Recently I mentioned that I'm attempting to embrace my self imposed title as a blogger (you know, because of this little old blog), and I've been trying to step outside my comfort zone a little. Anyway, after going to the Eat, Drink, Create event I wanted to keep the stepping out of my bubble momentum rolling. First up was actually the very next morning! Anthropologie was hosting a little crafty event to get their display ready for Earth Day, and since Anthro has the most amazing window displays I was pretty stoked to be a part of that. The display that we were helping with was going to be a vertical pallet garden, so they had us cutting out leaves galore, making strawberries, cabbage, and kale. Now that Earth Day has come and gone and their display is up I wanted to share it with all you fine folks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is their finished display! This is the tomato garden.

 

 

And here's the cutest little strawberry patch ever! Bonus, they'll never go bad!

 

 

Ok, my next event is a little more recent but also in celebration of Earth Day. Ikea along with the Denver Craft Ninjas hosted an event called Reduce, Reuse, Recraft. Anyone that has ever entered through the doors of Ikea knows that one thing they're not short on is cardboard. So instead of bundling it up to be recycled Annie decided to save some of it for crafts! This is Annie showing just one of the projects available for the day, a cardboard pendant light!

 

 

This is Becky of Denver Craft Ninjas showing off some of the other projects available, faux mounted antlers, cardboard deer head, a moose cut out to decorate however you please, and there was a cute little shadow box with a little bud vase inside.

 

 

 

Since I had already been down the mounted deer head path before I chose to make the pendant light and a moose cut out project. There weren't very many mooses (mise?) so I grabbed one of the scrap panels that they were cut out of. Here are all my supplies that I gathered up. It was so nice that Ikea gave us a big variety of fabric, paper, and decals to spruce up our cardboard with.

 

 

Here's my (almost) finished projects! I glued some of the pink striped fabric to one side of my half circles and have them oriented all the same way. I really love how the moose silhouette turned out with the same fabric behind it. I think I'd like to get a little bit of batting to put behind the fabric before I glue it to the back piece of cardboard. That way the moose will be a little poufy. Oh, and IKEA threw in the light cord and LED bulb for anyone making the light, pretty sweet! Now I just need to find someone to give these things to.

 

 

So have you ever gone to a local crafty event? Make sure to check out Becky's post to see some of the other projects of the day, I'm a little jealous of the black moose with the rainbow fabric background. Now that I've been to a Craft Ninjas event, I'm excited to go to another!

 

Nikki Kelly

 

 

I have officially crossed into crazy cat lady territory! Saturday my beasties and I hit up our local cat show in our finest cat shirts, and it was amazing! If you are unfamiliar with what goes on at a cat show prepare to be informed. First up, judging. Just like those dog shows they put on tv there is the equivalent cat shows. Unlike a dog show where the dogs are supposed to be taken seriously, cats are rewarded for their adorability. There is no prancing around on a leash, but there is a playing with stick toys portion to the judging. I would like to know more about what it takes to be a professional cat judge, because they basically get to play with purrfect kitties all the time.

 

 

 

In order to be presentable the cats are fluffed within an inch of their lives.

 

 

 

Then, if its not quite their turn to be judged they get a bib made from a coffee filter thrown around their necks.

 

 

Or, if their owner really loved them, a custom bib with lace trim like this cat. I guess the other cat is being shunned.

 

 

Now, while all these cats look so precious and cuddly (which I'm sure there are) you need to keep your hands to your self. Apparently your dirty hand oil will ruin any of these cats chances at being Best In Show. You can't hug every cat.

 

 

 

 

 

Of all the cats this little lamb was my favorite! It's a Dornish Rex. They have short curly hair and the sleepiest looks on their faces. This one was just so content, her biscuit making and sleepy eyes just killed me. No more mutt cats for me! My next cat (probably not for a long time, T and B are only 7) will be some fancy breed for sure.

 

 

We also collectively fawned over this little playful British Short Hair kitten. It was so feisty and that tail is so fluffy!

 

 

 

There were also a few booths pedaling their cat wears n' such. I thought these cat bed/slings would be an easy project. Maybe I could make one with some sort of mesh fabric and put it over one of the heating vents for Babbs.

 

 

Then, because one cat related activity does not a Caturday make, we visited some hobo kitties fresh off the streets at not one but two cat shelters. We had some time to kill before the grande finale of Caturday. I felt bad for all these kitties, and even texted this picture of little Miss Portia to Matt to see if he wanted another cat. She is a little crusty looking here, but I think all cats at animal shelters look crusty. She just needs a bath, a fresh lion cut, and some love. I think if I had really wanted to adopt her she would be living in our house right this second, but I feel like once I bring one hobo kitty home I would be opening the flood gates, so it was my internal resolve to not want to bring her home as much as I would like to. Matt even asked me the other day if I really wanted to adopt her in a way that led me to believe he would be willing to get another cat. Oh Portia, I hope someone scoops you up soon.

 

 

Now, on to the big cats! There's a animal sanctuary 40 minutes outside of Denver that our friend Harmony wanted to visit with her friends befor her birthday party. Most of these animals have some crazy stories about where they came from, but long story short: people are dumb! Seriously. Why would anyone think keeping a giant male lion in their garage and feeding it cat food would be a good idea? I mean really! Lucky for these animals they have been saved from their neglectful and abusive owners and get to live out their days in peace. Thankfully Matt came along for this part of Caturday and is pretty handy with a zoom lense. (Hey honey, I swiped some of your pictures while you are out of town! Love you.)

 

Lions!

 

 

 

 

A quick note about this guy, he was being sooo melodramatic! He was roaring for quite a while then got up and did this. After that he walked probably 20ft, flopped on the ground, and let out a huge winey moan. Maybe he didn't like that the other male lion was getting all the attention from the lady lions.

