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Archive for the ‘Art and Crafts’ Category

Steve loved birds. That’s all I could think of two nights before his memorial service. As I sat in my house dealing with my own feelings of regret and wishing I could do more for his family, I came up with the idea of making birds for Steve. Bird pins to be exact. My creative mission became to make as many bird pins as I could, so that members of his family and selected friends could wear a “Bird for Steve.”

Strangely, as I crafted these pins, I felt signs of Steve’s presence. Just small silly things. Unable to stop the flow of creative juices, I stayed up late the first night working on the pins. My husband and dog had given up on me and had long gone to bed. The house was quiet and still – just the way I like it when I’m in deep, creative concentration. Out of nowhere a gust of wind swept in from a small work area window and caused a pair of paper wings to take flight. They fluttered all around before landing. One wing was easily found on the carpet; the other was never found. I searched and searched for it and finally sighed and said, “Hi Steve, thanks a lot.” The next morning as I was cutting, gluing, and painting my baby birds, a real bird outside my window raised a ruckus like I’d never heard before. It was chattering and squawking like an irate drill sergeant, which made me smile and say, “Good morning to you, too, Steve. Do you approve of my birds?” And then much later in the day when a glob of super glue was growing on my thumbnail and my back and neck were protesting, a subtle wisp of air snuck in around me and scattered all the little birds’ eyes off a piece of paper and onto the floor, while leaving the vial of beads standing on the paper still upright and intact. “Very funny, Steve!” I remarked sadly sarcastic.

Sixty-seven unique little birds were at last ready for their journey. With wings poised for flight, they all found homes on the clothing of those that loved or cared about Steve. During the service I saw some of the birds go up to the church’s lectern and in my head I envisioned Steve grinning and saying, “That’s very cool.” Just for you, Steve.

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I was born on a Friday and somehow Fridays have become my favorite day of the week. Who could resist a day whose doorway holds so much promise for the weekend ahead? Plus, writing my Friday’s Fresh Five posts are always a fun challenge. Finding those helpful (and maybe a bit quirky) tidbits of information to present to you every week keeps me on my toes and nourishes my brain!

#1 – Apple Flavors
Ever wonder which apple varieties are sweet and which are tart and which ones can be baked with, but not cooked with? Print up this chart and post it in your pantry for quick reference.

#2 – Mosquitoes
Sitting outdoors and enjoying summer evening activities can often be ruined by nasty mosquitoes. Looking for a non-DEET repellent, I found a couple of posts that recommended using vitamin B1 or Thiamine as a mosquito repellent. It seems that after ingesting vitamin B1, it is excreted in your sweat which the mosquitoes find repelling. I guess plain old sweat isn’t repelling enough! I haven’t tried this, yet, so I can’t say if it works for sure and if you’re concerned about adding more vitamin B1 to your diet, please check with your doctor.

So that you can read about this yourself, here are a few links:
ehow
bigtravelclub
mothernature.com
dermnetnz

#3 – Body By Numbers
In an online article entitled 100 Very Cool Facts About the Human Body, amazing properties of our bodies are highlighted. If what the author states is true, then we should be darned impressed with ourselves! Here are a few snippets of information you probably didn’t know:

80% of the brain is water. Your brain isn’t the firm, gray mass you’ve seen on TV. Living brain tissue is a squishy, pink and jelly-like organ thanks to the loads of blood and high water content of the tissue. So the next time you’re feeling dehydrated get a drink to keep your brain hydrated.

The acid in your stomach is strong enough to dissolve razorblades. While you certainly shouldn’t test the fortitude of your stomach by eating a razorblade or any other metal object for that matter, the acids that digest the food you eat aren’t to be taken lightly. Hydrochloric acid, the type found in your stomach, is not only good at dissolving the pizza you had for dinner but can also eat through many types of metal.

