Little Decorated Glass Jars

I just can't seem to throw out a glass jar anymore, no matter how hard I try. I keep decorating them in hopes of selling them soon but I'm so busy I can't seem to find the time to list them somewhere. But it calms me to just sit in my studio and make them. Maybe someday...

And just threw this together. A little shabby chic ragged flower with a covered button. I loved making this. I think I'll wear it on a jacket instead of a t-shirt since I'll just pin it instead of sewing it on.

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Working in the Yard 4/28/10

Little eye candy for ya, chicks. This is what my dining table looks like today with all the roses I'm making. These are for sale on my etsy or my selling blog LaMaisonRose. Not expensive at all.
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I had Love Bunny home today so he agreed to do some "honey-dos" for me. We bought some stone to "widen" the patio a bit. For two people it should be large enough but with all the stuff we have leftover from our old house it clearly isn't enough room out there. In our old house we had 3 huge patios so when we moved here I had to sell a lot of the wicker and wrought iron stuff. Just too much for here. But I still wanted a bigger patio here after they finished construction but hubs doesn't want to redo the sprinkling system and I can understand that. Hence, we're just adding stones and not interfering with the system.

Love Bunny walking to his shed. Not bad for almost 70 years old, huh? He certainly can light my fire!! ;-)

Could someone please tell me why men have to have shops, sheds and/or storage units for things they will never ever use again?

That bicycle hasn't been used for at least 3 years and then only a time or two but he haaaaaad to have it. It's at least 10 years old now. Sigh...

See those fishing poles up there? I cannot tell you how old they are and he hasn't used any of them for at least 18 years.

And I'm finally getting around to painting this old school desk I bought about a year ago and had stripped. Just a primer coat on top today because it's turning windy.

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Random Thoughts and Embellishing T-Shirts for Pink Saturday 4/24/10

Happy pink saturday and thanks to Beverly of How Sweet The Sound for hosting this. I visited with Jennifer at Peacornpopnutssodagumandchewingwater for the first time last week. Now that's a mouthful, but she has a darling blog. Full of beautiful flowers for spring. Go visit her, chicks. Also, I met Olivia, one of my most favorite names, and her blog is Shabbychictreasures. I must say she is delightful. Cute blog and some darling ideas and has a red kitchen. Squeeeeeal! She's a shabby chic fan just like most of us.
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I never know what direction my blog will go until I sit down to blog. Sometimes it's decorating this house, sometimes it's camping—squeeeeeealing with fright when hubs mentions he wants to go caaaaaamping and get me away from my iMac computer, sometimes it's a trip to visit our kids or grandkids, sometimes it's a dinner for Love Bunny, sometimes it's a story about decorating the Christmas tree (see it in the sidebar and drool) sometimes it's a visit to our local nursery or an antiques store, sometimes it's about crafting in the studio and making anything I have a mind to that day, sometimes it's a conversation with Love Bunny and his wit, sometimes it's my lack of wanting to be fashionable(!) and sometimes it's just random thoughts and musings out of this old head. Whatever it is, I hope you enjoy your visit here. Ya just never know, chicks, what I'll talk about. But look forward to my hat/cattle/cow tipping post coming up soon.
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We've discussed this before: I am NOT a fashionista or diva anymore. About 20 years ago, before we moved here from California, I'd spend about $8,000 a year on clothes. I worked in an office. I don't now. I stay home. I love it. I look like a bumpkin pretty much most of the time. But I figure I'm clothed and modest, which is a big deal with me. I don't flaunt anything. I dress properly for church but don't bother with designer clothes anymore. I have boxes and boxes of clothing up in my garage attic, mainly because they're a size 10; I'm not a size 10 anymore. But we won't go into that.

I do like t-shirts because I wear special garments because of my religion. I don't wear sleeveless things unless I have a shirt or jacket over it at all times. But I get tired of the same t-shirts and blouses so I've decided to embellish these old ones. I mean there are only so many colors we can buy, right? Plus, after looking at the price tags on little t-shirts at Macys today, I figure I can make them cute myself and pass up the outrageous prices. But I do love embellishing inexpensive t-shirts. I cannot tell you how old these 2 below are. Very! I'm changing them. The lavender one actually looks cuter than the photo because the tiny ribbon flowers I made look askew but they are on perfectly straight, I can assure you.

I ruched a ribbon and attached it to this really old t-shirt.

And recently I ordered 3 dresses because I'm tired of wearing the same ones to church. I don't buy many clothes. Didn't you listen?! ;-) But they are relatively plain so I thought I'd make some embellishments ahead for when I receive them next week. I gathered some ribbon, made a custom button and put it on. I think it'll look sweet on one of the dresses. This shirt is bright red and it kind of drowns out the color of the flower so see below for another photo.

