For Unto Us . . .

I like coming up with decorating ideas that serve a dual purpose. Things that are representative of Christmas yet, something that can remain on display without stirring up thoughts of Christmas lights on a house all year. To each his own.

With my limited home time, I've got a lot of house to clean - especially when I'd rather be crafting, painting or reading. Putting up Christmas decorations, only for a few weeks of display, seems to be an inefficient use of my time. But with Christmas I also want to make sure I pay tribute to the birth of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior - the one my God sent to die on the cross for my sins.

For months been thinking about making some of the Bible scripture wall art, Bible scripture subway art - ideas I've seen on many blogs and Pinterest.

This inspiration came from the super talents of Kiki Creates.

I created my version with a brown-black background and white lettering. It's fun to create something like this using so many fonts. It can be displayed year-round as well. I'm even thinking about using a red and white version of this for my Christmas cards this year.

This past weekend I purchased a very nice 11x14 brown wooden frame at a thrift store, complete with a white mat - I'll use it to frame my new art. The 8.5x11 print needs to be reduced in size a tad bit to get the edges inside the mat a bit more, but it turned out great.

Now the recurring problem - to decide on which wall to hang it.


UPDATE: Oye! I've been infatuated with these Bible verse creations. I have now designed my Christmas card (the red version) and another wall art piece. Still my favorite so far, is my first one.








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This Little Light of Mine...

In November 2011, my husband and I traveled to Myrtle Beach, SC for the Thanksgiving holiday week. We had a nice time traveling around nearby cities and not so nearby cities (Charleston) to check out the area.

I enjoyed visiting South Carolina. I loved being near the ocean and hearing the rhythm of the waves each morning and night. All the sights, all the seafood ... love, love, love!

When I go someplace I've never been before, my shopping interests aren't for the touristy shops for souvenirs. I like going to the local thrifts stores - Goodwill is a fairly easy find. 

We went to a few Goodwill stores just outside of Myrtle Beach. The only thing I came away with was this black metal lamp. It appeared someone spray painted it black because they didn't bother to cover the electrical cord or the brass fitting at the top. I paid $3.93 + tax.

Lamp Before

I liked the height of the lamp and figured it would work well on my desk at work. It sat in the trunk of our car the remainder of the week we were on vacation. Traveled home with us and sat in the garage a few weeks. I brought it in the house and took some not-so-good pictures for the before look.

It ended up back in the garage because I wasn't sure when I would have time to get to it.

Lamp After

At one point when I was out and about running errands, I came across a package of acrylic paints I thought would work for painting the lamp.

A few weeks ago on a rainy Saturday afternoon I brought the lamp back inside, cleaned it up and started painting. The acrylic paints weren't covering the metal like I wanted and the dried paint appeared dull and chalky. I wasn't happy with it.

More recently, I decided I would try the bright nail enamel I had purchased for my little key painting project. I loved the shiny metallic sheen the nail enamel left. I dug through my bathroom closet and found some old nail enamel I had for eons - bright red, orange and a copper metallic (what was I thinking at the time?).

I proceeded to use all the colors to paint the lamp, even using the French manicure white to add some polka-dots.

I added a lampshade with chubby little cherubs - and it now sits on the corner of my desk at the office.


My South Carolina Goodwill lamp is bright (and not just from the light bulb), cheery and whimsical - just what I was going for.

Find My Key

BLUE KEY - GREEN KEY

I have two keys on my key ring that are nearly identical.

SCHLAGE keys...spare keys cut at the local hardware store. Both are gold in color. One is my house key, the other my mom's house key.

I kind of know where my house key is on the placement of my key ring. Sometimes, though, when I am in a hurry and select the wrong key - it fits into the key hole, but doesn't turn - it tends to get a bit frustrating. You know...the times when my hands are pretty full, the load is heavy or I need to dash to the bathroom.

Then there are the occasional times when my husband has my keys and can't tell which key to use.

I had some spare time on a recent Saturday and decided I should try the painted key idea. This would give me a chance to try out some cheap, bright nail polish I bought specifically for craft projects.

My mom's house is green, so that's the color her key would be.

My house is brick, so blue would be the color of my key - absolutely nothing to relate the two really, I just like the color blue.

