Embellishing Your Jackets & Winner of Storage Shelves

The winner of the giveaway for Cansolidator food storage shelves is:

Cat Nap Inn Primitives

Congratulations, honey!! Now get to working on that food storage.

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I have this white linen jacket that I changed the buttons on but I thought it needed something else. I used this vintage rayon ribbon that I purchased recently to sew on to the lapels. It's a creamy white and it's dirty but you get the idea. I love froufrou-ing up my clothing and all I did was take the ribbon and just twisted and tacked it on. Easy. Try it.

Real Models and Catalogs

*Remember to go to yesterday's post for a giveaway of some food storage shelves! Drawing is this afternoon.

My daughter and I buy a lot of our clothes and shoes from catalogs, thus we are put on a lot of mailing lists for clothes and shoes—not to mention household things also such as rugs, furniture, etc. AND even soy stuff, which I have no interest in whatsoever, having been a devoted Big Mac lover my whole life. (How in the world would we get put on healthy eating catalog lists from clothing catalogs?!?!) But I was thinking about that the other day as I was perusing a couple of new clothing catalogs I received in the mail that day and thought I'd share a few comments with you.

Now, this "happy camper" t-shirt is obviously worn by a model who has never had her hubby drag her off to the wilds of Idaho by a raging river with skunks, bears, teenagers with 4 wheelers and boom boxes, getting there entails driving by sheer rock cliffs that have warning signs stating "Danger, falling rocks" and there are some in the midde of the road we have to dodge to get to said "camp", hunters who "park" their horse and all that entails (p**p), parents who think their babies crying in the night doesn't bother us ol' folks at all.......no sireeeeeee!! Parents: yesssssss, it does bother us and we're pretty forgiving the after listening, smelling and trying to ignore all that noise. BUT "happy camper"???? Nuuuuu, not this chick. I go with Love Bunny to preserve this marriage.

Ultrafirm comfort? There ain't enough "firm" in this world to make a bra comfortable, let me tell ya. And eliminate bulges for a sleek look? There also ain't enough "sleek" to make this body not bulge.

Cools my hot flashes??? Puhleeeeeze. I'd have to stick ice blocks in there to keep this chick cool. Removable padded inserts??? Does a 56DD really need "inserts"? I don't THINK so! Moisture wicking for those workouts??? What workouts? Do you seriously think with 56DD someone would "work out"?! Those puppies would be slapping someone in the face constantly. Hardware free???? Gee, that's comforting to know that they haven't put a wrench or screwdriver in there. Yessireeee!

Now this little wrist purselet is something I could go for—especially in this sassy pink color. But how in the world would I get my lipstick, brush, 3 pairs of glasses, debit card, money, weight watcher weekly tracker, cell phone, Cold Stone Creamery and Subway punch cards, Costco membership card, aspirin tin, keys, camera and butterscotch candies in there??? I ask you!

My kind of camp! Indoors. Okay, okay, so I don't drink anymore. I can make exceptions if it's for medicinal purposes, right?! Don't tell my bishop about this and we'll be "best buds forever", sugar. Make it strawberry, please.......the medicine, I mean. *Wink*

Most magazines and catalogs have those models with long sleek legs (meaning emaciated) to model. This one turned out the local "talent" OR their employees for the photoshoot. I think I see a leg or two that could use some Nair or a razor also, which is the "normal" state of my legs. Sometimes it's so bad I have to clip before I can even shave! Now, while it is kinda nice to see "shapely" legs—it does give me hope here, it is also nice to see "normal" feet, which by that I mean "abnormal." The skinny models do NOT have normal feet to which I am an authority because I can "Photoshop" with the best of them, chicks, and trust me, they usually are, but these photos are NOT. They're "normal" feet, in other words, ugly just like the rest of us. The tattoo adds a touch, but I'll leave it at that.

So when did we get hangers with b**bs?! I swear I've never seen them before. For pete's sake, they'll sexualize anything anymore, won't they? *Sigh*..........

Some of the clothing in catalogs now says "organic", but what does that really mean? I believe it is something relating to or derived from living matter. So if a T-shirt or skirt or pants are cotton or linen or silk, isn't that organic? Works for me! So why do they have to say "organic T-shirts", hmmmmmm?

I think I'll go take a long soak to get "mental" again. Sheeeeeesh.........
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Remember to go to yesterday's post for a giveaway of some food storage shelves!

Organizing with Cansolidator

I'm doing a giveaway for U.S. residents only for a Cansolidator. To enter the chance to win a free shelf for your food storage as pictured here, just leave a comment on this post and I'll draw a name on thursday 5/14/09.

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I bought these shelves for the cans in my pantry. As most of you know I'm big on food storage and being prepared, not just for disasters but for times of stress and emergency. You just never know what lies ahead for you and your family. Also, I love to eat and the thought of not having food just sends me into a state of absolute panic.

These shelves are called Cansolidator and I love mine. Very sturdy and adjustable so you can put in small cans or large cans. Load from the top and the oldest cans come out first so you don't have to worry about rotating food.

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Shelfreliance also has dried food in cans for storage with a very long shelf life—fruits, veggies, beans, grains and even butter! Yes, butter for food storage. If you've never heard of Potato Pearls then you've got to try them. I have some and use them regularly in place of potatoes and hubs and I love them. They are dried potatoes in a pearl shape that are instant and easy to fix for a crowd of people. My recipe is to add butter and evaporated milk and they are yummy!

This is their brand of freeze dried foods.
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Here is a photo of their 72 hour emergency kits also. Hubby and I have ours sitting in our garage for a quick getaway should the need arise. FEMA even recommends having an emergency kit for each family.
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I truly cannot say enough about being prepared with food and the essentials for hard times. Check them out on the sidebar and pleeeeeeeease, be (or get) prepared!!

