No one likes free stuff..

Do they?

Yesterday, in the post about my gallery wall, I shared this beauty with you –

I purchased my print from HoneyLikeHoney on Etsy several months ago. Not only did it arrive quickly and in perfect condition, but I am in love with it.

I would sleep with it.. that is, if Grown Ass Man would let me it didn’t look so perfect on my gallery wall.

HoneyLikeHoney has dozens of other amazing prints available. They are all available in a 4×6, 5×7, 8×10, 11×14, 12×18, 16×20, or 20×30. The prints are also very affordable. Here are a few of my favorites..

I hope by now you have checked out HoneyLikeHoney‘s Etsy shop and picked out your favorites, because today she is giving away an 8×10 print of your choice! Here’s the deets –

• PRIZE: 8×10 print of choice ($15 value) from HoneyLikeHoney
• TO ENTER: Comment on this post with the words “I LOVE HONEY” and…
• BONUS QUESTION (optional): … tell me your favorite print from HoneyLikeHoney‘s Etsy shop.
• FOR ADDITIONAL ENTRIES: Tweet me about this giveaway or favorite HoneyLikeHoney, then come back and leave me another comment to let me know!
• GIVEAWAY CLOSES: Thursday, September 15th at 6pm CST
• NUMBER OF WINNERS: One
• PRIZE SHIPS: USA
• USUAL STUFF:  The winner will be selected using random.org and announced on Friday. Winner has 3 days to claim their prize.

GOOD LUCK!!

To the Window, to the Wall

This post is probably not about what you think it’s about right now. There is no dripping or bitches crawling involved.

Well.. maybe a little crawling.

This post is about one of my favorite things in The Shobe Abode. Can you guess?

It’s definitely not the 3 inches 4 inches of dog fur coating every surface. As I typed this, The Dog contributed a new layer around me.

And it isn’t the future office that is currently full of foam, vinyl, a stray recliner, and maybe a kitchen sink or two.

It is this beautiful gallery wall in the living room. (Please ignore the wall color. Apparently, ‘Sautéed Mushroom’ reads more ‘Shit Stained Underwear’ in pictures).

I love this gallery wall.

I love this gallery wall from all different angles.

As you can see, the right side is a little heavier than the left. I’m totally okay with that because this wall is completely incomplete. I’m just adding as I go.

A lot of gallery walls I have seen were completely planned out and everything placed at one time.. People make templates out of cardstock or magazine paper and then put up their frames.

Not me. I went rogue.

I started with the big mirror in the center.. which was actually brown. Just like a lot of these frames. I didn’t need brown frames anymore, so I painted them white to keep cost down. And to avoid Target. Because once you get me started, I can’t stop.

Then I just started eyeballing, nailing, and placing outwards on the right side.

Oh, the glare. Raise your hand if you aren’t a photographer.

Anyway, as you can see, everything on the wall has a personal meaning to us.

You can see our wedding photo, The Boy’s ‘First Visit’ pin from Disney World, a tiny personalized book that my aunt wrote when I was little, a western styled photo from our honeymoon in June 2005, a Beatles inspired canvas I made with some paint and cardstock scraps, a photo from this year’s Mari Masquers (Mardi Gras masquerade ball), a music note, The Boy’s silhouette that I made, a photo from our first cruise together in 2008, and a family shot from a photo booth at Chuckie Cheese!

Some things will stay, some are place holders until I find something I like more. I’ve already swapped out a few things. Call me indecisive.

After the right side, I added a few things above the mirror. Backing up to this shot..

On the left is a photo of my grandmother and one of her younger brothers. On the right is another shot from Mari Masquers.. We rocked Rocky Horror Picture Show costumes and danced to the Time Warp, of course. Grown Ass Man was Dr. Frankenfurter, which was priceless. I would share some pictures but then he might decapitate me in my sleep.

The golden retriever print was painted by Ron Krajewski. Here is his eBay store.. and here is his Etsy shop. He does personalized prints and has a variety of other prints available for very affordable prices.

Moving on the left side, where I again worked my way outwards.

I could have sworn I got a better shot of this.

As much as I would just love to get off my butt, take another thousand shots before getting a halfway decent one, and then wait another hour to upload it.. the pure laziness in me is winning out.

