So my first video project is my take on the annual State of the Union (or the Governor of California’s State of the State). This is my State of the House.

I am breaking it into two parts. Part one is a video snapshot of what the house and our life looks like right now. Part two will be what an outline of projects and events we plan on tackling this year. I hope to do this every January to show how our home organically changes with time.

So here’s Part one. (Note – I didn’t edit this at all. That’s something I will work on for future videos.)

Our House Today – a visual report

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAr9GnP1WTg

I really like this photo of Pixel. It’s a good representation of one side of her personality. She is quite the little busybody. I think this candid photo catches her meddling rather well.

Laundry detergent because I only want to buy it on sale.
Cilantro because the last batch went bad before I used it.
Coffee beans because it’s usually when I am all out and cranky.

But more than anything, I hate buying something that should have replaceable parts, but doesn’t.

Enter the mighty cat scratching post. It keeps the cats’ claws away from our furniture (most of the time) and is therefore a necessary evil in out house.

Regardless of its usefulness, it is perhaps one of the ugliest things in our house. I’ve looked for a better looking post, but it doesn’t seem to exist so we have two inexpensive versions from Target. They work out great for the cats, but when the carpet gets all worn out and grungy, I wanted to replace it. But I can’t. They don’t make replacement parts for the posts. It’s very short-sighted on the manufacturer and it just drives me crazy!

So I got thinking and decided to make my own replacement carpet post out of a utility mat, glue and staples. A fraction of the price of a brand new scratch post. And while I was at it, I gave the post a makeover at the same time with some dark green spray paint.

I started by buying a dark gray utility mat for $3.00.

Then I took apart the old post.

Using the old carpet as a pattern piece, I measured the width of the carpet tile.

Then I cut the mat with a straight edge and a utility knife.

Next using dark green spray paint I had on hand, I darkened the current post stand and topper to match the dark gray utility mat.

Once the paint was dry it was time to assemble the parts.

I stapled one end of the carpet piece of the post and then used some tacky glue to keep the carpet in place before stapling down the other end.

Then, I clamped the carpet post with a bunch of rubber bands until the glue dried.

I let the glue dry overnight before I reassembled the post. Voila! The cat scratch post is ready for action. I spent less than $5.00 on the makeover and I have left over supplies for the next time I need to replace the carpet post. Not a bad deal at all.