ANOTHER HOBBY

Well, it's been a while since I've posted on my blog. I got really sick with the lyme again and just now starting to even feel like writing. Lyme is a beast if not diagnosed early and mine wasn't.

This really isn't a new hobby but it's one that I had to give up because of the beast but I'm back at it again. I'm making very tiny doll clothes. Most of them fit about a 6" doll and some fit a 4 or 5" doll. Sewing is something I've always enjoyed doing since I was a little girl. (We won't talk about how long that's been. :) I like it so much that I once owned a fabric store and sewed for other people. Sewing, for me is a stress reliever even though sometimes things don't go like they should.

Here are a few of my recent creations.

LOOKING OLD TO LOOKING NEW

 

Here is a stand that I got at an estate sale. It was given to me and I thought I would never use it because the finish was almost gone. After I got it home I kept looking at it thinking how much I liked it and wondered what I could do to it without much work since I’m very sick with lyme disease. I had some Old English Furniture Polish and it was dark so I thought I would give it a try . Here is what it looked like when I got it. I had already done the top before I made any pics but you can see the difference. The bottom looks pretty bad and the top looks nice after I used the Old English. I have no idea how old this thing is but it sure had some wear on it.

 

This is up close so you can see the difference the Old English made. Now I will show you the finished product that I am proud to use,  thanks to Old English.

Here it is in use. That old thing I thought I would never use has filled up a corner in my foyer that I had no idea what to do with.

I am in no way affiliated with Old English, just love the product.

5 SIMPLE TIPS TO HELP WITH THOSE NEVER ENDING CHORES

I know we all hate household chores but unfortunately they won’t go away on their own so it's usually up to us to get them done. (Well, if your house is like mine.) Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just snap our fingers and they would be done. I’ve snapped and snapped and it just won't work, so I guess I’ll keep doing them the old fashioned way. Sigh!! Mind you, these are all very simple tips and just things I’ve learned along the way that I wanted to share.

1. The first one is….hold your breath….when you’re loading the dishwasher, put each type silverware in it’s own slot, place, hole whatever you want to call it in the rack. If you put all spoons together, it makes it much easier to unload. You just grab the whole lot and put them in the drawer. Of course, the same goes for forks, etc. You get the idea. Now if only I could get hubby to do that when he does load the dishwasher it would make my life just a bit easier rather than spending time sorting the whole silverware rack. I’ve figured out a man is just like a teenager, you can’t tell them anything and them do it. Oh, well, I have no solution for that one.

2. When you’re cooking (which I seldom do) if you will put things back where you got them, (cabinet, refrigerator), as you go,  it makes it much easier to clean up. The reason I know this one is because my son, (the chef), doesn’t do this so that leaves me to do this chore and also the mess he makes when he cooks. Don’t get me wrong, I’m more than happy (love it) for him to cook even though he makes such a mess and doesn’t even make the slightest attempt to clean up so that leaves me to do it. I don’t expect him to put the dirty dishes “ that he makes along the way”, in the dishwasher but leaving the milk out is a whole nother story. I think you get the point here, don’t let a chef cook in your kitchen. ;0) You might think a bomb went off in the flour canister.

3. Another tip about the never ending loading and unloading of the dishwasher. When you unload the “thing,” if you unload the bottom rack first, then when you unload the top rack the water that sits on top of cups, etc., won’t get the dishes on the bottom rack wet. So no hand drying. Yea!! I hate that. I think because when I was growing up I had to always dry the dishes.  Why did it take me so many years to figure this simple thing out?

4. When I figure #4 out I will let you know. I guess I could make up one. Let’s see, don’t let the dog scavenge the kitchen floor for food. Those licks will have to be mopped up. ;0) I hate mopping! Actually, I hate cleaning but I do like tips to make it a little easier or quicker. So any tips would be greatly appreciated.

5. I can’t remember this one because I have amnesia. When I remember it I will definitely post it. Oh, I just remembered one that I used the other day and it has to do with dusting, which I really despise and so does my brother. Must run in the family. I was doing a “little” spring cleaning and I was trying to figure out how to dust the tops of those high round windows. I looked around at what I had and I had a swiffer sweeper and the pads to go with it and I thought, "this just might work". You know, those mop looking things that have the 4 holes on top that you stick the cleaning pad into to hold it in place so you can dust the floor. Well, I never just have dust on my floor, mostly dirt, grass, etc., so they were pretty useless to me, and my thoughtful husband bought a whole bunch at Sam’s Club where you have to buy a case of everything. They have just been sitting here in the way, waiting for me to find a use for them. Well, I did and it worked great on those round top windows because the part that holds the pad actually swivels. I ended up using it on all my window tops and then in the corners of the room to get all those cobwebs. So then I had an “ah ha” moment, those pads would also make good dusting “rags” and they sure did. I just sprayed with Pledge and went about that disgusting chore and they worked great. If you want a homemade recipe for furniture polish here is a link.    http://mindfulmomma.typepad.com/mindful_momma/2012/01/homemade-furniture-polish.html
She has lots of homemade cleaning recipes, it’s worth your time to check it out.

My guess is that I will keep buying those Swiffer things from now on. Those things
that had just been in my way have now found a “forever” home.

Just so you know, I am in no way affiliated with Swiffer or Pledge.

