Displaying My Grandkid's Artwork

I have a refrigerator that is not magnetic so there is no "kid's art" hanging on the refrigerator. I am not a fan of cork or magnetic boards, so I decided to make my own.

My Refrigerator is slid in a cabinet, so the side is a wood cabinet wall that goes from the floor to the top of the cabinet over the refrigerator. I needed to find a wood frame that would fit nicely on the side of the cabinet. Off to Hobby Lobby.

The future home of my grand kids artwork.

I found a black wood frame in the clearance section of Hobby Lobby. The frame did not have a back, or glass in it, which was exactly what I was looking for. It was an odd size, 20 1/2  by 47 1/2, and it would fit perfectly on the side of the refrigerator cabinet.

Next, I bought a roll of cork at Hobby Lobby that was about 1/2 inch thick. There was a small problem with this cork, it was soft, so it would not be sturdy enough to put in the frame alone without a backing.

Time for a trip to Lowes. After looking at thin pieces of solid wood boards, I decided to buy pegboard to put on the back.  The peg board was less expensive and the holes will help with the length of the pins which are longer than the width of the cork. Being able to actually find the holes with the pin is a problem I have not yet solved, lol. The inside of the frame measured 17 1/4 by 47. I loved that Lowes cut the peg board for me to the dimensions I needed, and they did it for free. Thanks Lowes.

The peg board was cut to size and I used it to cut the cork.

I also bought a can of multi-purpose spray adhesive at Lowes, and now I have everything I need to start my project.

I unrolled the the cork onto a thick piece of cardboard, laid the pre-cut peg board on top of the cork, and then with a box cutter I cut the cork to the size of the peg board.  I then used the spray adhesive on the pegboard and waited until it was tacky. I then laid the cut piece of cork onto the pegboard and applied pressure until the cork adhered to the board.

I put the corked peg board into the frame.

When the adhesive was dry I put the cork covered board in the frame like a picture. Using thin nails, I pounded them into the edges of the back of the frame to hold the board in place.

The nails hold the corked peg board in place.

Using Command Velcro hangers, I put them on the top corners, the center of the top, and on each side about half way down the frame. I had to use white hangers, so I used black paint and painted the side so you couldn't see the bright white between the black frame and dark brown wood cabinet.

The side of the white Command Velcro hangers.

The painted Command hangers

Now I can display the Grandkid's artwork, and it looks great!

The finished product

Grandkid's artwork beautifully displayed.

The Family Dogs

We came late to the game when it comes to getting a family dog. Our youngest child was 15 and our older two kids were in college. We struck gold when we got our sweet girl. Edy is a long haired mini dachshund, and was born on Fathers Day in 2007. Her mother was a fawn and white double dapple,  and her father was all cream in color. Edy weighs in at a whopping 10.5 lbs. When we went to pick out our puppy from the litter we noticed Edy was the quiet one, and she looked just like her Mom. It was love at first sight.

I love this picture of Edy hiding under the bench in the Vets exam room.

As a puppy she was very small and very quiet. We could sneak her into hotel rooms during hockey season and she would never barked. Those days are long gone. Edy was never a chewer of shoes or furniture, but she loved dryer sheets and socks, and still does today. Edy's worst bad behavior is  always getting into the bathroom trashcans. No matter where she is, she will find the bathroom trash and spread it everywhere. We never leave the doors open in our house, and trust me she checks. I have to admit that Edy is the most undisciplined dog. She does not heel when you walk her, she doesn't stay out of a room when when you tell her to, she doesn't know one trick, and will only sit for a few seconds when you ask her. All of this would be a problem if she was a big rowdy active dog, but she is not, so it is not a big deal for us.

She may not know any tricks or follow commands, but she is a couch potato and can work a remote.

Edy is a lover and a licker. She is never happier than when she is sitting next to you on the furniture, unless you allow the added pleasure of letting her lick your hand, arms, legs.......... you get the idea. I tell people she is like a Koala because she sleeps pretty much all the time. The time has increased substantially over the years. At 11 1/2 years old our sweet Edy is valued and loved, and could never be replaced in our hearts.

Edy loves her bed!

Two years after we got Edy, our daughter wanted a dog in Texas. We bought a puppy from a litter of Edy's mother and a piebald father.  She was born on my husbands Birthday in November. We kept the puppy at our house for a few weeks before our daughter came to Indiana to pick her up. This was the loudest puppy I have ever heard. She actually screamed instead of barked. She still screams 9 years later. This sweet girl's name is Dakota.

As you can see by the look on her face, Dakota does not like to be groomed.

Dakota is a very smart and active dog. She was taught by my daughter and her husband to follow commands and they taught her several tricks. They have not been able to teach her to not scream. Dakota has a little longer legs than Edy, and she jumps on the furniture with ease, Edy cannot.

