Cooking and crafting

 

This week I have been working on my new project, but I still have a bit of stitching to do. I also had a few  birds hit my sliding glass doors, so I need something to put on the upper half. I found a fun site that has Halloween cut outs, so I made a few and taped them to the window. So far, no bird strikes, so hopefully that did the trick. 

The ghosts are really simple to do and would be great for kids too. For the witch, I cut out the design from the print out, since it was black ink. You can find the pattern and others here at Love Paper.

I also made some Chalupa. I still have some tweaking to do, to get mine right, but it is not hard to make and it tastes delicious. I use mine as a snack and add homemade blueberry or apple jelly in mine. I also used it to make an egg sandwich, so a great bread to make as a treat. You can find the recipe at Cooking Carnival.

I had a new visitor to my yard this week, an Eastern Phoebe, a first for me.

We were able to spend an afternoon at our favorite beach. Now that summer is over, we can park in the private area and we have the beach to ourselves. Bean was loving being off leash and playing in the water.

It is also nice for birding, I actually had a Belted Kingfisher, stop long enough to snap a shot. 

And a pair of Laughing Gulls. 

We also stopped at the park, and I spotted a group of Great Egrets, of course they flew off, the minute I pulled out the camera.

We found more glass at the private beach but Bill found a large piece of blue glass at the park, so that was a fun find. More colors this time, off season is always better for hunting. 

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. We have more rain tomorrow, so hopefully we can get out on Sunday and find some early foliage. 

Friday finishes, or not so finished!

Another slow week, we had doc appointments and it seems the week flew by. The good news is, not only have my eyes not gotten worse, but I can now drive without glasses, so I guess the lyme treatments helped my eyesight too. I do need them for close up work and reading, for some reason that got a little worse, but I can live with that.

I wanted to find a little glass cup for the candles I got in New Hampshire. They smell nice and I want those to burn in my beach room to make it smell nicer and I think it will be calming when I am down there. The room is in the basement and no matter what, there is a basement smell so keeping the room closed and scented, seems to do the trick.

I could not find a candle holder, just wanted something simple and with a beach theme. Then I spied an ugly candle  holder on the sale shelf, it was wrapped in iridescent beads and that is definitely not my style, so I took them off. The were attached with a gummy glue on the bottom and top, so it was still tacky and I was able to wrap some jute around the glass and it stayed on. Then I used a drop glue that is reusable and removable and it held the rusty heart and the rock heart. This way it is not permanent and I can change it out if I ever want to.

For now I used the yellow plate with the rocks I found today. Maybe later I can find another blue/green shell holder to match the other one I found.

While I was digging around the drawers, looking for things, I found an old paper cutting that I made. I made this over 20 years ago and never used it, not sure what to do with it. It is starting to become unglued from the backing. Maybe I could add a saying around it and use it in the new room.

I have also been working on a small pillow as a gift. I found the pattern online from homebodies, but for some reason her site is not up anymore and I cannot find her online. The pattern was made for a charity event, years ago.

I love inspirational stitcheries that I can make as gifts. I guess I will have to try and design some of my own. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

I also want to ask, has anyone repurposed a butcher block table? I have an old picnic table with benches and I want to paint it in a primitive white style for the beach room. I will be using the room as a creative room, so I will use the table to paint on and work on designs, but there are about 16 coats of varnish on it and I am in no mood to sand all that off. Any ideas on how to refinish or paint it without too much trouble and still look nice?

Monday This and That!

I had a slow weekend, no shopping since I was too miserable to go out and I don't like making others sick with what I have. The good thing is, better to get it now, then at Christmas;)

I decided to make a rag wreath and used material that I didn't mine ripping up. I put my two wool cardinals and a twig of berries, onto it and instant prim wreath. They are fun to make and a nice thing to do while resting and watching tv.

The cardinals were made with a pattern by Apine Industriose with a few changes by me.

I also wanted to try some paper snowflakes. I do make paper cuttings and intricate snowflakes and cuttings, but I wanted a simple way with just cutting and having fun. I found a nice tutorial  from First Palette on how to fold the paper for cutting and they also have a section with templates that you can use. The sad thing is, I am no good at cutting this way, my brain takes a turn and I end up cutting the wrong way and messing up, but fun to try. The one on the upper right is supposed to be christmas trees and angels. A good rule to remember is, if you are cutting shapes, cut or draw only half the shape on your paper, then it will come out like a round head, instead of a double bird head. The smaller star is one I bought, it has crystals so the sun hits them and throws rainbows around the room.

