Idle Wednesday

THIS is the easiest project I have ever done, and possibly the most versatile. Depending on the size of your plates, you can store anything from candy, fruit, cake, jewelry, whatever you want!
The most difficult part was finding the materials.  I searched antique stores, goodwill, target...until I found these four matching plates at Olde Town Antiques, and these great candle sticks at Goodwill which were brand new cast offs from Target.  This Goodwill gets a lot of brand new merchandise from the Target store, so I go there first if I need anything.  Why spend $40 on new dishes, if Goodwill might have an entire box set for $10 (which they did, and YAY!)
so, basically, I centered the candlesticks on the plates and affixed them with E-6000 glue.  This stuff is my go-to for most projects requiring glue. It holds incredibly well, and after it dries (clear) the excess can easily be pulled off like rubber cement.  I have large pieces of pottery that are still being held together with this stuff after more than ten years.  It works!

Idle Wednesday

 A while back I saw a kitchen towel at the store that I really liked.  I remember mom having one like it, and Sheila has one now that is similar.  I love having the towel that is buttoned in place that won't end up on the floor, chewed on by the dog, or piled up in the sink a nasty wet mess.  Silly me, I thought, "I can do that!" so I did.  I went to the dollar store and got eight cheapo hand towels, and had some material in my art room left over from a curtain project I did years ago. I made a pattern (with a brown paper bag) matching the one I saw at the store, and got to work.
Each towel got cut in half, so altogether I ended up with sixteen towels.  The kids were not amused.  I got them to help me iron the material, cut the patterns out, and turn them right side out.  We made a perfect assembly line, right up until Miah gave up out of boredom! Luckily my sewing machine has a buttonholer, so the worst part of that was simply figuring out HOW to do it. Once I figured it out it was a piece of cake.  After sewing on sixteen buttons my fingers were dying, so thank goodness I hadn't been more ambitious!

Idle Wednesday

Finally!  I get to post these! I confess, I did this quite some time ago.  The containers, in three different sizes, came from Wal-Mart.  The Chalk Board paint came from Lowe's, and was pretty reasonably priced.  Laurel and I painted three coats of paint.  If you decide to do this, make sure you wash the lids very carefully.  The paint will scrape off if you aren't careful. I love these jars. there is so much counter space that they don't get in the way, and it frees up a lot of space in the pantry. It's also really handy for keeping track of supplies.  at a glance, I know exactly what I have and what I need.

A Little Q&A (Questions Supplied by that'smyanswer.com)

1. After a long day at work or school (or whatever), what are your favorite ways to wind down and decompress?


 I like to watch my favorite tv shows, sometimes if I've had a really bad day I like to organize a mess that I've been putting off.  For some reason putting things in order makes me feel better.


2. Straight from the bottle or in a glass?

I like drinking from the bottle.  Especially if I am at home...why give myself something else to wash? But there is just something fun and special (for me) about drinking root beer from an ice cold bottle.

3. Have you dreamt of becoming famous? What would your claim to fame be? Comedy? Acting? Writing? Race car driving? Go!

I used to pretend to have my own cooking show.  I'd describe what I was doing, do the playful banter, etc.  I also used to sing into the microphone (hairbrush) and pretend to be a singer.  It wasn't about the famous part though...I just always saw being on tv, or on stage as the culmination of years of doing what you love.  Weird? It used to be...now? Not so much anymore.

4. Would you rather give up your favorite food for life or only eat that favorite food for the rest of your life?

I would rather eat my favorite food for the rest of my life.  When I like something, I usually go overboard and eat it over and over again.  Chili for dinner three nights in a row? YES! but not if the kids or husband are around! (They get bored easily.)

5. It’s a new week, do you have plans or are you just taking it day by day?

This week I am preparing to go out of town.  So that means laundry, dishes, grocery shopping, packing, cleaning out the car, and getting the kids squared away.  

6. If you had to could you drive a lawn tractor to the grocery store? How long would it take you to get there?

Yes, I could.    The commissary is maybe two miles away...I'm not sure how fast the average tractor goes.

7. Let’s talk about Star Trek! What is your favorite Star Trek movie? What about the television series?  

My favorite series is TNG, and my favorite movie is First Contact. IF I were to try to list my favorite episodes, we'd be here all day!

8. Would you ever have your wedding and/or engagement ring reset with either a new setting or new gems?

We changed our wedding set a couple of years ago.  I hated the first set, but it was what we could afford when we first got married. I have no problem with it, since we renewed our vows at the same time, so it was like a fresh start altogether.    

