My Version of a Nursing Log

So my kids are always taking something back from a hike or walk.  We try and keep our house a house and not a landfill by saying just take a memory of it but alas we come home with extra rocks, sticks, shells, cones... everything/anything that he/she can carry!  I am not a fan of the dead things my son finds and brings home (these obviously are walks that I am not on) and I will not craft with them, I PROMISE.  But then there comes the point where we always break and say "Well, why not - it's free"!  And we then have growing nature piles around here and there.  There are some beautiful pieces in the collection I will admit.

I took a large piece of drift wood from my son's collection and added a succulent plant to it.  At first he was a bit bummed until I told him that the name of the plant is Dragon's Blood.  Somehow that made everything okay.  Boys....

This is what was involved:

I ended up using a chisel and hammer as well to enlarge the hole but the wood was so soft I could have just kept poking holes with the drill bit.  I wanted a hole with a diameter of an inch and a half so I poked three (3) 3/4" holes.

This picture just looks dead.  Weird.

Here is the driftwood with the holes created by the drill bit.  It was a little crazy that the shavings basically came out as dirt.  The wood was really dry and soft.  It went soo quick!  I wish that it had taken longer to drill because I love power tools!

So this is how these two elements met.

I think they will play lovely together!

I have a feeling that I may start collecting from our hikes and walks now too!

Until the next project...

Stair Wall Photo Gallery

Better late than never!

Problem:  Garage is OVERFLOWING with stuff!  Well, it's a problem because I am in need of less clutter and much more organization!  I also want to use what I have or give it away to someone who will!  I will be starting small here but a start none the less!

For the last three years I have had a box of pictures IN frames in the garage.  They were ready to be hung and seen.  Poor things!   I guess I just needed a long break from them... a chance to miss them!  Then there was a problem with our stairway.  I have been wanting to do a collection of frames all the same size all the same color showing off a collection of artwork for a while now but that hasn't happened because I haven't selected the artwork or had the money to do that project.  Our stairway needed something and the pictures needed to be put up or put out! The solution is the same for both problems!  So simple!   I decided to group my old photos with some of the new imagae and hang them in our stairway.
So take a look-see at our blah stairway!
Before:

And After:

We have room to grow!  I even have two blank (and crooked) frames in the mix.  It is nice to see some color on this wall!  We had some great pics!  I want more oldies up here!  There are shots from when my husband and I started dating all the way through to present: the big little guy in the top-middle is our third child (presently 6 mos old)!  Oye... I can't wait to see this wall filled up!  How fun!

Until the next project...

Run and Craft

Well, I started that running thing tonight!  We are using a circut training app I found on my Iphone and I am thrilled to say that it didn't suck!  I was hyping it up pretty good in my mind that it was going to be completely awful and painful so maybe that helped!  Next run is Tuesday and prayers are appreciated!  Ken was an awesome cheerleader.  It helped that he went out first and seemed to get back very quickly.  It went quickly for me as well.  It's a start!


So I have an issue with ribbon.  I keep my spools in a plastic shoe box but it is not ideal.  The box gets messy rather easily and typically gets lost in a stack of other plastic boxes.

So I began to tinker...

I gathered:

• a dowel
• a wooden base
• wooden ball
• brushes
• decorative paints and paper
• wood glue
• drill with a bit to match the dowel width (5/16)
• polyurethane

 I prepared & joined the pieces:

I started by preparing the wooden pieces by painting them each in different colors that coordinated with the decorative paper I selected.  The color used on the base and top finial was teal.  I added in some grey to tone it down a touch.  I used wood glue to adhere the paper to the base as well as to keep the dowel in place in the base.  Do NOT attach the finial to the dowel with glue because you will need to be able remove the finial from the dowel to add/ replace ribbon spools.

Here is the first draft...

I say the first draft because I feel it needs some tweaking.  It's not straight!  But for now I am happy to see the ribbon selection I have and it takes up just minimal space.  

Another thought I had was to purchase and mountwe a simple cafe rod (window hardware) because the rods are smaller and may fit through the holes in the ribbon spools.  The hardware needs to come away from the wall enough to accomodate spool width and allow spools to spin.  

I took this image from the Home Depot webiste http://www.homedepot.com/Decor-Drapery-Hardware/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xgtZbqwe/R-100556476/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053:

I had the materials for the project I did above so I went with that.  The second idea is still just that - an idea.  I haven't tried it so it's stuck in the idea box...

So I will tinker another day...had some fun though!

Good night all!

Happy New Year's!

It just happens to be New Years Day, 2011.  I didn't intend to start a blog come this new year; but it's funny that it happened that way though - totally appropriate!

I hope to use this forum to motivate me into publishing and producing some of the thoughts and products I have swarming around in my head! I hope that it serves as a database for ideas (both mine and those shared by others).  I hope it helps bring more creativity to my everyday life!  I am happiest when my hands are dirty or my head is spinning!  I hope to use this to help me focus my spinning head and actually start accomplishing tasks vs. thinking of them.  

This blog won't be limited to just crafting.  I hope to share some of my work as an Interior Designer with you as well as other life ventures that I have in mind such as becoming a runner and organized person!

So here it is, my first post.  If this blog helps me add just a little more creativity to my days it will be worth it.