A look back at 2012

The candle is burning down...it's time for some reflection.

Last year I claimed the word "reduce" for my word of the year. I need to ponder my thoughts on my goals and expectations of that word.

• I have made a small dent in my art and sewing supplies over the course of the year. 
• I've lost 9 inches across my body according to the measurements at Curves but only 1lb on the scale. I guess that proves that muscle weighs more than fat.
• I'm on the fence with reducing the "stuff" in our house. We've gotten rid of some but added others. I think it's a wash.
• I continue to look for ways to reduce the chemical load in our house as well as reduce our waste. "Bigbox" mentality is hard to fight against while trying to stay budget friendly. I'd say we are definitely still a work in progress with this one.

Overall I feel positive about my goal "word" of the year. I think it helped me to have a self-commitment ideal in mind...not just some arbitrary goal that I set when I'm feeling big change is needed...then poop out a few weeks into it.  It could be said that "she's got a lot of quit in her".

All that's left to do is kiss my sweetheart at midnight...or at least before bed since I'm sure I won't last that long.

Have a safe and happy New Years Eve everyone!

 

10 years ago....

We welcomed our baby girl 

into the world. 

Welcome to double digits sweetie!

 

Sit down...

...and stay a while.

Well, only if you're less than 3 inches tall. 

I made this little chair from the wire cage on top of an ale cork. A champagne cage would also work.

I saw a photo of a mini chair such as this a long time ago...put it in my memory...and it finally re-surfaced. 

I love creating miniatures.

 

Blessings

We had a wonderful Christmas! 

Family over for both Christmas Eve and Day.

Laughed lots, ate too much, made a mess opening gifts, played games and visited until my throat was scratchy.

I had to  show you one of the centerpieces from our table. I saw this on Pinterest and loved it. So bright and early Christmas morning I stepped outside to trim some greens from the bushes. I'm sure any neighbors that spotted me though I was nuts. It was 0°F at the time.

Greens in a mason jar...add water and fresh cranberries which are ever so kind to float. 

Drop in a floating candle. Ta-da...

Simple and festive.

 

Bugle Bells

I know I don't usually offer recipes but I am just in love with these. They wouldn't be considered a "work of art" but they definitely look as good as they taste.

Ingredients:
Bugles
almond bark
M&M's

Directions:
Melt almond bark
Dip end of Bugle
place M&M into bark
set on wax paper on other non-stick surface to harden.
That's it!!

Sweet and salty all in one. YUM!!
 

It worked!!

Remember a month or so ago I made soap for the first time... 

It's soap...

It suds...

It cleans...

All that's left to do is some 

pretty packaging.

Coffee Cozies

Just a few things I whipped up the other day. 

 

Gifts from the heart

I've been blessed this week with some wonderful gifts from some wonderful ladies. 

First I got this wonderful little journal from my dear friend Elizabeth. 

She knows I have a fondness for pink, so she was sure to include many splashes throughout.

It truly was a gift from the heart...

Thank you so much Elizabeth. 

Next my mom made a nice big batch of sandbakkles. 

They are a traditional Norwegian cookie. 

The kids are loving them.

Yesterday I met my knitting group for lunch. 

Afterward I was given this yummy plates of goodies for the kids by our "teacher". 

How sweet is that?!? No pun intended.

 

Tea Tuesday?

It's been a long time since I had a Tea Tuesday post...mostly since I always have a super busy Tuesday and I don't often schedule my posts. Likely because I'm not very good at planning ahead. I'm sort of a fly by the seat of my pants type of girl. 

 I just had to show you the teacup candles I made. 

Once again, something I've been wanting to do for a long, long time but just never did...until now.

I'm totally in love with them. They turned out perfectly.  

I couldn't have imagined better results! 

Hooray! Love it when something comes out right!

 

Candlemaking

Continuing one with my need to melt things...I made some candles.

Over time I've collected containers and supplies at garage sales to create some OOAK candles.

This one in the tin is so feminine. It has a nice soft scent...not flowery as the flower on top would suggest. Just soft, sweet and slightly fruity.

For this one I placed chunks of a darker, broken  candle in the glass jar before filling with the new wax. I was hoping for a more dramatic look but what can I say...I'm experimenting.

 

"I like to melt stuff..."

I'm showing my age with that quote. 

Remember the show  

Friends: The One with Frank Jr. 

Anyway...I do like to melt stuff. 

We have piles of crayons. I think they are reproducing in the cupboard. 

I've recycled crayons many times with varying degrees of success. 

Cheap dollar store variety and the free crayons from restaurants contain too much wax and not enough pigment. 

The best ones are the Crayola.

My technique:

Spray mini muffin pan with olive oil to act as a release agent.

Melt in a 230° oven for about 10 minutes. 

Cool completely.

Color.

(I set the pan in the garage overnight to harden.)

Now we have a fun, chunky set of crayons to spark some renewed interest in coloring...hopefully.

 

Flannel Ragtime Quilt

 

In my previous post I mentioned a quilt...my first quilt...that was made nearly 13 yrs ago. Long, long before I started blogging...probably even before blogs were a thing.

 

I made this quilt during little boy nap-times.

The front is warm tones and the back cool blues.

It's a perfect throw blanket on cold winter nights.

In fact, there is sometimes a fight over who gets to use this quilt when we are all watching TV because it's the best one to snuggle under.

 

Sew....

I've been brainstorming some more ideas to use up the things I already have on hand and make some Christmas gifts in the process. 

I had a small stash of flannels from a ragtime quilt I made when my oldest was a baby. He's almost 13 now. I should show that quilt sometime. It was my very first one.

Anywho... with the weather turning colder, flannel just seems right. Something to warm the hands or toes in boots.

Maybe a something cozy for your cuppa joe.  We'll see.

 

Gracie kaleidoscope

Just playing around in the digital word a bit. 

Using some of my custom brushes along with filters and a kaleidoscope plugin I made this....

from this....

 

And the winner is....

Congrats Jean!! I'll email you privately for your mailing address and your choice of journals. 

Cork tree

A few weeks ago at a craft show, I saw a woman selling wine cork Christmas trees. 

I thought..."hey, I have corks...I could make that!"

I changed things up a bit to make it more "mine" and love the result.

I'm thinking I have the start of a tree collection when paired with my Dr. Suess tree. 

 

900th post giveaway

I can scarcely believe that I've written that many posts!
And even more shocking is the fact that you all are still here reading after all this time.
Especially considering that I've been in quite a dry spell lately.

With that said, I'd like to reward one of you for sticking with me by sending you one of my newly created scrap journals.

All you need to do is leave a comment on this post, making sure I have some way to contact you if you are the winner.
I'll draw the winning name on November 27th.
The winner will have their choice  of cover designs.
Easy peasy, right!?!?

 

O Christmas tree

Once again I've been browsing Pinterest

...likely too much...

in an effort to find fun ways to use the book pages that have piled up from previous projects.

I saw the cutest little Christmas tree 

by Jana at Scrapbook Abundance.

(below)

Source: preprostobogastvo.blogspot.com via Halle on Pinterest

I wasn't exactly sure how she put it together so I "winged it" and ended up with this silly little tree.

The funniest thing is that the wire I ran up the middle is very flexible. So the tree wiggles and wobbles at the slightest touch. 

I'm calling it my Dr. Suess tree since it makes me think of something you'd find in Whoville.