basket

I've had this little basket for a while... I can't even remember where it came from, but it was probably one that someone was getting rid of, and I just can't stand the thought of anyone throwing away a basket! I used it for a few years for putting cards in when I was a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. Now that I'm not demoing anymore, I have several little baskets kind of wandering around LOL Well, the other day, I was painting something white, and while I was waiting for it to dry, I happened to notice this basket. That dark band has always kind of bugged me, so I grabbed it and painted the dark band white. Hmmm... still didn't look that great. So I pulled out some lace trim and narrow ribbon that I have had literally forever LOL Next came the doilies that I keep buying, but never seem to find a use for. Then a few buttons that have been floating around. And a little chipboard thingie out of my scrapping stash.

I can't really decide if I like it. Maybe I'll just let it sit around for a while, then tear it apart if it doesn't grow on me. The other problem is, I made it for my living room, but I have no idea what I'm going to do with it or where it's going to go LOL Ahh well, at least it's a finished project!

altered tube

Dh and I were out shopping back in February when we saw this pretty tubey vase with grassy stuff sticking out of it. Dh really liked it, but at the time, it wasn't worth the price to us. A few days later I was in Micheal's and saw these wine tubes on clearance for $2. The thought came to me that with a little altering, the tube would look just like the vase that dh had admired! So I bought a couple of them, and a bunch of grass stuff (don't you love all these technical terms I use? LOL) Above is everything in original form; wine tube, florist foam and grass. Dh was pretty excited when I brought it home and told him what I was going to do with it. He put the tube on his desk, with the grass stuff in it, and there it has patiently waited for about a month. Well, not quite patiently LOL Every couple of days dh asks me when I'm going to fix his tube for him.

Today was the day! He was gone taking pics of his cousin and her family, and I was trying to avoid housework as usual, so I thought I would surprise him by finally finishing the project. I decoupaged the patterned paper (from Paper Adventures) on the bottom, then used plain white card stock that I trimmed with fiskar's scalloped scissors and punched each scallop with a small hole punch. I was going for that pretty scalloped tin look LOL Dh says it reminds him of a ladies shirt collar. Ahh well. I love that patterned paper! It's embossed, with a raised effect, and it's just so cool in real life. Wish I had more of it, but alas, that was the only piece I had.
It definitely needs a LOT more grass stuff, but dh seems happy with it, and I'm just happy to have actually accomplished something today!

spring birding and other stuff

It was a beautiful day yesterday, regardless of the fact that when I woke up, there was SNOW on the ground! AHHH! And here I thought it was finally spring... But the snow was pretty much gone by 10, and since I have to drive my dd to another town for preschool, I decided it was exactly the sort of day for birding. I loaded up E and C, dropped Az off at preschool, and hit the country roads. It was pretty chilly and breezy, but we still saw some great spring birds. There were Sandhill Cranes everywhere, and an abundance of canada geese. Highlights were a large flock of American Widgeon (I usually only see them in ones and twos) and a Common Merganser. We also saw a small flock of American Pipits. It took me a while to figure out what they were, because it's been about 4 years since I've seen one, and this was a flock of about 6 birds. It was a while before I could convince myself that they weren't some sparrow that didn't look right LOL The Western Meadowlarks are back, along with the Yellow-headed Blackbirds, American Avocets and American White Pelicans. I added another 12 birds to my year list, bringing my total up to 64 birds since January 1st! Only 36 to go.
The best part of yesterday was just getting outside, after being cooped up for so long! I can't wait for the rest of the snow to melt, especially up in the canyons, so I can start hiking with my cub scouts (I'm the bear den leader, and I LOVE it!). We're going to earn some trail patches this year! And I've gotta find those canyon birds LOL
Today was a good day too. Dh and I met with the people at the university about our second son, E. He has Tourette's Syndrome, along with some other challenges. We're working on a plan to help him, so he can return to school next year. Unfortunately, our homeschooling adventure didn't work out; it was causing more stress for our family than it was worth. So E will go back to school next year, and we'll do "extra" stuff at home. We're excited to work with the people at the university, and help E return to being the happy kid he was a few years ago! Not that's he's totally unhappy now, but sometimes he's so sad or angry that it just breaks my heart. He's a great kid, and I love him with all my heart.
So it's springy weather, and hopefully a new spring for our family!

