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Demolition Day, aka The Day Jenn Got A 'Wonder Bar'

This is part of a post I did on my personal blog. I made it private a little while ago, and just haven't been doing that good updating it. Or this one, for that matter. I don't know how I feel having two blogs anymore.

Anyway, here's an office update:
This is what it looked like before we got the pry bar out.

I decided it was time to start a bit of demolition in my office to remove some built-in shelves. They don't look so bad, right? There are actually shelves just like these on the opposite wall, too, but I just wanted to remove these ones. I believe this room was originally set up to be used as a closet for some sort of master suite in the basement. There are no windows and crappy lighting, so I'm attempting to make this room more functional, and less cave-like.
Let's check on the progress, shall we?
The two shelves on the gray brackets were installed by us, so they just came right down. The white shelves took a bit more effort.
Look at "me" go! "I'm" such a hard worker.

These were real stinks to remove. The shelves were screwed down to the cleats, but they'd covered all the screw heads so they were hard to find. And they used silicone caulk to seal around the edges of the shelves. Grr.

Did I mention they glued and used 3 inch screws to attach the cleats to the wall? Man, did "I" have a tough time with those!

It all came off the walls eventually and there's quite a bit of damage to the wall (curse you, construction adhesive!) The white patches you see to the right are the insides of the drywall. Fun!
The people who installed these were, well, they were on crack. That's the only explanation I can come up with. Half the annoyance was just trying to figure out what they did.
(I swear I was working on the shelves by myself at one point ... B just thought I was getting frustrated and well, he knows how to do it the right way, so who am I to complain!)
Now it really is my part — prepping the walls for either fixing the drywall damage, or covering it up with cupboards, depending on my sanity levels. Did I mention I'm also painting in here (including the ceiling)? Oh, and considering removing the carpet and putting in new flooring? On a budget of oh, nothing?
Way fun.
Call me if you want to have a drywall party! I'll make treats!

(Whose idea was this?!?)

The force is definitely with them

Halloween was all about handmade this year. Which was absolutely wonderful and super stressful at the same time.
We got Jack's costume finished Wednesday night for his class party Thursday (4th graders don't get to dress up, boo!). Benson's costume, however, was finished, oh, at 6:30 Halloween night!
Els has been having some major skin issues and had four separate doctors visits within a week. She woke up Friday just miserable and would cry when you tried to pick her up unless you held her a certain way, not touching any of what were becoming open wounds. We finally got in to a pediatric dermatologist Friday and figured out she had a wicked case of eczema on her entire body and got things under control. Um, the Friday we were going to finish up costumes!
Saturday was a really busy day! First up, we blessed Elsie and her cousin, David.  Ignore the faces Elsie and I are pulling in this picture. It's all about the dress, anyway!

It was so wonderful to see family and friends and bless those two sweet babies. We had a potluck lunch after that and then headed home to finish costumes. The final products?
Padawan Obi Wan Kenobi from Episode I (action shot, of course) and Anakin from Episode III (look at that face of near, but not quite, evil!)

Jack even had a hair extension in for the padawan braid, thanks to our friend, Jenny the hair stylist! These are, of course, far from accurate costumes. We searched many web sites trying to get them relatively close without going crazy! While making them was a lot of stress, it was so much fun! I worked with B (hubby) on most parts. I did the sewing, he did the leather work. He spent a couple hours making Jack's belt and helping me make Benson's boots and glove.
I'll try to get a few better photos of their costumes so you can see more detail.
Elsie got in on the Halloween action, too, wearing a cute ladybug costume put together by her aunt.

Babies in tutus!

The boys looked awesome and it was a great night ... until Benson started to complain about a sore throat. So now he's sick and we're just hoping no one else joins him! We got our regular flu shots but not the H1N1, so we're keeping our fingers crossed!

New stuff

I've finally finished a couple things! I have plenty cut out, just waiting. AND since Halloween is next week, I figured I should probably finish the boys costumes sometime! We've also had an interesting week, with a visit to Primary Children's Hospital Thursday night. Elsie and I didn't get home from there until 3 am, and have had rough nights since Wednesday, so I'm not getting things done very fast!
Here's the first car seat cover:

It's 100% cotton, backed in brown dot minky fabric.

I can make it to fit these handle types:

Or it can fit a regular straight handle.
The cover is now for sale in my Etsy shop. More of these coming!
Also, the first of the crayon rolls is done.

I also have Superman and University of Utah ones coming!

Shop update update

Items ARE being made but I decided to spend the weekend hanging out with family and going on a date to finally celebrate my anniversary with B. And Elsie, of course. Who had a rather remarkable blowout diaper at PF Changs.
So stuff will be added as I can get to it.
I'm also going to be doing a couple craft shows, one for sure, one hopefully. Right now the focus is on getting a few things done for family first (priorities! costumes!) and getting ready for Elsie's blessing on Halloween.
And I am just curious, but would anyone be interested in doing a craft swap? I have a couple ideas about making it so you can swap your crafts for points or something like similar that could be used to 'purchase' crafts made by others.

If I post it, I'll have to follow through, right?

Shop update coming!
There will be (hopefully!):
hooded towels
mini blanket and burp cloth sets (great for baby showers - I know it's what I like to give, ha!)
kid's smocks
car seat covers
crayon rolls
I hope to start putting stuff in the shop this weekend! Any of these would make great Christmas gifts. And if you don't quite see what you want, let me know and we can work out a custom order for you.

Now, about the office cleaning ...
I swear I'm doing it! I just have to clean the rest of the house as well, so it's a bit slow going :)
(How's your homework, Jana?)

I privatized my family blog - if you'd like to read it, please comment here (if I already have your email) or email me at jennifreckles(at)hotmail(dot)com.

The cleaning saga.

So. My office doesn't look much different than it did in my last post.
But, I have plans.
I have come up with a new schedule for my days. I really need this because I just started school again and need to make sure I've enough time during the day to actually accomplish something. Since I was scheduling school, I decided to schedule cleaning, too. A different area of the house every day will be tackled, in addition to the regular picking up I have to do with three kids. So the plan is to fill a garbage bag every day with stuff to get rid of. I will donate or chuck as much as I can because I truly hate clutter, yet I have the tendency to be a packrat. Usually these two things are in a state of balance, but right now it's a little off.
Oh, and there's a moratorium on purchasing. Unless it's an item I absolutely have to have to finish a gift, no more buying craft supplies. Unless something breaks and I desperately need a replacement, no buying household items (good thing I decided this after the Pampered Chef party!). And I will keep you updated on how it's going (Gee, Jana, are you too busy to get on my case about my progress?)
By the end of next week, I hope to have quite the car load to donate. Savers and DI, here I come!