I fought the law pt 2

okay, so your union jack is done.  what now?  well you do what I did and sit on your ass for almost 3 years.  ha!!!

so this spring, I wanted to change/finish/try something new in ty's half done room.  so I tackled the wall opposite to the flag wall.  oh, and I cleaned his room.  CLEANED.  grrr.

you can see that Ty has added his little touches:  hockey pictures, medals, movie posters!  I added the keep out {wall vinyl I bought a couple of years ago} and his name.  he wanted his bed moved, so it's in the corner now.  we'll see how long that lasts!  you can also see that the black canvas has lost its cds and it's blank.  I'll show you in a bit what I did with that!

the skull is also wall vinyl - stampin' up! I think.  I have a red flaming guitar on another wall in his room...but I don't think it shows up in any pictures.  I wish that SU! still sold wall vinyl!

this is the opposite wall.  the canvas is from winners.  one of my friends saw it, called me, bought it!  the abbey road sign was a find in jasper one year.  Ty's bed used to be against this wall.  when I moved it, it looked really bare.  so I set up his "music centre" against the wall and got to work!

so I had been seeing a bunch of cork-type things on pinterest.  Ty collects corks {he went through a cork-gun making phase and so my mom still supplies him with corks!} and I had promised to make a cork board for him.  then I got a bright idea!  why not make a guitar shaped cork board? 

step #1:  find a shape.  so my kids have these old paper jamz guitars from a couple of years ago.  they're fairly small-ish and really light weight.  and the PERFECT shape!

step #2:  trace your shape.  I chose to do my cork wall right on the wall.  if you aren't comfortable with this, you will need to do it on a piece of cardboard or plywood...and then you'll need to cut out your shape.  I traced my shape right on my wall {with a pencil!}.

step #3:  pull out your corks and your glue gun.  I'm not too sure if there's a proper way to do this.  so I started with my outline.  I hot glued the bottom of each cork and stuck it to the outline.  then I filled in the bridge of the guitar, since it was 3 corks thick - pretty simple.  then I started filling in the rest.  and then I ran out of corks.

step #4:  drink some wine.  or call your mother who you know will be drinking a glass.  in other words, this project needed more corks than I had collected!  I chose to use the wine-stained corks whenever I could.  I like the red-ish, purple-ish colour!  I also chose my corks with intent.  I used a champaign cork for one of the tuning pegs.

also, using some spray adhesive, I attached some postcards that a friend had sent me, to the wall.  my goal now is to collect some more postcards from GB to add to the wall.  and I want a wall hanging guitar stand for Ty's real guitar.

voila!  the finished guitar!  I love it.  but more importantly, my kid LOVES it!  there are some spaces in there.  if you were wanting PERFECT, you may want to lay out the whole thing prior to gluing it.  I wasn't aiming for perfect, just for my kid to be happy.  results achieved!

then, since Nate got some chalkboard in his room, I added a small bit of chalk board to Ty's room as well.  and to tie it all together, I used vinyl letters from the dollar store to write the words of our favourite rolling stones song.  let's sing together:  "you can't always get what you want..."

finally, this is what I decided to do with that black canvas:  we're going to collect concert tickets and glue them on.  when it's full, I throw some modge-podge overtop to seal it.  black keys.  mumford and sons.  the coldplay ticket just needs to be added.  okay, so they're MY tickets.  one day he'll collect his own!!

if I've been unclear in either of these tutorials, please leave a comment and I'll answer you!!  

happy decorating!!

I fought the law pt 1

okay, so today I am going to do a full stop and share with you a tutorial on how to create a british-pop-rock bedroom for your kid.  complete with a cork guitar!

