Sunday, December 11, 2011

A little girl’s baby doll…and baby Jesus!

 

 

This sweet and quite  precocious little girl

IS a real baby doll herself!

DSC_0035 

 

Her “big” sister is gorgeous and a sweetheart in every way!

DSC_0020

 

We had a family Christmas get together today.  The little girl cousins (who had traveled quite a  distance from another state)were in awe of the “big girl” cousin and the even BIGGER boy cousin!   So much so that they called him “Mr.”

DSC_0036DSC_0010

 DSC_0041 DSC_0047“Mr” is a sophomore in H.S.

Ahhhh….Ya!   he plays football!   And is on the wrestling team!

When the “real” baby-doll was asked what her OWN baby doll’s name was her answer was quick and quite matter of fact. “…baby Jesus.” 

Her Dad added…

“Yes and baby Jesus has been through a lot.”

Truer words were never spoken! 

(about the doll…and our Lord Jesus)

  DSC_0035

{that’s “baby Jesus” snuggled in a leather chair

with the  animals (Dalmatian and purple monkey)

…lowing in the night}

 

Here are a few shots from the day.

 

DSC_0004

 

DSC_0026 DSC_0031DSC_0050

DSC_0040

 

DSC_0012

 

DSC_0016 

DSC_0056 

Hope you enjoyed my little photo shoot!

Have a great week!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Up-cycle, Recycle, and Repurpose…Oh my!

Pinterest.  It  got me thinking about one of their post the other day.   About  a clever recycle project for those pretty “Yankee Candle”  jars.   Once you’ve burned your lovely candle

down to its’ last bit of wick,  what do you DO? with the perfectly good glass jar? On Pinterest, they demonstrated a brilliant idea of melting down all the last little bits of wax, then layer them, one after another (providing the first layer has cooled) while keeping a NEW wick straddled on top of the jar!  There were so many “hits” of  “Wow…why didn’t I think of that.” and “Can’t wait to try this one out!” etc. etc.

But I wondered…. although this idea was indeed thrifty, just how labor intensive would this be?  And just how long would it take to save up just the “right wax” colors that could be layered with the “right” scents?  Would it work combining just any old scent

or would you have to keep all the “food” scents together and all the “seasonal and floral scents” among their own layers?

And where do you get plain ol’wicks? Do they cost much?  Probably not.

My idea for the repurposing these sealed glass wonders came out of necessity.  (I guess most ideas do) I needed a VISUAL,

easy to find at a glance…storage “canisters”.

 

DSCN0944

It’s always bothered me.  To just throw out something that is not broken, and  still functions just fine…I mean, really, the dome lid has a pastic SEAL ! on it!    But justifying its’ “potential” worth to  AND storing it for who knows how long….starts to validate the reason to just suck it up and throw it OUT!   

That’s when I had an “AH-HA” moment!

Finally!  It will ACTUALLY prove to be

productive hanging on to those jars!!!

All those empty Yankee Candle jars that I’ve been

saving for (years!)…a good long while.

DSCN0945

Ok…so here are a couple of fall candles that are now finished.  (Angel has to get her nose into these projects).  They look all smoky and dull.  (Eeuuuw)DSCN0948

But wait!               (do I sound like a commercial?)

Put the jars in your sink.

DSCN0954  DSCN0952

Fill them up with HOT water.DSCN0950

Very HOT water.

 

DSCN0953

And in a few minutes…

about 15 or so.

  DSCN0960DSCN0961

The wax pops up to the top!  ( if your water cools down and the wax is still on the bottom, repeat filling with hot water again.

  Take the wax out.

Throw the wax  away in your kitchen waste basket where

it will gently freshen your trash.

(more noticeable if your trash can is tucked away in a cabinet)

Then simply place the jars in your dishwasher.

They come out all sparkling clean.  Voila!

A cute solution to my craft storage dilemma !

I had a couple of these racks left from my Mother’s house. ( I can remember them from when I was a small girl!)

30 seconds of white spray paint to each of these…wait for them to dry. I Mounted them up on my wall in my office/scrapbooking room;

the jars fit PERFECTLY! (look pretty darn nice too!)

  DSCN0750 

So you know how we all collect  buttons…gazillions of buttons.  Mine were stuffed in boxes there…zipped in baggies in drawers here,  jammed in cupboards everywhere.  

Now, I have them sorted by colors…in cute little jars (that didn’t cost a thing). 

DSCN0747

I have all my colorful “bling” in one jar…clear bling in another.  Clips and small spools of ribbon stacked in another!

 DSCN0749

I have them hanging above my sewing cabinet.   So…my kitten, AngelLea can easily…

 DSCN0739 enjoy them too!DSCN0744

Ahhhhh……Purrrrfect!

DSCN0741

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Thanksgiving…

Once again…I’m working on Thanksgiving.

tomturkey  

Thanksgiving and

the day BEFORE  Thanksgiving.

