Upcycled

Howdy!  February has almost slipped away with only one single lonely post.  How does that happen?!?

I want to share an idea with you that I made and sent to a friend.  It's right up her alley because she loves burlap, and textured fabric.  And I love turning something that used to be considered trash into something useful.
 
Remember those old coffee cans that nobody keeps anymore and only pack-rats have burried in their garage?  Or you can find them full of buttons at garage sales.  Here's a great idea to re-purpose that old coffee can.

Here are my ingredients:

I bet you can imagine what I did with these 3 items....  And this is the interior view after I glued the rope all around it:

Ta-da!  Isn't it cool?!?  It could be a plant pot cover, a pen holder, a mail receptacle, etc.  The uses are limitless!

So there you have it, my 2nd post in February.  Tomorrow will be much more exciting.

SOMEONE around here is turning 11.  And he's someone to really celebrate!  I need to go frost his cake...

Crafty New Year!

HappyCrafty New Year to you!  I've had a lot of projects going on lately (or rumbling around in my head that I intend to do).  Just can't wait to share them with you.

Here's one I tried to get done for Christmas, but just didn't manage to.  I saw this on Pinterest and had to try it.  So off to the store I went for bobby pins and gold spray paint.

Who wouldn't love their name in pasta?!?

Mine did not turn out as neat as the Pinterest post, because the glue I used wasn't real smooth, and the pasta I used wasn't uniformly sized.  But hey, I already had the alphabet pasta in a soup mix, I just had to pick it out of the lentils.  I tried to find alphabet pasta and our normal grocery stores did not carry it, so I used what I had!

Up next, we are making homemade mozzarella cheeeeeeese this weekend!  For home cooked pizza.  Can't wait for dinner!  I will post soon of our cheesy experience. 

Until then, let me leave you with a beautiful picture of my beautiful friend and her beautiful horses.  I'm so happy I got to see them for a brief visit last month!

Beautiful horses!

Beautiful redheads

Bon Appetit! 

Nailed It, Christmas Edition

Hope you had a lovely Christmas!  Mine was wonderful.  It was a nice and relaxing morning as we opened gifts, then had an amazing brunch.

Todd's Frittata

I wish you could smell the cheesiness in the picture above.  It was so yummy.  

Then we had an excellent prime rib dinner.  We had a special stash of my mom's buns!  My mashed potatoes were not as good as my Thanksgiving mashed taters, but they were acceptable.  I think I needed a combination of yellow and russet, and should have used the entire brick of cream cheese.  Live and learn. 

A Merry Christmas Dinner!

Enough about food.  I've been feeling extra crafty lately.  Christmas does that to me.  I love giving homemade gifts because you know they didn't get another one just like it yesterday from a relative, and the gift receiver knows you thought about them while making said project.  I didn't get to everything I wanted to make, but what I did make this year included:

• Homemade sugar scrubs, one old recipe and one new
• Homemade Ginger Hot Cocoa mix (since the guys at the office wouldn't appreciate a sugar scrub)
• A little painting for a few folks I haven't painted for in years past (old design, nothing new)
• And a risky new idea... (I finished at midnight last night)

But first, another story.

I've been on a search for a wreath that doesn't suck.  Why don't I search for a wreath that I actually like, or even that I love?  Thanks for asking.  Because I am extremely picky, and this search has been going on for years.  A wreath that I would love doesn't exist.  I hate fake flowers.  Cause, well, they LOOK fake.  I grow the real thing.  Why bother with an imitation.

I found a wreath at a garage sale for $2 last summer that is acceptable and which now hangs on my front door.  The flowers are obviously fake and they aren't made to try to look real.  It's a grapevine wreath (about the only kind I like) with big cabbage type roses that are red on one side and have a white/brown stripe on the other side that kind of looks like a wood grain.  It will do.

