Category Archives: Uncategorized

Update! A Cubicle Christmas

Yup, I won “most nostalgic”. I didn’t really see my design as nostalgic, but I’ll take it! My little joke is that its nostalgic for a time when polar bears weren’t in danger of losing their habitat.

Here are some of my co-workers fabulous designs.

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A Christmas tree made entirely from ribbons.

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A snowglobe with little snowmen!  I want to play with the plastic every time I walk by.

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A tree made entirely of medical supplies (from our medical department).  Those are rubber gloves, bandages, syringes, and an IV tube.

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A chalkboard Christmas card with “Merry Christmas” in several different languages.

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And our “Best in Show”, a cozy scene with a roaring fire and snow falling outside the window.

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Merry Christmas and happy decorating!

A Cubicle Christmas

Its our first annual Christmas decoration contest here in cube-land. Here’s my entry:

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It is made up of an old blue curtain with painted stars, a string of twinkle lights, a lace curtain I picked up at Goodwill, sparkly paper for the big star, and felt.

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Hello little polar bears.  See how they are enjoying their night sky?

The sliver of brown is the actual color of the cubicle wall.  Bleck.  My favorite part is the twinkle lights shining through the blue fabric.  I think it makes the whole thing work.

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The rules were that we could only decorate the outside wall of the cube, and only within a certain space.  If I’d been allowed, I would have snowflakes hanging from the ceiling.  I came up with the design before I heard the categories, which are:

  • Best in Show
  • Best Biblical Depiction
  • Best Seasonal Depiction
  • Most Creative Use of Materials
  • Most Colorful
  • Most Nostalgic

I don’t know that my piece really matches any of these, but here’s hoping for best in show.  ;-)   The winners will be announced tomorrow at our office Christmas lunch/party.  Whatever the results, I stand by my work.

Boston Fern

So in April my lovely boss gave me a Boston Fern for my birthday (she’s so sweet). It was big then, but its humongous now.  It has lived happily in the shade on the patio, but I’ve been bringing it in so it doesn’t freeze its little fronds off.

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So now it is hanging awkwardly here.  Awkward because its right at the “bonk one’s head” level.

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I wish it could live happily on the floor, but certain jungle cats like to play in and around and on top of the fern.  And it makes a mess with fern bits all over the floor.

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I’ve googled around, and according to the Internet, Boston ferns can survive the winter just fine if they are in a garage or basement.  I do have some windows in the garage and it stays pretty warm in there.  I should really divide it or re-pot it, because it must be bustin’ at the seams with roots.  The real trick is remembering to give it some water every once in a while.  I’m not so good at keeping plants alive…

p.s.  how cute is my dog?  so handsome.

p.p.s.  my blog is pink now, and much less busy.  you might have noticed.  it is not even close to permanent, but its about my skill level right now.  yay or nay?

Really?! Really.

The WordPress gremlins are hitting me again tonight.  Photos not uploading, things I write not saving.  I try to use my WordPress app on the phone, as the computer is failing me, and that freezes too.  Really?  REALLY?!  really.

I’m having some red wine and turning on Breakfast at Tiffany’s or something.  End rant.

Twelve by 2012 Challenge – Update

Its been 2 weeks since I joined in on the Twelve by 2012 challenge, in which I need to accomplish a certain number of things by December 31, 11:59 pm, 2011.  Some are specific tasks and others are more along the lines of developing a habit.  So how am I doing so far?  Bold means its in progress and Italic means I haven’t touched it or I’ve fallen off the wagon.

Andrea’s 12 by 2012:

  1. Design my own blog header/ background (this is just a pre-fab theme I’m making do with)
  2. Take better pictures with a real camera (well, point n shoot is all I got.  sorry iPhone, love ya)
  3. Learn to use Photoshop Elements program (to accomplish items 1 and 2)
  4. Launch an Etsy shop!  (I was fairly focused on this for a while, but got distracted)
  5. Run a 12 minute  mile (sad I know, right now its 15ish.  i’m a huff n puff)
  6. Post on the blog 4 times per week
  7. Clean something in my house every day (vs saving it all for the weekend)
  8. Buy a sewing machine and do at least 1 sewing project

5. So I got an icky cold and stopped the meager running I was doing, otherwise I think I might still be ok on that one (I know excuses, excuses).  Like I need an excuse to sit on my couch watching Netflix all day.

2.  I have been taking pictures with the “real camera” though I don’t know that it has made a huge difference.  The only editing I’ve done has been in the dinky program that came on Chris’s PC.  Also learned that taking photos of my bedroom is difficult due to the weird lights.

6.  I’ve been able to get a new post together 4 times a week, for better or for worse.

7.  The house cleaning has been off and on, again due to sickness, but I think I’m doing a bit more every day.  This also cuts into my “sitting on my couch” time.