I'll do this in two parts - the painting will be part 1 and the cork guitar will be part 2.  and trust me, lots of pictures!!  so the first part of my decorating was painting a union jack on a wall in ty's bedroom.  you will need a couple of tools for this:  a laser level, an ikea paper measuring stick {yes, I took one from ikea!}, a pencil, a couple of thicknesses of green painters tape, some paint samples {red, blue and white if your wall colour is really dark}, and a picture of a union jack on your phone!

mine is not perfect, but it ended up being fairly decent.  most flag dimensions are a ratio of 1:2.  so, that means 1 foot high to 2 feet across.  just use this ratio to create whatever size you'd like.

step #1:  using a laser level and painters tape, tape out the edges of your flag and the inner cross.  use your pencil to make all your markings.  I have a laser level that sticks to my walls.  it was a HUGE help.  it makes sure your lines are straight and you don't have to rush.  that laser line will wait all day for you to get your tape down straight.  I think my flag is 3x4 with in inner cross being 2 or 3 inches.  trust me.  if I can do the math to get this centred, so can you!!

step #2:  with different sizes of tape, tape the diagonal lines.  I used my laser level for each quadrant and did each quarter separately.  this is where having a picture of a union jack will totally help you!  then I painted the inner cross...

...and the diagonals!  I cannot stress this enough:  LET YOUR PAINT DRY!

step #3:  paint the other sections blue.  and once again, LET IT DRY!!!  your painters tape will not come off in a clean line if you pull it off when the paint is still tacky.  don't ask me how I know.  ha!

step #4:  so while you're waiting, you can create some canvases for your walls!  I used just plain white canvases from michaels.  then I got out my stamps and my paint and stamped the names of british bands on my canvas.  I had a big ampersand stamp as well, so that allowed me to create some space and a change in colour.  you could do this with vinyl letters or by hand, if that's your kind of crafty!  stamping is my kind of crafty, so I just used what I had.

canvas #2 was inspired by a tshirt my hubs has.  john owns this blue t-shirt with the red cross on one sleeve.  on top of it was a lion and a crest.  it says GBR on it somewhere too.  I stripped down the idea and just painted the red cross on white, then stamped one the name of one of my fave songs on the bottom in black.  on a third canvas, I painted the whole thing black then glued old cds upside down on it.  that canvas got destroyed in a fit of anger - the kid, not me! so I'm on plan b with that one!!

step #5:  take all your painters tape off and hang your canvases.  my walls are fairly light so I decided not to add white to my flag.  okay, I'll be honest.  I was tired of tape, so I didn't really want to do all the work that it was going to require!!

I'll post part 2 pretty quickly.  you'll see how this wall has morphed over the last three years!  I did this wall back in July 2010...

up all night

I drank coffee WAY late tonight.  so I'm still awake.  watching the voice.  PLEASE don't tell me who went home this week.  I'm not staying up for that tonight.  I don't even have anything significant to write about.  I just want to be tired!

so, just a few things:
1.  there are 11 more teaching days.
2.  my baby turns 8 in just 5 more sleeps.
3.  10 more days of this whole30.
4.  16 sleeps until we're on a plane to california.
5.  I'm pretty sure I drank 4 cups of coffee today.
6.  I think I need to sit at the piano tomorrow and work out my stress.
7.  I don't like tornados.  and I wish if they were going to head our direction that they wouldn't show up during school hours.  I'm glad that it didn't touch down.
8.  I'm done with the rain.
9.  I baked 46 cupcakes tonight.  tomorrow I ice them.
10.  why do I do lists of 10?  it feels so blah.
11.  I am ridiculously emotionally overwhelmed right now.
12.  this too will pass.

so this is what I choose today:

dust bowl dance

so I have a revolving list.  a list of people I'd like to coffee with, you know, in my dreamland of an imagination because we all know the likelihood for most of these names meeting me for coffee is slim to none.  sigh.  but a girl can dream, right?  it changes frequently, but here's my list as of right now.

1.  dave grohl
2.  ben harper
3.  chris hadfield
4.  romeo dallaire
5.  the keyboard player from mumford & sons, ben lovett
6.  RDJ
7.  connie britton, y'all.
8.  my friend emily, in england
9.  clinton kelly
10.  tim hughes
11.  pete wilson
12.  kathy reichs
13.  bryce courtenay - bryce passed away last fall and I am saving his last book for summer vacation.  I'll drink a lot of coffee when I read it and raise a glass to this phenomenal author.

