Mothers Day Crafting

Daniel and Olivia (Grandkids) came over the night before Mother's day and wanted help putting something together for my oldest daughter Stacie. Daniel is her son and Olivia is her niece although she lives with her now. Single moms have it rough on Mother's day so I was happy to help. Just a quick digression here...I was a single mom of three kids 18 months apart. There were about 10,9 and 7 on this particular Mother's day. I had worked a twelve hour day and picked them up from daycare. I told them I was going to take a quick bath and then I would help get them ready for bed. ( Mothers Day had not been mentioned) I came out and the whole living room and dining room was covered in Silly String and shredded paper and half blown up balloons and all I wanted to do was cry over the mess.. Instead I put on my happy face and hugged them. Then I put them to bed and cleaned for over an hour..Now I look back and smile but then it was just a "Mom is totally and completely overwhelmed." moment. So back to the kids coming over. Daniel made his mom a Carrot Cake from scratch with cream cheese frosting which I thought was really cool. I did nothing on this but found him a recipe and took him to the store. The writing on the cake is sad, but sweet cause he did it. The cake was amazing by the way..... Olivia wanted to go the crafty route. I had found a couple of ideas on Pinterest so off we went. Lemon Lavender soap in a goatsmilk base. I had the lemons, the soap base she bought with her own money at Michaels with a coupon. It was 5.00 and then we wrapped it in scrapbook paper and raffia. We still have half the soap base left. This stuff is yummy and a quick craft. We decorated up a yard sale basket with a newspaper rose and some yellow paint. Made some just like "Mary Kays Satin Hands" stuff. Olivia went nuts over this. We called it making a potion. In fact she wants to do this for her Birthday party. You just find a cute little jar and spoon, mix the Dawn soap that is apricot colored for soft hands and sugar and fill the jar. You use it like a scrub and it really does make you hands and arms super soft. Our jar is a little on the messy side but she was thrilled with it. Then we put together my favorite craft. I found a little terra cotta pot and saucer at Goodwill. Olivia painted them turquoise and then sealed them with mod podge. We glued it all together with a little glass bowl from the dollar store and added a button on the top. Gummy Bears completed it. Check this out, a handmade gumball machine! The kids were so excited with the gifts they made and Stacie was thrilled. I had a wonderful Mother's day too. I was taken to a wonderful dinner and My son got me a beautiful orchid and Stacie and the kids got me a greenhouse and some gardening things. I have more things to post along with a couple of tutorials but I think I will do that in a few days......Have a Happy Day! xoxooxoxmelinda

It feels like summer already!

The last two weeks have been in the mid to high 80's here in Kennewick. I remember snow in May in Utah and I gotta say, " This is a nice change!" It may even be too hot. I sure like getting to putter around the yard this early though. I still am totally addicted to Pinterest. I look at it everyday and just drool. All the ideas and the things I want to do. It really is amazing to me that there are so many ways to do so many things...From making your own laundry soap to how to's for house repairs and pictures of cute baby animals. I have a hard time with the cute baby animals. I want them all in my backyard. It really is hard to restrain myself to 4 chickens, a big dog, two cats, a bunny and a fish. Sighhhhhhhh. I finished a quilt top today. This is one of three UFO's that I have. I struggled with what to do with the rows. It was a round robin row quilt that Barb hosted. It was Barb, Robin, Jen and Hetty along with myself. The theme I picked was bright stars. When I laid it out I noticed the purple. I love purple, so I bought some purple. Here it is... I love me some bright colors for sure. I think I am going to do a soft fleece back, purple binding, straight line quilting and maybe some orange rickrack. When I get it done I am going to try to find a picture of the other ladies finished quilts and post them, because I am sure that mine is the last one! Olivia and I made a hat for the Kentucky Derby. We just decided it would be fun. I thought it was pretty outrageous with all the flowers. Then we went online and googled outrageous hats....Oh my word, there are some doozies. I love them. We might have to revisit the hat making. She loves to wrap some chiffon around herself and prance around in her hat. When I was a kid it was my moms nightgowns...one of them was cut like a princess dress. Weird I know, but kids are weird and wonderful anyway. While she was prancing we went outside and made some mini greenhouses from mason jars and plastic pots. We had gotten some cuttings from the neighbor and I want to see how they do. Most are roses, but there also is a lilac and a snowball bush. I used a pinterest tip of course. Use cinnamon instead of buying rooting hormone. Way cheaper and something almost everyone has. Now we will see how it works. I played in the dirt, cinnamon and stems and Olivia wrote out the names on masking tape and stuck them on the jars. Some of the plants we knew the names, others she got creative on...I noticed an Olivia and auntie rose among other things....Haha. We had fun and I am anxious to see how they do. You don't know until you try. A tipsy plant pot was something I always wanted to make. I saw them several years ago on someone's blog. You basically thread clay pots on a plant stake. Then I saw someone gilded the lily and painted them and added dots. I looked for clay pots and they weren't cheap. I did find some cheap plastic one in colors {!} at Walmart. So I didn't have to paint them first. I picked black then added some white dots and ribbon then sprayed them with sealer. YAY! Tipsy pots. I like them. Are they perfect? Not really but they are fun. I just have to show you a picture of my feathered babies. They are so cute. These two are Rhode Island Red hens...Named appropiately, Ginger (from Gilligans Island) and Lucy. Guess from where. This is Chip, my favorite. I am hoping Chip is not a rooster because I love him. He loves for me to hold him. Yes, I snuggle my chicken. I am crazy that way. The black chicken is Butter. When he was a fluffy little thing, his butt was a creamy yellow like butter. Hence Butter the chicken who I am pretty sure is a rooster. I can't have Roosters here and having had one before, I am not sure I want one. I love the crowing but they can be mean little buggers. I could lose my lips to a rooster. You know if I forgot myself and snuggled one. Oh well! Have a happy day! melinda xoxoxoxoxox P.S. This quilt is going to become a Giveaway quilt on my blog...I think it is a good way to celebrate my new life near my kids, so stay tuned!!!!!!!