9. It’s Spring! Well, according to the calendar … what three things are you looking forward to most?

GREEN! Being able to read outside! Going home to splash in the creek!

10. If you could assign one of your jobs/chores/tasks/to-do-list-items to someone else, what would it be and to whom would you assign it?

I already do!  Miah cleans up any dog messes that happen, and takes out the trash.  Laurel puts the dishes away.  Both kids help do thei laundry, and make dinner sometimes.  

11. If we were to (collectively) bury a time capsule to be opened 100 years from now, what three items would you add to the capsule?

I would put in an ipad, full of the most popular apps, and loaded up with this years top music and movie hits, and a few of YouTube's Vine compilation videos.  So they can see how stupid we were. 
Then, I would put in a picture of all of my friends in their favorite outfits, and their favorite items so that they can see what we wore, and what we liked.  
Lastly, I would put in our family tree, so that they could find my descendants and give them their family history.

12. What is for breakfast this morning?

Jay has been in the field all week, so I have been eating weirdly.  This morning I had reheated Chinese food for breakfast.

13. What two desserts are your favorite?

I love Creme Brulee, Tira Misu, and that chocolate cake they serve at P.F.Changs! YUM! 

    

Home Sick, again.

I've always thought it was so sad that I no longer live in the town where charlie and Larry are always walking down the road, on the way to or from the square, or where people wave at you, driving in your car, while they are driving in theirs, or where I recognize at least half of the faces driving past me.
Here people drive like they are insane. No one in Edmonton would ever flip you off while THEY cut YOU off, maybe because you know where they live, and you could get them back...
Home is where you went to school with the guy you buy your feed from, the guy who fixes your car, and the teachers who teach your kids. Here you never meet the teachers, your scared of the guy who fixes your car, and who the hell knows what a feed store even is?!
At home, the FedEx guy (TODD!) stops and says hello, has a conversation with you. Here the FedEx or UPS guy are running to the truck so fast you don't get a chance to say "Thanks".

It's The Small Things Part 2

1. The Dobby Pancake dance (see video).
2. Doggy slobber kisses.
3. Ceiling fans,  when you're so hot and sweaty that your clothes are sticking to your skin.
4. Frosty iced tea, in the middle of a session of back breaking yard work.
5. Cutie kiddos at Band concerts! :)
6. Jay making dinner.
7. Being able to hum a song and then hear it being sung out loud minutes later by one of the Miahs.  Usually Jeremiah. 

Idle Wednesday

I know it's been a long time since I posted an Idle Wednesday, but I have been hard at work. This week I'm posting about the bracelets I made for Mom, Sam, and Frances.  I learned how to solder with liquid silver solder, AND I also used resin for the first time.  It was fairly easy for me, but incredibly time consuming.  It took me more than a week to complete all the steps, but it was well worth it.  I liked them so much I made myself one.  These are antique watch cases, soldered with silver jump rings, with antique pictures decoupaged into the cases.  Then I poured mixed resin into the cases to seal them and make a jeweled effect. I spent twenty minutes just popping bubbles.  I wasn't completely successful, but I did a fairly decent job getting as many popped as possible. then it was simply a matter of polishing everything up! I am so proud of these...and was excited to share them! See you next week with more!

More NH Trip Photos!

This is the church that Jay was baptized in.  St. Francis

Simon Pierce Glass blowing.  We got to watch them make goblets!

I love Jay's reaction!

Kelly's sister got us tickets to this show.  The comedian was hilarious, but the acts before him were, ahem...well...lol.

Jay and Tom at Parker's Maple Barn.  Incredible food!

We got to meet Sam (Finally!) and Jays Aunt and Uncle.

Checking out Tom and Frances' model home.  It's going to such a great place!

Our goodbye dinner was at a great Italian restaurant. This is the first time I've ever eaten Italian at a restaurant that wasn't terrible. Actually it was great!

Jay's ancestry fan chart.

I added Jay's photo too.  He would like to point out that this is his last rank. I'll replace it the next time he does his DA photo.

Jay's Uncle Connie's flag and picture.

I realize that Frances seems to be missing in these photos.  Every single time I took one, I happened to catch her at a bad time! I swear she must be related to Jay, because I have the same issue with him! I know how much I hate bad pictures of myself, so I won't run the risk of embarrassing anyone else.  Next time, I will be sure to be more careful!