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DIY Police Costume and K-9 Dog Halloween Costume

October 1, 2015 by Ashley Hackshaw

Halloween is creeping up on us…get into the spooky spirit than with a unique DIY Halloween costume! Boo wanted to make a costume this year that could include Max our dog. When I asked her why she wanted to be law enforcement she said because of Officer Tony (Swain County Sheriff’s Office) who greets her everyday at school and Officer Adam (Bryson City Police) whose son is in her class.

She finally decided on a K-9 Police Officer:

Boo and her K-9 Officer Max:

The back of her shirt:

This was a really easy costume to make. Here are the basic steps:

Making the Hat: First I printed off a template that I made in Powerpoint to make sure the lettering would fit:

I used a black hat from Michaels and the easiest way to transfer the letters was just to cut them out and trace them with a pencil:

I filled in each letter with white puffy paint:

Tulip Slick:

Making the T-Shirt: For the shirt, I printed off lettering and traced them over white transfer paper:

And traced and filled in the letters with paint as well:

The finished shirt:

Making the Police Badges: For the badges I used an old cereal box. I sketched out a quick generic design:

The same puffy paint that was used on the hat and shirt I used to create raised areas on the cardboard:

A badge for Boo and badge for Max:

Once the paint was dry I used chrome-colored spray paint to cover the badges:

After being spray painted:

I used a small brush and black paint to add “POLICE” and “K-9”. Once they were dry I added the badge pins to the back:

Making the Dog Uniform: For the dog outfit I traced one of Max’s little coats onto black felt:

I traced “POLICE” onto each side:

And puffy paint to create the letters too:

Staples close the front:

Adhesive velcro tabs were used for the bottom straps, but only on one side because the tabs will stick to felt:

Max with his new police outfit:

All of the costume pieces:

My little K-9 Officer and her sidekick:

They make a pretty good team:

This guy is just sniffing for candy though, he has a one track mind:

But at least they get to do it together this year:

I think Max loved his costume more than Boo liked hers. We might have to make him a few more:

He’s been a great heart mender since Diesel died a few weeks ago:

Don’t forget last year’s costume if that’s on your DIY list:

The Everett Hotel

September 29, 2015 by Ashley Hackshaw

If I was going to open a boutique hotel in downtown Bryson City I’d want it to look like this:

My friend Ron has invited me several times over the last few months to come and see the progress of the new Everett Hotel and Bistro (the restaurant formerly known as the Cork & Bean Restaurant) and I always declined because I wanted the whole reveal to be a surprise. And so last night I had the chance to see the finished hotel at an open house. This room overlooks the old historic courthouse:

When the renovations were being done to the old historic bank building they found a hidden attic. Let me just go on record: a secret attic is my dream find. The space allowed them to add an additional floor which includes a landing…

…two additional large rooms, and a rooftop deck with 360 degree views of Bryson City and the surrounding mountains:

I love the room numbers with the burlap:

The Bistro downstairs is one of my favorite places to eat. I always get the chicken pesto crepe and the sweet potato fries. If we go for dinner the roasted brussel sprouts! Oh and chai tea:

The best part is that the hotel is right in the heart of town. The used book store that I volunteer at on Wednesdays is only two doors down…and all proceeds go to the local library:

Sometimes I have helpers:

And our outfitter business Bryson City Outdoors is right across the street where you can book hiking tours, rent kayaks and paddleboards, and find Great Smoky Mountains maps and more:

Yeah that’s my kid in the store living BCO from head to toe:

So excited for my friends and their new venture. Make check out their Everett Hotel website to see more photos and find things to do around Bryson City. If you do come visit Bryson City maybe we’ll run into one another!

P.S. I’ve added my own “Smokies and Bryson City” page with photography and favorite things to do around town. It’s under construction but still has some great resources on it for your next vacation!

How to Make Round Vintage Signs

September 27, 2015 by Ashley Hackshaw

My most recent project for the depot, other than the picket fence and raised garden, has been to paint vintage railroad signs as “flare” for the outside:

I started with these stain grade edge glued round table tops from Lowe’s as the canvas:

The first thing I did was paint each table top with a coat of primer:

Because the table tops are round it’s hard to create a grid for measurements. I used a large piece of contractor’s paper to create a round template the size of each table top to make it easy to find the center and to mark quarter and half marks:

move down

I enlarged text in Powerpoint and printed it off as a template. I used newspaper to transfer my design. If you trace and press hard enough the newspaper ink will transfer to the wood:

I used acrylic craft paint to carefully paint in my designs:

Here’s a Santa Fe sign:

On reason I chose that sign is that our house overlooks the Bryson City train depot and the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad has an old Santa Fe caboose….it was built in 1942 and rebuilt in 1970. It’s a class Ce-2 which you can read more about here.

For the large railroad crossing sign I marked the center of the wood using my paper template and then used a ruler to mark the outside border all the way around:

I printed off a large “R” to use as a letter template:

I painted the yellow background first:

And then the black parts:

I love the large scale of the RR sign:

The old depot was part of the railroad in Canton, NC so I wanted to use a sign from its roots. The Southern Railroad would have been the railroad whose locomotives used this building. I used a small paintbrush to carefully write each letter: