Photography fun at the zoo

We have had some amazing weather recently, and Chris and I have made two trips to the Memphis Zoo. I've decided that the zoo is a great place to play with my camera. There are so many interesting little (and big) animal faces!

Here are a few of my favorite shots. Some of these were taken through the "glass" areas of the exhibits so the color looks off, but there were plenty of opportunities to shoot without any real barriers. 

I call this Drippy Mouth, and it was shot through the glass area. 

This one was shot from the outdoor observation area, and you can see the difference. 

This glass didn't look this dirty or foggy, but my camera picked up on every texture in it. Either way, here is Chris really close to a bear!

Bear tongue. 

Some random kid and Chris--again, really close to a bear!

I would name this one mohawk.

Doesn't he/she look like he/she is smiling!

A little more tongue.

We saw some really good bear fights too. Sometimes it looked like they just wanted to kiss, but then a fight would break out. 

I like the curly-q ability of the trunk.

I'm pretty sure this Panda looked right at me and smiled. 

The otters are one of my favorites!

This dude looks old. 

And well-clawed.

Pretty!

Unfortunate beak issue there, but pretty.

Meerkats! Another favorite of mine. Look at those cute faces.

Some tiger tongue. 

Tiger yawn!

It turned out to be a good afternoon for a nap. 

Bryce's Board

My sister-in-law and her family moved into a new house recently, and I wanted to give Bryce something special for his new room. But what? 

I saw this idea on Pinterest:

Source: Uploaded by user via Allison on Pinterest

But it wasn't very boy-ish. Then I saw this idea:

Source: witandwhistle.com via Allison on Pinterest

And I realized I could combine them!

Chris already had chalkboard paint from his laundry room redo so all I needed was high-gloss white spray paint. 

I took an older cookie sheet and sprayed it with the white paint. After it was dry (I helped it out with the hair dryer.) I painted the inside of the pan with the chalkboard paint. 

It's difficult to see, but I printed out the letters of Bryce and cut them out. I placed them at the bottom on the tray and painted over them with the chalkboard paint. 

When it was all dry, I brushed a piece of chalk over the letters and they really popped out. 

I made magnets from some coke bottle tops. 

I hot glued white grosgrain ribbon to make a hanger. 

And done! 

I thought it needed one more thing so I glued a magnet onto a clothespin for an added touch. 

I think Bryce liked it because we hung it in his new room right after he opened it. 

Happy new house, Bryce!

Redesigned chandelier shades

With the little upgrades to our living room, I didn't want the dining room to feel left out. 

Here's a before photo of our chandelier in the living room. 

The shades are black, and they look like this when lit. 

When they aren't lit, they look...well...pretty black. 

Recently, I received the latest Ballard Designs catalog, and I saw these seagrass chandelier shades: 

Cute, right? But a little pricey. I had recently purchased some rope for another upcoming project, and I had an idea. 

I'd just remake our shades!

So not exactly like the Ballard Designs ones, but I assure you they were much more affordable, and they definitely lighten the room, which was my goal.

And, if you peer into my living room again, you'll see a lamp from my in-laws with a seagrass shade.

So both rooms tie together a bit. 

Yay for an easy house project!

Chris caught it; She sketched it

You may have read here about how I had a homeowner victory about finding an affordable slipcover for our sofa. Well that's not the only upgrade our living room has received recently. 

Last August, Chris and Jack went fishing on the Missouri River in Montana. During that trip, Chris caught a very large fish. For Christmas, Mom and Jack had that fish commissioned in watercolor to scale by the artist Sketch and Release. She takes measurements from photos of fish and recreates them to scale in a piece of art. 

Chris received his sketch a little time after Christmas, and I wanted it to be framed soon so we wouldn't mess it up. 

Here it is while I was choosing the matte and frame. 

Here it is hanging over our newly slipcovered couch!

On the piece of art, the artist captures the details such as: 23 inch rainbow trout caught by Christopher Cook at the Missouri River in Montana on August 14, 2011. 

I think it looks great!

But what happened to the artwork that was hanging above our couch? They were exiled to the downstairs guest bathroom. 

Here's one more of the fish!