It's the little things.

I'm in love with Etsy these days.  If only I could purchase everything there.  In recent weeks, I've purchased birthday gifts for two friends and a little something for ourselves.

This little package arrived on Saturday.  I love it.  I love that we have one.  Having one means we don't plan to move.  Ever.  (Remember, I have had 8 MN addresses since I moved here 4 1/2 years ago).

Yes, it's a return address stamp.  But it's so much more than that.  Trust me.  I opted for a royal blue ink pad to switch things up a bit but not totally piss off the Post Office.  [The stamp came from this Etsy shop.]

And not to worry--our address and last name are clear.  I just don't need any stalkers, so I used the smudge tool to full extent, thanks to Photoshop Elements (ie my new time-suck).

Since one of my goals of my 27th year is to send more letters, this little guy is sure to motivate me that much further.

Like I said, it's all about the little things.  That, and the fact that my husband cleaned out and scrubbed our fridge earlier tonight.  Ah, true love.

DIY: Whiteboard door

While I'm in project drought here, I thought I'd share a project of yore:  aka, late summer of 2010.  I have fond memories of being so warm while working on this project as I am currently miserable with our high today of zero.

Even before the house was technically "ours" I designated this as one of my first projects (along with the chalkboard window).  I was inspired by this post, which is also the source for the chalkboard project.

So, following the above-mentioned blogger's instructions, we scoured Menard's for shower board, but were out of luck.  Not ones to give up, we gravitated towards the office section of Menard's (p.s. they sell just about everything there these days).  We wound up with a $10 sale price mega whiteboard.  It was framed and ready to hang, but since we wanted to put this on the back of a door, I really only wanted the whiteboard part.

I deconstructed.  And apparently lost those photos in the time that has passed.  Basically I unscrewed and tore apart the metal frame, which gave way to the board part and a large cardboard backing.  The cardboard has been used several times over as a "drop cloth" for indoor furniture painting and I discarded the frame pieces.  Because the board was wider than our door, I simply used a wire cutting tool (same one pictured in the mouse-capades tool shot).  I used the supplied 3M sticky mounts and tacked it to the back of our door.

Super simple project!

We selected the back side of the door in our kitchen that leads to our basement.  It has great functionality--and even better, since we bought a whiteboard, rather than the shower material, we lucked out with a magnetic whiteboard, so in addition to leaving notes we can house coupons, multiple photos of ourselves, panda magnets, the usual.

And it's totally out of the way, so most people that would pass through our kitchen don't notice the clutter. 

All the while...

...this bad boy of stainless steel remains completely clutter free!  Except for the "really important notes" and a grocery list pad of paper.

Ta-da!  I've got loads of other projects I want to work on, so perhaps someday, when we warm up to 4, maybe even 5 degrees, I'll find some motivation again.  Until then, I'll be hugging the radiators.

Mouse-proofing.

Okay, so the first few days of my year (aka: the start of my golden year, though technically the last few days of 2010) got off to a rough start.  There was a computer virus (cured!) and then there were mice...still not cured.  Nothing says "welcome back" like dead mice.  In the drawer.  Gross, I know.  Apparently they did not read my letter.

So I Googled.  And the first hit was none other than a DIY website that led me to this handy little guide:  Rodent Proofing your Residence.  I've learned far too many facts about these cunning little creatures, and, to make matters worse, Louis read that this winter has led to a higher home invasion of the pests because they are making use of the tall snow piles to enter places they might not have been able to reach.  I am both impressed and disgusted.

With guide in hand, we hit the hardware store.

Our loot:  caulk and caulk gun, steel wool, and hardware cloth.

I caulked.  (And was pleased to add a new "gun" to my collection.)

And caulked some more, filling in every tiny hole or gap I could find.  I went outside and did the same, creating a strip around the bottom perimeter of our basement windows.

It was a balmy day in the high 30s!  Louis takes shoveling credit for allowing me to get to this vent, which I then fashioned to fit a cover made out of the hardware cloth.

Seeing how the mice mostly "hung out" (ie left their droppings) in our drawers on either side of the sink, it seems that this HUGE, gaping hole under the sink could have been our problem.

Our not-so-pretty, but hopefully "the fix" end result.  I cut a piece of hardware cloth large enough to cover the hole, snipping single lines and small holes so it would fit around the pipes.  I jammed plenty of steel wool behind and piped more caulk to secure the wire mesh.  And no, that's not a tea bag, it's a peppermint sachet added only recently (get the hint, mice!).  They also steer clear of peppermint, we've been told.

While we've noticed fewer signs (likely because there are fewer mice), it seems we're not totally rid of the pests, but we've blocked them completely from entering our drawers and dancing atop our silverware at night.  I'd love them gone entirely, but now it's up to our trap-setting skills to catch the last of them!  Winter, and it's multi-snowstorms can end at any point so we can mouse-proof the outside in the spring.  As Kevin McAllister said, "Next time those guys come back, I'll be prepared.  This is my [our] house, and I have to defend it!"

A golden start.

My birthday was three weeks ago.  Better late than never to recap, though, and then I'll get back to regularly-scheduled programming (house projects!).