By 60 years of age, 60-percent of men and 40-percent of women will snore. If you’ve ever been kept awake by a snoring loved one you know the sound can be deafening. Normal snores average around 60 decibels, the noise level of normal speech, intense snores can reach more than 80 decibels, the approximate level caused by a jackhammer breaking up concrete.

The human body is estimated to have 60,000 miles of blood vessels. To put that in perspective, the distance around the earth is about 25,000 miles, making the distance your blood vessels could travel if laid end to end more than two times around the earth.

#4 – Craftster
Reading the words on a cartoon at the top of a Craftster.org page made me laugh. Unfortunately, this particular Craftster’s phrase, “Save everything – you might need it someday,” describes one of my better known behavioral patterns! What is Craftster? The website explains, “Craftster is an online community where people share hip, off-beat, crafty diy (do it yourself) projects. The term “Craftster” means “crafty hipster” and is also meant to be an homage to the pioneer peer-to-peer sites Napster and Friendster. Check it out if you “save everything” and are looking for ways to use all of your stuff!

#5 – Gracious Living
“Awareness, attentiveness, and appreciation are the energies that light our path toward gracious living.”
~Alexandra Stoddard, Author

Hope today is the start of a wonderful weekend for you!

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As I studied this photo taken in my garden of a Peace rose, I began contemplating on, how like the petals in this rose, achieving peace is a layering process. Whether it be inner peace or world peace, it takes layer upon layer – layers of the soul, layers of compromise, layers of human effort etc. – to collectively achieve the beauty of peace. Not one layer alone can create the same harmonious effect.

#1 – Hallucinogenic Computer Art?
My cousin left a comment for me about the computer doodling site I posted about in last week’s Friday’s Fresh Five!. She said it was hallucinogenic. Well, if that one made your mind swirl, check out this one!

#2 – Mental Floss
I used to subscribe to a magazine called Mental_ Floss, but dropped my subscription because I was drowning in magazines that I wouldn’t throw away. Now I pop in on its website to peruse the many fun articles aimed at tantalizing my brain! Here’s an article called 10 Notable Staircases you might enjoy.

#3 -Paper Roses
On Cut Out and Keep, another set-by-step craft tutorial site, is a tutorial for making handmade paper roses. Sheet music was used in the tutorial and the finished project was very cute. The directions are quite simple. Photos of other versions are also posted. My mind exploded with the possible uses for these roses and the types of papers that could be used for different effects! What about using these roses in lieu of bows on gifts – bridal shower gifts, wedding gifts, Mother’s Day gifts? Make these roses larger or smaller – the size is dictated only by the size of the hearts you cut out for petals. How about using Chinese newspaper for an Asian flair? To make cutting out the hearts/petals easier, I would recommend tracing around heart-shaped cookie cutters or using paper punches.

#4 – What About This? Subscriptions
I’ve been asked by many people about ways they can receive What About This? regularly. I certainly appreciate the dedicated followers of my blog! Thank you all so much! I’ve listed a few options below for you to choose from. If you have any problems with any of the options or have followed the steps and still do not receive What About This? in your email, please feel free to contact me.

A. On my homepage on the upper right column is a box with “Subscribe and Get Email Updates!” Click on the link/small green words that say, “Subscribe to What About This? by Email.” That will take you to a window where you will type in your email address and a cryptic word. Click on the “Complete Subscription Request” button and you are done.

Or . . .

B. Email me with the subscription address(es) that you want W.A.T? sent to and I will submit the information for you.

Or . . .

C. Email me and ask me to put you on my mass mailing list, so that you will receive an email from me with a link to W.A.T? every time a new post is added.

#5 – Something to Ponder

If you woke you this morning with more health than illness, you are more
blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of
imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are
ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest,
torture, or death, you are more blessed than
three billion people in the world.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead,
and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish
someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.

If your parents are alive and married, you are very rare.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful,
you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

If you can hold someone’s hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder,
you are blessed because you can offer a healing touch.

