Crocheted Wreath Ornament

November and the first half of December found me ill and not doing a heck of a lot.  Not sure if it was a strange cold or if I've developed an allergy to something but I had horrid post nasal drip that kept my throat irritated and me coughing.  I coughed so hard I broke a rib!  It was rainy most of this time and when the weather started to dry up I started to feel better.  Christmas Eve the rainy weather returned and so did the post nasal drip and cough...

One little thing I did, though, was make these wreath ornaments for several of my friends as a Christmas remembrance.  There are a few similar ones floating around the internet.  Well, actually I remember seeing them from before the internet was such a big deal... but mine is a bit different than any I've seen before.

Crocheted Wreath Ornament

All rounds in light sage green with a red bow and hanger.

Directions:  Ch 4, join with a sl st to form a ring.
Round 1:Ch 3 (counts as first dc).  Dc 19 into ring, join to beginning ch 3 w/sl st.

Round 2: Working in FRONT loop only, *ch 3 sc in next st.*  Repeat *  * in remaining 18 sts. Join to back loop in first st w/sl st.

Round 3: Working in BACK loop only, *ch 4 sc in next st.*  Repeat *  * in remaining 18 sts.  Join w/sl st.

Using a coordinating color, weave a thread around the tops of dc from Round 1 and tie a bow at either top or bottom of wreath as desired.  Trim thread ends.  Tie a loop to the back of the wreath for a hanger if using as a tree ornament or use a small safety pin to attach to your coat lapel.

Try using different shades of yarn.  Use shade 1 for rounds 1 and 2 and a coordinating shade for round 3.  For example, light and medium green with red for the bow and hanger.  Or white for rounds 1 and 2, light blue for round 3 and dark blue for the bow and hanger.

Have fun making your own or message me if you'd like to purchase some for Christmas 2016! $1 each or $10/dozen + shipping.

For My New Master Suite

As I'm preparing to move, I find myself deciding on what pieces of this life to take and which to cast off.  That's true of mental and emotional stuff as well as the stuff of daily life that you can put your hands on and, to borrow one of my Mom's phrases, "feel the fabric."  There are items from each and every room that I'm choosing to retain or to repair and repurpose to go with new items I'm adding to the mix.

In the Master Suite, I'm retaining the color of blue that we'd started with to decorate in that room.  I'm going to tone it down to a lighter shades of that blue but I am keeping the blue.  Also the furniture, the one set of sheets that actually fits that bed, the soap dish/dispenser/toothbrush holder set, some funky little knobs to hang towels, and the outer shower curtain and rings to hold it up on the bar.  I have bath poof that's the right colors and I found cotton yarn on clearance at Walmart a couple of weeks ago that also matches and I've been making myself some luxury washcloths.

It's those washcloths I want to show you today.

If you want some for yourself, they are really very simple to make.  You only need to know how to crochet a chain (ch) and a single crochet (sc) and use a slip stitch (slst) to connect it all together.  These are the very most basic stitches and the first you will learn if you take a crochet class or get a "teach yourself how" book.  So this is a great beginner project because you use basic techniques and can quickly complete something that's both pretty and useful!

Select a 100% cotton yarn and either an F or G hook to work with.  The brand of yarn I used is Peaches & Cream.  To start, make a loop and pull a thread up through for the first stitch.  Ch 33.  In the 3rd ch from the hook, sc once then ch two, skip over the next two ch from your beginning row and sc in the 3rd ch from the hook.  Repeat this sc one, ch two process back to your beginning loop.  You should end up with a sc in the last ch.  Ch two and turn. Sc in the ch two space you made in the previous row, ch two.  Repeat across row, and for each of the next 23 rows until you have a square.

To make the edge, ch 1 and sc 3 (to turn the corner) then sc in each stitch along the edge - be sure to put 3 sc in each corner to maintain the square shape.  Connect to first sc with a slst.  Ch 1 and sc through both loops of the first st of the previous round, ch 3 and then sl st together to form a picot, sc in each of the next two sts and then make another picot.  Continue around entire edge of washcloth.  Slst together and tie off.  Use a yarn needle to tuck threads into work.

That's it!

After a couple of these, you can almost make them in your sleep.  It's that simple.

But aren't they pretty?

And you can machine wash them with like colors in a gentle cycle so the care is also very simple.  Many people use this pattern (and many others) for dish cloths in the kitchen but they are soft enough to use in the shower and even on your face.  My friend's daughter, who is a professional nail artist, uses them with the spa treatment for a pedicure to rave reviews.

These are the colors, plus a cheery apple green, I will echo with towels and bedding and curtains and artwork to make a little sanctuary for myself that's bright and happy and cheerful.

Buh... buh... buh...BLING!

I always wanted a monogrammed something but had this silly idea that you had to have 3 initials to make it work.  You know those classic frilly lettered pieces with your first and middle initials to each side and a bigger letter for your last name in the middle... but I didn't get a middle name when I was born so I only had 2 initials and that made the whole thing sort of lopsided and weird.  Now that I've given up on the idea of ever getting that third initial for a really classic monogram, I'm being more liberal and creative in my interpretation of what that means.

Here's my very first monogram!

