Dress Shirt Throw Pillows

 

 

So when my father passed away, my sister and I got nuttin'.  No, no, we're not bitter (I'm trying to convince myself of that).  Well I suppose she did get something, she got some books.  But whatever, I don't really count those.  I hold on to the fact that my boys got something special of his and I suppose that's my share in a way.  So when I stumbled on this following idea I called my mom and secretly hoped she hadn't gotten rid of any of his clothes yet.  She hadn't.  Thank goodness for grief.  Am I right?  (I'M KIDDING, JEESH!). 

So for now I've taken possession of all of my dad's dress shirts.  I've pulled two out of the bunch to convert for my own keepsies and I figure eventually I'll turn all of them (including my two) into throw pillows!!  What's that?  What it is is a brilliant idea!  I think it's pretty cool that my dad once wore my throw pillows.  Wha-what?

So here goes.  I picked up some pillow forms at a garage sale for a buck each.  So basically these pillows cost me a buck each, not a bad score.  I measured the pillow, this particular one was 16 inches x 16 inches.  So I cut my material into a 16 inch square.  I didn't add much room to spare as I wanted it to be taut and not all loosey goosey.  I decided to include the pocket.  The inspiration photo I originally came across did not include the pocket, but I think it adds character and gives the impression that it was once a dress shirt. 

Once my squares were cut out I flipped them so the outsides were facing each other and I pinned them together .  Then I ran all four sides through my sewing machine.  Upon completion of all four sides I unbuttoned the shirt and inserted the pillow form.  Then I straightened it all out and did the buttons up again.  Et VOILA!  A throw pillow reminiscent of my daddio. 

This Moment {6} - The follow up

Man I have not had ANY motivation to blog lately...Sorry for the delay.
A couple of years ago (or maybe it was last Halloween, no I think it was two years ago...) Eric and I drove up to Toronto to spend the night in Boy's Town (or the Gay Village, or the Church St. District).  The gays (that's my term of endearment for them) always have the best costumes ever.  I wasn't disappointed in the finds on this trip. 

We got dressed up (I wore my Star Trek dress and Eric wore hospital scrubs and a lab coat) and we melded into the throngs of people who took over the shut down street, dressed in their Hallowed best.   I am a huge people watcher and gay lover so aside from the sheer numbers that would be roaming the streets I was totally looking forward to this night.  Within moments of turning onto Church St., Eric was surrounded by dudes dressed as girls who were harbouring for his affections and photo opportunities and I was critiqued and called a bitch because my Star Trek uniform looked better on me than the gay boy's looked on him.  I think it was a backhanded compliment....I think.  We ogled all the amazing costumes, impressed with the amount of effort these guys (and some gals) put into their outfits.  We saw the Queen of England, Count Chocula, Frankenberry, the Lucky Charms Leprechaun, and Cap'n Crunch, we saw the Flintstone gang including their foot powered car, we saw Converse running shoes (like for real life size), we saw a buttload (no pun intended) of drag queens, and we saw shit we just plain didn't understand.  At one point we saw two big, fat 'cheerleaders' who were cordial and lovely enough to allow us to take our picture with them, until they weren't.  As they walked away they pondered to themselves how she (yup me) was able to snag a hot specimen like him (they meant Eric), in disgust.  I could hear them still though.  *Where's my sad face emoticon?   I just want to love the gays so much, why the hate? 

But then I was cheered up by these fine pieces of ass.  My favourite boys of the night, hands down.  My "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" friends.  They loved me (or at least they did a much better job faking it for me).  We decided a picture was in order and it was their idea to lift our skirts.  We had so much fun with them and spending the Halloween festivities in Boys Town.  I can't wait for the opportunity to do it again soon!

This Moment {6}

If you're new to my blog (thanks to the October blogging challenge) and keep coming back then you'll soon learn that every Monday I have a ritual. **I've borrowed an idea from Janine over at Reflections From a Redhead who borrowed it from Thom at To Gyre and Gambol, who initially borrowed it from Cath at Just My Thoughts. So I too have started a Monday ritual.

One image will be posted. No words will describe it. It will capture a moment from my past - memories that I cherish. Then on Friday I will post part 2 of this new ritual where I will share the story behind the photo. This borrowed idea is called {This Moment}.

Dog Parking

Today it was so beautiful outside, we decided it was finally the right time to take Dempsy to the dog park.  From the moment I walked through the double fence it was crystal clear to me and the others that I was a newbie and out of sorts.  Eric was lagging behind me and I since I was alone and not quite sure how Dempsy would react with the other dogs I played it safe and kept him on his lead.  Dead giveaway number one right?  I stood out like a sore thumb to the other dog moms and dads (God, I hate that saying).  I mean who goes to the dog park and makes their dog stay on his leash?  Ahaha, this girl. 

