Copy Cat

Preface:  This blog is still here....just had to wipe some cobwebs off of it.  I last posted in December, before Christmas.  Then Christmas happened...

 

 

after eleven days of my kids, my grandbaby and lots and lots of eating and piles of torn gift wrapping paper later, we headed in to a new year.  We have since celebrated Cameron turning 26, Liam turning 1 and are now getting ready for 3 of our family members to ride in the MS150 this upcoming weekend.  And of course, there was that Monday through Friday stuff that flies by leaving us exhausted on Saturday and Sunday.  Life is now measured by how long until we see Liam again.  I am thankful for facetime and fb and instagram so I can keep up with my kids but I also see how much time it seems to capture...waste.  If you're here, wasting a little time, I thank you.

 

 

And today, as I sit here, still in my pajamas at 1:00 pm and almost finished with the laundry, I started cleaning out a basket full of cards...years of birthday, thank you and sympathy cards with a few scattered photos thrown in.  I decided to finally organize them...using a ring...an idea I copied from my friend Debbie, who received one as a gift. Which made me think that some of you out there might want to copy this idea. 

 

It's a ring of cards and photos.  (Excuse the photos to follow, I'm not even going to take the time to edit these for better quality.) Debbie's ring was a little different and was called a "blessing ring" and included a sweet card with a poem and pretty ribbon.  But the purpose is the same...a place to keep your cards, photos, notes...blessings and memories.

 

  I found my ring in the sewing department at Hobby Lobby and

it's original use is to put all your quilting measuring devices on it. 

But basically, you just need a ring with an opening and hanger on it.

My ring is much like a belt holder.

 

 

 

 Go through your cards, read each one (very important and time consuming part of this project), choose which ones just can't be parted with and hole punch a top corner.  Put through the ring and you're done.  Now mine will hang on a door knob or in my closet on a hook.  Someplace Harry can't get to it.  Debbie's hangs off the back of a chair in the sitting area of her master bedroom. 

 

 

 I enjoyed going through all the cards, rereading the sentiments

 and having a little visit (in my head) with the person who sent it.

 

 

 

Jordan has been so good about sending postcards this year

with pictures of her little family...this is the perfect place to keep them.

 

 

I added a little ribbon for flair and I'm done.

Copy Cat Project 1...with my own take on it. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

And now for the second thing I have copied lately....putting some flair on a store-bought, on sale, pearl snap button western shirt. 

 

I got the idea from a customer who came in the store....whose mom copied it from a store-bought one they had seen....selling for a lot of $$.  I've since been to the annual Roundtop Antiques Show 2014 and saw lots and lots of western shirts that had been altered but none had this hem on them...which is what I think makes it so much cuter. 

 

The customer's shirt was plaid with a solid turquoise pleated hem....but I already had this black shirt with a screened pattern on it...bought last year on sale and never worn (like many other hanging things in my closet.) So I headed to the quilt store (yes, their fabric choices are a thousand times better than the craft stores) and found a bright floral print for my hem.

 

 Basically, a 4 - 6 inch pleated hem is added to the shirt and then the pockets/or in my case the screen printed design is embellished with fabric and embroidery stitching.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I googled Embroidery Stitches for ideas...but only used the simplest ones.  And tried to make it look like a child did it.  (Did you fall for that?)

 

 

I used the bonded backing on this fabric to embellish the pocket.  (The kind you iron on and it permanently adheres to the other fabric.) Then I top stitched with embroidery thread. 

 

 

I left the hem raw/cut with pinking shears because that's part of the look...very junk gypsy, I guess.  Again, I copied how the customer's shirt was made. (The customer was kind enough to let me study hers...and study, I did.)  They had copied how the very expensive store bought one was made. With a raw hem, each time I wash it, there will be a little trimming of the threads when I press it. 

 

 

And just because we are friends, I will show you the back side.  I am straight stitch challenged. But I wanted you to see that I wrapped the ends around and stitched them down inside the shirt. I made my hem 4" in finished length and about 1 1/2 to 2 times the width around the bottom.  I made the pleated piece first, then sewed it on to the shirt.  I did this before any of the embellishment, because if I ruined the shirt....and that was always a likely possibility... I didn't want to waste the time embroidering. But it turned out fine, so then I spent the next few evenings doing a little embroidering by the light of the fire the television.  It all felt very "Little House on the Prairie." 

 

No, really...I thought a lot about women of earlier days who had no television to watch, no Ipad to play Solitaire on, no wine in the refrigerator....they just sat and stitched by candlelight.

And you know what I think? 

 I think they had it just as easy in some ways

 and just as hard in other ways as we do today. 

