Monday. Phhhhht!

Coolest Clock E-VER!

So, one of my besties had a birthday back at the beginning of December.  We both love making stuff, so I thought to myself, "Self, why not give her something we can make together.  Hmmm. . ."  I had to think of something we could make.  Ok, her bedroom is black, white, and pink.  (Love that color scheme!)  Her favorite things in the world are her four animals.  She could use a great big clock b/c she's always late.  (Heh. . . heh!  Don't hit me, Sam!  It hurts!)  And the idea was born. . .

I designed the clock, and bought all the necessary parts.  Except for the most important piece: the wood.  My favorite daddy in the whole wide world gave me a piece.  And cut it for me.  Twice.  But we won't go there right now.  Here it is all finished.  What do you think?

(Honestly, I don't care what you think.  I love it!)  ;)

I decided to make each corner of the clock a corner for each of the animals.  I put their names and a whole bunch of words describing each pet into Microsoft word, and played around with the fonts and text sizes.  It only took 4 days!  The girls are in opposite corners on two different pink papers, and the boys are in the other two corners on black and white papers.  I printed the boys' names and descriptive words on pink card stock so it would stand out against the black and white paper.  The girls' names and descriptive words were printed on white card stock.  (I thought the pink would get lost on the pink paper.  I would have liked to have done white font on black paper, but I wasn't sure how to do that.)

Here goes:

First, I asked my dad oh-so-sweetly to cut a piece of wood for me.  He has a stash of 3/4 in. plywood that worked quite nicely for our purposes.  He also drilled a hole for me.  He's the best.  He did it twice for me.  I won't say why b/c it was my fault.

We primed the wooden letters (that we found at Hobby Lobby quite by accident), the board, and four wooden cabinet knobs that we used as feet on the back b/c the clock mechanism stands away from the board.  We spray painted all the wooden parts a glossy black.

We spray painted the clock hands the Raspberry color.  I'm not sure they stand out enough, so we might have to repaint them a glossy black, too.

Then we modpodged the four papers to the board.  We used wood glue to glue the wooden letters in their places so we could get the words placed correctly around them.  We modpodged the words after that.

 Glue is still wet.

Just trying to get an idea for the placement.  These words go on the top squares.

We sealed all the words with a final coat of modpodge.  After that was all done, all that was left was the feather boa and the clock hands and mechanism.  We used Fabritac to adhere the feather boa around the clock. Lemme tell ya!  Gluing a feather boa to something ain't easy!  Sheesh.  I hope I never have to do that again!  We also used a staple gun on in.  The clock hands and mechanism were easy.  We used wood glue for the cabinet knobs/feet thingies (of which I do not have a picture).

It's pretty big.  The board is 18" x 18", and the boa adds a few inches to either side.  I think it's adorable, though!

I'm going to make myself one using the first board my dad cut for me.  But much different.  And without the boa.

Changes

So, if you've happened to stop by recently, you may have noticed a few changes to the look of my blog.  I had to change the background b/c the website I got it from doesn't have it anymore.  I couldn't find another one I liked that was similar, so I decided to change the whole shebang.

Please be patient.  I'm very picky!

**UPDATE (at 2:48 PM, two days later):  I'm done!  What do you think?  Now I need to work on my Jewelry Blog!  Yikes!  I don't think I'll need to completely overhaul that one, though.  At least, I sure hope not!  Also, I still might change the background here.  I'm still not completely happy with it.  :(

LOVE Modcloth.com!

If I had enough money, I would probably buy most of my clothes from modcloth.com!  I mean, really, how can you not love this dress:

Or this one:

I especially love this one:

I heart RED:

Hows'bout this bright yellow sweater to brighten up a dreary winter's day?

I like this shirt, too:

 oooOOOOOooooo!

*sigh* Maybe in the next life.

I dunno, though.  I doubt that I could spend that much money on clothes, even if I had all the money I could possibly want.  I got really excited the other day when I bought a shirt at Khol's for $3!

Warm Christmases are the best!

I know, I know.  Most people want a WHITE Christmas!!  Not me!  No sir!  When I lived in Africa, we went swimming on Christmas Day.  That was our tradition--and I LOVED it!

I am definitely a warm weather person, and it has been gorgeous this week!  High 70's/low 80's.  I'm lovin' it!  I hope it stays this warm through Christmas.  It looks like it's supposed to get cooler towards the end of the week, but you never know!

Even though I have been known to partake in a cup of hot chocolate while curled up in front of a roaring fire, it's more fun to go outside when you don't have to wear an entire closet's worth of clothing, 6 sweaters, and 3 coats all topped off with 4 blankets.

Here's hoping!

You have given life to me. . .

I will serve thee
Because I love thee
You have given life to me
I was nothing
Until you found me
You have given life to me

Heartaches, broken pieces
Ruined lives are why you died on Calvary
Your touch, was what I longed for
You have given life to me

I will serve thee
Because I love thee
You have given life to me
I was nothing
Until you found me
You have given life to me

A blessing - or is it a curse?