The Wooters Family

resolving

2011-12-31T14:44:00.002-05:00

I know, I know... I'm really anti new years resolutions. I feel like if it's important enough, you should just get up and do it RIGHT NOW. I think though if I put down some actual ideas of things I'm going to do in my future, I will be less likely to break them. So in no particular order:

- get and stay more organized

- create more

- be less afraid to 'weed the garden' this includes people, places and things

- continue to practice honesty at all costs

- do as many things as possible that make me feel good: volunteering, fundraising, etc.

- get back into couponing, not so much for myself, but for a cause

- be a role model

The End! Have a happy and prosperous new year!

several month wrap up

2011-08-02T14:28:00.003-04:00

just because i haven't blogged doesn't mean I haven't been doing anything, here is photograph wrap up!

First, when spring hit, we decided we needed to put a more tropical feel on our patio, so we put in some tropical (yet cold hardy) plants including banana tree, hyacinth, and bamboo. Topped off these beds with some red lava rock to complete the tropical look. These will be a constant work in progress as all flower beds are!

I've been unhappy with this space for quite some time. It was completely done in very dark paneling (circa 1983) and it's such an odd shaped space it was hard to do much with. I decided by lightening it up (hello 10 gallons of white paint!) it would at least make it feel roomier and we could go from there. Hubby had built a bar last year so he covered it with bamboo (free from our neighbor, it was headed to the chipper) and put a small thatch overhang to give it a tiki bar feel. The sailboard in the loft was free from freecycle, and the bar stools you see in the picture are now a yellow. I'm sure there will be more pictures of this space as we do some more decorating, but for now, I'm beyond thrilled with how it turned out!

Sometime after the 4th of July this little (and she WAS little) angel wandered up to a friends house. Me being the crazy cat lady that I am, I couldn't resist. I've never had a mostly white cat, let alone one with two different color eyes. How could anyone not love that face?!?!?

Lastly, I bought this very expensive closet organizing system at lowes about 6 months ago (on clearance of course!) and hadn't found time to get it together and in place. So this weekend i cleaned out my closet (woah!) and after some drywall work, convinced hubby to paint it pink and he got the shelves put together and in place for me. Now begins the task of putting it all back together! Shew!

Getting Better Each Week

2011-04-19T13:57:00.002-04:00

I try not to be one of those people who has to go to every store that has a sale, I just don't have the time or energy for that. Last weekend I hit Walgreens, because they had vinegar for .99 and I had a .50 coupon, 2 actually, and $9 in RR to use. Picked up a few other things and wound up spending a whopping $6, and saving close to $30.

Next was Target. I wanted to take advantage of some of the Hasboro toy specials they have going on right now. I'm very unfamiliar with ANY toy section, and I got frustrated, so I'll probably try again this week, and eventually I will get familar with it. French's mustard was .99 there, and I had a coupon for $1 off 2, and in their travel section they have visine for 1.97 and I had a ton of $2 coupons. Got close to 10 of those, and a couple deodorants that I had coupons for without size limitations. I think those visine will probably make a great donation item to our local state hospital, this is where I've been giving any toiletry items recently.

Next was Acme, I was more pleased than I expected to be, I spent $60 and saved close to $130. I was nervous because there were some unexpected sales that i took advantage of and I bought a few things i didn't have coupons for (gasp!) but either way, I was pleased, and my regular cashier was cheering me on, so I called it a good day :-)

not extreme...

2011-03-21T12:35:00.002-04:00

but getting there. I'm proud of what coupons have been doing for me. I'm able to stock up on what I use regularly and donate to worthy causes with very little out of pocket. I'm particularly proud of my weekend shopping trips. At Walgreens I spent $11.45 and saved $99.68. A large portion of this will be donated to a local organization. At Acme they had an excellent cereal special going on. I wound up spending $30.76 and saved $69.82. My pantry got stocked up in a major way!

room on the bandwagon for 1 more?

2010-10-18T15:31:00.004-04:00

There's such a trend in blogland right now of hanging plates on the wall. I've been wanting to do this for some time but I just didn't have any plan in mind for what I wanted the plates to look like. I like some of the more random patterns out there.

So last weekend when I was on my weekly yard sale trip, I picked up a few plates. I paid a whopping 10 cents each for these.

I forgot to take an 'in the middle' picture of this. But you can guess by them being outside and on cardboard, it had something to do with spray paint. I do love myself some spray paint!

Few coats of red later and they all looked the same. I was then planning to stencil some birds on the plates. Well, that didn't work out so well. I had some carbon paper and it just made a huge mess! So I wound up spraying over the mess (again!) and free handing birds on 2 of the plates. There's a reason I took this picture from such a crappy angle, because my artistry is not wonderful. My hope is that nobody gets up close and personal with these plates. From a distance though, I'm rather proud of them!

oh dear...

2010-09-23T11:32:00.000-04:00

Be still my heart... Oh how I need this!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/56258324/vinyl-wall-art-swirl-tree-with-owls

birdies

2010-09-15T20:51:00.000-04:00

are so trendy in decorating right now, so it's funny I should find this at a yard sale. It appears to be several years old judging by the amount of rust I brushed off. So of course a coat of paint is in order. I asked my facebook peeps whether it was crying for flat black or antique white. All of the votes were for black, which is where I was leaning anyway. The black gives it a goth vibe which I'm totally digging. I may paint the birds an accent color? once I decide where it's going to live

where will you live?

2010-09-14T20:46:00.000-04:00

Is just what I thought when I saw this white ottoman along side the road. So pretty, so retro with your pretty silver legs and lovely round shape. of course I stopped, asked how much, and the owner said $10. Within like 3 minutes of me browsing through his other offerings, he was down to $5 and I snapped it up. Right now it's sitting at the foot of my bed holding my decorative bed pillows (so they aren't tossed on the floor). Maybe it will find a home in a spare bedroom some day?

TEAK

2010-09-13T20:41:00.000-04:00

still waiting on my patio to be finished. Hubbster has a full time job though so I'm sure not as naggy as I once was about doing that sort of thing. A friend of mine said that her sister had a teak patio set that she was looking to get rid of, her yard wasn't big enough for it. It needed some help, it had been grayed, but for $30, I figure my woodworking husband can probably fix it as long as it's not rotten. so the table has a leg that's fallen off, and the rest could be screwed down tighter, and the bench is wobbly, but it's probably like $10 in hardware for a beautiful, simple set!

quirky bench

2010-09-12T20:36:00.000-04:00

how cool is this? maybe a little Indian looking? like India, not native american. Also at a yard sale, at a nursing home. weird right? I think I paid $10 for it, and if nothing else, it makes a cool conversation piece in my living room, and a little extra seating (or kitty seating)

2010-09-11T20:18:00.002-04:00

$5 at a yard sale today. I'm a little in love. I've also already been offered $10. a local retirement community has a community yard sale twice a year, I always go early and clean up! This time I started at the back of the community and worked towards the front. certainly a fantastic idea! I'll be showing you more finds throughout the week.

Monday monday monday...

2010-07-26T13:53:00.003-04:00

So, it's Monday. Truth be told, I had an enormously rough week last week. Hubby wanted to have friends over for a bbq yesterday. Somewhere between 3 cases of beer and 60 pounds of ice I've done did something to my back. I'm still functional, just not bending down.

Oh, and it hurts to breathe... and my limbs keep going numb. Maybe that's a nerve thing? I don't know, Aleve and I are going to work it out for a few days and if it keeps up, it'll be time for some acupuncture.

So at 5pm yesterday, when people should be arriving for our bbq, we had gale force winds and funnel clouds were spotted locally. Grrr... at least picnic food is cheap. The stuff that can't be frozen anyway.

So enough about my whining. Here's the goods from the weekend. Well, what I took pictures of. From top left: clorox jug, rolling rock bottle, milk glass jar, large blue ball jar, medium blue ball jar, white milk glass then 2 more ball jars.

See a pattern?

I've been seeing all these lovely things on blogs about the blue mason jars. Not to brag but really they're everywhere around here at yard sales. I'm seriously kicking myself now after doing a bit of research though. I paid 50 cents a piece for every thing you see in my sink. They had cases of the blue mason jars but I didn't want to hoard. Truth be told, I honestly thought 50 cents a piece was a bit high. So I got one of each size that they had and moved on. Of course these suckers are selling for $7-8 a piece. Can't win them all I guess.

So I plan to do a little candle scape with them. Maybe some stones around them and such. You know, old jars are all the rage at pottery barn. I saw on one blog though that the blue mason jars could explode and be DEADLY when candles are put in them. Seriously? You know how hot they get when you pressure cook them to seal the lids? I think I my compromise though and buy some LED candles for them.

The brown jug goes with my laundry cuteness plan. It's really an old clorox jug, and since it does have a cap, how cute would it be to actually pour my bleach in there? I don't use a ton of it anyway, but I'm saying it's cute and useful.

deal of the day!

2010-06-27T13:14:00.000-04:00

This was my favorite yard sale find of last weekend, an outdoor slate top table, wait for it, $10!!! Took some wheeling and dealing, but won't that be beautiful on my *new* patio with my to be built pergola and seating? I picture many cold beverages being set on this table in the future :o)

big plans!

2010-06-26T13:09:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I saw a blog online, which I don't have the ambition to find again to link to, but regardless, it gave me an idea for an old trunk. So when I saw this one for $2, I had to have it. The plan goes something like this: Turn the trunk on it's end, put casters on the end, one shelf in the middle, the bottom gets a large X out of wood to hold wine bottles, the top gets slots for sliding stemmed glasses in, then it becomes a portable wine bar. I'd love to think that I can find some time this weekend to at least start getting the inside of this trunk sured up to hold some weight. Not sure what I want to do with the hardware just yet, I may just wire brush it and spray it black... Also, not sure about the body of the trunk, I need to look at it some more. any suggestions are welcomed!

yard sale goodness

2010-06-25T13:01:00.000-04:00

Lots of goodies this last weekend. I will post each day with some of my finds, spread the love out! So here's some of my goodies.

From the left, a bamboo lantern which will make it's home inside my (to be built) bamboo pergola. cuteness right?

second is an oil lamp, I've got quite a collection of these believe it or not. Some from my my mom, and some from a friend who John and I helped clean out a home he'd inherited several years ago. This clear one for $1 will make it's home on top of my cabinets with the rest of them :o)

third is what I believe is called a 'pickle crock', I picked him up for $3, near perfect shape. I'm not thinking it's old, probably a reproduction, but either way, I think it will look nice with some blooms floating in it, floating candles, or perhaps a large pillar in some sand.

Lastly is what looks like a gnome home! it's another candle holder, but how quirky! I think it may get a white spray job ;o)

gee, thanks gwammy!

2010-06-24T12:56:00.004-04:00

my mother in law uses cake icing by the 5 gallon bucket... literally! so last weekend, she had one she'd just finished, she asked me if I could find a use for it... it still had some scrapings of icing left inside... so someone found an immediate use for it!

1960's throwback

2010-05-25T17:34:00.001-04:00

This was found in the attic of our garage yesterday, by my hubby. It was my parents. Guess what we HAD to make last night.

my favorite yard sale find

2010-05-15T13:14:00.000-04:00

Found this beauty at a yard sale a few weeks ago. Yup, near perfect condition, even included a partially full gas tank. I've cooked dinner on it almost every night since then. Polished it up and what not too. It has some fancy features I don't quite understand. A rotisserie and some glass topped part on the left that I'm scared to use because I don't know what it's for. All in all though, not a bad find for $150!

found!