Sister slumber party!

Dakota loves to play fetch with a ball. Years ago she would play forever if you would let her. It could be over 100 degrees outside and she would play until she passed out if you didn't make her stop. Now, at 9 and 10lbs, she has developed a weird form of OCD. When you try to play fetch with Dakota by throwing the ball, she runs to the ball, sniffs it, then she sniffs all around the yard trying to trace the track that the ball took when you threw it. It can be maddening. You throw the ball and it takes forever for her to get back to the ball and bring it back to you.

A possible once in a life time snow day for this Texas dog. She loved it. Must be that Indiana blood in her.

My daughter has two small kids 6 and 4. The older child, our grandson, loves Dakota so very much. It is so cute to see Victor sitting on the couch and Dakota brings a ball to the couch, lays it on the couch by Victor, Victor throws the ball and Dakota chases it and brings it back. If Victor is watching TV he will just mechanically pick up the ball and throw it without even looking. If he isn't paying attention at all, Dakota will jump up with her front paws on the couch and push the ball with her nose into Victors hand. No doubt these two are best friends.

Spending the night at Meemaw and Papa's house.

Our older son and his wife have a cattle dog mix. Dahlia is around 8 years old and 40lbs, and was my daughter in law's dog before she met my son. Dahlia is a very well behaved and trained dog. I love that Dahlia's bed location is her "Home", so when they want her to go to her room or bed they just say, "Dahlia go home!" She has such a sweet disposition and unfortunately has had health issues most of her life.

Dahlia and her parents came to Texas for a visit.

My son was telling us a story that sounded like it came from the movie "Pets". Dahlia is not allowed on the furniture. One afternoon my daughter in-law and son were home, and when my Daughter in-law left the house to run an errand, my son went to the office in the front of house. Dahlia must have thought both left the house. When my Son walked back into the family room and walked past the couch to the entertainment center, he turned to see Dahlia laying on the couch, staring at him paralyzed, like if she didn't move he wouldn't be able to see her. This leads us to believe that she is completely in tune with the sound of the garage door and would have jumped off as soon as she heard the car returning. I wonder if the next time they left the house she looked in all the rooms first before jumping on the couch.

Do you think she is eyeing the couch and wishing she was on it?

Dahlia is also anxious and afraid of the funniest things. One command they use for her is, "Back it up." and she walks backwards. My Daughter in-law sent me a video of Dahlia walking backwards, down their carpeted hall and through a small barrier opening because she was afraid of the laminate floor in the office. That is just one thing on a long list of fears with Dahlia.

We love you too Dahlia.

Dahlia was born in Arizona and was use to artificial turf or rocks for a yard. Now they live in Indiana and she loves the yard and grass. I was just sent a new video of Dahlia playing in the over 6 inches of snow in their yard. That Arizona girl is loving the Indiana snow!

Home made earmuffs for her first Indiana Winter. 

The youngest of the family also has the baby dog of the family. Our youngest son and his girlfriend have a sweet mix breed named Nelly. This is one hilarious and adorable dog. Nelly is 2 years old and about 50 lbs. She was a rescue puppy my son got when she was about 8-12 weeks old. She had a pretty serious illness not long after she was born and thankfully she recovered completely. They had a rough start when my son went to pick her up in St Louis, and took her home to Indy when she turned out to be infested with fleas. He learned just one of the joys of pet ownership.

Puppy Nelly is already able to use her paws like hands.

Nelly still has that puppy mentality and energy.  She loves to play and be outside at a park, or our back yard. Her coloring is really similar to Edys, just on a much larger scale with short hair. Nelly has a lot of loose hanging skin especially around her neck. She is a really smart dog and seems to catch on to commands pretty easily. She is the one dog in the family that is allowed on the furniture at home. We are going to have to start a process to teach her that there are different rules at our house and we are all afraid to start that process. The fear of her getting on our new leather couch is keeping her outside when she comes to visit.

Her favorite place to be with one of her favorite toys. She greeted me at the door with this toy.

Just like Dahlia, Nelly is afraid of everything. Boxes, paper, the vacuum...........her own shadow. I am not sure how all our dogs have so many physiological issues. My son sent a picture out about a year ago of his apartment living room while he was vacuuming and captioned it, Where's Nelly. You have to zoom in and find her hiding between the furniture because she was so afraid of the vacuum cleaner.

Where's Nelly?

