Gingerbread Houses

AND BRACES.........................

My grandson Matt and I make a gingerbread house every year.
This year it was a bit more challanging because the day before we built it he got his braces
put in. Top and bottom. Yup......he looks like the grill of a  big ol'Buick. AND......can't eat any of the candy we used. Bummer. No sticky, gummy candy.

 

My husband, knowing I had "gingerbread house kit" on "my list",

helpfully brought this home for us. HUH?????

This was so not gonna happen.

 

So...........................inspired by Tim Burtons'

"Nightmare Before Christmas",

And maybe Steven Kings'  "It"

as well as  a bit of Scooby Do and his

penchant for ending up in scary houses...........

well, I think you'll get the idea.........

 

 

"Welcome Scooby, come on in"

(said the spider)

 

 

If you look close you  can see the handyman from

Home Depot....he's on the roof, wrapped in spideys web.

 

 

Another spider.......and the handymans ladder, still leaning

against the house......it seems to have

a big green gummy worm using it now.

 

 

One end of house.....it has a guard of

green frogs as well as more green gummy worms

on patrol.

(and another spider on the roof)

 

 

Hey! Here's a good look at the roof...........

Big Spider.......and his Christmas dinner

"on hold".

 

 

Closeup of spider and his  (her?) web.

 

By Matthew Hajek, age 9 1/2

 

(as a memorial to all the candy he can't eat

for a long time)

 

OK..........................that gives you an idea of what

Christmas looks like at our house.....:):):)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEXTILE FORAGING

A BIT OF JUNKING.............

 

First I found this vintage Pendleton blanket,

actually probably considered a "shawl" since it has fringe on

all four sides.

 

 

Then I found this "death" doll.

This doll isn't all that old, but I think the textiles

used to make it are much older.

Tourist trade?

No matter........I like it!!

 

MY BUCKET LIST.........

WHAT'S ON YOURS?

 

I have a board on Pinterest........Free Tibet..........

I have pinned a documentary there (in short installments)

that show what I believe to be the real situation in most of Tibet today.

My hope is that you will find a few minutes to watch at

least part of it.

 

It is called   "Tibet.....What remains of us....."

There are eight installments, and they are numbered so look for 1of 8

to start.

 

Thanks.

 

http://pinterest.com/avgl/free-tibet/ 

 

 

                                           

An altar for giving back...........

Living on ten wooded acres

we often find interesting things

cast off from or created by the creatures

that live here with us.

There are also several of these "nurse trees".....

created when a new tree grows out and around

the old stump of a tree that was cut down at one time.

 

Every time I went out the drive I looked at this nurse tree

and thought......."that looks like a niche there"

Today, it became one.

A place to give some of the things we find "back"

A living tree altar.

An ongoing interactive art project.

This is just the beginning, this project will be evolving for some time I think. 

Hey Girl..............................

     In a Perfect World............................

source

                                                                                

                                                                                                                                           

Altar Update.....

Look who came to live with me......................

I think she looks right at home .

I think she might be smiling.

I know I am.

Thank you Steph, merci !!!

(click the link to visit Stephs blog and see a better photo)

                                                                  

" Make Do's"

There is a "category" of junking, collecting,

whatever, that I call "makedo"s.

Probably closely related to the "mended antique"

category, but usually involving a more common, less expensive object.

 I find them at older estate sales or auctions and

most often at farm auctions.

That's exactly where these two books came from.

My sister found these at a farm estate sale in Oregon and bought them

for me knowing I would like the "new" repair on the book covers.

These books were repaired with a piece of fabric that I  would guess

was originally some farmers shirt.

Or maybe fabric left over from making said farmers shirt.

The same fabric was used on both books,

but the maker used different stitches on each book.

It looks like the one used on the top book

was the most successful.

You can see here what the fabric looked like when

it was put on originally.

Both of these books are religious books

and I think must have had much

sentimental value to the owner

for this "makedo" to have taken place.