2010-05-14T16:16:00.000-04:00

Found this treasure at a yard sale, $20. Came with the larger stones, hubby added the smaller red ones. Pretty cute huh?

striped bag

2010-05-13T16:14:00.000-04:00

my mother in law insisted that I buy this bag for $1 to carry my yard sale loot in last weekend... good thing I did huh? Where else could Starsky POSSIBLY lay?

burberry?

2010-05-12T16:13:00.000-04:00

A $2 yardsale find. I'm certain it's not real, but it is a decent fake...

purdy

2010-05-11T16:11:00.000-04:00

I've never had one of these bloom for me before, but this one greeted me last weekend with some huge purple flowers! Gorgeous huh? It's a clementis, should bloom twice a year I believe.

2010-05-10T15:20:00.002-04:00

Oh I do love the spring! Here's something I made this weekend with some yard sale finds. I've been hunting down pots at yard sales knowing that I can find something creative to do with them, then sure enough, at one of the yard sales I went to, I saw something similar to this. I took a picture and HAD to make it as soon as I got home. Took one of my little pots into hubby's woodshop and found a dowel that fit appropriately and off I went. No, there is no glue required for this project. I would just make sure of 2 things:

1. Put the pot where you intend to leave it before you 'build' your pots up, I'm thinking this will lead to cursing and complete frustration otherwise.

2. 'Thread' one pot on at a time, dirt and flower it and then move on to the next one. The whole thing gets more stable as you add dirt to the pots, so I would just do one at a time.

I can't wait until my flowers start taking over so it's like a crazy mass of pouring flowers! Yay!

Made it Monday and a confession...

2010-02-08T20:55:00.005-05:00

Today I'm going to learn you somethin! One of my favorite snacks is salsa. I could put it on ANYTHING I believe. Of course, I do get a little frightened when I read a regular salsa label, there's all sorts of things in there that probably don't belong. Preservatives, colors, artifical flavors. No good. So today I'm going to teach you an easy peasy way to make your own, most of this stuff you probably have on hand.

Lined up on my counter you see I have fresh cilantro, in my green bag, which I truly believe does work because it's been in my fridge for a month now and it hasn't turned all boiled spinachy, apple cider vinegar, a medium onion, 2 cans of diced tomatoes (read the labels, the ingredient should be: tomatoes) clove o garlic and some mexican seasoning. I also usually add some hot sauce and some lime juice, just whatever your taste calls for. This is a great starter and you can doctor it as you like from here.

I'm a home party girl from way back. This is I've found the easiest way to make this salsa, I use the Quick Chef from Tupperware. It'll run you like $50 from the catalog, probably $30 or so from ebay. I believe they're red now. I feel like i have a bit more control with it than I do a food processor though. I toss the cilantro in first, I just wipe down the stalks and pull the leaves off, just a handful will do it.

I just peel and quarter the onion, the quick chef will take care of the rest. Even quartering an onion makes me cry *sniffle*. Once this is tossed in, I give the quick chef a few turns because I want to get that onion pretty fine as well as the cilantro. While they both have a great taste, neither are something you want to get a whole mouthful of!

Now for my pampered chef plug with my garlic press. This thing does get a lot of use in my house! Just one clove will do it.

Now I add 2 cans of diced tomatoes. These are aprox 14oz cans, you can adjust accordingly though.

probably 2T of apple cider vinegar. At this point I really stir it up good with the quick chef and and make sure it's all mixed in well and chopped as course or fine as I want it. Take a taste and add your spices as you like them. Be creative, when you make stuff yourself, it's all about you!

I mentioned my basic bread recipe in my last post that I used for the cinnamon rolls. Here is the basic bread as it is without any doctoring. Made it in my bread machine last night then covered it and let it rise overnight in the fridge. You can let it rise on the counter (or in the microwave) overnight but sometimes it makes it a bit too yeasty for me.

And now the confession. I have a slight obsession with small kitchen appliances. On my counter currently (which means I use them a couple times a week at least) are a toaster oven, bread machine, crock pot, wine opener, electric kettle. A vacuum sealer also makes a frequent appearance. In my pantry live my stand mixer and blender. So yesterday at Goodwill, D didn't have a hard sale when she tried to talk me into this for $5.

A food steamer. She says she uses hers every night. Rice or steamed veggies she says are a snap in this baby. So for right now, it's going to live in my pantry and I'm going to find ways to incorporate it into dinner prep and we'll see where it finds it's permanent home.

Food

2010-02-07T21:09:00.002-05:00

I have an obsession with food, eating it mostly. Not as fuel for my body, but because it's good. I've never had a love of cooking. I mean, I would do it from time to time, but it's so much easier to just throw something in the microwave and call it a meal.

I've been a little put off however recently reading the labels of food and not understanding half the stuff that's in it. I like knowing what I'm eating, and maybe as I'm getting older I'm more concerned about this whole 'you are what you eat' nonsense. So I'm trying to eat only foods that I can read/understand what's in it. I figure this is a pretty big step and I will try to post what I'm making on here with links or recipes so you can join me in the fun!

This first one is easy peasy, just pineapple and cherries. Hubby got me this awesome pineapple slicer thingie for christmas that you just screw into the pineapple and it pops it all out nice and sliced for you!

Homemade granola. Yes, granola has a lot of fat, but you know what? People in the old days ate a lot of fat and stayed healthy. Because they knew what the heck they were eating! This is a great alternative to cereal in the morning, very filling and doesn't give you the 10am droops... Here's how I do it:

8cups oatmeal (I use quick oats)
handful of sunflower seeds
handful of coconut
1c each of walnuts, pecans, almonds and whatever else you may have, finely chopped. I tried doing peanuts too but they sort of took over the flavor
dash of salt
decent shake of cinnamon
stir all this together in a huge bowl, while you're stirring that take a sauce pan and put 1c veg oil and about a cup of brown sugar, I use light because it's easier to find
once the sugar is melted into the oil, pour over your oat mixture and mix well, like I said, you need a giant bowl for this. Break up the brown sugar if it starts to clump and try to get it fairly even in your bowl.
preheat to 350
line a big bar pan with parchment, it usually takes 2, I reuse the same pan and parchment because parchment is pretty pricy
pour about half on the pan and spread it out
toast in the oven for 10, stir it some to flip it a bit then toast for 10 more
viola!
PS. the time between toast and burn is short! keep your nose on full alert!

Soft Pretzles, this was another one of my experiments this weekend while we were blasted with a blizzard here in the midatlantic. I had stocked up on groceries earlier this week so I felt like I could pretty much make anything with my full pantry. I got this recipe from allrecipes.com which is such an awesome site! Went much better than expected too!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls, these were breakfast this morning and OMG were they good! I have a basic bread recipe that I use:

2 tsp yeast

4Tbsp sugar

1c warm water

1 1/2 tsp salt (I put these together in my bread machine pan and let them sit for 10 or so til it gets foamy

3c flour

3Tbsp oil

I throw all this in the bread machine and put it on the dough setting. Once it's done making the ball of dough, I take it out and throw it in a loaf pan, let it rise for like an hour then bake at 350 for like 30 minutes or until it passes the 'tap test'.

I use this recipe for EVERYTHING. I do my hamburger rolls the same way and I made an awesome garlic bread a couple weeks ago using garlic salt instead of regular and adding a bunch of parmesan cheese and basil before the dough cycle.

So this time, I added a few shakes of cinnamon to the mix before making the dough, then when it was done, I rolled it out flat and put a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon on top of that. Rolled it all up into a tube then I refrigerated that for a bit, just because it was so squishy at that point. Then I sliced it into chunks and put them in the (greased) pan, as you can see. Covered and put them in the fridge overnight for a slow rise. Popped them in the oven at 350 this morning for 30 minutes and they were awesome!!! I had half a can of buttercream icing so I added that on top but you can also make your own very simply with crisco and confectioners sugar.

I threw chicken breast and salsa in the crock pot last night, not quite sure what would happen but I heard that the acid in the tomatoes would make the chicken very tender. I LOVE mexican food. Salsa is homemade, more on that another time.

So the chicken got done and I intended to make like a taco salad with it, but I suddenly had a major hankering for fajitas. Problem was, no tortillas in the house. Allrecipes.com to the rescue again! I know she says not to substitute shortening for lard, but one thing I don't normally keep in my pantry is lard, so I did it, and it worked, and I will probably never buy flour tortillas again. I took the additional dough (the recipe makes A LOT) and vacuum sealed it in individual balls, hopefully they'll still roll out at a later date.

That's all for this weekend, I'm exhausted from eating quite frankly! Hope all my midatlantic friends had a great weekend at home as well. Us Marylanders don't know how to deal with 2 feet of snow! I for one don't even pretend!

art

2010-02-03T09:22:00.003-05:00

As much as I've been nesting in my house, I haven't gotten around a whole lot to actually putting pictures on my walls. I didn't realize it was really missing until I hung some stuff up there. So I've decided to let you in on one of my little secrets. This. Free, whimsical, printable art. Add in some cheapy frames and suddenly your house is a home.

too much, not enough?

2010-02-01T13:07:00.002-05:00

It seems like I've had way too much going on to blog, yet, when I think about what I have to blog about, I got nothing! So here's the facts:

- I'm on a cooking binge. I'm trying to eliminate 'junk' from my life, you know, that stuff on the food labels that you can't read? So I'm striving to make wholesome meals and hoping that a healthier (thinner?) lifestyle will come with time.

- Hubby is on a woodworking binge. Hopefully pictures to come. He's been making these great coat racks with shelves over them, EVERYONE has a spot for one of these.

- My desktop died. :o( Christmas Day of all times. Hubby and I have tried to fix it, I think it's a power supply issue, but since both of us work on computers (to some extent) all day, neither of us really has the patience to deal with it, so we're going to send it to the professionals.

- I collected 225 pairs of shoes to donate to Haiti and now I'm obsessed! So a friend and I have started a new drive to collect items to donate to the God's Littlest Angels Orphanage in Haiti. Hopefully we will be successful in that, wish us luck!

We should all read this every day!

2009-11-10T13:05:00.002-05:00

'You Are Worthy'

Do not undermine your worth
By comparing yourself with others.
It is because we are different
That each of us is special.

Do not set your goals
By what other people deem important.
Only you know what is best for you.

Do not take for granted
The things closest to your heart.
Cling to them as you would your life.
For without them, life is meaningless.

Do not let your life slip through your fingers
By living in the past nor for the future.
By living your life one day at a time,
You live all the days of your life.

Do not give up
When you still have something to give.
Nothing is really over
Until the moment you stop trying.

It is a fragile thread
That binds us to each other.

Do not be afraid to encounter risks.
It is by taking chances
That we learn to be brave.

Do not shut love out of your life
By saying it is impossible to find.
The quickest way to receive love is to give love;
The fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly.

In addition,
The best way to keep love is to give it wings.

Do not dismiss your dreams.
To be without dreams is to be without hope,
To be without hope is to be without purpose.

Do not run through life
So fast that you forget
Not only where you have been
But also where you are going.

Life is not a race but a journey
To be savored each step of the way.
So smile and let the sun shine through.
For there's someone,somewhere, watching over you.

slooooowwwww down!

