Cindy deRosier: My Creative Life

Handprint Haunted House for Halloween

2026-10-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

I love a good handprint craft and this Handprint Haunted House is a classic. Kids can add whatever details they want, making their house as simple or elaborate as they want. Affiliate links below.

Handprint Haunted House Halloween Craft

Materials:

Steps:

Select a background color for your project. Purple and dark blue are great choices for a night sky, but be sure they're not so dark that the haunted house will still show up.

Use a white or grey colored pencil to trace your hand on black cardstock. (I demonstrated with a black pen on purple cardstock so that it would show up better for the tutorial.) Add triangles to the top of each finger to make the turrets of the haunted house. Follow the lines you drew to cut out your haunted house.

Make a hill from the large scrap of black. Save the rest of the scraps for project details. Cut out a yellow circle for the moon.

Glue the hill, moon, and haunted house in place. Then start decorating. I worked from the top down (for no reason in particular), adding bats in the sky, shingles on the turrets, lit windows, and a door.

Then I added more windows, texture on the house, a spider on the door, a gravestone, and steps leading to the door.

I didn't like the steps I drew, so I covered them up with pieces of black paper to make them less prominent. Then I added a broomstick. The witch is home, but she didn't go through the front door because that would have disturbed the spider. How did she get in? It's a mystery!

I had so much fun making my Handprint Haunted House! I hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween.

I Love Picnics

2026-10-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is the second layout I made to fill a gap in an early album. This picture was taken just before Trevor's 4th birthday in 2010. He loved picnics when he was little. We picnicked in the backyard, at parks, and even on the floor in the family room.

I Love Picnics (affiliate link)

I entered this page in Game 1 of the Bash Your Scrapbook Stash World Series and earned four points for the Scrappin' Banshees. The first point was for selecting a fellow member's scrapbook layout, rotating it, and then using that as inspiration. The page I chose is by Gail Selman. I rotated it once clockwise.

I earned three more points for including a photo, using tags, and incorporating squares (on my background paper). I opted not to put a tree on the page (1 more point), which made me ineligible for the 2 Grand Slam bonus points for including journaling. I'm happy with my (tree-less) page and am glad to have it in the album.

Halloween Name Art

2026-10-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

Challenge the kids to turn the letters in their name into Halloween icons. This fun project works with any name, uses minimal supplies, and requires kids to think creatively. Affiliate links below.

Halloween Name Art

Materials:

Steps:

Write the letters of your name on scratch paper, then think of a way to turn each letter into a Halloween icon. I made my C into a crescent moon with a witch flying by, the I into a bone, the N into a rattlesnake, the D into a (slightly squashed) bloodshot eyeball, and the Y into a dead tree. Other ideas include a pumpkin, ghost, spider, witch's hat, bat, or anything else you can think of. Some letters are more challenging than others, so feel free to mix upper- and lowercase letters to get the shapes you want. Anything goes!

Once you are happy with your design, sketch it lightly on bristol vellum and then color it in. Erase any stray pencil marks, then color around the outside of your name with a dark, contrasting color (like purple) to make the letters pop.

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Check out the rest of my name art projects if you need more ideas. The name skeleton is especially fun for Halloween!

Fun with Friends in Colorado, Part 4

2026-10-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is the fourth (and final) post about the long weekend I spent in Colorado with my high school friends. I recommend reading the first, second, and third posts before this one. Because I blog about educational travel, I received media passes and other benefits for some of the locations we visited throughout our trip. Many of the places we went are free to everyone and we paid full price for the rest. Everything that I share is something I recommend without hesitation.

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Fun with Friends in Colorado

On Monday, October 19 we had a delicious breakfast of leftover brunch items and then headed out for our last day in Colorado. Unfortunately, I was sick. I'd been feeling off the day before, but it was clear around 2:00 am that I was not just tired or dehydrated like I'd thought. I loaded up on DayQuil, masked up, and did my best to enjoy all the planned activities without touching anything or doing anything else to risk getting someone else sick.

Our first stop took us back to downtown Boulder for a memorable experience that, unfortunately, I can't talk about. But I can tell you all about our second destination! Boulder is home to Liberty Puzzles. They make heirloom-quality wooden puzzles and we were there to take their free factory tour.

The tour started with a display of hand-cut puzzles from the post-Depression era company called Chagrin Falls.

These puzzles are what inspired the founders of Liberty Puzzles to bring all the best features of classic wooden jigsaw puzzles to modern-day puzzle enthusiasts. Liberty's puzzle making process starts with quarter-inch maple plywood. Images (printed with archival inks on high-quality paper) are heat-pressed onto the wood. Then computer-guided lasers cut the pieces.

Ideally, the laser would make perfect cuts. We learned that is rarely the case. Liberty's team of employees takes apart every puzzle to make sure the cuts are complete. When they are not, the employee finishes the cut, files the piece, and then stains the edge to match the area where the laser did cut.

Liberty is well-known for their whimsy pieces. We learned that each of their many puzzle cuts averages 25% whimsy pieces. Here you can see an employee has used them to decorate their workspace.

Employees have created some amazing works of art featuring whimsy pieces. Check these out.

Liberty Puzzles has a generous missing piece policy. If you are missing a piece, simply photograph the puzzle with the hole and they will replace the piece. If the piece is missing because the dog ate it, they ask that you send a photo for their Wall of Shame.

The tour was short, but interesting. When it ended, we browsed through their store. I hadn't known Liberty makes small, round puzzles.

For a variety of reasons, I didn't come home with a puzzle. But if I had, it probably would have been this one. I love Peanuts.

They had several puzzles out in their showroom.

After Liberty Puzzles, the five of us from out of state headed to Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. At 15,000 acres, this sanctuary is one of the largest urban wildlife refuges in the country. Unfortunately, the visitor center is only open Wednesday-Sunday, so we weren't able to go in.

The 11-mile narrated Wildlife Drive is open 7 days a week from sunrise to sunset, so that's how we started our visit.

The Rocky Mountain Arsenal opened as a chemical weapons manufacturing site in December 1942, operated by the US Army. By 1984, the level of contamination was such that it became a Superfund site. RMA became the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge in 2004. It is home to more than 330 animal species.

Prairie dogs occupy roughly 3800 of the 15,000 acres. With approximately 60 individuals per acre, you can count on easily seeing hundreds of prairie dogs during the tour.

The refuge is also home to a herd of approximately 250 bison.

Deer, mice, rabbits, raccoons, and coyotes are some of the other most commonly spotted mammals. Birds, fish, reptiles, and insects are abundant as well.

The refuge has 20 miles of hiking trails. We stopped at Lake Mary for a picnic lunch...

... then we did the easy loop trail around the lake.

And then it was time to go to the airport and say goodbye. We had a wonderful time in Colorado, sharing memories from our younger days and making new memories together. I feel so grateful to have been friends with these women for so many decades and I look forward to our next trip together.

Fun with Friends in Colorado, Part 3

2026-10-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is the third post about the long weekend I spent traveling to Colorado with my high school friends. I recommend starting with the first and second posts before reading this one. Because I blog about educational travel, I received media passes and other benefits for some of the locations we visited throughout our trip. Several of the places we went are free to everyone and we paid full price for the rest. Everything that I share is something I recommend without hesitation.

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Fun with Friends in Colorado

We awoke to another absolutely beautiful day in Boulder on Sunday, October 18. The runners went out first thing in the morning and came back with gorgeous pictures to share. Boulder is a special place.

Under Colleen's leadership, we worked together to make an amazing brunch. That's Nancy's mom Sherry chatting with Colleen. She joined us for brunch.