I removed the keys from my key ring, stuck the smaller end into a block of foam and painted - painted - painted (that's three coats). I could have probably gone with two coats, but did one extra coat for durability sake. I topped it off with a clear coat of nail polish.

I thought the color might scrape off as I put the keys back on my key ring, but I was very careful as I slid the keys around the ring. It all worked out well and now I can tell at a glance which key I'm selecting from my key ring.

In between drying of the color applications, I played around with the blue nail polish. I'm not one for painted nails; one, because I keep my nails fairly short and two, bright colors aren't my thing.

I have seen a lot of advertisements for decorated nails. I decorated my thumb nail, left it this way for half the day.

I panicked a bit when I thought I might not have any nail polish remover and I would have to have my nail this way for church on Sunday. Luckily, I found the polish remover and all was well.

Growing Out of Ugliness

We have a Robin's nest in the tree my husband butchered ...I mean pruned last fall.  It's near enough to our dining room window we can see the momma bringing worms throughout the day and early evening - poppa Robin mostly just stands guard nearby.

It's amazing every season I watch the development  of these scrawny, naked, ugly babies.

They are beginning to stand up in the nest, stretch their wings and flap!

It will be interesting to watch their first flights if we are home at the time it happens.

I think this makes us grandparents!

Another Retirement ...

A peek inside

Another co-worker in my department at work is retiring. Her retirement date is March 19, 2012.

A card idea popped into my head ... something about a bucket list booklet and since the woman is a smoker, a cigar box for an envelope.

I remember as a kid I thought cigar boxes were neat. Partly for their looks, but because they can hold "things" ... like pretty rocks, doo-dads - stuff I found appealing.

Front of envelope

Using free graphics from The Graphics Fairy and inspired by several graphics from Just Something I Made websites, I came up with a card that resembles a book and the dimensional box envelope.

Shallow depth envelope

Backside of envelope

I needed the envelope to be a shallow box, since it was made from the cigar box graphics. I only needed a very shallow depth though. I was worried it would be a bust, but with a little Mod Podge to secure the corners and a thin coat on the bottom of the "box" - it holds it shape well enough.

The card has some silly photos of things - a plump male ballerina in a pink tutu, some vintage looking photos of women with tennis racquets and women holding trophies from perhaps a beauty contest ... you know, things you might have on your bucket list.

Inside of envelope

Inside card

This is the second retirement card I've made in as many months. It makes me wonder how nice it would be to retire and spend my time doing all the things I WANT to do rather than doing what someone else wants from me.

Crochet-Beaded Bracelet

 I have a few plastic containers full of various glass, wood and metal beads - a treasure I came upon at the Valley Thrift Store a few months ago.  Someone must have decided to get rid of all the crafting supplies they had, or a family member had piled up. You never know what the story is behind such finds.

Some of the glass beads are beautiful and would be nice as jewelry. I'm partial to the blue beads.

Jewelry making is not one of the craft areas I've dabbled in much. I've done macrame jewelry in my youth, but nothing with wire and beads. I do have the supplies to give it a try ... just too much going on elsewhere to dive in.

Before I stowed away my yarn supplies - my winter craft of choice - I dug out a few skeins of crochet yarn to continue my crochet flower making. I decided to try a fellow crafter's pattern to make a wrap bracelet with some of my favorite beads.

This is what I ended up with. It can be worn as a necklace or a bracelet.

Handmade for Her Retirement





inside of card

Little by little, over the past few weeks, I worked on this card for a co-worker who is retiring at the end of this month. I started out with a simple "open the gate card" - a template I've used before in a pinch. However, since I've had the time to add to this card - layering elements were added.

I even fancied up some clothespins to add to it. I probably should have added magnet strips to the backs of the clothespins. I did attempt to cut a magnet strip off of an old magnet on the side of the fridge, but after I applied it to the clothespin and tried it on the fridge, found it wasn't strong enough. Rather than ruin the clothespins in repeated attempts I opted to leave them "sans-magnet" and added some crochet flowers.



back of card



front of envelope w/clothespins



I don't know this co-worker well, so I suppose this token of my best wishes for her is adequate.

Oh, how I wish I could retire.



back of envelope



front of card