Beautiful flower

I have been blog hopping this morning and found the instructions for making a flower. The blog is Bad Girls. I am not sure how to add a link any other way so.... http://wendyrago.typepad.com
here you go! She originally made them of silk napkins. I am going to try ribbon and of course, paper. Go take a look!

Christmas gifts

I have been working on several projects for Christmas gifts. I am going to photograph them and then after Christmas will post them. I hope they will be liked.

I have been trying to learn how to make digital scrapbook kits for about a year now and have decided that I am totally unable to "get it". I do not know if it is because I have hated computers ever since my husband went back to college to get a computer science degree while our children were in lower elementary or just because I am totally illogical and cannot follow the logic of the computer but I am a dismal failure at it. I so wish I could create them and use free kits with ease in order to enhance the photographs I want to scrap. I would never give up making the scrapbook pages or mini albums but would love to be able to add things to the photos....

Oh well, I guess it is not to be but I feel like I have wasted a year of my life pursuing the impossible dream.

Well, I am dreaming of a white Christmas but it will be probably be white only at the beach.... our family lives on the coast and snow is not much of a possibility.

Speaking of weather. I have heard from some people that still live in my hometown this week. The lows at night have been around 20 degrees, the highs during the day have been around 70 degrees and they had a major sandstorm. All since Monday....... there is a saying,"if you do not like the weather in West Texas, wait about five minutes and it will change! There is no place like home!

Happy Thanksgiving

So glad to be able to travel to Roscoe to visit with all the Westbrook side of the family. We are a large group. A loud group. A loving group. And a crafty group.

We are going to do a "Yardcrashers" of our own for my mom. She works in her yard quite a bit but since she is now alone, cannot do a lot of the heavy stuff. Sooo we are going to do it for her while there. The pond is a favorite of the children. Josiah would love to go swimming in it. I hope for one nice day that is not too terribly cold to be able to get the work accomplished. At Thanksgiving in 2007, it snowed, wonderfully large, fat flakes that just hung in the air. It eventually snowed very blustery and was quite beautiful. I think it snowed a couple of inches and for West Texas, that is quite a bit. Avery loved it. She and Brady played in the snow all day. The other little ones were too little or did not care for the cold. It would be fun for it to snow Saturday late evening but I doubt that will happen. I lived there for 18 years growing up and remember it snowing before Christmas, once.

I will try to post some before and after photos. However, it will be next spring and summer before the change will be very obvious!

Happy Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for!

On the mend

It has been awhile since I posted because of various things. Like having a two year old at our home for a week, going to Houston to tend to my daughter after surgery, taking my husband for surgery and tending to him afterward but..... I think everyone is doing well and headed toward wellness! Thanks to the good Lord above!

I have been busy working on some little Thanksgiving books for all the women who will be at Roscoe for Thanksgiving. It has places for menus, recipes, photographs and journaling. I thought they would come in handy once the photos are printed and the recipes swapped. I guess I should not bother putting a recipe section in mine......

I am also working on Christmas gifts for Eddie's side of the family. The great nieces were easy, they all have American Girl dolls and love clothing for them. Our grandson is the only little boy. I do not think he cares since he plays with his sister's Bitty Baby a lot more than she does.... at least all those clothes I have bought and made are being played with, eh?

I love old ephemera and buy it when possible. I like old flash cards and decided to make my own for use on some projects. They are about the simplest thing in the world to make and print out. I used a Manila colored paper to print on so they look more authentic. I think they will work just fine and no one cares that they are not vintage.... they are just the ticket! I guess I might be able to make my own tickets, too......

I am off to make some more things for the holidays......

Thoughts on children

Because of the job I was blessed t0 have for fifteen years, I met some of the most amazing children and their families. Some of the children had what we know as "birth defects'. Some of the children had suffered some type of trauma such as car accidents. Some had been shaken so badly that there little brains were turned to mush or abused in other ways. Some were children that had visible issues and some did not. Some were exposed to drugs while they were forming. Some had had strokes in utero for no apparent reason, some had strokes due to some type of stress or trauma that the mother suffered while pregnant. Some were born way to early. Some were wealthy, some were poor. The thing that they had in common was they had an issue that qualified them for our program and a spirit of resilience that was amazing.

Great intelligence, extraordinary athletic ability or beauty is greatly valued in our society. Many appear to believe that if you have any or all of these that you are somehow superior. Some also appear to believe that the parents or caregivers have something to do with the person having that trait. The belief or attitude that people that have these attributes are amazing is an odd belief or assumption. Where did that ability or beauty come from?

