Bean Bag Beds

I recently made three VERY large bean bag beds and thought I'd tell all of blog land about it!

First I needed to locate a bunch of beans for filling them. Now, if you look around you will notice that they are extremely expensive! E-bay has them for about $30 PLUS shipping for 11 cu ft!! I figured I would need 30 + per bag soooo. .. that price was NOT going to work! lol I did find a finished bag at WM for $60, but they only had one color and no outer bag. That means I wouldn't be able to wash it at all... not an option!

Then I discovered that I could contact a local foam manufacturer and buy them directly. They price them at $15 for 20 cu ft. The only stipulation is that your order has to be $100 or more. I talked to a friend and we decided that between the two of us we would need 9 bags, 6 being the minimum order. So, with her van emptied out and the back seat folded in we were off.

Let me start by saying that we seriously underestimated the size of these bags!! ROFL!!

Here they are filling the first bag...



This is my friend next to one of the bags. She's... 5' 10" I think...




Now... to get these suckers into her van!!! We had a heck of a time! At one point one of the bags got a hole in it and beans started spewing out like a water hose on full blast!! The whole roof of the van was covered in beans!



We were only able to stuff 5 of the bags in there. Poor Mrs. C had to go back to get the last 4!! Fortunately Mr. C was able to keep her company on the journey as I was not.

Now for the fun part! I went back to the dreaded WM and picked up 3 flat sheets. One for each bag.




I laid the sheet out, folded it top to bottom (right sides OUT) and sewed one short end and the long side...



I did a super-uber stitch to make sure it is good and strong. I also sewed the stitch on the outside so that if it does get a hole it will be easy to find and fix.

Now the scary.... I mean fun part! Filling them!!


Here I am contemplating my next move...



(try to ignore the surrounding garage mess)

Here I am trying to get the bag around the bag of filler without spewing beans all over the place... (I highly recommend NOT talking on the phone at this point)



Then I aquired the help of my DD, BR, and turned the whole thing over so I could remove the bag...



(She's the one behind the camera, btw)

Then I ever so gingerly sewed the remaining side closed and tested it out!



As you can see, we did get a few beans on the floor but nothing to bad!

For a cover I took another full sized flat sheet, folded it top to bottom (right sides together) and sewed it with a straight stitch on two sides. Voila!! All together each bag cost less than $35 start to finish!!

TTFN,
Me

The Philosophy of Ambiguity

The Philosophy of Ambiguity

FOR THOSE WHO LOVE THE PHILOSOPHY OF AMBIGUITY, AS WELL AS THE IDIOSYNCRASIES OF ENGLISH:

Please enjoy and understand the following


1. DON'T SWEAT THE PETTY THINGS AND DON'T PET THE SWEATY THINGS.

2. ONE TEQUILA, TWO TEQUILA, THREE TEQUILA, FLOOR.

3. ATHEISM IS A NON-PROPHET ORGANIZATION.

4. IF MAN EVOLVED FROM MONKEYS AND APES, WHY DO WE STILL HAVE MONKEYS AND APES?

5. THE MAIN REASON THAT SANTA IS SO JOLLY IS BECAUSE HE KNOWS WHERE ALL THE BAD GIRLS LIVE.

6. I WENT TO A BOOKSTORE AND ASKED THE SALESWOMAN, "WHERE'S THE SELF- HELP SECTION?" SHE SAID IF SHE TOLD ME, IT WOULD DEFEAT THE PURPOSE.

7. WHAT IF THERE WERE NO HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS?

8. IF A DEAF CHILD SIGNS SWEAR WORDS, DOES HIS MOTHER WASH HIS HANDS WITH SOAP?

9. IF SOMEONE WITH MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES THREATENS TO KILL HIMSELF, IS IT CONSIDERED A HOSTAGE SITUATION?

10. IS THERE ANOTHER WORD FOR SYNONYM?

11. WHERE DO FOREST RANGERS GO TO "GET AWAY FROM IT ALL?"

12. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU SEE AN ENDANGERED ANIMAL EATING AN ENDANGERED PLANT?

13. IF A PARSLEY FARMER IS SUED, CAN THEY GARNISH HIS WAGES?

14. WOULD A FLY WITHOUT WINGS BE CALLED A WALK?

15. WHY DO THEY LOCK PETROL STATION BATHROOMS? ARE THEY AFRAID SOMEONE WILL CLEAN THEM?

16. IF A TURTLE DOESN'T HAVE A SHELL, IS HE HOMELESS OR NAKED?

17. CAN VEGETARIANS EAT ANIMAL CRACKERS?

18. IF THE POLICE ARREST A MIME, DO THEY TELL HIM HE HAS THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT?

19. WHY DO THEY PUT BRAILLE ON THE DRIVE-THROUGH BANK MACHINES?

20. HOW DO THEY GET DEER TO CROSS THE ROAD ONLY AT THOSE YELLOW ROAD SIGNS?

21. WHAT WAS THE BEST THING BEFORE SLICED BREAD?

22. ONE NICE THING ABOUT EGOTISTS: THEY DON'T TALK ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE.

23. DOES THE LITTLE MERMAID WEAR AN ALGEBRA?

24. DO INFANTS ENJOY INFANCY AS MUCH AS ADULTS ENJOY ADULTERY?

25. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE A CIVIL WAR?

