I hope that you’re all ready for Christmas and are enjoying some downtime right now. I wish that’s what I was doing, but we all know that just isn’t happening right now. But it’s all good, really. I have wrapping to do, but I think I’m in good shape otherwise. Famous last words. Let’s get on with this week’s Friday 5+1! This post contains some affiliate links.
My Magical Life by Zach King
So, this book is different from my usual book recommendations, in that it’s a kid’s book, as opposed to an adult novel. But, it’s one that I got my 12 year-old daughter for Christmas, and I’m excited to see it firsthand, as it’s different than other books out there these days. I heard Zach King on a podcast, and apparently he’s big with kids, as my daughter knew exactly who he was. He’s huge on Instagram, does lots of viral videos, etc… Anyway, this book, My Magical Life, is set up to work with an app that you use in conjunction with the book. If you hold your phone over the book (with the app), the book comes to life in 3D. How cool is that? I’m excited for her to open it so I can see how it works firsthand, but I already think it’s super cool just hearing about it, and it has a five star review on Amazon, so it looks promising.
HP Sprocket Portable Photo Printer
I was doing some Christmas shopping at Best Buy recently, and I swear, I felt like an alien on another planet while I was in there. It’s been awhile since I’ve set foot in that store, and some of the things they have available nowadays are just mind blowing in general. Perhaps I’m just getting old, because a lot of these high-tech gadgets are just over my head. However, I can see the appeal of the HP Sprocket. It allows you to print photos directly from your smartphone. Isn’t it ironic that we have all of this technology, but this essentially amounts to a Polaroid One Step camera? Only in two steps…
Hang it Perfect Picture Hanging Tool
I know that picture hanging can make you a little crazy, especially if you have something that isn’t a simple single wire with one nail sort of set up. Don’t even get me started on things that have those keyhole things. While I consider myself pretty savvy in hanging things, this Hang it Perfect picture hanging tool can help you do it right the first time if you’re uncertain about your picture hanging skills.
Bifocal Safety Glasses
In keeping with my “getting older” theme, my eyes are now requiring reading glasses more often than not (and it drives me nuts). When you’re working on a project and require safety glasses, these bifocal safety glasses are perfect. I love this idea, and may need to add them to my own toolbox.
The Alice Network
The Alice Network has been on my wish list for awhile, and I finally dived in and started it. It’s about a group of women who worked as spies during World War I, and it’s so intriguing. Not to mention how different times were back then, in terms of what women were “allowed” to do, as if they couldn’t think for themselves. To read about women serving their country as spies in this time period is really interesting. I’m not finished with it yet, but I’m loving it so far.
My +1 for the week – My son driving my car and spilling shellac
I ran out to my car last night to grab something, and immediately smelled the uncanny smell of BIN shellac primer. Oh NO. I opened up the back of my SUV and felt it drip on my back (yes, it was dripping from the bottom of the back door on to my favorite comfy jacket). Shellac all over. The only upside is that I had paper in the back that caught a lot of it, but it still made me blow my top. I even had it in a box, in the hopes of preventing something like this from happening. Thankfully, most of it came up with denatured alcohol, but lesson learned on my part.
Have a fantastic holiday weekend!
Jenny
2 Comments
Ellen
January 27, 2018 at 4:03 pmI love your blog, ideas, style. And I’d love to have your opinion too, if you have a sec.
1) What do you think is the best selling color to paint a piece of furniture like an end table, or a dresser? I’m going back-n-forth between 1)a gray-beige chalk paint…2) a matte or satin bright color…aqua, red…3) black/charcoal or navy.
2) What paint sprayer do you use / would recommend?
Thank You!
Jenny
January 30, 2018 at 12:50 pmI have had great luck in selling furniture pieces in different shades of gray. I tend to go for the colors that I like – Kendall Charcoal, soft grays, shades of indigo blue. As for a paint sprayer, I have a heavy duty commercial grade HVLP setup, but I made that investment once I started painting cabinets as a business. Prior to buying it, I used an HVLP conversion gun from Wagner. It’s very much like my current sprayer, except I connected it to my air compressor and had to adjust the pressure on the compressor and the gun to use it. With my current setup – I don’t have to fiddle with the pressure. But the conversion gun was a great (and inexpensive) place to start, and I got great results. It’s what I used to spray my kitchen cabinets! Here is a link – http://www.gleempaint.com/hvcongunnew.html. Gleem Paint is wonderful to work with too – I’ve called them on numerous occasions with questions and they’re super helpful and knowledgeable.