When I was ayoung girl in school

Thanksgiving was all about the DElicious

turkey dinner {with ALL the trimmings! Yum!!}

lots of family and…

using the GOOD china! 

My father was the one

who cooked the turkey so it was always perfect!

{Mom was not a good cook and she would be the

first to admit it!}

So twice a year…Thanks giving and Christmas

I REALLY looked forward to these two dinners!

Lately though, maybe because I’ve had to work too many holidays {and because I no longer have those kind

of wonderful family dinners}

Thanksgiving is just another day.  I have made a

positive change though, I focus more on the “giving”.

thumbnailCA3V6OIH

It starts with the first fall day. 

My thoughts return to New England with

all the wonderful sites and smells of fall.  The dinners, the family…the apple pies and cider! 

Ever since I can remember,  school children who were fortunate  enough to live close to the Cape would go on a field trip to Plymouth Plantation once a year. 

We lived fairly close to the Cape and went at different times of the year bringing along visiting relatives.  There was so much to see!  So  much history to experience as you step back in time walking through the dusty, sandy pathways of Plymouth.

 

pilgrims-landing

This is where the spirit of the first Thanks Giving began. 

It was born out of severe hardships and true perseverance!

thumbnailCAO9MGWT

Being thankful  and so grateful to God for just surviving their first year, they sought what they could GIVE to that first Thanksgiving celebration!   There were no fine china but there was a fine meal that was shared with finest guests who guided and nurtured them through their first year in this strange and wonderful land.

 

    thumbnailCANSPH06                pilgrim2

{Massasoit- Chief     where our state name came from}

So Thanksgiving , to me…is what I remember most.  The giving.  The gratitude to others;  for their help, their support and most of all for God’s abiding love.

thumbnailCA5KTLNL

turkeydaygfairy005c

 

Allow me to give you a quick tour of Plymouth Plantation!

First…the rock! {sorry, I thought I had a picture of the rock}

No one knows for sure if it really is THE rock, the one that the Pilgrims stepped out on…

but…they’ve got it covered….literally, so no one can touch. Just look! 

It’s grey, it’s granite…if you’ve seen one…you’ve seen them all!  Let’s move on…

thumbnailCAATTW8K

Ahhhh… I can almost smell the ocean breeze.  Actually, it was smoke from the fire place of each little thatched roof homes. That’s  what you can smell the most!   Beautiful though, isn’t it!  This photo is probably taken from the 2-story fort that stands at the beginning of the village. {all photos found on-line}

 

 thumbnailCA6QZHGQ

Each little home was surrounded by wonderful herb gardens and vegetables that would have been cultivated from seed, brought over on the Mayflower.thumbnailCAGEJECH

Each year you can actually sign up to have dinner, Pilgrim and Indian style AT the Plantation.  They are considered a “live museum” and have actors that play (and stick to) their part.

( Despite the valiant efforts to trip them up by sly little  field trip children!) thumbnailCA2DQVYV

The Mayflower…three months in this????  Yikes! 

   thumbnailCAORQN36

thumbnailCARJOHXA  pumpkins-graphicsfairy008b

pumpkin and corn seeds abound, but it was the Indian’s secrets of fish fertilizer that made things grow!thumbnailCA1A2VNK   thanksgiving-turkey-banner-graphicsfairy003b 

turkeybanner

Have a Happy Thanks Giving!    {can you tell I love turkey}

Monday, November 7, 2011

Cooler weather and Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

In keeping with my Nautical Themed office re-do, I took another

trip to Hobby Lobby where I found this coastal gem!   And I knew at once that it had a date with Annie Sloan {chalk paint}.

 DSCN0756

At the same time, I planned on repurposing an old large frame  into a wall hanging for my office/scrapbooking room. I got the idea of a frame within a frame from Heidi Swapp.  It’s part of her background props on her new web show  “My Craft Channel” (Love it!)

This is only the beginning for my frame, I plan to add other details.  Just not sure “what” I want to add.  The backing is simply foam poster board, painted the same “coastal blue” as my accent walls in my room.  The mirror is actually a plastic frame with a mirror that cost only 6 dollars at H.L. The same mirror with a wooden frame would have cost me 25.00 WITH the 50% off deal!DSCN0767

Besides, It looks identical with a fraction of the price and easier to tack it up on the foam board!

 

I started with Paris Grey as my base, then touched over with the Antique White.

 

DSCN0751

 

Here’s a before of the frame and compass.

DSCN0752 This was your basic “Big Lots” on special, a  picture frame that I got years ago.  It was marked down even more because the glass had broke.

See?  Silver and grey/ grey and silver…boring!

DSCN0754

DSCN0753My painting inspector close by!  {Angel lea}

 

The mirror started out grey…

DSCN0759

 

so I just brushed it lightly with the antique white.

  DSCN0760

Once I hung it up on my wall, I loved

how it picked up the reflection of my dress form

on the opposite side of the room!DSCN0771 

Well… we’re getting there; my little inspector and I.DSCN0768   

Onward to the next project!