Lots'a crafty goodness.

I recently found Pinterest courtesy of my good friend Cinda. I have so much fun looking at all the creative ideas that people have found on the internet and share by "pinning" them. I love looking at the pictures and being inspired. Warning, it can be addictiong to the point where you are constantly looking and not doing! However, I have managed to "do" a few things... I saw a pin on how to take inexpensive glass from a thrift store and paint it with a combination of glue and frosting food coloring and when dry it looks like sea glass. I love sea glass! Daniel and I gave this a whirl and it really does work! I also found a pin that showed using a thrift store frame that you paint and bow and use instead of a wreath. I went to the thrift store and really didn't see the right kind of frame but I found an old painting and decided to redo it. I wanted to put "Welcome" on the bottom but I hate my own writing. Pinterest to the rescue. Take a dark color of paint and paint where you want the letters. Let the paint dry and then put letter stickers over it spelling out the words you want. Then paint a color over the top that will meld into the background. I used two coats letting the first coat dry before doing the second. while the second coat was still wet I used tweezers to pull up the stickers. Then I drilled two holes in the top and made a wired ribbon hanger...I also used craft paint and a dry paintbrush to blend in the second color I painted. It looks so pretty now. To age it a little bit I used a sepia ink pad and lightly inked it. Olivia and I also redid a lamp...She wanted one for the "girl" guest bedroom. She has had more fun decorating it with me. We had seen a few that she really liked at Hobby Lobby but they were expensive, even on sale. So off to Goodwill we went. We found this lamp for 3.00 and the shade for fifty cents. The bottom of the lamp was already a cute purple so all we did was make fabric ruffles and then hot glue them to the shade from the bottom up. When we reached the top we used a cute yarn trim to hide the edge of the last ruffle. Here is Olivia hiding her big smile. She loves the lamp and we had fun sewing the ruffles together. It was such a quick thing to make that we went back downstairs and made my niece a baby card to go with the quilt and a nursing cover that I saw on Pinterest too... Olivia agreed to be the reluctant model. We put a big pocket and a ruffle just to girl it up a little...These are so fast and easy and I know Emily will love it! If you need some crafty inspiration, check out Pinterest... I think you will love it! Last of all, Judy, I tried to email you but your blogger is set to no reply so write a message with your email included and I will send you an email back..... Happy Spring! xoxoxoxox melinda

Vintage Baby girl quilt. Done!

I finished Baby Lily's quilt and I also made booties and a little fleece cap. It is really soft and in May at the Oregon Coast it can be cold...The quilt is made from a vintage chenille bedspread, retro fabric and the border is a vintage pillowcase. I think this is so feminine and pretty!

Fairy terrarium and The start of a quilt.

