Wooden Craft Projects

I have been blog surfing and I am really excited about repurposing things around my house. I bought 3 old window frames years ago and they have been sitting in my garage. I gave one to my sister, Charlotte who had it painted and hung in her living room that week. I finally painted this one and hung it in Sloan's room. Three panes were already broken out, so I screwed in hooks to hang picture frames. The frames cost $3 total, the ribbon was $1, the white spray paint was $1, and I had everything else.

Next to Sloan's bedroom window I hung this small shelf. I sanded down a wooden sign and used chalk to draw on it. Then I spray painted a little piggy bank. The shelf was $1, the sign was $1, and the piggy bank was $1. I had everything else.

I have posted these flowers before. They were lawn decorations that I spray painted after cutting off the bottom section that goes into the ground. They are also in Sloan's room.

Guy saw me adding things to Sloan's room and asked for his own display shelf. I bought this one for $1 and painted it black. I then used a bike brake line from my husband's bike garbage to create a hanging display. I spray painted chip clips to hang on the line. The metal bike was in my kitchen, but I replaced it with different bike decor. Now he has a place to display his scorpion and tarantula.

This has been fun. Now I am working on sewing projects.

Scorpion Hunting

We went to the Rosenbruch Wildlife Museum in St. George, Utah last week with our friends. It was interesting to see some animals that we had never seen before, but it was also sad because the museum is like a taxidermist's giant trophy room.

The room I really liked was full of insects, arachnids, and a bat that were carefully preserved in display cases. Guy and I decided we wanted to make our own bug displays, so we went scorpion hunting. We put on gloves and bootsThen we grabbed tongs and a small, plastic storage bin. It is best to go scorpion hunting at night with a black light, but instead we just turned over large rocks and grabbed with the tongs.

We found one tiny scorpion our first hunting trip. You can see how he compares to a quarter in the picture. 

After he died, I used hot glue to position him in a display case. There is plenty of room for more scorpions.

On our second trip scorpion hunting we geared up and opened the front door to find a deceased tarantula sitting on the walkway. We didn't find any scorpions, but that didn't matter because we had something better. I let it dry outside for 2 days and then I used hot glue to position the tarantula on a rock in a display case for a baseball.

Now he is in Guy's room. I am guessing it is a 'he' because of the small size. Those lady tarantulas are big. Maybe he died after his woman attacked him. The girls are known to do that after mating.

Fair Play

Time for the Washington County Fair!

This is the boy who stares at goats.

 Sloan was excited and wanted to get on all the rides. She was more daring than Guy. I don't like going around and around and around.

 Guy is mad that Jack seat belted him in.

 This spaceship was the ride Guy was looking forward to the most.

 It is still hot here. I wonder why they hold the fair in August when the temperature peaks. The nice thing about summer is the outdoor baths the kids give themselves.

This and That

We bought an awesome hamster cage at a garage sale for only $3, so after all of our summer trips we told Guy he could get a hamster. Her name is Rosie, named after a character on the cartoon Caillou.

Sloan is not very soft with her and Shorty the dog licks his chops when she is around, so we have to keep our eye on her when she is out of the cage.

Biker chick! Sloan is motivated to learn to ride the balance bike. We have been practicing a little each day this week. I had her pose for this picture before putting the helmet on her freshly combed hair.

I let Guy have the camera during a visit to the school playground the other day. The following pictures are his:

I saved his best picture for last. Sloan's shoes are a little too big and her big toe escaped. Doesn't Guy have great artistic ability!!!