Nelly also thinks she is still a tiny puppy and wants to sit on your lap, and sleep either on you, or touching you. My son sends us pictures all the time of Nelly, and his girlfriend, asleep on the couch together, they are so cute. When you go to visit my Son at home you can expect to be welcomed at the door by Nelly with a toy in her mouth. Nelly also has one of the most unique sleeping positions I have ever seen in a dog.  She looks like she is folded in half like a taco, or in the pike position for diving. It does not look comfortable to me, but it definitely works for her.

The perfect pike position for sleeping. 

Each one of these adorable family dogs have their very own unique personality, and they are all so very loved. Although our family came late to being pet owners, we have more than made up for it with our perfect choices of adorable quirky fur babies.

Amusing and Absurd Meeting Quotes: Part 2

This is my second edition highlighting quotes that I have received from family and friends. These quotes will make you ponder, laugh, or most likely, just scratch your head.

Quote 1: "It takes a village when we are pulling rabbits out of a hat."

I am not sure if this is the same person that pulled something out of a rabbit's hat in the last edition, but I sure hope there is only one person that has a strange obsession with rabbits and hats.

Quote 2: HR Lady, "What Emoji are you today?"

😕 Confused Face.  How old is this woman and where did she go to school? Facebook University?

Quote 3: "This isn't the meeting to slice and dice; we don't need to get into a dart-throwing session."

This sounds like a bad game show. Slicing, Dicing and Dart-throwing!

Quote 4: "Put it as one number, don't give it to them segregatedly."

I love it when people just make up words and then use them in meetings. Why not just use the word separately and not look like an idiot.

Quote 5: "Make a decision. Don't just dabble your toes in the water." 

This manager would have sounded more forceful with their statement if he/she had just stopped at "Make a decision." It sounds like they were just dabbling their toes in the water by watering it down.

Quote 6: "Everyone yells at you. You're easy to yell at."

My response would be to yell "I QUIT!!!!"

Quote 7: "You're up stream of that, and I appreciate it."

Just don't dabble your toes in the stream, right?

Quote 8: "I am going in a similar direction from a different line of attack."

This person gets extra points for using opposite words (similar and different) in the same sentence. This quote is as clear as mud.

Quote 9: "They need to get off top dead center, or we're going to be dead in the water."

I see dead people!

Quote 10: "If we get our nose in the tent, this thing will really explode."

Is putting your nose in a tent some kind of igniter? What kind of business are they running?

Quote 11: "I just wanted to dot all my I's and T's."

When did we start dotting T's? First we stop teaching cursive writing, now we are dotting T's. What is next, crossing I's?

Sometimes I wonder how the associates at these meeting don't just bust out laughing.

Vintage Fisher Price Little People Bed Makeover

In February my Sisters and I went to an Antique store in McKinney, Texas to do some shopping.  While I was there I found a Fisher Price Little People house for $20 that needed a good cleaning, a little touch up paint, and a whole lot of love. I bought the house, some accessories for the house, and some people. After they were cleaned and disinfected, My Grandkids fell in love with the "new" house and play with it every time they visit.

The Fisher Price Little People House was in pretty good shape, and only cost me $20.

I had to do some painting to repair the stone in the driveway.

There were a few items that were missing that I really wanted to buy, one being beds. So, I went online and found someone selling a "lot" of items that included some beds. After purchasing the items and receiving them in the mail, I needed to not only clean all the items, but I also needed to repair some of the beds.

As you can see there were no beds in the upstairs bedroom.

Many of the original beds had a layer of foam glued to them to make it look like it had a mattress on the bed. These are now well over 30 years old and the foam has been dried out and peeled off. Now they all look like a brown gross layer of foam glue.  Not very attractive.

This is pretty much what every vintage bed looks like some 30 years later.

I went into craft mode and decided to clean them up and replace the foam with a heavy fleece. The best part about the fleece I had, is the salvage edge had a thick rounded edge that looked just like a pillow. It also was the same color as the beds, and the best part is this project cost me nothing.

This is the fleece I used for the new bedding. You can see the built in pillow at the top.

After washing the three beds I used some Goo Gone to try to get any sticky residue off of the plastic. Then I washed the plastic again to get the Goo Gone off of it. Next, I cut a template of the bed's mattress area with a piece of paper, so I could use it as a pattern for the fleece. Using the template I cut the fleece using the salvage edge with the thick rolled up end for the pillow at the head of the bed. I did this for both bed sizes.

Double bed template.

Double bed template folded in half equals the new twin bed template.

Then using a multipurpose spray adhesive, I sprayed the mattress area of the bed and let it dry enough that it became tacky to the touch. Then working at the pillow end I laid the fleece onto the adhesive, tucking in all the edges and firmly pressing it onto the mattress area of the bed. It only takes a few minutes for the piece to dry.

All done!

Now these vintage Fisher Price Little People beds are ready for a new generation of kids to enjoy!