As I watched those little infants and toddlers struggle to achieve the developmental milestones that we all watch for in children, I decided that those children were the super heros. They were the ones that had adversity that made development laborious and at times, quite impossible, but they kept trying. They kept getting up when they fell. They kept trying to form words when all we heard was verbage like Pebbles Flintstone or just vowels. Some had to learn to be mobile without the benefit of sight and some had to learn sign language because they could not hear. These children were little warriors that rose above their circumstances.

So I have to ask, who is the more amazing? Who should we be more awed by? The person that was given a gift of good intelligence, superb athletic ability or great beauty? Or the ones that were told they could never achieve milestones that met them ? No matter how long it took? Even if it will take them forever?

I believe that those precious little children that struggled to achieve are the ones that we should proclaim as amazing. Because they are.

Idea for outdoor decorating

I was in Fredricksburg after the first of the year and went to the Christmas Shop/Store. They had taken old window screens and painted christmas images on them. I do not remember exactly what motifs were on them but they were Christmas symbols. They had left the wooden area all chippy and hung them on the wooden fence around the property. They were really cute and may have even been for sale. I do not remember.

I am really aggravated that I just now remembered them because Eddie and I just disposed of six wooden screens that were just laying around looking trashy. What a waste.... I think there are some more in the basement so I am going to go look right now....... ta ta for now.

New Idea for holding clear stamps

I did not like the ziplock baggy sooooo I thought of another idea. It is a much better one. And the stamps are not sliding out. I put them in sleeves meant for CD's or DVD's. There are two openings on each side. You can buy them in most office supply places. They have holes for three ring binders. You can also purchase little notebooks that zip closed to house them. My husband has these little dandy's for all of his CD's and DVD's for the computers. I happened to think of them during the night. I tried to post a photo but it never allowed me to. I hope that I can post it later.

I am off to watch the Texas Tech vs. the University of Texas football game. UT is ahead but until the buzzer sounds, anything is possible.

A trip to town

Since I live about 25 miles outside of San Antonio in a tiny little community in which I do not see a single soul, except the precious deer that eat my geraniums, it is always a treat to go to town.

Today was great! I was able to purchase a beautiful sconce for the new bathroom. It had originally been 85.00. We paid 25.95 for it and whisked it off before they could change their minds.... I love a great deal! I also found six little spice jar bottles that will help complete my lonely little rack that I have hidden under some stuff in a box. It did not have any bottles when I rescued it from the drastically reduced pile in a junk store, I mean collectibles store. It was painted a very unusual shade of turquoise when I found it but now sports a blue coat to match the other spice rack. I liked the turquoise but decided to try conformity for once in my life so I painted it light blue. You could call it sky blue, vintage blue or maybe even baby blue. I am not sure how conformity is going to work for me but I am trying! I may paint it pink so that I have some girl colors and some boy colors or they could be vintage 50's colors, depending on who you ask. Have I told you that I looooove vintage?

Anyway, I wanted to let you know that the Dollar Tree has some cute little salt and pepper shaker sets. I purchased a set for a dollar. It will now hold glitter at my house. I think it may even fit onto the little spice rack, just in case I still need more bottles. Boy am I glad to have cute little shakers instead of the plastic boring ones that the glitter comes in. I also purchased two sugar shakers that are larger and remind me of beehives. They were a dollar a piece. I have some larger flaked glitter that comes in a large plastic jar that will find a new home in one of the shakers and I have glass glitter, it is vintage, that will reside in the other one. I loooove vintage glass glitter. It has a quality that cannot be replicated with the synthetic glitter we have now. However, I love all kinds of glitter and use it generously when appropriate.... some people might say I use it whether it is appropriate or not.

I also looked for some clear vinyl, zippered pencil holders that are made to use in a 3 ring binder but did not have success. I have been thinking that they would make great little holders for my small and medium clear stamps. I currently have my clear stamps in a binder in sheet protectors but they keep sliding out. And that annoys me. Since I have not purchased one of those little bags since about 1999 it could be possible that they are obsolete but I sure hope not. I wonder if they make them with a ziplock type seal instead of a zipper .... which now makes me think I can make my own with the freezer type ziplock baggies. What a great idea! and they come in all sizes, whoo hoo. I am off to try this out.....

Photos of scrapbook storage ideas

Silver relish tray/holder and the tiered shelf that I use to hold, corral and keep up with my scrapbook embellishments.

The blue spice rack and salt and pepper shakers for holding beads, glitter and other embellishments. My grandkids love to use all of this stuff!