And then one day while flipping through catalogs shopping for Christmas, I found this one:
 

Napa Valley Style with a Napa Valley Price Tag

For those of you who didn't catch the price on this little beauty, it's $129.  Plus shipping.  Did I mention that I'm also cheap thrifty?  Also, there are little things about it that I'm not in love with--there is greenery that looks fake to me, although I love the eucalyptus.  The pomegranates are cute and don't look fake, but the apples look TOO perfect.  SEE HOW I AM?!?!?!!  I pick every wreath apart and focus on the things I don't like although I am proud of mentioning two things that I actually do like.

See the dehydrated orange slice at about 8 o'clock in the picture of that Napa Style wreath?  THAT was my inspiration.


So what do I get for a foodie-couple who describes their style as "minimalists" for Christmas?  Well sometimes it's tough.  But then I think of food (savory over sweet for them), because that is their greatest passion, to get an inspiration.  They also garden, so there are options down that avenue too.  Actually when I think about it, they really aren't hard to shop for at all!

The answer to my question is, a culinary masterpiece.  That orange slice triggered something inside my creative brain cortex--to make a food oriented wreath!  So off to Michael's I went.  I went up and down every stinking aisle trying to find the perfect food oriented options to attach to the perfect grapevine wreaths I chose.  I could go with little fake oranges and fake lemons & fake limes, and fake apples.  Or I could go with fake little peppers and fake artichokes, and fake carrots.  And then?  It will look... fake.  Forget it, I give up on these options because it's going to look HORRIBLE.  And fake.

But I didn't give up on the idea.  Instead I made a grocery store list which consisted of:

• Bay leaves (hubby acquired 100 leaves off eBay, thanks dear!)
• Blood oranges
• Lemon
• Red apple
• Garlic heads
• Sage (from my own garden)
• Chili peppers (from our kitchen cabinets, some are dried from our own garden) 

My hubby acquired the goods, and enlisted the help of a friend because our small-podunk town doesn't carry blood oranges.  Once I acquired my goodies, I started slicing very carefully on my mandolin slicer (that goes BOTH ways--very cool kitchen tool that chops slicing time in HALF). 

Then I placed my sliced pieces on wax paper lined cookie trays and baked at 125-150 degrees for a day.  I baked the garlic heads for about 3 days.  My sage dried nicely on it's own, since I picked it a few months ago, just had to keep it away from prying dog noses.  I've been planning this for months.

But I was nervous about the end result.  Because remember?  I'm really picky.  But I started assembling the wreath last night, and I couldn't stop until I was finished.  Here it is:  

My Homemade Culinary Masterpiece!

I think I NAILED IT!  EVERYTHING except the glue and the grapevine is edible.  Or was, before I dehydrated it.  Oh, there I go again, talking about food.  Also, it smells good.  The sage really gives it a nice fragrance.  

I think they are really going to like it.  It's pretty fragile though--I hope it makes it home with them without too many broken pieces.


This took an amazing amount of slices from an apple, a lemon and three blood oranges.  I thought I would have enough to make one for my own front door too, but I have to dry more fruit out before I can assemble my own.

Also, I'm a tiny bit worried that birds will try to eat the dried fruit from my front door.  Oh, the problems of living in the country....




So, what do you think of my culinary masterpiece?  Hope you had a great Christmas whether it was crafty or not!

Fan Mail

I've had a couple of questions from one of my fans.  I'd like to take a moment to provide answers.

Question 1:

She asked:  "What in the hell is an office space doing in caves?! Are they real caves, or excavations, or what? I need a whole post on this because...mind...blown."

That is a really fun question!  There are some mountains in the KC metro area that have been excavated to create caves that are used for office space, and storage.  Read more about it here.  They are most commonly known for storing archived media.  It's like another world in there.  Albeit a slightly dirty one.  It's where almost every company I ever worked for in the area always sent documents for archival "to the caves".

During the Groundhog Race, there are so many bodies conducting heat, that it feels like a sauna.  There is one turn on the course where you can breathe some cool, fresh air coming through the doors the trains enter into/exit out of the cave.  Other than that, you feel like a roasting chicken on a spit.

