






Mmmmm… Nutella swirlcoffee cake
Peached Social House even had two GIF photobooths set up from Bootheasy… confetti and super-sized food props included.
Mmmmm… Nutella swirlcoffee cake
Peached Social House even had two GIF photobooths set up from Bootheasy… confetti and super-sized food props included.
I spend approximately 8 hours a day, 5 days a week at my desk at the office… and probably more because I have a crazy job and deal with things like breaking news and late night football coverage at 1am. When you do the math, nearly a third of your life is spent at work. I think it’s safe to say your workplace is your second home.
National Clean Off Your Desk Day was back in January and I made an effort to beautify my desk at the office (aka second home). Adding things such as motivational art prints, silk flowers, glasses to hold pens, and these DIY gold bear bookends helped. The clean off and redecorating was needed not only to “make my desk prettier” but also to make my workspace less cluttered, as I was definitely in danger of an impending newspaper avalanche.
Before and after pictures of my desk. The headline for myself that I avoided:
Woman Presumed Dead After Desk Newspaper Avalanche
Rescue dogs are searching through the night for signs of life. Authorities hope to find her under the piles of crumbled newsprint, 35mm film from the 80’s, police dashcam footage DVDs and empty Girl Scout cookie boxes.
These gold bear bookends add a nice fancy feeling to my desk. I’ve seen similar projects on Pinterest that include spray painting the brick/stone/base, but while at Home Depot I came across these 5 x 5 x 14 natural limestone edger bricks. This brick I found was actually cracked, but split diagonally in a perfect way for this project. With the white limestone, it sorta looks like a polar bear perched on an iceberg in the arctic! Scroll below to see full instructions on how to make these gold bear bookends.
In the end, this was about $21.50 to make, with the bear figurines being the largest cost. And I have plenty of extra spray paint, glue and felt scraps to use in future crafting projects.
– two plastic bear figurines: $10.49 (I used a Michael’s “40% off one item” coupon)
– primer spray paint: $3.76
– gold spray paint: $3.76
– super glue: already had at home
– 5 x 5 x 14 limestone edger brick: $3.10
– 9 x 12 sheet of felt: $ 0.39
Huggy the golden retriever mix posing for the camera.
Oh hello. I haven’t blogged in years. I’m at hellotinaphan.com now, searching for some sense of a fresh start. With a myriad of work/personal/overall life ups and downs, I’ve been in a rut and felt this site could be an outlet for some of the more creative ideas floating around inside my brain and crafty things I make. And also an outlet for the cute things I sometimes photograph.
I’ve been volunteering with Austin Pets Alive! as a photographer and videographer for about a year and a half now, capturing images of dogs and cats for their profile bios on the website.
Friday, Nov. 25 through Monday, Nov. 29, both Austin Pets Alive! and Austin Animal Center are shelters in the area offering free adoptions through Home For the Pawlidays. From Zappos’ site: “FREE PET ADOPTIONS! From Black Friday through Cyber Monday, Zappos will cover the adoption fee for the cat or dog of your choice when you adopt through Best Friends Animal Society or select locations in the No More Homeless Pets Network.”
Without further ado, here are some cats and dogs I’ve captured with my camera that are still at APA waiting for their fur-ever family:
Sweet one-year-old terrier mix Buck will always greet humans with a smile.
Being a bit bashful at the start of her photoshoot.
Huggy is a two-year-old golden retriever mix. She is deaf, but that doesn’t stop her from being a lover. She’s a bit shy but after spending some time with you, she will warm up and brush up against you in search of precious head scratches!
Sadie is an eight-year-old terrier mix at Austin Pets Alive Tarrytown location. She is filled with kisses to share with all humans and loves going on walks.
Is that a ball in your hand? Well bouncy three-year-old King is ready to play play play!
Can you tell she loves a good belly rub every now and then? Lyric is a sweet one-year-old pit bull terrier mix who is currently in training for the American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen Certification, which means she’s learning a lot of commands and obedience.
Four-year-old retriever labrador mix Midas will never refuse an offer to play fetch. He practically comes with his own tennis ball!
Little adventurer La Croix is always excited to explore her surroundings, sniffing all the new scents of the environment and greeting new people. Here she is trotting along in search of a treat.
Eliza Jane is a playful one-year-old blue tabby available for adoption at Austin Pets Alive! She can happily keep watch perched on a windowsill or play play play with cat toys.
This is Furret, an inquisitive two-year-old guy who will curiously stare at you with his big green eyes until he gets a chin scratch. Myself and fellow staff of the Statesman/Austin360 wrote some tips on self-care and stress relief, due to the intense election season that just ended and the upcoming holidays. I wrote about volunteering with animals as a form of stress relief and Furret became the front page kitty! He’s at Austin Pets Alive! Tarrytown location now (bow tie not included).