Scrapbook storage

I love vintage things and have been collecting some items to use as storage for my scrapbook/craft area. I have read many articles and have gleaned suggestions from many sources but did not happen to write any of those down. I know that some of the ideas I saw or used came from Creating Keepsakes and some from www.craftystorage.blogspot.com/ and some of them came from seeing the items in the lovely little store in Colorado City, Texas or wherever I happened to stop on my travels to see my family.

The great little item I picked up in Colorado City that stores supplies is a relish lazy susan, complete with all the glass sections and lids for the bargain price of 24.00 and believe me, I snatched it right up. It had been 48.00 and was on sale. The ladies at the front asked me where I found it and I told them I saw it on the way to the ladies room. It was right in front of you as you departed from said room. I was oh so thankful to God for having it right there the day I went shopping. It is in the photo above. I am not sure why Blogger put it there but that is where it is for now.

I also picked up a spice rack, missing a couple of bottles at the Salvation Army in San Angelo, Texas for 3.99. I toted it home, painted it blue and put all types of brads and other embellishments in each jar. I am going to make new lables for the jars but am waiting to be sure what is currently in there is going to live there or is just visiting....

I cannot get blogger to let me post the photo so I will try again, later.

Anyhow, I also have a darling little relish tray that I am using for embellishments as well as pretty glass salt and pepper shakers to hold some glitter and beads. I found another little condiment holder with four glass jars that are keeping my ribbon roses and lace embellishments nice and tidy. I also found another old spice cabinet with two little drawers in Burnet, Texas that just screamed at me to buy it, so I did. It is holding some little jars that I bought at the local Hobby Lobby when they were on sale half price that keep more buttons and other items visible and neat. The final piece is a tiered shelf that I think is some of type of display for baked goods, which I do not make very often or well... but that is another story. I found it in in Fredericksburg, Texas about four years ago, waiting for me to take it home. It is holding more little glass jars purchased half price at Hobby Lobby, as well. It is nice and rusty but I kind of like it that way so for now, it is going to stay that way. We are kindred spirits it seems.

I have been collecting these for several years, back when I had a job, and now I have time to put them to use. My husband made a wonderful scrapbook cabinet for me three years ago and it is crammed full. I have used tension curtain rods to contain some of the ribbon and a storage shelf he made just for that purpose. He also had the wood and plans to make a filing type cabinet to hold things like stickers and embellishments but we moved away from the shop he was using to make them. Maybe some day we can buy the saws and planers or whatever it is that he needs in order to finish the cabinet.

I have more storage solutions that I will share, later. Good night.

I love the fall!

It rained several times the past few days, is cooler and seems almost like fall. I love the fall. It is back to school time, football season and cooler, crisper weather. Fall invigorates me and just makes me happy.

Thank the Lord that he looks out for my hubby and keeps him safe!

As our remodel continues, we have finished the bedroom and the bathroom, almost. Or as some would call it the ensuite. Ours is a very small ensuite for sure! It is nice to go into our room to sleep and not have construction dust all over our feet! or in our hair, or noses.
We have been working on the kitchen and it is quite interesting. My husband remembered his dad making a ladder jack to use as a poor man's scaffolding and attempted to do the same, to save fifty bucks. However, it did not work just like he planned. It worked fine for a couple of hours then it collapsed with him standing on it, ten or twelve feet above the ground. I stood inside the house looking out from the hole he had made by removing the window. As I stood helping him attempt to frame in the newer, smaller but oh so energy efficient window I watched him fall to the ground. The wood was flying everywhere and the thirty five pound nail gun and Eddie went down.
I reached for him as I saw it collapse but I was on the other end of the window and there was no stopping it. He only weighs about 125 so it is not due to his size. He said that when he looked at the boards, the screw was sheared off, faulty screws if you ask me. Anyhoo, he appears to be okay except that his shoulder is killing him and he cannot move his right arm, but he thinks it will be okay in the morning. He even asked his buddy Scott to stop and pick up some scaffolding on the way out here in the morning so he thinks he will put in a full days work. He said if it still bothers him tomorrow, I can take him to the medi clinic after we return the scaffolding. I fear he may have ripped his rotator cuff but he thinks it is not that serious. I guess he has an MD that I did not know about......

Life at the lake and other things

I had a blast keeping my grandson while his sister went to Sea World camp. I do not think she enjoyed it as much as she did last year. She was worn out everyday, so it was hard to tell. She may be talking her family's heads off about now that she has had some sleep.