I kind of love it... I don't know if I love it more because it's such an unusual creation for me (I'm not all that into bling or an ultra-feminine girly girl by any means!) or if the appeal is the family history that's wrapped up in it.  I used 6 of my Grandma Clarke's broaches and a rhinestone belt buckle and some silver earrings that were my Mom's and buttons that one or both of them cut off old clothes.  When that wasn't enough to cover the wooden letter, I supplemented with some extra buttons from clothes of my own and buttons and rhinestones I purchased.

The base is a 5-inch pressed wood letter from the oh-so-glamorous Walmart.  I spray painted it with some brushed nickle paint left over from updating the cabinet hinges in the kitchen.  And then came the fun part:  arranging all those pieces and hot gluing them down.  It was kind of like putting together a glittery puzzle!

And it was really really fun to do!!

Once I finish it off with a sheer black ribbon bow to hang it from, the final display spot will be nestled amongst a collection of black & white family photos in a variety of styles and sizes of black frames along the stairwell walls going to the basement family room.

I had so much fun with the monogram that I'm gathering materials to make a 3X magnifying mirror for my future master bath.  I've kind of settled on yellow gold, old pearls, white (or clear) rhinestones and a couple of shades of aquamarine blue for the color theme.  That will be such an unexpected and romantic little touch in the room!

Also in process... opening an Etsy store where I'll be offering both monograms and picture frames/mirrors for sale along with some other fun hand-crafted items.

Welcome Home Wreath

Awhile back I was thrilled to think that maybe I'd inherited my Great Grandpa Burton's poetry writing gene when I wrote a little poem called Welcome to My Home.  All along my intent was to frame it in a $1 store frame that was decorated with flowers and ribbons to make a wreath-type decoration for my future front door.

Except that I couldn't find flowers and ribbons that I like...

And so I ended up making the flowers from fabric and ribbon.  That was kind of an adventure!

Directions here.  Scroll down about 1/3
of the way to find the round pouf variation.

I made these round poufs, 2 from blue plaid fabrics and 1 from a golden yellow print.  For future reference, choose a fabric that is colored similarly on both sides.  The yellow has a definite front and back and since both show when you fold the circles you can see the pale and not so attractive back of the fabric on that flower.

Directions here.

I also made 3 of these 2-layered stars from a deep golden yellow satin ribbon that also makes up the middle layer of loops in my bow.  The website is in what I think might be Russian but I was able to follow the diagram successfully.  Because it's what I had, I used 5 iridescent large-sized seed beads in the center.

And finally, I made 5 flowers from the same sheer ivory ribbon as in the bow by cutting about a 9-inch length and running a gathering stitch along one edge.  Pulled tight, it looks like a pleated circle.  The same iridescent seed beads make up the centers.

I printed the poem in a pretty font on ivory cardstock using navy blue ink and slipped it into the frame after carefully cleaning the glass. Then the flowers were arranged and hot glued to the frame with some leaves cut from a spray of red berries I picked up after Christmas to finish another project.  The bow is a mix of the yellow and ivory ribbon with long tails tied in a half-knot at the end.  At some point, I may try to tuck in either some fine ribbon or flowers in a deep denim-y blue just to pick up that color a little more.

Now to pull me together and get that future front door/entryway...

Home: Heaven on Earth?

"We  have been trying to impress upon parents the need of paying more attention to their children, having a little more of the spirit of the gospel in their homes, a little more unity and a little more faith; a little more responsibility religiously, spiritually on the part of the fathers; also, of the mothers; more of the teaching of the gospel in the home.

"To parents in the Church we say: Love each other with all your hearts.  Keep the moral law and live the gospel.  Bring up your children in light and truth; teach them the saving truths of the gospel; and make your home a heaven on earth, a place where the Spirit of the Lord may dwell and where righteousness may be enthroned in the heart of each member."   (Joseph Fielding Smith)

This is a direct quote from last Sunday's Relief Society (the Women's Auxiliary in the LDS Church) lesson.  So much stands out in my quest to create HOME in a new place and I thought I'd share some of those thoughts.  The quote is from a talk given sometime prior to President Smith's death in 1972.  That it's still relevant and repeated in current counsel today speaks to the enduring nature of family as central to all we are and hope to be!  And besides I love a list as a way to both check up on myself and organize new ideas for how I can do better, so here are the key points as a bulleted list:

• Pay attention to your children (and your spouse!)
• Have more unity and faith
• Take more responsibility for the spiritual welfare of your family
• Love each other
• Keep the moral law
• Teach the gospel in the home
• Really live the gospel (every single day)
• Make your home into your own "Heaven on Earth"
• Create a home where God's Spirit will be comfortable
• Enthrone righteousness in the heart of every family member

Angel by Jim Shore

 Being a practical person I can appreciate the practicality of the gospel and know that many of the things that make a good spiritual home are the same as make it comfortable and comforting and beautiful and desirable in the worldly sense, too.  I want my home to be a haven from life's problems... a place where we want to spend our time... a place where others feel welcome and safe and wanted and cared for.

With that in mind, I'm drawn back to President Smith's list.

Pay attention.   Who doesn't love to be heard when they speak?  Is it not the epitome of feeling loved when someone takes the time to actually listen to you and pay attention to what you want and need?  Who better to spend that energy on than your family?  Get to know them.  Get to know what they like, what they are doing during their days, what their goals are.  Show your love by being involved!