2009-11-02T08:22:00.001-05:00

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 41 lessons life taught me.

It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:"

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
9. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
10. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
13. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
14. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
15. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
16. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
17. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
18. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
19. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
20. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
21. The most important sex organ is the brain.
22. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
23. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ''In five years, will this matter?".
24.. Always choose life.
25. Forgive everyone everything.
26. What other people think of you is none of your business.
27. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
28. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
29. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
30. Believe in miracles.
31. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
32. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young..
33. Your children get only one childhood.
34. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
35. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
36. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
37. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
38. The best is yet to come.
39. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
40. Yield.
41. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

for dog lovers

2009-10-28T13:39:00.000-04:00

Ten Favors a Dog Asks From a Man - Author Unknown

1- My life lasts between ten to fifteen years. Every separation from you means suffering for me. Think about this before you decide whether or not to take me!
2- Give me time to understand what you are asking from me.
3- Instill confidence in me - I thrive on it!
4- Do not be angry with me for a long time and do not lock me up for punishment!You have your work, your pleasure, your joy - I have onlyyou.
5- Talk often to me! Even if I do not understand you completely, I do understand the tone of your voice when you talk to me.
6- Know that, no matter how I am being treated, I shall never forget it!
7- Keep in mind, before you hit me , that my jaws could crush the knuckles of your hand with ease, but that I do not make use of them.
8- Before you scold me when working with me, consider: perhaps I am uncomfortable from digesting my last meal; perhaps I was exposed to the sun too long; or perhaps I have a wornout heart.
9- Take care of me when I am old -- you too are going to be old one day.
10- Be with me when my going gets rough. Everything is easier for me when you are beside me.

blonde joke

2009-10-27T11:27:00.000-04:00

Two blonde girls were working for the city public worksdepartment.

One would dig a hole and the other would follow behind herand fill the hole in.. They worked up one side of the street, then downthe other, then moved on to the next street, working furiously all daywithout rest, one girl digging a hole, the other girl filling it inagain.

An onlooker was amazed at their hard work, but couldn'tunderstand what they were doing. So he asked the hole digger,

'I'mimpressed by the effort you two are putting in to your work, but I don'tget it -- why do you dig a hole, only to have your partner follow behindand fill it up again?'

The hole digger wiped her brow and sighed, 'Well, I suppose itprobably looks odd because we're normally a three-person team.

But todaythe girl who plants the trees called in sick."

why women lie

2009-10-26T11:42:00.001-04:00

One day, when a seamstress was sewing while sitting close to a river,her thimble fell into the river.

When she cried out, the Lord appearedand asked, 'Why are you crying?'

The seamstress replied that herthimble had fallen into the water and that she needed it to help herhusband in making a living for their family.

The Lord dipped His handinto the water and pulled up a golden thimble set with sapphires.'Is this your thimble?' the Lord asked

The seamstress replied, 'No.'The Lord again dipped into the river. He held out a golden thimblestudded with rubies.'Is this your thimble?' the Lord asked.

Again, the The Lord reacheddown again and came up with a leather thimble.'Is this your thimble ?' the Lord asked.

The seamstress replied, 'Yes'The Lord was pleased with the woman's honesty and gave her all threethimbles to keep, and the seamstress went home happy.

Some years later, the seamstress was walking with her husband alongthe riverbank, and her husband fell into the river and disappearedunder the water.

When she cried out, the Lord again appeared and askedher, 'Why are you crying?' 'Oh Lord, my husband has fallen into theriver!'

The Lord went down into the water and came up with George Clooney.'Is this your husband?' the Lord asked.'Yes,' cried the seamstress.

The Lord was furious. 'You lied! That isan untruth!'

The seamstress replied, 'Oh, forgive me, my Lord. It is amisunderstanding. You see, if I had said 'no' to George Clooney, youwould have come up with Brad Pitt.Then if I said 'no' to him, you would have come up with my husband.Had I then said 'yes,' you would have given me all three. Lord, I'mnot in the best of health and would not be able to take care of allthree husbands, so THAT'S why I said 'yes' to George Clooney.

And so the Lord let her keep him.

The moral of this story is:Whenever a woman lies, it's for a good and honorable reason, and inthe best interest of others. That's our story, and we're sticking toit.

oldie but goodie

2009-10-23T12:05:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween

A couple was invited to a swanky costume party. The Mrs. got a terrible headache and told her husband to go to the party alone. He being a devoted husband protested, but she argued and said she was going to take some aspirin and go to bed and there was no need for his good time being spoiled by not going.

So he took his costume and away he went. The wife, after sleeping soundly for about an hour, awakened without pain and, as it was still early, decided to go the party.

Since her husband did not know what her costume was, she thought she would have some fun by watching her husband to see how he acted when she was not with him.

She joined the party and soon spotted her husband cavorting around on the dance floor, dancing with every nice woman he could, and copping a little feel here and a little kiss there. His wife sidled up to him and being a rather seductive babe herself, he left his current partner high and dry and devoted his time to the new babe that had just arrived.

She let him go as far as he wished , naturally, since he was her husband. Finally, he whispered a little proposition in her ear and she agreed. So off they went to one of the cars and had a quickie.

Just before unmasking at midnight, she slipped away, went home, put the costume away and got into bed, wondering what kind of explanation he would make for his behavior. She was sitting up reading when he came in, and she asked what kind of a time he had.

He said: "Oh, the same old thing. You know I never have a good time when you're not there." -

"Did you dance much ?" -

"I'll tell you, I never even danced one dance. When I got there, I met Pete, Bill Brown and some other guys, so we went into the den and played poker all evening.

But you're not going to believe what happened to the guy I loaned my costume to...."

stolen...

2009-10-22T10:13:00.000-04:00

Totally stole this from another blog, but doesn't this make a great statement about adult thinking?

Halloween crafts

2009-10-21T09:53:00.000-04:00

I am absolutely in LOVE with some of the craft ideas I've seen for halloween. I'm determined to make a few but time is running out quickly.

I just found this one today, how cute are these!!! At my old house, we could have as many as 300 trick or treaters, not the case where we are now, I'm not expecting any at all! These would be great though just to fill with candy corn for friends.

I'm also a bit obsessed with these. I'm trying to figure out if I actually have to go to a cake store to get the edible markers though. I know Michaels would have them, but I would rather just pick one up when I do my grocery shopping.

Finally, here's a roundup with several cute cute ideas!

laziness and twins

2009-10-20T09:33:00.002-04:00

I missed a couple kitties last weekend in my picture taking extravaganza, so here's the guys I missed via cell phone pics.

A terrible picture of Molly and Lucy. Sisters from another mister. Molly is on top of the nightstand, Lucy underneath. I knew as soon as I went to get a real camera, they would bolt so cell phone was my only option. They look exactly alike, I still have issues with telling them apart.

Here's Starsky who stole my pillow when I managed to pry my ass of the sofa for a few minutes (probably to eat)

Halloween Joke

2009-10-19T12:32:00.001-04:00

Halloween is coming!

A man is walking home alone late one foggy night... when behind him he hears:

Bump...

BUMP...

BUMP...

Walking faster, he looks back and through the fog he makes out the image of an upright casket banging its way down the middle of the street toward him.

BUMP...

BUMP...

BUMP...

Terrified, the man begins to run toward his home, the casket bouncing quickly behind him

FASTER...

FASTER...

BUMP...

BUMP...

BUMP...

He runs up to his door, fumbles with his keys, opens the door, rushes in, slams and locks the door behind him.

However, the casket crashes through his door, with the lid of the casket clapping

clappity-BUMP...

clappity-BUMP...

clappity-BUMP...

on his heels, the terrified man runs.Rushing upstairs to the bathroom, the man locks himself in. His heart is pounding; his head is reeling; his breath is coming in sobbing gasps..

With a loud CRASH the casket breaks down the door.

Bumping and clapping toward him.The man screams and reaches for something, anything, but all he can find is a bottle of cough syrup!

Desperate, he throws the cough syrup at the casket...and,

(hopefully you're ready for this!!!)

The coffin stops

Serious weekend laziness

2009-10-17T19:44:00.005-04:00

The mid-Atlantic region has seen nothing but rain and cold dreary weather for days! I've been planted on the sofa with the remote and a book all day and I must say it's been wonderful! I'm more than halfway through this month's book club pick - The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown and I've had no shortage of snuggle buddies!

My desk chair has been kept very warm by these two big kids!

Killian, wondering if it's bedtime yet!

Again, looking extra pitiful on the sofa, we call this the boo-boo face because it looks like she's wiping her eyes.
Lucy can see everything from her perch on the end of the sofa, if only she had the energy to open her eyes!!!

Miss Gypsy can only show one eye to look kinda creepy against the dusk outside. She's made an indent in the back of the sofa where she's been laying...

Daisy, who knows exactly what b-e-d-t-i-m-e means!

Tuesday Joke

2009-10-13T12:36:00.001-04:00

This was in my inbox following the 3 day weekend and I thought it was great!

A woman was in town on a shopping trip. She began her day finding the mostperfect shoes in the first shop and a beautiful dress on sale in the second.In the third, everything had just been reduced by 50 percent when her mobilephone rang.It was a female doctor notifying her that her husband had just been in aterrible car accident and was in critical condition and in the ICU.The woman told the doctor to inform her husband where she was and that she'dbe there as soon as possible. As she hung up she realized she was leavingwhat was shaping up to be her best day ever in the boutiques.

She decided toget in a couple of more shops before heading to the hospital.She ended up shopping the rest of the morning, finishing her trip with a cupof coffee and a beautiful chocolate cake slice, compliments of the last shop.She was jubilant.Then she remembered her husband.

Feeling guilty, she dashed to the hospital.She saw the doctor in the corridor and asked about her husband's condition.The lady doctor glared at her and shouted, 'You went ahead and finished yourshopping trip didn't you! I hope you're proud of yourself! While you wereout for the past four hours enjoying yourself in town, your husband has beenlanguishing in the Intensive Care Unit! It's just as well you went ahead andfinished, because it will more than likely be the last shopping trip youever take! For the rest of his life he will require round-the-clock care. And hewill now be your career!'

The woman was feeling so guilty she broke down and sobbed.The lady doctor then chuckled and said, 'I'm just pulling your leg. He'sdead. Show me what you bought.'

Weekend and easy halloween wreath

2009-10-12T17:01:00.002-04:00

Had a fairly busy weekend. We did a craft show at Pickering Creek on Sunday so we were putting tables together all day Saturday to get ready for the show. Turns out, we didn't need to rush, because we didn't sell any! It actually didn't look like anyone was buying anything! So we weren't the only vendors feeling slighted. It was a free show so we weren't out anything except our time. I did get to see this beautiful Great Horned Owl there. I do love an Owl!

I took this picture of my little old lady Gypsy in the rocking chair. She doesn't get a whole lot of face time on here. Looking pretty isn't she?

I picked up some supplies over the weekend because I wanted to make a quick black feather wreath like they've been selling at Pier 1. Didn't exactly want to spend $35 on the wreath though, ya know? Went to my local dollar tree and got 2 boas, a black and a red and I also got some more skeleton garland to cut apart. JoAnn's had the styrofoam wreath which I had to pay $4 for, that was unfortunate. I guess that's what happens when you're in a hurry. I also picked up a great black spider though, I didn't mind paying $4 for him. :o) Here's the outcome.

