Everybody needs a place to poo....

    We have 4 peoples..... 3 cats .... and....drum roll please... 2 bunnies living in our house. Our little 1950's rambler. Did I mention our house is little? With all these animals comes lots of litter boxes. So we decided that we need to consolidate into 1 larger litter box. That would be one for the cats and one for the bunnies. Please note.. the bunnies are kept in a cage (most of the time that is). 

    

   Today was the day to clean up the bunnies cage. They have 2 litter boxes located in the corners of their little cage (that my husband and step-son also built.) I should mention my husband is handy with tools and also an architect.

    Well, I had this grand idea that the rubber membrane material he used for the bottom of the cage would be great for the little box.  As it hasn't deteriorated from their escapee urine. The plastic litter boxes we purchased from the pet store have started to deteriorate where the bulk of their urine ends up. See below how they are living currently... not usually this messy but it is at the end of the week right before clean out time... 

Yep.. A mess and they like to move their corner litter boxes around.. So my idea is the create one that is more "built-in". These bunnies are going to be so fancy with their new built-in pooper.. If they only knew how lucky they are! (Also, note how they like to get in between the litter boxes and not necessarily in them... naughty bunnies.. )

So... My husband Eric went to work. It started out with many trips to different Home Depot yesterday because the first one was out of some of the items he needed. (What's up with that!? Warehouse shopping... whatever..) Then yesterday he cut all the pieces he needs to create the little box. I am sorry to tell you I do not have photo's of all the little pieces.. I only thought to post this to the blog after this project started to get hairy.  ;)  Here is the completed little box though! Cute..

    Next it was onto the lining.. Which was where things started to get a little hairy. He is using the membrane underlayment for showers, etc... which is what he used on the floor of the bunny cage and seen to work well with their nails, etc. After thinking through a couple of ideas to make sure there are no seams and cracks for urine to escape. He cuts a piece that will fit into the box exactly and then scores the backside in the areas the membrane to create the corners. This is all fine and good until he gets to the point of gluing the 2 corners together to create a perfect waterproof bag shaped like his box. First the glue bottle does not want to open.. So, he find a wrench and literally wrenches it open :) (Hahahaha... Yes, I crack myself up... but I digress) Oh wait... I forgot to show you his fabulous gloves for doing this sticky work... 

Hot, I know.

   Then being the glue is fairly unhealthy to breathe in he goes to work outside (it is a low VOC PVC glue... so not terrible.. but not great either). Where it is 42 degrees but feels like 33 degrees...(quoted   from The Weather Channel.. Minnesota weather is awesome in May). Needless to say the glue doesn't want to play nice in the cold temps and so he comes in and starts to use a blow dryer to help the glue set.. as you can see below. 

Yes. He is having a ball at this point. This not working he goes outside again to add some more glue.... and is reallllly unhappy after this... 

Alas, after all this effort and it was about 2 hours of effort he gets his little membrane insert completed. Unfortunately it does not fit as he envisioned... 

The sides are a bit warped and don't fit as snug as he wants... Thumbs down. Ugh.. and time to noodle a bit... 

The solution. Binder clips. Who knew! They keep the lining snug and add a little bunny bling the their new little box.. One other bonus.. the binder clips will allow us to pull out the membrane and really wash it out in the sink if need be..

Oreo the first to try out the new digs... I think he likes the bling...

It fits snug as a bug in a rug.... Coco getting his sniff on..

Other poo related projects... Our massive 3 cat litter box.. This one required cad drawings to make sure if fit between the sewer pipe and furnace.. My husband is a doll and nothing short of perfect in every way. As Mary Poopins.. Oops... Poppins would say.

 This is our dumb as a box of rocks/ lover cat named Trouble.  Checking out the new digs... and Yep... he thinks.... I will test it out too.. Seriously, this cat is a hoot. 

Ps.. This cat is 18 pounds to give you some scale reference as to how large this litter box is.

With that I must say good-bye...

Alyssa

Sewing crazy....

So.. I have been on a project focused week. One project per day.. depending on the size. Thursday and Friday were eaten up entirely to sewing... I make burp cloths & blankets for friends and am now selling them on Etsy. So the end of the week became a sew-a-thon. I have a few other projects (home ones..)to share with you once I complete them and get the photo shoots done. For now.. I leave you with my sew-a-thon... and a sneak peek at my messy office.

 Let's start out with my little mess at the end of a very productive day... Yep.. don't think there should be 6 threads there.. 2 would suffice..

 Color me happy in thread... yes.. that is a bandaid wrapper in there.. I poke myself with the seam ripper. and yep.. the light died on my sewing machine as well. That one took me awhile to figure out why I was getting these unsightly shadows on my sewing area...