If you can read this message you’ve just received a double blessing in that
someone was thinking of you, and furthermore, you are more blessed than over
two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

Have a good day, count your blessings, and pass this along to remind
everyone else how blessed we all are.

Copied from Poetic Expressions, WWW.POETICEXPRESSIONS.CO.UK

Have a peaceful weekend!

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There are always so many reasons to celebrate life, but this weekend is special. My youngest child celebrates her 21st birthday today and I feel so blessed that she has become such an extraordinary adult.  And when I count my blessings, I always include the amazing men in my family. Today’s post is dedicated especially to my dad and my husband, and to all the fathers who work hard, sacrifice a lot, and love beyond measure.

#1 – Top Ten Father’s Day Gifts
Weigh AskMen.com‘s top ten Father’s Day gift suggestions against gift suggestions from What About This?:

1. Landscaping services versus Go to the park or work in the garden with your dad
2. Sports tickets versus Playing his favorite sport with him
3. Meat versus Prepare your dad a tasty and nutritious meal
4. Driving gloves versus Plan a nice drive or day trip with him
5. Wine versus Take him wine tasting
6. Leather wallet versus Create a digital inventory of his valuable personal property for him
7. Set of golf clubs versus Play a round with him, go to the driving range, play miniature golf
8. Fishing gear versus Take him fishing
9. Alcohol versus A nice dinner out together
10. Grilling tools versus Clean his grill for him

You get my drift. Spending time and doing is better than buying.

#2 – Power Breakfasts
Menshealth.com has an article called “Abs Diet Super Bowls” that caught my attention because the ingredients listed in its “Honey, I Shrunk My Gut” bowl are similar to those I eat for breakfast every morning! Check out these recipes and please, no wise cracks about my gut!

#3 – Graduation Thank You Cards
I make my own thank you cards using photos that I take and card stock. Here’s an idea for graduation thank you cards: Print photos of the graduate or of some aspect of the graduation ceremony (hats thrown in the air, close up of the diploma, family photo at graduation, etc.) and using either double stick tape or glue that is photo safe, adhere it to a piece of 8.5″ x 5.5″ card stock folded in half. That would be a sheet of 8.5 ” x 11″ card stock cut in half. Personalizing the card with a photo makes the thank you card extra special for those who could not be there for the celebration or have not seen the graduate in a while. Envelopes can be purchased at any office supply or paper goods store.

#4 – You Peel Tomaaaato, I Peel Toooomato
To peel tomatoes (peaches, and plums, too):  Wash and remove any stickers. Gently remove the stem. With a paring knife, cut a small, shallow “x” on the bottom. Plunge the tomato into boiling water for about 15 – 25 seconds, then put it into a bowl of ice water to cool. After it’s completely cooled, wipe it dry and gently peel off the skin.

#5 –  A Father’s Greatest Gift
“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.” -Jim Valvano-

Have a joyful weekend and a happy Father’s Day wish to all those wonderful dads out there!

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Because I’ve done some posting about Mother’s Day – table decorations and recipes, thus far – I’m sure I’ve made my children a little nervous. They are probably wondering what my expectations are for the day and are probably pondering what to do for their dear old mom. Not! But anyway, I thought I would give them a little help. If you are reading this, my darling children, I really have no expectations for the day. I’ll be happy as long as you remember Mother’s Day and you give me a call. However, if, by any chance, one of you buys me a gift card for Mother’s Day, here’s a cute way to wrap it!

To make this gift card holder you will need:

*Paper for template
*Heavy colored paper
*Ruler
*Scissors
*Pencil, stylus, or small knitting needle
*Double-stick tape
*Rubber stamp, optional
*Ink pad, optional
*Sticker or a punch-out

Directions:
1. Click on the photograph of the template at the bottom of the page and the image should become enlarged.
2. Print out this image.
3. Cut out the image to create a template.
4. Put the template on the colored paper and trace around it lightly with a pencil.