Very easy. Just fastened one end of each of the boas to the styrofoam wreath and wrapped them both around. My black boa was thicker, which is great, I just wanted the red more or less as an accent. It worked out almost perfectly, just had to move the boas around in a few places to get them spread. I didn't even have to paint the wreath underneath, the boas covered great. Took and cut apart my garland and fastened it with wires and the same with the spider. I'm quite happy with the spooky effect it gives my front door.

Of course I had to show off my white pumpkin in my entryway. I do love a white pumpkin. This guy will be coming apart at the end of the season to share some seeds with me so I can grow my own (and not overpay!) next year.

Some Flylady Wisdom

2009-10-07T14:07:00.000-04:00

I just loved this commentary from the flylady. As women we have a constant need to 'fix' things. Do you ever think that sometimes when your friends call and complain, they just want to be 'heard'? I've been trying to work on this. So often, they just want an ear, not a fix. Enjoy.

To Fix or Not to Fix - That is the Question
Dear Friends,
For years FlyLady and I have spent most mornings on the telephone talking about SHE's, what makes us tick, why do we behave in a certain way and what can we teach to helpeveryone to FLY. Recently we were talking about a certain personality trait that seems to be very prevalent among most SHE's - our need to "Fix" things, situations, people and problems. The strange thing is that we are drawn to fix other people's problems instead of our own. Is this because we don't want to acknowledge our own issues or is it a way for us to feel better about ourselves?
I have spent a lot of time thinking about this and also doing quite a bit of self reflection, I consider my self to be a mostly reformed fixer that falls off the wagon occasionally!! Through my journey down memory lane I have determined that there are two main roads that we will travel towards fixing something. We will either choose the road that is self-less or we will choose the road that is selfish. Don't get stuck on the negativity of selfish, let me explain more:
The self-less road is when we attempt to fix something or someone because we truly believe that our help will contribute to fixing whatever the problem at hand is. We have no ego tied into the fixing, we are only in it to help. Your best friend has to move out of her home in three days and you drop everything to go and help her get it done - there is nothing in it for you other than to help a friend in need.
The selfish road is when we have some type of personal investment into the fixing of the problem. The outcome or resolution of the problem will affect us and therefore we put ourselves right in the middle of fixing things. The word selfish has a negative connotation attached to it and we can't be afraid of that, we have to embrace it. Your best friend has gotten into an argument with two other friends in your circle. You get involved because their argument affects you and you try to fix things. If you get down and dirty honest with yourself in this example - you really get involved because you don't want your circle to be in turmoil because it takes away from what you need from them. Generally when we approach things from the selfish perspective we get burned!
We have to be able to understand when we are attempting to fix things why we want to help. This will save you pain, embarrassment, frustration and anger for yourself and from others.
When we put ourselves in the position of being the "fixer" we find that people will turn to us in the future for help and we all like to feel needed. The problem with this is that webegin to define ourselves by what we can fix and control versus who we really are. We are not in the position to help others until we help ourselves first. This means you can't teach others to love themselves until you love yourself first. Attempting to fix everyone else's issues before your own is not loving yourself. It is a way to hide behind someone's else's pain and hurt to disguise your own.
When you find yourself wanting to get involved in something that may not be your place you need to take a step back and ask yourself "Why do I want to get involved? Do I have something valuable to add or contribute to a resolution?" Sometimes when we get involved in the "fixing" we take away from the rightful path that the players involved needed to travel. Maybe the individuals involved need to feel pain or hurt to come away from the moment learning something about others or themselves. If we interrupt that path did we really fix anything?
Part of Finally Loving Yourself is recognizing things about yourself that you may not like, the beauty is that we get to work on ourselves as we are always a work in progress not perfection!!
Love,Kelly

bandwagon

2009-10-06T20:22:00.003-04:00

So I've jumped back on the flylady bandwagon. For those of you who aren't familar, www.flylady.org. It's a great thing. She tells you how to spend 15 minutes at a time getting control of various areas of your life. It all starts with making sure your kitchen sink sparkles when you go to bed at night. Mine, she does sparkle, for tonight at least.

Creepy Halloween Tree Craft

2009-10-04T08:57:00.004-04:00

I keep seeing all of these halloween trees on display with the cutest ornaments! I'd love to have one, but right now, I don't want to spend $40 just on a black tree and still have to decorate it! A-ha! Inspiration to get my crafting mojo back. So yesterday the lovely Karen came over and we made our own creepy halloween trees.

Earlier in the week, hubby and I had gone around the yard and picked up loads and loads of sticks. We picked out the most 'tree like' of those and set them off to the side.

Off to the creepy potting shed to pick out a couple old terracotta pots.

Down to the stream to scoop up some river rocks to hold our trees in place.

(sorry I didn't take any pictures of this yesterday, perhaps I will edit some in)

Wire a few branches together in a bundle so you have the number and size of branches that you want. Hold it in the center of the pot and fill in around it with river rocks.

Now, spray paint the whole thing black. I did take a brush and brush some of the dirt off my pot so the paint would stick, but it may look even creepier with the dirt still on it. I had the added bonus of some spider webs on my branches, they showed up when I spray painted. Even better for the effect!

After the black paint dried, I took some of the sparkle spray that they sell this time of year for your hair and sprayed lightly over my tree. It looked really great on the rocks!

Some dollar store candy and decorations like the styrofoam skulls and skeleton garland. I love the eyeball candy! We just poked a wire through it and went to town with our ornaments. I found the crow hanging out at the bottom of the tree at the dollar store as well. He was just begging to come home and be a part of my project!

If you decide to build a tree of your own, please post a link in my comments, I would love to see your take on this project!

Animal Rescue

2009-10-01T12:00:00.000-04:00

Because I have a large place in my heart for animal rescue, I found this and wanted to share it:

A RESCUERS ANSWERING MACHINE: Hello: You have reached ___-____, Tender Hearts Rescue. Due to the high volume of calls we have been receiving, please listen closely to the following options and choose the one that best describes you or your situation:

Press 1 if you have a 10-year-old dog and your 15-year-old son has suddenly become allergic and you need to find the dog a new home right away.

Press 2 if you are moving today and need to immediately place your 150 pound, 8-year-old dog.

Press 3 if you have three dogs, had a baby and want to get rid of your dogs because you are the only person in the world to have a baby and dogs at the same time.

Press 4 if you just got a brand new puppy and your old dog is having problems adjusting so you want to get rid of the old one right away.

Press 5 if your little puppy has grown up and is no longer small and cute and you want to trade it in for a new model.

Press 6 if you want an unpaid volunteer to come to your home TODAY and pick up the dog you no longer want.

Press 7 if you have been feeding and caring for a "stray" for the last three years, are moving and suddenly determine it's not your dog.

Press 8 if your dog is sick and needs a vet but you need the money for your vacation.

Press 9 if you are elderly and want to adopt a cute puppy who is not active and is going to outlive you.

Press 10 if your relative has died and you don't want to care for their elderly dog because it doesn't fit your lifestyle.

Press 14 if you are calling at 6 a.m. to make sure you wake me up before I have to go to work so you can drop a dog off on your way to work.

Press 15 to leave us an anonymous garbled message, letting us know you have left a dog in our yard in the middle of January, which is in fact, better than just leaving the dog with no message.

Press 16 if you are going to get angry because we are not going to take your dog that you have had for fifteen years, because it is not our responsibility.

Press 17 if you are going to threaten to take your ten year old dog to be euthanized because I won't take it.

Press 18 if you're going to get angry because the volunteers had the audacity to go on vacation and leave the dogs in care of a trusted volunteer who is not authorized to take your personal pet.

Press 19 if you want one of our PERFECTLY trained, housebroken, kid and cat friendly purebred dogs that we have an abundance of.

Press 20 if you want us to take your dog that has a slight aggression problem, i.e. has only bitten a few people and killed your neighbor's cats.

Press 21 if you have already called once and been told we don't take personal surrenders but thought you would get a different person this time with a different answer.

Press 22 if you want us to use space that would go to a stray to board your personal dog while you are on vacation, free of charge, of course.

Press 23 if it is Christmas Eve or Easter morning and you want me to deliver an eight week old puppy to your house by 6:30 am before your kids wake up.

Press 24 if you have bought your children a duckling, chick or baby bunny for Easter and it is now Christmas and no longer cute.

Press 25 if you want us to take your female dog who has already had ten litters, but we can't spay her because she is pregnant again and it is against your religion.

Press 26 if you're lying to make one of our younger volunteers feel bad and take your personal pet off your hands.

Press 27 if your cat is biting and not using the litter box because it is declawed, but you are not willing to accept the responsibility that the cat's behavior is altered because of your nice furniture.

Press 28 if your two year old male dog is marking all over your house but you just haven't gotten around to having him neutered.

Press 29 if you previously had an outdoor only dog and are calling because she is suddenly pregnant.

Press 30 if you have done "everything" to housebreak your dog and have had no success but you don't want to crate the dog because it is cruel.

Press 31 if you didn't listen to the message asking for an evening phone number and you left your work number when all volunteers are also working and you are angry because no one called you back.

Press 32 if you need a puppy immediately and cannot wait because today is your daughter's birthday and you forgot when she was born.

Press 33 if your dog's coat doesn't match your new furniture and you need a different color or breed.

Press 34 if your new love doesn't like your dog and you are too stupid to get rid of the new friend (who will dump you in the next month anyway) instead of the dog.

Press 35 if you went through all these 'options' and didn't hear enough. This press will connect you to the sounds of tears being shed by one of our volunteers who is holding a discarded old dog while the vet mercifully frees him from the grief of missing his family.

~Author Unknown, but much appreciated

still alive!

2009-09-30T10:14:00.004-04:00

I know, it's been months! I'm going to try very hard to get back into the habit of blogging somewhat regularly. I guess I'll welcome myself back by looking through my phone and seeing what kind of randomness there is.

Thrashers on the Ocean City boardwalk, one of my favorite places in the world! Hubby and I got the hankerin for some fries one (Monday!) night and decided to make a little treck down to the ocean and have some vinegary goodness!

I have totally lost my crafting mojo. I feel it coming back with fall approaching. Maybe some candles, and with living out in the country now, I have lots of acorns and pinecones falling from my trees that I would love to find something cool to do with. John has been building away though! Look at these great tables he's been building (and selling the heck out of!)! I'll be sure to get some pictures of them after they're painted. I'm totally in love with them, and they fold flat for storage. Super convenient!

A random car I spotted at Target parking lot. Now THAT'S confidence!

I celebrated my 30th birthday in September. Here's the cooler I was stocking for the big celebration.

I think it's an obligation to include a few cat pictures with every blog, so here's my fat orange man curling up in bed with me.

Starsky who really thinks he can fit in this basket, but it appears to be a little tight for him. Doesn't stop him from trying though!

A little lady thinking she's going to toast John's pillow in time for him to join her in dreamland.

love the cell phone pics

2009-05-07T14:26:00.003-04:00

I love taking random pictures with my cell phone, here's this weeks installment!

A tiny turtle I found by the pond. He was a frisky little guy too, just a little bitter than a quarter.

The yummy taco salad I fixed for pre cinco de mayo. I had to work late on the 5th so we celebrated early.

The last new appliance, my oven! Installed last tuesday. Ain't she pretty?

Molly on top of the door. She has the little kitty syndrome where she always has to be as high up as possible.