None of us did a good job taking photos of the meal prep or the brunch itself. This is the only photo of the to-die-for blueberry muffins that Colleen whipped up from scratch.

I had a really nice time catching up with Sherry.

Unfortunately, by around 1:00 pm, I was starting to feel lousy. I thought it was dehydration combined with late nights and poor sleep. I decided to stay back and do a puzzle instead of going to Chautauqua Park. I've been there before and, while it is beautiful, I had packed two puzzles for the group to do and was determined to finish at least one of them. Kathy, who loves puzzles as much as I do, chose to stay with me while Betsy, Colleen, Nancy, and Nikki headed out to hike.

Boulder is a hiker's dream. There are so many trails and places to get out in nature.

We had dinner at Brasserie Ten Ten.

We ate family style, sharing the two appetizers and four entrees. The food was excellent.

Back at the house, we stayed up trying to finish a 1000-piece puzzle.

Finished! So satisfying.

Tomorrow I'll share how we spent the last day of this epic long weekend.

Fun with Friends in Colorado, Part 2

2026-10-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is my second post about the long weekend I spent in Colorado with my high school friends. I recommend reading the first post before this one. Because I blog about educational travel, I was given media passes and other benefits for some of the locations we visited throughout our trip. Several of the places we went are free to everyone; we paid full price for the rest. Everything that I share here is something I recommend without hesitation.

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Fun with Friends in Colorado

After a great day at Meow Wolf, the five of us headed to our next destination: Meier Craft Skiery. Our sixth, Nancy, met us there. It was wonderful to finally all be together!

You may be wondering what a Craft Skiery is. It is what happens when you add a bar to a ski making factory. The bar itself is made of ski core wood.

The rest of the space functions as a showroom for Meier skis.

That's the ceiling. It's really cool.

If you visit Meier Craft Skiery, you can sit at the bar and watch skis being made through the windows. Or, if you come at Happy Hour, you can take the guided factory tour. Is there any doubt which we did?

The tour begins with a drink, which you can take with you during the tour. I appreciate that they offer multiple non-alcoholic options. Ted, the owner of Meier Skis, was our tour guide. He took us into the wood shop first...

... where he explained the process of laminating Colorado aspen, beetle-kill pine, and maple to provide the ideal core for skis and snowboards.

After curing, the cores are cut to size.

The next layers are cut...

... along with the stencils for the branding. All the layers are joined...

... and it's time to add graphics.

Most of Meier's graphics allow a portion of the wood to show through. Not only is it beautiful, but it's a sign of quality as any flaws in the wood would be visible.

Our group of six included a serious skier, a non-skier, and everything in between. We all enjoyed the tour. Ted was happy to answer all the questions we had. When the tour ended, we returned to the showroom where we received souvenir glasses to take home.

There was a food truck outside and live music inside, so we ordered food and had dinner there.

I highly recommend a visit to Meier Craft Skiery!

It had been a long day, particularly for our east coast friends who had gotten up before dawn, flew across the country, experienced Meow Wolf, and then toured a ski factory. So we headed to Boulder, where we would be staying for the next three nights.

On Saturday, October 17, we headed to the Boulder Farmers Market. I love farmers markets and Boulder's is excellent.

We each found breakfast from the various bakeries at the market. I can personally recommend Izzio Artisan Bakery. Yum!

We bought vegetables, eggs, cheese, hummus, breads, and other goodies for future meals.

We also bought the most delicious cocktail (and in my case, mocktail) mixers from Cocktail Caravan.

We stored all of our goodies, then headed out on the Boulder Urban Adventure Quest.

The Quest brought us to all sorts of neat locations in downtown Boulder.

We made a quick stop partway through to get Denver Pops.

I recommend the Raspberry Lime.

Back to the Quest!

Of course I drank glacier water. Who wouldn't?!

The Quest introduced us to SMiLE, Boulder's anonymous street artist. Once you know what to look for, you can find SMiLE's artwork all over town.

What I love the most about UAQ is that the questions take me to locations I otherwise wouldn't have noticed. Here we're learning about a miner (he looked like a child - a minor miner?) that I'm sure I would have otherwise walked by with barely a glance.

Boulder is the 31st city where I've done an UAQ. I'm eager to add even more cities to my count.

After the Quest, we grabbed a late lunch (tacos for some, smoothies for others)...

... and then watched the CU Buffoons a capella group perform.

We happened upon World Singing Day...

... and joined in the fun.

Eventually, we headed back to the house. We prepped all of our farmers market finds and had a wonderful dinner together.

It was a fantastic evening of good food and good friends.

I'll be back on Monday to tell you what we did on our second full day in Boulder.

Fun with Friends in Colorado, Part 1

2026-10-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

Thirty-six years after we graduated from Granada High School, five of my closest friends and I met up in Colorado for a girls' weekend. Over those 36 years, we've gotten together in various duos, trios, and quads, but last weekend was the first time that all six of us have been together at the same time since we were teenagers.

In 2004, five of us were together at my wedding.

I call them my high school friends, but I've actually known all of them since elementary school or even earlier. We are now all busy moms (16 children amongst us) with careers and many other responsibilities. Two of us still live in California; the others are in Colorado, Virginia, South Carolina, and Florida. The logistics of getting us all together were complicated, but so worth it. We had a wonderful time and are hoping to turn this into an annual event.

The two of us from California flew into Denver (me from Sacramento, Kathy from San Jose) in the evening of Thursday, October 15.

Kathy and I spent the night at the Drury Plaza Hotel Denver Central Park. (Did you notice the tree wallpaper? I love it.)

The Drury is conveniently located midway between the Denver airport and downtown, making it an affordable option. I received a media rate for our stay, but even at full price the Drury is a bargain when you factor in the free meals they provide. Some hotels offer a free breakfast, but the Drury is the only hotel I'm aware of that offers a free breakfast and an evening buffet that isn't just pretzels and chips. The 5:30 Kickback is totally free and includes an impressive spread. I opted for a pork slider, salad, and a margarita mocktail, all of which were fantastic. The menu changes daily and always includes a soup, a salad, an entree, hot dogs, nachos, and sides. Popcorn, sodas, and mocktails are unlimited; each adult gets a voucher for three alcoholic drinks.

After a restful night, Kathy and I awoke on Friday, October 16 to perfect weather in Denver.

We were headed downtown, but first we enjoyed breakfast at the Drury.

Our options included made-to-order pancakes, two different egg scrambles, biscuits and gravy, sausage, potatoes, fruit, yogurt, oatmeal, muffins, fruit, cereal, waffles, and more. I had a biscuit, fruit, and a delicious Mediterranean egg scramble.

We split a waffle. I love the branding - such a fun touch!

Kathy and I checked out of the hotel and headed to Meow Wolf, where we would be spending the next seven hours. I will do my best to explain Meow Wolf to you through words and pictures, but you won't fully understand it without visiting. Meow Wolf is unlike anywhere else you've ever been.

Meow Wolf is an immersive art experience.

It features interactive elements...

... and is filled with interesting, thought-provoking, and clever works of art.

Some pieces are small, while others are multiple stories tall.

There are Meow Wolf installations in five US cities (Santa Fe, Grapevine, Houston, Las Vegas, and Denver), with one more coming soon (LA). Each is completely different than the others. The Denver location, called Convergence Station, features four distinct worlds, converged into one.

Over 300 artists worked for four years to build Denver's Convergence Station. It is enormous: four stories and 90,000 square feet.

There are hidden spaces, secret rooms and passageways, and no maps or clues to direct you. It's all about exploration.

You'll find lots of fun places for selfies.

