Cutie Pie Nursery Pendant Lamp

This super-cute pendant lamp was made using something I bought from the dollar store and a bunch of crap I had on hand. Secrets will be revealed, after the jump!!

Thursday Miscellany: Dexter

And by "Dexter" I mean our dog, not the cable show serial killer. Although our dog was in fact named after the cable show serial killer, so I'll accept either answer. Good old Dex. This dog tries my patience like nothing else I've ever known, and I'm a person with huge patience reserves.

He lays in wait for his prey. Then he gets sleepy and has a nap.

When we were considering what sort of dog to get for our family, the most important attributes were playfulness (for the kids) and loyalty (for me). After much reading (on the part of my husband; I don't research things so much as I make rash decisions based on emotional reactions) we decided a Boxer would be ideal for us. This is an excerpt from the Boxer entry on Wikipedia:

"Boxers are a bright, energetic and playful breed and tend to be very good with children."

Well, how perfect does that sound?? Immediately after that bit, and which we somehow managed to either not read at all or immediately forget, is this:

"They are active and incredibly strong dogs and require adequate exercise to prevent boredom-associated behaviors such as chewing, digging, or licking. Boxers have earned a slight reputation of being "headstrong," which can be related to inappropriate obedience training."

Incredibly strong dogs. I cannot emphasize enough how true that is. Dexter has the strength of an ox, and he regularly outruns my husband, when my husband is on a bike.  This dog is a machine. He has eaten several pairs of my shoes, but only the expensive ones, so at least we know he has good taste. He digs in the yard like a backhoe, but only in very discreet parts of the yard, so you won't really notice it until you step in one of his holes and snap an ankle. He also goes completely deaf when he gets excited, so all those commands you spend hours teaching him will be rendered useless the exact moment you really need to use them.

The Boxer sites also fail to mention that they REALLY
like to stick their faces in your face. Like, a LOT.

Also, and I don't know how this isn't the first thing all those Boxer websites mention, Boxers are GOOFY. And I don't mean in an adorable way. I mean that if you spend twenty minutes watching a Boxer interact with anyone or anything, you will raise an eyebrow and declare that this dog ain't right.  Dexter does things that not only don't make any dang sense, but also make him look like a special kind of idiot. ALL THE TIME.

In fact, my sister emailed this gif to me recently, with a message that if we had stairs at our house THIS IS WHAT DEXTER WOULD DO:

Because he's so weird and everyone knows it. And so are ALL THE BOXERS. And yet, we've never even considered trying to find him a new home. Because he loves our kids SO MUCH, and they love him.

So. I guess we'll keep the little monster. Before you professional dog trainers tell me that it's our fault he's such a space-cadet, trust me when I tell you I KNOW it's our fault. Consistency is key, and we don't really provide much. We've tried some obedience methods with limited success, and we're currently trying another system that promises super-ultra-maxi results. If it works, I'll link it here for anyone else with a "special" dog.

Until then, I've bought a shoe rack that he can't reach.

Side Table Redo

 I'm pretty happy about this week's project. It turned out just as I'd hoped, which is almost unheard of for me. This little side table used to look like this:

 Lovely bones, but a bit on the... homely side. She just needed a little makeover. Tutorial after the jump!

DIY Retro Patio Sign: Part 2

Last week I made a retro sunglasses cafe sign, and now I'm posting the follow-up:

Instructables after the jump!

Miscellany

mis·cel·la·ny

ɪsəˌleɪni; Brit. mɪˈsɛləni/ Show Spelled[mis-uh-ley-nee; Brit. mi-sel-uh-nee]

–noun, plural -nies.

1. a collection or group of various or somewhat unrelated items.

So I've been thinking lately that there are things I'd like to say here that are unrelated to DIYing and crafting. Personal things. Opinions, thoughts, and other assorted crap. But I don't want to overrun the blog proper with my blah blah blahing.

To this end, I've decided to take one day a week, Thursdays to be specific, and post whatever is on my mind. I apologize in advance, because this is probably going to end up being mostly lame. Fortunately it'll only happen once a week, or until I get distracted and forget about it.

Lately I've been thinking about gardens. It's the predominant focus of my projects lately, and there's more where that came from. My mom and I went to a local nursery recently, called Crickelwood, and it blew my mind. It's the coolest place ever. The weird thing is I had no idea it existed. I think most people in my town are probably unaware it exists. I've driven past it dozens of times on the way to my dentist's office and I never noticed it.

Suddenly I need a blue door.

It's called the Secret Garden by those who work there, and until now, I guess the secret was pretty safe. It's barely noticeable from the street, even when you know where it is. Once you enter through the front gate, all tucked away underneath purple bouganvillea, it's like you're in another world.

Pictured: so many things that I NEED.

Like, I want to live there. Everything is green and cool and beautiful. If I could relocate every part of Crickelwood into my own yard, you best believe I would. As it is, I can only hope that the beauty I found there will somehow, in some tiny, fractional way, transcend my clumsy attempts at recreating it and that I'll be able to reproduce some of the charm of this place.

Odds are slim. But as ever, I won't let that stop me.

Do you see that bench? I need to read a book there.
By the way, that green frame is like, five feet tall.

 I mean, seriously, why can't I have this?? You know, aside from the labor, expense, and time it took to build it from scratch. Is there a Crickelwood in your area? Or rather, is it there, but you've never noticed it?

DIY Retro Patio Sign

Sooo, I was noticing that we've got this jigsaw in the garage. And loads of leftover plywood. And I've always got several cans of spraypaint laying around. I put it all together and had an idea.

See how it came together after the jump!

DIY Potting Bench

This is how I spent my 4th of July weekend!

Well, not the WHOLE weekend, just a few hours. I also spent a goodly amount of time eating corn on the cob and watermelon. And I admit, I DID spend the lion's share of my time in the pool, squirting my kids in their faces with a Super Soaker until they banded together like Voltron and flipped my floating lounge chair over.

I think we can all agree, that's how the Founding Fathers would have wanted it.

It was a great weekend.

And here we are now!! Together again. Any Monday that finds me staring fondly at something I made despite my criminal lack of formal training with power tools is a good Monday. I made this. I love saying that.

Make one with me, after the jump!!