Killian, the night she discovered the pond. Prior to this it had just been Daisy that went swimming, but now I have 2 dirty dogs on my hands.

Daisy, who apparently was cold last night because she figured out a way to wrap herself up in this blanket.

cell phone randoms

2009-04-24T12:29:00.004-04:00

Some days I'm just amazed at how we all survived without cell phones for so long. And now picture phones??? I can't imagine how I went without a camera in my hand all the time! What's funny is, I get equally random pictures from friends, so I've included a few of them as well in this photo extravaganza!

The rainbow out my window at work last week. We've been having seriously crazy weather here, if my camera phone was better you could see it's actually a double rainbow. The building it's leading into is a smelly pharmacy with stuff leftover from the 70's in there... no pot of gold!
My snuggly Shorty. He does this every morning as I'm struggling to drag myself out of bed. Him cuddling like that doesn't make it any easier!

Yes, another new appliance. And there's one more on the way. This microhood came in yesterday and hubby was nice enough to hang it promptly for me. Is beautiful, no?

This poor sofa has made it's rounds to everyone's house, even the slipcover is worn out. It's Killian's new favorite place though. Close enough to the bed to keep an eye on us but she can give chase to a kitty quickly if need be!

Sent by Karen this week, a hoot head!

And a completed hoot owl gifty for yours truly! What to name him....

A BRIGHT green inch worm that hubby sent a picture of a little while ago.

Got this picture at like 6am this week from Beth. This is a shed that John spent last weekend putting together. Again, crazy weather.

photos

2009-04-08T15:45:00.003-04:00

Since I'm moving, not much time to craft or anything fun, so I'm going to share some random shots from the move.

Haven't unpacked my camera yet, so these were cameraphone and not fantastic.

Wedding don't....

2009-03-16T09:36:00.003-04:00

I still don't have my blogging mojo (did I tell you I'm moving?), but I wanted to share this with you. So I found this while cleaning out the cabinet over my fridge. Nobody ever goes in that cabinet, which is why I suppose this wound up there. I actually came across several of these, but this one really caught my attention.

(sorry it's sideways, I'm too lazy to wait for blogger to upload it again)

Why you ask? Well, because I don't know who Ashley and Chris are. Apparently 2 people in my home went to their wedding 6 years ago, but for the life of me I don't remember it. This lovely set of 2 glasses is about to hit the trash, because really... who wants a set of wine glasses with someone else's name on them? So, next time, spring for the prime rib or open bar and maybe I'll remember you, the engraved glasses however are a waste of money. Happy Monday all!

Mojo

2009-02-09T11:43:00.001-05:00

Sorry guys, I have no blogging mojo right now. I will let you know when I find it again.

my shampoo story

2009-01-30T08:23:00.002-05:00

So, yesterday morning I washed my hair (I don't wash my hair every day because I have the *dry hair* as opposed to the *oily hair*). I had recently bought new shampoo and I did my thing, shampoo rinse and condition. Well, when I went to put the conditioner in my hair, it foamed up again. Strange, right? I was like, well maybe I didn't rinse well enough the first time or maybe I'm still sleepy and I just completely forgot to rinse at all. So I rinsed again and conditioned again. Foam from the conditioner again. I'm thinking, OMG, I have this non-rinsing shampoo and I'm never going to get it washed out blah blah blah. Then I looked at my new shampoo a little better and realized that I bought 2 shampoos instead of a shampoo and conditioner. Yup, I just washed my hair 3 times. So now, do I need to tell you that I have: worst.static.ever.

Tutorial

2009-01-26T13:45:00.001-05:00

Kristi, you stressed me out a little asking for a tutorial on my lunch bag. I could not remember where I found it! I kept searching for words that I *knew* were in it, so without further ado, here you are!

In love with these bags

2009-01-25T15:23:00.004-05:00

These little guys go together so fast. One of these days I'm going to find time to cut out a bunch so I can throw them together to sell them. I think it took me like a half hour to put this one together as a hostess gift today. I only wish I had some black satin ribbon on hand for the handles instead of white. The inside is black. This time I actually followed the instructions correctly and that made the inside much cleaner. Maybe in the future I'll put some batting between the layers to insulate these, and a zipper in the top. For now though, I think they're a super stylish alternative to a brown paper bag for your lunch.

I'm so bad at these things...

2009-01-22T14:12:00.002-05:00

I got tagged by Average Girl to do a meme. I figure maybe if I do it really quick I will actually complete it.

The rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

1. Obviously, I'm a terrible procrastinator. I seem to think I do things better when I put them off until the last minute. The truth is, maybe I just work better under a little stress.

2. I'm a listener. I would much rather listen to someone all day than have to talk. Don't get me wrong, I'm a good talker at times, but for the most part, I excel at listening.

3. I'm not always very good at censoring myself. I'll keep quiet until you ask me but don't ask if you don't want honesty.

4. My hair went completely gray at 20 (thanks mom and dad) and I have colored it religiously every 4 weeks since.

5. I love making things... anything! Well, except cooking is my downfall.

6. I love having pets. I have 4 cats and 2 dogs and I would have a ton more if vet bills didn't get the best of me. There is nothing like that unconditional love.

I'm not going to tag anyone, sorry. I'm not a religious enough blogger to have a ton of blogland friends. So, if you read this blog and would like to play along, I would love to read it! Leave me a comment if you do!

Projects for the weekend

2009-01-18T14:16:00.003-05:00

John's nephew came over yesterday. He had to make a bird feeder for a school project and thought it would be best if he came here since John has a woodworking shop. So he and John worked on this yesterday. John told him he could use any wood that we had, he didn't pick the most expensive (Mahagony) but he came close with the black Walnut. Oh well, it's to help a kid learn, right? I think it turned out awfully pretty! Not sure we could sell it for what we've got into it though.

I dug through my pile of stuff I want to make and decided to make a lunch sack. I had a couple remnants that were the perfect size so I put this together with it. It gave me a good taste of working with fusible interfacing and I got to play with grommets. I totally didn't follow the instructions. I cut and interfaced everything and then went to town, when I flipped the page I realized I had totally screwed up so I had to wing it from there. I'm still pretty pleased with how it came out (just don't look at the inside). I wanted to get some cute navy satin ribbon for the handles, but I decided I would give it to my sister-in-law who's in from out of town since I will see her later today. I won't have time to get to the store between now and then so I basically made bias tape out of the leftover fabric for the handles. I cheated and stitched them down on the inside so I wouldn't have to tie 30 knots to get them to stay in the grommets. I think the brass grommets kind of give it a nautical look with the navy and white, what do you think?

no really!

2009-01-15T08:40:00.001-05:00

I got nothin! It's blistering cold here and I got a facebook. That's it.

Stuff I want to make

2009-01-08T13:08:00.002-05:00

I'm trying to stay within my craft budget, but there's so much I want to make! Here's a few goodies I've found.

Ironing pad (I'm currently using a towel and hoping I don't set my table on fire)
Punch collage I've been coveting this for ages, but punches are so dang expensive! And I'm so dang indecicive!
cupboard door tray maybe someone will freecycle some of these
sewing machine cover even though it may not be covered for long at a time
cute little pencil bag to keep my paint brushes at bay
awesome ribbon dispenser because I have a problem
fabric bucket I'm in love with this, may be my weekend project if I can find some interfacing

Hubby's crafts

2009-01-03T21:51:00.005-05:00

I made a couple more bags today and some candles. The candles are totally pissing me off. I think they're hardening too fast. I can't deal, and I'm tired of messing with them so I've been hanging out with hubby working on his stuff.

It's cool to see something and think: John can make that! Well that's just what I did at an after christmas sale. I saw a charger caddy for half price. So I bought it, stuck a bow on it, gave it to hubby and told him to build it. We now have 7 of them. Here's his version (in progress):

I went digging through his scrap wood and asked him to make me some frames. Odd sizes, stuff he couldn't do anything with. I have some cool stuff in store for these guys. More to come on that.

More Bags

2009-01-01T22:02:00.003-05:00

I did not stay up to ring in the new year last night. Does that mean I'm getting old? I woke up this morning (hangover free) and the new year was still here without my celebration.

So last night I worked on cutting out some more bags and getting them ready to put together today. I only worked on them for a couple hours this afternoon and got 4 put together. 3 of them will be heading off to the craft shop tomorrow. 1 went home with Sam because I wasn't happy with the way it was going and she was in the right place at the right time. I've got the bags down. I made them a little longer than the pattern called for because it gave me way less waste. 1 yard of fabric per bag, so with 2 contrasting fabrics, if I get one yard of each, I get 2 bags of each. Easy Peasy.

Red and blue stars, can't you just see yourself carrying this to a 4th festival?

How cute are these fish with the orange inside? I didn't get a good look at the fabric on the bolt, I thought it was just a random pattern. The fish were a pleasant surprise.

And of course, one more of the pink and green.

So the question that is burning in my head is... should I get a facebook? I hear it's the thing now.

I made something tonight

2008-12-30T20:36:00.004-05:00

I've been pining over reusable shopping bags ever since reading this tutorial. There's something about the square handles and the fact that it's reversible that I just love it. So tonight I decided to make one. I'm not crazy about how it turned out, I should've been able to match up the handles better and my topstitch could've been straighter. I wasn't even going to share pictures but hubby was so crazy about it that I decided maybe it wasn't so bad. He just kept saying, you actually *made* this??? I put it together in about an hour and a half from my first cut to my final topstitch. I was pretty sloppy with it, I could definately have been more careful to sew straight and I didn't trim anything or really do a whole lot of measuring even. One thing about a reversable bag though, it all gets tucked in the inside so you never see! One thing I did do that the tutorial didn't recommend is I put a topstitch along the bottom seam when I got done so the two layers of the bag wouldn't come apart. I'm amazed at how strong this bag is, I used cheap quilting fabric so I wasn't expecting this to be strong enough for a load of groceries, but I would feel comfortable with it. So here's pictures without further ado.

Merry Christmas to all

2008-12-24T21:58:00.003-05:00

And to all a good night! Please remember the reason for the season. Even if you aren't a believer in God, remember those less fortunate and those who may be struggling worse than you with the economic times. Be generous and above all, be kind.

Confession

2008-12-21T19:49:00.001-05:00

I could not stand David Archuleta when he was on American Idol. I was a Cook fan from the start and I could not stand the lizard lick or the eye thing that he did and he just drove me crazy! Dang I really like his song though. Like crank up the radio and sing along like it. Like putting it on my mix cd like it. Listening to it right now like it. Don't tell anyone, k?

another wreath gift

2008-12-20T22:47:00.003-05:00

So I finally finished this fishing lure wreath I'd been working on for a month. Sam and I made the 'lures' out of salt dough ages ago and painted them and yesterday I embelished them and sprayed them with clear poly and today they became a wreath. This is a gift for my cousin who loves to fish, and she loves Christmas decorations. I don't think I could make one of these to sell, it was way too involved, too many steps. For the right price maybe. I'm not in love with it though. John gave it a solid *cute*. I trust him to tell me when he doesn't like something, so that means it's probably ok.