Not sure yet which dress this will go on, but maybe the purple one. I love those colors together. But this pin is interchangeable so doesn't matter too much. I'll find a place for it!

I've never made fabric yoyos before and this is my first. I need more practice but my fingers are so dry they are hurting me from doing all those paper roses and handling all this fabric. Sigh...

I know just the place for this one because one of the dresses is turquoise and this should look great on it.

A better photo of this pin than on the red shirt.

This little ragged pin took me about 10 minutes to make. Quick and easy.

So there you have it, my sweet little chicks. Several ways to embellish your t-shirts or blouses without the high cost of buying at expensive stores plus they will definitely not be seen all over the place so you'll be unique...just as you truly are. ;-)

But I'm going to make you work for this one. If you can't figure out how to make them, you're going to have to ask me. I just want to know if someone actually reads what I say. *Sigh*...... :-)
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Sally Hansen hair removal glue strips do not work. Hairs have to be 1/4" long to work and I'm not letting my chin/lip hair get that long.
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I haven't yet eaten enough pastries to be willing to trade this world for one in which the existence of sugar is not guaranteed by theologians.
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I like rain. I like whatever weather God chooses to throw at the world—storm, hail, wind, cold, heat—because the variety and extremes of creation are what make it so beautiful. We had a thunder and rain storm tonight and hubs, and I went out on the porch to drink in the adventure of it.
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Real estate ads will sometimes say "wild life" in the area they are promoting. Does that include skunks? I don't think I'd want to live with them.
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There's a commercial on the radio for men's prostate problems. Hubs and I get a kick out of it. It asks if you get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. He mentioned to me that he sure hopes he does because he wouldn't want to pee in the bed. He's such a card, that man!
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When the health clubs start selling Twinkies and chocolate cupcakes filled with white gooey stuff inside, I'll join. Not until then, I can assure you.
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Red Polka Dot Oil Cloth

Oil cloth is very hard to find anymore. Oh, they have the stuff they call oil cloth but is isn't true oil cloth. The kind you find in stores now is mostly vinyl with a flannel backing, not truly oil cloth. Cheap, cheap, cheap! And I should know since I'm from the generation that used the real stuff. However, I have found it in various places and almost despaired of ever finding it again...and then I came across a blogger who was putting some on her dining room table. Well, lo and behold, I thought I'd go to the vendor she bought hers from and see if it was the real thing.

This is a piece I've had for about 25 years now and I love it but I wanted something lighter and more whimsical. Now, if you look closely you can see—and I can certainly feel—the difference of the webbing on the back on that snippet of white on the right side.

This is a piece I've had for maybe 15 years. While it's true oil cloth, its back is smooth. Oh, still strong but not the webbing usually associated with oil cloth. And while, it's still functional, it's getting stained badly from the paints I use.
This is the new oil cloth I just received from OilClothAddict on etsy. She has the loveliest array of this product I've ever seen. It's still a bit different on its underside but definitely a kind of web there. It is, however, heads and tails above the vinyl/flannel backed junk you find in stores now. In fact, it's wonderful. I love the whimsy of red polka dots. I believe she had pink polka dots but I wanted the red.
So I put it on my studio craft table today and here's how it looks at night with the lights on.

And this is in the daytime. Isn't it just marvelous?

She sent along a few sample of others available. If you try it, you'll love it and won't ever go back to that cheap stuff again.

I had a small rectangular piece left over so I put it on our dining table, and I think it looks wonderful there. A bit of whimsy with the elegant chandelier when placed rakishly sideways on the table to cover our places where we eat.

And if you go to etsy, check out my store on there also! You won't be sorry.
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I Admit It!

I am NOT a gardener in any way, shape or form. I'm known around here as the "plant killler"! But today I really needed to get out in this beautiful sun and weather. It's 55° here in the desert this afternoon and with the strong western sun we get here, it is nice and warm. Too warm to be digging in the dirt, actually. But here I am with my pink Crocs, knee pads and planting thingies in my hand. I'm only planting a few primroses so what can happen, right? Right! I'll give it a go.

Beautiful, aren't they?

Grass looks pretty good for early in the season. Just had it sprayed yesterday with our lawn service.

Trust me, I could NOT do this without the knee pads. I'm soooo cute with this paraphernalia on. Look like a pig farmer gone bad!

First planting on the one side of patio out back. Not too bad.