Show unity and faith.  Things are so much easier when you're pulling in the same direction...  Sometimes when Derek and I have argued, more than once because I felt unheard and assumed he wanted something different because he was ignoring me, I've said that.  We really need to have a united front - to give the same message of love to the world and each other.  When everyone else sees you as rock solid it gives you more reasons to be rock solid and not disappoint their faith in you.

Take responsibility for the spiritual welfare of your family.  This is a tough one because you can only teach so much and then you have to realize the other person, be it a child or a spouse, has the agency to make their own choice about what they believe and how they express that belief.  But no matter what, you can lead by example and live what you believe!  And you can always provide opportunities for all members of your household to experience the spiritual.

Love each other.  To me this isn't so much about the big overt acts as the small simple things that make the other people in your household feel loved.  The random text or email or phone call just to say "I'm thinking about you" is a welcome demonstration of love.  And I feel very loved when Derek indulges my appetite for Mexican food even though he dislikes 99% of what a Mexican restaurant serves.

Keep the moral law.  Rules create boundaries meant to keep us safe.  And safe is a much happier place than when you are hanging over a precipice ready to take a death defying plunge into the unknown.  We all have an innate sense of right and wrong.  And sadly, a lust to test boundaries and see just how much we can get away with.  We need to recognize them, instead for what they are, and be happy to play by the rules.  Sustained joy is far superior to moments of adrenalin rush!!

Teach the gospel in the home.  If family is the central unit of Heaven, as I believe, then it makes sense that it is the central unit of our earthly societies.  And it makes sense that home is the best place to teach the gospel.  Take it, not just as a responsibility, but as a joyful right to teach your children, spouse, extended family and friends how to really live the gospel.

Really live the gospel every single day.  Maybe I'm just simple-minded... but it's too hard for me to be one person on Sunday and someone else during the week.  That's just too many details to keep straight and remember who knows what lie and what's the next one that will sound congruent to that storyline.  Because if you live as a religious person on Sunday and then go out to lie and cheat and steal during the week you are lying to yourself and everyone else you come in contact with.  I know what I believe.  And that's how I live, or at least I try my best to live up to that ideal, every day.

Make your home into "Heaven on Earth."  Imagine what Heaven is physically like.  Is it clean and orderly?  Are the "many rooms" in Heavenly Father's mansion comfortable, well arranged for conversation, and beautifully decorated?  How are they decorated?  Maybe I'm overly imaginative, but that's where I try to draw inspiration in pulling my home together.  I ask myself "Is this a room that invites a little bit of Heaven onto Earth?  Is it a haven from my worldly cares?"  When I lived in Utah, I knew a family who took that even a step farther and patterned their living room on the Celestial Room in the Salt Lake Temple.  They used similar furnishings, had custom millwork created to bring the moldings and wood details to scale for their home, lovingly kept it immaculately clean and they treated it as a most special and sacred place... one where they felt God would be comfortable joining them in a conversation.

Create a home where God's Spirit will be comfortable.  Along the same lines as imagining what our future Heavenly home might look like and trying to duplicate it, I think the art we choose to display can either enhance or detract.  In some way, I'm trying to display a scripture quote (and it might change from time to time) and an artwork piece depicting Jesus in every room.  Some of them might be small and visible only if you know to look for it, but I know it's there and it's a reminder to me.  I have portrait style pictures, figures like a carved olive wood piece a friend sent me from Jerusalem and even a pewter collector spoon with a nativity on the handle.  I also choose to play gospel-oriented music.  There are many Christian radio stations to choose from now, as well as playlists you create for your iPod or even just on youtube.com.  I think it's calming.  So much so that when I'm suddenly exposed to a Top 100 station I often feel assaulted and disoriented.

Enthrone righteousness in the heart of every family member.  When the rest of your family sees that you are happy, they wonder what you are doing and will ask and try to do the same things themselves.  They want to share in your happiness.  You have to lead by example, provide opportunities to learn about God's ways and always, no matter what, love people.  What you can't do is force them to live a set of rules you impose.  Remember each person is meant to be 'an agent unto himself' and he (or she) has the right to choose what they believe and how they act on it.  It's ok to hate the sin, but always love the sinner!


(Kind of as a side note, I wanted to share this tribute given by his wife, Ethel:  "You ask me to tell you of the nam I know.  I have often thought when he is gone people will say, 'He is a good man, sincere, orthodox, etc.'  They will speak of him as the public knows him; but the man they have in mind is very different from the man I know.  The man I know is a kind, loving husband and father whose greatest ambition in life is to make his family happy, entirely forgetful of self in his efforts to do this.  He is the man that lulls to sleep the fretful child, who tells bedtime stories to the little ones, who is never too tired or too busy to sit up late at night or to get up early in the morning to help the older children solve perplexing school problems.  When illness comes the man I know watches tenderly over the afflicted one and waits upon him.  It is their father for whom they cry, feeling his presence a panacea for their ills.  It is his hands that bind up the wounds, his arms that give courage to the sufferer, his voice that resonates with them gently when they err, until it becomes their happiness to do the thing that will make him happy...

"The man I know is unselfish, uncomplaining, considerate, thoughtful, sympathetic, doing everything within his power to make life a supreme joy for his loved ones.  That is the man I know."