I could probably do a top 20, if I really thought about it.  lots of musicians on my list.  some actors.  some writers.  some pretty interesting canadians.  a good friend, that I've never met in real life.  and the ever fabulous clinton kelly.  it's a good list.  john's #1 is mohammed ali.  good choice, john fraser.

who is on your list?

ghosts that we knew

it's been an interesting week.  I've been off work since last week friday.  the kids and I had a four day weekend.  yeah queen victoria!  so glad we could honour you every may!  then I had some time coming so I took four days off this week.  it's not really like me to pull a full-stop mid year, but I did.  and wow.  I've needed it more than I knew.  it's been refreshing.  and timely.  I am grateful for it.  so I've been busy!  I love puttering around the house, finishing projects.  tomorrow I'm on laundry room re-sort duty.  fun, I know!  okay, and I apologize...these are out of order.

{so nate's room has been unfinished for almost 3 years.  finally I painted a big chalkboard scoreboard on his wall.  I moved his bed and I finished up with all his sports words.  it went from being 60% finished to 95% finished.  I can't wait to actually use some chalk on it tomorrow.}

{new shelf, and all the words that I put up...}

{now ty's room, on the other hand, has been at the 80% done for almost 3 years.  he's been collecting corks for a long time now and I had told him that I'd make a cork wall for him.  well then, thanks to pintrest, I got the bright idea to do a shape out of corks and since he loves music and his room has a music theme going on, I traced a guitar on the wall and got the glue gun out.  good times!!}

{and then there was the mumford & sons concert last night.  A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.}

{this pictured doesn't do it justice.  they moved to a back stage for two songs at the end of the show and it was right in front of us.  yeah for us!  I love mumford & sons and this concert did not disappoint.  and I loved the keyboard player.  holy rock star keys, batman.  I want to grow up and be a rockstar.}

{okay, back to the cork guitar.  finished.  I love it.  LOVE.  and ty was sooooo happy.}

{then today, imagine dragons did a free, two song session at the mall.  my boys are big fans so I pulled them out of school for the afternoon and we parked our asses at the mall and waited over an hour for a 10 minute set.  totally worth it.  we had a great spot and the boys loved it.}

{and now we're listening to a ton of imagine dragons in the car and they sing along to all the songs with the liner notes in hand so that they actually sing the correct words.  love that too.}

{love.}

{love.}

man, I'm loving a lot of things.

but tomorrow.  tomorrow the crazy begins.  change is stirring.  moving.  blowing in with the wind.  and I need to embrace, and not fear.  I am not in control.  yet in control of my reactions.  the person in me that despises change wants to each chocolate and drink bourbon.  and not feel the anxiety building in my worried head.  yet that has never worked for me.  so today, and especially tomorrow, I am choosing to do something different.  I'm choosing to be grateful.  I am choosing to celebrate.  I am choosing to be different.  and I'm going to punch that bossy, little jillian michaels in the effin' face while I'm taking it to the mat with her for the next 30 days.  bring it on, missy.  the 30 day shred beat me when I did it in January, but it's not going to beat me this time.  and all that anxiety, and stress that this time of year brings is going to get taken down.  I am choosing a different path.  it's time to lead from the front.

nothing left to say

yeah.  that's how I feel.  I'm tired.  and worn out.  okay, so I'm sick, so there's a legit reason for why I'm feeling so crummy!  that said, I'm doing something about it.  yep.  I took next week off work.  that combined with a 4 day weekend that started today and next weekend [which has "usual" weekend status], I've managed 10 days off.  IN.A.ROW.  yep.  I rock.  so of course I'm sick.  and the kids are driving me crazy.  they also have a 4 day weekend.  yippie.  ha!

that said, I do have a couple of things in the works:

