Random Stuff I Thought About Today.

You know how sometimes you get behind a truck driving down the road and there is a bottle of water or a can of coke on the bumper?  How is it that the water or coke can ride on that bumper for hundreds of miles and never spill, but if I put a glass of water on my flat and non-moving table, it gets spilled within 4 minutes?

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I think an Environmental Impact Study is required on all new construction jobs.  I did one and determined that, if there were a river full of nothing but endangered species, I could build a high rise on either side of that river, connect them with an 8 lane concrete bridge and still have less impact on the environment than my husband does when he makes a box of macaroni and cheese.

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I think my daughter’s head must be heavier than the whole rest of her body combined.  It doesn’t matter where she falls, how she falls, or how high up she falls from, her head always hits first.

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I had to grate my own cheese for dinner tonight because we were out of pre-grated cheese.  What did people do before you could buy your cheese already grated?  That was some seriously hard work.  I mean it wasn’t like giving birth or anything, but still, my arm is tired.

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I remember when we first got cable back in the 80’s.  The remote was connected to the box by a cord.  How come they don’t do that anymore?  Do you know how much time I’d save if I didn’t have to look for the remote every single time I wanted to watch television?

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My husband found a bottle of vinegar with hot peppers in it in his grandma’s basement and brought it home.  I haven’t tried them because they are dated “10-14-98” and I have an irrational fear of botulism.  He keeps commenting that the peppers taste funny.

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I took my daughter to the Louisburg Cider Mill and Pumpkin Patch today.  Do you know what that means to you?  It means you get to see some pictures!  Yay!  I have not doctored any of these.  I really do look that awesome!  I’m getting pretty good at self-portraiture, if I may say so myself.  I really like how it looks like the background of the pumpkin is black and white.  “Hard Shadows” are my dad’s pet peeve in photography – but I think sometimes they make for a more dramatic picture.  These aren’t award winning pictures or anything, but I like them.

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Don’t Eat Me! Paste Embroidery.

I found this awesome pattern over at Wild Olive.  http://wildolive.blogspot.com/  For some reason, I am unable to copy and paste the link, but if you go to her archives, it was posted Sunday August 8, 2009.

I totally love the pattern.  I mounted the finished embroidery on a canvas.  I do not like that at all because you can see all the ends through the muslin.  Grrr.  Anyway, I totally love this and will keep the pattern for the future.  Thanks, Wild Olive!

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Things that aren’t rocket science.

It seems like there are a lot of things in this world that people equate to rocket science when they really aren’t that complicated at all.

Take bagging groceries.  A few weeks ago I had to pick up a few groceries and I also got a 2 pound bag of bird seed.  The seed was in a nice plastic bag that was pretty sturdy.  I told the bagger that I didn’t need to put it in a bag, I’d just carry it.  She said, “Are you sure?  I don’t want it to spill.”  I said, “Yes, it will be fine.”  And I was so pleased that she was concerned about my groceries spilling in the parking lot …

Until she handed me the bag she had just loaded.  I forgot my re-usuable bags so I had to use the store’s plastic bags.  You know those that rip if you put more than 1/2 pound of groceries in them?  So she hands me this bag with: a 6 pack of 7-Up (the 8 oz. cans), a can of frozen orange juice, 2 cans of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup, a bottle of cold medicine, 5 bananas, and a tube of Chap Stick.  Gee.  I’m really lucky that the bird seed bag didn’t spill.

The other thing that isn’t rocket science is handing change back.  I swear, they give you a wad of bills and a receipt, then balance the coins on top and very slowly hand it to you with the “don’t spill, don’t spill, don’t spill” look on their face.  Or else they wad the receipt in your hand and then attempt to balance the coins on top of it.  Like some kind of warped paper Jenga game.

I’m not trying to say that I’m smarter than everyone else (I don’t need to since everyone already knows it) or that I don’t on occasion do dumb stuff (although I can’t remember any right now), I’m just saying that some things really aren’t all that difficult if one puts his or her mind to it.

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Altered Canvas – I Love Cupcakes!

With Shelby’s birthday being over and a couple more weeks before I need to start on Christmas gifts, I decided to make something just for me.  In case you don’t know already, I love altered canvasses.  Here’s my latest creation (it’s 8×8). 

There’s a little bit of an air bubble, but it isn’t nearly as obvious in person as it is in this picture.

