AROUND THE HOUSE

I wanted to take a few minutes of your time to show you a craft that I finally got finished. I love trying to make new things.

Our Grubb Springs Extension Homemakers Club was getting ready for its annual fundraiser called Gingerbread House. We use the monies to give a scholarship to a deserving student(s). One of our members, Carol, gave me some 6 inch tiles to do something with. I have seen how the 4 inch tiles are turned into coasters so decided to make a trivet with this one.

I used Patio Paint (my favorite paint for everything) and painted the bottom of the tile and part of the top (pictures 1 & 3). I got a piece of distressed heavy scrapbook paper and cut it to the size I wanted. Then I pulled out my next favorite item - Liquid Laminate. I use that instead of Modge Podge for lots of crafts. I brushed it onto the tile first, being very careful not to foam it up or get bubbles. Then using my fingers, I put it on the back of my paper then applied it to the tile. I used my fingers to coat the top of the paper with the laminate. I prefer this method instead of a brush. I work out any bumps or unsealed edges. Now, set it aside and let it dry.

After it's dry I go back and using my fingers, apply another coat to the paper and let it dry. I had some felt pieces used to put on items that you don't want to scratch your furniture, so I put one in each corner of the trivet.

Next problem was finding a sealer that would be heat resistant to a certain degree. Went to my local Home Depot and found some clear auto paint that would work. Went home and took my tile outside and gave it a good coat of this finish. After it dried for several hours, I sprayed it again and left it outside until it was completely dry. It has an unpleasant smell so no spraying in the house or garage.

I sat the trivet down on our counter and set a hot pan of boiling water on the tile. Let it sit there until the water and pan were cool. This took almost an hour. When I pulled the pan off, the trivet was in great shape.

When I put them up for sale, I advised people that these trivets were designed to make their table look attractive when the corn was setting on it. I am NOT making the claim that this finish will not melt and make a big mess.

I make my own trail mix and put it in plastic jars. I make a gingerbread man label and put the name of the mix and the ingredients on the back side of the label. The lid has a circle of paper like the tag paper and was glued on using a glue stick. (easy removal if they want to use the jar for something else).

I had a whole section of my One of a Kind jewelry that I donated to the sale. They got the keep the money that the jewelry bought but, I got to take back what didn't sell. This will be sent to a church
camp this summer.

This is a picture of one of my 'bib' necklaces. I sew or glue all kinds of items to a canvas bib. It has a long piece of ribbon that you can trim to the length you want the necklace to be or you can leave it long and tie a big bow in the back. I use as much vintage as I can. Retail on this necklace is $25.00 and it sold right away.

Before I get off here, I want to share what I found in my yard.

He (or she) was busy eating the bird seed that fell out of the feeder. The raccoon was about 10 feet from me and only looked up when I opened my back door to take a picture. I had called my hubby and he thought I should shoot it and I did - with my Canon camera!!!

Until next time - Be safe and warm!! Jan

 It has been so long since I have written on my blog and I really do apologize for that. Been so busy working on a cookbook for the Grubb Springs Extension Homemakers Club and making items to sell in their 20th Annual Gingerbread House. I don't know how many are familiar with Extension Homemakers Clubs but they are throughout the United States. Ours is through the University of Arkansas - Dept. of Agriculture - Cooperative Extension Service. We help at the fairs with judging, checking in items, just anything we are needed to help with. We have a leader training program every month. Ours for November is Understanding Personalities. Great information!!

My granddaughter, Krystan, went to look at a horse to buy and things didn't go as planned. The horse went berserk and Krystan took a bad fall. She broke her wrist in a bad area and will be in a cast for 5 weeks, then a brace for 3 weeks. Dr. told her that she would have to wear her brace if she did any barrel racing, heavy lifting, feeding hay, etc. for as long as two years. She was in the Little Rock area. The hospital wrapped it up with a splint and sent her home. At least she is okay and no surgery.

She wanted to bling her cast, so she headed to see me. So, here are some pictures of what we did to her cast to make her stand out from the rest of the crowd.

