Mini wooden clothes-pins. They're petite, easy to make, and are intended for clipping cards to my Mapping Happiness board. Originally, the pins were a natural wood color. I hadn't cared for the color all that much. The antiqued gold frame called for rich, warm dark-stained pins, so over the weekend, I roamed Archivers to figure out the best way to go about recoloring them. After contemplating the purchase of a "brown" Mr.Huey spray mist, I set it aside and went with what seemed a better option instead, Ranger's Distress Stain {Vintage Photo}. Because I wasn't too keen on the idea of "spreading" the stain over each pin, individually, I transferred the stain to a small, old Tattered Angels spray bottle. I then spread the pins out on a double layered section of Paper Towels and applied a liberal amount of stain to each one via spray. After ten minutes of dry time, I turned the pins over and sprayed them once again. This time, I let them dry overnight. When I woke up the next morning, the pins were totally dry, and gorgeous! The Ranger Distress Stain fulfilled my expectations to the Nth degree!
What do you think? Doesn't it make you want to start staining clothe-pins every color under the rainbow? It'd be a whole lot of fun to have different colored pins just laying around - though, be warned, playing with all that color might be a messy ordeal! Make sure to protect your hands and work surface when using Ranger's Stain products...the key word, "Stain".
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Thanks to Pinterest, I've grown to LOVE nail polish colors! Can't say I've been much of a "manicure" gal most my life, but after my mother purchased me a gift certificate at the local salon for a pedi/mani right before Mother's Day weekend, I had acrylic nails put on for the first time, ever!! At first, I wasn't crazy about them. They're not particularly helpful in the scrapbook department. After some time though, I grew used to having them on and started researching nail colors/techniques at Pinterest to try out. Over the weekend, I'd received a nail color recommendation via one of the sales gals at Nordstroms; Deborah Lippman's New "Mermaid's Dream". The polish color is ocean-inspired sea green with hints of gold & dark turquoise glitter mixed in. I thought I'd give a whirl, so I painted on a couple of layers, including a shiny top coat, and let me just tell ya, I'm crazy about it!! I don't want to take it off! Laugh. Ridiculous, I know, but it's beautiful - so much so that I photographed the color and posted here! I'm such a nerd!!
*Anyone out there have a favorite nail polish color they want to share with me? I'd love to hear your suggestions!
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There's a new pet in the house - his name is "Gary" - yes, the would be Gary from Sponge Bob! Anyone heard of the cute lil' fella before? He's Sponge Bob's slimy, creepy crawly "pet snail" who thinks he's a cat! The only reason I know about him is because Ethan is a die-hard Sponge Bob fan. The show is on at least a couple times a week at our house. Gary is one of Ethan's favorite characters from the show! So, during a routine trip to Mall of American, Ethan spotted a stuffed Gary at one of the Nickelodeon stores. I let him bring it home and since then, Gary follows him every where! The two share an inseparable bond - and just when I thought it'd end up in the neglected stuffed animal pile in the corner of Ethan's playroom, the opposite happens. He even has a nickname - Crazy Gary!
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I'll leave ya with an updated picture of Casper. Now that it's Summer, he spends a great deal of time outside with us. His favorite outdoor activity? Collecting dirt! He literally turns a light shade of brown after a couple of hours of rolling around on the ground. And the funniest part is,he hasn't a clue about it. He just keeps rolling...
Take it easy you guys! I'll rejoin you in a few when I come back with news about a guest gig that is currently in the works! I'll also return with another Happiness card, but not until this weekend. Thanks to all who've shared their Mapping Happiness projects with me thus far - you're enthusiasm is contagious!
