Marilyn makes Mention

Blue Jean waistband alteration made Easy

2011-06-23T20:04:00.000-04:00

While checking out a favorite craft site I saw this tute that shows how to keep the original hem when shortening your blue jeans and it got me thinking. I don't need my jeans shortened but I sometimes need the waist taken in. It seems my jeans always ride down. I hate the task of seam ripping down the back and all that goes with it so usually just wear belts. But this technique just popped into my head. It's a bit scary but be brave:

cut down the center just next to the seam, overlap the amount you need taken in, stitch it back up. Not pretty to look at from the inside but who cares. THEY FIT NOW. No more tugging at my pants.

Summer Shell Art with "make your own" Mercury Glass

2011-06-22T18:09:00.000-04:00

I am finally settled in the new house long enough to start creating again. It took awhile to find my hot glue gun but after I did it was all a go. With piles of shells collected from multiple vacations I decided to dress the walls for the summer in a seaside way. Thankfully I was able to rescue these windows from the "I need to get rid of everything" garage sale we had before the move. Did you know that you could turn any glass into Mercury glass. With this magic spray paint product called "Looking Glass", I found mine at Hobby Lobby, but it is also available on Amazon. It works in reverse. You spray it on the backside of a window as in this case, or the inside of a vase so from the right side it looks like Mercury glass with reflective mirror effect.. Love it!
So these old windows have new life as Mercury glass mirrors with shells hot glued on. When I am tired of them or the summer is over I will just pull the shells of and create something new.

Garden Art

2011-06-10T07:47:00.000-04:00

This is what I do with my dafodil leaves while they dry down. Tie handfulls in a knot and make a new flower design.

Party Recipe: Chewy, Sweet & Salty Ritz Cracker Cookies | Apartment Therapy The Kitchn

2011-06-07T11:19:00.000-04:00

I am so going to make these:

Party Recipe: Chewy, Sweet & Salty Ritz Cracker Cookies | Apartment Therapy The Kitchn

Loyalty Card Rant

2011-06-07T10:06:00.000-04:00

I know, you have several. You probably feel pretty good about it. Happy to present it at check out, watching the cash register subtract all that money from you bill.

BUT I hate them!!!!!!!!

Just for a moment , ask yourself, do they really need my mother's maiden name and my #ss number to give me a dollar off my huge grocery bill? WHY?? What ever happened to privacy?

Now I know what you thinking, but no I am not PMS. (long since been over that Thank Goodness). It's the PRINCIPLE of the thing.

So here is my recent expirence. I go into a grocery store. Purchase just the items I needed, well to be truthfull I did splurge on a Death by Triple Chocolate, (again no PMS) Cake, that lured me in by being on sale and spent an extra amount of time in line behind someone with tons of coupons waiting patiently to check out since only 2 registers where open for service. Okay now it's my turn. All rung up, the casheir asks me if I have a loyalty card. No I reply, I don't need another card in my wallet and since I almost never stop at this store I politely decline the offer to "it only takes a minute" sign up for one. Well she says "then you won't get the sale price for all the items you have purchased". In full disclosure I probably knew this was coming, BUT REALLY? I have been other places where the checker would just swipe her card for me and I would be off. But OH NO not here.

Now I know she doesn't need to hear my dissatisfaction with this whole card thing, but I did explain to her that in the next staff meeting she might want to bring up the fact that it is this sort of thing that will make some customers NEVER darken there doors again, all the while in my mind the trailer is playing "stay calm everybody has got stuff to deal with". Ah guilt the great punishment.

How can it be that retailer's don't get the simple fact that if someone is IN THEIR STORE SPENDING MONEY, IN THEIR STORE, that rejecting the sale price for them at the check out is equal to telling that customer, HA HA GOT YA (not what I had originally typed here but decided to clean it up). Give me the money you just saved at the gas pump (yeah I was feeling pretty proud of myself for getting gas at $3.88 a gallon when it is $4.19 in my hometown) and next time you come I will make you knuckle under and give me all your personal info just to get your milk 10 cents cheaper, take that! Well guess what, THERE WILL BE NO NEXT TIME.

Again in full disclosure I do have several loyalty cards already, but most give you points for spending in their place of business and not a discount only for members. There is a difference and an important one. Retailers, reward folks for LOYALTY as a return customer, not penalize those who once or twice a year stop by for a few staples.