After Dempsy spotted a couple other dogs playing, I decided it was do or die time so I let him off his lead and was immediately scolded by the other humans because I didn't take his prong collar off.  Uhm, what?  Oh nevermind it's just a choker, you're good.  Phew, thank goodness I was good, cause I could tell a scolding would have followed. Yeesh.  Holy pressure at the dog park, and not the warmest welcoming, that's for sure!

I think most of us, who have common sense, can figure out the basic etiquette at the dog park:

If your dog doesn't play nice, go home.
Pick up after your dog.
Have your dog vaccinated.
Don't bring a dog in heat into the park.
Leave small children at home.

But there are other dog park 'unwritten' rules out there.  Oh don't kid yourself.  Rules that us green dog owners need to learn, and quick before we end up shunned like we're in high school again (and believe me, there are cliques at the dog park).  In the half an hour that I was there it didn't take me long to realize that these doggy parents police (I think they make up their own laws too) that park pretty strictly and have ZERO problem telling other dog owners where they are slacking (and I thought moms were the judgiest of all, moms of dogs are far, FAR worse).  I think I need tougher skin. 

So today I learned that I should never, ever bring a ball.  (How do I make a sad face?  And what if there are no dogs around for Dempsy to play with?)  I get that you probably shouldn't use a ball if there are other dogs around, I'm not an idiot.  I understand that it could create a territorial behaviour from mine or someone else's pup.  But I felt like a scolded 5 year old when I was told to "lose the ball".  No hello, no f*ck you, just LOSE THE BALL.  Just like that, after the scolding about a non existant collar that was the next sentence out of their mouths.  Sometimes I hate people. 

I also learned we should bring some water.  I guess I assumed there would be a water station/fountain/tap like at the city owned cemeteries.  Wrong.  There is a community water bowl though.  Go figure.  My dog drank a lot of other people's water today.  I'm a bad dog mom. 

And for the love of all things canine, we humans no longer have our own identity.  You do not ask another human being's name once you are inside those fences (I felt like I was at an AA meeting).  We, as individual people, no longer exist.  I am merely Dempsy's Mom.  Ugh.  This reason alone makes me not want to ever go back to the dog park.  But since he enjoyed it so much today and it was a decent experience for him overall, we likely will try it out again. 

This time I'll be prepared.  This time I shall trade the ball for the water.  This time I won't be so 'green'.  This time I might throw the 'tude back at them (I figure if I pretend to know what I'm doing in the confines of those fences I can probably pull it off) when they make me feel like the worlds worst person.  I'm kind of glad my boy Demps didn't go over to them when they called his name.  I'm glad he ignored her.  *Now how to I make a sticking out my tongue emoticon on here? 

The Wood Will Renew The Foliage It Sheds

In the spring I thought it would be a brilliant idea to turn Gage's bedroom on the main floor of my house into a den and build him a new bedroom in the unfinished part of our basement.  On paper that seemed like a logical (still does) and quick transformation (not so much).  We are still far from finished the den and no where near completion on Gage's new space.  Instead he has completely taken over our rec room and destroyed it in the process.  Arg!  Following his room creation we'll be re-doing the rec room now.  No travels for us this year! 

Gage's room before furniture removal but after personal effects removed.

The point of this post is to introduce you to the main hiccup or the most time consuming aspect of the den transformation.  Our pallet wall.  I saw this idea on Pinterest and I loved the raw look of the wood.  I knew, aside from the work, Eric would also embrace this idea as he loves all things woodsy and natural.  So pallet searching we-a-went!  We lucked out huge when a friend of ours was able to bring us a butt truck load of pallets on a few occasions.  This saved us driving around looking (which we only had to do once).  And of course not every board on the pallet was in decent shape or suitable for using so we had a lovely trashy collection of pallets on our patio all summer.

It took a lot of physical labour to remove the usable boards from the pallets.  We deemed it better to cut through the nails with a saw rather than try to pry the boards off.  Prying them off would just result in breaking and cracking the boards.  This was merely one aspect I didn't take into consideration when I envisioned a quick finish date. 



Eric showing me his displeasure.

The second set back was the fact that it was thought best that we pull the drywall down off the one wall we had chosen to recover.  Drywall/plaster, same thing right?  Nope.  Plaster is a son of a bitch!  So that took way, WAY longer than I had thought and created way, WAY more of a mess than I was anticipating.  The metal gridding behind the plaster was the bane of Eric's existance.   Finally with the wall down to the studs we were able to put up the two sheets of plywood we had purchased.  I think we got 1/2 inch plywood to put over the studs.  The thought process behind this was:  Because the slats from the pallets are of different variances if there were any small gaps or spaces between slats then it wouldn't be as obvious with the wood plywood peaking through it rather than a painted wall.  And, my wall wouldn't be jutting out an extra inch or so from the orginal studs.  Eric is so smart, sometimes his extra work pays off. 