 My messy sewing area.... I do look out onto our lovely front yard.. now only if it would stop snowing! I realize it is May... and wish Mother Nature would realize that as well.

My lovely mother loaned me her cutting table for my sew-a-thon... which I also turned into a ironing table..Oh.. and that is Jed, the cowboy light switch plate, in the back there..

Ciao for now... 

Alyssa

Ps... I just caught my husband in a bit of a pickle trying to make the lining for our bunnies new litter box.. I will be sharing those photo's soon!

Things that make me happy.....by alyssa

Once upon a time I had a sad, empty, little nook. For a bit he had a small basket of my husbands things... but he didn't look happy about it.... so I moved Eric's basket and found some moss... after the moss.. came some cute little forest animal candles on clearance from Pottery Barn and now he is a happy little nook. The End.

Say Bye... Before they become Egg Salad....

The post Easter blues eggs must go through... First they get boiled til they are hard and then cooled to be colored... then they sit in colored vinegar water until they are just perfect.  (That part must sting! :) They come out looking so happy and full of life... and then Bam! Easter is over and their happy little lives come to an end in an egg salad. Such a exciting yet quick life they lead. Here are a few of our eggs.. Saying good bye...

 Ahhhh... help me! I am going to be sick...

 Evil Scull Master with the Hoppy Little Bunny...

Bye, Bye! 

Alyssa

PS... I  have a 15-year-old step-son and a 9-year-old daughter.. can you tell by the egg styles? :)

A Spring Sale Worth Checking Out....

If you live in Minnesota, you may want to check out The French Flea. They are having one of their occasional sales this coming weekend. Alyssa and I have both been there, and many times we have had to hold ourselves back from buying WAY TOO much. It is an eclectic sale with lots of different home decor items. These women are a talented bunch and they price things to MOVE. Click on the highlighted link and check them out.

Happy Shopping!
Stacy

Terrarium Time!

You will all see, very soon, that Alyssa is the one in this duo with the green thumb. For some reason, no matter how hard I try...plants do not live under my care. Could it be the lack of water? I thought plants could go for a month or two without being watered. No worries, when I realize that it's been a while, I compensate by completely over-watering. So I saw this blog, The Robots Attack, and decided to try it myself! It is my husband's cousin's blog so please check it out! She has some very creative crafting ideas!

So I bought this apothecary jar for cheap! I wasn't going to spend a ton because who knows if it will work!

See this? $9.99...go to HomeGoods! They have a great selection of these.

Now go buy some small filler rocks. Target has them for pretty cheap, but Ikea would be better. However, if your only choice is to visit Ikea on the weekend stick with Target. Ikea can instantly ruin a good mood if you go on the weekend. There's no sense in that.

Then get some activated charcoal. You can find it at your local garden store or on Etsy.

Then some potting soil. I'm not a fan of this stuff because it's not organic but it's what I had.

So this is the order you put these things into the apothecary jar...
Filler rocks (about an inch)
Activated charcoal (about 2 inches)
Potting soil (about 4-5 inches)



Now loosen up the roots on your plant/plants.Once you have loosened up the roots, stick it in the potting soil and give it a drink of water...but not too much! I chose this fern because it pretty much fills the whole jar.



And here is the end result! I love this new green friend of mine. Keep it in a sunny window and water it once a week or so. Take the lid off every once in a while so it doesn't rot. There's lots of moisture in the jar. This is the part of my instruction that I can see myself forgetting.

Happy planting! What good stuff are you planting in your jar or garden?

I'll be back soon!
Stacy

Quick trip to Memphis...

So, I was recently in Memphis. Yes, I have been to Disney World, Copenhagen and now Memphis in the last 4 weeks. I am pooped and ready to hunker down at home for awhile. Memphis was a fabulous mini - 4 day trip with my husband. He was working..... which means I get to explore.

Actually, the reason I went along on this trip was that it was our 4-year-anniversary. He had booked himself to moderate at a conference and was realizing that it was going to screw up his schedule with his son. I looked at him and smiled and said, "Oh, honey. I think you are missing something a little bigger than that on that week.' He quickly goes back to his calendar and looks again. Then looks at me and is still confused.  At that point I took him out of his misery and reminded him that we will have been married for 4 years that Monday. Oh, how the time flies! He looked sheepsihly back at me and apologized. The next day I received an email that started out, 'Love, Would you like to go to Memphis with me?'  All-in-all, I lived up the teasing of him and still am... though I am/was not really concerned with the lack of memory. It is just a day after all. And he made up for it with these flowers...