I ran this race in 2005, and it was stinky.  I literally ran the 5K as fast as I could to get out of the stench.  I believe it had been a very wet winter.  I didn't think I'd ever run it again, but I wanted to do a 10K around that time of year.  So I ran the 10K in 2006, and it was not stinky.  Relatively speaking, I mean, you're inside a mountain.  It's not going to smell like a beach.

Question 2:

She asked for my Lemon Sugar Body Scrub recipe.  You aren't going to believe how stupid simple this stuff is to make.  Seriously.  When you realize how easy it is, it will make the recipients of this gift think I fooled them or something.

I looked around at online recipes for homemade scrubs.  Then I saw a recipe in a magazine that I liked.  I reviewed my options then did my own thing.  I kept it really simple.  I think it turned out the best.  I experimented with more ingredients, but I like the short and sweet (pun intended) version. 

Lemon Sugar Body Scrub:
1.5 cups sugar (nothing special)
1/3 cup olive oil (use the cheap stuff)
2-4 drops essential oil (I used lemon)

Mix it up and enjoy.  It really can't get any easier than that.

Other ideas for variations:

• The printed recipe I consulted also had a version that I thought sounded interesting.  Add 2 tablespoons of cocoa and use peppermint, cinnamon, or orange essential oil.  The printed recipe also called for adding food coloring, but who needs to tint their skin?
• I'd like to try using salt (but the sugar is such a nice exfoliant). 
• I want to try:  sugar, olive oil, and vanilla or almond extract to use as a Sugar Lip Scrub.  It would be safe to eat!
• You could add lemon juice (just be sure to realize this makes you more sensitive to the sun).

So there you have it, enjoy!

Craftiva

I wanted to make homemade gifts this past holiday season.  I've just been waiting to share with you my Christmas craft ideas.  We finally had our last celebration, so without further ado, here they are! 

 

My first idea was to make a t-shirt vest.  I cut up a t-shirt according to the directions, and it looked like, well... I cut up a t-shirt.  It was pretty bad.  CRAFT FAIL

Fortunately, the next idea went better.  I made t-shirt scarves.  They didn't turn out quite as well as I had hoped, but I did like them.  I thought about making little pins covered with beads to place on the part where it's gathered.  I might still do that.  The project was fun to make.  I saw a pic of Tullybird wearing hers, and it looked really good!

My version of t-shirt scarves

Next up, I made a Lemon Sugar Body Scrub.  I soon realized after I whipped this stuff up, that I really like this stuff.  My hands have been dry and itchy all winter.  Rubbing some of this on when I've been doing a lot of hand-washing really helps.



Warning:  you may fall on your ass if you use this on your feet while standing!
But man, do my paws need this stuff.

For my next project, I was only able to make a few of these this year.  I need to start earlier next year.  I love painting wine bottles.  My specialty is a snowman... because they are easy.  And this year, I made a female version who loves the tropics! 

My inspiration was when Tullybird mentioned that she keeps the first bottle on display all year around that I painted for her; it doesn't matter what season it is.  Snowman needed a girlfriend!




Aloha!

And for my very favorite project of all.  This was SO fun, but so time consuming.  I could only make one at a time.  I started out by growing sunflowers.  Giant, mammoth sunflowers.

Keystone in my giant sunflower forest

Then I added lots of love and cement. 

I used our existing plain, smooth birdbath as a mold.  I put a trash bag over it to protect it.  Then I poured on mixed up grout mix.  I smoothed it out and then pressed my huge sunflower leaf into the wet grout mix.  Let it sit for 24-48 hours, and viola!

 

This birdbath has magical powers

This is one of the special editions that I made.  I had the most fun telling Suzie's little girl that baby unicorns drank from this birdbath; that's why there is glitter.  Cause everyone knows that baby unicorn's have glitter on their tongues.  I think she really enjoyed the story.  I truly believed in unicorns when I was her age.  Remember the days of rainbows & unicorns and when stickers were special treats?