Bean still keeps me busy, I have come to realize that I just have to put him in the cage when I need a real rest break so I don't have to worry about what he is doing. Today he was good and took naps while I rested, tonight he was back in high gear. I tend to eat a lot of snacks and Bean loves anything I eat, so far. Tonight we had yogurt and he got a frozen chicken piece as a treat. Nice snack for him to much on and gives him something to teeth on.

As you can see by his face, he ate his yogurt out of the container, good to the last lick.

More decorations and free designs

It was a rainy and windy day today, so i decided to clean and see what new decorations I could make with what I had.
I made some paper cuttings and finally hung them. I had an old wreath and I put that to cover up the big hole in the wall;)
I love the hanging ornaments and if you would like to make your own, you can now get the patterns free on papercutters.info
Look for the link to back street designs. They have the books scanned in and lots of other patterns too, even stitchery patterns.



On the kitchen side, I added some greenery and a poinsettia swag, along with my red candle holders. A nice simple gathering.



I decided not to put out my ceramic nativity, it is a larger set, and I am running out of space, lol. I always put my first nativity up, it is just plastic, but I love it. Sometimes I get lucky and find pieces for it, at the thrift stores. Someday, I would like to make a creche to go with it.

Candy canes and paper trees

Yesterday I hit AC moores and found some fat red and white pipe cleaners.
I grunged them up with walnut and tea and cinnamon and cut them to make mini canes for my feather tree.
My friend joanne made me the tree and tree skirt and I think the prim canes fit perfect with it.



I tried an experiment today with my paper tree and deer. I used a heavier stock and then used antique ink, a tea stain and the green one, to color the paper. It gives a nice look with the color and I have put it on a top shelf so it shows up nicely. I love the antique inks, you can get them in all different colors and they are perfect to antique items. I had to dampen the sponge, I was using, so it blotched a bit. I need to find something better to apply the ink with.

More paper cuttings and a bird ornie

I spent most of my night cutting paper again. These ornaments are usually hung with a string, but I put them in the tree for display. Plus it is late and I am too tired and lazy to string them tonight;) These are from a book by backstreet designs. I hang them from archways and windows, they are great decorations since they are light and can go anywhere.

I also made candy canes. I used red and white pipe cleaners that had a glitter in them. I twisted the two stems together, then folded it and twisted again to get the look that you see. Then I put them in some tea and a bit of java spray which blackens them a bit. Love how they came out and so simple to make.

The wonderful prim snowman ornie was made by my friend, Kelly (Kanknchester).





I made this bird last year, looks great on the tree. It is from a pattern by RK Creations. I used ticking and sewing around the outside edges to give it that frayed look. I buy real ticking and then tea stain it before I use it.

More Holiday Decorations

One of the things I am doing this year, is using what I have with little outside expenses for decorating.
I am actually enjoying making items and being creative with what I have. One of the things I have collected is red glass. It is perfect for holiday decorations. I do have to limit it though, to high places, away from kitties. I made this little arrangement with just a few new pieces of red glass and a candle and it really warms up the spot.



I loved making the trees so much, that I had to make a more elaborate one, lol. Today I made this one from an old pattern book I have. I love how it has little items on the branches. I haven't glued it together yet since I am thinking watercoloring the tree and objects, might make a beautiful colored piece. I will use my watercolor pencils and less water so the paper doesn't get too saturated. For the cuttings I have used laid paper. Check out your local library, they usually have paper crafts and they are great projects to do with the kids too.

Christmas cuttings and carvings

I thought I would show you something new and something old. The first are two santas that I made years ago. One was a cast santa that I painted and the one on the right is one I carved and painted. I am not the worlds best carver, but I do enjoy creating things out of wood. I haven't carved in years, not sure my hands can handle it anymore.



Today I was tired from running around so much and working on gifts, so I took a me day. I made paper trees and reindeer. It is amazing how long it takes to cut paper, but maybe I am just slow and easily distracted;) I made these to go on top of the tv unit, but i had to put down lower to get a picture of them. The glue is still tacky, so once it dries better, I can pull out the trees a bit better. If you would like to make paper snowflakes that are unusual and artistic, check out Daves paper snowflakes. A search will bring his site up. Lots of great snowflakes to copy and ideas on making your own. The trees I made from an old pattern in Better Homes and gardens. I think the old issues had the best patterns in them. If you check out your local thrifts or library, you may find hard copies of their christmas issues.