Saturday, March 20, 2010

The birdbath project

I'm not even that big a bird lover. But I saw a birdbath made of recovered Goodwill crystal at the Flower and Garden show in Seattle recently. It seemed like an art project I could succeed at.

Now I may be addicted.

Check out the finished baths below. They're made of various chip bowls, fruit bowls, candy dishes, deviled egg plates, and vases. I procured the glass in exactly two Goodwill trips -- and used every piece. Chris and I used epoxy to bond them together.

I may yet add some silicone caulk. A few of them are getting moisture buildup on rainy days, and I'm worried they'll eventually grow mold or something.

Other details: I was a little sad that, after a few days in the sun, the epoxy yellowed just a bit. It's only noticeable when you're up really close, but in the future, I may be more conservative with the epoxy. Also, I added an extra plate, right side up, to the bottom of a few of them, just on a hunch. I now believe that the bottom plate will be nearly essential for installation.

Would it be wrong to put one in the living room?




Watching the Olympics

Olympics watching: one of the highlights of our year so far. Tristen and I had popcorn or hot chocolate in front of the TV every night. Speed skating and short track were our faves.

Screwed

Chris taught Tristen to use the screw gun.




Flirty skirty

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Luba and the Wren

A great little story about being content with what you have -- and Erin reads it so well.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Pretzels!

Every time we drink beer we talk about making pretzels. And by "we," I mean John, Shelly, Amy, Chris, and me.

So we finally did it. There were two kinds of dough, 5 mustards, several cheeses, home-brewed pilsner and cider, a little Guiness and Hoegaarden just because...

No verdict on the best dough, mustard, cheese, or beer. It was all delicious. And surprisingly easier than I thought pretzel-making would be (slideshow on our Picasa site).

Next stop: bagel-making!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

In the shop

My desktop computer. It houses our pix and video. New posts coming soon!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Story time

Story time was a near perfect moment. An even more perfect moment? The bottle of wine we shared with Vicki and Ross after these three little munchkins finally went to bed.

Yay for overnighters!