Wow!  If you're looking for an example of someone to emulate (or searching for the greatest husband ever!) he sets the bar pretty darned high!!)

Forgotten Skills

Photo credit:  Village Green Network

One of the Facebook/Blog pages I follow started this morning off with these words:  "Amazing how a decision to start growing your own food cascades into so many different things in your life. New friends (invaluable support), baking your own bread, making your own taco seasoning, making your own laundry soap. The list goes on and on..."  (Karen Taylor of Old Pa Farm) Not sure my list of mostly forgotten skills would look exactly like that but the words and sentiment got me thinking about how many old and [by many people] forgotten skills I use in my day.  Some things I do because it's how I learned to do it growing up and some is a conscious choice for either thrift or to leave an environmentally softer footprint on the Earth.

I garden.  Most years I do anyway.  And I will be when this coming Spring finally gets itself underway.  In the past I've used much the same methods I learned from my Dad - organic for the most part but willing to bring in a chemical for limited use if I found myself dealing with a pest I couldn't otherwise control.  In the past, I've hired someone to rototill the ground but this year I'm going to experiment with creating permaculture beds.  That's something I'm pretty excited about!

I preserve garden produce for later use.  This summer I want to make red and green salsa, dilly beans, apple pie filling, applesauce, spaghetti sauce, garlic preserved in vinegar, sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, refrigerator dill pickles, strawberry freezer jam, frozen diced tomatoes, and several dried herb blends.

I cook from scratch.  Well, sometimes.  I admit a lot more boxed stuff has slipped in during the past 18 months.  It's been a time of big adjustments that affect all parts of my life and that's part of the reason that real cooking has fallen by the wayside.  It's something I laugh about now and then, but Derek loves the TGI Friday's(TM) Tater Skins from the freezer isle and would eat them 3-4 times a week... I about had a heart attack right there in the frozen food section when I saw the price and started making them at home.  Mine are so much better he tells everyone that they "are the bomb!" And I want to get back to even more real cooking over the coming months.  One of the first things I plan on doing is getting my sourdough starter going again and making our bread.

I make many of my own cleaning products.  Again, I've slipped a little in doing this but getting back to it more and more.  I've found that I can make my own product that is very effective for much less money. Some of my forays in cleaning products have been laundry soap, dryer sheets, and a concoction (I hope I can replicate) that did an awesome job getting puppy stains out of our carpets.

I create things.  For Christmas I made Derek an afghan in his favorite sports team colors and since we have serious lack of bedding (thanks, in part, to puppy chewing) it's been helpful in keeping him warm on some of those unusually cold nights we've had lately.  Over the last year and a half I also made some of the items we've gifted for birthdays and Christmas, cards, our potholders and some of the decor on our walls.  Several items have used recycled or re-purposed materials.  I love that it saves money, but even more I love that it is unique, kind of quirky and very personal.

I do my own home repairs and upgrades.  Inasmuch as it's safe and I have the skills to do a reasonably good job, I do my own repairs and upgrades.  A recent example was replacing a burned out breaker in our box.  Calling an electrician would have run around $100.  A few friends telling me it was an easy do-it-yourself job and a Youtube tutorial later, I did it myself.  The new breaker cost $11.84, including tax.  Money savings aside, it was a powerful feeling when I flipped that switch and everything worked!

I get to know my neighbors.  For me, a sense of community is important.  I am a naturally friendly person and I like finding people nearby who can share information and skills and, sometimes, garden tools.  Besides, being sociable is a good skill to have... so many of us suffer from nearly unbearable loneliness these days.  I also want to try and barter for things I can't do on my own like get our one neighbor who co-owns a dog grooming business with his daughter to cut the dog's toe nails.  I've talked to him a number of times about gardening and learned that he's diabetic and baked goods won't appeal as a trade off... so I'm hoping this summer to woo him into a barter arrangement with lots of fresh garden-ripe tomatoes!

Could I do more?  Sure.  Will I?  In time, probably.  I've already started a list of upgrades and additions for the 2015 garden...

The Making of a Medallion

The finished medallion.  It's gracing the wall above the toilet in our hall
 bathroom.  I'm happy to get something in there decor-wise because the
walls have been bare-nekked for way too long!

Step 1:  Choose your paper.  I chose to get an old book with yellowed
pages that I could cut apart.  I got this study guide for smart kids who
want to get into a prep school and hang out with other smart kids for
$2 at Goodwill.  You could also use magazine pages, copy paper, craft
paper...  just about any paper you like that has enough body to hold a
cone shape.

Step 2:  Tear out pages.  I didn't really count, but I'm guessing I used
somewhere round about 50 pages.  I made sure I had text printed on
both sides because I wanted that look but you can tailor that to your
own personal tastes.

Step 3:  Cut the pages down to squares.  I used the full width so I just had
to trim about 1 1/2 inches from the bottom to make a square.   If you want
smaller cones, cut smaller squares.  It's that simple... and really, there are no
hard and fast rules.

Step 4:  Cut a disk from cardboard.  I had a big piece of clean corrugated
cardboard that had been used as packing to protect the top of our kitchen
table during shipping when we bought it last summer so that is what I used.
I wanted a finished medallion that was about 24" so I started with a 12-inch
circle - exactly size of our dinner plates!  It was nice having something easy
to trace... And a box cutter or exacto knife would have been a better choice
to cut it out, but Derek took that from the toolbox for something a few days
ago and didn't put it back.  And I decided to just fight it out with the craft
scissors instead of hunting down the box cutter.  It was hard on my fingers
and didn't give me nice crisp edges, so I'd say it's probably not the best bit
of strategic thought I've ever had to go with the scissors on this.