Anyhow, I went along and had fun toodling around and checking out stores and of course eating BBQ.  My two favorite stores were Hoot & Louise and Delphinium.... Vintage, Handmade and Bare Minerals to boot! Wonderful little shops... with a cute baby boy (@ Hoot & Louise) and dog (@ Delphinium) to visit with while you are shopping.... (always a joy for me... I love the additional fun sales people.. ) 

 

We had a private tour of Graceland with his conference which was a hoot. From the design perspective that is... Check out some of our photo's....

eeeee!!! 

The fabulous living room stained glass...

 

The Dining Room.. where Elvis ate.. Wow! 

Welcome to the Jungle?? The family room... you'll note.. every room is a different theme... 

 I couldn't leave without a photo of an outfit... that would be sooo sacrilegious! 

Eric, I and The King of Rock.. Our private moment... :)

The last few things from the trip... My new favorite hotel.. The Peabody.. What a wonderful place and they have ducks to boot... Yes, I am a sucker for any place with animals.. 

Isn't she a cutie! Showing off her color... 

Enjoy my trip to Memphis and check out Hoot & Louise on Facebook - Anna the owner is just a doll.. and Delphinium at www.Delphiniumboutique.com

Ciao for now... Coming soon... My week of projects..

Alyssa

Another day, Another Door Knob....

Door knobs. How exciting! Recently, we changed out our entry door knobs from this:

To this....

The wonderful cipher lock. We did this because of my inability to take my keys out of the door after I unlocked it and my supreme ability at locking myself out on a regular basis... yep, almost weekly at times. Once I locked myself out during a mini show storm. Thankfully, my husband saved me after only 30 minutes of trying to snuggle and stay warm in my storm door. The added bonus is that the kids can get in anytime they need to and don't need a key to open it. Ahh, the wonders of technology. Now my only request is design... because the top one is a total yawn of a design if you ask me. The next one although, I like the cipher part, the handle is a little too curly cue for our 1950's rambler. When I was in Copenhagen I saw this... and sooo want it for our house. Now only if it came as a cipher lock. :) 

William the Walrus. Isn't he the cutest! 

Alyssa

One more post... Aren't these just the cutest!!

I saw these wall stickers on the Upon A Fold site... Super cute! 

They may show up in Miss Avery's light switch soon...we have 3 cats so that is the one that caught my eye...

Shopping - Copenhagen Style.....

So, I was recently in Copenhagen. (Ok, yesterday.... well, actually I started this post on Monday at least... I blame the rest on jet lag and taxes.  :) )

Unfortunately, I had the flu for the first few days left over from our vacation with the kids the week prior at Disney World. Needless to say, I didn't do to much those first few days. I laid in bed and looked out onto the square that I posted previously. The biker riders of Copenhagen have inspired me to bike more this season. I am going to get a basket so I can do my grocery shopping and other errands in the neighborhood.

The design and shopping of the Danish is super fabulous, as I found out a few days into the trip. The main shopping drag is Stroget. (the o should have a slash through it but I am not sure how to do that on blogger) This street has all of the big commercial stores that we have here in the states, but they also have Illum a large department store in Denmark. It was very typical of the department stores here, though the clothing is much more fashion forward and creative. They also had an artist (painter) working near one of the entrances which was fun to watch.

The real shopping I found was on Komagnistaede. I found a ton of antique stores as well as designer shops. Tons of fun! So... wishing I had a few thousand to spend on this trip. As it happened I didn't have much so I came back with a few coffee spoons. I have been collecting them on every trip it seems. How much coffee can one person drink! Also, this cute little red pig.

He looks scary here.. but he is really cute.... We are wanting to get a teacup pig.. ie.. why we picked him up.

The following are some of the other cute stores I found along my way......so many cute stores I will share over a few days... then get back to my projects at home..  Enjoy!

The most amazing silver jewelry.. unfortunately the silver smiths were not there when we were :(

 Owe Silver Artist is the shop. Above his shop is a fashion designer that had the best rain coats.. MaxJenny

 

This shop has the cutest ceramics and interior decor.. Love the flower me happy quote... Makes me think spring! I can't wait to get out into the garden this weekend.

 

This is the outside of the shop.. Stilleben

One of my favorites.. where we got Mr. Pig... Fannymia

The owls here and fabric were adorable... I had so many ideas...just not enough space in my case or dollars in my wallet :)

The last one of for today was this little shop around the corner from our hotel... We stayed at The Square Hotel. 

Artium.dk  Lots of Marimekko, ceramics and all sorts of things Danish. Fun shop... Oh and note the Carlsberg sign up on the top.... That is the beer of the area. The brewery is in Copenhagen. We walked there one day to see the architecture and take a mini tour of the brewery on our own.

Have a great day! Enjoy the links, shopping and ideas!

Alyssa 

PS... My husbands conference in in Vienna next year.... so excited!