Or not…but I guess I'm gonna have to! Now that I live here…Well I suppose this is my first post since I've moved here. Lots has gone on!! Got settled in to our new condo. Received our new futon (yes, an actual new piece of furniture! That's a step up…no more hand-me-downs!) Got a [...]]]> Experience Regina!

Or not…but I guess I'm gonna have to! Now that I live here…Well I suppose this is my first post since I've moved here. Lots has gone on!! Got settled in to our new condo. Received our new futon (yes, an actual new piece of furniture! That's a step up…no more hand-me-downs!) Got a job!! (Awesome little company. Big ideas, great people, great stuff! I love it!!) Good weather here too so far. I've been out walking at noon hour. It feels good (sometimes hurts…but hey…I'm clearly out of shape…and damn asthma). I even found a belly dancing group that I think I like (tho it will never be as awesome as my Saskatoon girls!…)

I suppose you'd like to see my home, wouldn't you? Well, as of right now, it's still a bit messy…so I'll give you a glimpse. Of the bathroom!! Right now its one of my favorite places, since I've decorate it a tiny bit…it's not done yet tho. I want to get some pretty postcards of beaches and such from around the world from postcrossing.com and put them in frames. I've got one lovely one of the black sea from Ukraine. It's already in a frame. It just needs some friends to go up with it. Here's the bathroom shots…

I told you I've just give you a small glimpse! I love the whole beach themed bathroom idea. One day when I have a home to my own, I'm gonna paint the bathroom with ocean colors and make it really funky! But since I'm just in a condo, I should try not to make this place too wild…

On the crafting front, I got my fabric in the mail the other day! Yes, I ordered fabric online…for my cupcake apron I'm going to make once my brother arrives! And by brother, I mean my new sewing machine my mom bought me!! 

Isn't it cute?!?!? I absolutely love it!! I'm gonna go beyond my regular style and even put on some lace trim…perhaps a hot pink or white…just to pop it more. Gotta look fancy while baking my fancy treats! 

Here's one project I did which didn't take too much time and was under $15! Organizing my spices. I used a storage/shoe box lid that was laying around, and fit them all in the lid. The jars are $0.59/each from bulkbarn and I used the label maker André bought to LABEL ALL THE THINGS!! It fits perfectly into the drawer on the island and is out of the way and not crowding the counter. I love it!

Also, I've been getting a spring start with plants. I wanted to make this, so I set out in search of a perfect milk-glass to use. I couldn't find any at value village, so on one of my noon-hour walks, I stopped in the antique store that is near my work and found a perfect milk-glass vase/bowl!! I was quite happy with the results! 

Here's another quick project of mine. Tho I wouldn't call it done yet…I want to paint the stand that they sit in too. Not sure what color yet. Bought this set of 3 canisters at the flea market in Saskatoon, and painted the tops with chalkboard paint. I also bought some chalkboard paint markers on ebay, which don't get dusty like regular chalk, and can write on almost anything, and just wash off with water! Awesome! Here's the jars.

Otherwise…not much else to say! We're planning on getting Chutney a new tank sometime soon…just waiting for them to go on sale. We're thinking a bit longer and not so tall. And some new things for him to climb on! He's a pretty good climber and he's getting really good at chilling and climbing on us! 

Once it gets nice outside, we'll go buy some strawberries and flowers to pretty up the deck, and plant veggies in the community garden with André's parents. It will be nice to have some home grown food! I'm also gonna make a herb garden box for inside and grow some basil (lemon and spicy), oregano, thyme, dill and mint. I love using fresh herbs! I think I'll take my hydroponic grower to work since this week I'm moving spots to a window spot, which has a perfect window sill spot for the grower to sit on!

Love, Peace & Chicken Grease,

Kim

I have a membership to fabricland (and I'm not even 60!) and I got their sale flyer this Monday, right before I was going to go there to look at fabric. I am SO happy I saw the flyer. Buy 1 [...]]]> I love memberships. They matter most when it counts, and this week, it sure counted.

I have a membership to fabricland (and I'm not even 60!) and I got their sale flyer this Monday, right before I was going to go there to look at fabric. I am SO happy I saw the flyer. Buy 1 meter, get 1 free, buy 1 meter get 2 free and buy 1 meter get 3 free! Holy cow! So I went fabric hunting, in search of the perfect one for our kitchen chairs that I plan on up doing. I found one. For buy one get 3 free. Lucky me. I needed 4 meters anyways for all 6 chairs!!! I'm so happy…I saved $36 on fabric. I wonder if their foam is on sale… When I found 2 fabrics I liked, I put them side by side and took a photo. I tweeted it and sent it to André. I'm so happy he liked the same one as I did…the cheaper, brighter one!!

