Burger Bid-ness
Closet Affairs
Looks like I’ve once again been wrangled into one of Sherry’s schemes. This time it’s her “Dude, Get On That Already” challenge (apparently the “dude” applies to me also) where she’s trying to actually do something with some of the items that we’ve been collecting hoarding in our spare room. It’s a use it or lose it challenge if you will (well, more like a use it or donate/craigslist it challenge). This week’s victim: the light fixture that we rescued from a thrift store in Delaware nearly an entire year ago for a mere $19. That guy just sat on the floor of the playroom since then, and it was high time we actually allowed him to do the whole illumination thing again.
He’s made of some sort of resin and basically looks like a big glowing ball of clear spaghetti… but in a cool, kinda ’70s way. Update: we’ve learned form a savvy reader that it’s actually called a spaghetti lamp and it’s made out of spun lucite. Our plans back in Feb 2011 were to ORB the gold finish and hang it in our master bathroom nook. Fast-forward to now and the plan has shifted slightly. Instead, we’ve given him a new home in our closet.
The closet seemed to be the better choice because (1) the bathroom nook is visible from the bedroom and we figured this big round fixture might compete visually with the other big round fixture in the room. And (2) the bare bulb in the closet was Yawn City.
Ahh, much better:
We got on that! Oh happy day! Gotta love using what you have and upgrading a naked old ceiling bulb. We’ll dive into more light-related details in a second, but there were some other closet happenings that went on as well…
When you last saw our closet a few months after we moved in April, it was looking mighty clean and organized.
These days, well, let’s just say it had gotten a bit derailed thanks to a certain chihuahua we all know and love.
It’s actually unfair to place the blame solely on Burger. Sure moving his crate into our closet from the playroom closet meant our laundry basket got displaced from it’s nice little nook. But Clara was actually the main reason for the move. We too often found her playing with Burger’s food, water, and crate – much to Burger’s dismay – so we decided to tuck it away in our room where she doesn’t go that often. For some reason Burger enjoys small spaces, so he feels most comfortable with his crate and even his food/water tucked away in a closet or nook (it’s just dry food, so there’s not any odor and we thankfully don’t have any ants/pests that bother it). So after a year of nook deliberating we declared our closet: The Best Nook For The Job.
To make a long story long, even though this project started because of a light – we couldn’t ignore the other less-than-satisfactory situations going on in here too. And fortunately there was an easy answer. See how much spare room I’ve got on my side of the closet?
Unlike the lady wife, I don’t use my entire shoe rack left here by the previous owners. Yes, I know, I’m such a typical guy – I have one pair of brown shoes and one pair of black shoes and my flip flops and sneakers live in our shoe bins by the door. Meanwhile, on the other side of the closet, Sherry has enough shoes for the both of us. Not that I wear hers. I actually don’t think I could walk in any of them.
So after a bit of couple’s brainstorming (aka: Sherry encouraging me to allow Burger’s crate to pilfer some floor space from my side), I plucked out my shoe rack. And after completing the exhausting task of removing both pairs of shoes from it (sheesh, talk about backbreaking DIY) we got down to business.
Sherry pried it apart and I cut down the two long shelves by about 14 inches and…
…we nailed it back together, thereby creating a John-shoe-collection-sized rack.
And the smaller rack made space for Burger’s crate in the corner. So we’re glad we got on that. Why it took us 13 months of living here, I’m not sure.
But you know what, I really should let Burger give you the tour – since it’s kinda his domain. And yes, this means this post is about to be pretend narrated by a dog.
“Welcome to my bedroom people of the Internet!”
“Here you will find that my crate has been replaced by a clothing receptacle. Apparently my family finds it more important to have their dirty clothes closer to them than their beloved canine.”
“But that’s okay, because now I get more privacy back here in my master suite. Hello? Do you see me here in the back giving you the peeper?”
“Conveniently located next to my sleeping chambers are the dining facilities. Why thank you for asking – yes, I do live the life.”
“Speaking of my delicious cuisine, allow me to indulge myself for a moment.”
“Actually, I’d much prefer my culinary assistant to hand feed me right now. Oh tiny human! Come hither!”
Okay, tour’s over. It’s John again. That Burger’s feisty, isn’t he? Anyways, you can see above what we mean when we say that Clara likes to get into his food (don’t mind the sticker covered monkey/sock/floor). It’s not the worst thing that she likes to feed Burger his food piece by piece… if only she didn’t feel the need to swirl each piece around in his water dish first. She gets her strange-ness from her mother I think.
