I'll Take a Snapple, Please

When my son and girlfriend came home for spring break, they blessed me with more bottle caps - which included Snapple caps. I decided to try something new with them this time (instead of pounding the dickins out of them and making buttons.).

Let's see....what should I use them for? Well, I could always make some little pin cushions.

Huh. One would think that I have made enough pin cushions to last from my wooly back door to eternity - but maybe not!  Pin cushions it is! 

First I spray paint. You know the drill - one coat of primer and then the color. I chose pink for a nice, pastel, springy look. (Sorry - bad indoor lighting alert for the first two photos.)

Next I prepare the "poofs". I use a light weight, creamy white wool. They are cut, stuffed, and stitched shut. (I'm not sure what they remind me of in this photo...either mushroom tops or matzo balls getting ready for their soup!)

Next I stitch on a soft pink flower with a purple center and accent it with clear seed beads. I then use my handy-dandy glue-all-glue and glue the poofs into the bottle caps while concealing the bottom of the poof stitching. The final product is approximately 3" tall by 3" wide.

The last step is to photograph and post on my Etsy page. Check. Done. :-)

Rock-Doily-Paperweight

Soooo, what do you do with a doily...

a rock...

and ten minutes?

Make a rock-doily-paperweight!

Doilies

doily, doyley, doyly [ˈdɔɪlɪ]
     n pl   -lies, -leys
     a decorative mat of lace or lacelike paper, etc., laid
     on or under plates
 
The doily is really making a comeback these days. I'm seeing them all over the place. I often find them in thrift stores - and if they are handmade, I'm glad to find them, but then I also feel bad because I think of all the work that went into making that doily and it's ended up being thrown in a heap on a thrift-store-shelf.
 
I guess I've "collected" doilies for years. I've often purchased doilies at thrift stores or sales - not because I've needed them - but because they are just so sweet and someone, probably many years ago, took the time to make that beautiful piece of lacework.

Last weekend I found three more (in my preferred price range) at the thrift store - a piddly 50 cents each.

They ended up coming home with me with all of their rips, stains, and beauty.

I have a plan.

I can't take credit for the idea - but it'll be great fun none-the-less.

Stay tuned.

Is Spring Coming?

I don't know about you - but I'm awfully anxious for spring. I thought it was coming - then we got another 12 inches of snow. Shoot!

I decided that I couldn't wait and decided to make my own spring!

This group happens to be for a special event but I'm also thinking of making another bouquet or two for my upcoming sale.

I thought it might be fun to have a big bouquet for customers to pick their favorite flowers and create their own bouquet.

Whattcha think? Feeling any more spring-y?

Personal Gains

My latest Chinese take-out fortune. Bring it on baby! 

Think of all the benefits of eating Chinese food....good food, good taste (gotta love those wontons!), good extra calories, and good affirmations!

Ooops. I hope my fortune didn't mean HUGE personal gains.....on the darn scale after eating all that food!  :-)

Garden & Art Sale

I'm very honored to participate in Cafe Wren's 2011 Garden & Art Sale running May 27-30 in Luck, Wisconsin!  This annual event features locally grown bedding plants and artwork for your home and garden.

Cafe Wren is a great cafe/coffee shop that really supports the arts.  They coordinate annual art sales and events as well as  feature local artists throughout the year.  Our area is very fortunate to have a local business such as theirs.

If you're out and about and feel like a nice drive - with beautiful scenery -  on Memorial Day weekend, I highly encourage you to visit Cafe Wren!  (I'll give you more details about hours, etc. as the date grows closer.)

Happy Birthday Mom

Today would have been my mom's birthday.  She passed over in 2006. Some days it seems like forever ago. Some days it feels as fresh and heartbreaking as if it happened this morning.

This is a picture of my mom and dad way back in the early 90's enjoying their two young grandsons.

I miss you mom (and dad).

PS.  The one in the blue sweatshirt and blue shoes is mine. He's now 21 and stands 6'6". Grandma would have NEVER been able to put him on her shoulders now!  :-)

I Can Drive...Seventy-Five

NOTE: So sorry - but you know that song that goes like this: "I can't drive 55"? For some reason, it popped in my head while writing this - and now after reading my post headline,  I hope it's stuck in yours! Ha!  :-)

-----

Oh boy, I'm getting excited.

It's moving. It's slowing moving...in the right direction.

Is it my weight?  Ha - no!  Is it my year-to-clear organization? Ha - no!  Is it the odometer on my van? Ha - no!

Can't stand the suspense any longer?  It's the number of sales I've had since I starting selling on Etsy! 

Do you believe it? I'm up to 75 sales! Now, I suppose to some, that may not seem like a lot, but to little-ole-me, it's great! 

So, I just made my 75th sale this weekend. Ahhh...it's quite exciting - and makes me feel like I'm really moving in the right direction with my wool. How fun!

I'm so hoop-la'd about it - that when I have my 100th sale - I'm going to offer a fun give-away on my blog. I don't know what it will be yet - but I promise to make it something fun!  Don't worry...other than me...and my dog, Charlotte...you'll be the first to hear the details.  Whooo Hooo! Stay tuned!

March is National Craft Month

As usual, I'm a little late announcing a celebration, but at least I didn't totally forget!

March is......(insert fanfare)..... National Craft Month.

Don't fret that it's almost the end of March and I'm just announcing this - you really don't even need to ever worry about what month it is. Because in my world, every month is craft month.

But let me take a moment to pick this apart. I sometimes dislike the word "craft". Sometimes...just sometimes...mind you, it feels like the word is thought of as a "just" word. Like: "She likes to do crafts." "She's a crafty person." Now, it's not that these are bad statements, but listen to basically the same statements if we chose instead to refer to it as art. "She creates art." "She's an artistic person." I know it's just my opinion, but I think those statements gain respect and sophistication when the word "art" is used over "craft".