There are many different ways to enjoy Meow Wolf. Some people choose to just walk around and absorb it all. Others allow the sensory experiences to guide them. Others choose to use the QPass, an RFID card that "transforms your visit into an interactive quest." I'll give you one guess as to which group I'm in.

Obviously, I'm #TeamQuest. Kathy and I booped our QPass at every opportunity, looked at all the smallest details, and memorized names and other clues in hope of solving the mystery. What mystery? Finding the Forgotten Four.

Kathy and I had been exploring for about 3 hours when Nikki, Betsy, and Colleen arrived from the airport. We did our best to catch them up, but it's hard to quickly summarize three hours' worth of information.

We took about an hour to just explore...

... and be inspired. The art at Meow Wolf is amazing.

Some of it is definitely weird.

Sometimes you ask yourself, "What am I even looking at? And why?"

What is even going on here?

Hi Nikki!

Kathy and I jumped back into the mystery once the others got an overview.

What is a clue? And what is just art?

What does it all mean?!

Meow Wolf offers multiple options for food and drinks, but Kathy and I were too focused to stop. The rest of the group had wisely eaten lunch before joining us.

You may have noticed that, other than my friends, there aren't any people in my photos. That's not because the place was empty - far from it. I do my best to avoid posting pictures of other people if at all possible. Especially children.

Which brings me to something else I want to mention: Meow Wolf is a GREAT place to bring kids. We saw lots of families there, some just exploring and others using a QPass to gather clues. There were a few times that kids, presumably regulars, explained to us how something worked.

Two very young kids playing - just doing what kids do - were instrumental to us solving this puzzle.

Meow Wolf is an excellent place for field trips as well. The Denver location offers lesson plans in three subject areas (Computer Science, Life Science, and Environmental Science) for three different age groups (Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, and Grades 9-12). I looked through all of the lesson places for fifth grade and was impressed. The lessons are well-written, full of engaging activities for kids to do before, during, and after the field trip.

After 7 hours, we made good progress but ultimately did not solve the mystery. We did not see every space or discover every interactive element. But boy, did we have fun!

We would have loved to have kept going, but we had another place we had to be. So we said a reluctant goodbye to Meow Wolf and headed to our next destination. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

Fun at the Park

2026-10-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

I don't scrapbook chronologically, but I put all the completed layouts in the album chronologically. I do this by preplanning the pages I'm going to make and using post-it flags to mark where each page will go. It works for me, most of the time. Occasionally I have to shuffle things around later. This usually isn't a big deal, except when there are double-page layouts that get split by the shuffle. I don't do a lot of two-pagers now, but I used to. I recently did a big reorganization to deal with some layouts from a long time ago that hadn't fit in the albums. Rather than split two-pagers, I decided to make new pages to fit the two newly-created gaps.

The first gap fell between Thanksgiving and Christmas 2008. I went back through my photos, printed two from that time period, and then made this page.

Fun at the Park (affiliate link)

I had a great time scrapping these pictures of 2-year old Trevor at the park! We spent so much time at many of the local parks when he was this age. I have many happy memories of him playing on the structures and collecting leaves, pinecones, acorns, and oak galls for his Treasure Box.

Glow in the Dark Newspaper Ghosts

2026-10-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

I love Halloween crafts! For today's project, I created colorful glow-in-the-dark backgrounds for four whimsical newspaper ghosts. I really like how they each turned out, but I love them more all together. Give it a try! Affiliate links below.

Glow in the Dark Newspaper Ghosts

Materials:

Steps:

Go through the newspaper to find pages without images or bold headlines. For each ghost you'll be making, paint half of a sheet of newspaper with the color of your choice. I made four ghosts, so I used two sheets of newspaper (a half sheet for each background color).

When the paint is dry, squirt a contrasting color on top. Put your hand in a sandwich bag and pounce it on top of the paint to smear it or transfer it amongst multiple backgrounds. You can add as many colors as you want.

I used a snack bag instead of a sandwich bag because that's what I had on hand (har!) but a sandwich bag will do a better job protecting your hand. Obviously, a disposable glove would be even better. If you don't care about getting paint on your hands, you can use the snack bag or your bare hand.

While the background paint is drying, use the Sharpie to draw a ghost on another page of text-heavy newspaper. Add eyes and a mouth, then cut out the ghost, leaving a small margin outside of the Sharpie line. Repeat for as many backgrounds as you have.

Cut the chipboard into 8.5 x 8.5" squares.

When the newspaper background is completely dry, place it facedown on the desktop and center the chipboard inside it. Fold up the edges and tape them, just like you'd wrap a really skinny gift.

Turn the background face up. Use the glue stick to add adhesive to the back of the ghost and press it in place.

I had so much fun making my ghosts! Here are the other three.

I don't have a photo of these glowing under blacklight, but the bright colors look great even when they aren't technically glowing. Such a fun decoration for Halloween!

Pancake Beaver

2026-10-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

If your breakfast could use a little more fun, may I suggest a Pancake Beaver? The beaver is North America's largest rodent, and while rodents don't normally scream "breakfast" to me, I'll totally make an exception for the pancake version. Affiliate links below.

Pancake Beaver

Materials:

Steps:

Prepare pancake batter. You'll need enough for 6+ pancakes, but I recommend making extras. Transfer a few tablespoons of batter to a separate bowl and add a teaspoon each of cocoa powder and sugar. Mix thoroughly.

Cook the plain pancakes. You will need one large oval(ish) pancake for the beaver's tail and two small round pancakes for the ears. Pour another round pancake for the teeth, but as soon as it sets, flip it and then use the side of the spatula to cut it into rectangles for the teeth. Pour a large round pancake for the face and immediately use the spatula to push the batter away to make the indentation at the bottom. If you prefer, you can cook the pancakes like normal and cut away the parts, but this worked well for me.

Cook the chocolate pancakes. You will need one small oval pancake for the nose and a second oval pancake (cut in two) for the inner ears.

Use the edible marker to draw lines to mimic the scales on a real beaver's tail. Select two large candy eyeballs.

Assemble the pieces onto a plate.

I had so much fun making this pancake beaver! I'm excited to add it to my collection of edible crafts featuring candy eyeballs. I should have held off making that graphic. I think this beaver is cuter than almost everything else I featured.

World Cardmaking Day 2026

2026-10-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

World Cardmaking Day was Saturday and I participated for the first time in four years. I always put National Scrapbook Day on the calendar way in advance and plan around it, but I usually don't even realize World Cardmaking Day has rolled around again until the challenges start popping up. I made cards for seven different challenges. All of the cards below are made with the Lucky Me and Hello Again collections, both by Doodlebug. Affiliate links here and throughout the post.

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This card was for Doodlebug's Sketch challenge. The gold Sprinkles (enamel dots) were a last minute addition. I love how they add shine to the pot of gold.

This was for the Mood Board challenge. I was inspired by the wide, horizontal bands of color and the large graphic on a solid background.

For the Salad Bar challenge, we had a list of ingredients to pick from. I chose sprinkles (yellow), fancy frills (grass), and shaped sprinkles (ladybugs).

All of the remaining cards were made for challenges at A Cherry on Top. The first I did: "Create a card with florals."

"Create a monochrome card."

"Create a card using one of the ACOT sketches."

"Create a card with at least three layers."

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I have a lot of blog maintenance tasks I need to do, so I will be taking a break from writing new posts through next week. I will be back with a new post on Monday, October 19.

Cheese Plate Craft (With Bonus Geometry Lesson!)