26. IF ONE SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMER DROWNS, DO THE REST DROWN TOO?

27. IF YOU ATE BOTH PASTA AND ANTIPASTO, WOULD YOU STILL BE HUNGRY?

28. IF YOU TRY TO FAIL, AND SUCCEED, WHICH HAVE YOU DONE?

29. WHOSE CRUEL IDEA WAS IT FOR THE WORD 'LISP' TO HAVE 'S' IN IT?

30. WHY ARE HEMORRHOIDS CALLED "HEMORRHOIDS" INSTEAD OF "ASSTEROIDS"?

31. WHY IS IT CALLED TOURIST SEASON IF WE CAN'T SHOOT AT THEM?

32. WHY IS THERE AN EXPIRATION DATE ON SOUR CREAM?

33. IF YOU SPIN AN ORIENTAL PERSON IN A CIRCLE THREE TIMES, DO THEY BECOME DISORIENTED?

34. CAN AN ATHEIST GET INSURANCE AGAINST ACTS OF GOD?

Painting Stripes

I (finally) got the bathroom painted yesterday!! Woo hoo!!! It is called "Summer Camp". I thought that a light buttery yellow in a confined space would be nice. The color doesn't show up real well in pictures but I really like it in person. It calms me.....






After that, I spent half the day putting up tape for my stripe experiment in the kitchen. I put 1" stripes every 6". It was a tedious task to say the least! In a camper you have very little "open wall space" to work with, and the spaces that ARE there can be a bit hard to reach. I got it though. I was a bit nervous after taping thinking that it looked funny. But I told myself, "Maybe it's the tape."

So I put on the first coat of yellow paint and went to work on the bathroom a bit. When I came back I thought...

"Yeah, it must be the tape throwing it off. "

With a nervous look on my face and growing dread in a non-disclosed area of my stomach, I added a second coat saying, "I think I'll like it more with a second coat and the tape off. That tape sure is making it hard to 'see' it", and I went to finish the bathroom.

I worked on the bathroom a bit more, then returned to inspect my stripes. This was it... the big reveal... Checking that the stripe was mostly dry, I pulled off the first strip of tape... and then the second....

"Maybe it's the tape?" I thought nervously.

I removed more tape... "Please be the tape!?" The phrase started ringing in my head like church bells calling it's parishioners to service,

"The tape... please be the tape... it has to be the tape making it look wrong... the tape... please be the tape... it HAS to be the tape making it look wrong..."

as I frantically but slowly remove one strip after another. Finally... after what seemed an eternity... I had removed all of the tape.

"Groooaaannnn!!! It's not the tape!!!"

"Maybe if I step back and look at it??"

No such luck. The fact of the matter is that I spent half of my day painting what appear to be circus tent stripes on my kitchen walls only to discover.... I hate it...







So now I'm telling myself that maybe if I paint the window trim yellow and add some (real) curtains it will look ok?? Please??? I really do NOT want to paint over all that hard work and effort. I want to make it work. What do you think dear reader?? Do I paint over the circus stripes or make them work? How can I make them work?? I need your help!!

Yours on a tight rope,
Me

Camper Happenings

My DH has been trying very hard to find extra time to spend on the camper. Our most recent improvement has been washing the out side. I must admit that I did not have high hopes. I did not expect to see much (if any) improvement in the before and after photos. You tell me what you see...

BEFORE...





AFTER...




!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It looks brand spankin' NEW!!! Yippee!!!

In other camper news. I spent the better part of today working in the main part of the camper. I pulled out all of the (ugly) trim and painted it green. I LOVE it!!





I'm toying with the idea of vertical stripes... I just can't seem to picture it very well. I think I'll have to give it a go and then see what you all think. Have a blessed day!

TTFN,
Me

Halloween 2009

Most years, we don't "do" halloween. MOST years, we eat spooky treats while watching Goosebumps and that's it. THIS year, since we are in an actual neighborhood, I let the kids dress up and pass out candy instead. The catch was that they had to make their costumes. (I refuse to spend oodles of money on an outfit they will only wear once.) I did pick up a few accessories at the cost of $13, but that's it! I think we did really well. What do you think??

Sooo...

My son decided to be the burglar from the Sim game...














DD2 LOVES England. Anything English will do so she donned a Union Jack and a British accent for the evening...


DD1 wanted to be a painter. I searched hither and yon for a bar-rat... but alas a bandanna would have to do...


So I decided to be her painting... and DH my easel!!

While the costumes were great and very fun to make and come up with... they were the end of of it. We didn't get a single trick or treat-er. Not one!! In order to make our evening "complete", we watched Charlie Brown's "Great Pumpkin" cartoon. Unfortunately... I fell asleep!!

TTFN,
Me