I hope that makes sense - and doesn't offend anyone. Yes, maybe it's just me being over-sensitive. Heck, that's happened before - but it's just my thoughts spilling out.

Now - don't get me wrong - if someone wants to say that I am a "crafty person" (which often can happen) - I assure you that I take it as a compliment. After all, I'm totally in support of anything that enhances the creative part of a person! So let's take a little time to celebrate March (and every month!) as National Art ....er, I mean Craft Month!  :-)

Silence

To donate.

It's a Post!

Today, a post was written about my pieces by The Ivy Twines.

What a sweet, kind review.  Hop on over (click here!) for a chance to win this chicken!

Darn, Darn, Darn

Yes. As Herman Munster would always say, as he jumped up and down while holding his hands in fists, "Darn! Darn! Darn!". (I love the Munsters!)

You can clearly see that I made some cosmetic changes to my blog. It wasn't intentional. I was "cleaning up" and accidentally deleted my nice rich plum background color and sidebar design.

I was finally able to get my background color back (I've grown quite fond of it) - but now I can't get the sidebars as I want them. During my attempts to "get it right", you may see multiple changes appear.
It may appear confusing and look as though I don't know what I'm doing. Ha! Most certainly not true. I'm just "working it". Please bear with me until I get it figured out.  (Oh, ok fine. I don't know what I'm doing - but that's fine - I just wing it and make do.)  :-)

Darn. Darn. Darn.

Sweater Basket to Metal Bucket

Sometimes projects don't work out as we plan.

I had a very big, thick, cream-colored, felted wool sweater that I thought would make a great basket. With the thickness of the sweater (you know how some sweaters are extra thick?), and the richness of the cream color, it would be indeed beautiful and quite useful. 

As I was making the basket, I thought - oh wouldn't it be shabby chic wonderful - if I added a cream-colored ruffle with some lightweight wool I saw hanging out of one of my wool bins. I envisioned a gorgeous, to-die-for, piece.

After a bit of excited sewing, I finished the project.  Huh. Not quite what I had planned. My regret (other than making the basket!) is that I didn't snap a photo of the completed piece. Let's just say that instead of a shabby chic-rich-and-elegant wool basket, I ended up with the perfect albino Mad Hatter hat.

It was horrible. Well, actually quite humorous - especially when I tried it on as a hat and it hung down over my eyes. But certainly not what I had any need for. (Clue: Maybe that's why I neglected to take a photo.)

So I quickly ripped the ruffle off, folded down the top cuff of the sweater basket, and ended up with this little ditty.

Then I took the ruffle and added it to an old bucket that I had previously spray painted. It's now holding more clothespins patiently waiting to be covered in wool.

While neither of them are super great, I think they both worked out for the better. Much better, anyway, than the albino hat.

A Bloomin' Onion

I made this pin cushion a couple months ago.  And I'm just getting around to posting the photo for you.

The top is made from a big flower made from a wool blanket. When I first made the flower, I didn't know what I would use it for, I was just playing around and trying something new I had seen in a tutorial.

I didn't know that when I put it on top of a pin cushion it would remind me of the big ole Bloomin' Onion that you get deep fried at the county fair!

We Made Lefse...Uffdah

My family has always been lucky enough to have homemade lefse as something that was either on the table or in the freezer. Growing up, it was tradition that there was lefse at our holiday and special family gatherings.

Since the passing of my grandma, there hasn't been anyone left in our family to make lefse. Any lefse on our table has been purchased. My sister and I decided that we have to change that and become the next generation of lefse makers.

This weekend, I traveled to my sister's house to begin the lefse journey.

10:00 a.m. - Preparation of the star ingredient begins - the potato. Should we peel enough for one batch? Double batch? Yup. Double batch it is. What the heck, we know what we're doing.

Only one potato-peeler-blister later, we have a pot full of potatoes ready to be cooked. Well, actually we have a VERY big pot full of potatoes. Somehow we've peeled enough for two batches....and supper!

Whew. Glad to be done with that job!

We cook the potatoes, run them through the old ricer (double-riced, as a matter of fact!), mix in other ingredients, and get them in the fridge to chill.

11:30 a.m. - We stop to ponder.....what should two sisters do while potatoes are cooling?

11:45 a.m. - We go shopping. :-)

5:30 p.m. - We return home. Tired. Hungry. Not in the mood for lefse. My brother-in-law grills bacon-wrapped turkey mignon, my sister prepares fresh asparagus, and I warm up the extra riced potatoes. What a yummy meal! It's topped off with freshly made (by my sister) apple crisp.

6:30 p.m. - It can be delayed no longer. Lefse making must begin. It doesn't grill itself, you know.

Out comes our handed-down electric lefse grill. What? No cord in the box. Crap. Now what? After a little searching, we are happy to discover that a cord from a fondue pot works just as well.

Rolling preparation begins.

Unfortunately, our potatoes were not Russet potatoes (the recommended kind) so our dough is quite sticky. We need to add lot of extra flour. Yikes. Rolling it thin enough with this sticky dough is not easy.

Remember that sticky dough I mentioned....well, it's hard to get it to the griddle when it doesn't hold together well so no giggling allowed from veteran lefse makers.

10:15 p.m. - Two batches of lefse complete! We unanimously decide that more practicing is required before we get to our ancestors level of lefse-making, but at least we've got a start!

10:20 p.m. - We are exhausted after a hard day's work. Plop. Plop. is the sound you hear of two tired sisters falling into their easy chairs.