Anyways, this post was supposed to be about a light, right? Sidetracked much? Back to that…
Installation was pretty easy. We cut the plug/cord off and exposed the wires to make it hardwire-able. Then we picked up a kit at Home Depot that would allow us to attach the chain to a crossbar (though we had to hunt down a canopy at a specialty lighting store that would fit). We left everything gold because we figured since it was in the closet it didn’t have to match the other fixtures in the room, and we kinda dig the retro gold look for the closet. We can always paint it down the line if we get “the bug” but for now we like him just the way he is.
The room isn’t really this dark with the light on, I just turned down the exposure on the camera so you can see the texture of the light a bit better. And these pics don’t even do it justice. It’s super cool looking when it’s on. Sherry actually wants to make a video since she says it’s so much better in “real life” so you have that excitement to potentially look forward to…
One of the coolest parts are the little streaks of light it casts all over the wall and ceiling. Like little party streamers or something. We almost feel like we should have installed some mechanism to make it rotate like a disco ball. Okay, not really. But that could’ve been fun…
It’s kind of a shame that the light spent nearly 12 months in a pile in our playroom. But at least it’s hanging up in all of its glory now! Oh and as for how we figured out the right height for it, I just stood under it as Sherry hung it at different heights and we picked one that gave me a little room – so it hangs around 6’4″ from the floor (our ceilings are 8′ high).
Oh, and if you’re at all curious as to what happened to all of the excess chain that we didn’t use (it had like 8 feet for swagging) – you can see Clara get her Jersey on with it over at Young House Life today. And yes there’s a video. And fist pumping. Predictably, I’m mortified and Sherry’s elated.
So did any of you guys cross something off your “Dude, Get On That Already” list this week? Did you reorganize a closet or otherwise rope your husband into a challenge? How about ghost writing a blog post for a chihuahua? Just me?
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Chihuahuas Give Terrible House Tours
Since there’s still a whole lotta action going on with this morning’s Pinterest Challenge (we’re completely blown away by all the projects you guys are sharing), we thought we’d post a crazy little Burger video like the ones we used to work in a while back (Clara and Burger are clearly the stars of this show anyway).
We thought it was hilarious that this random footage of the burgmeister actually included a decent amount of our house (and some great get-oriented flow thanks to him running around like a maniac). So without further ado, here’s Burger’s poor man’s (poor dog’s?) version of a house tour video (you can even catch some peeks at new yellow flowers in the kitchen and a big Clara mess on the office floor). Oh but to those who get motion sick, you might not want to push play…
Although it kept Clara plenty entertained (she was in my non-video-taping arm the whole time, hence the giggling/squealing sounds throughout), here’s why we won’t be asking Burger to lead a tour of our home again anytime soon:
- He was a bit rushed. Okay, a lot rushed.
- His narration was less than descriptive. Care to tell us what we’re looking at buddy?
- Could use a little less kitchen, a little more dining room, living room, bedrooms, sunroom… and a little less floor.
- The camera work was crazy shaky. Technically that was my fault, but I blame him for making me run.
Okay, so clearly Burger wasn’t really giving a house tour. But we figured you guys would enjoy a peek into life with our little nutcase roaming scurrying the halls. Do you have any random videos of someone in your family (animal or human) that happens to catch a bunch of rooms in the background?
Anyway, since this impromptu video reminded me of Sherry’s messy house tour from back in April, I figured I’d toss that in too, just for the memories:
Come to think of it, we should probably do another official house tour video for you guys since so much has changed since then. Maybe we should do one before cleaning up and one after, just so you can compare everyday vs. trying a little harder so you can see how rooms look at their best.
The hardest part about the clean-house video tours? All rooms have to be clean at once (so you can’t shove kitchen junk into the office, since the office ends up in the tour too). Boo. But maybe that’s a good thing because it forces us to get rid of piles of junk that accumulate and start fresh.
In other news, with a little walker on our hands, it was time to baby-proof the walls. So we pulled a little gallery frame wall switcheroo with the bean in mind. First we swapped out the glass in those bottom frames for plexi glass (or whatever the proper term for frames with plastic-y fake glass “panes” are called). As for how we did that, we were actually given some cheap-o 5 x 7″ and 8 x 10″ frames with not-real-glass for various birthday and holiday occasions as gag gifts. You know, those inexpensive ones from places like Target or Walmart or the dollar store that don’t necessarily match all the frames you have and might be filled with photoshopped pics of you and a celebrity you’ve never met or a printed application to the Dexter Fan Club (or is that just our quirky family?).
For a while they sat in the yard sale/donate pile (which overlaps with the gag-regift pile) but then we realized we could repurpose the not-glass-panes. So we just removed the glass from our Ikea frames and slipped in the plexi from the cheaper frames. It’s the best of both worlds – no glass but frames that were more well made and didn’t look as cheap and plastic-y.
We also secured them to the wall and added some fun “teaching art” while we were at it. More on that here on BabyCenter.