For Dawn's family, I put a nice rock towards the bottom of the bath.  This is to allow butterflies to rest on the rock while sipping their cool beverage.  Plus they have a bath-less butterfly garden.  Until now.

I can't tell you how badly I wanted to make Shelly one of these.  She likes birds has a bird obsession.  Next to my parents and my hubby, I don't know anyone else who feeds their wild birds as much as she does; and enjoys watching them too.  It about killed me not to be able to make her one and send, but the cost would have been astronomical to send a hunk of huge, heavy concrete across the country.

And I really wanted to make Tullybird one too.  She loves everything homemade that I make, and she would have loved to have had one in her yard under her apple trees.  But again, the shipment cross-country just wasn't going to work.  Not to mention that they would probably beak.

So, it was hand delivery only for the birdbaths.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my projects.  I had other ideas that I didn't get to.  Maybe I'll start much earlier this year.
 

Martha MacGyver's Last Week Of 2011

Goodbye 2011 and Cheers to 2012!

I was fortunate to be able to take off the last week of 2011 and spend time at home doing things that have been on my to-do list since we moved here. Several pictures have finally made it to their final destination on the walls. Several junk areas have been cleaned up. Several boxes have finally been unpacked.  I am pleased with the changes.  It's beginning to not only feel like home, but look like home too.

Years and years ago, my buddy gave me the nickname of Martha MacGyver because of all my crafty creative projects.  It hadn't occurred to me at the time, but yea, the name fit.  To share some of my wonderful projects from my Christmas/New Year break, I share with you the following:

1) Based upon the inspiration from the lovely daughter (and her hat) of Mrs. Irritation, I improvised this owl hat.  I totally made up the pattern, and I HOPE to be able to replicate this.  So thankful for YouTube, because I had forgotten how to knit!

2) I saved an old picture frame from the donation pile and spray painted it glossy red. Thanks for the inspiration from Statia.  I hated the old frame (two colors of cheap looking wood); and am loving my new frame.  Now to find a picture to put in it...

3) I had no place to store/display the jewelry I've made. Since I moved, I have not worn much of my jewelry because I have not unpacked it.  <gasp>  I know, I know. I went thrifting in my own house and discovered a few picture frames my husband has had for probably the last decade or two. This one became my new jewelry holder! Inspiration came from Pinterest and/or Etsy, take your pick. It turned out perfectly for my needs.  Keep in mind, I am on the lookout for old drawer pull knobs to re-purpose along the bottom on the front and on the sides to hold bracelets and necklaces.  I'm not buying new knobs, that would just be silly!

Why yes, that is hardware cloth, thanks for asking.



4) This is my favorite one. Over thanksgiving, my parents visited.

     Me: "I need to buy a grapevine wreath, but I'd much rather make one."

     Dad: "You know, you have some wild grapevines growing in your woods."

     Me:  <Blink Blink>

     Dad: "Let's go pull some."

     Me: "Uuuhhhh, are they the kind with the curly-Qs?" (that's a technical term)

     Dad: "Yea."

So, we march right down there and I'll be hog-tied if there weren't wild grapevines growing right here. For FREE. So my dad went to work pulling a few long vines down from an overgrown area for me.  I had no clue they were wild grapevines (I didn't see any grapes!).  I dragged them up to our back deck. I got out the butchers twine (sorry to the hubs on that, but at least I used the OLD spool) and a pair of scissors. My mom helped me form the long vines into a large circle. She would hold the vines together and I would tie the string around it -or- I'd hold and she would tie. We got the large circle formed. She reminded me about how the professional ones are steamed into shape. I got bowls of hot water and poured over the wreath since it was still outside. Oh yea, it was rainy, so I left it in the rain for a day. Brought it inside to dry out for a month. Then I cut the ties and spray painted it glossy black. Found the perfect garland with sprays of clear crystals. I am very pleased with this grapevine wreath project as it surpassed my vision. See next item for picture.