Embrace your decades here on Earth.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

And because it's almost Easter and Liam is coming to town this weekend...I put a little Easter out. 

 

 

 

 I bought this Easter card (along with a few other holiday ones) and the wooden holder in Warrenton.

 

 

 

The guy who makes these said he leaves a little room on the front for a few "littles" to create a vignette.  (His words...I copied.)  The holder is just a piece of molding with a groove cut in to it to hold the card...or a plate. (Get out there and copy this!)  I love creative people. 

 

 

I found this orange painted old desk drawer at Roundtop last fall.  It's the perfect prop to lift up things to a higher level...away from Harry's reach. (I'm not kidding, Harry is 6ft tall if he's standing on his back legs!)  The books and bunny are waiting for Liam.  The teacup and saucers are all the way from England via Cameron.

 

 

 

My very small collection of very small Easter Bunnies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This precious gift of life turned one in March!   It may have been the fastest year of my life.  many, Many, many nights of this last year were spent facetiming with this boy...watching him eat, watching him crawl, watching him take a bath... and I loved every second of it. 

 

Life is full and fast and can be very, very hard.  We can look back and see God's work in our lives.  We must stay in the present as God works through us in the present.

 

 If something makes you happy, copy it.

 

 

 

And how about a little Harry?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas....

...emphasis on the "little."

 

(I played around with Sharpies and fabric)

Empty nest.  Too pooped to really decorate for Christmas like I used to.  The big, pre-lit Christmas tree of yesteryear died and got thrown out at the end of December last year.   I've got years of holiday decorations from the primitive felt ornaments to the shiny glass, the traditional red and green to the more modern purples and lime greens. Rubbermaid tubs full of 30 years of memories that send me in to a slump rather than greet me with "hello there!"  I went through the tubs and pulled a little from each one and scattered them around the house.

 I found a little lit tree at Big Lots (yes, I love that place). It's about 71/2 feet tall, including the urn that it came in.  The urn was a badly fauxed gold color so I spray painted it with a hammered black (old spray paint can found in the garage because I couldn't wait until the next day to go buy Oil Rubbed Bronze). It's not much, but it's decorated. 

A few of the little Santas made their way out of the Rubbermaid tub.

 

I know it's really not about the decorating.  The older I get, the more I realize that. 

I guess we decorate to really engage in the holiday.  To remind us every time we walk in a room, a store, an office that it's Christmas time. 

 

While what we should immediately be reminded of is that little baby who was born...

who was sent to us from God to save us.  The fulfillment of God's promise. 

 

I've worked in retail the last 3 Christmas' and from what I gather, most people aren't really focused on that little detail about this time of year.  Actually, that HUGE detail.  Oh, I'm not pointing fingers... I'm guilty, too,  of the list making, the gift buying, the accumulating of wrapping paper and pretty ribbon, the frenzy that comes from all of that.

 

But it's about that baby. 

That little baby.

 

I'm working on that focus myself. 

 

 

 

Heading in to this next week, I am grateful for another December in my life. 

 

And I'm grateful ...

 

 

 

that all of my children will be home for at least 5 days together...

I will make the most of that little bit of time together...

 

 

 

that I was given the gift of a grandchild this year...this little boy has stolen my heart...

 

 

 

that Chuck and I celebrated 30 years of marriage this year...no little fete at all...

 

 

 

that it really is the little things that make us the happiest...

 

that God sent a savior in an unexpected way, in a little baby...

The greatest gift of all...HUGE. 

But in a little package.

 

Have yourself a merry little Christmas.

Stay in the moment.  Remember the reason.

 

 

Now breathe.

 

 

 

 

 

Don't Lose It!

Chuck and I recently got a new car.  Gone is the car that had the college emblems on it.  Gone are the kids in college.  It feels like a new chapter.  An empty nest chapter full of possibilities...traveling, dining at fancy restaurants, watching the sun set on life....who am I kidding?  It's more like full of me on the iPad playing solitaire while Chuck watches ghost shows on t.v. while cuddling Harry Pawter (who stays very close to Chuck and the can of peanuts.)

 

Harry is thinking "my dead weight will soon numb his legs

 and when he pushes me off, he will then grab the can of peanuts."

Chuck likes a new car about every 4 years or so.  He will not step foot in a clothing store to buy new shoes or a new shirt but he loves to shop for cars.  He loves the researching, the shopping, the negotiating....I hate it.  In the early years of our marriage, we shopped for cars together and I sat for the 4 to 6 hours and watched him turn a smiling, savvy salesman in to a nervous, sweaty wreck.  I have such a bleeding heart for the underdog that I would whisper to the salesman, "sorry" as we walked away from the last deal he had to offer.  Then roll my eyes as we were almost to the door and the nervous, sweaty wreck of a salesman would grab us back and say, "Let me go talk to the manager one more time."  Several times later, I was exhausted, wanted to crawl out of there on my knees and could barely look at Chuck.