Finally! I can show Karen's birthday gift

2008-12-17T21:09:00.003-05:00

I've been dying to show you this picture but I haven't been able to because it's a gift for someone who reads my blog. This is Karen's birthday gift and it was inspired by someone who made one on craftster. They were inspired by a wreath at Starbucks. Their wreaths were made on styrofoam bases but when I priced those, they were about $8 each, this vine wreath was about
$3 and I love the rustic look it gives the wreath. Super super easy, just time consuming. Wraping the yarn around the balls is the most tedious part. You can use full yarn balls, but since I had plenty of styrofoam balls, I wrapped the yarn around those and pinned it down to conserve the yarn. I have just been totally smitten with this wreath for about the last week while it's been hanging in my craft room. I hope Karen is now equally smitten with it, yarn freak that she is!Oh, something I learned from my skein of yarn. Did you know Vanna White is a spokesperson for yarn? You know you're getting old when you're advertising yarn, right? I mean, what little girl didn't want to be Vanna turning those letters when she grew up?

another sunday

2008-12-14T17:29:00.003-05:00

Didn't do a whole lot today, just laundry and such. I have been catching up from yesterday. I worked for John yesterday all day and man did he wear me out!!! We were supposed to hook up a guy's computer first thing, then deliver and install a tv. Well, after we got those done and got back, we had a call for someone else who wanted a tv hooked up. Got out there and she decided she wanted another one done! So I didn't get home til like 8:30. That's okay though, work is work!

Hubby gave me an early christmas gift this morning. We aren't even really exchanging since we usually get what we want all year anyway. But this was on my morning paper this morning when I got up. It's a fancy cutter. He thought it would be good for leather or carpeting if I decided to get into upholstering.

This afternoon John decided he wanted to *build* something. He hadn't been doing much woodworking with the siding project and he had the itch! Here's what he came up with.Pictures can't quite show how beatuful this bench is. The frame is oak and the seat itself is black walnut, so it's quite a contrast. I am totally in love with this!!! I don't know if he's going to build a matching table next or a couple more chairs.

Couple gifts...

2008-12-11T20:35:00.003-05:00

My candle colors still haven't come in! I was really hoping to get some more made tonight but unfortunately it doesn't look like that's going to happen. I sent my supplier a not-so-nice email already. So, I finished up Karen's Christmas gift. I can't show you pictures obviously because I want it to be a surprise. I took plenty though because I'm quite proud of it and because I've been working on it for 3 nights now.

I wanted to make a couple memo boards as gifts so since John cut out the boards for me a couple weeks ago, I figured I would go ahead and knock those out. Have I mentioned that an electric stapler is an arthritic girl's best friend? I've heard you can make these using just hot glue, but I get a 3rd degree burn just thinking about it. Sorry to all you single gal's out there, I'm so glad I have a husband who shares his nifty tools! These things go pretty quick with the staple gun in my hand, what usually takes me the longest is laying out how I want the ribbon.

So here's the one I made for my girl Sam. She's a redneck girl at heart, she's starting to get more of a girly girl side to her though. I thought this butterfly camo just screamed her name! Isn't it precious??? The browns would go with my office, I'm thinking I might make one for me too (provided I'm still working there in a month, more on that later).

Ironed, starched and ready to be cut:

All ribboned and hung:

I found this fabric at JoAnn's last week on clearance (!!) and it just screamed my Mother in law's name. Boy does she like cocks (okay, that was just rude). This is going to go perfect in her dining room though. She is doing a red wall and she has the gold in her attached living room so I really hope it pulls it together. If she loves it as much as I do, I might make her a couple plain boards with the fabric on them to hang in lieu of pictures (she has issues with decorations, you've got to know her).

Ironed and starched:

Ribboned and ready:

I didn't intend with the pattern to make it look like the cocks were caged (okay, that's the last one) but doesn't it kind of look like chicken wire? Too cute right? Did I mention that this was a remnant and it was like $2!! Totally keeping my eye on their remnant rack. I got another one too, I'll be sharing it soon, promise! On both of them I put a dab of glue periodically under the ribbon so it will hold cards and pictures properly. Not bad for a couple hours work.

Since your night isn't complete without a dog belly. The lighting was bad, that's why her color is so sickly. I was sneaking up while she was asleep. Hilarious with her head on the pillow though! Life must not be so bad for that old stray doggie!

Happy Friday!

For the first time, in my 29 years...

2008-12-11T08:59:00.001-05:00

I had a nose bleed. And boy, was it a nose bleed! I finally made it to work, I feel like I should drink a carton of liver or get a transfusion for breakfast or something. Ugh.

candle making again

2008-12-07T18:02:00.002-05:00

I'm so excited, my votives popped right out of their molds after 5 minutes in the freezer. I was afraid that it would be more than a notion but that was not the case! So tonight Sam and I made some more votives. I tried to make brown colorant because the colorants I ordered haven't come in yet. Yeah, Brown and orange make a funky green, not brown. Oh well, Cinnamon can be green this time of year! Oh, and in my box o' scents that I've gotten randomly from people, I found the (wait for it) WORST.CANDLESCENT.EVER. Any guesses as to what that may be? BACON! What frightens me is you can use it for soap too, in case you've ever wanted to marinate in a tub full of bacon.

Actually.... I was never a girl scout.

2008-12-06T21:18:00.003-05:00

So today I baked cookies. Sorry, no pics of these, they were plain ol chocolate chip, you know what they look like anyway. Diane hosted a cookie exchange this afternoon and it was really a lot of fun! There must have been 40 different kinds of cookies there. Even though we voted on our favorites, no way could anyone taste them all! The ones I had were all delicious! If I didn't thank you earlier, thanks Diane for doing this today, it was great!

So driving home with all these cookies, because I still had a few of mine that hadn't been taken and tons of other cookies since I was the next to last to leave, I was thinking that there was no way I'd ever eat them all (I was feeling a little sick from all the cookies I'd already eaten!). So I stopped and got some little tins. I was thinking about baking cookies for my neighbors, we don't exchange gifts or anything, but I do appreciate them and I do have some awesome neighbors. So here they are, all packaged up and ready for their doorsteps tomorrow morning. I was telling Karen that I was doing this and she said: You're just a grown up girl scout aren't you? To which I believe I replied, fuck you, I was in 4-H. She thought I would be offended by the 'grown up' part of the statement, and the more I thought about it, maybe I am.

Anywho, got home and it was still fairly early. I got some Stearic acid last week and I wanted to make a batch of molded candles with it to see if once they set they would be solid enough for votives and pillars. So I whipped up a batch of candles, just 1 pound so they can be curing and hopefully I'll have my answer tomorrow. I'm really learning a lot about this whole candle process. The stearic acid really takes a long time to melt. I was gentle with the heat last time because the flash point of wax makes me nervous. This time I was more confident with the heat and cranked it up! It helped a lot with the colorant mixing but it took a loooong time to cool to the point where I wanted to pour. I still don't think I waited long enough. Next time I will try to be more patient. Here's what I made though. The silver pots are the votives I poured tonight and the blue mold in the back is an oval I poured tonight as well. The glass jars are candles John and I made last weekend that I never got a chance to post.

Here's my faithful helper Starsky.

I promised a coworker like a month ago that I would make her a wine cork board. I don't know why I've put it off so long, it only took about 20 minutes (and one giant blister from my very hot glue gun). Here it is though. I made some little cork tacks for it too, it looks very cute on my wall, she still might not get it any time soon. ;o)

Finally, I wanted to do something *different* and I saw these sequins sitting around. Wow, glad my balls are only 2" (heh heh). This took for-freaking-ever. Yeah, it's pretty damn cute, but I don't think I could make these to sell. I'd make them for friends, but I'm feeling all whiny now after making it. I should have used a thimble. Each of those sequins I put in with a straight pin. There's like 4000 sequins on that little ball I swear! I do love the different shades of green and since I do a lime green tree, I think it will look lovely on my tree. Don't know that I'll be making any more of these though.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and let's hope that next week is better than this past one!

All ya had to do was ask...

2008-12-04T10:04:00.002-05:00

DH is so wound up about wanting to make candles. We really had a good time making them last weekend and our house smells quite lovely. I've been holding off buying more soy though because I hate to keep buying it a pound at a time. However, the first major price break you get is with a case (50 lbs) and the shipping is really high. So this morning I decided to sit down for a few minutes and do some research and put it all in an excel spreadsheet. I feel like I've finally acomplished something now. I found the cheapest supplier with the best shipping price. Now I can go back to work.

I'm an ebayer!

2008-11-30T17:28:00.002-05:00

I've bought an awful lot of stuff from ebay in my life. I've probably sent someone's kid to college somewhere along the lines. Today though, I have started selling. John got a call this morning about a storage unit sale he might be interested in and so we're digging through the stuff that isn't useful to him and ebaying it. Funny, listing the stuff doesn't go nearly as quick as buying it does. Oh well, hopefully I'll get through my pile of stuff tonight!

Hope everyone has a great week!

candle makers!

2008-11-29T21:53:00.001-05:00

Hubby and I poured our first candles tonight (I still feel like shit though thanks for asking). They turned out pretty good and it was a lot of fun! Pictures to come!

We're passing the flu back and forth. It's back to me, he's settled in with a cold. We aren't a whole lot of fun this weekend.

Weekend Cat Blogging #182

2008-11-29T12:52:00.004-05:00

I just discovered Weekend Cat Blogging. This week it's hosted by Diamond Emerald Eyes.

Here's a picture I took of Molly about 30 seconds ago, sorry it's kind of crappy but I had to be quick! She's tying to go fishing, note the paw in the water.

Probably not a post for the dudes...

2008-11-25T11:25:00.002-05:00

Because I'm going to talk about birth control and dudes don't like to talk about that stuff... normally. So I've been going to an ear, nose and throat doctor about some problems I've been having, yesterday was my second appointment. The first appointment, no personality. I tried to be witty, but mr. ENT was not having it. Well, yesterday must've been an off day or something because homeboy was cracking me up. So, on to the birth control. He's reviewing my medical history and the medications I'm on and he asks what kind of bc I use. I say Nuvaring and he snickers a little. Of course I shoot a little evil eye in his direction. He said that one of their drug reps there used to be a Nuvaring drug rep, so he asked the drug rep what kind of words he could use associated with Nuvaring. Could he say shove? No, the rep said they were forbidden from using words like shove, thrust or poke. To that, I cracked up! He said the drug rep kept a straight face the whole time!

Sunday

2008-11-23T15:10:00.003-05:00

Still not feeling 100%, but definately a lot better than yesterday! I thought since my craft room is nearly ready for me to move in, I would use the big empty space today to make some french memo boards. I kinda put a twist on them though because I want to use them for Christmas cards. Now, in all honesty, I read my cards over the trash can. I know it's not nice and I do save the ones with the pictures, but what am I going to save them for? I usually hang them around a doorway, but this would be way neater. Cute no? I like the way the snowman one turned out, I wasnt' sure where I was going with the ribbon pattern but thankfully it worked itself out. I'm also having to put a dab of hot glue on the ribbons to hold them together so the cards don't fall out. Thank goodness I tried it first! Hubby hooked me up with a new bff for making these too. An electric stapler. Those manual things are hard on the hand, I can whip through these things with the electric deal.

Oh, and we got another early Christmas gift this morning. Right under my desk. I'm so glad I looked first. Access to the cat door has now been limited. No Karen, I absolutely did NOT pluck it and eat it. I returned the little guy to nature.