2026-10-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

The top cheese-producing states in the US are Wisconsin, California, and Idaho, in that order. Together, the three states produce more than half of the nation's cheese. Wisconsin, known as America's Dairyland, makes more than 600 varieties of cheese and leads the country in cheddar production. Popular cheeses including Colby and Muenster were invented in Wisconsin. California produces over 250 variety of cheese, including Monterey Jack, a California original. Throughout the 2000's, the cheese industry in Idaho has grown rapidly, although I couldn't find information about how many varieties are currently produced there.

Most cheese is made in wheels or in blocks. In geometry terms, a wheel is just a very squat cylinder. A block is a rectangular prism. When you cut a block into parts with equal sides, you get a square prism (aka, a cube). When you cut a block on the diagonal, you end up with a triangular prism. Learn how to draw these shapes and then turn them into a fun cheese board craft.

Cheese Plate Craft + How to Draw Solid Figures

Materials:

Steps:

Use a piece of scratch paper to learn the basic steps to drawing rectangular prisms, triangular prisms, and cylinders. Start by drawing a triangle, oval, and rectangle with a colored pencil.

Draw an identical (congruent) triangle slightly up and to the right of the first. (If you're using this as a proper geometry lesson, measure and use a straight edge, unlike my quick examples below.) Do the same with the rectangle. Draw a congruent oval directly above the first. How far apart you space the two congruent shapes determines the size of your finished solid figure. Experiment!

Finally, draw straight lines between the points (vertices) of the triangles and of the rectangles. Ovals don't have vertices, so draw straight lines between the outermost parts.

When you are confident drawing solid figures, try them on cardstock! Draw the lines very lightly with brown or grey. Cut out the finished shapes.

Now get creative! Add holes to a triangular prism to make swiss cheese. Draw a cut wedge (segment, in geometry terms) from the cylinder and then color it to make brie. Put cubes of cheddar into a bowl. Arrange the whole thing on a board or plate cut from construction paper. When you are happy with your design, glue it in place.

There are so many fun ways to extend this lesson. If I were doing this in the classroom, we would definitely follow it up with a cheese tasting. We'd jump into the history and science of cheese and maybe even make ricotta from scratch. So many possibilities!

Fabric Postcards

2026-10-05T05:00:00.000-07:00

One of the members of our quilt group brought in a stack of 20-year old quilt magazines for anyone who was interested in reading them. I'd never read a quilt magazine and I'm eager to learn more about quilting, so I took a few home. In one, there was a casual mention about sending quilted postcards, but no further information. I decided to try making quilted postcards and see if they'd make it through the mail. Technically, I made fabric postcards, not quilted postcards, because they aren't actually quilted. But they did make it through the mail! I sent one to a friend here in town; it arrived two days later. I sent the second postcard to my mom in Idaho. That took three days. Both arrived in perfect condition - hurray! Affiliate links below.

Fabric Postcards

Materials:

Steps:

Sew scraps of fabric together, then trim it to make a 4" x 6" block. Press the seams flat. Print, stamp, or draw a postcard design onto the paper. I printed two on one sheet of paper, then trimmed them down to 4" x 6".

Add an even coat of glue to the back of the postcard, stopping approximately 1/2" from the edges. (You don't want glue where you will be sewing.) Press the fabric onto the postcard, then iron it flat. If the fabric and cardstock aren't perfectly even, give them a quick trim. Use the sewing machine to zig zag around the edges of the postcard.

Address your card, write a message, and then add a postcard stamp and it's ready to pop in the mailbox!

Self-Binding Quilted Potholder (Lion Edition)

2026-10-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the first quilted potholders I made? I sewed them 7 months ago, just after finishing my first quilt, when I was still brand new to sewing. My first potholders are very lopsided, I didn't quilt them properly (or evenly), and the binding is a mess. I was looking at them the other day and realized how far I've come with my sewing skills since then. I'm still learning and practicing the basics, but I am now a confident beginner.

I decided to see just how far I've come by making another potholder. It's not perfect, but it is soooo much better than the others!

To make my potholder, I layered an 8" square of lion fabric onto an 8" square of batting. I'm much more proficient at cutting fabric accurately now, so that definitely helped with the finished product. I pinned the layers in the center and added clips all the way around the outside. Overkill? Perhaps, but I was determined not to have the layers shift while I quilted them like they did last time.

It worked! I didn't have to square up the block, as it remained perfectly square after quilting. And check out those even quilting lines! I used my ruler to measure where they go, then marked them by dragging my fingernail against the ruler. That gave me creases that were easy to follow when sewing. I should have ironed out that random crease ahead of time, but it didn't interfere with my quilting.

I put the quilted layers right side up on an upside down 10" square of yellow fabric, then folded up the edges and pressed them. I had a heck of a time getting the corners to lay nicely; that's definitely a skill I need to work on. I sewed around the inside edge to lock the binding in place, then around the outside edge.

Here's the finished potholder on my cutting mat. The corners bow out a little bit, but compared to the others.... what a difference!

Here's an original potholder, for comparison:

Like I said... what a difference! I am looking forward to continuing to improve my skills. I'm having so much fun learning to quilt and am so glad to have this fun and rewarding hobby.

Crafts for Kids Using Candy Eyeballs

2026-10-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

I love crafting with candy eyeballs. They add so much personality and whimsy to cakes, pancakes, cupcakes, milkshakes, marshmallows, lollipops, and so much more! Below are some of my favorite edible crafts decorated with candy eyeballs.

Edible Crafting with Candy Eyeballs

Heart Tropical Fish Cookie - Three heart cookies come together to make a cute tropical fish. Make just one or a whole ocean's worth of brightly colored fish.

Candy Melt Witches - I had a blast making these witches. The sprinkle eyebrows and mouth add so much expression. Can you guess what I used to make the noses?

Nut Butter Bear - This cute bear is made with two types of rice cakes and two types of nut butter. It's easy to make and really tasty. I've included ideas in the tutorial for substitutions if nut allergies are a concern.

Ho Ho Bat - I love bats. These delicious treats are made with Ho Hos, Oreos, almonds, and a few other items... including candy eyeballs, of course!

Twinkie Birds - From Ho Hos to Twinkies! Dress up these snack cakes to look like a family of birds. Each is on a stick to make it extra fun to eat.

Dracula Smores - Ordinary smores are fun, but Dracula smores are even better. These are so fun to make for Halloween or other vampire-themed occasion.

Nutter Butter People - It turns out that Nutter Butters are great for turning into different characters. Gather up candy eyeballs and other treats and get creative! I ended up making 7 people and it was so much fun.

Decorated Donuts - Candy eyeballs and donuts are a match made in heaven. There are so many creative possibilities, but I'm particularly fond of this grouchy cinnamon roll.

Graham Cracker Owls - Make one graham cracker owl or a whole family. They're quick and easy to make and are such a fun option for snack time.

Be sure to check out all of the edible crafts I've made featuring candy eyeballs. And if you have an idea for something you'd like me to try, let me know in the comments! I'm happy to give it a go.

North Dakota 2023

2026-09-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

Our 2023 visit to North Dakota was memorable for so many reasons. It was our fiftieth state. We visited a bunch of interesting and unique places. And we experienced plague levels of grasshoppers.

North Dakota (affiliate link)

I'd originally planned to put the "hello!" die cut on the grasshopper photo, but I ended up moving it to highlight Trevor. He's popped up in the prairie dog enclosure. What a fun way to let guests get a closer view! It's a great photo op too.

Did you notice my title? I wanted to use those letters because they matched the striped paper perfectly, but I didn't have any O's left. I trimmed down a 6 to make the O in north; the circle sticker with a heart inside worked well as the O in dakota. Scrapbookers are nothing if not resourceful!

