Joyfully Jensen: Lilly

Oh Lilly Hammer...you have always had an obsession with plastic bags. As soon as I brought in the groceries you were all up in them checking out what was inside. You love to lay in them and on top of them. You didn't really like it that one time I picked up the bag with you in it.

You will be 14 in June and you have been all mine since you were 8 weeks old, but I was also there when you were a newborn. My first pet ever. I don't consider you "pet" though, it's hard to since we can actually have conversations with you, and you mind us most of the time which has got the attention of neighbors when they witness it first hand.

You sure have changed a lot in the last year or so. Much more clingy and loving with Jimmy and Kiera and you actually like Berkley at times, though you try to hide it. You are so much more relaxed around a group of people at the house. I am still shocked from the time you came walking through the mass of people at Kiera's birthday party a couple years ago. Totally not like the old (younger) Lilly. And I really hope you live to be 20 something. And if you must insist on throwing up grass or your food, can you please aim for the tile and not the carpet? Thanks.

My brain is complete mush right now and could not think of an opening sentence for what I am about to share. As you can probably tell from the title I am going to share our "Cat feeding station". Poor Lilly was missing out on some of her meals because she is a grazer and Berkley would go and steal her food when she wasn't around (we only feed them once in the evening). So Berkley has been gaining weight, and Lilly losing. She is at a healthy weight and she definitely isn't starved, but our boy is getting quite stocky.

We decided that we needed to elevate her food somehow and hide the bags of food that have been hanging out on the kitchen floor for years.

So Kiera and I went to PetSmart and Southern Agriculture on Saturday to look for an elevated cat feeder while Jimmy was getting his haircut. We had no such luck. I decided to then go to a favorite little antique store in Collinsville to see what they had. They always have a TON of furniture outside and some of it is dirt cheap. It is the same place I got my nightstands. I was in luck that day because I came across this awesomely hideous bookshelf.

For $2.50! I didn't even hesitate buying it.

As you can see it was in pretty rough shape on the corners but it is really sturdy, and there wasn't anything a little paint wouldn't hide. Except for some water damage on top but still, I had plans! Apparently Kiera did too. She had fun on our little quest and excitedly gave me all sorts of "ideas" on what we could do. She is drawing up her own plans here.

First off I sanded the edges and roughed up the laminate part and then gave it a good wipe down. I gave it a nice little coat of primer too. I have had the same primer can for almost 4 years now. It is close to empty but I still have a ways to go with it! I actually had to buy paint cause I don't have any "white" on hand, so I bought a quart of Olympic Semi Gloss Kitchen and Bath in Olympic's Garlic clove (not shown yet), which is the exact same thing I used on my baseboards when I painted them last year. This way I will have it on hand for touch ups in the years to come.

I also had a spare piece of wood from the base of my nightstands that we added to to top front of this to add a little finishing touch. Just nailed that sucker in from the outsides and painted over it. You will eventually see it.

We also stopped by Hobby Lobby to grab this lovely duck cloth to cover the front. I don't know what it says but I like it a lot! Of course I used my 40% coupon and spent a whopping $5.84 for 1 yard. I only need a 1/2 yard but better safe than sorry! I will used it for something else anyway.

And here is the finished product! I already had a tension rod on hand and sewed up my little curtain for the front and pushed the rod all the way to the top inside. Yeah it is by our front door but it doesn't really fit where Lilly's food was before. Actually it does but Jimmy feels too cramped with it back there. We have had to show Lilly a couple times to jump in the chair then jump to the table, but we can tell that she really likes it.

I just threw some black lace up there and put her mat on it for the time being, but I plan on replacing her mat with a solid black one. I might even paint a little Fleur de lis on it or something. Berkley is not a fan of it at all.