Craft Cabinet

S: I just reorganized my craft cabinet. I like opening the drawers to look inside...it's amazing what a few plastic bins from the dollar store can do.

I bought the dresser in college for $15 at Goodwill. It's made of solid wood and metal, and is super heavy. It was black when I bought it, but I think it may have been red in a past life. We used it as a tv stand when we lived in our apartment. Zach worked his magic and made the top drawer front fold down for our dvd player, and cut a hole in the back for cords.

When we moved into our house, I repainted it a cream color with some paint left in our garage from the previous homeowners. We left the top drawer as it was. It's great for things like sketch pads and paper, making it easy to slide them in and out rather than digging through a drawer. We've gotten a lot of use out of this thrift store dresser!

Hose Reel Repair

S: Several months back we had a pretty bad hail storm that did a lot of damage. A couple days after the storm Zach discovered a baseball sized hole in the top of our plastic hose reel box. We had just purchased it and weren't willing to pay $45 for a new one when everything else was fine. But every time I went outside it taunted me with it's imperfection. Something had to be done.

My mom suggested gluing a piece of plastic on top to cover the hole...good idea! However, when I went in search of plastic at home depot, I was directed to the plexiglass. Obviously something see-through would not work. Then Zach had the great idea of using vinyl tile. I have to admit that I was against this idea at first and was skeptical of how it would look, but it turned out great. We picked up an 18" x 18" peel-and-stick vinyl tile for $2.50. I trimmed it down a couple of inches and added a little extra glue to the top of the hose reel to make sure it would stay, then pressed it down into place. Such a cheap and easy fix...I wish we had done it sooner!

Family Tree

S: Our front lawn has been struggling to stay alive against the water restrictions and triple digit heat here in Austin. The only part that looks decent is the patch underneath our lone oak tree, which is shaded from the sun. So for Zach's birthday we decided to buy another tree for the front yard. My mom came to visit over Labor Day weekend and we went by Red Barn Garden Center to pick out a tree. Zach ended up choosing a Lacey Oak. We were able to save a lot of money because all of their shade trees were 50% off! We also picked up some plants for the front flower bed, lantanas and salvias. Getting the tree home was an adventure....

Z: An adventure like driving a car through a forest a forest through the city.

two of these things are just the same...

S: While Zach began digging the hole for the new tree, my mom and I worked on making a small bed with a limestone border around our existing tree.

Step 1: Lay out your stones to get the spacing right.

Step 2: Dig out grass and a deeper border for stones.

Step 3: Lay down paver base and compact.

Step 4: Lay down paver sand and compact. We used a rubber mallet and a small board to compact the layers.

Step 5: Place your stones and add more paver sand if necessary to even out the height.

Step 6: Add mulch around the tree

Thanks for all your help mom!!!

Z: Limestone dapples Austin top soil and eventually you hit solid limestone. This geological feature makes for great foundations and difficult digging. I needed to dig a hole for the lacey oak about 2.5 ft down and 3 feet across. Its pretty amazing how a basketball sized chunk of limestone will slow you down. After fruitlessly jabbing around with a shovel for a few minutes, I broke down and bought a pick axe. I had never wielded a pick axe before, but like its name implies, it's half weapon. A pick axe allows you to wage war with the earth. During the Battle of Lacey Oak, I defeated two great limestone warlords from the FrontLawn region and their battalion of lesser rocks. My armor proved essential during the fight, for on multiple occasions, as my pick axe struck the limestone warlord, he fired pieces of himself to blind me but luckily my safety glasses head visor deflected the flying chip attack. With the limestone conquered, I claimed the region by erecting the oak tree and lining the monument with cut limestone the bodies of my victims.

After

Happy Birthday Zach!

S: On behalf of Zach's 26th birthday, I would like to share some embarrassing cute photos:

Love you dear!

Nephew conquers a bear

Z: During the summer, we went to visit my cousins in Colorado and had a swell time dining, relaxing, and helping them set up a new room. One of them, Julie, was exuberantly with child and enjoying every minute of it while her husband, Jake, was there, eating. (In reality, I witnessed a loving husband serve his wife, I award him 100 man points) On July 5th, Julie entered the most joyous phase of pregnancy called labor. And the fruits of that labor came forth in the form of a new human, Mason Lanier. Technically speaking in genealogical terms, Mason and I are second cousins once removed, but until someone stops me I'm calling him my cousiphew. I haven't met him, but he's pretty cool even though he doesn't have a facebook page yet.
S: I agree, Mason is the only infant I know to have appeared on 2 separate blogs. And he's already fully prepared to handle those black bears in colorado....he'll just kill them with cutenes. Tiny Mason makes his needle felted bear look huge :) And thanks for letting Zach claim you as his cousiphew. It means a lot to an only child who's only chance at unclehood is through my nieces, who call him uncle cracker.

New niece on the way

S: My sister will be having her third girl, Shae, this October! Her first two are pictured above. Is it possible for my sister to bring any more cuteness into this world?

One great thing about having nieces is being able to make girly presents for them! My first attempt at quilting was a pink and green baby quilt for my second niece:

Last time Zach and I went to the city wide garage sale, I picked up a bunch of vintage embroidered linens with the intention of repurposing them in to something new. I chose a standard size pillow case that was embroidered with birds and a bird cage, in pinks and blues, to make a baby gift for Shae. I cut up and sewed the pillow case to make a cover for a small accent pillow and then stitched her name onto the front.
I also made Shae two pairs of baby shoes. Thanks to my friend Jennifer for the pattern!

Here is a similar pillow I made for my friend Brittnee and her baby boy Dylan.

Minnie Millery at The Book Box!

S: My needle felted animals are now being sold at The Book Box in Pflugerville! If you live nearby and are thinking about selling your old books, or buying some new ones, stop by The Book Box...and check out the local artist displays while you're there!