Now?  I go to the dealer, look at the car.  Pick the color I want or bless the color he wants and then go home.  Hours and hours later, he drives the new ride home. 

But this time, I was there because I got tricked by Chuck telling me he just wanted me to pick the interior color and he wanted me to look at it one more time but he wasn't going to do the deal that day.  It seems we were looking at a 2014 model but we wanted the 2013 for the "deal." They couldn't find the 2013 in the color we wanted so they would honor the deal they had made with this 2014. What?  Once I figured out he was going to do his dealing thing, I headed to the waiting room.  I felt trapped, almost claustrophic but I was trying very hard to be nice.  This particular dealership had tables and chairs, cookies, coffee, water bottles, a bowl of fruit, and a t.v.  I suspect a woman was involved in the design plan.  Okay, the wait shouldn't be that bad.  Sounded like they had the numbers figured out already.

I was waiting and the clock was ticking.  An hour had gone by.  Fresh cookies kept coming out of the little toaster oven and I was refraining with all I had in me to ignore them. I ate an apple. I drank a water bottle.  I played Solitaire. Chuck comes out of the salesman's office and gives me the Sticker Price page off the windshield to hold on to.  He grins and says it's a done deal.....now off to Finance.  (Off to Finance means at least another 3 hours as Chuck is not budging on the interest rate he wants.)

As Chuck is walking away...he turns back and looks at me....

Chuck:  Don't lose it!

Me:  Don't lose what?

Chuck:  The Sticker Price.

Me:  Where would I lose it?  I'm sitting right here?  (rolling my eyes at him)

Chuck:  Okay.

Me:  Why would you even say that?  Whatever!  Like I'm going to LOSE IT??? It's a piece of paper!  Where's it going to go? (I may be a little grouchy at this point but the nerve of him to think I would lose it.  Talking to me like he's my father! The nerve of him.)

Chuck:  Okay.

Hours go by, I have folded the Sticker Page up and put it in my purse.  I check it now and then to make sure it's still there.  Yep.  Haven't lost it.

I play a dozen games of Solitaire.  I check Facebook a million times.  I look at Pinterest.  Hours, hours, hours. Check the paper, still there.  Almost funny now that I kept checking it.  But I kept checking it.

Suddenly, I wonder if Chuck got the garage door opener out of the old car, now known as the trade-in.  I find him in Finance and interrupt to ask him...without really making eye contact with the Finance guy because I feel sorry for him.   Chuck said, "I don't remember."  I get the keys and head outside to look.

It's a good thing I went out there because there was a little trash in the pocket by the door so I start cleaning.  I don't want the person who cleans up the car afterwards to think we're messy (yes, I think like that.) Then I look in the pockets behind the seats and there are some sunglasses and more trash...Sonic mints, napkins, straw wrappers, airline boarding pass, baggage claim, etc. I start throwing all the trash in my purse for lack of a better place to put it. I go through the whole car and find a pair of tweezers under the seat (well, there you are!), a few coins and an old magazine.  Several kernels of popcorn from the night we went to the movies and I brought the container of leftover popcorn to the car.

The garage door opener?  Not in there because DUH this car had the kind of button that can be programmed to open your garage door and so no opener had to be left in the car.  But still, good thing I went out there and got that trash.

I come back inside to my home-away-from-home and head to the ladies' room.  By now I've had 2 water bottles.  I empty all the trash from my purse and go back out to my table.

Finally, after hours, Chuck comes back out, with his chest puffed out and proud as a peacock, because he has the keys to our new car. 

We head home in 5'o'clock traffic....grrrr, just what I needed...more sitting, more entrapment. I am happy with this new car but I could have done without the labor pains it took to get it.

Once we get home, Chuck rounds up all of his papers to file away in to his folder...the folder he takes with him when car shopping, full of his super hero negotiating powers.  He comes in the room...

Chuck:  Where is the Sticker Page?

Me:  In my purse. (I point towards the kitchen.)

Chuck: (after digging in my purse) It's not in there.

Me: Oh, my gosh! (spoken with disgust because he can never find anything!)

I'm digging through my purse.  Not in there. Not in there!  Why isn't it in there?  How could I have LOST IT?  Think.  Think.  Think.

Oh, no I didn't.  Please tell me I didn't throw it away with all the trash from the car.

Yep. 

Karma, you are a biter. 

 

When one speaks unkindly to one's husband,

when one's husband ask them not to lose something,

one will lose that something.