paisley anna

We welcome another beautiful granddaughter into our hearts and lives.

Paisley Anna joined this world last Monday and we can't wait to meet her!

Love you little one.

wooly trees

Do you ever have a thought of doing something and then it just takes off in sort of a different direction with almost the same end result?

I had a serious yen to make feather trees. I watched YouTube videos galore and decided that maybe I could do something similar but without feathers. I happened across this site and fell in love. Seriously in love. I attempted to purchase one kit and then was going to make all kinds of trees. They were sold out. And then .... they were changing the kit and upping the price. I still would have purchased one but they weren't available yet and I had a yen!

So, I came up with my own measurements after watching their tutorial only about 100 times or so. I picked up felted wool kind stuff from JoAnn Fabrics and started playing. The wool cutting wasn't a big deal. The wire? Now, that is an entirely different story. The gentleman at the shop estimated the gauge of wire that was used. I tried it and didn't like the way it bent. I went with a thinner gauge wire and doubled them. 

I started doing these by hand. Twisting two pieces together. And then my brain clicked. I have a son-in-law who makes coils for those smokeless tobacco things. The same concept worked here. Hold the ends with some needle nose device, stick the other ends into the drill and wham! Desired result is accomplished.

 I'm pulling photos off my phone and they're rather sporadic at best. I made these wires ... LOTS of them .. and placed them in individual ziploc bags which were labeled. That was first. If you try this ... make sure you keep sizes separated to make the project easier.

After all the wires were done, I moved on to twirling cut felt onto each of them. If you happen to live in Phoenix, this makes great summertime activity when it's too hot to do anything but sit on your tush in the recliner. Glue and twirl ... lots of that action.

Glue, twirl, glue, clothespin to dry for a few minutes and on to the next hundred or so!

As I went through each size, and they were appropriately not tacky, I placed each in a bag. A little bookkeeper still lurks in my soul somewhere.

When each of the individual branches was done, it was time to attach them to the dowel with floral tape and make it look like a tree! This was the first one I did. My goal was to make about half a dozen of them. Well ... I started twirling and then I twirled some more and pretty soon I was out of control. Completely.

So worth it!

Special thanks to the people at Sarafina Fiber Art. If I am ever fortunate to make it to Maryland ... I'm stopping by!

one thing at a time

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.

- Vincent Van Gogh

I have the cutest little journal this year. Well, the journal may not be so cute but I think the doodles and colors are cute. I like the idea of celebrating accomplishments each week ... celebrating little ones. The power of the little checked off box.

I thought when I started it that I could easily accomplish the goals I had set. They were completely realistic in my opinion. What was I thinking?!

Here I am ... on week three ... and the page for this week is missing some of its possible color. I'll share little bits of the journal later, but one goal I have for this year is organization. That means cleaning out stuff. That means cleaning out stuff before other duties interfere with the cleaning. I thought I could fill box upon box and haul it off to a donation spot. One needs to be home to do that and is especially helpful if one feels good. Seriously helps. So far this year has not been conducive to that. It's bound to get better I'm sure.

Alyx was over the other day and I unloaded things on her. Several things left the house that I no longer need. My flour canister was among those things. I don't buy flour in 25 pound bags anymore. I rarely make bread and, if I do, it is one loaf of something. So I downsized to something that I think will hold 10 pounds. The big bad bread bowl that I haven't needed or used for years?  Not sure I'm ready for that to leave so it might be on a goal list for 2019. We shall see.

At least one thing left the house this week!

And I hauled in at least 5 things to replace it. Go. Figure.

file drawer desk

Not only have we done our share of traveling. I spent months upon months working on craft stuff again this year for our Desert Bloom Market. The Market falls on the Saturday before Thanksgiving and is such a fun time!

I picked up these pieces off of a online garage sale type site more than a year ago. They took up space in the garage until this fall when they finally came together. Two sets became night stands of which I don't have photos. This one tho' was kind of fun.

After finally figuring out what I wanted to do with them, they needed some dismantling. The file label metal things on the front had to come off. I hunted high and low for an idea of how I could keep them but had no success. Off they came after hubby helped me figure out how that was going to happen.

Fill that dumpster!

Notice there are different colors and combinations. Not cool.

I probably have some photos hidden somewhere deep in the inner workings of my computer or phone, but who knows where. A desk it became!

