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Photo Fun Friday

Just for fun, a few old photos I've taken over the years.

This is the first photograph I ever took with a digital camera. My dad had just bought a Nikon 990, a swivel-style camera that I still miss. I had bought new brooks running shoes, and the juxtaposition was just lovely here.

On the Navajo Nation service learning trip I took in college (January 2002), my friends and I decided to have a little fun with shadows.

One of my favorite ducks -- a bufflehead

And one of my favorite self portraits. Maybe from 2006? I was at my friend Seanie's at-the-time house preparing to help her paint a room for someone who would be moving in. I'm particularly proud of taking such a clear self-portrait on completely manual mode. I miss using my film camera.

And, finally, a sunset in the ever gorgeous Mildford Sound, south island, New Zealand.

A different Christmas tree

This weekend, we're with Matt's family in Southern Iowa. We put up the big family Christmas tree after Thanksgiving dinner, and our niece and nephew (ages 4 and 6) were mesmerized. Unfortunately, they also wanted to spend a lot of time playing with the more delicate ornaments. Their mom mentioned wanting to do some sort of kid-friendly felt tree, and that sparked a memory in me.

During grad school, one of my friends wanted to do a tree, but she didn't have much room in her tiny apartment. She decided to hang a felt tree on the wall, and we all decorated little felt ornaments to hang up on the tree. I showed the pics to my sister-in-law, and she was game.

This morning, I avoided the worst of Black Friday by waiting to go out until noon. I picked up some felt for our project. I purchased both a yard of green (~$4.00) and 8 little felt squares (23 cents each, except for the fancy leopard print, which was 97 cents). My mother in law was buying some stockings to decorate, so she picked up a pack of glitter glue for ~$5.

Once we got home, we got everything going. I roughly traced a tree on the felt. Actually, I did this twice, as you can see. I'm not 100% happy with my tree (the branches tilt up a bit too much), but it's good enough.

Tracing:

And the finished, cut-out tree:

I don't have much for reference in this picture, but the tree is a bit more than a yard tall. We used the width of the felt so we'd have a taller tree.

Then, we got down to business. My SIL and I cut out ornaments, and we did some decorating along with my niece. My nephew sat next to me and played with legos, but his only decorating contributions were "no, thank you" when I asked if he wanted to decorate and "laser eyes!" or "red!" when I wanted decorating suggestions.

Here I am, decorating the star for the top of treee:

Here's my SIL and niece decorating:

Here's the laser-eyes teddy bear:

And a collection of a bunch of finished ornaments -- click on the pics to go to flickr and see a bigger version:

Here's the "finished" tree on the table. The ornaments are still drying, so we aren't able to hang the tree up yet. But I'm hoping the kids have a fun time "decorating" this tree of their own and don't get too much into the big tree. If nothing else, this was a fun way to spend an afternoon. My niece managed to hang on for a good bit of decorating, and she really enjoyed checking out the ornaments I was doing in between bouts of running off to play or get a snack.

I anticipate this would be a great craft for a slightly older kid (ages 5-10 or so?) or anyone artsy. Our overall expenses were under $12, and we have plenty more glitter glue for other crafts. When I made this in grad school, we used push pins to secure the tree to the wall. Using the push pins, we put on garland and candy canes, and the ornaments stuck just fine. I'm not sure how well it will work with little kids, but my SIL has velcro waiting in the wings in case the tree needs a little something more.

A little project

True confession: I love to read home improvement blogs, watch HGTV, and day dream about improving our home. We live in work-provided housing, so any major renovations are out. We're also pinching pennies to pay off our student loans ASAP, which means we're not wanting to buy any major pieces right now.

We can, however, do some little fixes that are budget-friendly and have a good impact. My most recent fix was to change a clashing, brassy lamp out for something more fitting for our bedroom. But instead of buying a new lamp, I painted the old one! I was definitely inspired by the blog Young House Love and such posts as this one where they painted chair legs and this one where they spruced up metal stools.

Here's the offending lamp before:

It's fine. It did okay. But we now have a wall closet that is a silvery metal, and we also have oil-rubbed bronze hooks on the wall. Two colors of metal in one room is enough for me. (side note: remind me to take some pics and blog about the wall closet I put up. I love it!) And painting sounded mighty fine. Also, the metal was really worn. See?

I didn't do the decorator blog thing and take a picture of my tools. But they were pretty basic. I bought 320 grit sandpaper (not realizing I had tons already -- anyone need sandpaper for a project?) and a can of Rustoleum all-in-one primer+paint spray paint in oil rubbed bronze. The can I bought had a neat trigger system instead of the little nozzle, so it was really easy to use. I also used some paper towels and some vinegar+water cleaning solution to take off the sanding dust. I did not buy the liquid deglosser I've seen recommended, but it seemed unnecessary after sanding.

With the help of my patient and nice father-in-law, we taped up parts and took off anything we didn't want painted. We also removed the hoop to paint separately.

Then, we sanded. And sanded a bit more. We tried not to be too rough as to make big scratches, but we also wanted to rough up the finish and take off any shine. This gives a nice surface for the new paint to cling to. Notice the dustiness.

Then, I just cleaned the whole thing with vinegar+water, and then I wiped the lamp dry and let it sit for a few minutes for evaporation to do its magic. And my father-in-law played with Lucy through the porch screen.

Then, I painted. I tried to hold the can about a foot away, but I wasn't always successful. I also tried to lay down light, smooth layers. We did about 5 layers of paint overall, so we didn't need complete coverage the first go-around. I wasn't always successful, so there are a few little drips. Getting the top was challenging but just took a little time; apologies for not having any pics of painting the top. I just reminded myself to be slow and steady.

