Sunday, October 6, 2013

:: I’M MOVING ::

Well, I’m not but my blog is!! ;) 

 

I am changing a few things up and moving my blog to a new facebook page, Life with a Side of Awesome, as well as a new blog address, www.lifewithasideofawesome.blogspot.com.  I hope you’ll check it out and let me know what you think!  Feel free to pass my new sites on to anyone who wants to follow along on my travels, do some DIY projects along with me and wants to have fun! 

 

(((hugs))) and thanks for your support!!

Monday, September 2, 2013

My New Jewelry Holder

Many of y’all have perused the boards on Pinterest just as I have.  I came across several ideas for jewelry holders and decided that I could totally make one!  And when I say “I”, I mean my husband…haha!!!  Here is my inspiration photo that got my creative juices flowing.

1 inspiration piece

I absolutely LOVE the hand knob but couldn’t find that anywhere.  But first things first.  This is how I used to store my necklaces and bracelets. 

2 how i used to store my jewelry 3 storing my jewelry 4 storing my jewelry

We started planning the layout to see what size boards we needed. 

6 planning it out1

Trying to figure out spacing was a little tough.

5 plan it out 5.1 planning the layout

If we ever did a project like this again, I would space the bracelet knobs a little differently.  Seems to be a little too much spacing between the bracelet knobs but my hubby was laying it out as I requested and he did a good job.

7 layout complete 8 laying out the knobs

We decided how large we wanted it and purchased some 1/4” 2’x4’ MDF project panel board from Home Depot for around $15 including.  The knobs I purchased in the clearance section at Hobby Lobby (a craft store in the area) for around $50 for 43 knobs.  I’m sure that you could find some less expensive knobs and I didn’t shop around that much at any of the home improvement stores.  When I did I would see some really cool knobs that were like $4 each!! Aacckk!!!  I didn’t want to spend that much per knob and the ones that I chose were around $1 each.  A buddy of mine gave me several door pulls and I used one on this project to hang some larger earrings that don’t fit in the containers I normally use.  Click HERE (earring containers) to see how I store my earrings.  I have plans to use the rest of the door pulls for another project.  You will have to wait and see how that turns out! 

So after purchasing the board Marvin did a test run and put a knob on the board to see if our ideas would work. 

9 trial run

Looks like it’s going to work!  He adhered the knobs and he cut down the end of the screw as most were made to fit a drawers/cabinets and were too long. 

10 how does it look

We liked how it was turning out and so Marvin used some leftover paint and painted the boards the same color as the walls in our bedroom.

11 painting the boards

We gathered all the knobs that I had purchased and started installing them on the board.

12 gathering knobs 13 gathering knobs 14 gathering knobs

We put it together and hung it up in our closet.  It looked close to what I had envisioned in my head but not quite there. 

15 testing how it looks

Something was missing.

17 it needs something

Marvin thought that if we put a frame around it that it would make it look more “finished”.  He bought three pieces of molding for around $3.70 each and cut them to fit the boards.  We then gave them to my dad to finish out the framing.  Dad also used some scrap wood to fashion a hanging device for the back.

There were two pieces and one piece went on the back of the board and the angle was on the bottom of the piece that would interlock with the piece attached to the wall.

18.1 18.2

The other piece was attached to the wall and the angle was on the top of that piece.

18.3 18.4

Almost there!

18 almost there

The finished product!!  Marvin and my dad did an awesome job of bringing to life what I had envisioned.  I think it looks fantastic!!

21 finished piece

So the total cost, not including the hanging device my dad made, was $76 or about $38 for each one.  Not too bad for a custom jewelry hanger. 

22 23

Another installment of Ms. Hobby Lobby is in the books!  Success!!

 

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Marvin retires from the Post Office!

We planned a combined birthday/retirement part to celebrate Marvin’s retirement on April 21st which was in fact his birthday!!

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We collect “postal” things so we used those as decorations around the activity center where we held the event.

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If you notice in one of the photos you’ll see a mailbox.  I actually made that out of cardboard myself!!  It took some time but I think it turned out pretty darn cute.  We used it for the birthday/retirement cards that he received.  When folks came in the dropped their letter in the mailbox. :)

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We had lots and lots of family, friends and patrons that came to celebrate with us.

Of course we have to have food at the party!!  We served lots of appetizers and everything turned out so yummy!

The City of Mesquite also declared it “Marvin H Day”!!  Here is Marvin receiving his plaque.

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And we of course had to have cake!

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As a memento of the 29+ years of service to the USPS I had some special handbags made for his girls and granddaughters.

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I think they turned out so cute!  They are made from Marvin’s uniforms.  :)

Marvin also had a retirement ceremony at the Mesquite Post Office.

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Marvin’s route was 4916 and he had that route for 15 years. 

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He had all his co-workers join in the brief ceremony :)

Here is the whole crew!

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He was honored and recognized by Steve Boyle, Customer Service Supervisor

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By Rod Malone, Supervisor

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By Al Balzer, Union Steward at the Mesquite MPO NALC Branch 132

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And Sid Simmons, President NALC Branch 132

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There was also cake and punch for everyone to enjoy

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And finally…at the end of the day there is the traditional pic as Marvin joined the “Last punch bunch” as he clocked out for the final time.

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