New Design and a little "Hey Girl...."

For the past month or so, my hands have never been entirely clean.

There's always at least a flake of paint somewhere I can't see it, or a little paint under my fingernails, around my cuticles, or rubbed into my knuckles.

My clothes don't always avoid the mess, either, and now, 

I have at least a little dollop of paint on all my pants.*

It's stenciling and outdoor project season!

Woot!

 

I've been designing a stencil for my friend Brandon, owner of  Deadbeat Records for the last few weeks, and this past weekend, we printed the first dozen t-shirts while the skies were clear.

I'm pretty happy with the results.

If you're interested in purchasing a shirt, they'll be available at the store, (114 E. 3rd Street, Moscow, ID.,)

 or for more information contact them here. 

 

Happy Hump Day!

I'm off early to attend an afternoon wedding. 

The skies here are stormy (and the ceremony has been moved indoors,)

 but rain is a sign of good luck and blessings!

I'm ready to get down and party.

*And on a relevant parting note:

source

________

HH

If I had a straw hat, I'd wear it

When I was a kid, I was pretty sure that only old people were in to gardening.

Why would I want to spend time putzing in the garden, pulling weeds and stringing up beans —  
and looking crazy doing it in high-water pants, a straw hat and gardening clogs?

Gardening just reeked of old people.
 

My mother attempted to interest me in gardening and plants and growth
 — along with get me to earn my keep around the house —
by asking for my assistance in the yard.
I had no patience for it. I was a twerp.

But now guess who wants a straw hat?
 Guess wants to tend to a garden?
This chick.
I'm all about the gardening, just as I've slowly come to accept seasonal crafts.
 

When I recently visited my parents, rather than make myself scarce when mom was working in the yard,
I begged for her to give me something to do.

"Oh, you have better things to do with your time," she said.

 
So, I just followed her around, oohing and aahing and saying,
"What's this? What's this? What's this?"

Here's a peek.
( PS: I was lucky enough to get married in this backyard. Check out more details here and here.)

I've come to accept that I've reached the age that my 12-year-old self would probably consider old.

Oh well.
What did you think of the task of gardening when you were a kid?
Did you hate it as much as a kid as I did?
Do you love it as much as I do now?

_______
HH

Why I Love the Weekend: No. 398577-78

Happy Weekend!

_______

HH

Workday Daydreams...

I'm still reeling from a wonderful weekend full of painting projects, volleyball, country drives,

dirty summer feet, wine spritzers and brunches with friends.

And, three whole days of lovely, lovely sun.

I've got the workday daydreams. Bad.

Is it the weekend again yet?

_______

HH

"Industrial" String Art

I'm loving the string art craze right now.

It's fun to see the unique versions popping up on Pinterest.

I've made a few before, (you can see one in this post,) but I wanted to have another go at it, 

and I wanted to go bigger.

I love the look of the string, but what if it more closely resembled wire to make it "industrial?" 

A few coats of metallic spray paint are just the ticket. 

What you'll need:

Wood (I used basic plywood – roughly 2-feet-by-1.5-feet)

Metallic spray paint

Small nails

String

Hammer

Scissors 

Pencil

I started this project late at night and didn't take proper how-to pictures.

(I did, however, probably wake the neighbors.)

Here's a better-than-nothing tutorial with sketches.

Start with a nice sanded, clean piece of wood.

1.
Determine your image, and trace it on the wood.

(Don't work about any trace marks — you'll paint over them soon enough.)

2.
Determine how far apart you want your nails. I went with roughly a quarter of an inch between them.

If you want things more precise, measure out each nail point with a ruler.

Now, get to town nailing! This is the most time consuming  — and loud — part of the project. 

Don't do it at 10 p.m. like I did.

3.

Tie off one end of the string to a nail at your starting point. Then, begin to weave tautly from one nail to another. There's no special trick to this, but do make sure to hit up every nail at least once. 

I found that occasionally wrapping the the string twice around a nail helps prevent slipping.

Wrap the string around the outside of the nails for a finished look.
 Knot off the string and clip the ends.

4.
Lastly, douse that puppy in spray paint.
I used Krylon metallic silver. It took several coats — and special attention to the string from all angles —
to get everything covered in paint.

And that's it!
Add some hanging hardware to the back, or lean it against the wall like I did.
I'm very happy with the end result: An industrial take on string art that's easy peasy.

 Happy crafting!

_______

HH

May Day Bouquet Bombs

No one gets hurt in this bombing process, I promise.

Instead, this is a fun, kid-friendly way to send some love to friends and family, (and maybe a few strangers who need a smile,) to celebrate the springtime saying, "April showers bring May flowers."

Collect some glass bottles. Recycling centers are a great source of bottles,

but you could find some by doing a check in your fridge for expired condiments, too.

 Decorate! We used paint pens to doodle on the bottles.

 Fill with water and flowers!

Cut small tags from card stock and tie on a note with string.

I left mine simple and anonymous: "Happy May Day!"

A cardboard six-pack beer container proved very useful to transport the bouquets. 

Now the most fun part:

 Leave the bouquet on a doorstep, ring the bell and run!

We had a great time staking out places last night and being ninjas at dusk to see who answered the door.

My favorite bomb of the night: The sweet silver haired lady I've seen around the neighborhood.

She deserved a little spring cheer.

Who will you bomb?

______

HH

Nice Legs

When I walked into the thrift store last week, I could just sense that there was something there for me.

I knew I would be taking home something big.

Has that ever happened to you?

 

In my case, it was this disgusting retro record cabinet that looked like it had fallen out of the back of a truck. It was sticky, with chipped veneer and weird stains. But it had nice legs and a hellova lot of potential.

 

$2.99. Sold.

 I worked this weekend to sand everything down.

The veneer on top was actually so thin that I was able to just sand it off with a power sander.

The bottom shelf, however, I'm going to leave alone,

sans filling the holes and making sure everything is smooth.

This thing is destined for paint.

I'd like to have a bit of fun with it, but it will also be a very functional piece of furniture, 

with records inside and probably even stored on top. 

(Back in more simple times, a record player would have been on top. However, DJ's decks -- yes, more than one -- are huge, and take up far more room than this little cabinet can supply.)

I've thought about doing a painted pattern on top (herringbone??,) though DJ suggests using resin to set in some of his favorite concert posters. 

(See how he took immediate ownership over this shelf when he found out it fits records fit perfectly inside.)

It's not a bad idea, though.

Maybe I'll go with basic black.

Maybe I'll adorn it with some interesting furniture tacks.

Maybe I'll just paint it neon pink and call it good.

What do you think?

If this was yours, what -- other than throwing it in the Dumpster -- do you envision as a final result?

_______

HH