Bejeweled

My neighbor has an adorable 6 year-old daughter who loves to make stuff as much as we do. She's got a birthday coming so we asked if she would like to come over and make a birthday necklace. I got all of my supplies at JoAnn and luckily they were having a 40% off sale on jewelry making supplies. I love when things work out that way! I ended up with an assortment of beads which are strung on .5mm leather cord. I bought the stretchy clear plastic cord first but could not get the knot to stay tied (*@#&!) so I had to restring it on the leather. The .5mm works well with the tiny beads and the braiding cord works nicely with the larger ones. Stringing beads occupies them for a good stretch of time which is a super extra bonus. c.

Wit-Craft Wednesday

The following is my post on Wit-Craft, Craft: For the Birds

Do you hear that? Grumble, grumble, rumble, grumble. It's the sounds of hunger coming from our fine, feathered friends. It's the middle of Winter and it's time to treat your local birds to a tasty snack!

Today g. and I made a bird snack shack. We go through an enormous amount of milk in my house between the lattes, cappuccinos, sippy cups and cereal. Ah ... the cereal, or should I say men and their cereal ... I could and should dedicate a whole post just to that.

Anyway, pull one of your discarded milk cartons from the recycling bin and join us in making this really simple bird feeder. It only takes about 15 minutes and the birds will thank you for it!

What you'll need:
Milk carton
Scissors
Paint
Decorations (optional)
Hole punch
String or wire

Wash and thoroughly rinse the milk carton. Using the scissors, cut an opening in the front of the carton. To make a ledge cut on either side of the bottom opening - about 1/4 inch down - and fold back the flap. Paint the outside of the bird house with latex paint. Decorate with paint, sequins, glitter, stickers, etc. Fill with seed. Using the hole punch, punch a hole in the top center of the carton and use string to secure to a branch. Then let them eat seed! c.

Cabin fever

Cabin fever is an idiomatic term for a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a person or group is isolated and/or shut in, for an extended period. Symptoms include restlessness, irritability, forgetfulness, laughter, and excessive sleeping.

We've got that, no doubt in my mind we are suffering. I think it's been almost 3 months since we've done much of anything outside. The temps are low and the snow is hanging around. If you were to visit us, say you lived in like Florida and jumped on a plane and landed in my kitchen. You would swear you were in the twilight zone.

I'm up to my eyeballs with work and tasks but we've taken a few moments over the last week to celebrate, shop and eat. It's the only way to stay sane-ish.

I'm obsessed with the color orange and the symbolism is not that subtle. I wonder if I should wait until June to decide if it's a good idea to put orange wallpaper up in my kitchen? c.

Jumping bean

I want to ask you what is more fun than jumping on your parents bed? I totally used to do it, all the time (sorry mom), flipping and flopping like I was on a trampoline. Screaming out and laughing. When g. is on my bed flapping around I just can't stop her. So as I was manically racing through my morning panicking about all the stuff we needed to get done, we stopped to do some gymnastics on the old Sealy and somehow it put the day in perspective. c.

Wit-Craft Wednesday

The following is my post on Wit-Craft, Craft: Tiny Trash Town

Recycling paper is a common theme in my crafts. I get overwhelmed when I stop and think about how much paper goes to waste. It's nothing new, we've all thought about it at one time or another. I'm sure most of us are careful to use only what we need and recycle.

Today I was thinking about the mass mailer machine. You know - all of those 20% off big box store fliers, carpet cleaning offers and phone service deals that keep landing in your mail box? You don't sign up for them and you don't really know how to stop them.

So I decided to use a few I had laying around to create a tiny trash town. It's a modified version of the holiday paper town but it's actually more fun. We really enjoyed seeing how the patterns would unfold. My daughter loves making these. They look cute on my desk too.

I have a new pattern available here with instructions. This pattern fits nicely on all those mass mailer post cards we get. You can always enlarge the pattern on your copier for bigger buildings. c.

Oh yes we did!

What an amazing day today is in American history. All of us who cast our vote a few months back, hoping for this day, are breathing a sigh of relief. I'm going to be glued to the t.v. today watching our 44th president take the oath of office! c.

Good sport

g's dad took her swimming at the indoor pool over the weekend. He took her along with some goggles, flippers and a life vest. Let me just say there were no other kids decked out and fitted up for swimming quite like little g. I wonder how long before she notices that sort of thing? c.

Makin' cupcakes

Happy Birthday Nannie!