If you know me, then you know I absolutely love lime green. Sooo I was super happy to find this one! It's a thicker fabric, so shouldn't rip as easily, and it's nice and bright! Perfect for the chairs and for brightening up the kitchen. They'll go with the chrome pretty nicely I think! Also, these shouldn't be too hard to do…seems like a little staple gun upholstery will do them some good! Next stop…foam for the backings. (Might be cheaper to buy some pillows from Giant Tiger, me thinks, but we'll see!

Until then, 

Love, Peace & Chicken Grease!

Kim

Ahhh man I can't wait to move into our own place in which I can DO WHATEVER I WANT!

By this, I mean decorate and organize and build things, etc!! Since we're buying our first place, I'm getting ready to decorate, DIY and such. I made a list today of things that I want to do [...]]]>

Ahhh man I can't wait to move into our own place in which I can DO WHATEVER I WANT!

By this, I mean decorate and organize and build things, etc!! Since we're buying our first place, I'm getting ready to decorate, DIY and such. I made a list today of things that I want to do to the place…gradually, but fairly quickly, to make it our own cozy place! It's a small condo, but it has potential and I've made a list of things to do to make it more "us"!

• put a shelf above the window in the kitchen (perhaps one in each bedroom too?)
• get a hanging pot rack for the kitchen to put above the island (save cupboard room! Found one we like at Sears)
• make a spice rack that goes on the inside of a cabinet door
• get a sliding silverware drawer organizer to multi-stack and best utilize drawer space
• paint the kitchen backsplash a pretty bright-ish color
• over the door shelves? (Or is the window ones enough??)
• take cabinet doors off some of the kitchen cabinets to open it up and make the kitchen feel bigger (this will force us to keep clean cabinets!)
• paint the insides of the cabinets?
• under the sink over-the-door wire organizer to hold soap, gloves & cleaning supplies
• peg board on the inside of the computer room door or outside porch door to hold tools, chords, etc
• metal (or bamboo or wood) utensil bar above the stove with hooks to hang most used kitchen utensils
• create a new computer room desk for the 2 of us out of 2 shelves and a filing cabinet and an old wooden door
• make a small kitchen table (seats four) out of old wood and a shelf
• refurbish mom's old kitchen chairs with bright colored fabric. Buy chrome polish to shine them up
• transform bathroom into a lovely bright and pretty sea-side theme. Paint walls white, light green and light blue (and the doors/cabinets). Add shells, mirrors & other beach theme items (drift wood towel hanger or art??) (This project is a big one…and not a priority, but definitely want to do it!)
• fix up the old chest and turn it into an entry way bench. Give it a cushion & wheels and store things in it
• make a headboard from a door and pretty fabric
• paint a nice big picture of a funky abstract image for the bedroom
• paint my dresser or restain it. Take off the fake wood laminate
• paint old cookie sheets white and then paint the middle with chalkboard paint to use as a magnetic chalkboard for the kitchen to put inside a shelf
• set up a herb growing space inside and in the spring, plant flowers on the desk to color it up
• make a mini patio table set
• paint chalkboard bubbles on outside of planters to label what things are
• make a swag wreath to put above main window
• make a wreath for the outside door for spring/summer/fall (already have Christmas, winter & Halloween!)

**The items you see are not ours…we don't move in until February!**

I realize this is a lot…I know! But I'm excited to do things!! Most of these things are little changes. MOST of them are organization things, making more room to store stuff. Some are big things, and some I'll enlist the help of my awesome boyfriend! He's excited for the things we'll make for our new place. It will be great to actually live in the same place for a few years…seeing as I've moved once a year since leaving the roost in 2006! I'll make sure to post pictures/blog posts as I go along! If you have any opinions, tips, tricks, things to help me with, do chime in!!! I love comments!

Love, Peace & Chicken Grease,

Kim

Yesterday, I tried my hands at magnets. Those cute little bubble-button magnets. They're ok, but I want to find better "bubbles". I used those clear decorative glass "rocks" for them, and some scrapbook paper and wrapping paper. They're cute, but [...]]]> I've been doing things and I've been plotting things. Let's start with what I've done.

Yesterday, I tried my hands at magnets. Those cute little bubble-button magnets. They're ok, but I want to find better "bubbles". I used those clear decorative glass "rocks" for them, and some scrapbook paper and wrapping paper. They're cute, but not as clear as the ones you get in stores. I got mine at Michaels in the glass rocks and wreath making section, so if ANYONE knows of where to find clearer ones that are a bit smaller, let me know…