5. Do not remove the template from the paper. Line up the ruler along a row of dotted lines and run the stylus against the ruler to score the fold lines. Repeat this with the other three rows of dotted lines.

6. Cut the card holder out of the colored paper.

7. If desired, you can write something, stamp a sweet saying, or place a sticker in the center square. This will not be revealed until the gift card is removed.

8. Fold along the scored lines.

9. Using double-stick tape, adhere the gift card to the large center square of the card holder.

10. Fold the sides of the card holder to the center, overlapping as you go. None of the side panels should completely show if folded correctly.

11. To keep panels down, secure with a sticker or a punch-out that has double-stick tape on the back.

12. Give it to your mom and give her a kiss, too!

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The old song goes, “A tisket, a tasket, a green and yellow basket . . .” except in my case the baskets were pearlized baby blue. For Easter dinner I wanted to make something special for each of my guests, so I searched the internet and found a project on AllFreeCrafts.com. I made cute little paper baskets, filled them with my favorite chocolate Cadbury Mini Eggs, and placed one basket at each place setting on the dining table. Because they are easy to make, I thought they could make sweet flower-filled Mother’s Day Brunch favors as well.

Supplies you will need to make these baskets:

*Stiff paper – construction paper or card stock
*Pencil,  embossing tool, or a small point knitting needle
*Ruler
*Scissors
*Hole Punch
*Brad fasteners
*Candy or tiny flowers (in which case you’ll need plastic condiment cups, too)

Instructions:

To make a template, measure and draw a 4-1/2″ square on stiff paper. Divide the square into nine equal squares with your pencil and ruler. Round off each corner with your scissors. Measure and cut out a handle template that is 6″ long by 5/8″ wide. Using your ruler as a straight edge, score the lines that form your nine-square grid. To do this place your ruler on a vertical line and run the embossing tool down the line. Repeat with the remaining vertical line and the two horizontal lines. Now fold the template along these lines.

Place your template on top of your paper and trace around it with a pencil or an embossing tool. I favor the embossing tool because it does not leave any marks that have to be erased later. It only leaves indentations. If you have a fine point knitting needle, this could be used as well. Repeat the procedure for the handle.

Do not remove the template. To score your basket so it can be folded, carefully place your ruler on top of your template and paper (make sure template and paper are lined up according to your tracing) along one of the vertical lines. Fold back the template along the rulers edge, and run the embossing tool down the edge. Repeat procedure on the remaining vertical line and two horizontal lines.

Cut the rounded-square and the handle out. Cut two slits along the center top and center bottom squares.To form one side of a basket, fold two round edges over a center square until they overlap. Punch with a tiny hole punch or fat needle through the three layers. Also punch a hole into each end of the handle making sure your you’ve left at least 1/4″ of paper at the end.

Again fold two round edges over the center square, lining up the holes. Now insert one end of the handle in between the center square and the overlapping rounded ends. Line up the holes and stick a brad in securely. If you do not have mini brads, you could use a staple and then cover the staple with a sticker. Repeat the procedure for the other side of the basket and handle.

Either fill the completed basket with candy or put a disposable plastic condiment cup in the basket. Fill the cup with a little bit of water and arrange some tiny flower stems in it.

Little baskets of flowers would also be very pretty additions to a bridal shower table-scape. Vary the paper or even enlarge the template to make larger baskets. Only your imagination limits you as to how these little baskets can be used!

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Building walls to exclude others is something people do to protect themselves. Emotional walls are constructed the same way as physical walls: brick by brick, slat by slat, or incident after incident. To protect our hearts from further hurt or abuse, we build up emotional walls and once erected they can be very hard to tear down.

Rejection is a tough emotion to deal with, especially if it is repeated throughout life. I have a friend who has dealt with these issues and builds walls as a result. Thinking about my friend and her upcoming birthday, I thought, “What about designing an affirmation necklace for her?” In January I wrote a post about affirmations and the making of affirmation necklaces for my nieces for Christmas.