I would like to say I made the cupcakes from scratch but I didn't. We just ran out of time so we bought the box and the tub stuff.

g.'s got a major sweet tooth. She spent the whole evening trying to reason with us as to why she should be allowed to eat cupcakes for dinner. Lots of interesting tactics and angles. Today a request to have cupcakes for breakfast. I've gotta get these things out of here!

Freezing and framing

It's positively freezing cold where we are today. It's -5F(-20C) with a wind chill that brings it to -24F(-31C) and it's supposed to drop further tonight. I've lived in the Midwest all my life. I can take the cold, but not this cold. This is the sort of cold that can kill you in a few minutes, it's dangerous and I hate it. It's also unbearably sunny. I know that sounds counter intuitive but trust me on this. The glare off the snow is blinding. I know what my mom would say, "Cloud cover helps keep the heat in." Go away sun, I want the heat. If I sound crazy today it may be just be the mental frostbite kicking in.

This time last year we were remodeling our kitchen. It was a day like today when they punched two holes in the wall and took what felt like an eternity to put windows in. At least I'm not dealing with that nightmare right now. Speaking of the remodel, you may remember that I embroidered this piece during that time. Today I finally got around to framing it. c.

Let sleeping dogs lie

The cast is off! Here she is sleeping so cute in the same place as the day she had the surgery. I'm sure she is feeling super great to be free from the collar and cast. Dogs really hate all that stuff and to be honest we are guilty of forgetting that she is a dog. The incision is pretty well healed which is a huge relief. The fur always takes forever to grow back. We've got some P.T. work in our future but at the moment life is so cozy. Where do I get one of those beds in my size?! c.

p.s. we kiss that sweet little face about twenty times a day.

Snow Moon

The other night I was up pretty late and as I was getting ready to retire for the evening I noticed how bright it was outside (Lindsay will remember this and is probably still wondering why I'm babbling on about it). I was able to see all outdoors very clearly and that's not typical for where we live. You could take a walk or shovel your drive in the middle of the night with this perpetual state of twilight. It's really quite beautiful with the snow and winter sky. I did a little research and it turns out that the January moon is called the Snow Moon because it is at the closest point to the earth during this month so it appears bigger and brighter. The tides will be higher too as a result since they are pulled by the gravity of the moon.

I wonder if this gives us all an excuse to act a little wacky? Like going outside in your pajamas and Wellingtons with your digital camera resting on your a.c. unit trying to capture the beautiful nightlight the moon is casting at 11 p.m? c.

Snowblower

We don't have a snowblower but our neighbor is very neighborly and does our sidewalk. So nice of them. It's still snowing. Good thing I've got a movie and some popcorn and lots or warm blankets. c.

Snow pie

We woke up to a gentle snow fall that is apparently supposed to last for 4 days. Yikes. Last night we made "snow pies," or Vegetarian Sheppard's Pie. It seemed like the right day for it since it's freezing cold and snowing. I didn't get a shot after it was cooked because it was gobbled up straight away. I used this recipe for the filling. I thought about mixing sweet potatoes and white potatoes for the top as the recipe suggest but just couldn't go there. c.

Wit-Craft Wednesday

The following is my post on Wit-Craft, Craft: Valentine's Day Shadow Box

Just three days after Christmas, Target had all of their Valentine's Day items on display. It seems like every year the retailers push each holiday sooner and sooner. I got a little excited seeing all the red and pink because it got me thinking about how fast the winter is going and that we are getting closer to warmer days. I have to admit, those of us who live in the Midwest spend a lot of time dreaming about the four months out of the year that it's actually warm and sunny. By February/March we are almost mental about it!

Today's craft idea is a Valentine's Day Shadow Box. Why not make a little one of these to give instead of a card? You could make one with your son or daughter to give to a teacher or friend. I think most people would appreciate it's simple charm. Today g. and I decided to render her and her dog running through the grass. This little image dreams of warmer days and a dog that can run again.

Method:
•I began by using a wooden toy box and some scraps of card stock.
•Then I drew the scene on a piece of plain paper. Once your scene is drawn, you can cut out each piece separately and use the pieces as templates - to trace around.
•I found t3D mounts in the dollar section at Target and stacked them 2-6 high to make the paper lift off the background.

Stay tuned: next week I will have a few patterns available for download along with all the supply sources! c.

Here's the story morning glory

What a big difference a day makes. She's up and about trying to play and begging for food. Music to our ears. We've had to implement the "E" collar or Flower Collar as we are calling it due to attempts to lick/bite at leg. If you ever need to put an E collar on your dog (and I hope you do not) request a Butler flexible collar. It's soooo much nicer and more comfortable for your dog. The best part is she can sleep in it which means we can sleep. c.