Her cast with the blue cover on it. So, after throwing around several ideas, here is what we decided to do.

Found a lone sock of Papa's and decided to make a cover to go over the cast. It can be removed if she decides to have another one made. Wish we could have found a tube sock but, this worked out. Papa wears a size 17 shoe.  A club friend gave me some stretchy black sequin lace to design a bracelet, so I used some of it.

I used hot glue to apply it to the sock. The toe of the sock is the part on the right side of photo. We stretched it to get it over the cast. The left side of photo is where we cut it from the cuff. Then I cut a hole in the heel part of the sock for her thumb to go through. Applied hot glue to the elastic being careful not to stretch it. Wanted it to stretch when we were pulling it up on her cast only. Where the thumb hole is, I applied the sequin elastic and stretched it some.

Now for some bling. I used some tulle that I had and made a bow and hot glued it close to where the thumb hole is. I put the non stick glue mat inside the sock so I wouldn't glue the sock together.

Heated up the rhinestone setter and started to bling. I added two colors of heart shaped rhinestones at the end.

Then I added another bow to the top of sock.

Here is the finished product. I did go back and trim off any sock that was showing over the sequin elastic. Only did the front of the cover.

This was fun to make and the lady at the doctor's office will like this. She said some come in with a few things on them but she wanted to see something that no one else has. Well, this is it! I am thinking about cutting a pattern that could be used and altered to fit most casts.

 

TREES ARE CHANGING COLORS

I went to Maplewood Cemetery early Sunday morning to get some photos of the trees and to go to my parents grave. There were at least 50 cars there and it was crowded. Plus two professional photographers were there and they had a couple of rows blocked.

Here are just a few of the pictures I took:

This tree is actually across the road from my house. I can remember when it was just a small tree and look at it know.

The colors are so beautiful.

 

SUNRISE

Monday morning I got to get a picture of the sunrise. I usually don't take pictures like that but thought I needed to capture the beauty.

It was cool and crisp and the sky was beautiful.

 

I have been trying to keep very busy and am making Christmas cards to be sent to the American Red Cross for Holiday Mail for Heroes. If you are interested in sending a card, go to the Red Cross website. All the information is there about what you can and can't send.

 

Until next time - Be Safe!



SUMMER IS HERE!

Sorry I haven't written much lately. Been so busy getting ready for VBS at Newton County Cowboy Church in Jasper, Arkansas. We meet at the Newton County Fairgrounds every Sunday night at 6:00p.m. Everyone is welcome to join us for some singing, a message and just good fellowship. Our VBS theme is Wanted by God. Lessons are ready, games are planned out, food is being taken care of and I am working on Christian crafts. Ages is K - 6th grade. I will have everything posted on my facebook page.

Our schnauzer, Sir Leroy Spydmonker, has been very sick. They had to hook him up to an IV 3 times just to get him hydrated. He has pancreaitis and we think he might have had a heat stoke. He was spoiled rotten before he got sick and now is more spoiled. I spent 11 hours at the vet in 2 days just waiting for all the tests and the IVs to get done. But, he is worth it!!!

While I was there, I got a chance to take some photos of their flower gardens. So, I want to share some of them with you. Those who know me, know that I don't have a green thumb but, I love taking pictures of flowers. So here goes -

I promised to take them a couple of pictures for their office. So, will work on that next week.

If you live in the Harrison area, I will be teaching a scrapbook class on Saturday, 7/13 from 9a.m. to 1p.m. at the Grubb Springs Community Building on Hwy. 43 & 397. Class is limited to 26 people and is $3.00 which includes lots of goodies. Call 870-391-9431 and leave a message with your name & phone number so we can get your name on a goodie bag. This is a community event sponsored by the Grubb Springs Extension Homemakers Club. Bottled water & snacks will be provided. All you need to bring is 6-10 photos and a pair of paper scissors. If you have glue and paper cutter, bring them also.

