CRAFT BAZAAR UPDATE

Trying to stay ahead of the game by introducing new crafts I recently ordered these cute trees from The Wood Connection.  They have the cutest wood cutouts that you can purchase and then paint and decorate to suit your own taste.  Hopefully these will be good sellers at my bazaar this year. 

 

 

For these trees I painted them with Apple Barrel (21463 Antique Parchment) paint.  In order to get the glitter to stick you paint the front surface and while the paint is wet you lay it directly on glitter that has been spread out on a cookie sheet or piece of wax paper then let them air dry.

I found this idea (HERE) from Pinterest, of course.  Simple to make with clothes pins, paint and embellishments.

 

 

I am really liking the chalkboard look and some of the lyrics from Christmas songs make the best sayings to use.

I will be posting more photo's as I get more projects finished.

THIS ELF HAS BEEN BUSY

This time of year gets a little busy in this workshop craft room, just as I am sure Santa's Workshop its buzzing too.

 

HERE ARE A FEW PROJECTS THAT I HAVE COMPLETED FOR MY BAZAAR. 

Inspiration from Pinterest

(source)

 

MY VERSION 

 

 

Inspiration from Pinterest

 

(source)

 

MY VERSION

 

 

And yet another inspiration from Pinterest. 

(source)

 

MY VERSION 

 

 

This is my own personal design, (I know you thought I only stole ideas now didn't you:)

 

I picked up these letters last spring while I was in Utah at The Wood Connection in Murry. 

Click HERE for a link to their web site. They now ship so you can order directly from them and they will gladly ship it to you.



All I did was paint the letters white, cut out scrapbook paper using the letters as a template and added embellishments.  The snowflake for the "o" doesn't have paper on it,  I just painted it white and while the paint was wet laid it on some glitter I had spread in a box, it works like a charm to hold the glitter.

 

Here is a close up of the snowflake so you can see the glitter.

BAZAAR OR BIZARRE? You decide!

Doing another bazaar in my home brings a question to my mind, Am I Bizarre for doing another in-home Bazaar?  All I can say is that when it is all over then I can confirm that it was worth it...before, not so much.

 

 

 

It is kind of hard to really get the true prettiness of this without seeing it in person but I am hoping someone who loves and decorates with sunflowers will not be able to live without it.  It is supposed to hang on the wall but I photographed it on the table looking down on it.

 

A gentle reminder for Thanksgiving.

 

Charger plates from Michaels make wonderful backdrops for Christmas messages.

This is just the beginning of the many projects I hope to get made.



 

I took a shot at cutting MDF (medium density fiber board) into letters.  Pretty time consuming to do all the scrolls and sanding for these, I hope whoever buys them can appreciate that.

 

BRING ON THE HOLIDAYS!

6 YEARS IN THE MAKING: DECK COMPLETE

I posted a couple of months ago (here) about our six years in the waiting project, our deck.  I am here to report that it is finally finished.  Our son Dustin along with hubby Jim built this off the back of the house.  Although projects usually take longer than expected and more money than budgeted this one didn't do too bad.  Of course if I had my way it would have been done in half the time and for half as much money but who am I kidding?  I live in the real world.

 

 

THIS IS THE UPPER LEVEL WHICH IS 10'X10' AND WHERE I PLAN ON PUTTING THE BARBEQUE.

THIS IS THE VIEW FROM THE UPPER DECK ONTO THE LOWER PART.

The deck is on the south side of the house so it gets sun pretty much all day, that is why we have the dining canopy over the table.



 

This is the view from east to west.

 We can't forget this little cutie pie.  She spent lots of time here while her daddy worked on the deck.

 

The view from the yard

 

Another view from the back of the yard

 

 

Here is the view from the other end

Now hopefully we will get a nice long Indian summer so we can enjoy it before the rains set in.

NEXT PROJECT: Planting flowers and shrubs around the base of the deck but that will have to wait until next year.

Vacation/Staycation 2013

 Our vacation this year was another staycation for us which we almost always do.  We are not the get on the plane type of people for vacations, we would rather stay close to home and enjoy relaxing with family and enjoying the outdoors.  Both places we went this year are less than a 2 hour drive from our house.

 One of the favorite places around for us is the Pacific ocean, especially along the northern Oregon coast.

Our first stop is always to have lunch at this place.  I have posted about it before and this trip was no different, simply the best fish and chips around.  It was a 30 minute wait in line but it was well worth it.  (Edit: Located in Astoria, Oregon)

 On this 3 day trip we stayed with our daughter Natasha and her son at Ft. Stevens campground.  Her hubby Jason had to work and oldest son Matthew was at scout camp.  Below is Spencer braving the cold water.  He eventually got in up to his thighs.  Brrrrrrr!

 

Natasha and I together.  Whew, that damp air really does awful things to my hair.

 

 

Spencer found that the tide pools were much warmer than the ocean.

The rest of the vacation we spent at our favorite campground up in the Cascade Mountains.  This is called Tower Rock.  I have never climbed to the top but most of my family has, some thought it was awesome and others thought it was kind of scary.  It is quite steep and at the top you can get close to the edge.

 

Grandson Matthew and granddaughter Dawson were the only children on this camping trip.  He was so good with her, he played with her and watched cartoons with her.  His new nickname for her is shadow.

What is a camping trip without a dog...

 

...or two?



 

 

 Jim and Dustin found this power saw at a yard sale in a small town near where we were camped and bought it.  They aren't usually big garage sale fans but after this steal purchase they are totally converted.  Here they are looking on e-bay for comparable saws for sale.  Let's just say they got a great deal on this one.

That's me, Jim, Matthew, Dawson and Paige posing in front of Mt. Rainier unfortunately the top of the mounting didn't quite make it into the picture.

 

 

Here is a better picture of Mt. Rainier.  Dustin, Duncan, Dawson and Randy are such a cute little family.  The last time they took a picture here she was 8 months pregnant with Dawson so it was fun to get an updated picture.

 

We even found huckleberries to pick.

 

Nothing quite as good in the morning than huckleberry pancakes.

Our days were filled with sleeping in late, bicycle rides, picking blackberries and huckleberries, the guys rode their motorcycles up in the mountains, campfires with 'smores, lounging around reading, playing Skip Bo, cribbage and rummy.  Love making memories with my children and grandchildren.