Step 5a:  You're going to need a way to hang it on the wall when you're done
and I've found it's easiest (on you and the medallion) to add a loop of yarn
now.  Just use a yarn needle and punch through.  If you want to be all fancy
schmancy you could use ribbon or picture wire or maybe you have an even
better idea?

Step 5b:  The hanging loop is on the other side and the ends are poking out
here.  I tied these off in a secure knot and then hot glued them down as flat
as I could.

Step 5c:  Cover the side with the glued down knots with some of the paper
you'll be using for the cones.  Trim the paper flush with the disk (I hadn't
done this yet when I snapped the picture). This has ended up being a not-
really-necessary step both times I've made a medallion but I do it anyway,
just in case.  My thought was I didn't want bits of cardboard to show
through any gaps in the cones when I glued them down.  Plus I think it
helps secure the hanging loop.

Step 6:  Now you're going to get back to all those square pieces you cut and
form them into cones.  Secure on both edges with a bit of glue.  The first few
always seem very awkward to me but then I get the hang of it again and it goes
not just faster but I get a more consistent shape.

Step 7:  Glue the cones down to the disk starting with the outside row.  Like
I said, I wanted to finish at 24-inches so I cut a disk that was 12 and glued
the cones down so that 6-inches extended past the cardboard all the way
around.  Don't worry about the little spaces between them.  They will be
filled in when you put the next rows on.  This is part way through row 1.
(Note:  I used hot glue for this whole project.  I think it is the best choice
to be able to hold everything together quickly.  But realize that when they
named it hot glue they meant HOT glue.  It will burn you!  Possibly
severely. So be very careful!!  And keep your kids away while you
are working on this project.)

And this is part way through row 2.  See the gaps filling in?  Just keep adding
cones in concentric circular rows.  Pull the edge of the cones inward slightly
with each new round. To do that you'll need to start trimming off the pointy
end of each cone after row 2 and finally in the center, just nestle them in in
whatever direction you can fit them.

And that's how I ended up with this!

It's Starting to Look a Lot Like... Halloween!

Several years ago I had a wild hair and decided I needed some Halloween decorations.  That's kind of a funny thing since, to me, it's not all that big of a deal for a holiday... and it's not something my family ever made into a major celebratory event.

Yeah, I went trick-or-treating as a kid.  Usually as a ghost.  But hey... it was Idaho and often there was a foot of snow on the ground for Halloween and a sheet is something that fit pretty easily over a heavy coat and a few layers of pants!

Otherwise the clearest memory of Halloween I have is from about 5 years ago when I answered the door expecting to see some little kids out for an evening of candy collecting and found a taller-than-me grim reaper announcing "I'm here for your soul!"  I have to admit that was not the greeting I was expecting and it kind of made me pause for a moment or two...

So I don't know why I decided to get decorations.  Maybe the leftovers after the holiday were especially cute that year?  Anyway, I have a few things.  And low and behold, the plastic storage tub where they get stored made it onto the moving truck with the Christmas decorations when I moved.  And that turned out to be a fortuitous thing since Halloween is one of Derek's favorites.  He likes the spooky fantasy motif and it's one of the few holidays that Americans do actually decorate for as part of the celebrations.  He's been out of town the past few days and as a surprise I started hauling stuff out and even crafting a couple of new items so there'll be something cheery to greet him when he gets home tomorrow evening.

Here's a little peek!

 I have these on the front porch for now.  Even if the ghosts, which will light up with a little battery power, stay in place I think we'll replace the bucket with a real jack-o-lantern.  Then I can take it inside to hold candy...

 The jack-o-lanterns also light up.  The big one in the center plugs in so the kitchen table where I've got it setup now is probably not the best place for it.  The outlet is right over the dog dishes (they are infamous little chewers who gnaw on anything they can get into their mouths!) and it doesn't work.  We haven't figured out why yet.

 I put a couple of little towels on the oven door to brighten things up in the kitchen.

This is 33 cents worth of paper plates cut up and strung together with some yarn...  I think I'll find a black marker to redo his eyes and give him a gaping mouth and get a little tape to hold his arms and legs in a more interesting shape.  He's silly, but cute!

There is a template you can print and use to cut the plates here or do like me and just free cut them by looking at the picture.

I bought a pack of 45 plates for $1.  They are the cheap, flimsy, little plates that you really don't want to eat from but they work perfectly for these kinds of kid-friendly craft projects.  This nearly adult-sized skeleton takes 15 plates.  And yes, if you are making a lot of them you can buy a bigger quantity and they are even cheaper -- I saw 100 plates for $2 at Dollar General.

I also like that the cost makes him expendable.  I don't need to worry about protecting him from the weather and trying to save him for another year.  If he gets trashed it's no big deal!

This is my other big project...

I put little pictures in each of the 9 panes of the carport door.  I had thought about using markers to 'paint' something on clear contact paper but ultimately decided I was too lazy to do all that.  What I used is little treat bags that are about the size that would hold a smallish popcorn ball.  I just cut them apart (as you can see below) and used the picture on the front for this and kept the clear purple backs for another project that hasn't quite all come together yet.