We are making headway in the master suite. In the bath area sheet rock is hung with tape and some mud on it. Brandon is coming to help Eddie with the electrical tomorrow. Next will be the shower installation and tile. I am getting so excited. It has been such a long process that I decided it was never going to end but the end is in sight. We need a faucet for the sink and a tank for the toilet, hubby had to use the one we bought for it in the other bathroom, that is another story. We also need slate for the walls surrounding the vanity area.

I will post some photos once we finish. I guess I better get busy making drapes, dust ruffles and ottomans......

Time truly does seem to fly! It has been two months since I posted and it does not seem like it has been that long. Both of our sons are now married to women that perfectly compliment them! We are thrilled to have them in our family! I made cute little hearts for the reception at Brandon and Tammy's wedding to give as little gifts. I will try to post a photo of them. They turned out really cute. I should sell the extras on Etsy but have not gotten up the nerve to, yet. Rejection by no one wanting them would be crushing! I also made cute little fridge magnets for gifts for the guests at Brady and Brittney's rehearsal dinner. I have extra's of those, too. They spell LOVE. I guess I should dig them out and put them on Etsy as well. I have had the shop space for quite a while but am so insecure about what others will think of my things that I still have them all..... The two items are so different that they might only appeal to a small audience.

I am trying to learn to create scrapbook pages, kits, etc. using Photoshop. I am not sure that I am loving it. I guess I will keep working at it until I figure it all out or give up. I want to be able to add my own touches to photos prior to printing them, mainly. I am sure I will never tire of using paper, scissors and my own hands to make the pages but have wished many times that I could add things to the photos. If anyone reads this at all and has suggestions for tutorials that are straightforward and for Photoshop CS2, I would like to have the site url.

I am slowly cleaning out closets, cabinets and drawers, trying to purge our abode of all things that are just lying there, not ever being used. I donate the items to a local charity so that they are used by someone. Recycling and re-using is not a new concept! My mother and grandmother and great grandmother have been doing it for many, many years. Most people that went through the Depression and WWII tend to be very frugal. They certainly understood the need for conservation of all resources.

My precious grandchildren were here this past week. Hearing little man say,"kank you, Mia" when I give him something is one of the sweetest things on earth. He is a cutie and gives the best hugs. His sister is a very creative child. She used about a ream of paper making her own paperdolls and her own paper zoo, complete with momma, daddy and children animals of many varieties. She is quite a girl. She is going to Sea World camp again this year so they will be back in a couple of weeks. I look forward to it!

Spring Break week

It is spring break and just about 17 days until my middle child marries. It is exciting in one way and sad in another. He is a good man and an honorable man and will make a very good husband, I think, but I may be biased since I am his momma. He was a bit earlier than his due date and had respiratory distress syndrome. He stayed in a NICU for a week and then we got to take him home. I was scared to death! I quickly got over that and just loved and cared for him. A very easy baby to care for, too. He slept well, actually too well, and had to be awakened to feed. He has always been a sensitive and observant person. He is a lot like his granddaddy Mc and my great uncle Stelvin. Both were very straight to the point type of people that tended to see beyond the surface. He writes like and has hands like his granddaddy but looks more like my side of the family. I guess I am a tad sad because I had hoped he would be finished with college when he married but he is not. Not even close. The Marine corps delayed his education by a long shot but is also help paying for it. He was and is a large eater but not a very large guy. I often wonder where he puts it all. Someone remarked that his brother is a big eater and I was surprised. Since we had the older brother, I had not even noticed that the younger one at quite a bit,too. He does not eat nearly as much as the older one! Well, I am working on some little favors for the wedding guests. They may have to wait in baskets outside the door so the guests can pick them up on their way out. They do not match the wedding colors so they might not look good in the reception area. I find that blog watching seems to cause problems on my computer. I doubt I will continue to blog for long, we will see.

On The Road Again

I am heading to North Texas tomorrow to play wonderful auntie for Zella. She will call me Mia as do my grandchildren and her brother do. My great niece's are starting to call me that as well. I have three sisters and a brother. Since there are so many of us and some of us have grandchildren but our youngest sister's family is toddlers and newborns, we decided to have this generation of little ones refer to us by our "grandparent" name. So I am Mia, one sister is Mim and one sister is MiMi and the youngest is well, I forgot. We have not started having the children call her anything beside her name, yet, so I have a reasonable excuse for not remembering. Or it could be I am getting hormonal, or menopausal, but wait that would be the same thing wouldn't it? I am getting confused and feel a hot flash coming on. I think I will go fan myself and try to figure this all out. I will try to post again, later. Once my hormones settle down!