You can almost see a family photo (plus Donald Duck) from Disney World, right next to the mirror. There is also an iconic shot of my Dad, his old motorcycle tag, a photo from one of our romantic Melting Pot dinners,  and a hand painted tile from Mexico.

 

This print, is from Lollieland Designs on Etsy. You will not regret clicking that link. I want one of everything in her shop.

Not only is it personalized to represent our family, but I love that elephants symbolize strength and good luck. And are they not so cute holding each other’s tails? 

This cute die-cut firefighter is from BeasPeasBags on Etsy.

Her shop is empty right now, but hopefully it will be full of more adorable things soon!

And last, but absolutely not least, is this print of a map featuring my hometown. This is really one of my favorite things on the wall.

I was SO happy to display this 4×6 from HoneyLikeHoney on Etsy. She has some great prints that you REALLY should check out because she has something extra special for you tomorrow!

Also, this print is not blown out. It’s my poor photography skills. I think I need classes should quit altogether. You can see the real thing in all of it’s photogenic glory right here.

That’s all for now, gallery wall lovers. What do you think? Should my next move be a big, white ‘S’ on top of the elephants (boy, does that sound dirty..)? Should I paint my walls something less poo colored? Did you check out HoneyLikeHoney‘s shop yet?

LOST

I have a special post about one of my favorite parts of The Shobe Abode coming soon! But until then..

I love Elizabeth Banks. Not only is she a fantastic actress, but she is smoking hot! I was very happy to stumble across her blog and find this hilarious gem. I giggled the whole time I read this. It even got a few laughs from Grown Ass Man, which is a rare sighting.

So go check out that linky link and laugh your behinds off until I get motivated to give you some eye candy!

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride

I have something very important to announce.

I’ve found my purpose in life.

I’m starting an amusement park for amphibians.

It all began yesterday afternoon.. we were cleaning the yard up a bit. A tiny bit. You would understand what I mean by a tiny bit if I had taken before and after pictures. And if you could see the rest of the jungle yard. It’s a little like Jurassic Park out there, but without the dinosaurs.. I hope. I mean, The Dog always makes it back inside, so that’s a good sign.

Grown Ass Man has a habit of leaving things outside. Small things, big things, important things, any thing! So by the back door was a mound of shoes. I threw a couple old pairs away and grabbed one pair to throw in the washer. It was a particularly filthy pair, from pig farming and sewer inspecting or whatever he does to get so dirty all the time.

Since the shoes were so gross, I just kinda dangled them from one finger and threw them in the washer. No beating or shaking involved. This, kids, is what we call foreshadowing.

Fast forward to last night.. time to take the shoes out to dry. I pulled out the first shoe and then glanced in the washer to locate the second shoe. Which is when I saw something that looked like a big glob of leaves and dirt. Fortunately, I decided to switch the light on before reaching down in there to pull out this alleged glob of leaves and dirt. Unfortunately, now that the light was on, I had to silently freak out and slam the lid shut.

I know it’s not like the BIG HUGE TOAD THAT WAS IN MY WASHING MACHINE THAT I WASH MY UNDERWEAR IN could just leap out of the washer.. especially since I just put him through the heavy-duty cycle. But it made me feel better to have that extra layer between us.

Upon further investigation, Grown Ass Man discovered that there was also a lizard that had snuck past the admission gate. I am happy regret to inform you that he didn’t make it.

As of 8 o’clock last night, Mr. Toad was in critical condition. He was last seen getting the hell away from our house. I don’t think he will be returning for another ride.

Porch Envy

So Tropical Storm Lee is long gone. Unfortunately, he took the rain with him. He did leave us with some pretty amazing fall weather, though.

It’s got me in the mood for fall decorating! And for one other thing..

You see, I have a secret. Can you keep it?

I’m insanely jealous of my mother-in-law. She has 4 kids, 3 of which are married and 1 with a fiance in Afghanistan. Plus 2 grandkids. She also has 3 siblings, who have a total of 12 children. Plus their husbands, fiances, and children. Are you doing the math? Me either.

I’m jealous because she has this amazing screened in back porch with fans, a swing, a rocking chair, and some patio furniture. There is always an assortment of family and friends just relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. As my brother-in-law says, ‘Its a gathering place.’

Monday night, it was cool and breezy.. perfect weather. Some of us had dinner on this porch. Others got their hair cut on this porch. The kids sword fought on this porch. We rocked a baby to sleep on this porch. We gossiped on this porch. We drank wine on this porch. We didn’t want to leave this porch.