This would also be a cute idea to display kids' artwork.

All I did was cut clear contact paper to fit the panes, center my 'art' on it and press onto the glass.  The easiest way I found to center the pictures was to only partially peel the contact paper back, lay the picture on the backing and then carefully lay the clear part back over it.  Mine are mylar and the static between them and the contact paper and backing was insane!  I solved that by using a sponge to moisten the back of the picture a bit.  That killed the static and made it cling in place while I pulled the contact paper back up.

Cutting the bags apart.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!  It's a fun and cheery greeting to arrive home to!!

Can hardly wait to see what Derek adds to our decorations over the next few days!

Peek in the Bedroom

Here's a quick peek into the guest bedroom that pretty much matches the hall bath...

The medallion pattern that graces each piece of furniture in the set.

The throw pillows I have to decorate the top of the bed.

An afghan my mom made.  I think she entered this in both the County
and State Fairs in Utah once and won blue ribbons!  I like the punch of
color it adds to the foot of the bed.

A few of the decor pieces to go on the [yet to have mirror re-attached] vanity.

The chest of drawers to the set where I had it in my old house.  Here it's
against a blank wall.  I LOVE the locking chamber at the top!

That 70's Bathroom

I'm pretty sure I've whined about having bathrooms straight out of the 70's before...

But it's true!!

There's Harvest Gold fixtures and everything!  In the hall bathroom anyway (the master has the ever-lovely Avocado Green) which is one of the rooms I've been working on the past few days as I start to get stuff in shape for a visit from a wonderful friend I haven't seen since about the time we both graduated from high school 30 + years ago.  Sadly, for now we're stuck with the Harvest Gold so... I'm doing my best to rock that shade of awful!

Here's a couple of BEFORE photographs of this little bathroom I've all but ignored for the last 5 months.

I started with a good cleaning.  The bathtub, toilet, and sink are actually in pretty decent condition with all the muck scraped and scrubbed off... they're just uglier than sin.  Which is kind of funny since it's almost the same color as the bedspread in the bedroom that this bathroom services.  Once the tub and tile were clean, I hung an ivory shower curtain liner ($1 for the rings and $1 for the liner panel at Dollar Tree) and used some of the extra drapes from the bedroom (the windows at my old house were a LOT bigger!) around the bathtub.  It was tighter than tight getting the drapery panels on the shower curtain rod!!  But for a free fix, I can expend a little effort.

Better Homes and Gardens it's not, but I think we can live with the Harvest Gold a while longer now...

You can't see it in any of the pictures but we also traded out the wimpy little showerhead for a nice big rainfall style one.  And I spray painted a neon green mesh trash can (gotta love the stuff you can find at Dollar Tree!) white for this room.  Now to fresh up the towels, parcel out the wall decor between bed and bath, get some cute soaps and stuff and put down a fluffy rug to make this room ready for its AFTER shots!

Everything is pretty simple and basic still at this point... but I'm repurposing things we already own and the FREE part helps me appreciate what beauty there is.  The liner makes the shower functional and the curtains do add privacy and the beginning of some sense of the room being put together.  There's a fluffy rug on the floor that matches one of the shades of gold in the curtain that makes for a nice spot to step out of the shower.

Not too bad for just using the extra curtain panels from the bedroom?

Fresh clean towels are also out.  We're short on towel bars so... in both bathrooms the clean ones are just folded and kept on top of the toilet tank.  It works because we're also not flush on towels so all we own fits in that spot.

What's funny about these tan towels is that when we first looked at the house, the lighting in this bathroom was so bad we thought the tub, toilet, and sink were tan.  It wasn't until we'd moved and replaced the scary old light fixture that we realized everything was harvest gold...

I decorated the corner of the counter with shells from all over the world:  The conch and abalone were my Grandma Clarke's from a trip to the CA coast in the late 1940s.  The sand dollar posed on the lip of the conch and the smaller similar shell up front was collected by a cousin taking an adventure and travelling as an itinerant worker all around the country during the mid-1980s.  Most of the small tan and brown ones my dad gathered on the beaches of the Mariana Islands when he was there as a soldier during WWII.   And the really tiny shells and bits of coral on top are things I picked up relaxing on the beach in Antigua.

At some point we do want to re-do this bathroom with white fixtures and a smaller simpler vanity cabinet.  Not fancy even then, just brought into the current century.

Corner of Park & Locust

Recently I was contacted by a sweet young mother regarding a post I'd made back in August 2011 about the history of my hometown, Shelley ID.

I'd posted a picture from the North Bingham County District Library of a home on the corner of Park and Locust Streets where I'd lived for a time as a child.  And though it's changed drastically since then, she recognized it as the home she and her husband had just purchased to begin raising their family.

Photo credit:  North Bingham County District Library

This is how the home looked when I lived there around 1969.  I've written a couple of times that it was divided into two apartments and that I lived with my parents on the main floor while my Grandma Clarke was upstairs.

Sometime after we moved, it was remodeled into a single family home and the outside entrance to upstairs was removed.  But otherwise, the house's appearance remained much the same.

Time marches on...