California Coast Cruise, Part 7: At Sea on the Ruby Princess

2026-09-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is my seventh and final post about our California Coast cruise. I suggest reading the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth posts before reading this one. Because I blog about educational travel, I received media passes and other benefits for many of the locations we visited throughout our trip. Some of the attractions we toured are free to everyone; we paid full price for the rest. Everything that I share is something I recommend without hesitation.

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At Sea on the Ruby Princess

We had beautiful weather, warm with blue skies, for the first 6 days of our 7-day cruise. On Wednesday, September 16 we put on long pants and light jackets for the first time. Most people crowded into indoor lounges or restaurants, so Steve and I took advantage of the outdoor amenities with no one else around. The mini golf course is really fun. It's quite challenging, with holes unlike any others I've seen.

We spent time walking around the decks with virtually no one else around.

This pool wasn't quite empty, but there were plenty of lounge chairs to be had.

We watched part of a concert on deck, then watched a movie in our stateroom.

I wanted to do a puzzle (one of my favorite ways of relaxing), but it was too cold on deck and too crowded in the lounges with large enough tables. So I did a puzzle on the floor of our stateroom. It was actually really nice. I turned on a podcast and looked up often to enjoy the ocean view.

This puzzle has a lot of fun whimsy pieces.

I brought this puzzle from home, but there are almost always puzzles on board. On the Ruby, there were at least 15 puzzles available in the library for whoever wanted to do them. Rather than taking it back home, I left this one in the library for someone else to enjoy. I got it at a puzzle exchange from the library, so I'd be passing it along anyway.

We played cards with the boys, went to trivia, and ate great food. I really enjoy sea days, particuarly after four days in a row of jam-packed activities in port.

In the evening, we enjoyed the production show, the third of the voyage. It was excellent.

The cruise director introduced the senior officers, leading to the obvious joke of "Who's steering the ship right now?!"

The next morning, we docked in San Francisco. We were disappointed that the cruise had come to an end. We had a great time. Disembarkation was smooth and we had a nice walk to the Ferry Building.

The ride back to Vallejo was pleasant, but what we discovered when we got there was not. Someone stole our catalytic converter.

Instead of heading home, I called the police while Steve called a tow truck. What I thought would be a day of unpacking and laundry turned into a day of phone calls to the insurance company and mechanic. What a bummer of a way for a great trip to end.

California Coast Cruise, Part 6: Ensenada

2026-09-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is my sixth post about our California Coast cruise. I suggest that you read the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth posts before reading this one. Because I blog about educational travel, I received media passes and other benefits for many of the locations we visited throughout our trip. Some of the attractions we toured are free to everyone; we paid full price for the rest. Everything that I share is something I recommend without hesitation.

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Ensenada, California

On Tuesday, September 15 the Ruby Princess docked in Ensenada, in Baja California, Mexico. We didn't have a lot of time in port (sailaway was 3:00 pm), so Steve and I decided to spend our time in town, exploring the city on foot. He and I have been to Ensenada before and seen the most popular attraction, La Bufadora. Trevor was in Ensenada when he was 3 and CJ had never been, but they both opted to join us rather than take an excursion out to the blowhole.

When talking about Ensenada, the first thing I have to mention is the enormous flag. It's the first thing you'll see, no matter where you are. The flagpole is 338 feet fall and towers above everything. It serves as an outstanding navigational aid - if you ever get turned around, look for the flag!

Ensenada is known as "The Cinderella of the Pacific" because of its natural beauty and how it has transformed from a small fishing village into such a popular tourist destination.

Here we are, walking along the Malecón toward the flagpole.

Here's a small portion of the flagpole, with people for scale. The fountains operate at night, along with a light show. That's part of the performing arts theater to the left.

This artwork is called "Historic Symbols of Ensenada." As you walk up the curving path, different things become visible. It's really impressive.

There is a lot of public art in Ensenada.

Most of the businesses in this area are geared toward tourists, with plenty of signs in English.

But it is Mexico, so of course the street signs, stop signs, and signs on the garbage cans are all in Spanish.

We were very surprised to discover this gorgeous mural dedicated to Vallejo, California! That's where we boarded the ferry five days earlier to get to our cruise ship in San Francisco. It turns out that Vallejo and Ensenada have recently become Sister Cities!

Ensenada is also a Sister City to San Juan Capistrano, California.

This is the Plaza of the Three Heads.

The heads belong to Miguel Hidalgo (leader of the Mexican War of Independence), Benito Juárez (former President and reformer), and Venustiano Carranza (revolutionary leader and President).

This is the Regional History Museum of Ensenada.

It's a small museum, free to enter. It covers the history of Baja California. The signs are all in both English and Spanish.

The building was originally constructed as military barracks. It has also served as government offices, a hospital, and school, and a prison. And now, a museum.

This would have been a highly unpleasant place to be in prison. The cells are tiny, with just a slab of concrete as a bed.

After the museum, we headed back to the Mercado Negro, the large fish market. Ensenada is famous for its fish. In fact, it is the birthplace of fish tacos and (possibly) margaritas. It is well-known for its culinary offerings and is also home to the best and most famous wine region in Mexico.

This sign stopped me in my tracks. "If you are going to cross into the United States of America, do it legally and avoid putting yourself at risk. Many people have lost their lives trying to cross by sea." Devastating. It brought me right back to the exhibit we'd seen the day before in San Diego.

We had a great time exploring Ensenada on foot and would highly recommend that to anyone arriving by cruise ship. It's a neat city. I wish we'd had even more time to look around and visit more of the attractions. Next time!

We had one more day aboard the Ruby Princess before returning to San Francisco. I'll tell you about that tomorrow.

California Coast Cruise, Part 5: San Diego

2026-09-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is my fifth post about our California Coast cruise. I suggest that you read the first, second, third, and fourth posts before reading this one. Because I blog about educational travel, I received media passes and other benefits for many of the locations we visited throughout our trip. Some of the attractions we toured are free to everyone; we paid full price for the rest. Everything that I share here is something I recommend without hesitation.

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San Diego, California

After a wonderful visit to Balboa Park, Steve and went to the Navy SEAL Museum. I chose it over highly rated places like the San Diego Museum of Art and the San Diego Natural History Museum (both of which I'm sure I would have loved) because I've been to a lot of art and natural history museums, but I've never been to a Navy SEAL Museum. There are outstanding art museums in many US cities but you're only going to find a Navy SEAL Museum in two places: San Diego, California and Ft. Pierce, Florida.

Prior to visiting the museum, I knew next to nothing about Navy SEALs, other than that they go through rigorous selection and training in order to conduct special operations. I thought they did pretty much exclusively what is depicted on the statue in front of the museum. That is to say, underwater stuff.

As the acronym indicates, SEALs work includes Sea, Air, and Land. I assumed the Air and Land portions were only what was adjacent to the Sea, but SEALs conduct operations in jungles, deserts, mountains, and cities in addition to maritime environments.

We started our visit to the museum with an introductory movie called 'The SEAL Mindset.' It's projected on three walls of a surround theater on the main floor. Near that is a memorial space where visitors can learn about those who died in combat or in training. Next we went upstairs to the main exhibit space. We were greeted by two retired Navy SEALs. That was a surprise. They were happy to answer questions and share personal stories.

We learned about the 80-year history of the SEALs and how Naval Special Warfare has evolved over time.

I learned so much and have a new appreciation for the incredibly difficult job they do.

After learning about the SEAL Delivery Vehicle, Steve took on the job of piloting a SEAL team through an underwater mission. I was stressed out just watching, but he avoided detection and stayed focused in order to complete the task.