If Toby Keith knew better, he would have wrote a song about this porch instead of some silly bar. Although, they are similar in that they have dim lighting and can be pretty smokey.

I WANT THAT BACK PORCH. I would like to teleport it to my back yard. But then she wouldn’t have one and visiting there would be so strange. We would be forced to sit inside and watch television cry for the beloved porch! There are times when I go to her house and do not even step foot in the living room.. I like it that way.

So today, more than ever, I’m in the mood for planning my back porch. Enter Pinterest, stage left.

Love this day bed and flowing curtains.. and the ceiling, I want it in my entire house!

So fresh and welcoming..

I want NEED this table. And chandelier.

How amazing is this?! A HUGE tub and drop down screens!

And last but definitely not least.. this furniture is perfect for my imaginary back porch. I have seen a lot of pallet furniture lately and it looks like this could be done with pallets. If I knew anything about woodworking, of course.

I guess that’s enough dreaming for today. Anyone else wishing they had a back porch to lounge on? What about pallet furniture? Do you think it’s worth a shot?

Gift Horse

I’m going to make this a quick post because I have Bunco tonight! Nothing better than going to someone else’s house, eating a delicious meal, and possibly winning a prize. Except for eating the delicious meal and actually winning a prize.

So I already talked about the travel wipe case I fancied up for baby Makenzie, here. To finish up her gift, I got started on a couple pacifier clips.

Every posh baby needs one. Especially since the alternative is the paci being spit out from record heights, hurled through a busy restaurant, or fed to the family pet. Then you, as a parent, must hunt down this disposed of paci once you realize OH NO IT’S THE LAST ONE!

Heaven forbid you are outdoors or somewhere with no running water because then you have to stick the dirty paci in your mouth to clean it before returning it to baby’s precious mouth. Don’t cringe. We’ve all done it. If you haven’t, I’d like to meet you so you can try and lie to my face.

Anyway, here are my supplies.. scissors, mitten clips, some round cord elastic, and the ribbon I chose. Not pictured is Senor Glue Gun. He was still hot and ready from the wipe case. I didn’t want to disturb him.

First, I cut about 15 in of my ribbon. But then I decided I wanted it to be more like 13 in so I clipped some more. Easy enough. I looped one end around a mitten clip, and hot glued it there.

There was little bit of a gap so I glued in there, too. Senor Glue Gun was very happy.

Then I cut about 3 in of elastic and glued it into a loop, with ends overlapping, like so..

Stick that elastic in a second loop at the bottom of your ribbon, and glue!

And you have the finished product!

I also made a clip with the football ribbon. I love that there are millions of cute ribbons to choose from!

To finish off the gift, I added a super cute sling from Seven Slings. The print is called Supernova.. This is the adorable picture from their website..

I wrapped it all up with some pink ribbon, stuck on a tag made from scrapbook paper, and took a picture with a VERY bright flash.

So sorry if you are blind now. Guess I need to work on that.

I hope that Makenzie enjoys her gifts as much as I enjoyed them. I can’t wait to see her cuddled up in her cozy sling!

Has anyone else ever used a sling like this? What do you think? Are any of you going to claim that you’ve never cleaned a paci with your own mouth?

All the Small Things

As I mentioned in my last post, my cousin’s baby shower for sweet little Makenzie (who isn’t due until October, I’m just sure she will be sweet because she’s related to me) was Sunday. It was a great time, with yummy food and slightly neurotic family members.

There is apparently something in the water down here in Alabama. Or maybe it’s in the tequila, I don’t know. Every time I turn around, someone else is pregnant. I’ve almost perfected my baby shower gifts. Maybe I need to send Jose Cuervo a thank you note.

I realize that a fancy travel wipe case and pacifier clips aren’t exactly necessities. But honestly, neither are baby tubs and tiny washcloths. Things just happen to be a lot cuter when they are miniature.

After I watched Alabama beat the hell out of Kent State on Saturday, I got to work on Makenzie’s gifts.

First, I gathered my materials. Obviously, you could choose whatever wine you prefer. It must be wine though, because we don’t tolerate pansies here. My glass is one of my Gran’s old winter wine glasses.. Not because I love winter, but because I broke all of my normal wine glasses. Imagine that.