Update: This week’s giveaway is actually available in all 50 United States and many countries outside of the US too. Check 20×200′s international shipping info page to see if you’re covered and then head back over to our giveaway to enter (if you haven’t already)!
Dog Days & Cloth Dipes
Here’s a little peek behind the scenes at our house (oh what glamorous and exciting lives we lead). Cloth diapers can be laying out in a sunny windowsill to dry, and a strange devil-may-care chihuahua might come prancing along…
… and decide to do a little birdwatching…
… followed by some leisurely lounging…
… right on top of the diapers. What a weirdo, right? But he’s our weirdo. (Cue the collective “aww.”)
And since one of the most common questions that we get has nothing to do with home improvement we figured we owed you guys an answer. It’s always some iteration of “How are you liking cloth diapers? Is it harder now that Clara’s on solid food? Do they show any wear and tear? Have you purchased more? Do you still like that they’re all in ones with snaps? Do they still fit since they’re one size fits all?” So we thought we’d share a quick little update on that front. Oh and if you have general cloth diaper questions please check out this post first (along with the comments) since it can answer any basic questions (and then some).
As for the cloth dipes, we still love them and use them pretty much all the time except when we’re traveling (since we don’t have access to a place to wash them). And we haven’t ordered a single additional cloth diaper or tried any other brand. Yup, for the last year we’ve stuck with the original 12 Bum Genius Elemental One Size All-In-Ones that we purchased over a year ago (more on them here). And they all still look mint and don’t have any smell issues or staining (thanks to our diaper sprayer – more on that here and here). And also thanks to laying them out in the sun to dry from time to time, which bleaches out any stains and keeps them as white as Ryan Seacrest’s teeth.
Since we still use the same diapers that we got about a year ago you can imagine how much loot we’ve saved (we did some how-much-will-we-save-math back in this original diaper post). And since we’re cheap-os, that alone should explain our downright obsession with the whole cloth diapering thing. And for those wondering if the cost of washing cloth diapers compares to buying disposables, our Energy Star front loaders are estimated to cost $15 a year to run (assuming you do eight loads of laundry per week). And we probably only do 5, (so perhaps they cost $12 or $13 to run for a whole year?!). Which puts our washing costs at about a dollar a month (and includes all the other laundry we do besides diapers). Pretty sweet.
For anyone who worries that it’s some sort of intense 1900′s hardship, cloth diapers have come a looong way since the safety pin days. We honestly expected them to be a lot harder (to take more time, to be more annoying to put on, to somehow be inferior to diposables, etc) but it’s a pretty simple process (detailed here) that’s completely second nature to us by now. We’ve even taught the grandparents how to do it. Plus it really seems to agree with Clara (she has far fewer blowouts and issues with diaper rash than she does when we travel with disposables). So that’s the icing on the cake. Well, that and the cute colors they come in (and the added softness thanks to fabric instead of plastic).
As for the whole solid food thing, we both agree that there’s a definite adjustment that occurs during that time, but it has much more to do with your nose than the whole act of cloth diapering (stuff actually gets stinky, but that happens no matter what kind of diapers you use). Just like any other parent of a kid who has started solids can attest, we had to work on the gag reflex and the whole hold-your-breath-while-you-change-them approach, but I think that’s pretty universal with disposables as well. And in some ways cloth got easier with solid stuff because as gross as this sounds, you can shake out the diaper into the toilet and the “stuff” rolls out instead of needing to be sprayed out (like the liquidy baby-poo that preceded solid foods, but that’s not too bad because it smells like buttered popcorn – at least Clara’s always did). Although we still give the diaper a shot of water even after we roll things off – just to be on the safe side (we think that’s why ours still look so good, we’re generous with the diaper sprayer and we love setting them out in the sun to bleach them back to spotlessness).
Hmm, maybe I need a little disclaimer not to eat while you read this post. Or not to read this post while you eat. Oh well, I hope you figured out where this might go when you read “cloth diaper update” so you don’t have a mouth full of oatmeal or something.
As for if we’re still loving the all-in-one with snaps choice (as opposed to cloth diapers with separate inserts or liners and velcro tabs) we’re very happy. We’ve heard that snaps tend to last longer than velcro tabs (which can wear out in the wash) and so far ours are all in great condition (not one bad snap of the bunch after lots and lots of washing). We also don’t have any issues with loss of elasticity or absorption. And as for the decision to go with all-in-ones over separate inserts, we just thought stuffing diapers sounded like an extra step, so we appreciate the simplicity of the all-in-one feature. About the fit, although Clara has gone from a tiny bean to a much bigger baby slash soon-to-be-toddler (sniffle) they still fit well and we don’t have any leaking issues. We just adjust the snaps from time to time to make the diaper larger to accommodate our growing girl.