The final exhibit asks visitors to look at our own lives and see how we can apply SEAL skills to a cause bigger than ourselves. Each of us can make a difference.

This is the stairwell to get back down to ground level. Very clever, Museum Designer.

If you're headed to San Diego, I definitely recommend a visit to the Navy SEAL Museum.

The museum is only a few blocks from the cruise terminal, so it was an easy walk back to the ship.

But we didn't get back on board. Not yet. We had other things to see. We took a lovely stroll along The Embarcadero to Tuna Wharf. It is home to this massive statue, called Embracing Peace.

There are people in this photo, for scale.

Next to that is another very impressive piece of public art. It depicts Bob Hope speaking to 15 members of the service and is called (appropriately) 'A National Salute to Bob Hope and the Military.'

Would you like to see a person for scale?

The end of Tuna Wharf is a good place to sit and enjoy the view.

We had a nice walk back toward the ship, enjoying the public art along the way. I did, at least. Steve was almost completely focused on the USS Midway.

I thought he'd visited the Midway on a trip to San Diego before we met, but it turns out I was wrong. Military ships aren't really my thing, but Steve loves them. So when I found out he'd never been to the Midway, I encouraged him to go. He happily accepted and I headed back to the Ruby Princess.

Steve offered to tell you all about his visit (rather than me trying to tell his story - always a challenge), so the next section is by Steve.

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We had just over two hours before I needed to be back to the ship, so I took advantage of the extra time to do something I've been wanting to do: to go visit the USS Midway Museum. The USS Midway was right there, across the pier from our cruise ship and we walked right by it when visiting the statues. Getting there is easy: you can just walk up, and there's (paid) parking right there at Navy Pier. You can save $2 by buying your tickets online, or pay the $41 walk-up price at the booth on the pier. And then up you go.

You start your tour in the hanger deck. As you enter the hanger deck, you can take a audio tour handset. You just point it at a marked sign and it will start playing information about that exhibit. It's possible to use your own phone instead.

The hanger deck is enormous and has lots of planes and other exhibits to learn about. There's a 15 minute movie that I didn't have time for and it's also the starting point for some of the interior self-tours. In the aft end of the hanger deck, there's a cafe and of course the store.

I didn't spend much time on the hanger deck. One of the many docents came up to me and told me that I should go up to the flight deck. The last Guided Island Tour would be in about an hour and "90% of the top 100 things to see on the ship are up there." Sold!

The flight deck is HUGE. After all, this is an aircraft carrier. This ship is 1,001 ft long and 238 ft wide. There are lots of planes displayed up here, several of which you can walk through. There are several cockpit trainers you can sit in, as well as a wealth of other displays. Similar to the hanger deck, the flight deck is the jumping off point for several self-guided tours into the ship, as well as the only guided tour - that of the island. That's where I headed next.

You go behind the island and get to wait in a line. They've got this thing pipelined. Start in one line, then they let you in and you get to sit on benches while a docent talks to you for about seven minutes (their description, I didn't time it) about the ship and the history of it. It's obvious why they do this - this is the place where they talk to you about the ladders you're going to have to climb and give you several safety guidelines. If you have a backpack on, they recommend you wear it on the front. I chose not to do so given that I had to use my Peak Design Capture Clip on the backpack to hold my camera so I could have my hands free for climbing the four decks worth of ladders - that was the safest way for me, but I recommend following their instructions.

First destination was prifly, the Primary Flight Control room on the aircraft carrier. I got to sit in the Air Boss's seat (the one on the left in the photo). Very cool!

The view of the flight deck from prifly is pretty good, as you might expect.

From there we went on to the primary navigation room and the bridge. On the way out, we got to see the captain's sea cabin. The captain is so important that when he needs a rest, he has his own cabin in the tower for when he's on duty. Of course he has a much nicer cabin elsewhere in the ship.

They stop giving tours of the island an hour before closing, so make sure you make time for it. It's totally worth it.

After the island tour, I spent time looking at the other displays on the flight deck and admiring the view of the Ruby Princess. Can you see Cindy waving back at me? I can't either, but she's out on our balcony somewhere on that side.*

I knew my time was short, but I couldn't resist ducking into a few of the interior self tours. The Admiral has a huge suite of rooms that he uses to command the whole battle group. In fact, in Desert Storm, the USS Midway's Admiral was not just in charge of the Midway's carrier group, but he was the head Admiral in charge of all four carrier groups that made of Task Force 154 in the Persian Gulf! His stateroom is pretty nice.

The view down one of the primary corridors is amazing. It just goes on and on and on. The view the other way looks exactly the same.

I had fun touring the Midway, but I totally ran out of time. I spent two hours and saw maybe 30%. This is a 4-5 hour activity, so I recommend having plenty of time, taking it slow and enjoying it. But the ship was closing and I had to get back on board the Ruby for our 5pm dinner reservation. I was late of course. But totally worth it!

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*Cindy here! Steve phoned me from the Midway and asked me to step out on the balcony. We both waved like crazy, but I couldn't see him any better than he could see me!

I'll be back on Monday to tell you about our final port of call.

California Coastal Cruise, Part 4: San Diego's Balboa Park

2026-09-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is my fourth post about our California Coast cruise. I suggest that you read the first, second, and third posts before reading this one. Because I blog about educational travel, I received media passes and other benefits for some of the locations we visited throughout the trip. Several of the attractions we toured are free to everyone; we paid full price for the rest. Everything that I share here is something I recommend without hesitation.

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San Diego, California: Balboa Park

On Monday, September 14 the Ruby Princess docked in San Diego. Can you guess where we went?

If you've been there, you're sure to recognize San Diego's beautiful Balboa Park!

Balboa Park is, to put it simply, unparalleled. Larger than NYC's Central Park or SF's Golden Gate Park, San Diego's Balboa Park is home to 18 world-class museums located amongst 1200 acres of nature. The world-famous San Diego Zoo is located in Balboa Park, attracting over 4 million guests a year.

I've been to the San Diego Zoo 4 or 5 times, most recently in 2007 when Trevor was a baby. It was tempting to visit the zoo again (that's how Trevor chose to spend his day), but Steve and I decided to spend our time exploring different parts of Balboa Park. I'm so glad we did.

We started with the Balboa Park Urban Adventure Quest. This was the 31st Quest we've completed and one of our favorites. The places it took us were really interesting, the information we learned was fascinating, and the puzzles were just the right difficulty level. It was the perfect introduction to Balboa Park beyond the Zoo.

We took advantage of the Quest's pause feature to visit two museums between questions. This is the Botanical Building.

Built for the 1915-1916 Panama California Exposition, it houses more than 2100 plants.

We really enjoyed our stroll amongst all the interesting flowers and other plants.

The lily pond and lagoon in front of the building are beautiful as well.

This the Museum of Us. This museum of anthropology tells diverse stories, with the mission to inspire human connections by exploring the human experience. I loved it.

Hostile Terrain 94 is a powerful and important exhibit about the "Prevention Through Deterrence" policy adopted by US Border Patrol in 1994.

The exhibit includes toe tags for each of the known people who have died trying to cross the border into the US. There are more than 3200. Each tag is positioned where the body was found. Most refugees died of exposure or dehydration. Some died just yards across the border. It's devastating.

Artifacts and stories make the exhibit even more powerful.

After that exhibit, we welcomed the much lighter exhibit called BEERology, about the cultural importance of beer throughout history.

We learned about the Maya Peoples...

... the construction of race...

... the Hapa Project...

... and the visual storytelling project of the Kumeyaay.

I enjoyed the whole museum, but my favorite exhibit was Post Secret.

We spent the most time here, reading through the thousands of anonymous secrets.