5) Painted my hole! I expected a little more of a brown/warm color and not such an *exact* match to the grout (which if I had intended to match the grout, I would have chosen a different shade). But it has grown on me and now that I have it all put together, I love it!   This was the before picture.  Below is my finished project. It doesn't look ecclesiastical anymore!  I am no longer looking around my own living room for a sacrificial virgin or bride & groom!

I will be on the search for new curtains in black & white and possibly grey, with a splash of red.  Some kind of modern print.  And the brass fireplace set has to go, or be changed.  Shadow and Abbytail seem to like it:

6) This one was all Todd's. He hung the Arcade sign in the perfect spot!  You can't see the hardware, except for the angle at which I took this picture, of course.  This is a PERFECT fit and looks great when going down to the basement.  I'm so excited to have this puppy up in it's final spot on the wall.

I have a few more projects in the works, and a lot more swimming around in my head.  You'll have to stay tuned for more as I get them completed.  I don't make new years' resolutions, so I'm not going to wax poetically about all the great things I will accomplish or change next year.  I am thankful and excited just to have the day off from work.  I'll spend it making things a little more organized or crafty around here.

Happy 2012 to you!

Booze & Beads, Episode 5: No Tears Allowed Edition!

Welcome to episode 5 of Booze & Beads.  I think this is the sad edition.  Well, it will be more sad next time, if we can have one more.  And I am determined to do just that.  We are in the process of moving from NV to MO and so happy to be getting back to the Midwest where we belong.  It is bittersweet though because we have a few close friends we will miss dearly.

I know what it's like when someone really important in your life moves on by moving away.  That does not mean that you'll never see them again.  It just means things change.

I remember when Shelly left KC to go to FL and I bawled my head off for several days.  I remember to this day her & R walking out of our house when they had to go.  Dammit, I just found her and then she had to go.  Little did I know that I would see her many more times for many special occasions.  Damn if it isn't the hardest thing I have to do every time I have to say bye to her.

Then I had to leave Suzie when we moved from KC to NV.  I remember pulling out of the driveway all Clampet-style towing our trailer and crap strapped to the roof of the Excursion.  It was very sad leaving her & K & the hood, especially with her being all pregnant.  That was a time of change for everybody.

Now I have to leave Tric soon, and it's going to be very sad.  BUT, she will come visit and we KNOW that, so it makes it easier at least for me, knowing this isn't goodbye forever, it's just so-long-for-now.  So we can't have quantity time, but we can sure have quality time.

Back to the B&B topic.  Last night we made a few nice pieces of jewelry after we ate ribs and Todd's awesome surprise-beans (it's always a guessing game as to what kind of yummy mystery meat he used--tonight was char-grilled hot dogs).  We didn't have a specialty drink of the evening since we are trying to decrease our booze collection.  Tricia rocked the pinball game of Majorettes--such an awesome game, but that is a topic for another post at another time.  It was a fun evening!

And now for pics:

Tric made this awesome set.

I made this set.  I have been attracted to orange lately.

And now for a pic of us.  Yes, I have my eyes closed like a dork.

Happy Beading!

Booze & Beads, Episode 4

We finally got together to celebrate our 4th episode of Booze & Beads.  Tricia and I were long overdue for a visit!  Since we are currently at different gyms, I haven't been able to see her almost daily.  :-(   That should change soon!  :-)

We drank what I am calling a "Melon Bomb".  Cause DANG, it sneaks up on you like BAM!!!  It is really a martini, but I'd just have to keep getting up to refill a martini glass, and that just doesn't make sense.

Recipe for a Melon Bomb:

Equal parts of Midori & Malibu Rum, with a few big splashes of lime flavored sparkling mineral water.  It's an instant party!

We both worked on jewelry pieces that we wanted to complete, but I only got one of my items finished.  I can't wait to see her new ensemble, pics will be forthcoming next time, because it is a pretty cool set.