I wasn't there for the last bit of spraying (I had to go lead a bird hike for a friend), but Matt and his dad took care of it. He says they really lightly sanded right before the last coat, and then they laid down just a bit more paint. We then let the lamp sit on the porch for two days to off-gas before we brought it into the bedroom.

Here's the finished product!

We actually did buy a new lampshade, but it ended up looking so small on the lamp, so it has to go back. I'll try to look for a new one, but I have had a hard time finding large enough shades. In any case, we are super happy with how much better this looks. The lamp fades into the bedroom, which is perfect for it. The lamp is in an awkward spot, but it is necessary for night time reading in bed without having to get out to turn off the harsh ceiling lamp. One of these days (read: when we clean the entire thing), I'll take a few pictures of our room. It is not a magazine spread, but it is cozy, comfortable, and useful.

What about all of you out there? Any good, simple home improvements you like to do? I'm now super excited to spray paint something else. I'm eying our brass doorknobs next!

Back in Minnesota

Now that the heat has broken, it is nice to be back home. Especially nice are sleeping in my own bed, snuggling my cat, and being able to work on our apartment.

Today, we took a short bike ride to go hike. We packed along the picnic below. It was great to get to finally use the picnic set we received for our wedding (unexpectedly, I might add. We had a small registry and were pleasantly surprised to see all the nice things folks gifted us). Even a simple meal of sandwiches, coleslaw, and fruit tastes better outdoors.

Has the heat broken where you live? What are you doing to enjoy summer?

Our yard

Just two shots of some of the lovely tulips coming up in our yard. I'll try to snap more pics soon. Matt and I both love tulips, and this is the second year our bulbs have given us a gorgeous spring show. I need to remember to plant some seeds so we can enjoy flowers this summer as well.

More teacher clothes

I've got two more outfits to share with you. I would like to set up a better system for taking pictures of my teacher clothes. However, I leave for work before Matt gets up, and I get home before him and usually change right into more casual clothes to keep my teacher clothes clean. Here are two things I managed to snap a pic of. I am wearing the sweater dress again today with the new pair of Danskos I got today. The Danskos are sort of a Mary Jane style, and I am hoping they won't be too clunky with skirts. I have a normal pair of Dansko clogs, and I find them really comfortable for all the walking I do.

The following outfit was something I put together for "Where's Waldo?" day at school. Faculty and seniors had to wear red and white while all the other students wore black. I didn't have a striped shirt, so this was my compromise. And, yes, that is our front porch. Our house is in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint.

The story of those times

I absolutely love looking at old photos. Some of my favorite books are collections of old Life and Time magazine photos. Seeing how folks lived not so long ago is fascinating. Everything seems a little different yet still the same. However, I've found some new photos that bring the past super close. These photos are from 1939-1943, and they are in color.

My favorite photo is #66. I won't ruin it by explaining the photo, but I will say that I find the photo subject inspirational and always have. I also love #20, #68, and #69; I can't believe all the kids are in button up shirts. I'd love to see my students dress like this. It would be a welcome change from all the boxers I see despite asking them to pull their pants up.

TwoThree questions:
1. Which photos are your favorites?
2. What will the enduring images of our time be? Will future photo viewers find our images quaint due to the lack of 3D or the funny clothes?

Teacher Clothes

One of the more difficult parts of my job is actually dressing myself each morning. This is so challenging that I have taken to laying out my clothes the night ahead of time (a trick I mastered in college, because it is rough picking out clothes before 8 am organic chemistry). In addition to the mental calculus of whether or not I look good, there's a whole additional set of questions. Does this show too much, both on top and bottom? Can I bend over, squat, or kneel down in this outfit so I can answer student questions? Is my outfit flammable? (Essential to know, especially on lab days. Hence the scarf/no scarf in the outfit below.) I've sought inspiration in other places. One of my favorite blogs, which is sadly not being updated anymore, is academic chic. On the bright side, they have a great set of archives.

A few things I have learned:

- tank tops are your friend. They can take a top from "hmm, not sure if it is too short when I write at the top of the board" to "this might ride up, but my tank top tucks in and covers the skin!"

- I need to find some better shoes, especially for when I am wearing skirts. Being on your feet all day definitely doesn't mix with heels, and it's not so forgiving even on small wedges or platforms.

- Even with fancy clothes, I still sometimes get mistaken for a teenager. But the fancy clothes help.

- I can wear skirts, but they are often not compatible with my frigid arctic classroom.

Next on my purchase list is definitely adding to my collection of belts. I only own two belts, and they are both black and fairly utilitarian. I am hoping to make some belts with the new sewing machine I received for Christmas, but I've got to practice on something simpler first. A few varieties will really help add a colorful pop to my wardrobe and hopefully expand my options. For now, I am hoping to try a ribbon belt that I've seen on some blogs so that I can wear a sweater dress to school.

What challenges have you encountered when dressing for work? Are there any great resources I am missing for being stylish yet appropriate?

Wedding pictures

After a month, I finally feel I have some perspective on our wedding today. First, being married is fabulous! Second, the day was so much more than I thought it would be. It was wonderful to be surrounded by so many loved ones as we made our commitment. We had 120 people with us for our wedding, and it was the perfect amount. We were able to get around, see people, and not be pulled in too many directions.

I don't have all the pictures, but there is a small collection up on our photographer's website. And while I am mentioning them, I'd like to give them the heartiest thanks ever. We were able to fly out two of my friends from high school, and I am beyond glad we made that decision. I love the photos we've seen so far, and I can't wait to share more. I will tell more stories and post photos as time goes on.

Merry Christmas

From mine to yours

One of these years, I'll remember to get better at holding the remote so folks can't see it. That's my trick to a good holiday photo; set up the camera, then use a remote shutter trip to take lots and lots of photos.