Dolls and more miniatures

So here I am again with more miniatures. First, I would like to tell you that I’m a doll collector, whether it be something already made or OOAK’s (One of a Kind). Lots of my dolly friends are having their OOAKS reproduced and I’m so happy for them. They make them out of polymer clay. OOAK’s are my favorite because there isn’t another one like it. I usually collect the ones that are under 6". I do have a couple that are dollhouse size and I really love them. I don’t see how they can make them that small and them look so good. I started sculpting but got really sick with Lyme disease so never got to sculpt much. I love doing it though. Most of mine looked like little old men so it might be good that I had to quit. :0)

Today I’m going to show you a miniature gift bag that I made a few years ago. I filled it with lots of miniature goodies. Things that I thought a child would like. I gave it to Riley Kish. I’m sure some of you know her. She is 7 1/2" tall and made by Helen Kish, who just happens to be my favorite doll maker. I saw a tutorial on Pinterest that shows how to do this and I will post the link, only it’s for a grown up. I guess to Riley a grown up would be pretty big. :0) Anyway, here’s the link to another bag that’s made very similar to the one I make. http://hellosandwich.blogspot.com/2011/12/paper-gift-bag-tutorial.html  I just made mine up as I went. I used ribbon for the handles since it was so small it didn’t need anything any heavier. I think she used the handles from another shopping bag.

So here’s the bag! I think it turned out pretty cute. I like the bee that I glued on it.

Here’s Riley with a dress on that I made her. The apron part and the bodice is made from a vintage hankie. The rest of the dress is made from a different vintage hankie. I used to sew a lot but illness got the best of me but I think maybe I’m whipping it’s butt now. I’m getting better so I’m hoping to really get back into crafting, which I love so much.

Here’s Riley after she’s been shopping with her new bag. She decided to go green and take her own shopping bag. My daughter is really good about that but I have to confess, I’m not.

Looks like Riley wanted a different colored teddy bear. I think she has plenty but obviously she doesn’t.

Until we meet again!

Look at This! Miniature Dollhouse Aquarium

I know some of you are like me and love anything small or miniature. My preference is 1/12 size and that’s what most dollhouses are. One day I got a wild hair and decided I wanted to make something for my dollhouse (that isn’t even finished yet) that I hadn’t seen before. I thought and thought and this is what I came up with. I had no idea what to make it out of but this is a baby food container and it was the perfect size. I had some of that wonderful fake water and the rocks. I made the fish and the turtle out of polymer clay. not perfect, mind you, but they worked. I do wish now I had spent more time on them. I was just so excited to get it done so I could light it up. I used fake plant life and I thought it did the job. I used the lid for the top and then on the back I have the pump hanging over the side. I was pretty proud of myself at the time. Looking back, I realize I could have done better but I don’t think my dollhouse family minds that it isn’t perfect. Actually, I don’t think they mind that their house isn’t finished. They have all the furniture they need and most of the inside is done minus a few windows. oops! I know I will get around to it one of these days just like all my other craft projects that I have started. I’m sure any crafter can relate to that. Here’s to “Some Day”.

It’s Been A Long Time Since I Posted

I decided it was time to get back to my blog. I’ve been really sick with lyme disease for the last 2 years. It is in my brain so it makes it hard to concentrate but I will do the best I can. Overlook me if I repeat myself.

I’ve decided this will not be just a scrapbooking blog anymore. I love all crafts and DIY projects. So when I do something I will post pics or if I find something interesting I will post the link. If any of you haven’t found Pinterest yet, you really should. I am so addicted to it. I can go there and just look around for hours but then I start wanting to try out some of the tutorials there. I’ve only done one so far but when I can I will post a pic and a link to the tutorial.

You may find anything here. I love miniatures, sculpting dolls out of clay, although I haven’t done that since I’ve been so sick but want to get back into it. You may find recipes here and who knows what else.I love anything creative and anything with fur. (my dogs LOL) I have 3 yorkies so you may hear about them some but I’ll try not to talk about them too much. I also have a 7 year old granddaughter that I love dearly. I will try not to neglect the blog any longer. Thanks for reading if you’ve gotten this far.

I'm Such a Bad Blogger

Every time I tell myself I will do better next time but I never do. I really want to do better it's just that we have so much going on in real life. We have been trying to get started remodeling our house and it just isn't coming together. Hopefully soon we will be able to get started. I'm not looking forward to it except for the finished product. LOL We are going to move to an apartment we have next door so we won't have far too move. Not looking forward to that at all.

Hubby's sister is also very sick and she can't walk. Two months ago she was teaching school and is now in a nursing home. The problem is that they can't find anything wrong with her.  Hard to believe but hubby is doing everything he can to find her some help so that's taking most of his time considering she is 100 miles each way from us and he goes to see her 3 or 4 times a week. I'm really proud of him though for being so determined. I could only wish my brother would do that for me. The days hubby isn't visiting her he is on the phone trying to find her some help. This whole thing has just been a nightmare. Add running a business on top of all this and it spells STRESS. LOL

Anyway, enough about all that stressful stuff and now on to the fun stuff. I have a couple of LO's I did. One is of my 3 little yorkies, Tanner, Zoe and Max. The other one is my granddaughter Cassie. She's so funny. The last time she was here I had a feather duster laying on the dresser and she said, "Poppy look, a dead chicken". I laughed so hard over that one. The next day she said, "my tummy is telling me something". We asked what was it saying and she said it wanted to go swimming. LOL I thought I would die when she said that. I thought she was going to say she was hungry or something related to food. LOL  Little Miss Cassie will be here again tonight and I can't wait to see her.

 

Credits: Royanna Fritschmann for the CU butterfly, flower and doodles. I made everything else.

 

Credit: Tanyia Deskins Spring Fling Kit

 

Wow, I just used Windows Live Writer to add this to the blog. It's so much easier. I love it.  Thanks to Lisa of ScrapDebris for recommending it.

Until next time. Hopefully it won't be so long.