Here in Kennewick they have a huge Craft Warehouse that also houses an amazing selection of quilting fabric. I went in there to look for fabric and saw these beautiful Fairy jars. They are like a terrarium, but no real plants. I broke down the price and they were expensive to make. So I started looking for alternatives. I went to Goodwill and found three big vases for 1.00 a piece. Craft warehouse sold them for 15.00 and up. I got moss and rocks and colored clear rocks from the Dollar Store...These were about 6.00 per small bag. At Craft Warehouse, I bought the Fairy, a little bench and the bird. The nest and the eggs I had. I just glued moss on the nest and hot glued it onto a piece of driftwood I found at a park that is on the banks of the Columbia river. I love how it turned out. In my window I have this beautiful lily blooming. It is huge and looks like and Amaryllis except it isn't red and it is blooming now instead of Christmas. Maybe I am misinformed. If you know will you let me know? Today I am working on a little girl's baby quilt for my niece Emily. She is having a baby girl named Lily. I am using retro pink fabrics and vintage chenille from a bedspread. I am using a vintage pillow case for the borders. Finished it will have Minkee scallops and a Minkee back. I am going to make a hat and soft shoes to match. I forgot how inspiring it is to be blogging. I am glad I decided to blog again....xoxox melinda

settling down....

I am sorry I disappeared for a while. I have made some good changes and I am adjusting to a different kind of life. I said goodbye to Utah. Then said "Hello again" to Washington State. I am in Kennewick with my family and two of my grandkids. I have moved so much that it took a toll, I have to say. The hardest thing was realizing that my depression and anxiety followed me here but the kids help so much!!!! Saying goodbye to Taylor was heartbreaking. For both of us. Before she left I worked more with her on her sewing. She made a small fan quilt for her mom. Then I made her a pettiskirt with nylon chiffon. It has layers of ruffles and it is heavy! I swear the thing weighs twenty pounds. It didn't stop her from whirling and twirling though. She also made a denim patchwork purse with my help. We write back and forth..real letters and I send her little care packages and she likes to text Olivia and I. She is coming to visit us the end of June for two weeks and I look forward to it! I have really missed her company and her laughter. The last few months I spent in Utah, she really made it livable. Since I have been in Utah I have got to celebrate birthdays with my kids and Grandkids! My Grandson Daniel is 14 now! Holy cow I can't believe it... We also celebrated my Oldest daughter's birthday. Olivia and I decided she needed a crown and gloves...We all laughed. Daniel won the regional Science Fair and he competes in the State level this weekend. I am crossing my fingers for him. He is so smart it is scary. I also spent some time with the kids at the Oregon Coast. We all drove down for my Dad's 70th birthday. It was a pretty special trip...A little overwhelming but special. Part of me thought when I wasn't blogging, that I would get out more and make some friends but I still am just hanging out at home so here I am back. Spring comes earlier here and I am already out in the yard making plans. I have made some things but no pictures. I will end with a picture of my best friend Cooper and his new little friend and say Happy Spring and I am back. xoxoxox Melinda

Happy New Year and Christmas was AMAZING

Aside from the bus ride, Chritmas was so much fun and I felt so loved and spoiled. Probably the most unusual thing that I got was a beautiful hot pink cuckoo clock. It sounds horrendous...A cross between a horse neighing and a sick crow but oh so beautiful. Seeing the kids was the best part. Big and little...(my children and grandchildren.) I made the most awesomest (I know, I know, it really isnt a word but it fits ok?) prime rib! You coat it in spicy mustard, salt and pepper and rosemary then roll it in rock salt. When it is done you break the salt shell with a hammer. It is yummy.

Here is Liv tracking Santa on the computer keeping me company while I cook.

Daniel and I celebrating in our Santa hats!

Liv and I getting ready to down some sparkling cider! I did get all the projects done with lots of hard work. I literally sewed until a half an hour before I left for Washington! The kids got their quilts.

I made Stacie a new purse.

And these cute Dresden plate quilt hangings that I saw in a BHG magazine..These make up really fast and are super cute.

As you can see by the banner at the top, Taylor and I went sledding when I got back. it was so much fun. I have the skinned knees to prove it. We are planning on sewing tonight and going sledding tomorrow! WOOHOO! Little Miss Tayloree got a sewing machine for Christmas from her Mom. We both are thrilled! Happy New Years all...oxxoxoxoxoxoxomelinda