Now, to what I've been plotting… so I got my mom's old table and chair set when they got a brand new set. Now, it's not that I don't like them. I grew up on them. They're fine, but they're just not that pretty…and I've been looking at way too many DIY books and websites to count…and they all have pretty colorful chairs. Most are wooden tho. These ones are metal/aluminum with cushy seat and backrest. I love the cushiness, but it's a plain old brown color…and well…I think it needs an up do. Problem is, I'm not sure how, but I'm willing to learn/try!! I know you can take them apart (somehow) but I really don't know much else. I suppose I should wait until I move to figure out what colors to paint them. Tho I'm thinking white legs with black and white striped fabric might be neat. OR something colorful. Teal-blue? Yellow-orange? Lime Green? Although…the black and white with stripes would probably work great in any place we choose to live in! Yes…we're moving. Soon. Quite soon, actually. Only this time, we're buying a house. Yup, that's right. The big one. A house, of our own. You know what this means? MAKE OVER!!!!! Oh god I miss Clone High… why did they cancel it??? All the good shows get cancelled. Tho Arrested Development came back, so there's still hope for Clone High and Community!!! (Oh yeah, I actually have acute adult ADHD. Did you know that? Yeah, I figured you did.)

Oh yeah, the chairs. Almost forgot. Send ideas on how to refurbish them. Or just post comments below, you know, to make me think people actually read my blog. I'm only slightly serious. ***I just took one apart with a Robertson (square head) screwdriver and it was actually easy to take apart (and put back together) and the fabric looks like it was just stapled on. Easy peazy!!

Love, Peace & Chicken Grease!

Kim

It's actually quite simple to make…it just took some time to do it. 

Oh well, I actually do enjoy volunteering. It gives me a smile inside and out; tremendous feeling. If you haven't volunteered, ever, then shame on you, and get out there! There are TONS of charities, non-profits, fundraisers, school groups, etc that could use your help!

On [...]]]> Tis the season….when everyone wants to use your skills for free!

Oh well, I actually do enjoy volunteering. It gives me a smile inside and out; tremendous feeling. If you haven't volunteered, ever, then shame on you, and get out there! There are TONS of charities, non-profits, fundraisers, school groups, etc that could use your help!

On the 10th of Dec, I volunteered as a photographer at Help-Portrait. It started small, but now is an amazing global movement, for photographers (and make up artists and other helpers) to give back to the community, with a smile. (We did it last year, and there were only a few volunteers. I'm proud to say we grew this year!!) People come in, get their hair/make up done if they want by our volunteer make up and hair artists and then they get their photos taken. Families, singles, grandparents and grand children, babies, heck, we even had a puppy last year. The people who come to get their photo taken, are usually people who have, perhaps, never had their photo taken; have been through some tough times and needed a smile; wanted a family photo but have never been able to afford one. Many different reasons; Many different people; Many different smiles. It's a really great event, and in Saskatoon, we had 241 people come through. Once people's photos were done, they had a delicious home cooked meal at our donated soup kitchen, and most of the younger ones had fun in the "photo booth" where they got to dress up in silly hats and have fun photos taken of them. Once the photos were edited by our amazing editors, and printed off, we delivered them to the people, and that's where some of the biggest smiles came out. Truly amazing. I actually really enjoyed being a "runner" for a while, because I got to see people's reactions when I handed them their finished photos. I should also mention that our awesome sponsors for the event were: Potash Corp, Beagle Productions, CUPE, SWITCH and Hardpressed. Also, our make-up and hair artists were from Marca College, here in Saskatoon.

On the 11th, I helped with our office's kids Christmas party, which I had planned and wrapped the presents for. I figured I should go that day, just to make sure things ran smoothly, and take some hassle off of the parents. Let them actually have fun. Plus, it's bowling and pizza. You can't say no to that!

On the 17th I helped with the Rock 102 Toy Soldier present wrapping event. It was a lot of fun since I LOVE wrapping presents! There were 17 THOUSAND presents donated!!  Read the article here from News Talk 650 CKOM and check out the video. Yes, that's right, even Batman came to help wrap presents! 

Today, the 18th of December will probably be my last volunteer activity for this year. I helped out at PetSmart in Saskatoon, with the Annual Santa Pet Photos Fundraiser for New Hope Dog Rescue and SCAT Street Cat Rescue. I took photos of dogs, cats and a rat too! (And some owners who also wanted to get in on a Santa photo!) It was a ton of fun since I love those fuzzy little creatures!!! There were only about 3-4 animals who absolutely did not like Santa, but we still got good photos of them! It was a long and tiring weekend, but man, it's worth it. I love seeing the owners smiles when they see how gosh darn cute their "fur children" are! (Hopefully next year I can round up a few other local photographer friends to help take photos!)

Oh Christmas time… when crafts are in full swing, presents look like bling and I want to do ALL THE THINGS! I had to rhyme….sorry. This evening I was aiming to make a little door knob bell wreath, but I didn't have thick enough wire, so I changed that idea, and made a door hanger bell thingy instead!! I still think it looks awesome! I want to go out and find some pretty sky blue wide velvet ribbon to put behind it. I think that would finish it up quite nicely!