 

Does anyone like sidewalk art?? I got some pictures off the internet to share with you. My friend, Jim Bradshaw, and I loved it and talked about how great it would be to have that kind of talent and could draw a small version on the sidewalk in front of our Walmart store (where we both worked).

What an illusion!!!

 

I have been having some horrible headaches again. There are days that I just can't seem to function. You would think I would be use to this after all these years, but that isn't happening.

 

One good thing, I got my boot off. That fractured foot finally healed. Guess the ultra sound treatments did their job. I still have to be careful for 4 weeks and if I go shopping and will be walking a lot, I have to wear the boot.

 

Our granddaughter, Krystan, is on the Springdale trail ride. They left Friday morning. She is having so much fun. Barney took our horse trailer with living quarters for her to have a place to sleep. I think he plans to ride a couple of days.

 

Friends of ours were getting rid of their dachund, Dollie, so she now belongs to our family. She is so sweet. She sleeps under the covers and all you see sticking out is her nose. I will have to get some pictures.

 

That's about all for this time. Haven't made anything. Will work on a few things for my next blog. Keep cool and be safe. Jan

CATCH UP TIME!

Wow! I didn't realize that it has been two months since my last post. I have been so busy that time has just slipped by. That happens when you get older! Well, at least it does to me.

Been busy getting jewelry ready for church camp. They called last week to make sure I was going to have some there. This is my fourth year to send goodies to them. Love doing this for the campers.

My granddaughter, Krystan, graduated from high school a couple of weeks ago. It doesn't seem possible. Plus, she turned 18 in March! I can remember the day she came home from the hospital.
Here is a picture of her after she got her diploma.

 

 

It rained so they held the ceremony inside the gymnasium. What a disaster! Too many people, not enough seats, rude officials and the list goes on. My husband didn't get to see her graduate because he had to park off at the middle school and couldn't make that walk, even with his cane. Plus, there were a lot of cars parked in the handicap spots that didn't have tags or stickers that showed they were handicapped. Part of our family were sent to the auditorium where a screen was set up so they could see the program. They got to see the back of Krystan's head and that was it. While I was outside waiting for my husband to come back and pick me up, I overheard some people laughing because they had made copies of the tickets and handed them out to all their friends and family. THANKS FOR THAT!!! The school has come up with a better plan for next year!

 

 

We have a new member of our animal family. We traded for a pregnant mare and she had a colt about a month ago. His registered name is Zippy Big Chief. (I didn't name him) Here is a picture I took a couple days ago. He has such long legs. We are going to be working with him and his momma both. We are still somewhat strangers to them.

 

 

 

Not the best picture. He was stretching when I took this. Sure is fun to watch him interact with our mule, Daisy. Today, she was grooming him while his mom looked on. What a moment!

 

 

I have been taking flower pictures as often as I can. If the weed blooms, it gets a picture taken. Most of these really pretty flowers were taken at my sister in law's house. She has a green thumb.

 

 

 

I don't know what the name of these flowers are. All I know is they are really pretty. These next couple of pictures I took in my yard (before the grass got mowed).Weeds is what I grow best.



On the top and bottom photo, notice the bugs. I love to get shots like that. Once I took a picture of a weed flower and when I pulled it off of the SD card, I couldn't figure out what was in the photo close to the flower. Well, after cropping it several times, imagine my surprise - it was a garter snake. Now, I am more careful when I am out in the yard taking pictures.

 

 

I have one bracelet to share with you. It is a cuff bracelet that I made several months ago. After I got it finished, I went back and added a 3" piece of lace to the bottom edge.

 

 

 

It is very different but I really like it. Most of the jewelry pieces in the bracelet are my mom's. She never tossed any broken pieces away.

 

The red bracelet above is one I made several years ago. It is made from a stretch belt like the one pictured above the bracelet. I took these to Extension Homemakers Club program. They asked our local thrift shops to bring models and clothes to show how you can purchase quality clothing at affordable prices. Our club set up two tables showing how to upcycle into other items.

 

That's about all of the news for this time. I promise to get back on track with this.

