Teapots and Beads - Feathers and Sticks

A few months ago, I picked up a cracked Lefton wheat head teapot. I knew I wanted to give it to my Mom and I knew that I wanted to make an arrangement to put in it. I decided I wanted some French Beaded flowers like the ones that Debbie at Craftymoose Crafts makes.

Debbie's work is fabulous. I would love to learn how to make beaded flowers but now is not the season in my life to do it so I commissioned Debbie to make me beaded wheat heads. Her prices are absolutely wonderful.

Once I got the wheat heads, I had to decide how to make the arrangement. My arrangement is unorthodox but I like it (of course, I always love contrasting textures and elements). I used the beaded wheat heads, pheasant feathers, and twigs.

I will be sharing at these places:

Christmas Gift for a Little Boy

In addition to my parents coming up for the weekend, my sister came up with her little guy (oh, and her husband).

I embroidered two patches with dinosaurs on them. Then I appliqued them to a pair of jeans and a hoodie. Then I picked, and picked, and picked at the edges of the patches to fray them (my Mom helped with this step). I photographed them just before AJ and her family walked in the door. So you don't get a 'pretty' look at them - just an adequate look at them. :)

I will be sharing at:

Excuses and Bragging On My Girls

EXCUSES

I have been absent for quite awhile. It was unintentional and unplanned. So here is a list of excuses.

• Before we left for our Christmas vacation, I photographed a wedding. I needed to finish working up the photos from that wedding.
• I started organizing my house and tossing stuff before Christmas I wanted and needed to finish that project.
• My parents are coming this weekend to celebrate my husband's birthday and Christmas with us and I need to finish gifts and make sure there is a place for them to sleep and the bathroom is clean.
• I feel overwhelmed.

However, I am ready to return to my normal happy routine that includes making things and posting about them on my blog and I hope to be able to return on Monday.


BRAGGING ON MY GIRLS

Last week, one of the Fathers came into our co-op and was talking to the kids about the solar system. He made a comment about the earth being round, then asked how we knew it was round because it looks flat when you are standing on it.

C, my oldest, says "Yeah it looks flat unless you are by the ocean. When you are by the ocean you can see how the earth curves by the sky." The Dad paused and replied "Yep that is exactly how they figured it out."

Earlier this week, I started reading a book called "George vs. George" it looks at the American Revolution through the leaders of the two countries involved. The book is excellent and gives lots of information in a very engaging manner.

It mentioned how both King George III and George Washington were both well above six feet at a time when the average man was 5'7". I knew that Washington towered above his contemporaries but I didn't know that about King George.

My husband and I started talking about it in front of the girls and he pointed out (which the book later discusses) that George didn't speak English and was in fact German. That evening after the girls were in bed we got out Oxford History of the British Monarchy and read some more about it.

This morning, I walked into the classroom and found K, my youngest, explaining to the teacher that George didn't speak English but spoke German instead and that he wasn't from England. The teacher was startled. I had to step in and confirm that K did indeed know what she was talking about.

The photo at the top of the page is me the day of the wedding (it was the day Minnesota had the huge snowstorm earlier this winter). The mother of the bride wanted a photo of me so I handed the camera to her granddaughter. I really like this photo of me.

The other photos are the next day at the reception. The bride was C's school teacher last year. I think the photos of her talking to her teacher are sweet.

stained glass cds

I'm pretty thrilled with how my little brainstorm turned out. I had seen an idea for decorating cds with sharpies that looked lovely. Since I was looking for an idea that would work for kids, I wrote it off. Sharpies smear too easily when working on cds. Then I had an idea to use the paint designed for sun catchers.

Before Christmas I had my first experience with puff paint. I immediately knew how to make this work. The puff paint would be my 'lead' and the kids could paint the design in.

It works like a charm. I am absolutely thrilled with how metallic and reflective they turned out.

I saw glitter glue at Dollar Tree. Three big bottles for one dollar. I thought that perhaps they would provide a cheaper alternative.

I am not in love with the glitter glue effect but it is a nice alternative.

These are simple to make but they do take a little planning and time because the glue drying times are long.