Go to Shelfreliance to sign up for their newsletter and check out the food storage items they have on their site.

Random Thoughts

Years ago I called a small business in the next town to us and no one was there so I didn't leave a message as it wasn't that important. Later in the day a woman called me asking what I wanted. That told me right then and there she had Caller ID. Now, this was before "cell phones" and when CID was very new. I was astounded and more than a little put out for someone to invade my privacy. If I had wished to leave a message I should have done so.

Fast forward 15 years and it happened again but this time it really "frosted my cookies"! I called a bank—not mine—to ask a question about something. The man to whom I was referred asked if he could refer me to another branch and then proceeded to repeat my own telephone number back to me! So now they're monitoring their incoming business calls with CID at huge banks! I don't like that. Too invasive for my taste.
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Don't ya just love a guy with a sense of humor??? *Smile*
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We had a friend once that named their daughter, Myrtle. Now, while I had an great-aunt with that name, it isn't exactly a "beautiful" name in today's society. Oh, I'm all for naming children what you want (after all, my daughter is named after my hubby's favorite cow and an old girl friend and how in the world did I let that one slip by?), they'll be teased about certain names. Names do matter! Choose carefully. The girl named Myrtle?? She's a lovely young lady and very, very bright!
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I read on the news on the internet about women having children later in life. Now, I love children, absolutely LOVE them, but if you're in your forties and your children don't have them until their 30s or 40s, you stand a huge chance of never meeting your own grandchildren! I'd be very sad not to have met mine. I believe the people who make a conscious choice to not have children are very selfish. Noooooooo, don't go harassing me on that one. Think about it: when you give up much of your time, dreams and ambitions, you're making one of the ultimate sacrifices. I salute you moms of the world!! You are selfless.
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The other day as Love Bunny was leaving for work we were idly chatting as people do when readying themselves for the day. He mentioned something about his schedule and I then said something about "but I'm just a housewife" in jest. He immediately said to me, "Yes, but you're very good at it." Made my day for him to be so flattering plus he was serious. I take good care of that man!
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I saw on the internet several weeks back a man who got caught in a ski chair and ended upside down with his pants around his ankles and his ski jacket up around his throat - remember, upside down. He was n*ked for the whole world to see. Oooh, it was absolutely no fault of his own, but the other skiers whipped out their camera phones and caught that poor man in all his "glory." He must have been terribly embarrassed as he had a child in the seat beside him on the lift chair. His own??? Don't know. But it does give one pause since a famous young gold medal swimmer was recently caught doing something he knew he should NOT have been doing. Again, the gawkers couldn't wait to whip out their camera phones to capture it for the generations who will follow us. So my advice to anyone would be: don't do ANYTHING you wouldn't want captured by "your best friends in the whole wide world" to capture on their cells for the whoooooole wide world to see!
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My granddaughter works for Microsoft after graduating from the University of California at Berkeley. During the interview several years ago, the interviewer asked her how she would explain "something complicated to a novice computer person—like your grandmother." Well, she laughed because her grandmother—ME— is on computers all the time and while chuckling she told the interviewer this. So now when they have a meeting for the division she works for they ask the same thing: how would you explain something complicated to a novice—like your grandmother, but her boss then turns to my granddaughter and gives her this caveat—except yours, Mandy. Hah.....ain't no dumb or stupid people in this family! Her co-workers are astounded that her "grandmother" is so computer savvy. Go figure!

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Is this guy clueless or what? What mother would let her child go out like this? Hey, mother of this guy, give that man a "talkin' to", huh!!!! Looks sort of like "Li'l Abner meets Nascar with a little surfer dude thrown in".........uhhhh, sorry, all you Nascar fans. Not casting aspersions on you, just this "dodo bird"!!!

Crafting Patio Lights for Pink Saturday 5/9/09

I was crafting today after getting a MUCH needed massage. But first let me show you what I bought. Squeeeeeeeeeeal..........

I ordered these beautiful roses file folders from Polly and received them the other day. Aren't they gorgeous? I also received several yards of vintage pink ribbon and I intend to embellish some t-shirts with some of it. I'm so excited.

This is a close up and I thought I'd put it on here in case someone wanted some ephemera for a project. Just enlarge it and then snag it for anything you might like to use it for. Gorgeous rose!

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I saw a canning jar made into some patio lights on another blogger's post and cannot for the life of me remember who. Sheeesh, I can't believe it. If I see it when I'm surfing my favs I'll let you and her know.

Anyway, I did this first one and didn't have any tea lights to put in it—I actually do, but they're up in the garage attic and can't find them at the moment(!)—so I broke a red taper candle and lit the bottom part and tried to melt it down to drip into the jar—okay, okay, so I started a fire but can we NOT let Love Bunny know this?— and stupidly let it drip onto a paper towel (I said I was intelligent, not that I didn't do dumb things every once in a while!) The paper caught fire and in blowing it out I sent little pieces of flaming paper towels around the kitchen. I need to work on the smell before Love Bunny gets home.

Isn't it adorable? And it can be hung on a porch or patio and is protected from the wind. That's especially important out here in the Idaho desert! I plan on making several more out of some of the tall olive jars hubs gives to me after he finishes witht he olives. Try them yourself. Easy. Wire around the top of the jar. Wire over the top for hanging. A scrap of fabric or ribbon. Candle. Embellish with roses if you want. I did on this one. Just be careful and only use tea lights OR fatter, shorter candles.

I did this one also in green and net lace ruffles. Ummmmm, I didn't put a candle in this one yet. I think I'll wait until I can find the tea lights or some short fat candles.