Two sections of the drawers were sanded and then spray painted with chalk paint. I do love that stuff. 

But first they needed somewhere to live. I recycled a table top and made it into a box where I could just slide in the file sections. To make sure they would stay there I attached a piece of wood to the back of each with some good old liquid nail. It shouldn't move. Ever.

The drawer fronts were a challenge as well. The screw holes for the new drawer pulls didn't match with the old ones. In fact, they were way out there off somewhere. Pieces of thin board (actually purchased in a package from Hobby Lobby) were sprayed black and covered those holes.

The base and legs of the table are made from 2x2s and painted black again. Honestly, after doing the side pieces I decided that the back didn't really need the cross pieces. I'll try it again sometime, but wow!

What a great feeling to get a pile of stuff out of the house and turn it into something that I wouldn't mind keeping for myself!

I'll dig through the archives and see what else I can find to share with you! In the meantime, happy crafting/building/refurbishing .... whatever it is you like to do. Enjoy!

It's a new year!

It's a new year.
New goals.
New dreams.
New ideas.
New plans.

Renewed optimism. To. Blog.

You readers faithfully keep popping back here to check if there is anything new and alas .... the slate is completely blank.

I really can't figure it out.
How the dickens can it be busier now than at most other points in my life?
How can there not be time to sit quietly and share what I'm up to?

Maybe because it is taking longer to get to things.
The many things I'm getting to are taking longer to get done.
I'm working more which is a huge time taker.

And we're out having fun.
Working hard so we can play hard.
Something like that.

So the new year comes with a goal to see if I can do this again.
If by the end of the year it hasn't worked out ... I'll bid this stage of my life goodbye and move on!

Did I say we've been playing?
I thought about trying to figure out how many air miles we logged this year collectively.
Sounds like way too much work.
It was many.

One of those very special weekends happened in October.
My dear dad turned 80 and we jetted off to Minnesota for the weekend.
(It happens to be a frequent destination for us by the way.)

After spending the night in the cities (surprise of red carpet treatment!!) we had breakfast in Howard Lake. Ran into someone we hadn't seen for years. Like many umpteen years! On to Litchfield to have coffee with Mummu and Pappa. Oh but these visits are precious. Often short but so precious.

Coffee was drank and we hit the road again. Next stop: Park Rapids to have a hospital visit with my dear godparents, Harry & Audrey. Harry was determined to get home in the next few days as he wanted to spend his 90th birthday at home! Can't blame him!

We spent the night in Menahga and then put some more miles on the next morning. Headed to my home stomping ground on the Iron Range.

This picture is sort of my life. The leaves in the southern part of the state were so awe inspiring that one couldn't do anything but look out the car window and soak it all in. The trees up north were a bit more bare ... but golden nonetheless with splashes of white whizzing by.

We combined a Haapaniemi reunion with dad's 80th birthday. There hasn't ever been such a reunion and it was fun to put pieces of the family tree together. Fun to see people I hadn't seen for a very long time. Fun to fill in the spaces with little known facts. Sadly, there were many missing. The ones that were there enjoyed reconnecting.

Our parents have honored each child's 40th birthday with 40 gifts. We sort of figured it would be fitting to celebrate this one with 80 gifts! Some useful, some edible, some cash etc. Was fun! Old friends and neighbors were invited to the birthday part of the bash. Oh my gosh! Time just marches on and we are so blessed to have people in every piece of our lives who are so dear.

We were trying to figure out where to spend Saturday nite as we had plans to be in Brainerd Sunday morning for yet another cake day! Jari found us a place at Rutger's Resort outside of Brainerd. Oh my goodness! Although it looks like it would be a little more populated than I'd prefer, it would be a fun place to hang in the summertime. And I was able to soak in even more time in the crisp air with color on the trees and littering the ground.

A stop at Costco and off to honor his special day with yet another group of dear friends! I'm telling you .. this turning 80 is big business!

A mad dash to the Minneapolis airport, ear buds in and ready to hit it again Monday morning.

You have no idea how thankful I am that we've been able to make this traveling business a part of our lives. Even if we aren't running to hot vacation spots ... we have been able to spend time with loved ones quite often lately. Means we are flat out on the couch and in bed by 9 on Monday nite following a crazy weekend, but it is so very worth it!