Precious Baby

Where has the time gone? Whew! I have a new niece, Zella Ruth. She was born yesterday and we are so glad she is here, safe and sound and that her mommy is doing very well, too! 

I finally took down the Christmas decorations on the postal cubby hole cabinet and am going to deck it out with Valentines and President's Day. I love history and have written reports on Lincoln during my school days, very long ago! And I love Valentine's Day. Zella's mother used to call it Valenheart day when she was little. I am 11 years older than her so I remember these things. She was very serious when she discussed Valenheart day and she loved it as much as I. 

We have made progress on the house. We have started hanging the sheet rock in the bedroom which makes it feel more like a room. Taping and floating are lengthy processes because it is so chilly in there. It takes awhile for the first coat to dry but then the second one goes really fast. Whoo hoo! The bathroom is next and then we can move into that space which will give us much more room everywhere else. Ahh, the excitement of decorating is slowly rising but I contain it as much as possible since I have no idea how long it will take. So long for now, I am off to work on baby items and then to see Miss Zella and her family.

Poor little Christmas decorations sitting all alone....

We are remodeling the house we are living in, even though it does not belong to us. It belongs to our daughter. We have a house in another town that our brother in law is living in, that does not need to be remodeled. Confused? So am I. How did this happen and why to me? That is another issue, back to this one.....

Anyway, because of the vast remodeling, I have not been able to decorate for Christmas for the past two years. Which about kills me, I love decorating for Christmas, well any holiday, butI  love Christmas. And Valentines Day. And any patriotic holiday.   I love celebrating the birth of Christ and love that family is able to gather for the occasion.  But not at this joint this past year. My poor decorations sit out in the storage building and wish they were allowed inside. I wish they were able to come in and play but there is no room. Not for any of them. Except on this great postal cabinet from some old hotel I found at an antique joint in Llano, Texas. What a great buy, eh? I decided that I can just decorate it for each holiday and pretend that the house is in one piece and that everything is lovely. What a kidder I am, and dreamer. Not in touch with the real world at all. Do not look too closely because you may be able to see that the wall behind it is just sheet rocked, is that a word?, on one side. The other one. This is in the wanna be kitchen. It will have to be deconstructed before reconstructed but this shelf is going to take up this space until that happens. It will be the best dressed lady in the house.  I think I am going to attach some fabric or wrapping paper to the backside to hide my half wall and it will also add some flourish to the decor. Maybe. I guess I need to pack these babies up and send them to the storage room but hate to relegate them to such a dreary existence. I feel a decorating tangent coming on so I better go get busy, now! Where are the tubs of Valentine decorations?? I here them calling my name.....

Hubby finally recovering

Eddie, my husband, has had a viral sinus infection for over a week. He broke down and went to the doctor yesterday and with several doses of medicine in his tummy, he is finally feeling better. He has eaten soup and crackers and all seems to be staying put. What a blessing. He has a powerful headache but feels much better. Now I will be able to sleep, too!

We secured a location for both rehearsal dinners for our sons and have bought the wedding gifts for both so things with the weddings are shaping up, now for a dress for me...... Some say you should wear a dress the color of the wedding party, some have said the grooms mother is supposed to wear blue so I am not sure what I will do. I would like to just wear my old velour shirt and jeans but that would not be acceptable so I guess I will look for a dress or suit. 

New Years Day auction

My hubby and I went to an antique auction on the 1st and had a blast. We bought a treddle sewing machine, two oak beds and dressers, a dining table, stained glass window and desk chair, whew! They were way underpriced and we were over joyed to take them off their hands. We have them stacked all over the living room because the rest of the house is under construction. And I mean under, way under. It will be a nice place once all the remodeling is complete but what a mess! We had not attended an auction in 20 years so it was a nice change of pace. We are planning two weddings at the moment so that will be taking all our money and time. Both of our sons are getting married this spring. Our nest is already empty but we look forward to grandbabies.... We are already have two and adore them. I understand the bumper sticker that states if we had known how much fun grandkids would be, we would have had them first. I am sure the fact that we are older and wiser really helps us enjoy them so much! 

A tip for scrapbooking people.  Black and Decker tool totes on wheels. They are less than $40.00 and are made to haul tools around on job sites so I would think they would be heavy duty. They are not designer colors but a few sheets of well placed printed paper decoupaged to the sides could make them uniquely you! I think they are a much better value than the expensive scrapbook ones with onery wheels and thought I would share.