I may or may not have made a big deal out of this year's birthday.  It just happened to be my golden birthday, something I'd been looking forward to ever since learning what a golden birthday meant.  It did not disappoint!

Louis surprised me with a forever gift (meaning, if I ever do outgrow this gift, it will be quite a while before I do):  my new camera! (As seen here).  The Canon Rebel and I are becoming best of friends. :)  And my parents helped trick it out with a gigantic lens, memory card, etc.

There was pin-the-tail-on-the-panda handcrafted by my sister.

"Your turn, Louis!"

 I can't remember the last time I spun around five times in a row.

And guess who had the green tail? :)

The evening was rounded out with my family embarrassing me out to dinner when the staff sang, clapped, and had an old-timey horn.  Nice.  And we made it back in time to catch American Pickers.  The celebration didn't technically stop there as I was also "surprised" last weekend by Louis who assembled my friends for a birthday dinner.  It's going to be a great year!

The best Christmas present ever.

Merry belated Christmas from hoHub!  While Louis and I were home for Christmas Eve, we hit the road early on Christmas morning en route to Iowa.

To kick things off, here is a photo from yore.  What a cheeseball.  Just look how excited I am for that dustbuster!  Check out the burned photo strip image on the side, too.  Oh, the 90s...

Well, the 90s dustbuster met its match of the 2010 shop vac!  I don't have a photo of that.  With three cameras clicking, the only shots I have to share here are from Louis' iphone.

We got into town in the afternoon.  Christmas was relocated for the first time ever from the living room to the family room due to new furniture.

Louis got some new Lego's!  (And forgot some of them in IA!  Dear family:  please send the alien and chopper up north!)

And I was sleepy from the drive, so I took a rest on my sister's new panda pillow pet.

We were totally spoiled with gifts.  And my sisters, the present-wrappers this year, held off on one package for me, labeled "open last".  They said it was my best gift and oh boy, were they right!

Pajamas!!

Not just any pajamas.

Anyone who owned the Molly American Girl doll should know what I'm talking about.  I got Molly for Christmas in 1992 from my grandparents.  I was two days shy of nine.  It was one of those synchronized, open-your-present-at-the-exact-same-time-as-your-cousin-because-you-got-the-same-thing moments.  And in 1993, I got a sister named Molly.  But I digress from the pajamas.

These were Molly McIntire's pjs and for as much as I wanted them (and yes, they totally market dress-like-your-doll child size clothes) I never got them.

I think about them almost every winter.  And I may or may not have spent over two hours scouring the Internet in search of similar pjs not too long ago.  Apparently so did my mom!

She hoped they were the right size...

And then I took it a step further...

They fit!  (Over my clothes, at least). :) 

Ah Christmas, I miss you already! :(

The next day my sister was flipping channels and Sarah Palin's show came on...I was completely mesmerized.

See?

Nice shot of my snowgirl stocking in the background!

That's all.  More later on the second greatest--nay--greatest day of the year:  my golden b-day!

Molly Mcintyre images from here.  Where else?

Cookies, crafts, and Christmas!

Since I took much of this last week off from pretty much everything (besides sleeping, eating, and lounging) I'm well behind on my Christmas updates and here we are in the new year. 

First, the cookies.  Oh boy were there cookies!

I made all five types of cookies, as promised, and truffles (you'll want this recipe), to boot!  I may have gone overboard.

And now that the gifts have all been given, my Christmas crafts can be revealed.

Fabric flower rosette necklaces and headbands for my sisters and a friend.  I logged many hours with my glue gun on these--and started them back in October!

Glass etching of the Eiffel Tower.

Glass etching with a homemade stencil xacto-knife cut from contact paper in progress...

Which landed on one of these jars, which was filled with hot cocoa mix, printed instructions tag, and (my favorite) cinnamon sticks.  I'll eventually do a more in-depth glass etching how-to post (or link to others whose instructions inspired me).

There was also a bulletin board project, of which this is the only photo I took before giving it away.

And more bunting...because, why not?

Whew, no wonder I've been lazy this past week!

Adios, 2010!

2010 was pretty great, and I'm sad to see it go.  After all, it was the year of marrying my spouse...

And purchasing our house!

Even so, I think 2011 will be pretty great, too.  I don't make resolutions, but since this is my golden year, (um, hello, you didn't think my golden b-day would be celebrated for just a day, did you?) I'm hopeful for lots of exciting new adventures for the year ahead.  Many of them start with the letter P (think again if you want one of them to be pregnant).  Some of them look like this:

Photography!  Louis bought me this amazing new camera for my birthday, so while I nary expect to become an expert, I am excited to practice and learn a new skill.

Um, close your eyes now and imagine a cute picture of a puppy here (yay, puppy!).  There would be a cute google image inserted here, but the Internet is sick and already spread one virus to my computer this week and nearly just threatened it with another, so just use your imagination. ;)

Anyway, onto our NYE celebration.  I would be totally content sitting on the couch, waiting for the ball to drop, and going to bed at 12:02am, but...thanks to friends, I got off the couch and was out until 2am.  TWO am!

We rocked the evening in style, getting our bowl on, enjoying goofy hats and noisemakers, a champagne toast at midnight, and live music (until the last heavy metal group sent us home with bleeding ears).

Cheers to two-thousand-eleven!