Sick Day

2008-11-22T20:55:00.004-05:00

I was supposed to do some Christmas shopping today, but I woke up sick as can be! Yuck! I finally rolled out of bed at like 1 because I just couldn't sleep anymore. Watched Bad Santa (funny as shit if you haven't seen it) and worked on some stuff. So here's the progress for the day:

I made one of these before with construction adhesive and I wasn't thrilled because the adhesive dries white and at least the hot glue is somewhat clear. I really like the red ribbon in this. It's a candle ring, I'm not sure if it needs something else or what. Some red berries would be awfully cute on it.

Lots o' stockings! I stuffed some tissue paper in these to make them look fuller, I'm pretty pleased with them though. I finally got my bobbin to load so I could sew these up and the embelishments I just hot glued on.

Are these too precious? I could make these little things all day I swear. Little button tree ornaments. Can you tell I have a little button obsession? I am just eat right up with these little guys. I finally had to tell myself to: step away from the buttons. I kept coming up with cutsie color combinations I wanted to try and I just needed to leave it alone. There's a pink and green one in here that I'm totally in love with though!

Oh, and a funny little story. Thursday when I got home, I found some feathers next to my desk. I asked the kitties and nobody had much to say about it. I had a bird experience a few years ago with a still living bird in the house that someone had brought in. Anywho, I thought maybe someone just brought in feathers to show me since I couldn't find any other evidence of a bird. Well, the dogs have been very interested in the door that leads from our kitchen to my new craft room. this door always stays pushed open and earlier John checked out what was behind the door, yup, an early Christmas gift for us. I guess Molly heard that birds nests in your tree were good luck so she thought a real bird would be even better... thanks.

All cracked out on pictures...

2008-11-21T09:23:00.003-05:00

You've probably realized by now that I love posting pictures. I enjoy looking at posts though that have pictures. I don't read books with pictures though. Anywho, I have a lot of catching up to do so I'm going to mostly do it with pictures.

Here's the progress on the craft room. The paint swatch looked lovely on the paper, on the walls, not so much. The yellow is a little... blinding... So we're going to tone it down this weekend. Makes for a nice base coat though.

Almost threw the sewing machine out of the window last night. I could not wind a bobbin to save my life. The thread kept winding *under* the bobbin which made for a gigantic clusterfuck of thread. I left for a while, came back and damn if it didn't wind perfectly the first time. In the meantime I made this stocking with hot glue. Ghetto I know. Just wanted to give you an idea of what I was going for here.

Another styrofoam wreath project. I got this 7" wide red ribbon from DG and wrapped it around and secured it (hot glue of course). Oh, the wreath was a whole dollar, the ribbon was two.

Added corks and some berries and viola! I am actually really pleased with how this came out. It took a very few minutes and it's quite festive. I put $10 on it to sell just to see if I have any takers.

I had a doorway in my craft spot that I had to decorate so I wanted a Christmasy garland to go over top. I had seen these made with wooden spools so I thought I would try a country kind of rag garland. It was surprisingly quick to make. Once I cut the strips of fabric I could really go to town with it.

You can see here how I alternated with some Christmas ribbon and beads. Again, I was pretty pleased with this.

This is probably the first thing I made that is really *me* I can totally see this on my front door. Very simple. Just took the cheapy wreath and sprayed it with some spray snow and put different silver balls around it. Top it off with a silver ribbon and bow.

Button Icecicles. The hardest part about these was digging through the buttons to find the right sizes. I think they're terribly cute though.

Do you have any ideas as to where I can find cheaper tassles for these? I think the're adorable and I would make more of them, but the tassles were like 2 for 1.50 and that makes these cost more to make than they really should.

I believe I showed this before but I still thought it needed something. I think the solid red ribbon to hang it does it for me. If I did anything else to this it would be to put a couple buttons on the ribbon, but really I'm quite happy with it as it is.

Last and least... This little button tree. I just don't have big love for him. I kept trying to make him better but it just wasn't working. I must've replaced the top 5 times. Oh well... I guess I can't be in love with everything I make.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!!

odd experiment, interesting results...

2008-11-19T10:30:00.002-05:00

So last night we were sitting on the sofa watching 'House', our favorite show. I had a kitty on my lap, John had 2 dogs on his. My kitty (Shorty) rolled over and I noticed that even though his paws are white, the pads of his paws are black, like his nose. Well, I commented on this and that meant John had to pause the TV and off we went to catch all the kitties to see if the pads of their feet match their nose. Sure enough, we have 4 cats, they each have a different color nose and all of them, their paw pads match their noses. So you cat people out there, catch the kitty and flip it over and see if this holds true for everyone.

some cute kids, as promised!

2008-11-17T12:31:00.002-05:00

Here's a couple collages Peggy made for me, I am tickled with them!

freakin adormable, right?

So... I did make more stuff today...

2008-11-16T18:31:00.003-05:00

Did I say earlier that I was done making stuff? If so I lied... I really am slightly nervous about this whole craft space idea. Mostly because I'm scared I don't have enough stuff to fill up any amount of space and she's giving me a lot. So I've been trying to take stuff I already have and make stuff out of it. Because I'm broke and I guess when you're in a pinch, that's when you're the most creative, right?

So I bought this styrofoam wreath at the Dollar Tree last week. I knew I could find a use for it. I also have a massive bin of buttons that I bought off ebay cheap. So, I thought it would be supercute to glue red green and white buttons to this styrofoam wreath for kind of a kitschy crafty project. Well, my bin apparently has a shortage of red buttons, I did come up with a few though. Well, I glued them on first and I decided it was too cute with the red 'polka dots' to add the green in, so I just did red and white. Here's a couple pics. I'm torn now as to how to hang it of course. I'm thinking hanging it from red ric-rack would be adorable, of course I have none here though.

I've been kicking around with this project for a while. I work on it when I'm watching tv (which isn't much!). Today I finally just sat down and finished it! Obviously it's garland, but can you tell what it's made of?

How about now?

Wine corks! I may do another one with green and red beads, or maybe just red, I thought the browns accented the different cork colors for this one though. I'm quite pleased with how it came out. I wasn't sure how to finish it with the loops, but I knotted the fishing line, slid a bead over the knot and then glued the hell out of it. It's holding very well!

I can't believe I forgot to post this earlier! I asked hubby to pick me up glue sticks the last time he went to Lowes. Too funny right? Feel free to be as graphic as you want with your comments.

Another too short weekend!

2008-11-16T15:39:00.004-05:00

Well, yesterday I watched Beth's kids. I have a surprise planned for Beth and her husband Brian that I tried hard to pull together yesterday. Since I know she doesn't read my blog, I can share it with you. I had a friend who is a budding photographer come over and do some shots of the girls. I was so scared it was going to be pouring! I had a backup plan that involved galoshes, rain coats and mud puddles, but I wasn't sure I wanted to go there if I didn't have to. Luckilly, it cleared off to be a gorgeous day, aside from the tornado force winds. Peggy got over 200 shots of the girls and has sent me a couple previews, I'm so excited! I know I can't wait til Christmas to give them this gift because I would like for her to be able to use a picture for her Christmas cards. I'll share my favs this week, I promise!

So, I've got this back room on my house that's never really had a *purpose*. It kind of catches junk and the dog food is out there, and it's where hubby built my pantry earlier this year. We used it as a 'dog room' for both of our dogs while we were house breaking them but that's not necessary anymore. So hubby decided that since I've been working on crafts and stuff so much he wanted me to have a craft room (I really think he wants the dining room table back). So yesterday while I was out, he started working on it for me, got some paint and when I got home we got a coat of primer on the walls. I should've taken a before picture, duh, but that never quite works out. The walls previously were very dark paneling. We realized after the primer started turning brown that the paneling must've originally been light and it was stained dark. Either way, it did not make for the bright, sunny room I want. So here we are after one coat of primer. John and I decided at about 1am that the current color should be called 'stale piss brown'. Hopefully my 'peach tickle' (your eyes aren't fooling you, it's not peach at all) will make the color a little prettier.

I've been kind of thinking in the back of my mind how I'm going to hang my newest snowman wreath that I made. It's going to be the first addition to the shop I'm renting space in so I want to try hard. I don't want to use the white ribbon like I did on the first one, the fabric scarves on these snowmen make it a little too country for organza ribbon. I had some more of the fabric so I cut a length for the hook and then I woke up this morning with an idea for a bow for the top of the loop. I need to figure out how to stiffen it, I thought I had some spray starch but that's not the case. I think I'll be making a walmart run tonight or tomorrow so I guess I'll have to wait til then to find out if it works like my plan.

I basically cut a bunch of 4" strips of the same fabric and put them on a needle as I went, when I was happy with the amount of strips, I pulled the needle through and stitched the hell out of the center to hold it in place. It almost kind of looks like a snowflake doesn't it? I wonder if I used white fabric and stiffened it and tossed some glitter.... hmmm...

must share!

2008-11-15T21:20:00.001-05:00

I just rented a little space in a thrift/craft shop today for my crafts. Now I need to get to makin stuff! Wish me luck!

week in review

2008-11-14T22:30:00.005-05:00

Had kind of a crappy week at work. When you're in IT and something goes wrong, for some reason it always goes VERY wrong. I'm at the bottom of the totem pole, and since we all know shit flows downhill, it all lands on me. Ugh. I understand people's frusteration, but when things are broken, they don't understand that I didn't break it on purpose, believe me! It makes my day hell, the last thing I want to do is screw something up. In this case I wasn't the cause of the problem, but hopefully I will be the cause of the solution. Let's hope next week is better.

I'm watching a girlfriends kids tomorrow so she can get some Christmas shopping done, so I won't have much time to craft this weekend. I worked on a couple things tonight though. First, I found some of the fabric that I had given to Karen, and then she gave some of it back to me, well, I thought it would make cute bows for my next snowman wreath, so I chopped it down tonight since I had everything else ready to go for the little guys. It gives it more of a 'country' look, which isn't really my thing, but it definately complements the whole idea a little better than the plain red did. Most of the time when people are into snowmen, they're into country stuff so we'll see how this works out.

Secondly, I had seen these cute little cupcake ornaments on etsy and when I read the description, it cautioned very strongly: DO NOT EAT. Hmmm... got me thinking I wonder what they could be made out of. After studying them for a minute, I realized it looked like 'great stuff'. If you're into home improvement projects, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's this yellow spray foam that you put in the crack around doors and windows before you put your molding up and it kind of insulates that gap. Soooo... I asked hubby theoretically tonight if you could paint great stuff, of course he says. Well do you have any? Yes, he says, I happen to have a half a can left from the windows. Well here's some cupcake liners brother, get to it! We decided they probably needed a pan too to hold the shape. No friends, I won't be making real cupcakes in this pan anymore fyi. They haven't fully expanded yet, probably will by tomorrow morning. I can definately see where they're going though. Maybe Sunday I'll get a chance to put some paint on them to see how that works out.

Did I mention hubby finished up the siding project Tuesday? I think it was Tuesday. It's been raining ever since so I haven't had a chance to take pictures, I will post some soon of the finished product. It's so cool to pull up to a fresh, clean, gray house!

Have a great weekend!

scanner

2008-11-11T16:09:00.002-05:00

I thought I'd burn up the scanner for a while this afternoon. Trying to get them cleared out of my work space. This is pretty much an ongoing project that will never be complete. I have boxes and boxes of pictures that belonged to my parents and other family members. Someday they will be scanned and organized and I will burn them to CD's for people who want them. Until then, I must say, I was a pretty fuckin cute kid huh?

another christmas craft

2008-11-10T21:13:00.004-05:00

I started this one on Sunday. Super easy because you might already have everything you need right in your house. A balloon, some string, glue and glitter. Bringin back an old Martha Stewart craft, I made snowflake balls.