 

 

Tigers!

 

 

And bears!

 

 

There were even some wolves.

 

 

Just to finish things off nicely, here is everyone (who wore a cat shirt) in our awesome cat shirts for Harmony's birthday!

 

 

All in all it was a purrfect Caturday! If you haven't had enough cat business (is there ever enough) check out Jenna's trip to last years show!

 

Nikki Kelly

 

Is there anyone else out there that is slightly embarrassed to tell the people in our actual lives that they blog? I'm not really sure why I get nervous about sharing this part of myself with people. Maybe I'm nervous that I'll be judged or laughed at or I'll be that girl that talks way too much about herself. It's seems a little irrational. I mean, everyone that knows me knows that I'm a crazy cat lady, love crafty fun times, and enjoys working on our house more that most of the dudes I know. So why should I be nervous about telling them that I also keep a blog about it all? So, in an effort to own my status as someone who blogs and meet other like minded people I went to a small local blogger event last Thursday. The event was put on by Lexy of The Propoer Pinwheel and Erin of Art Social. Oh, and I didn't really take many pictures while I was there (too busy crafting) so I grabbed some from the Instagram tag #EatDrinkCreate.

 

Photo by: @rebeccacaridad

Photo by: @westelmdenver

 

I wasn't really sure what to expect. I just saw a little announcement for it a few weeks back in my IG feed and signed up. I didn't drag any friends along with me so I was all alone going into this, which made me pretty nervous. But Lexy was so nice and welcoming! Before I knew it I was being hugged. Btw, I don't mind hugs, I'm just not an initiator of hugs. Once some more people showed up I started to chat with a couple of ladies around me and then we started working on the evenings craft activity. These little fringe covered lanterns were perfect!

 

 

I loved seeing all the color combinations that everyone was coming up with. Most of the ladies at my table were a little bit jealous of the table with the silver fringe. They were basically making disco balls.

 

 

All these ladies were so nice to meet. I still have yet to check out all the different blogs that they write, but hopefully I'll have some time to do that soon.

 

Photo by: @theproperpinwheel

Photo by: @anneiam

Photo by: @theproperpinwheel

 

 

So much fun! Lexy said she is planning to have these fun events quarterly, which I am totally on board with. I always get secretly jealous of other blogs in different parts of the country where they have a good group of bloggers that do things together. It just looks like so much fun. At the end of the day I'm so happy I went to the Eat Drink Create party at West Elm last week, I even signed up for another event that's going on at Ikea next weekend that's being put together by the Denver Craft Ninjas.

 

Oh, I almost forgot. Swag bag!

 

 

Nikki Kelly

 

So this last weekend was our friend Justin's birthday, and his lovely lady wife set up some fun adult activities. One of them being a tour of the Stranahan's Whiskey distillery. It's a free tour, but you might need to make reservations. Along with a tour and explanation of how they make their whiskey there's a celebratory shot for everyone at the end. Jenna and I were so excited about it that we immediately broke out into song; shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, everybody! Apparently no one was as excited as us and everyone in our tour group was looking at us like we were a bunch of weirdos. Whatev's, let the tour begin!

The first stop was where they start everything. I really don't remember what all these things are, but I think this is where they make the mash(?). I do however remember what the difference between whiskey and bourbon is, which was explained during this portion of the tour. Are you ready to find out? It's corn! The grain mixture used to make bourbon is at least 51% corn. The more you know.....

 

Again, I really don't remember much of the process for making whiskey so I hope you didn't find this post by searching "how to make whiskey", because you will be sorely disappointed. I wish that was a real whirl pool.

 

 

This is where they ferment all their future whiskey. Apparently the process to make whiskey is very similar to making beer.

 

 

Here's another big metal thing. Actually I remember what this one is called, it's a combination pot column still. Duh! I bet those hillbillies from Moonshiners would love to get their hands on one of these.

 

 

This was the last stop as far as making whiskey goes. Here, our guide explained that they only use the middle of...well, I actually don't know. But apparently they have some waste product that has a really high proof that one of the guys that works at the distillery uses to fuel his retrofitted motorcycle. Apparently it's the stuff that bottom shelf whiskey company's re-distill to make bottom shelf whiskey, hence the bottom shelf category.

 

 

After the distilling process it's ready to be barreled and aged. All of their whiskey is put into brand new white oak barrels that have been burnt on the inside. The charred wood gives the whiskey it's color and flavor. Then it just sits in here for two years. Needless to say there were a lot of barrels o' whiskey just hanging out in here.

 

 

Quick, what movie is this from? "Whiskey, all you want!"

 

 

The second to last stop was probably the least interesting, just look at us. I think Dave (the giant) actually fell asleep for a minute.

 

 

However Matt and Justin were able to get some enjoyment out of the bottling room.

 

 

And Jenna snuck in this cute photo op.

 

 

Once we were done with our shenanigans we had to quickly catch up with the rest of our group in the tasting room.

 

 

Shots! Shots, shots, shots.... Ok, it was really just one shot for each of us.

 

 

Also, it was a fancy guided tasting. First we were instructed to smell it. Funny, it smells just like Matt after happy hour.

 

 

Then we held it up to the light, like so.

 

 

Even though I really don't care for whiskey I finished my shot. I was the only lady in our group of friends to do so, Matt was very happy about that.

 

 

Happy birthday Justin!

 

 

Nikki Kelly

 

PS: This post wasn't sponsored or anything awesome like that. Although if they wanted to give me (aka Matt the whiskey lover in the house) a bottle of whiskey, I wouldn't turn it down!