• Blog

    Braided fabric bowl

    July 10, 2010 - By 

    I tried something a little different in this attempt to make a braided RUG.

    Last time, I hand stitched the braid together and ended up with a bowl…

    This time I figured if I machine stitched it I might end up with a more flat product. Yeah, not so much… Still got a saucer shape. Oh well. Try, try again.

    I think I’m going to use some liquid starch or something to stiffen it up. I think it would make a nice bowl by an entryway to toss your keys and pocket change.

  • Blog

    Little bits of this and that

    June 20, 2010 - By 


    I’ve been working on random projects as time permits since it’s summer break for the kids.

    I made another cork board. An 8×10 version this time. I tried out cutting the long “stem” off the champagne corks. This posed more of a challenge in the layout. I still have a bag of corks from the giant fish bowl…amazing how many were in there.

    Four cartons of fire starters made from sawdust and leftover candles for our chimenea.They work really slick. Just break off one section and it adds enough fuel to get the fire going really good. Great way to use up those candle bits that won’t burn anymore.


    This time I had quite a bit of extra wax due mostly to a couple of really poor candles I bought a while back. They were both the jarred variety and kept drowning the wick in the puddled wax. Frustrating!

    I decided to try a citronella candle for the deck once I found the wicking and citronella oil in my candle making box. I reused one of those old candle glass jar for this experiment.

    PS…what do you think of my new signature?

  • Around home - Blog - Outdoors

    Flowers all around

    June 7, 2010 - By 
    On the deck, we have lots of pots of flowers. I love the splashes of color.The tiny potted rose that graces our table was given by our next door neighbor when my dad passed away.

    The pink hydrangea was given by some of our other neighbors at that same time.  I potted it this year so I can over-winter it in the house and then plant it in the ground next year. **fingers crossed**

    I couldn’t help myself at the greenhouse and had to buy the Gerbera Daisy.  I have it in a little galvanized bucket.  Love it!

    See the white petunias in the pot next to it. They are some of the ones I started from saved seeds.


    This grouping has herbs and flowers. The super full pot I bought at Trader Joe’s. It has rosemary, thyme and some very dead sage. Oops. Forgot to water it for a couple days. It didn’t like that.
    See the goofy plant in the yellow pot. It’s rosemary as well. I’ve had it for a few years now. It is the oddest looking thing but it keeps on going. So many people I’ve talked to can’t keep their rosemary growing over winter. For some wonderfully crazy reason…mine does fine. Not pretty but still fine.

    Then, of course, we have the volunteer flowers that come up here and there.  My girl pulled this one out from under the edge of the deck. She planted it in our garden box at my urging. We’ll have to see if it lives.

    Going around to the front of the house we have a beautiful azalea bush. I can’t take credit for planting it but I’ll certainly take the kudos for nurturing it over the years.  I had lots of comments on it at the garage sale.

    I didn’t buy an petunias this year. Every single one I have out is a saved seed from last year. I ended up with white, 3 shades of purple and a purple-n-white edged variety. The funny thing is that I never had any purple last year. They were all hybrid colors last year but no multi-color ones.

    Lastly we have the large pots along the front walk. Last year I had giant geraniums that my folks had over-wintered for several years. I just don’t have that kind of space.
    Hope you enjoyed the walk through my yard!