Supplies

• puff paint
• discarded cds
• decorative paper
• drill
• adhesives
• gems
• sun catcher paint or glitter glue

Instructions

1. Drill a hole in your cd.
2. Cut out discs of paper the size of the cd.
3. Glue them to the back of the cd.
4. Use puff paint to outline your design and add dividers for different colors.
5. When the puff paint is dry, fill in your design with sun catcher paint or glitter glue.
6. Glue a gem to the middle of the cd to cover the hole.

I will be sharing this at:

Seeds of Turmoil by Bryant White

Bryant Wright's book gives a historical biblical perspective on the roots of the crisis in the Middle East. He begins at the beginning with the story of Abraham and Sarah and gives his readers a quick but thorough tour of the high points of the history that lead to situation that exists today. In addition to giving a detailed description of the history, Wright attempts to provide the reader with the perspectives of the three world religions that can be traced back to Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

I learned a lot from this book. Frankly, my history is weak in some areas and there was a lot in this book that pulls together bits and pieces of history that the Lord’s been teaching me in the past few years. The history of the conflict is quite fascinating. The religious and spiritual components make it urgent.

For non-Christians this book will be offensive for the religious tone but could still be instructive because the history is straightforward and the writing is clear. For Christians it will make apparent how important it is for us to understand what is going on in the Middle East, to recognize the roots of the conflict, and to know the history that has only deepened the hatred and resentment between the groups involved.

While I learned a lot from reading this book and I found it compelling and eye-opening. I didn’t love it. Wright’s tone and attitude in certain areas seemed arrogant to me and I found it off-putting. However, I would still recommend the book as being a worthwhile read for anyone who is interested in understanding the issues in the Middle East.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Whale Watching

While we were in California we went whale watching. We didn't see any whales but we did get up close and personal with a pod of about a thousand dolphins. It was awe-inspiring. I didn't even attempt to take pictures as I get seasick.

I did however, take a few shots around Dana Point afterward. These were shot with my Lensbaby, which I really should use more often.

Jeremy Fisher Box

Jeremy Fisher is my latest box. I embroidered the image of Jeremy Fisher on beige fabric. I used fabric from an old tweed jacket for the sides of the box and I trimmed it with a denim skirt hem, two kinds of lace trim, and an old belt.

If you want basic instructions for how to transform a tin canister into a custom fabric box like this one you can see the instructions I shared for my Yoda Box.

I will be sharing at:

Book Safes

I made book safes for everyone in California. The books I used are Pride and Prejudice, Swiss Family Robinson, Black Beauty, Heidi, and Ivanhoe. I've read all the books but Ivanhoe. I read excerpts from Ivanhoe while I was cutting out pages for the cubby and I think that I will probably not bother with Ivanhoe.

I am still trying to come up with a better technique that doesn't leave the inside edges so rough so I won't bother with a tutorial yet. I apologize for not having better photos. I shot these really quick before we left to go to California.

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Christmas Day

Among the gazillion gifts the girls got from their grandparents, they both got trunks full of doll clothes.

My FIL. He is the numismatist. He took me to his favorite coin shop which is also a pawn shop and invited me to pick out some jewelry. I got a really pretty silver cuff bracelet that looks nice layered with another cuff bracelet I own. An egg charm that opens and the most adorable ducky pin you've ever seen. I hope to photograph the pin for you and share it.

C loved all her gifts. Hubs and I scored big with the video camera we got her. She walks along shooting everything - a regular video nerd.

C also scored two ulta-cute purple hats. Hubs gave me a homemade gift certificate telling me I could pick a couple of hats when we went to Seaport Village. I had also told him he could pick out his Fedora. So on our last day in So-Cal we went to the Village Hat shop. Hubs bought himself a lovely brown Fedora. I bought a cute brown cloche with a big flower and I scored big time. Before I tell you what I scored you have to know I have a thing for old man coats and hats. I've worn old man coats ever since I gave up on my old Air Force coats and I love old men hats. I found a Trilby for 28 dollars. Trilbies are very expensive. I was thrilled to bits. I think it was a return because there many others like it for full price.

My BIL opening gifts with his son.

My MIL. She took Hubs and me out shopping for clothes. I got a bunch of new shirts, which I am thrilled about because I almost always hate my shirts. Hubs cleaned up in the pants department.