And so do ideas about remodeling a home and keeping it in good repair and current for today's lifestyles.  This is how the same home looks today!

Photo credit:  Chrissy Hill-Secrist

Isn't that an amazing transformation?

I hope her family has a wonderful experience living there!  I sure have good memories of adventures with many of the neighbor kids.  It seems that we were surrounded by families with kids my age so I always had a playmate.

So glad that I could share some of the history with its newest family!

Welcome home Secrists!!

The Speed of Life

You know how Grandma always said to sleep on it and things would look different in the morning?  I think she may have been on to something...  Life moves fast!!

3 days ago, the folks renting/buying my house in Salt Lake City asked if we could change the closing date from end of May to mid March.  It was a welcome surprise!  But it sure did put us into a frenzy of suddenly changed priorities...

After a very short search, Derek and I put a cash offer in on a little fixer upper house in Dallas, GA today.  And it was accepted within an hour's time.  So, as long as the inspections go well, we'll be moving into this home about a month from today.

As I said, it's a fixer but what it needs is cosmetic changes and updates to make a 1970's style house comfortable and functional for life in this century.  These are all things we are capable of doing and looking forward to being able to customize everything, inside and out, to suit our tastes.

Here's how the back of the house looks.  We'll be adding a deck out of those sliders.  There's no good vision of the yard formed quite yet, but with just over 1/2 acre to work with there's plenty of space to add a couple of fruit trees and some garden space for me and to designate an area just for the dogs using an underground electronic fencing system.  Derek also wants to frame in the carport and add an extra bay to the side for a real garage.

This view may be one of my favorite things about this particular house...

If you stand by the sliding glass door and look out over the backyard, you look right into these woods. A little strategic planting of bushes and shrubs and the 2 visible neighboring houses will just disappear...

Perfect mix of city convenience and country living!

Moving inside, the kitchen is the site most in need of attention.  Of course, it's always the kitchen!  Here's how it exists today:

We asked for the renovations the seller was doing prior to sale to STOP so that we could get the appliances we want without the guilt of ripping out brand new ones.  For now, we'll be keeping the cabinets and just refreshing them with a coat of paint and some new knobs and drawer pulls.  I'd also like to put in a mosaic tile backsplash along the wall behind the sink (and the one you can't see in this picture).  And painting the walls is definitely needful.  I'm thinking something bright and fresh like a light shade of lime green...  but I guess Derek should get some input into that plan when we go to get paint swatches so that's not a final decision.

Yet.

But I'm pretty good at getting my way.

Down a few steps there's a small bedroom that we're planning on dedicating as my space.  I get to create the office/hobby/craft room of my dreams.  I wish you could see the smile on my face as I'm rubbing my hands together in anticipation!

There's also a pretty generous laundry room and a nicely-sized living/family room with a deep stone fireplace.  This is a fantastic room for our giant TV and big brown sectional sofa and there's still plenty of room to store games and movies.  Derek has visions of a man cave and I don't really have any objections.

Except to the bright red walls and black trim he wants as homage to the UGA Bulldogs.

He's a devoted University of Georgia football fan.

Really... UGA football is a big deal.

Big.

Huge!

Maybe I can sell him on the idea of leaving the fireplace wall and the one leading up to the laundry room a neutral color and hanging framed posters there because those walls are mostly visible from the rest of the house?  I can try anyway...

If, instead, you go up a few steps there are 2 decent-sized bedrooms with a 4-piece hall bath and a master with en-suite.   Updating the bathrooms will be another high priority as these are original to when the house was built.  It's all functional and in pretty good condition just very dated.  The hall bath is tan - toilet, tub, sink and shower tiles are all the same shade of tan.  And the master is decked out in that avocado green that's iconic to the 70's.

Wonder if there's a market to sell these vintage fixtures if we remove them carefully?

Even pennies count right now.  We can swing the purchase price.  Just barely.  But it doesn't leave much for the things you always need moving in to a new place.

Like utility hook ups.  And dishes.  And silverware.  And bath towels.

And... that whole endless list of stuff.

Patio Lanterns & Pesto

Last summer my dearest friend, Heidi, shared a recipe for a Green Bean Pesto Salad that is both heavenly and healthy.  You'll find the recipe at the end of this post and I hope you'll try it because it is delish!  Making it (and just using the pesto on pasta) a "few" times left me with a whole bunch of cute little jars.  Even though they are imprinted Atlas Mason in the glass, and  look to be about the same size as a jelly jar, the top is smaller than any canning sealers and rings I've found.  So... they are becoming a craft/garden art project and finding new life, with the help of a roll of concrete tie wire, as hanging patio lanterns for some soft candle light on summer evenings.

I probably should have used gloves when cutting and bending the wire but you know I didn't bother with safety precautions.  And even with my reckless behavior no fingers were bloodied or permanently maimed in the process.  You can find the tie wire in a roll with the concrete and related supplies at any home improvement store.  I got mine at Lowes for less than $5.  You'll also need wire cutters, needle nose pliers and an abundance of patience.