There now that is off my chest I can 'Keep Calm and Carry On'

Can you say GIRL POWER, oh yeah

2011-06-03T08:39:00.000-04:00

When I get a notion to do something I want it done yesterday. So if it is at all possible I will do it myself. It's a flaw in my personality really, if it's assumed I could or should not do something I will most likely make a Herculean attempt to Do It. This week I was at it again. Picked up some Restoration Hardware color paint and could not wait to get it up(even though it required a trip to Yoga after to get my back straighten out). So with Bob gone to the city for work I was in "get it done" mode here are the results. Before:

and after

before

during

after

As you can tell I like a dark dramatic color. Restoration Hardware is a great sorce for me and this color is Slate. It's a gray brown color with lots of depth and plays off the cream trim beautifully. So go for it ladies!

Poopy Bag, say What??

2011-06-01T10:01:00.001-04:00

Here is the perfect use for the plastic bag fusion idea, a Poopy Clutch ( no really thats what it's called). This one is for a diaper and wipe combo, hence the name. But I think why not use it for a purse?

Do you have too many Plastic Grocery Bags ?

2011-06-01T09:57:00.000-04:00

Seriously folks this is the coolest, Greenest thing I have seen in a long time. This tute shows you how to fuse your flimsy plastic grocery bags into plastic material to make all sort of items. Check it out. Then look on Etsy for item ideas to make you own projects, like diaper bags, beach bags, purses, having a lightbulb moment yet??????

Etsy Labs Archive: Long Overdue Fusing Plastic Bag Tutorial

Needing a New summer Necklace?

2011-06-01T09:22:00.000-04:00

Saw this necklace today and thought how cute it would be with variations like strings of seed beads, or tiny chain instead of the ribbon. Love the ethnic vibe. Follow the link for the Tute

I'm Published, check out this Retro Blog

2011-05-31T09:18:00.000-04:00

This is my post on Craigslist featured in a Retro Blog. I guess I'm not the only one that loves the 50"s.

P.S. The Bamboo set and blond tables sold this weekend at my Garage Sale. I do still have the dinette and lamps though if your interested.........

Yes I am still Here! (or Somewhere)

2011-05-31T09:07:00.000-04:00

Long story short, I have spent the last 4 months getting moved. After 20 years in our Beloved Farm House we have sold it and are settled in to our home in Caseville Michigan on the shore of Lake Huron. I know many of you move often but not us. Many a tear was shed cleaning out all the childrens rooms. Going through photos, trophys, toys, clothes, baby items, school papers, report cards, not to mention all MY collected items and Bob's barns, urgggg. It has been both emotionally hard and freeing at the same time. Life is nothing if not a journey, and I'm moving on.

Oh and did I mention I also became a grandmother this weekend? Holla, Ava is born!

Get out your beads for a fun Necklace How Cute is This! Watch the Video

2011-02-17T12:56:00.000-05:00

http://fashionista.com/2011/02/diy-video-erika-domesek-of-p-s-i-made-this-recites-a-love-letter-to-her-closet-makes-a-necklace/

While we are on the subject of Books

2011-01-22T10:23:00.000-05:00

Amazon.com: Thrift Store Saints: Meeting Jesus 25 Cents at a Time by Jane Knuth: by Jane Knuth: Books

Here is another book I would recommend. I just finished this one and loved it. Written by a woman from Portage Michigan who works in a Saint Vincent De Paul thrift store in Kalamazoo, she tells the stories of her experiences with humor and thoughtful reflection. I was moved and learned so much about giving back. I have always been a donater to the area charity shops but am now moved to volunteer my time. A new way for me to learn while serving.

Words to Live by

2011-01-22T10:13:00.000-05:00

Live More, Want Less give readers a user-friendly non-judgmental approach to simplifying their lives in a week-at-a-time format. Offering personal narratives, a reflection on a Taoist-inspired "way" toward more meaning, and a list of daily practices that bring tangible change, Live More, Want Less provides universal guidelines for every reader's unique issue. Covering themes like shopping addictions, procrastination, prioritizing, "busyness", weight loss, and more, Mary's "been there, done that" approach reassures the tentative that greater clarity can be gained by voluntarily living with less, and that de-cluttering both physically and mentally can allow one to experience life more fully.