Easter Tree

About three years ago, a teacher gave this little tree to our family. It was cute, but the paint job on the little ornaments was "dollar store chic", just a little too tacky (and really poorly done!) for me. So this year, I decided to make it a bit cuter. First I painted all the ornaments in pretty pastel colors. Then I pulled out the glitter. Well, the only glitter I had was a "pastel" glitter stack purchased from Stampin' Up! a few years ago. I thought it looked a little bright to be called pastel LOL, but I went ahead and put a layer of watered down tacky glue on each ornament, and then poured on the glitter. I used razzleberry on the pink ornaments, yellow on the yellow, mint green on the green, blue on the blue... got to the lavender ornaments, and uh-oh; no purple glitter. So I just used the dazzling diamonds glitter. Everything but the lavender ornaments turned out more on the neon side LOL But I love it anyway. Just makes me feel happy and springy. And anything that sparkles is pretty, right? So now it's more of neon bling easter tree!

100 Birds

The Bridgerland Audubon Society has an elite group of birders; the 200 bird club. This is a group of people who have seen 200 species of birds in Cache Valley, Utah, within the space of one year. It's my aspiration to become a part of this privileged group, but due to current limitations (5 kids LOL), I won't be joining this group any time soon. So I've set my own goal; 100 birds. It'll be tricky, but it should be doable. I started counting on Jan. 1st, and as of today I'm up to 48 species. Almost half there! Yippee! Number 48 was the Brown Creeper, which I saw on Saturday (see the cute little birdie pic on the right). Brown Creepers are one of my favorite birds, so I was happy to see him visiting my yard.
Today I went to Borders (LOVE all bookstores, but that one has an especially great clearance section) and got a book titled "Birds in your Backyard: A Bird Lover's Guide to Creating a Garden Sanctuary". I've been eyeing it at another store for a while, and when I found it in the clearance section today for $4.99 I knew I was meant to own this book. And since dh and I have decided we're NOT going to be lazy and stay in the house all summer, this will give us a plan for improving our poor neglected yard. I can't wait to plant some of the recommended flowers and put up some bird feeders and houses. Luckily the neighbors have a REALLY nice bird friendly yard, so we already enjoy the spillover from their bird feeders. Shouldn't be too hard to entice a few to hang out in our yard. Just have to wait for all that snow to melt...

"Cherish"

Last weekend I went shopping at the Book Table with my sister. We both bought these cute matte board signs made by Making Memories. She got hers done right away, but I just barely got mine done, due to a case of vanishing modge podge LOL Unfortunately, this is a crummy picture, so you can't see all the fun little details. There is olive and black ribbon on the "c", with the word "home" in black alphabet beads and a little prima flower with a black brad in the center. I had to wash the "h" with walnut ink, since the white flourishes were a little too bright. The "e" has ecru crocheted lace, with the word "family" in black alphabet beads and a moss prima flower with a black brad. I painted a white silk daisy with cream acrylic paint and stuck it behind the "i", with a cream prima flower and black brad on the front of the "i" dot. I couldn't find any rick rack that matched (at least not in my meager collection LOL), so I used my Fiskars corkscrew scissors to cut my own from the same paper that is on the "r". Then I put the word "love" in black alphabet beads on the bottom corner, along with yet another cream prima flower and black brad. I actually painted all the alphabet beads with cream paint, since the letters were originally white, and it just didn't match. I also brushed brown stazon ink on all the edges of the letters to give it a more shabby feel. I really like the way it turned out. I'd like to mount it on a board and then hang it up in my family room, but that's the part that I'll probably never get around to LOL You know, I had so much fun making this, I might just have to go get some more. Mother's Day is coming up after all...