Here are a pair of Mardi Gras inspired earrings, which I made for my ToastMasters club to include in a gift basket raffle.  Someone will be the new owner of these:

We had a great brunch, and caught up on girl talk.  It was a delightful afternoon!  Can't wait for the next one, and I wish others could join us!!!

Where I got my craftiness

Out of the blue, I got the most impressive present from my mother.  She has made GORGEOUS quilts and throw blankets, so she is no stranger to sewing.  She has also made me the best ever tote bag, on which I get compliments all the time.  But the cutest thing she has ever made?  My new apron.  Check it out, is this not something you'd find in the most happening little coffee shop?!?  I am so impressed, and knew you would be too.  I now have a collection of the cutest aprons ever.  Guess I should cook more, huh?

It has double layered pockets at opposite diagonals, so that you can see the back pocket peek through.  And the best detail?  It's reversible!  How ingenious.  My mom ROCKS!!!

So now you see where I got all my craftiness!!!

Booze & Beads, Episode 3

The first Sprint cup NASCAR race of 2011, the Daytona 500, was accompanied by the 3rd episode of Booze & Beads.  Unfortunately, I was not feeling particularly creative today.  I could not commit to one project on which to work.  So I ended up getting nothing created.  However I did manage to take better pics of a few new pieces you have not seen yet.  And what WAS I thinking?  Tric brought all her lovely projects over, and I should have been snapping pictures.  She has grown her skills in beading, and has quite the collection of lovelies to wear.

Here are a few items I have recently made:

Closer up of the set above (square stones in round circles):

Today's beverage is what I call The Kitchen Sink.  Cause it just had a little bit of everything thrown into the pitcher.  It tasted somewhat like a Sex On The Beach or a Bahama Mama, it was fruity and tasty.

The Kitchen Sink:
About 2.5 parts Orange Juice
About 2 parts Pineapple Juice
About 1 part of the following:

• Peach Schnapps
• Malibu Rum
• Grape Vodka
• Midori liquor
• Grenadine (maybe a little less than half a part)

Mix it all up and take it for a spin around the track!

Birthdays, Birthdays!

Don't you just love it when an entire meal dining out is just fabulous?  We had one last night.  Our favorite restaurant in Reno is the Cactus Creek restaurant in a small little dive of a neighborhood casino (which means it's not a big flashy high rise downtown).  We go here to celebrate birthday's, anniversary's, mom-is-in-town, etc.  This is "our" restaurant and LOVE it.  We took a chance and went here for the first time on our 10th anniversary--and SCORE, it was a huge hit.  We knew we were making a memory, one way or the other.  Fortunately it ended up being a good memory.

We went here last night for Todd's birthday.  The food was *perfect*, and it is consistently this way every time we go.  We started out with fresh baked Dutch Crunch rolls with real butter.  We were dehydrated, so a beer for Todd and a pomegranate martini for me quenched our thirsts.  I LOVE their pomegranate martini so much, I've never ordered any other kind of drink at this restaurant.  Next, we had wonderful Caesar salads with a tart and tangy dressing and crisp romaine lettuce, and enough Parmesan cheese for a small army (just like I like it!).  Then the reason for driving North of the "N", the main courses were served.  Todd had their garlic studded prime rib, perfectly medium rare, and he could CUT IT WITH A FORK.  I had their sea scallops sunset style.  OH MY GAWD IT WAS EVEN BETTER THAN I REMEMBERED.  This scallop dish was the first entree I ever tried at this restaurant, and this was the second time I chose to devour savor this succulent dish.  The spinach on the bottom had some kind of cream dancing about the edges.  On top of that were the most succulent, sweet, perfectly seared and cooked large dry scallops I have ever eaten.  Poured all around like a sweet robe was a yellow citrus sauce (thus the sunset) that complimented all of the other flavors perfectly.  I was beginning to regret that I had no spoon with which to scoop every single drop of this luscious sauce into my mouth, when I remembered that I had bread to the rescue.  Also, the cheddar chipotle potato casserole is always a must-order.