I have also been busy lately making sugar scrubs and bath salts for friends and family! My grandma was super excited when I took her over a little bag of rose scented salts, since I know she uses epsom salts often, and she loves rose scent. Perfect! She thought that was better then anything she's gotten, since she'll use it and she LOVES hand made things. She used to make everything (clothes, etc) by hand and so I've gotten my crafty side from her (and my painting side from grandpa!)

 Cherry Mistmas to All! And to all a happy & healthy 2012!

Love, Peace & Chicken Grease!

Kim

You Will Need…

I wanted a custom 404 page for my site, that is kind of unified with the rest of my site. I was set on a mission. A mission to make a cool 404 error page! I've googled other ideas before and [...]]]> If you're like me, and like to be different, well now's your chance…

I wanted a custom 404 page for my site, that is kind of unified with the rest of my site. I was set on a mission. A mission to make a cool 404 error page! I've googled other ideas before and thought that I could and would make one of my own. Here is how to do it…

(If you are like me, and host through bluehost or another web hosting site, that lets you customize anything you need/want to, then it's simpler. I haven't tried this for wordpress, tho I'm told it is a different process.)

1) Get the .htaccess file and the original 404.html (or 404.shtml) page from your web server…copy them to your computer and save the originals in a different folder, just in case you break shit.

2) Open the .htaccess file (I used Dreamweaver) and place in there near the top

ErrorDocument 404 /notfound.htm  (switch notfound.htm to 404.html since it's easier this way)

3) If you've opened your .htaccess file, and have noticed that there is already text in there, DON'T DELETE IT. You website needs that and depends on it to live. Just paste the above code under that first little bit of text in the file

4) Now you can customize your 404 page. I made an image in Illustrator and saved it as a jpg image. Make something fun, or professional, or quirky or whatever you want. If it fits with your site's theme, then that's even better! A regular 600×800 image is usually the best, or smaller if you wish.

4) In the 404.html file, add your CSS and some text in the body if you wish. I made mine to align center and I put a link at the bottom of the page so that the lost soul who visits the page, will have a path to lead them back to my actual site. When linking in the image that your made (I called mine 404.jpg) put a "/" in front of the image name in the link; this should make it work for all pages that they try to type in wrong. Also, if you're making your image a background image, then make sure to set the background repeat to no-repeat.

Example:

background-image: url(/404.jpg);

background-repeat:no-repeat;

**(This is usually a good idea, as some people, if they get a 404 error, are lost sheep and don't know what to do…guide the flock back to your green pasture with a helpful link pointing to your homepage. This way they won't say "awe screw it…their site is broken anyways" and you're covering up any broken files or perhaps it was just a wrong link that the user typed in the browser. For some people, you have to get their attention quickly, and if they see something's broken, they'll leave you and find someone else to amuse their brain cell.)

5) Save the page, and do a test, just to make sure it works. Does it work? Good. Good. Now you're ready.

6) Upload the .htaccess file and the 404.html file to your server (make sure you still have the originals back up on your computer, just in case!!)

7) Test test test. Works fine, doesn't it? Yippeeee!! Easy!!

If you still need help, I'm sure you know how to google, just like me. This helped me out (it's a horrible site design and is a lot of reading…so if you're lazy, my write-up above should be fine…if you're a nerd and need to know WHY AND WHAT then read this.

Love, Peace & Chicken Grease!

Kim

 So I don't think these are very huge in Saskatoon (YET) but they will be…beautiful beetle wing earrings. Yup. Beetle wings. From Thailand, I give you the Jewel Beetle. The rumor has it, that they are also eaten, so don't worry…they're not just harvested for their wings! (They must taste good [...]]]> …and other cool things!

 So I don't think these are very huge in Saskatoon (YET) but they will be…beautiful beetle wing earrings. Yup. Beetle wings. From Thailand, I give you the Jewel Beetle. The rumor has it, that they are also eaten, so don't worry…they're not just harvested for their wings! (They must taste good too…don't ask me…I've never ate one). Very pretty, and fragile, these wings are sold in packs of 8 at Metal Designz on Broadway in Saskatoon for $5 a bag. They are super fragile, so if you're going to craft with them, be very gentle, as to not break them. They're super easy to break. And don't worry…they are clean, so no beetle guts. Funny thing….while looking for tutorials on how to make them, there aren't any!! no one wants to give away their secrets, because they end up selling them upwards from $25/pair! Also…lately I've wondered…should I set up an etsy shop or something to sell earrings/bracelets/necklaces, etc?

  I made these the other night; it took a while since they are so fragile! They're super light and so pretty in the sun!

In other news…."Chutney is a babe", so says my friend Carli.

Love, Peace & Chicken Grease!

Kim