Now it was finally time to put the slats up onto the wall (the one part of the project I was totally focusing on).   After 5 lines I was coming to really appreciate how this wall was going to look upon completion.  Thank goodness we were only doing one accent wall.  I can't imagine trying to 'panel' an entire room with this process.  Now that the slats are all up it looks amazing.  Even though this project set my den make-over back like 3 months (working full time for a living and trying to squeeze this in isn't always practical) I have no regrets about this decision.

It's time to start piecing the room together.  I can't wait to see the finished project with all the crafty stuff I've done for it and in turn, show you the end result!  I'm looking forward to having a new room to hang out in.  I'm starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel.  It will all be worth it.    

 

Empty

I can honestly say that I've never been so angry, upset and frustrated over something that doesn't directly or personally involve me than I am right now over the situation involving Amanda Todd, here in Canada. 

Amanda is a 15 year old girl who made a stupid mistake judgement call more than a few years ago when she was in GRADE 7.  (For f*ck sake she was 12.  Twelve year olds are allowed to make mistakes.)  A mistake that some man (I use that term loosely as I feel he's a pathetic excuse of a human being.) has continued to haunt her with, torment her with, used as ammo to enlist the help of many others to torment her, basically destroy her life with.  He has found her and stalked her on Facebook each time (3 times in total) she switched schools to get away from her bullies there.  He just couldn't let it go, she was an easy prey. 

This is Amanda's video (her story, seeking help) that she posted the day before she was successful in yet another attempt on her own life.  She died on October 10th of this year.  I am heartbroken for a girl I do not know, nor will I ever get the chance to meet.  I am saddened and left with a feeling of hollowness for every single kid in this world that is suffering at the hands and actions of others.  I am scared for the future of our children.  I am feeling helpless that there seems to be nothing I can do and I feel hopeless because nothing seems to be being done by those in a position to do something.  I am sickened that these bullies continue to get away with their actions and choices, and those who are the victims and their families are left to suffer. 

I know that my reaction is not right, but I wish great harm on those perpetrators and their families.  I hope nothing good comes their way.  I hope they suffer from the hands of another.  I hope they feel pain every single day of their life. I wish I could physically maim them.  I wish I could torture them and laugh in their faces when they cried for mercy.  I wish every single horrible thing that I would often say I wouldn't wish on my own worst enemy happens to them.  I know it's childish and doesn't make what happened any better. I know by wanting those things I just stoop to their level, but I don't give a shit.  They have, in a round about way, taken another girls life.  They have destroyed a family.  I hope they get to experience the same pain.  They walk around all smug in their actions, they have created Twitter accounts to still torment and berate her after her death, they are still posting photos of her making a mockery of her .  They make me ashamed to share a species and a nation with them.  I am disgusted that Twitter and Facebook allow this behaviour to continue.  (Today I filed a report to Facebook asking them to remove a mocking photo of Amanda that is circulating on Facebook and they have denied my request.  I am sickened.  Yet another fine example of how those in some sort of power are failing our children.) 

The RCMP states that they are lodging a 'full investigation' and maybe it's the cynic in me but I can guarantee that NOTHING will be done about this.  For once I hope with every fibre of my being that I'm wrong.   I'm experiencing crazy mixed emotions when it comes to her parents as well.  My heart bleeds for them right now.  I cannot imagine having to sit with them to make funeral arrangements.  I hurt for them, as a fellow parent, as a human being.  However, I can assure you had this been my child they would have been stripped of any social media outlets, and home schooled if this still carried on following a school change.  I wouldn't let my kid out of my site if they had previous unsuccessful suicide attempts.  I would be in the police station asking why this man hadn't been charged with distribution of child pornography, I'd be asking why they weren't at the schools charging these kids with harassment.  I wouldn't have allowed my child to make the decision to not press charges.  As a minor that choice should fall on me, not her.  I suppose this is all hindsight at this point, but there are so many other choices that could have been made. 

Please take the 8 minutes to watch her silent video.  And then do yourself, but more importantly do your children, a favour and watch it with them.  Talk to them about Amanda's story.  Let them understand the consequences of their actions should they decide to bully another human being because of a stupid judgement call.  Let them know that bullying does hurt people indefinitely.  Let them know it isn't right even if all their friends say it is.  But also let them know that if someone is bullying them that you'll be an advocate for them, that you will do everything in your power to protect your children from another's harm and then follow through with it.  All of it. 

This whole situation has been eating at me for two days now.  I shudder to think about how much my own situation in high school could have escalated if my bullies had had the power of the Internet and social media like Facebook existed.  My bullies eventually got bored and moved on, but Facebook just continues to add fuel to the fire.  I sit here and think about those I went to school with who were bullies and I wonder if they look back with remorse or if they are truly oblivious to their actions and how they've affected others.   I can't stop thinking about this.  I wish there was a way to help.  I'm feeling helpless and hopeless for our kids futures.  I could go on and on about this situation.  Right now I'm just empty. 

Words can hurt or heal.  What did yours do today?