The grand finale was a sweet slice of plain cheesecake on top of a drizzled strawberry sauce.  This had to be the creamiest, tastiest cheesecake I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing.  Anyway, it was a GREAT BIRTHDAY MEAL!  It was wonderful to spend time celebrating my wonderful husband!

Speaking of birthdays, I may now reveal my best creation to date.  My Angel Judy had a birthday today (Happy Birthday, Aunt Judy!).  I made this lovely number just for her, all sterling silver.  Some day there will be matching earrings, but I just couldn't wrap one more piece of wire!

Wild, Wild West

Here's my latest jewelry duo (necklace & earrings).  Turquoise always reminds me of cowboys, but this is green turquoise, and chunky.  And yes, I was wearing my boots that day.  I live in the West, you know.

Booze & Beads, Episode 2

This is a special edition of Brunch, Booze & Beads. Life is getting so busy that we didn't want the weekend to slip completely away without some girl time. So we got together to bead, brunch, and toast our wonderful creative badass selves with coffee, White Russian style. Fabulous, right?

Tricia and I have both been creative geniuses lately. And the woman just learned to wrap wires today. I give her an A+ for dedication. Or is it obsession?!? Yes, it does become an obsession. 

I whipped up a mean sausage, egg & cheese casserole and cute & tasty blueberry cream cheese bundtletts.  My favorite part was the coffee.  I ground up wonderful "City of Fountains Blend" KC coffee beans (thanks Suzie & Kevin).  To the brewed coffee I added: half & half, Kahlua & vanilla vodka.  Why have I never thought of this before, Hello?!?!  Amazing.  I really enjoyed it, but sadly didn't get tipsy.  I was very relaxed though.  Which in hind sight is a good thing because I'm still awake and did not nap.  Actually, I may be awake all night after two cups of that stuff.

I spent hours this past week in the evenings after the gym, wrapping sterling silver wires on my Angel Judy's necklace. I will publish pics of this T-best-ever-masterpiece ON her birthday. If she is reading this, she doesn't get an early peek. Let's just say that there are never any surprises under their Christmas tree on the 25th.

Pictures were demanded requested, thus I am fulfilling the request.  In this picture, in the upper left hand corner is a beautiful ensemble in shades of green (with cute little red HEARTS).  This was Tricia's first creation.  Today she completed the trilogy with earrings.  The bracelet on the top middle, is a beautiful blue kind-of-braided bracelet that Tricia made.  I wish you could see the detail.  It looks like little flowers, very glitzy and very cute.  The bracelet at the bottom right with the silver tubes, is a creation I made, and it will soon be on eBay!

Next up, on the left hand side is a necklace and earrings combination I made for Tricia.  My inspiration was the main tear-drop shaped stone.  Kind of a dark lime green and black.  It's a favored color, and I knew she'd have something in her closet to match it.  I like the little dangles at the bottom of the earrings so much, that I may make myself a pair of them.  On the right hand side, is a sterling silver trilogy I made that will soon be on eBay.  The little silver tubes are curved, and the mix of square glass beads should go with just about everything (or nothing?) for someone who needs a new set of "pretty's" (as my grandmother would have said).

Saved the best for last, a close up of a gorgeous black & silver ensemble created by Tricia.  She used the cutest beads that are like woven balls of silver & black metal.  So versatile, and so cute.  I have to apologize here and now for the overuse and abuse of the word cute.  I just can't help it.  I will, however, try to refrain from typing the phrase "super-cute" too many times.  But it is.  You can see a little more detail on the gorgeous blue bracelet, but because it is a profile view of it, you can't see the beautiful design.

So, there you have it.  The fruits of our labor over the past week.  And a perfect way to spend a Saturday morning/afternoon: looking at beautiful beads, brunching on goodies, dreaming up wonderful new ideas and ways to use our stuff.  I so wish we could have everyone over for a whole weekend of Booze & Beads.  Let me know if y'all are ever headed my way!!!