Isn’t that little girl darling?  I got it (along with a couple others) from this Etsy seller: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5956238  Not only is Rita super-talented, but she’s easy to work with and very sweet.  The background paper and the cupcake circles are from the DCWV Sweet Stack.  I just used a punch for the cupcakes.  I put a pop dot between each layer of the circles.  I usually don’t buy stacks but I had a weak moment.  It was on sale for $9.99 plus I had another 10% off coupon plus there was glitter.  How could I resist?  The ribbon is just plain old grosgrain from Michael’s.

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Shelby’s 2nd Birthday.

My kid turned 2 yesterday!  I’m so proud of her!  She got a Schwinn tricycle from her Mom and Dad.

I know you probably think that I haven’t been crafting much since I haven’t posted any crafts in awhile.  Well, nothing could be further from the truth!  I was just waiting until the party so you could get the full effect.

First are the invitations.  My friend Tammy did the artwork.  Then I mounted them on a piece of aqua Bazzill Bling (not shown here).  See that little mailbox at the bottom?  I don’t know if you can see it, but it says “Shelby”.

I made little terrariums for the centerpieces.  For the confetti, I used Martha Stewart bunny, butterfly, and owl punches.  I added some cute owl fabric to the tables to dress them up further.

In the way of food, we had: Turkey Breast (did you know you can make that in the crockpot?  You can, and it’s deeeelicious.), Ham, Baked Beans, Potato Salad, Corn Salad (my friend Krista’s recipe), and of course Cupcakes!

Those are butterfly sprinkles and enchanted forest picks.

My Mom and Grandma and I stitched 24 napkins.  Well, my Mom and Grandma stitched most of them – but I did some.  Here is a sampling.  (The links to where we got the patterns are at the end of this post.)

For the little girls’ party favors, I found butterfly nets and hot glued little butterflies that I found to the handles.

For the adults’ favors, I wrapped Hershey’s Bars up.

I think the party was a success.  Everyone seemed to have a good time and Shelby got a lot of lovely gifts!  Here’s a couple more pictures just because I think my kid is cute.

Here are the links for the napkin patterns.  Did I mention that my Mom traced all 24 for me?  Thanks, Mom!

http://zuill.us/andreablog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/pattern-group-1.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_wvcCE9jbIg0/SCzDtowc83I/AAAAAAAAA_M/WlkK1tJwKKE/s1600-h/Design-761-Sample-1.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_wvcCE9jbIg0/SCzDt4wc84I/AAAAAAAAA_U/UMOwuhDZy78/s1600-h/Design-761-Sample-2.jpg

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Dog Duty. (Duty, Not Doody.)

This is me this weekend.

Errr … well it would be if Barbie were a brunette and 3 or 4 pounds heavier.  Okay, 6 pounds.

A neighbor called me frantic because the person who was letting their dog out decided to go to Tennessee in the middle of the neighbor’s trip.  Obviously I said, “Sure, I’d love to let your dog out!”  Actually, I really don’t mind – it’s not that big of a deal.

But this morning was rough.  I thought the dog was dead.  I opened the garage door and didn’t hear his usual cacophony of barking.  (He’s one of those little dogs who has to be wary of sparrows and other birds of prey when he’s outside – and you know how dogs like that just love to bark.)  In fact, it was totally silent.

The pit of my stomach dropped out as I gingerly made my way downstairs.  I was going over the script in my head of what I would say when I called my neighbor to tell her that her dog was dead.  I went to his kennel.  There he was.  Under a blanket.  Not moving.

Do you know the next thought that popped in my head?  The next thought I had was, “What will I do with the body until they get back?  What if they tell me to put it in the freezer or something?  What if they want me to put him in my freezer?”

I jiggled the cage.  Nothing.  I couldn’t tell if the blanket was moving up and down.  I started to pull the blanket off …

Holy cow!  Can that dog move!  He jumped up like a new pup and started barking like crazy!  I have never in my entire life been so grateful to hear a dog bark!

I was relating the story to another neighbor who had had dog duty with the same dog in the past.  Turns out he’s hard of hearing.  But the owners apparently don’t think that is necessary to pass on because my friend also had an episode where she thought the dog had died on her watch!

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Birthday Party Favors for Kids to Make.

My friend’s daughter celebrated her 3rd birthday this weekend!  I thought she had the cutest little party favors so I have to share them with you.

The daughter watercolored on construction paper and then Mom fashioned them into envelopes, put a package of fruit snacks in each one, and tied it with a ribbon.  Then they glued the little poem on front.

I think they turned out super cute!

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