Bricks got me a bit confused. Love Bunny came out later and asked me if I'd ever heard of measuring. I called him a smart ******.

Truly not too straight here, but I was going for the "natural" look.

This is not going well at all, I can tell. But I'll keep trying. Stay tuned!

Update photo of our great granddaughter before she is born. Granddaughter is looking like a snake that swallowed a buffalo whole! She's gained 31 pounds so far but she started out at 111 pounds and 5' 5" tall so not too bad. But she's porking out rather nicely! LOL We're expecting Miss "A"—as she is called—to just gush out as the monster in Alien did years ago. And if she reads this—as she occasionally does—I'll probably get a call. Yikes!!!!

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Decorated Pots

Just an idea for some pots that I've put my indoor hyacinths in.

They've started to bloom after just a few days.



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Random Thoughts:

There is a street near us named Coquille. That's french for cockles (scallops—the seafood). I love scallops or Coquille St. Jacques. BUT the people pronounce it KO KILL. It is pronounced Ko Kee. If we name things in this country french names we should at least pronounce them properly or the best we can. Same with any language I think.
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Men even dry dishes differently than most women. I do NOT drip across the countertop. Love Bunny does! Across the counter, across the floor. I let it drip dry and then put it on the counter. He doesn't. Same should apply in other rooms in the house. ;-)
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Have you ever noticed I sometimes don't talk a lot in the blog post and just post photos. Those are my lazy days. Yep, I do have days where I'd rather be doing something else. So when you see just a few photos, that's my lazy day.
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Hubby and I were reading and trying to study the scriptures recently and I had a comment about "smiting the other cheek." I forget the exact exchange but he said something about I hadn't yet done it. I replied, "The day is still young, bubbie!"
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We were driving down the street the other day to a used book store and as sometimes happens, he was giving me the scenic tour. That means he was going down side streets in less than desirable neighborhoods. I noticed a home that had a big American flag...as its window covering decor. Tacky, tacky, tacky. You shouldn't desecrate our flag that way for one thing. We in this family are very, very careful how we display the flag. There truly is a proper way to do it. We would never do it any other way.
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A couple of weeks ago, we were in Staples and I noticed a woman, her hubby and pre-teen son looking at Windows 7 for PC. I told her I had an extra one and offered to sell it to her at a fraction of the cost. She came over to get it and her son was texting on his phone. She told him to put it away, that he was being rude. That mother got a huge hoorah from me! I couldn't believe it. She was right; it was rude. He did put it away and looked chagrined. I think every mom should teach their child as that woman was teaching that young man.
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Rose Ball to Decorate the Bedroom for Pink Saturday 4/17/2010

Happy pink saturday and thank you to Beverly of How Sweet the Sound for having this. This past week I visit 4 bloggers I'd never been to before and enjoyed each one. It's getting harder and harder to find chicks I haven't visited before! The new ones are Monica at The White Bench, Yoli at Apronsenorita, Phyllis at Aroundrhouse and Valrie at Poemsmyway. No, I didn't misspell Valrie! ;-)
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First of all, a view of my sofa table bearing all the little shoes I've made for Miss A and her arrival in May.

The soles of her new shoes.

I made this hanging ball from styrofoam and coffee filters made into roses. If you follow me on any kind of regular basis you know I love making these. So I made several ahead and glued them to this 6" ball. Just a few shots of it up close so you can see it well. Now, these are formed coffee filter roses, not just twisted and stuck in tightly, but pulled apart and then tucked in. I like the look much better. I only used about 18-20 of them instead of several dozen.

I used different colors mostly because no two turn out alike, and I like to experiment with different colors and techniques.

I love the way it turned out since it is my first one.

It hangs in my bedroom over my dresser.

I also needed something to put on a jacket to wear the other day and whipped up this little pin for it. I actually just safety pinned it to my jacket. You can do this, chicks! I did this in about 20 minutes from start to finish cutting, stitching and ragging the edges.
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Better Things To Do????

One would think I definitely had better things to do, but some days you just want to be mindless. Right? Right! This was one of those days. Love Bunny and I went to WM and to Costco for a few things. By the time we got home out of a rain downpour with SNOW—yes, snow—I just wanted to veg out with mindless things. You know what I mean—the kind of thing you just don't have to put much intent or thought into. This was the result: a little shallow bowl in my guest bath with soaps in it. Now, these are not ordinary soaps; they are gift soaps with the most awesome scents you've ever smelled plus 2 gift soaps from my friend, Jenn. They are over a year old but still fragrance up that bath. Also, I thought the little bowl needed to be elevated to its regal position on a pedestal on the countertop. What think you, chicks?

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