Upgrading Melissa

In Milwaukee, we lived downtown in a condo where, for 3 years, I rarely (basically never) had to deal with a bug.  No spiders, no lady bugs, no flies, no gnats, no ants.  Just me and Brad…just how I like it, with no surprise visitors from the insect world.

And then I moved to Iowa.

Now, we live in a house with a pond right behind us…and we are definitely a little closer to nature than we once were.

Case and point:
I woke up this morning to find this on my window (outside, thank God):

Yes…that is a Praying Mantis.  I woke Brad up to inform him that the biggest bug I’d ever seen was living on my window.  He told me that it was a Praying Mantis (though I had already made that assumption).  Once I determined that it was outside and was NOT going to eat me, I decided I kind of liked him.

Then it started storming and now he’s gone.  I’m hoping that he is still alive…and wasn’t washed away somewhere.  

In other news, Brad and I spent the whole weekend working our tails off to finish our house.  I left for Canada about 4 days after we moved in, and was gone for 8 days, so we’re a little behind schedule.  However, we got a lot accomplished this weekend.  Everything is unpacked and put away, and I finally have a desk to sit at and an office to sit in…an office that I LOVE, by the way.  

I know I’ve mentioned the obsession I have with decorating my office, and that has not died down whatsoever since I’ve been home.  On Sunday, while Brad was drafting his Fantasy Football team, I went to Michael’s to prep for my newest craft:  A homemade bulletin board!

Here’s how to make your very own prettified bulletin board:

They sell 6x6 cork boards in packs of 4 for $5.99 at Michaels, so I bought two packs.  And then I bought 4 pieces of 12x12 scrap paper (though two would have worked…but I liked the color variety):

I cut two squares out from each piece of paper (tracing the squares with a pencil onto the back of the paper first)…

Then I glued the paper squares onto the corkboard using Rubber Cement…

…and attached them to the wall using the little sticky squares that came with the corkboard (I tested a sticky square on the wall in the corner to make sure it came off easily and didn’t peal the paint off when removed…it didn’t).  

TA-DAAAA!

P.S. Please excuse my pictures.  I lost my camera connector in the move, so I’m having to rely on my Blackberry for my photo documentation.

The only problem is, they’re so pretty that now I don’t want to stick them with pins!  ;)  Guess I’ll have to get over that!  

I’ve been finding a variety of crafty ideas for scrap paper lately (other than for scrapbooking).  Have you heard of any fun ideas for repurposing scrap paper?  If so, do share!  :)