• Crafts

    T Tuesday: after Christmas inspiration edition

    January 21, 2025 - By 

    Whoa…yes, it’s me, two weeks in a row! I had a long weekend with both the MLK holiday and a grading day for school today so I had some extra zip in my step and got another post written. Unfortunately, I still had to leave the house bright and early for an appointment.

    This is what my weather app said when I got up this morning…

    And my van said even colder!! I made it to the appointment and got myself back home where I can putter around the house for the rest of the day working on the crafty bits that I’ve been super inspired to create lately.

    Leading up to the holidays I just wasn’t in the Christmas spirit. This year was the first that we’ve been full-time empty nesters and the appeal of decorating, baking and the like, just wasn’t there for me.

    I’m not exactly sure what it was that turned the table for me but now I’m Christmas crafting like crazy.

    Maybe it was the late blooming of this Amaryllis. Isn’t it gorgeous!?!

    As promised in my last post…here are some of the completed Scandinavian stars. I made a few more after taking the photo but you get the idea.

    I made these scrappy little stars with the offcuts. I’m wishing that I had turned them into a garland instead of individual ornaments.  I might do it anyway…just have to heat up the hot glue sticking the top together with the hanger.

    This load of buttons is the start of yet another Christmas craft. I have no idea if it’s going to turn out like it is in my head so I’m holding off sharing more for now. I’ll likely share the whole process after completion…even if it is a fail.

    Last evening a had some tea. I just love this mug. It’s a good reminder.

    I’ll leave you with an image of my sweet boy, Marvin. This is his morning spot…chair tucked under, tablecloth draped over…secret spot.

    I’m heading up to the craft/sewing room next to play.

    T stands for Tuesday

    What are you doing today?

  • Blog

    T Tuesday: New Year edition

    January 13, 2025 - By 

    Happy 2025! Yes, I know I’m late but that’s kind of how I roll lately.

    I’m starting to write this before work, bright and early Monday morning in hopes that it will get published in a reasonable amount of time.

    I’ve been working a bit in my sewing room, organizing and crafting.

    It seems as if I’ve been doing more collecting of supplies than using them lately. I want/need to remedy that.

    I’ve been playing mostly with fabric but not always in a traditional sense. Fabric journal covers have been one of my recent endeavors.

    I’ve been having fun using my stash and creating “sets” if you will. Everything coordinates.

    I’m undecided if I’m going to open a new Etsy shop or not. There is a big, frustrating issue on the back end of things and I am no longer able to accept payments since my online bank I used was purchased. Etsy is not being very helpful or accommodating. In the meantime I keep creating without an end goal in mind. Honestly it’s really nice doing things that way.

    Since I was sorting through fabric I decided to pull out my Christmas fabrics and make some Scandinavian star ornaments.

    Several years ago I made a handful of them but had to look up the tutorial again to refresh my memory. I’ll share the completed ones at a later date.

    I’ve been writing lists of crafty things I want to try…so many ideas, so little time.

    One of my co-workers brought back these beautiful treats from her trip to India to share with our team.

    They are Kaju sweets made with cashews, sugar, ghee and cardamom. The two I tried tasted as good as they looked.

    I’m still unsettled on my WOTY for 2025. I loved brave so much, I hesitate to move on. I have a short list of words I may go with or I might just hang onto brave for another year. I don’t think there is any hard fast rule…and if there were I’d likely not follow it. 🙂

    I have put together a full journal that I’m having fun making pockets, tags and other ephemera to include in and on the pages. It really is a lot of fun!

    I can’t leave you today without an image of my best buddy Marvin.

    Here he was watching an episode of Yellowstone with me. What I goofy cat!!!

    T stands for Tuesday

    I have a before school committee meeting Tuesday morning. No walk for me.

    What are you doing today?

  • Blog

    T Tuesday: canning, preserving and more edition

    December 9, 2024 - By 

    Welcome to another installment of T Tuesday! 

    Life has been busy and I just haven’t taken the time to post anything. I find sitting at a computer pretty much the least desirable thing lately mostly because when I do, it hurts my back. But I’ll take one for the team today. I’m actually sitting on the floor at my coffee table in hopes that it will help my posture. 

    Lately I’ve been doing more canning and preserving. A neighbor ended up with an excess of fresh food items from an event of some sort and shared hard boiled eggs, potatoes and apples with us.

    I decided to try pickling eggs again since I had a gallon sized bag to get through. I don’t have a picture but you’ll have to believe me when I tell you they turned out wonderful. I even made egg salad with the pickled eggs. So yummy!

    Canning potatoes is something I’ve always wanted to try and now that I have a pressure canner I am able to can low acid foods.

    My first round of canning potatoes turned out great. And more to the point…tasted great!

    I have been using my new outdoor propane camp stove for my latest canning projects. I’m so pleased with it. I have an electric stovetop in the house and hadn’t realized how much I like cooking with gas!!

    Over the weekend I did back to back canning projects in the garage. (Yes I had proper ventilation in case anyone was concerned).

    I canned 6 quarts of turkey broth and 7 quarts of potatoes. Unfortunately one of the quarts of potatoes failed to seal so I put it in the fridge and we had it with dinner tonight…so yummy!

    Getting our pantry/storage room stocked and organized has been on my mind lately. Especially the organizing part because you don’t know what you have unless its organized in some fashion.

    Slowly but surely I’m getting better on the organization end of things. My brain seems to work in a creative chaos most of the time but I am learning the value in everything having a place and everything in its place. At least in some areas of life. Don’t even talk to me about my desk…or craft desk…

    Rewinding a bit to November…I had the chance to go on a couple of field trips with a handful of my 6th graders. The first was an outdoor environmental learning experience…unfortunately it was a terrible rainy day. We made the best of it and I think the kids got something out of the experience. The following day we headed to the MN Science Museum.

    What’s a science museum without a bunch of dinosaur fossils?!?

    This piece of art intrigued me and I wish I had had more time to check it out but duty calls.

    I did snap this quick photo about the piece to check out later. I found it very interesting! I love that the artist used pieces salvaged from the Mississippi River.

    As far as everything else in life… I’ve done a tiny bit of crafting when inspiration hits. I’ve also been listing things on eBay again with 50/50 results.

    We hosted Thanksgiving here as usual and I was very happy that Mini-me was able to come home.  J came over as well as Mr. G’s side of our immediate family. It was a nice way to spend the day!

    Marvin enjoys his “only child” status immensely.

    Since it wouldn’t be a proper T stands for Tuesday with a beverage…

    here is one I sampled with the neighbors one Saturday afternoon while watching some college football.

    T stands for Tuesday
    What are you doing today?