well.

It did make my nails look better but definitely NOT like the Pinterest photos show.

Note:  Do not do this if you have any sort of cut on your finger tips!  Ouch!!

Afterwards I deep conditioned the cuticles and slathered on cocoa butter.

Done.  

Feet... they got more work.  After all, we are heading into sandal season!

My dry heels were actually looking pretty good after my post-soak smoothing so my next step was to get some nail polish on.  Hardest part of that was picking the color.

It was purple.

Didn't do anything with the hair today as I did a basic wash-and-go yesterday.  My hair is fine and thin... oh joy.  My short cut lets it lift a bit and I don't have to use a blow dryer.  I rotate shampoo ... mostly a gentle wash that rinses clean and then every couple weeks a moisturizing shampoo and a conditioner.  Any more than that weighs it down to limp strings.  Bleh.

So there I'm done and feeling great!

BTW, here's my latest weight loss photo in my new power walking outfit.  I am 2/3 of the way to my goal weight!!

Ring Necklace

Back from yesterday's EHC Cultural Arts contest.  I entered six items and placed with four of them.

My first entry:

I was really pleased with this necklace.  It hangs right across the collar bone.

Do you see what the large "beads" are?

With my weight loss I have 'shrunk' out of many of my rings.  I can't even wear them on my thumbs anymore!

I saw an inspiration piece on Pinterest and made it up my own way.

The judges liked it too.

This will be going up to state level competition in a few months.

Ring Holder Frame

I saw a darling little DIY ring holder a while back on Pinterest, just what I needed.

You start with a small decorative frame.  That is an easy one for me, I'm a bit of a frame addict.  In fact, my friends have permission to remove any frame I put in a shopping buggy.

I pulled this frame from my stash and removed the glass.  I then cut a piece of scrapbook paper to size, then put the back on again.

I didn't have a little hook or peg that worked for me, so I twisted some copper wire into a free-form heart shape hook.  I punched a hole through the backing, and gave it a heavy load of hot glue so it won't move.

Here's the finished piece.  

It would work well next to the kitchen sink but make sure your paper background is laminated so splashes don't ruin it.

EHC Project: Dry Erase Frame

Our Homemakers "make and take" project was the easiest one yet.  

We did a small dry erase board using an 8 X 10 photo frame.  For the project we used Dollar Tree frames, which worked but it would have been better with a wider frame such as the one I used above.

I'd found about 4 patterns of frames for the ladies to chose from.

Then they picked out what ribbon they wanted to use.

Next was deciding what sort of embellishments to use.

A trip to the hot glue gun and it is ready to take a note.

So easy!

Pinterest Inspired: The Perfect Poached Egg?

I love poached eggs.  But I never can get the traditional "dropped in boiling water" method to work for me.  My egg usually ends up looking like a candidate for Egg Drop Soup.  Ugh.

So when I came across a method attributed to Julia Child I decided to give it a try.

First you are to pin prick a hole in the blunt side of the egg.  I used a tack because there was no way a needle was going through this egg shell.

Then you put the egg into boiling water for 20 seconds.  After 20 seconds you turn down the temp, get the egg out, and break it back into the now simmering water.  The egg shell was a little bit hot but not bad.

Then you poach as normal until it reaches your level of doneness.

At this point I was very pleased with the results.  No cooked egg whites floating around like sea weed!

A very close to perfect poach egg!

EHC Project: Cake Stands

October's 'make and take' project for Homemakers club was a cute stand (cake, fruit, whatever).

The weather was perfect so we worked on it outside.

The plates and bowls once again came from Dollar Tree... total cost: $2 plus a bit of glue.

It doesn't get any easier than this project.  Clean your selected plate and bowl.  Make sure to get the sticker off if it is in a place you'd be able to see it.

Run a bit of E6000 glue around the bottom rim of your bowl.  (Be careful with this stuff... it is nasty to your health!)   Position the bowl bottom centered on the bottom of your plate.  Let dry 24 to 72 hours.  (It is pretty much set in 30 minutes, but do give it ample cure time).

E6000 is a clear glue so it works with cut glass plates too.

We had quite a variety of stands!  So cute and they would make really cute gifts.

EHC Project: DIY Tea Light Lamp

This month I took over the Presidency of my Extension Homemakers Club.  One of the things I'm doing is having a 'make and take' activity at the end of the meeting.  Something cute, fast, and inexpensive.  

The first project was this wine glass votive candle lamp.

I set up a table will all sorts of choices for their candle lamps.

You start by printing off the lampshade pattern.  You get it at:

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/craft-ideas/how-to/a19133/candle-lampshade-craft/ 

I then used the paper pattern to make a cardboard pattern.

Just trace it onto your paper of choice.  The thicker the paper, the better it works.  My thin scrapbook paper was OK, the card stock weight was better.  Wall paper would probably be good, especially the textured stuff.

You can get two shades from one 12x12 piece of paper.  Once you cut them out, you curl it around and use a piece of double stick tape to secure the sides together.

The only other thing you need is a wine glass and a battery operated tea light.  Both of these came from Dollar Tree.  The tea light was 2 for a dollar.

There were several types of wine glasses at the store I visited.  Or you can use glasses you already own since the glass is not altered in any way.

You drop the tea light in like so...

And pop your shade on.

If you have deckle scissors, you can make a decorative edge.  Or put some trim around the edges.

You can even stack one shade on top of a contrasting shade.

This craft was a smash hit and only cost right at $2 each for all the supplies.

Great to add to a shelf or the dinner table when you have company.

Her Crowning Glory

The birthday crown I made Little Bird was fairly easy to do.  No sewing whatsoever!

I bought felt at Hobby Lobby and fusible interfacing (the type that sticks two fabrics together) at Hancock Fabric.  Sis measured Little Bird's head and I took 3 inches OFF that measurement for the length of the crown.  I think the bow looks prettiest against her hair.

I cut the fabric to that length and a bit more than the height I wanted for the top peak.  I then fused them together with the interfacing.  This gave me the thickness to make it stand up right.  A floppy crown is a sad thing!

The hardest part was figuring the proportions and heights.

I used some contractors paper to make the pattern.  Played around with it a bit to make up a pattern I like and that would work with the decorations.  Do make sure you figure in the height of the ribbon against the pattern.  This one is 2".

For patterns, look at coloring books or clip art.  If you can make layers, all the better.

I used the fusible interface on everything, even the ribbon.  A bit of ironing and it was done.

So easy!