As for detergent, we still use and love Charlie’s Soap (and Seventh Generation Free & Clear whenever we run out). Both work well for our front loaders (there’s a lot more on washing and caring for cloth diapers here in the original post by the way). And The Amazing Clara is now sleeping 12-13 hours straight in one diaper (we don’t wake her up to change her or use extra inserts and we don’t have any issues with leaks or rashes). I’m sure every baby is different, but the whole cloth diaper thing definitely works for us. And we know it’s one of those completely personal parent-how-you’d-like-to decisions, so we’re just sharing our experience when it comes to the whole thing. We’re not anti-disposable by any means (tons of our family and friends opted to go that route because it worked best for their household and we still rely on disposables whenever we travel). So consider yourselves updated. And let me know if you hear of any circus acts involving walking over a pile of diapers. Burger would be all over that.
Psst- Check out the original cloth diapering post here for tons (and tons) of info about how we chose/wash/care for/adjusted to cloth diapers.
Pssssst- We announced this week’s giveaway winner. Click here to see if it’s you.
The Dog House
Some of you have asked how Burger’s getting along in the new house. Short answer: great. Short answer with a fancy Mary-Poppins-ish twist: just splendidly.
It only took him a day or two to figure out where his food bowl now lives and which door to wait at when he needs to go out. Other than that, he seems to be having fun discovering (and re-discovering) his favorite spots to hang. Here are some shots from the last two months to document his love for the new casa.
This one was taken pretty much right after we moved in. He quickly identified this sun-warmed corner of the rug in the living room and loved to park his keister there every morning.
It was part of his very own GTL routine – growl, tan, lick myself. Yes, we watch Jersey Shore since it’s my wife’s home state.
Though that routine has been interrupted by the introduction of Karl the sectional (since he blocks the sunspot), Burger has discovered a few new sun-drenched locations lately- including the windowsill itself. He’s such a cat sometimes. Here he is snuggled up in Clara’s hospital blanket (we brought it home for him to get used to her scent and now it’s his official “blankie”).
Sometimes he’ll move his relaxing into one of our laps, which really is a win-win for everyone on a cold morning.
And occasionally he even helps supervise Clara during playtime. Although he tends to sleep on the job. Unless of course a noise is heard outside. Then all howl breaks loose. See what I did there? I replaced h-e-double-hockey-sticks with the word howl. Booyah.
But when he’s not campaigning for the laziest chihuahua in the world title, he does his fair share of “quality control” – which basically means he helps us test out new purchases. Like our duvet:
And our new sectional pillows (even before the sectional was here, we tossed them on the sleeper sofa in the office and Burger took them for a test ride):
He also manages to squeeze in some playtime too, usually with his favorite toy: Divalectible. It was a gift (for Clara, actually) that Burger took an enthusiastic liking to. Don’t judge us for the name of this tiny stuffed chihuahua with a pink feather boa on it (Divalectible is actually its given “Beanie Baby name” and somehow it stuck). But feel free to judge Sherry for the weird noise that she makes during this video. I call it her “excited dolphin call.” She does it to get the dog to come a runnin’. Just not usually in public. Or on youtube.
Of course, it should come as no surprise that Burger continues to spend most of his days under the covers. So even though there’s a whole new house for him to explore, we’ve definitely got the same ol’ Burger on our hands.
So that’s what our oldest kiddo has been up to when he’s not “supervising” as we paint or demo something around the house. Life’s good when you’re an eight pound chihuahua.
Psst- If all goes well we might just have another post today or tomorrow for ya. Let’s just say that we’ve finally started gaining guest bedroom momentum (with just 6 days until the inlaws arrive – yikes) so we’re most likely working away as you read this. And Burger’s probably supervising.
Bed Burgers
Since the month is half over, I thought I’d update you on how my make-the-bed-everyday-this-month resolution is going. The good news is that I haven’t missed a day. Promise. The bad news is that it usually looks like this in less than an hour thanks to my main man Burger.
Can you really blame him? I guess if I were a dog I wouldn’t let anything stop me from sleeping in under some warm covers either. Well except maybe Pupperoni.
I’d probably be more annoyed if I weren’t so impressed and amused by his sheer determination. In fact, I even caught him in the act:
My favorite part is when he bursts out from over the pillows a la Free Willy. Despite his best efforts to thwart my resolution, I’m still going to keep making the bed each morning this month. And if all goes well, the habit will stick and I may just keep making it once November rolls around. Who knows. I’m crazy like that.
PS: I’m also doing pretty well on my other resolution to drink only water this month (aka: Aquatober). Although I sincerely hope soda misses me as much as I miss it.