Oh Hobby Lobby, How Thou Art Missed

I grew up in the Mid-West.  Having a Hobby Lobby in town was like having a Quick Trip on the corner or a grocery store down the street.  It was just THERE.  Now that I’ve moved out West, I cannot tell you how much I miss Hobby Lobby.  It’s a step above Jo-Ann’s, Michael’s, and Ben Franklin’s (what isn’t). 

Hobby Lobby has religious roots (see: Company Purpose), thus they are closed on Sundays.  The company started and is still headquartered in Oklahoma (see: Our Company).  Maybe that is why I’m so used to taking for granted that there will always be one somewhere nearby. 

For crafty people, their selection of STUFF is always amazing.  It’s the best place to buy a common sized picture frame, fabric, yarn, soap/candle making supplies, and JEWELRY MAKING SUPPLIES.  They not only have the cheap basics for the jewelry making beginner (favorite brand = Jewelry Shoppe Base Metal Jewelry Findings), they have an awesome selection of sterling silver options.  I LOVED hitting their sterling silver case when it was 40% off.  They had sales every week, and I could always wait for what I wantedneeded to go on sale.  Odds were that if it wasn’t on sale that week, it would be on sale the following week.

I live in Nevada.  H-e-l-l-o, we have legal prostitution in some counties, and gambling everywhere you look.  You think NV is high on their list of growth states?  I don’t think so!  The closest Hobby Lobby is Salt Lake City, UT.  It’s a bit of a trek for $40 worth of sterling silver findings.  Kind of defeats the $ I save on the gas I’d have to spend.

Hobby Lobby is not an “advanced” kind of company.  When I first moved here 4 years ago, online shopping was NOT an option on their website.  But in reflecting back, I am actually surprised they had a website.  It was not but just a decade+ ago that they upgraded to automated check outs—I remember going in to the store in Mission, KS, and they still priced everything manually, and the checkers would ring up everything manually (I swear I stepped into some kind of Twilight Zone episode).  So this company is not on the bleeding edge of technology, to say the least.  I am VERY HAPPY TO REPORT, that I just discovered that they FINALLY have some online shopping now!!!  I will be searching for all my regular supplies.  Maybe when they realize how much they end up shipping to NV, they will want to rethink their growth strategy.

Alas, we still have no Quick Trips.  :'(

Booze & Beads, Episode 1

This is my debut episode of Booze & Beads.  What?  What is Booze & Beads, you ask?  My Reno Besty has decided to get into beading.  So we are getting together to dine, drink, and bead.  Each event will have a signature celebratory drink of the evening.  Isn't this a fabulous idea?  Yes, I think so too.

I needed the motivational kick in the butt to start doing something with my stash again.  I have so many beautiful beads to utilize.  And I want to start making and selling jewelry again.  Hubby committed to helping me sell on eBay, so why not!

It's so fun teaching someone new to beading, and Tricia is totally excited about it.  The wonder and amazement at a finished product or a row of beads in a store is so exciting.  And hey, it's fun to go shopping with someone else!  So many bead shops... so little time.

Our signature drink of the evening last night was Root Beer Float Cocktails, and lemme just tell you, these are DEEE-LISH.  I LOVED them.  So much so that I had a bit of a headache today, but no, no sympathy for me, I can handle it.

Here's the recipe.  Root Beer Float Cocktails:
1 part Vanilla Vodka
1 part Galliano
1 part Cream (half & half works great)
8 parts Coca-Cola but we used Root Beer (novel concept, I know)
Top with whipped cream

Beware, that Galliano stuff is really strong--and totally tasty in this beverage.  Since the boys were with us, we didn't really finish anything, but started some fun projects.  Pictures I'm sure will be shared after some future Booze & Beads evening.  Recipes will definitely be shared.

CHEERS to you all!!!