There's actually one more exhibit at the Museum of Us, housed in a separate space across the street.

It's about cannibalism.

It was fascinating, to say the least. The exhibit challenges visitors' ideas of who cannibals are, examining the cultures and circumstances that lead to cannibalism. It also questions what counts as cannibalism.

We learned about cannibalism throughout history, including traditional remedies made from human body parts. Then we took a quiz about how we were feeling that day. We each got a diagnosis, then opened the drawers to get our prescriptions.

Steve is to take mummy dust orally to reduce bruising and improve overall health. I should rub sore muscles with human fat to reduce aches and pains.

We learned about a shipwreck where crew members picked straws to decide who would be killed and eaten in order for the rest to survive. Then it was our turn to pick straws. (I did not pick the short straw, so I lived. As a cannibal.)

This was an Oregon Trail-style Donner Party game. (I lived. As a cannibal.)

Each body part in this Operation game is labeled with the number of calories it would provide. (I lived. As a cannibal.)

Parts of the exhibit are more reverent than these games. There's a candlelit space in tribute to the Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes in 1972.

The exhibit ends by asking what counts as cannibalism. Where do we draw the line?

The whole exhibit is thought-provoking and well-worth seeing. Go visit the Museum of Us!

You really can't go wrong anywhere in Balboa Park. As if 18 museums weren't enough, there are tons of recreational opportunities. This is an archery range. But it's not the type I've experienced at Scout camps, with all the targets lined up in a row. It's like a golf course, where you move from hole to hole except here you move from target to target. So cool! It's neat that you're able to watch this portion from above.

I was disappointed that the House of Pacific Relations International Cottages weren't open. The next time we go to Balboa Park, I want to visit on a weekend specifically to be able to see these.

We had a fantastic time at Balboa Park. We packed in as much as we could before it was time for us to head to our next destination. Yep - we had a lot more to see in San Diego! I'll tell you about it tomorrow.

California Coast Cruise, Part 3: Long Beach

2026-09-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is my third post about our California Coast cruise. I recommend that you read the first and second posts before this one. Because I blog about educational travel, I was given media passes and received other benefits for several of the locations we visited throughout the trip. Some of the attractions we toured are free to everyone; we paid full price for the rest. Everything that I share is something I recommend without hesitation.

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Long Beach, California

On Sunday, September 13 the Ruby Princess docked at the Port of Los Angeles.

The Port of Los Angeles is something to behold. It is enormous; in fact, it is the busiest seaport in the Western Hemisphere.

Steve sat on the balcony for a long time watching the loading and unloading of containers. A minute before we were going to meet Trevor and CJ to disembark, he was inside and ready to go... but still watching.

The four of us got off the ship and took a short ride to Long Beach. It's home to the Aquarium of the Pacific.

We arrived a few minutes before opening, giving us time to enjoy the beautiful Rios de la Vida mural out front.

Impressive!

And I don't just mean the enormous whale in the lobby. The entire aquarium is impressive. Spectacular, actually.

I especially loved the puffins, penguins, and puffers.

And this octopus.

It was really interesting watching the keepers do morning health checks with the seals and sea lions.

There's a cute play area outside that became very popular with kids as the day went on.

If you've ever wanted to touch sharks and rays, you're in luck.

Sharks feel like sandpaper. Rays feel spongy.

This model of the local water cycle is really cool. I'm standing near the mountains; that red button makes it rain. The grooves are rivers.

Steve is standing on the opposite side, where the water drains into the ocean.

Other nearby hands-on exhibits are all about water conservation.

I love the attention to detail at this aquarium. Instead of plain concrete, there are scale models of sharks. This one looks like it's sneaking up on Trevor.

The side of the snack bar has Fun Facts. So smart to use what would otherwise be a plain wall! We also enjoyed all the fun viewing areas.

It was absolutely fascinating watching a vet perform surgery on a shark. We didn't photograph that; this is next door, with a stuffed animal patient for educational purposes.

There are so many things to see and do at the Aquarium of the Pacific. And so much to learn!

Of all the wonderful exhibits we saw at the aquarium, my absolute favorite was the Lorikeet Forest. This enormous outdoor aviary is filled with dozens (and dozens) of lorikeets. Feeding them nectar was the highlight of the visit for me.

The Aquarium of the Pacific might be my new favorite aquarium, right up there with the New England Aquarium, Georgia Aquarium, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

After a wonderful visit to the aquarium, the four of us went our separate ways. Steve and I wanted to check out the lighthouse in the distance.

During the short walk to the lighthouse, we spotted this adorable bike rack...

... and ended up in the middle of the California Turkish Festival! We enjoyed the music, dancing, and smells as we walked amongst the booths.

I've never been to Turkiye, but I have no reason to believe I wouldn't love it.

The views from the lighthouse are well-worth the visit. That's the Queen Mary in the background.

We walked back toward the aquarium on this boardwalk. A lovely stroll!

We passed the aquarium, stopped to photograph this cool statue...

...and continued on to this unique overcrossing.

We passed the mall and went to the Convention Center. Out front is the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame.

We enjoyed reading about each inductee. There were quite a few names that I recognized, which is surprising given how little I know about motorsports.

After a fun day in Long Beach, we made our way back to the ship...

...and enjoyed a busy evening, full of fun activities. Steve returned to the balcony to watch our sailaway.

Next stop: San Diego! I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

California Coastal Cruise, Part 2: Catalina Island

2026-09-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is my second post about our California Coast cruise. I recommend that you read the first post before this one. Because I blog about educational travel, I received media passes and other benefits for several of the locations we visited throughout the trip. Some of the attractions we toured are free to everyone; we paid full price for the rest. What I paid or didn't pay has no effect on my reviews. Everything that I share is something I recommend without hesitation.

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Visiting Catalina Island

I've wanted to visit Catalina Island for years. Steve went there as a teenager and Trevor spent a week on the island at Camp Emerald Bay in 2018, making Catalina one of the very few places that they'd both visited and I hadn't. When I attended Outlook Forum in 2023, I got to know a woman from Love Catalina who convinced me that I should make Catalina a priority. It's been on my list of Future Travels for a long time and I'm so glad to have finally visited!

The Ruby Princess anchored in Avalon Bay. Avalon is the only incorporated city on Catalina Island.

We went ashore as early as possible, which allowed us to avoid the crowds. Look how few people are in our pictures. In another two hours, it was wall-to-wall people.

The boys went snorkeling (more on that later). Steve and I started with an Urban Adventure Quest.

There are five Urban Adventure Quests on Catalina Island: two walking, one biking, and two with golf carts. We opted to walk. As always, the Quest took us to places we wouldn't have found on our own and taught us so much about Avalon and the rest of Catalina.

If we were staying in Avalon for multiple days, we definitely would have done at least one more Quest. Each takes you to unique locations with different questions to solve.

This is the Catalina Casino. There's no gambling here (and never has been). It offers movies and the world's largest circular ballroom.

While we were near the Casino, we thought we saw the boys snorkeling. We waved; they waved back. We asked how it was; we got thumbs up. We took pictures; they posed. We found out later it wasn't them, but we didn't know that at the time. We continued with the Quest, talking about how happy we were that the boys were both having fun snorkeling for the first time.

Avalon has a lot of public art. I particularly love the tiles.

Not just public art - public showers! $3 for 5 minutes seems like a pretty good deal, but since I didn't go anywhere near the sand, I didn't need a shower.

We finished the Quest in just over two hours. It was a great introduction to Avalon and provided an excellent overview. At our next destination, the Catalina Museum for Art & History, we took a deeper dive.