I saw the title of this book and was stopped in my tracks. Simple but true. Most of you know that we spend the first part of our lives collecting and accumulating and the second half purging. It's a hard line to draw between having enough and having too much. I have not read the book but have looked at Amazon reading the first few pages and the chapter titles. They are intriguing. If you are looking for a New incentive to purge check it out. I think I am going to take the title and frame it!

I love this EASY craft

2011-01-20T19:44:00.000-05:00

How many waisted T-shirts do you have? Well here is a great way to have a few grocery bags at the ready in the car; How to Make a Reusable Shopping Bag - Eco Friendly Bag Craft - Good Housekeeping

New Year New Craft

2011-01-02T14:41:00.000-05:00

,Hi everyone, let's get started on a new craft, for the new year. Above is an example of a felted wool bead necklace. We are going to make one, Yeah. I love this method because you don't need any wool roving or special felting needles.
If you don't know how to knit, you can learn with a You Tube tutorial in no time. This one requires a simple knit and purl stitch.
Ok here we go. As you know I love to make things from felted wool and reclaimed wool sweaters and the like. Now I have also found a way to use wool yarn that I had purchased with every intention of making felted purses but found no time to. So instead we will make some BEADS. Yes beads. I think you could use these in so many ways, like buttons and embellishments on hats, etc. Haven't you seen necklaces made from these? If not just Etsy them!

So here is the tute:

Materials needed are 100% wool yarn, large eye needle, sz 7 knitting needles(but I don't think it really matters, just so that the stitches are not too big)

Cast on 9, leaving a 12-15" tail that you will need later!,

Knit nine across, turn then purl nine across, turn,
then knit 2 together( to decrease) across, you will have one left just knit as the others. Turn
purl 2 together across (decreasing)

You will have 3 stitches left on the needle. cut the yarn leaving about 6". Thread that yarn thru the large eye needle and slip it through those 3 stitches and gather up.

Now sew up the two side edges of the fan shape to make a cup. Wind up the "tail" you left at the beginning of the cast on process and tuck it into the "cup" shape keep it in there while you baste around the top of the cup to gather it all up into a ball shape.

Then take your sewing needle and pass it with the yarn still on through the ball to hide the sewing yarn. Snip it off. You will have a rather irregular ball, BUT as we know felting cures all that.

Now go to the sink, run some hot water getting the ball saturated. Then start rolling it around in your palms. It's like magic as it felts in almost no time. If you want it smaller or tighter just keep rolling. Here are some before and after balls.

If you want a necklace just tread a needle with beading thread and join them. Elastic thread is good for bracelets! Enjoy!

British Christmas pudding, YUM

2010-12-23T11:48:00.000-05:00

I found this on the web today at a delightful blog Cabbage and Roses and I am so going to make this as soon as I can figure out the equivalent for the amounts of the ingredients. As if we need ONE MORE FATTENING THING TO right now............

Stir up Sunday is traditionally around the 20th November, when the family Christmas pudding is made, well in advance of Christmas to allow all the lovely spicey flavours to mellow.

This has been my recipe for the past 30 years and in my opinion is far finer then any shop bought equivalent, not least because there is no hint of horrid candied peel or glace cherries!

The ingredients:

225g fresh breadcrumbs

225g plain flour

350g suet

225g demarera sugar

225g ordinary raisins

225g large stoneless malaga raisins

100g sultanas

225g of a mixture of nuts – pecans, walnuts almonds – broken into pieces not chopped

grated rind of one large orange and one large lemon

half teaspoon mixed spice

half teaspoon cinnamon

half teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

4 eggs size 2

150ml milk

1 wineglass brandy

Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Measure the milk into a jug and add the eggs and wineglass of brandy – whisk together and add to the dry ingredients.

Leave to stand at room temperature for at least 12 hours.

Divide into two 2 pint pudding basins making sure to leave at least an inch of headroom to allow the pudding to expand in cooking.

Cover tightly with tin foil tied with string, and lower into a large saucepan with water reaching half way up the pudding basin.

Steam on a low heat for at least 5 hours.

