refrigerator poetry and other things

 it is cold and drizzly outside

but colorful

and we are indoors with our creativity

one of us is fixing things

(like a broken light switch)

another one is sewing

(an Alice in Wonderland Costume)

another one is working on a 4H project

(growing a rose on it's own root)

and another one is at a friend's house

(probably hanging out and eating candy)

and another one painted a bunch of rocks

(that would be me)

the refrigerator poetry is all anonymous 

and who wrote what is a mystery

(none of it came from me)

don't you just LOVE that?

28 degrees

(the mitten on the right is turned inside out)

I finished these thrummed mittens over the weekend

(thrummed mitten kit purchased on Etsy from Moonlight and Laughter)

the inside is fluffy fleecy roving wool which will felt over time

I'm thinking these are probably the warmest mittens ever invented

and having been invented in Eastern Canada,

I'm also thinking

they would know

(green tomato)

and because it was forecast to be 28 degrees last night

we brought all our tomatoes in

I think I'll make pickles and chutney and stuff like that

as if I didn't already have enough to do

but I'll be glad when it's 28 degrees outside and I can open a jar of almost sun

 thank you 

Marilla O'Brien of Moonlight and Laughter for the excellent knitting kit

the directions were thorough and very easy to follow

I LOVE my new mittens!

DIY folded box

I thought I could show you how I made the box that holds the hydrangea blossoms in last week's post

it's just a basic origami box

(and you may already know how to make this)

start with 2 squares of paper

cut one of them 1/4 inch smaller than the other

(I used book pages and cut them to 5 inches and 4 and a quarter inches square)

fold and unfold your paper squares diagonally, horizontally, and vertically

fold opposite corners to the center

fold to the center again

unfold and do the same with the remaining two corners

like so

unfold

fold two opposite corners to the center

turn lengthwise

take one end and fold like this

here's a close up

fold that corner all the way in to form a wall of the box

do the same with the opposite corner

like this

now you have a basic box

go around to each edge and crease it nicely

repeat on the other square of paper

one will be the box bottom

one will be the lid

I like to add a square of paper on the interior of the boxes to strengthen them and hide the folded in tabs

use a couple of dots of glue to hold it in place

this is how it looks from the bottom

go ahead and decorate the top if you'd like to

I just continued with the cut up greeting card I had used on the inside of the box

the larger the paper, the larger the box

scrapbook paper or watercolor paper works nicely for larger boxes

thin paper like book pages or origami paper work best for a smaller box

birthday outing

my husband and I had a little getaway to La Conner Washington

I was out for an early morning walk and took these pictures

we stayed in a restored historic home that is now a bed and breakfast

The Queen of the Valley Inn

 it was beautiful

and quiet

thank you for all the birthday wishes!

it was a wonderful day!

afternoon cuppa

this mug is my birthday present to myself

I'm not too sure what this creature is

a chipmunk?

squirrel?

kitty?

*

but no mistaking that the tea is Constant Comment

... and I just want to say ...

Thank You

for all the sweet comments and kind words over the last several posts

I haven't yet gotten back to everyone

but

Thanks

all the same

your constant comments are a constant encouragement to me!

*

and it's tomorrow

I'll be 

52

!

!

wax on

it's another dried hydrangea inspiration

you may have already read about dipping the dried blossom in beeswax for the do you like my hat collage

and this is how I did it - it's just a pie pan of beeswax melted in a 200 degree oven - pick up the blossom with tweezers - and dip it in the melted wax

set the blossoms on wax paper 

and you're good to go

they're still fragile, but have some sturdiness and body so they can be incorporated into other things

* * *

projects like this strand of hanging blossoms

a garland? 

a mobile?

pure joy is what it is

and today I was pirating some beautiful green hydrangeas in the local Kohl's parking lot

cars were driving past and I just kept my head down

I was thinking

"you don't know me"

saponify

definition : to convert into soap; 

: to hydrolyze a fat with alkali to form a soap

about a year ago I first tried making my own soap

it was Yvonne at Inkspiller's Attic who was my inspiration

she gets together with friends from time to time to make great big batches of soap

*

I use Sandy Maine's soap recipe (HERE) which has great reviews

both for the simplicity of the process and the simplicity of the ingredients

- I have had great results myself -

here is my scale for measuring the oils

- very low tech -

pictured below is a finished batch of honey/lavender soap 

 - saponified and ready to pour -

it really is quite a chemical process that changes the oil into this luscious goodness

these are finished bars that are freshly popped out of the mold and cut into squares

it's a lavender/peppermint soap made with lavender buds from our garden

follow the link to see how it's done

you only need a few easy to obtain ingredients and a stick blender

(without a stick blender you will be stirring it for hours - believe me!)

the morning run

I brought my camera on the school run this morning

I'm always glad when I have my camera in the car

a view of the world frozen in time