The most difficult aspect of designing these necklaces occurs before I pick up a single silversmithing tool. It requires a lot of brainstorming to distill the feelings into thoughts and then to transform the thoughts into three little words.

For my friend I chose these words, “Walls Have Doors.” Although she may build walls, she must remember that walls have doors, too. She ultimately holds the keys to her doors; she chooses who she shuts out and who she lets in.

I designed her necklace to allow her to wear this affirmation with a modicum of privacy.

I placed a sterling silver leaf over the affirmation word charm. This way, she can wear the necklace without a lot of people questioning the meaning of the words. A wonderful thing about the leaf charm is that stamped on the reverse side of it are the words, “Love Life.”

I don’t know if she will ever wear the necklace or not, but I think it has given her food for thought and a bit of joy. For me, the whole thought process gave me pause to reflect. Have I built any emotional walls and if I have, do my walls have doors?

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My last post was all about Valentine’s cookies, but this coming Sunday, February the 14th, is not only Valentine’s Day, it’s also the first day of the Chinese new year 4707. According to the L.A. Times, “This is a rare convergence — it’s only the third time since 1900 – and it won’t happen again until after 2030. Added to that, it’s the year of the Tiger, which traditionally symbolizes great passion.”

So why not celebrate both passion-filled holidays at the same time? Here are a few ideas for ways to incorporate these two distinct holidays into your upcoming holiday meal planning and table decorating:

1. Using Paula Deen’s recipe make your own fortune cookies and fill them with romantic fortunes. Even better, whether homemade or store bought, dip the ends of fortune cookies into melted chocolate, then dip into toppings of your choice such as Valentine-colored sprinkles, chopped nuts, coconut shavings, or finely chopped white chocolate. Let cool. Serve for dessert.

2. Decorate Chinese take out boxes with stickers or use rubber stamps and emboss the boxes. Place one at each place setting and serve fresh salad or delicious pasta inside of them. Stick in a pair of chopsticks and you’re good to go!

3. Make Chinese fortune cookies out of felt a la Martha Stewart and tuck Hershey Kisses and personalized fortunes into them. Scatter these on the dining table, place them in a bowl, or use them as party favors.

4. Use rice in your candlescapes by arranging candle pillars on a platter and pour and smooth white rice around them.

5. Set your table with napkins folded to resemble fortune cookies.

Materials Needed:
Solid-colored light brown or tan-colored cloth napkins
Paper strips and pens or computer printed fortunes

How to Fold Fortune Cookie Napkins:
A. Place napkin completely flat, right side down on an even surface.

B. Bring lower edge up about one third of the napkin height.

C. Fold down the top of the already folded napkin so that the top third of the napkin covers the bottom third. You should have a rectangle at this point.

D. Hold your thumb at the center top of the rectangle and fold the right half under itself and pull down so it extends about 3 inches below the edge of the rectangle.

E. Repeat a mirror image fold with the left half.

F. Fold up each of the two corners of the left tail so that they meet at the base of the large triangle and form a new triangle with the point at the bottom. Repeat with the right tail.

G. Fold the left tail up so that it touches the top point of the large triangle and creates a rectangle.

H. Fold the rectangle in half to form your fortune cookie. Turn it over so that the slit side is up. Place “giant” paper fortunes in them.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

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If you could only pass on three words of advice to your child, what would you say? Last fall a silver charm at a craft fair caught my eye. It very simply read, “Spread Joy.” With a blog tag line of “sharing and encouraging joy in life,” this charm was meant to be mine. I put it on a chain and started wearing it as an affirmation of what I was trying to accomplish in life.

According to Wikipedia, “Affirmations in New Age and New Thought terminology refer primarily to the practice of positive thinking – fostering a belief that ‘a positive mental attitude supported by affirmations will achieve success in anything.'” More simply put, an affirmation is a positive thought that you keep in your mind and the more you think about it and believe in it, the more likely it will happen.