I needed pretzels. I kept the bag handy.. wine hard work makes me hungry. As you can see, I have to do all my crafting at the kitchen table until we get to work on our office and Grown Ass Man builds me a fancy desk.

I used some cute polka dot material I had on hand, with some thick brown braid. Other than that, I only needed a Pampers travel wipe case, scissors, and hot glue.

Then I just roughly cut out the pattern of the case, adding a little space to turn the fabric under while glueing. This leaves a nicer “seam”. I did this for each side of the case. And I obviously didn’t try to make it pretty.

After a quick wine/pretzel refill (don’t judge me), I ironed the 2 pieces of fabric. Ignore my ugly ironing board. You would think that as seldom as it gets used, it wouldn’t look so skanky.

Next, I glued each piece of fabric to the case, folding the edges over a bit as I went.

At the corners, I just did a little gift wrap ish deal. Except hot glue is a lot more painful than scotch tape.

The best thing  completely pointless thing about hot glue is the little glue poo it makes.

If you are anything like me, at this point you start to get a little distracted.. what, with the glue poo and all. It helps if you have a half-naked little man reading to you. He must be allergic to clothes.

It was all very endearing until he pulled out the Lego Star Wars Dictionary and proceeded to list at least a million dollars worth of Legos that he MUST HAVE FOR CHRISTMAS OR THE WORLD MIGHT IMPLODE. But he isn’t dramatic or anything.

This is the point where I remembered that I should be glueing with the case open so it doesn’t get glued shut. A few minutes and a razor blade later, we were back in business.

I glued the brown braid to the bottom side of the case only, but as far up as possible so it covered the closure nicely. At the front, near the clasp, I just glued the braid under it. Then I did a little strip of braid across the top of the case because I thought it was cute.

To keep the ends of the braid from fraying, I dabbed them gently with a lit match. As if I didn’t burn myself enough with the glue gun.

So there you have it, a complete fancy nancy travel wipe case.

Tomorrow, I will be back with how I made the rest of Makenzie’s present and the finished package! I’ll also be back to cleaning up The Dog’s fur, since I completely slacked off this weekend due to football, gift making, and this awesome Seattle-esque rain.

What do you guys think? Love it or think its awkward? Do you have a go-to baby shower gift?

Fur is the Enemy

(No, this is not some crazy PETA post. Just bear with me, soon all will be clear..)

I registered this blog name less than a week ago and I’ve already found myself questioning why I need a blog. Don’t I have enough to do??

Maybe not. My only child just started kindergarten. I don’t have a real job. The online classes I’m taking give me just enough work to get me through about, oh.. noon on Monday mornings.

So what do I do with the rest of my time?

(Silence)

(Crickets chirping)

Seriously though.. I own a home, it comes with a YARD.. and rooms with floors and shit. I have a 5-year-old boy who likes to line every surface with Pop Tart crumbs and snot. And a grown ass man who leaves a trail of “just in case” clothes from the bed to the back door. I’m also pretty sure that they sometimes always forget where our trash can is located. Not to mention the 80 lb golden retriever that sheds enough to make coats for ALL of those poor, freezing Inuits.

Lately, my days go as follows:

• Sweep
• Open wine
• Vacuum
• Cuss at The Dog for filling up said vacuum
• Have a drink
• Empty vacuum canister
• Yell at The Dog for scratching another 10 lbs of fur onto the rug I just vacuumed
• Drink some more
• Re-vacuum rug
• Realize there is more fur in the bedrooms that The Dog isn’t even allowed in
• Silently weep in the corner, clutching my half empty bottle

Hopefully by now, Grown Ass Man is feeling sorry enough for me and will head to Best Buy for a Roomba. Or wherever you get those mechanical miracles.

Once I’m united with Mr. Roomba, I can fill my days with more meaningful things, like rainbows and unicorns crafting, organizing, and rearranging furniture 28 times before deciding I liked it the way it was.

For today, I’m going to let the fur reign the Shobe Abode. We will just pray the floors don’t collapse and the ceilings don’t explode. I’ll be busy watching football and making some baby shower gifts for my cousin, who has a sweet baby girl due in October. So stay tuned for the next post, full of baby gift tutorials!

What does everyone else do about pet hair build-up? Did I miss some major memo about this? Should I give in and shave The Dog?