The museum is small, but excellent. The exhibits are really interesting and the museum itself is beautifully designed. The permanent exhibit covers the history of Catalina. It was fascinating! Did you know that Catalina Island was the home of the Chicago Cubs' spring training from 1921 to 1951?

Or that Marilyn Monroe lived on Catalina, back when she was still Norma Jeane? She moved there as a teenage bride in 1943.

Old Ben is considered Catalina's first movie star.

Avalon was once home to the world's largest bird park.

Steve and I thoroughly enjoyed learning all about Catalina Island's rich history.

On to the art portion of the museum! We loved Narsiso Martinez' Witnesses of Labor: Portraits of Essential Workers. Each piece is done on the boxes that farm workers use to carry harvested produce from the fields to the markets.

We also loved the exhibit about Tim Musso called Chasing the Sun: The Art, Process, and Design of Writing and Illustrating a Children’s Book. His woodcut illustrations are absolutely stunning. Check out Musso's book, which follows the 50,000 mile (!) migratory path of an Arctic tern (affiliate link here and below). I highly recommend his book. While technically a children's book, people of all ages will enjoy the story and the artwork.

As I said, the museum space itself is beautiful. This courtyard is just one example of places where visitors can relax between galleries.

We really enjoyed this sign. During our day on Catalina Island, we visited the Casino with no gambling, popped into the post office with no mail delivery, and walked along the second street from the beach (called 3rd Street). We saw birds that swim and didn't see a single stop light. We did a see a huge number of golf carts and more full-size vehicles than the zero I'd expected.

We had a great time at the Catalina Museum for Art & History. Don't miss it when you visit Catalina Island!

After a nice day in Avalon, we headed back to our ship.

Trevor was back onboard shortly after we were. CJ did some hiking with a new friend they made during their snorkeling outing, but was back on the ship in plenty of time before sailaway.

At dinner, Steve and I got to hear all about their snorkeling trip. There were only five of them in the group, plus their guide. They conducted citizen science research as part of the Catalina Monitoring Program, recording the many species they observed.

Here are some of the photos Trevor took with our underwater camera.

The orange fish are garibaldis, the state marine fish of California.

Of course, Trevor photographed birds as well. Catalina is a great place for bird watching, although most people do so from the shore and not while snorkeling.

Both boys really enjoyed snorkeling in Avalon Bay and would definitely recommend it. They also enjoyed their time exploring the town of Avalon.

We all had a great time on Catalina Island. I'm so glad I was finally able to make it there. The next day, our ship docked in San Pedro. We had a really fun day in nearby Long Beach. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

California Coast Cruise, Part 1: Boarding the Ruby Princess

2026-09-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned, Steve, Trevor, and I just got back from a 7-day cruise aboard on the Ruby Princess. This was our second time on the Ruby. In 2014, we sailed from Canada to New England as a group of 10. This time, four of us sailed along the California coast. Our fourth was CJ, Trevor's friend from high school.

California Coast Cruise - Ruby Princess

On Thursday, September 10 the four of us drove to the ferry terminal in Vallejo, excited to get to San Francisco to board the Ruby Princess. Driving into SF on a weekday morning is a giant pain and parking there for a week is expensive, so taking the ferry is a great option. We weren't the only ones who thought so, as there were at least 30 others on the ferry taking the same cruise.

We had a pleasant, 1-hour ride to the Ferry Building in San Francisco.

It's 1.3 miles from the Ferry Building to Pier 35, where we boarded the ship. We took a leisurely stroll, enjoying the public art along the way. It was a beautiful day.

Normally, the Ruby boards out of Pier 27, which is closer to the Ferry Building and far better equipped to handle crowds. Boarding did not go nearly as smoothly as it usually does on a Princess ship, but eventually we made it aboard.

Steve and I had a balcony cabin (B-335) on Deck 11.

Trevor and CJ were directly across the hall in an interior cabin (B-337).

We had a delicious lunch, took care of our safety/muster responsibilities, and then spent time exploring the ship and enjoying the Bay views.

There's Alcatraz!

In the 12 years since we were last aboard the Ruby, it has been refurbished twice: in 2018 and in 2023. So while the basic layout didn't change, practically everything else was different. It was fun to discover the fabulous new mini golf course!

Shuffleboard and cornhole are right there too.

I love the new menus at the bars that put zero proof and nonalcoholic drinks front and center! That is such a smart and thoughtful improvement. The other side of the menu has the alcoholic drinks. I can't have alcohol because of my cancer medicine, so I really appreciate when there are fun mocktail options.

By the time we were ready for sailaway, San Francisco's famous fog (Karl) had rolled in.

We sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge with the foghorn blasting.

We had a fantastic dinner, then enjoyed some of the evening activities, including trivia and a game show called Strike Out. They played a song and put two dates up on the screen. Everyone moved to one side of the room or the other based on when they think the song came out. The people with the correct answer stayed for the next round; the ones on the wrong side had to sit down. It was HARD, especially for the songs that came out 20+ years before I was born. I did do pretty well with the songs from the 80's and 90's.

Each time they got a winner, they started a new game and brought everyone back to play. On the very last round of the very last game, I stood alone on one side of the room. I thought Baby Got Back had come out in 1992; the other remaining contestants all thought it was 1994. I won (exciting!) and enjoyed my Princess-branded prizes for the rest of the week.

Friday, September 11 was a sea day. I'm an early riser, so I had the buffet mostly to myself to eat, answer emails, do my morning puzzles, and then finish my Duolingo.

I went to a port lecture, walked multiple laps around the Promenade deck, and enjoyed the ocean views.

Steve and I filled the rest of the day with good food, reading, and relaxing.

The boys went swimming, then joined us for trivia. Our host was Prince, who is from St. Vincent and the Grenadines! I had to introduce myself and tell him about my connection to his beautiful country.

After dinner, we went to the champagne waterfall....

... then played cards and enjoyed live music.

We were all really excited for our first port. Steve and Trevor had both been there before (separately) but I'd never visited and it had been on my bucket list for a long time. It would be CJ's first visit as well. Tomorrow I'll tell you where we went and everything we did.

California Coast Cruise

2026-09-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

My parents' 50th anniversary was in 2020 and we were planning a California Coast cruise to celebrate. We'd never done that itinerary and were excited about it. COVID canceled our plans. We rescheduled for 2021 and ended up canceling that too. In 2022, our extended family took an Alaskan cruise together, where we successfully celebrated my parents' 50th and 52nd anniversaries.

Steve, Trevor, and I still wanted to take the California Coast trip and we finally made it happen. We sailed on our "Hometown Cruise Ship" and had a great time.

I'll be back on Monday to tell you all about it.

Mini Keepsake Quilt #4

2026-09-17T05:00:00.000-07:00

I finished my mini keepsake quilt using scraps from Quilt #4. Making these mini quilts is more difficult for me than the full-sized quilts. I have a much harder time accurately sewing the tiny squares together and lining up the corners. Or maybe it's just that the mini quilts show the mistakes more readily. Still, each one of these I've made is better than the previous one. Progress!

I love seeing the quilts all together. I'm absolutely amazed that I have finished four quilts (so far!) in 2026, considering that I didn't learn any of the necessary skills until the end of 2025.

In two weeks, we'll be bundling up all the quilts our group has made this year and sending them off to LWR. I'm excited for them to reach people in need and provide warmth and comfort. Each of my mini quilts serves as a reminder of why we do this.

If you would like to be a part of this important ministry, St. Mark's Quilters welcomes donations of fabric, thread, batting, or money to pay for shipping the quilts. You can also donate directly to LWR. Or you can get involved with making quilts. It has been so rewarding for me.