Making a Customized Picture Frame

how to make a personalized picture frame

Most people, like it or not, will get a homemade craft from me at some point. I love giving birthday presents! If you’re in a pinch to make a friend a fun birthday gift too, this might be a neat idea for you.

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Guest Bathroom: Paint Job

New Paint Smell header

Painting

There’s just nothing like that new paint smell. Ahhhh. I hate the new car smell, but paint I can handle. We painted the main-level bathroom. We felt like this was just the thing the room needed. Something inside me said, “Silver.” And so it was. I have an unusual infatuation with the color gray. I wanted to find just the right one and ended on this Pittsburg version called “Antique Silver.” Come have a look!

Paint Swatch Sample gray

Much deliberation took place. Actually, we just looked at the options and went with our gut. Joe was worried that it wouldn’t match the brown hardware and counter, but this particular shade of silver had some brown tones to it.

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Winter Fun 2015

winter st. paul Minnesota

All things considered, I think it’s been a pretty fun and eventful winter so far! I’m 100% happy with being in MN for the season. (I’ll get back to you around March). I’m equally thankful we don’t live on the east coast right now! So Minnesota isn’t really so bad. In fact, MN is the best kept secret in the US. This article pretty much sums up what we already know.

Anyway, we’ve been out and about these last couple weekends exploring MN and WI and have many adventures to share.

Fishing

Joe won an all-inclusive, luxury one night stay at his company fish house on Lake Mille Lacs last Friday, so we figured we better use it or lose it 🙂

ice fishing Minnesota

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Doggy Training

Doggy Duty header

Well now that Joe is recovering from his triple wisdom tooth extraction surgery, (Oh you, didn’t hear about that? Yeah he was pretty miserable) he’s ready for a bunch of projects. Those are his words, not mine. Most people would be thrilled at the chance to take three days off work, lay on the couch and watch movies while eating ice cream. Ok, maybe not thrilled. It wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. Nevertheless, he’s been going crazy not being able to do anything.

Here’s one of his ideas from last weekend: The Puppy Trainer 3000™

How to Train your Dragon Pooch

Shila is the best puppy ever, but she has a slight problem letting us know when she needs to go outside to do her business. So he thought that if she had some sort of bell system, she could let us know what she needs. She doesn’t really bark, so there’s no vocal cue. The ideas is, she rings the bell and we take her out.

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Spare Room Conversion

spare room redo

Brown or Purple?

You be the judge. We really love this paint color, but everyone seems to have a different take on it. Depending on the lighting and time of day, it looks either brown or purple. Or both! For the record, it was in the brown section of Pittsburg Paint, but it must have some purple undertones.

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Summer Ventures

summer jet ski

Summer On

It’s already August,  but summer is just getting started! We refuse to go quietly into fall. Hold your horses, autumn. We’re hanging onto summer as long as we can! These last couple weeks have been a whirlwind of sun, sand and sanding. I’ll start with the fun stuff.

Camping

We went camping in Alexandria, MN and spent a lot of time on the water!

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United States of Bean Bags

DIY how to make bean bag toss cornhole yard game

Bags or Cornhole?

That will be the great debate of our generation. Does it depend on where you were raised? Whether you grew up around more corn or more beans? Is it a midwest farmer thing? I’m not quite sure…

But it has crept into the cities and city slickers pay big bucks for these lawn game sets. Luckily it’s not hard to make your own set! You just need a couple 2×4’s, some paint, screws and plywood. Joe, my brother and I made a set for my parents’ birthdays. Since they always want to play, but never had the game.

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Friday Fun

So Handy

Yep, we’ve done most all of these fixes. Clean the gutters is on my to-do list this weekend. Along with pretty-up my car and do some lawn care. Ahhh this weekend is a projects weekend at last. We’ve been crashing company picnics, family parties and obstacle courses this past week. Here are some fun highlights:

Curio

My Grandma Sally gifted me this beautiful corner curio! I’m so happy to take it to a good home (Joe’s!) I’ve put a couple things in it so far, but still need to acquire some worldly treasures to display inside. I know these pictures are sub-par, but hopefully my new phone will help with future photo quality.

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Summer 2014

summer 2014

‘Tis the Season

Contrary to popular belief (of you guys), we do more than just work all the time. In fact, we even relax once in a while! We can prove it. Yes, we do take breaks. Yes, we both work a lot. Yes, working on things qualifies as fun for us. There is a season for all things: Work and play. But right now, the season is summer baby!

Climbin’

We had another fun weekend. Peppered in between a grad party, a birthday party and US futbol (whoop!), we spent a weekend ringing in the first day of summer properly. Here are some photos of rock climbing and boating on the first day of summer 2014.

rock climbing vertical endeavors

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Movie Room Roundup

movie room updates

Little Updates, Big Difference

Well this room has certainly come a long way since it was here:

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