Start with a balloon, blow it up so it's as close to round as you can get it. Smaller ones obviously work better and if you go to an actual party store you can get *round* balloons. These balloons I purchased 50 to a pack from the dollar tree, in assorted sizes. Dab a spot of glue to get your string started and go to town wrapping every which way. The first balls I completed, I really used a lot of string and they are quite stable. I was surprised when I popped the balloon that there was no hint of them collapsing. So, the more string you use, the more stable this structure will be.
String shot:

Next you coat this baby with glue. Again, the first ones I did I really laid it on them and there are places where it kinda clumped between the strings. I tried to be a little more careful with this next one I did, but I have a feeling since this one is larger and has a smaller string/balloon ratio, I will be doing either a second coat of glue or a coat of white paint.
Glue shot:

Wait for the glue to dry thoroughly. I used cheapy school glue and it took less than a day to dry. I took the end of a paintbrush and kinda pushed on my balloon to make sure the balloon would separate from the string before I popped the balloon and used tweezers to pull it out. I then did a lighter coat of glue and glittered.
Completed balls:

Problems: My completed balls look.... dingy or something to me. I don't know if my glitter has a funny color to it that caused this or if it was the string wasn't completely white or if the glue wasn't completely clear. Either way, I think I'd like for them to be more of a pure snowy white so I may paint this next one with white paint as an additional hardening tool and so I can get that bright white I'm looking for.

Use: Put a hook in the top for an ornament, gift tags, tied around the neck of a wine bottle, put a group of these in a bowl for a cute centerpiece... The larger one, I would love to put a little light in it for my front porch. Once the string is hard, you should be able to cut out sections carefully as needed for projects like that. I would probably recommend using a florescent light since string and heat may not be such a good combo. Or put some borax on it, I've heard that helps with fire retarding. Either way, don't leave this unattended. It would also be nice just as a little festive table lamp. I'll probably come up with 20 more things to use it for before I get these pictures uploaded.

Weekend update with Norm MacDonald

2008-11-08T23:00:00.000-05:00

God how I miss the good old days of SNL when the people were funny... oh well... here goes:

Got a funny late night call tonight. One I didn't mind receiving. John had done some electrical work for his uncle a couple weeks ago and refused to be paid (bastard!). Well, tonight his uncle called, he'd been crabbing and wanted to know if we wanted to reap some of the catch. Um, hello! Free Crabs??? Being the true eastern shore girl that I am, I couldn't turn that one down! Already steamed too, aren't they fatties? It was just enough for the 2 of us... good thing since it was pretty late.

I got my first snowman wreath done tonight. I believe I showed you a picutre a while back of my inspiration for this. I'm awfully impressed with how it turned out. I'd love to be able to sell a couple of these since I still have some supplies. I'm going to get to work tonight on painting some more snowman faces so I can put another one together if need be. I'm not as crazy over the red bows as I'd like to be, but once I had all my supplies I was pretty anxious to get one made.

In progress

Whole wreath

Detail

Things I can buy for less than $2

2008-11-07T18:12:00.000-05:00

GAS!!!! OMG! $1.99 a gallon, as of today!

Politics: one and only post

2008-11-05T19:54:00.002-05:00

Let me start this by saying, I voted McCain. Just like every other white person out there is saying, it wasn't a race issue for me, I just don't trust Obama. Perhaps more specifically, I don't trust the people he associates with (or marries!).

However, after watching all the coverage today, I have to say, I'm so excited to be living in a time when a black man (well, halfway) can be voted as president of these great United States. I'm a huge fan of equality for blacks, women, gays, whatever and the fact that we've made it this far in a relatively short period of time is quite astounding and it definately says something for the nature of people as a whole. While I don't agree with the choice for president, I'm ready to go on this 4 year journey with him and learn what he has to teach us. History has taught us that when one sector of a nation grows stronger, they all grow stronger and I hope we have the opportunity to find this out.

Did you?

2008-11-04T21:12:00.001-05:00

Vote? I did

Ketchup...

2008-11-02T20:11:00.003-05:00

Wow, it's been a while. Lots of stuff going on and unfortunately blogging took a backseat to all the action. So here's some of what's been going on in my little world:

Here's a couple of our besties dressed for halloween. No, he's not Jesus, Brenan says he's Zeus. Doesn't Sam make a lovely Grecian goddess? Her hair was gorgeous! The dogs, who normally think it's Christmas, Thanksgiving and 4th of July when Brenan comes over, were absolutely terrified of the wig and beard!

Here's my house! Hubby's been working so diligently on the siding. I think it's absolutely beautiful! It looks like I live in a new house. We estimate that the aluminum siding was put on sometime in the 70's. Our house was built around 1940, so this is a much needed facelift. These pictures hubby took last week, the drive side complete:

The front, in progress:

The other side prior to taking down the old siding and shutters:

My Grecian goddess Sam and I took a pilgramige to our local Michael's store today. I haven't been there in AGES! It's about 40 minutes away but I hate to make needless trips with gas prices being what they are. So, I had a few other reasons to make the trip so off we went! EVERYTHING was on sale of course! I loaded my truck up with fun supplies and spent surprisingly little. Their fall stuff was already marked down 70%!!! Remember I showed you all those balls I got from ebay a couple weeks ago? They're shaping up awfully cute don't you think?

Hope everyone has a fabulous week!

thought for the day

2008-10-24T14:03:00.001-04:00

I'm home working on some Christmas gifts today, and I just must share with you that contact cement is the nastiest shit ever invented!

balls!!!

2008-10-22T17:38:00.004-04:00

I started shopping out supplies for my snowman wreaths. I'm thinking I wanted to spend less than $10 per wreath. I want to give them to people who I usually spend around $20-$25 on so this will still make for quite a savings. Well, those stupid styrofoam balls are pretty darn expensive. Most places they are almost $1 a piece. Count the balls on the wreath and you'll see that it takes 18 of them. Out of budget, game over. So I started shopping at my favorite store, ebay, and found a lot of 150 of them for $14 including shipping. Yeah, that makes for less than 9 cents a ball. Now we're talking! Now we're down even around the $5 mark for the wreaths. I bought the balls yesterday and told Karen we would have to wait til next weekend because I wasn't expecting to see them until the middle of next week. But look what arrived in todays mail!

So we're on Karen, if you have any time this weekend! I went to the dollar store down the street and they have predecorated wreathes for $3. But I would have to ditch what's already on them and I hate to be wasteful. I'm thinking tomorrow (while I'm off!!!) I'll shop around some more and see if I can find some plain wreaths to decorate. I'm planning Friday to get some of the gifts that I can't talk about on here out of the way. I've gathered all my materials and the prep work is done. It's gonna look like Christmas here soon!!!

As a sidenote: the woman who sold me the balls has the same handwriting as my mom (who's deceased for those who don't know). Little creepy getting a box with my mom's handwriting on it. Until I saw the return address was New Jersey... well... you know......

purrsonal assistant

2008-10-19T15:43:00.004-04:00

Little Molly is just obsessed with this printer. If she hears me printing something, she comes running. There's a blue light inside on the ink cartridge that she loves watching go back and forth. Here she is waiting for my next print-a-thon.Sometimes though, she gets distracted by the fish tank in my office. She loves to stand on top and watch the fishies swim back and forth under her. Sometimes she tries to grab them. Good luck with that one sister!

In other news, I've been working diligently on getting Christmas gifts together. It's never too early! This year, I'm ridiculously broke. Hubby, like many other Americans, isn't working right now so I've decided to sieze the moment and I am *making* most of my gifts. Hence the extra time needed. I'm so excited about this. I hope it becomes something I can continue to do in the future. Some of the gifts obviously I will be giving to my friends who read my blog, so I will be keeping those to myself until after Christmas. I did want to share this wreath I saw yesterday when browsing Christmas open houses with Karen. I took it with my phone so the picture is a little crappy, but you can see the little snowman faces on a regular cheapy wreath. Yeah, so I'm totally thinking those are white styrofoam balls with eyes and mouths drawn on them (sharpie?) and then rolled in clear glitter. I'm not sure about the noses but I'm thinking I can come up with something and obviously the little bows. I may get some cheap fabric and rip it to give it kind of a worn look for the bows. I'm torn though about if I want to use hot glue. I really don't have good luck with it and it doesn't stand up to the weather very well, temperature changes usually cause it to release. I want my recipeients to be able to hang this on a front door or even outside. Maybe gorilla glue? Or contact cement? You like?

Love story

2008-10-12T17:14:00.001-04:00

I just read this incredible love story on the news. Isn't it great to have a little good news every now and then? Now I must wipe the tears off my keyboard though. Belive me, if this is made into a movie or book, it is one I wouldn't miss!

How's that fuel economy now?

2008-10-12T15:42:00.003-04:00

$1.37 to fill up... a couple of our besties on their new ride. Too cute right?

finally friday!

2008-10-10T10:50:00.002-04:00

what a week... I obviously haven't had much to talk about this week, hence the pictures.

hubby's still working on my siding, I'll try to post some pictures this weekend because it is looking loverly!

I did want to share something that happened to him the other day. He goes to this same gas station every morning to get his coffee. The other day, the guy in front of him who he didn't know bought his coffee. He said he always buys the coffee of the person behind him but only if he doesn't know them. John was all like: isn't that weird??? I was like, I think it's great!!! I'm all about the random acts of kindness, and who would've thought, right in our crummy little town.

Last night there was a kid down the street playing the guitar. It was nice out and we had our windows open so I could hear him jamming. It was great! I felt like I was living in a more progressive place where people meet up on sidewalks to share tunes. Later, the boys friends came over, the guitar was put away and the car stereo was cranked... the 2 hour version of cha-cha slide was then played... twice.

That's all I got, Happy Friday!

today

2008-10-08T17:55:00.002-04:00

want want want

2008-10-08T10:01:00.001-04:00

How cute is this???

I can't afford you

2008-10-03T14:00:00.000-04:00

but it won't make me stop loving you... how cute is this denim trench? It's actually very reasonable at $30, available at Cato.

For $400 Alex, things you find next to a bus station

2008-10-03T10:04:00.002-04:00

That Laura didn't know about. Karen clued me in last night that you used to be able to sell plasma next to bus stations. I suppose to fund your bus ticket. Not plasma tv's either, your blood. You sell your blood to buy your ticket out of dodge. We were talking about different things we could do to make money, I said they should have places to sell your plasma next to gas stations now. I don't want to be judgemental, but I'm thinking a lot of the plasma they'd be buying by a bus station in 2008 would be all hiv'ed up or have some crack flowing through it.

So Karen and I were discussing what we could do to come up with money quick. Prostitution seems an obvious answer... I just wish it wasn't so.... prostitution'ey. We thought we could each get rid of one kidney and one lung. Maybe someone would want a spleen? or a gall bladder? perhaps an appendex. She even suggested that she was willing to lose a cornea... then she could wear a patch, arrrrr!

So there was this college student (22) on Oprah last week who auctioned off her virginity to pay for grad school. All these women were so upset, women's lib, it's 2008 blah blah blah... I was upset because I didn't think of it while I still had it to sell! $1.1 million is what the bidding was up to, lucky bitch.