1.  mumford and sons.  wednesday night.  I am sooooo super excited!
2.  I'm going to clean out my laundry room AND the garage next week.
3.  the sun is shining and the leaves have made an appearance.  it's time to sneaker up and get my walking on.  the half marathon is only 16? weeks away?
4.  6 more weeks of school.  which means 6 weeks + 1 sleep until we leave for disneyland.  super exciting.
5.  and if it's 6 weeks until disneyland, then it's 7 weeks + 1 sleep until john and I are driving to vegas.
6.  today marks the end of my second, yet highly unofficial whole30.  I actually don't think it belongs in the whole30 category.  the last four weeks have been me eating about 95% in whole30/paleo fashion and I've been choosing 1 meal a week as a cheat/treat meal.  and in that time, I finally broke up with my scale.  it's been almost two weeks since we hung out.  on the first of every month we have a standing date, but other than that, we're done.  through.  finished.
7.  I'm scheduled to do a hard-core, no cheats or treats, whole30 starting on May 24th.  anyone wanna do it with me?
8.  I'm suppose to walk 9k on sunday.  sigh.  I haven't been walking enough.  I've been throwing around the idea of doing the jillian michael's 30 day shred along side my next whole30.  I need to do something.  fun stuff.

so what's new with y'all?  any summer plans?

round and round

so, still nothing profound to say.  HOWEVER, I made a super yummy dinner tonight and a couple of people want the recipe.  if you could call it that...

my thai inspired turkey lettuce wraps.  {inspired by this post}

1.  saute some shredded carrots and some green onions {I did 4 stalks of green onions and 2 cups of carrots} in olive oil.

2.  cook some ground turkey.  {I used a big pot to do my veg in, and then added my ground turkey.  two of the costco packages.}

3.  season it with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and coconut aminos {or in the case of all you non-paleo eaters, soy sauce!}

4.  add a can of drained water chestnuts.

5.  prep your lettuce.  you need to get the old fashioned head of lettuce and break the pieces off, ever so gently.  wash & dry.

6.  make some kick-ass sauce.  1 part regular olive oil, 1 part chipotle infused olive oil, 1 part coconut aminos {or soy sauce}, 2 parts almond butter {or peanut butter} and some garlic.  shake the heck out of  it.  and add more olive oil if it's too chunky or thick.  and if you don't have any of my special olive oil, just add some red pepper flakes or something like that!!

7.  assemble.  and pack some for tomorrow's lunch.

seriously, THAT easy.  and now you understand why I'll never be a food/recipe blogger!!!

my biggest eating issue right now is that I'm getting bored of some of my usual flavours.  and the seasons are changing so I'm craving lighter foods.  these totally cut it.  plus, I have some salmon in my fridge and tomorrow I'm going to create a fish taco using lettuce.  'cause I can.  this whole eating plan has been going well, over all.  I have one treat meal a week and the rest of the time I'm following mainly whole30 guidelines.  but my brain and my taste buds are telling me to switch it up a bit, so I'm gonna listen!

and then I started walking this weekend.  yesterday's 2.95k was pretty decent.  today's 7k was awful.  the heat and the sun just about killed me.  and apparently, starting off a week with almost 10k on my shoes...WHEN I HAVEN'T LOGGED A WALK IN A YEAR...is stupid.  I nearly puked.  and fainted.  yeah.  good thing my mom is such a supportive walking partner!  I have my work cut out for me.  there's a half marathon with my name on it in August and I'm out for a PR.  I almost look happy in this picture - that's because it was last night and NOT today!!

anyways, that's what I'm up to these days.  how are y'all doing?

hear me

oh, my poor neglected blog.  I'm sure my readership has been cut in half.  ha!  good thing I do this writing thing for me and not really for anyone else.  sorry to burst your bubble.  on the other side, I kinda needed the month off.  we've not had any sports or major commitments in the last few weeks and apparently I've needed the rest.  who knew?  I'm not wonder woman!

even right now, I haven't a clue what to write.  and you know?  that's okay.  I just wanted all four of you to know that I'm good.  super good.  and I pinky promise that I'll do a proper update tomorrow, k?

xo