When cooked, change the foil covering and store in a cool dark place until Christmas day

Crochet Take Along Project

2010-12-21T09:19:00.001-05:00

I saw this and had to share. If you are traveling this week and need a take along project for the car or plane this looks like fun. If you make one send or post a picture for us all to see.

Tree #3 A blast from the 70's

2010-12-15T15:45:00.000-05:00

I know it's been done a million times, but what the heck. Here are the how too's for a paper magazine tree. I made a nice thick one out of a Real Simple magazine. Then sprayed with metallic paint and glitter.

First step is to fold one corner in to the center.

Then go around again folding again to center

you will get a cone with the ends of each page sticking out, so then fold the bottom edge up and tuck it inside the other folds

You should ten be able to stand it up and have a tree. Decorate as you please. My directions may be terrible so google paper trees and you will get a ton of directions.

Merry Merry

Yikes

2010-12-13T16:31:00.000-05:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here. A real old fashioned blizzard has closed most everything including the state highways here in "the thumb". Despite the wind the birds are enjoying the feeders, and we are enjoying the fire!

Thrifty Tree #2

2010-12-09T09:26:00.000-05:00

I needed a table centerpiece for the Ladies Christmas dinner at church and was determined not to purchase anything so out in the yard I went. Found a branch to spray a metallic silver and hung some tiny bulbs purchased at last years after Christmas sale and Viola. The vase I used was an inexpensive one included with a previous floral gift, that I spray painted with Krylon's "Looking Glass" mirror paint ( I purchased mine at Hobby Lobby). It turns glass into a Mercury glass look alike mirror. I will show you some windows I did with it in a few days....... on to tree #3 tomorrow.

All that Glitters, Christmas tree 2010

2010-12-06T08:56:00.000-05:00

Here is my Tree for 2010. In the past I have arraigned trees in at least 4 rooms of the house. But as the years have wained and it's just the hubby still at home(thank goodness he stayed, he he)we just don't have the need or energy for lugging all the trees down from the attic anymore. So instead I am playing with new crafty trees as shown in the previous post, AND I have another blast from the past coming tomorrow. So get ready to craft like it's 1965......

Tinsel Tree Tutorial, here we go

2010-12-04T11:48:00.000-05:00

While visiting my folks this week I was charmed by this cute little tree my mother had made years ago. So upon returning home I Googled it and Voila here is my finished project with a tute for you. This is going to be a Church Bazaar item for next year, no doubt!

Items required are : 6 wire hangers, twist ties or sring or tape. A string of 100 lights and tinsle garland. Also a glue gun! Here we go. Pair the hangers up in tree sets. as shown. Twist tie the tops and hooks to sides. You will have 3 triangles. Then stand them up one at a time slipping one inside the other to make a tripod.

Use the existing twist ties to secure the tops together. My helper was checking the work so far. Now look closely at the base of the wire hooks and you will see I used a floral wire to wrap around each leg joining one to the other in a spider web style to make the whole tree form very stable and secure. Now you are ready to decorate.

Start at the bottom wraping the lights around securing them with the hot glue to the wire legs. You really will need the strand of 100. I was afraid it would be too much but it's not. Space your rows about an inch or so apart. and again Voila it if came out perfect on the top with me tucking the end inside the wires.

Now start wrapping the tinsel around. Don't scrimp on it and don't be afraid to cover lights as it glows from behind. I didn't bother to glue this part. It seems to stay in place and just tuck in the ends.

I love it. You? Wouldn't this be great in a larger size using a tomoto cage......... hum I feel another project coming on weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Preview of Diana, A Celebration exhibit at Grand Rapids Art Museum

2010-12-03T09:00:00.000-05:00

I attended the exhibit yesterday and was mesmerized, moved to tears. Run don't walk to see this spellbinding collection of memorabilia.

J.Crew inspired skirt refashion

2010-11-29T09:51:00.001-05:00

While Courtnay was home we did some refashioning with J.Crew as our inspiration. After choosing the items she wanted to copy we headed to the thrift store to get our supplies. We found a perfect gray lined wool skirt and another one in a camel herringbone wool knit. I forgot to take a before of the camel one, it was a plain a-line with an elastic waist. Here are the before and after pictures of the above J.Crew skirts we where duplicating. Cost for the J.Crew ones $88. each. Cost for our skirts total of $5. for both. Such fun.