I am Not going to freak out or feel like a failure.  I am going to go to Home Depot, try to evade traffic somehow, and then put on my running shoes and work on number 5. a bit.  Then I am going to work on 7.  After that I may need to sit on my couch.  7 more weeks to go!

Blogiversary – 1 month!

I started this lil blog on October 3rd and yay, 1 month later I’m still going!  Can’t believe I haven’t quit already.  =)

Only fitting that November 2nd was my blog’s biggest day ever.  You mean, the best post ever?  Actually not at all.  I wasn’t completely satisfied with my project and I didn’t even write that much.  More like thanks to the Pinterest Challenge, founded by Katie Bower.  (Last time I linked to YHL, so thought I would balance it out.)  Linking to big blogs does bring you more traffic, its true.

So – what was I saying? – it was the biggest day every because I’ve got 178 hits that day.  Which in successful blog world is nothing remotely special or important – just like my ability to run a mile in 15 minutes.  (The judge from Kenya is not impressed).  Ha.  But hey, my really slow mile and my best ever blog days are personal bests for me, so at least I can impress myself.  And that, my friends, is called personal growth.

Speaking of my first post, it was a to do list.  Let’s see how many of those things I actually got done:

- paint living room  DONE
- hide tv cords in wall  Not Done
- hang ikea shelves  DONE
- clean and stain wooden furniture  DONE
- get kitchen island  DONE
- paint kitchen stools  Not Done
- clear back corner of yard (without falling in the well)  Not Done
- string lights on the patio  DONE
- hang more stuff on the walls!  DONE
- make Halloween costume!  DONE
- DIY fabric banner for party  DONE

So 8 out of 11 isn’t too bad.  Hiding tv cords in the wall was a job for Chris, as I’m still scared to drill into the wall myself.

Wait, clearing out the backyard was sort of a Chris job too.  The biggest issue with that is figuring out what to do with the giant pile of debris in the corner.   It was here when we moved in, and we’ve added to it since.  We need to arrange pick-up so that a giant pile isn’t bugging our neighbors while it sits on the side of the street.

As for the stools, I needed to see the stain of the legs before deciding what to do with the stools.  I think I might still go for green… I’ve been sick-ish for a week, so I’ve got recover to get back into the painting and crafting zone.

Flight of Fancy

A while back I saw some white “upcycled” vintage birds for sale on Etsy  – they caught my eye in that special way. (Does the fake word upcycled bother anyone else? Just me?) By the time I got back to them, they were sold, but I searched Etsy for other plastic bird wall art from the 1970s. (If you are looking for some of these, the companies are called Burwood or Syroco.  There are probably a few other major producers too, but those search terms helped me locate them.)  Lo and behold, they were findable!

Not so bad:

Eek – super plastic.

I gave these guys a unified look with, what else, white spray paint. Then I traced each bird and made a paper doppelganger of each so I could tape them to the wall and get them arranged before putting a bunch of nails in the wall and deciding I didn’t like it.

Then I put a nail through the paper bird so that it would hang in the exact same spot.  Basically, I used this principle:

And here’s the finished product:

Oh and see those 2 paintings hiding down in the corner?  Yes, the birds are the first thing to go on our bedroom walls.  Maybe those paintings will make it up soon.

Oh I’m not using any hipster camera filters, something about the lights in my room must turn everything yellow-green.  Hmm.  Clearly I need to figure out how to white balance the point n shoot.  Anywho.

Etsy stores I purchased the birds from:  Tinted Vintage, Retro Chalet, East Tennessee Girl

Did this (hi-larious) sketch from Portlandia ruin bird decor for anyone?  It kinda did for me, but I already committed to these little guys.  And I can’t stop liking the birdies.

Don’t forget to put a bird on it!

Twelve by 2012 Challenge

What’s this?  Yet another challenge from the blogosphere?  This is a challenging place.  Danni at Oh, Hello Friend has a goals challenge and I thought maybe jumping in would keep me motivated.  In fact, I’ll start a new page to keep track of it.  Read the challenge details by clicking the banner above!

Andrea’s 12 by 2012:

  1. Design my own blog header/ background (this is just a pre-fab theme I’m making do with)
  2. Take better pictures with a real camera (well, point n shoot is all I got.  sorry iPhone, love ya)
  3. Learn to use Photoshop Elements program (to accomplish items 1 and 2)
  4. Launch an Etsy shop!  (I was fairly focused on this for a while, but got distracted)
  5. Run a 12 minute  mile (sad I know, right now its 15ish.  i’m a huff n puff)
  6. Post on the blog 4 times per week
  7. Clean something in my house every day (vs saving it all for the weekend)
  8. Buy a sewing machine and do at least 1 sewing project

Ok, I could keep going but I’m going to stop here because I feel like between starting a store and improving my baby blog (a blog that is new, not a blog about babies) I’m fully challenged.

Anybody else up for it?  Share your struggles!  Kick me in the booty!  (nicely)