Here's the steps:

Cut a length of wire big enough to wrap around the neck of the jar plus enough to twist the ends together to secure in place.  Don't twist it down yet, however.  Cut 2 pieces of wire about 1 inch long and form each into a small ring.  Place them on each side of the jar - this is how the handle/hanger will be secured.  Slip them onto the wire you wrapped on the jar neck and twist it down securely.  Next, form the handle/hanger.  Cut a length of wire approximately 9 inches long and using the pliers form a curly-q at each end then bend the wire up just above each curly-q and into an arch that will span the top of the jar.  It took some work and frustration and even some not-so-nice words to get the curly-qs even but with time and patience it can be done.  You can get a better look at this piece viewing the finished lantern above.

Then I decided that I wanted a bit more length in my handle/hanger and made 3 of these S shaped pieces using about 5 inches of wire for each.  They slip apart easily so if 2 ends up making the length I want it to hang that's easily accomplished.

I also made a hook for hanging it using an approximate 6-inch length of wire.

And a little dangly with some flower shaped beads to add a spot of color, movement and visual interest.







So what do you think of my first attempt at a wire project?

I'm pretty happy with it in all its quaint, rustic and imperfectedness.  Maybe by the time I finish a dozen of them I'll have it mastered!

And now, the recipe that got this whole project started:

Heidi's Green Bean Pesto Salad

1 Cup Fresh Cut Green Beans
1 tsp Sea Salt
3 Cups Cooked Salad Macaroni
1 Cup Diced Mozzarella
6-7 oz Pesto with Basil

Cover green beans with water, add sea salt, and cook until water is gone. Let beans cool then mix all ingredients together. Serve.

My Notes: I like green beans to still be a little crispy so I picked fresh from the garden and just tossed them in with the pasta the last few minutes of cooking and then drained and cooled all in a big colander with ice cold water. The crispiness added a nice texture. I also added a bit of parmesan to the mix and used half again more mozzarella. It's a family size recipe, more than I could eat in one day, and it dried out a little storing overnight in the fridge so I tossed with a tiny drizzle of olive oil the second (and again the 3rd) day.  Perfecto!


I've shared this post at FarmGirl Friday Blog Hop! #53 on White Wolf Summit Farmgirl.

Master Bedroom Quandry

Due to faulty backups and a fried motherboard on an old laptop, this is the only before picture I have of my master bedroom.  It was taken the day I got the keys to the house... June 2, 2007.

Gone is the ruffled curtain, green wall paper and brown (I think) carpet.  It sat like that and was used as a storage room for everything else that needed to be put away for over a year because I didn't have the furniture I thought I wanted and I hadn't decided on a color scheme.

The floor is now a beautiful Mexican Cherry laminate and the walls have been smoothed and painted a soft dove gray.  And finally I moved my parents old bedroom set in the room.  It's a 1920's era bed, chest of drawers, vanity and bench my dad purchased used sometime after he came home from the Army following WWII.  All the pieces have some condition problems that need to be addressed and will be when time and finances allow it.

I also want to modify the bed slightly to fit a queen-size mattress and springs.  That's been one of the major hold ups to finishing the room, actually.  The bed isn't truly either a full or a queen.  It's sized somewhere in between.  My favorite furniture store sold me a set of universal extenders... which fit the foot board perfectly but don't work with the shape of this particular headboard.  The extender will need to be custom fabricated and I need longer rails to fit the bigger box springs.  So the mattress and springs are leaning on the wall in another room waiting while I sleep here on a very old and broken down full-size.

I'm liking the gray and green combination with crisp white and a bit of pink.  After looking at the picture of the bed, however, I'm wondering about the pink.  I'd never realized there was that much of it...  And in decorating, this is kind of where I'm stalled out on the room.  I keep changing my mind about details like window treatments, art, overhead lighting and lamp(s), a throw rug and now the amount of pink in the room.  Which could throw off any ideas currently floating in my brain on all those other details.... again.

And which brings me to the other complication - the main bath.  Notice I didn't call it a master bath?  The house is classic 1953 construction.  (Go ahead, scroll up and look in complete awe now at the size of my closet.  They're like that all over the house, by the way.  And yes, my neighbors do have closet envy.)  They didn't do master baths in most homes in 1953.  The main bath serves not only the master bedroom but has the only bathing facility on this floor (there are 2 more bedrooms) and has to function as a place for guests to go potty.  Great big job, itsy bitsy room.  And this one is a disaster.

But I do love a good disaster....  I want this room to coordinate with the master bedroom when everything is finally done.  Here's the before picture.  About all that's been done is to remove the shower doors.  I don't know what was used to caulk/seal/whatever them but I tell you it was meant to last throughout all eternity!  You can't grind it off with a dremel or chip it off without taking huge pieces of enamel off the bathtub!  I love old cast iron tubs and how they hold the heat when you want to sit and soak!  Maybe I can get it re-enameled.  Doable, right?

And see all that burgundy tile?  My first reaction was that it just had to go.  HAD. TO. GO.  But with time, I've found I sort of like it.  Ok... I really like it.  A lot.  And I have a lot of art pieces (peach/red/burgandy rose pictures and deep blood red glassware) that match and are strangely the right scale for the walls in this room.  I'm thinking maybe the tile stays.  Or replacement tile in the same color since this tile stops at the edge of the vanity and I want to change that out for one that's more open and the wall behind is semi-visible.

So... comments?  Thoughts?  Ideas?  Should the pink be re-purposed to another room and go with a bit of peachy tones instead?  Should I wipe the slate clean and start fresh?   How would you tackle the decor?