I thought about buying my daughter a charm, too, but what words or saying would inspire her? One thought lead to another until the idea grew into, “What about making one-of-a-kind affirmation necklaces for her as well as six of my nieces for Christmas?”

To do so I needed a little help. I asked each of my sisters-in-law to come up with words of advice that she would like to pass on to her daughter(s). The moms had no idea why I needed these words. I felt that if I told them it was for a piece of jewelry, it would cloud their word selection. The exercise proved to be challenging, because it forced the moms to reflect on the unique qualities of each daughter and to choose from their life’s book of wisdom one concept to distill into a mere three words. Of course, it didn’t help that I presented them with this assignment during the hectic holiday season! In different forms, they all managed to give me food for thought.

My husband, my daughter, and I spent an evening interpreting and shortening the mothers’ information, until we were satisfied we had captured the essence of what each was trying to convey to her daughter(s). That was the difficult part of the necklace-making project.

The easy part came next. My husband and I cut pieces out of a sheet of sterling silver, filed the edges smooth, hand stamped each letter of every word, oxidized, punched holes, and polished them. The stamped affirmation charms along with other specially selected charms were attached to chains and a loving letter of explanation was written to accompany each necklace.

What three words did I choose for my daughter? After a little thought, the words came easily to me. In Amy Tan’s book The Joy Luck Club there is a recurring theme: Know Your Worth. These are words I want my daughter to carry in her heart – she must never undervalue herself in any relationship or in any circumstance in life.

When all seven of these young ladies wear their affirmation necklaces, I hope they’ll believe in the positive power of the words written on their charms and that they appreciate the wisdom of their mothers.

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Crystal snowflakes sparkle as they dangle from chandeliers, Santa guides his sleigh from high above his lookout in the family room, and Christmas fairies gently perch on the mantle above the stove top to supervise holiday cooking. My home seems to come alive during the holidays.

One of the first things I rush to decorate every year is my kitchen tree. It’s a small tree that stands near my bookcase of cookbooks and it’s covered with measuring spoons and measuring cups, cinnamon hearts and gingerbread men, cookie cutters tied with ribbons, and cookie dough ornaments. It’s a happy, homey-type of tree.

Some of my fondest memories are centered around Christmas trees. As a young child I remember stringing the giant and hot Christmas lights around and around the tree and then throwing the lead tinsel up in the air and watching it land on little precipices of evergreen.

Then when I got married, a Christmas tree became a luxury item, because we lived off of my meager salary while my husband was in graduate school. We bought a tree to decorate – it was only a three-footer, but it was our first three-foot tree! And amazingly enough, when we stood it on a crate it became a five-foot giant! With no money for ornaments, I remember crafting my own out of dough, wood, and whatever material I could find cheaply. For the garland, I patted myself on the back for cleverly thinking of stringing foam packing peanuts on dental floss. From far away my garland really did resemble strands of popcorn.

With the birth of each of my children came new tree decorating traditions. Every year I purchased an ornament for each child that represented some milestone in his life for that year. Our family tree has become filled with Sesame Street characters, Disney characters, unique child-crafted ornaments made from pine cones, macaroni, toilet paper rolls, etc., dog-related ornaments, sports-related paraphernalia, ornaments picked up from our family vacations, school mascots, symbolic ornaments such as cars (representing driver’s licenses) and mini beer steins or mini champagne bottles (celebrating 21st birthdays). You name it and we probably have it on our tree! As old as my kids are now, they still ask me what their ornament for the year is and I have to admit it is getting more difficult to find those special ornaments that represent significant moments in their adult lives!

Would I trade my family’s memory tree filled with rag-tag, random ornaments for a designer tree? Never in a million years! When I first decided to have a tree like this for our family, my thought was that as each child grew up and finally had a home of his own, he could take his childhood collection of ornaments with him. Hopefully, as he reflects on his ornaments, each child will remember the happy moments in his life and the love our family shares.

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