 

I leave you with this thought: You have brains in your head and feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. Dr. Seuss

 

Until next time, be careful and do something nice for someone!   Jan









CRAFTING AND WATCHING THE WEATHER

Can you believe this is my third post this week?? I have been so energetic even though I am not feeling the best. Got to keep moving!

Went to bed with thunder, lightening and rain and woke up to rain, wind and cold air. I did get out and take a few pictures outside. I love clouds, so I will share the pictures I took. Also, my Easter lilies (don't know what their real name is) that are once again starting to bloom.

I got part of my thrift shop glassware out and decided what I wanted to upcycle part of it into. I have been seeing glass art in the yards and on tables and I decided to try my hand at it. Haven't glued anything together yet because I hear use E-6000. No, use clear silicone. No, use this. No, use that! What's a girl to do???? I know most use E-6000 for indoor stuff. I just read three blogs that use the clear silicone which isn't a glue. It bonds in a different way. Experts say to let your pieces set up for 30 days before taking them outside.  I think I will call my sister in law, Mary Hickman, and see how she puts hers together. They are in the flower beds at Kirby Manor and are so neat. Mary is a VERY talented woman. So here is a few pictures to share:

 

So what do you think of these two designs. These are for inside use. The second picture is for veggies and dip or candy or whatever you want to use it for. The sundae dish on top will hold your dip. If you were designing these, would you put something in the sundae dish in the center?? The plates have a light blue color to them and I have had them for years. Finally got the tags off. 25 cents each on clearance at Walmart (probably 8 years ago). They have a leaf pattern around the edge.

 

The bottom photo has 3 china plates from France (ooh-la-la) and have small coral flowers on them. The base is a glass globe from Share & Care (50 cents). Then a footed glass dish in the middle and a crystal drinking glass supports the top plate. I welcome any pros and cons you have to offer me.

 

I spent yesterday making chunky necklaces for my friend, Cindy. These are the ones that most are buying for their girls to wear and they sell for $20 and up. They range in lengths of 14" & 16". This will Cindy's first time to see what I created for her craft show in April. Sometimes it takes me days to just finish one piece of jewelry. Sometimes I start them and put them away for weeks before I can get them finished. My brain doesn't always work like it should.

 

Pic #1: This is all acrylic beads. The silvery looking beads in the back are mixed colors of silver, pink, blue and purple. Then the purple and pink beads (they are 30mm). There is also 4 beads of multi colors and they look like rhinestones.
Pic #2: These are red acrylic beads and the spacer beads are red glass beads that are square.
Pic #3: These are acrylic gray and orange chunky beads. I used orange beads as the spacers. In the center, is a big orange sequined bead.
Pic #4: Four shades of green! All acrylic. Sized from 10mm up to 30mm.
Pic #5: Cream and black acrylic beads with light amber glass beads. The two large tan acrylic beads set the necklace off. A slightly different color, but they go with the glass beads.
Pic #6: Two shades of golden yellow. I used only 1 30mm bead in the center.
This is the first time anything has been made with these 30mm beads.

Last thing for this day: My new jewelry cards. I watched a video on how important it is to have your jewelry on handmade cards versus store bought.

Pic #1: These are cut with my Cricut. I bought a tags, bags, boxes & more cartridge last year and just now am using it. I cut 2 pieces out of double sided heavy cardstock (no flimsy paper can be used). The ribbon is a light mint color and has sequin flowers and tiny beads sewn on it. I tied it in a knot then added bling with rhinestones. The small holes for the earrings are staggered. The video says not to make them the same. The earrings are a pair that I made.

Pic #2: Not everyone has a Cricut cutter, so I cut a rectangle the size I wanted, then cut each corner off. Punched a large round hole, fed some purple ribbon through the hole. punched earring holes and added rhinestones. I have hoarded rhinestones forever and decided they need to be used on these cards.

The cards stand alone and they pack easy. There is room in the holes to hang them, if needed. The Cricut is faster and has about 15 designs to choose from.