These books were home to family history,

and were obviously meant to be handed down and cherished.

(notice the spelling of ....."borned", and the wonderful

old dates.)

Old books seem to become our safe keeping places for

little bits of our lives.

(a photo and an obituary)

Important news events................

(this is an article from The Oregon Daily Journal dated March 3, 1931)

It is worthy of a read, especially the last part.

(click on it to enlarge)

I am not sure what this little cloth label came out of

or why it was deemed worthy of tucking into a book and keeping..........

other than ......"waste not want not".......

But I am glad someone did put it there,

so I could find it all these years later,

and glad my sister found these books and thought of me.  

                                                                            

ART is in the eye ........

of the beholder........right? right??????

I am cleaning out......trying to free up some space......

so last week I took a few boxes of "treasure"

to the auction for someone else to take home and love.

While there I saw this unsigned painting and for some reason

"had" to leave a bid on it.

I was happy to receive the call saying......

"congratulations!"

"your bid took it!!"

So for $15.00 and a bit of tax,

and buyers fee it is now mine.

I took the hideous frame off , cleaned it,

love it!

This is not my usual subject matter,

still not sure what possessed me,

but something about the color and all the pattern 

was so appealing to me.

To me it has a primitive folk ART feel to it.

Yes???    No?????

                                                                                  

This Years Crop............................

Of Baby Owls.........................

(sorry, couldn't get this to turn)

Usually we don't see the "kids" all at the same time

so we are never quite sure how many there are.

(this year there are three)

But this particular day I happened to open the front door and

saw the one on the basketball hoop, and then noticed that there was an owl sitting

right next to me on the porch railing.

I wasn't fast enough to get a picture of that, but was able to get some fun 

photos of them as they perched in the trees around the house.

These are Barred Owls, and we are fortunate enough 

that they have been nesting and living on our property for several years now.

They don't seem to be bothered by us at all, and it's not unusual to see them sitting on the peaks of

our house, the basketball hoop, swingset, garden arbor, any place they

can sit and do a quick swoop down on a meal.

Myself, I love them, and hope they catch every last rabbit, mole, and mouse

on the place. I am afraid though that some of the smaller songbirds and other

birds don't like them very much.

 I am equally fond of the flycatchers that nest outside my bedroom window and eat mosquitoes..............so I hope the owls know that they are

offlimits!!!!!!!!!!!

Then...............................

Speaking of things with wings that go bump in the night.............

I received this gorgeous mala 

from Steph, aka

"Vlad the bat"

It's perfect for me , I love it!!

Thank you Steph!

                                                                                 

Jubilee Mosaic

Inspired by The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II ..........

(Back)

(Front)

(Side)

(Mosaic Diamond Jubilee Vase)

When I bought the two plates I used in this mosaic, one had a crack

and one had a chip. But they were both

VERY inexpensive, so I purchased them anyway.

The Prince Charles cup was perfect, and I loved it,

but once when dusting I knocked it off its cup hook and it broke.

I couldn't bring myself to toss it and have kept it

for a good few years.

Finally........ something to do with them all.

I just have to say......doing mosaic isn't as easy as you might think,

poor Queen, as my pieces slid around on the crock, her face got larger

and larger grooves in it.

And frankly , after looking at her up close and personal

for a few hours, in my opinion

 she was quite a beauty in her youth.

**********

If I was in her area, I would most definately

have signed up for a mosaic class from

Rebecca.

I am sure that would have made the process much easier!

And my results much better!!

**********

(If you are interested in seeing some of my

British royal commemoratives, including a Queen Victoria Diamond

Jubilee pitcher, I posted about them

here.) 

                                                                                     

PRAYER FLAG...

Free Tibet......

Ever since I became aware of The Prayer Flag Project

I wanted to make one .

It was perfect for me to do one for Tibet

since that is where prayer flags originated and also

since that is a cause that is so important to me. 

For the main body of the flag I used some of the 

indian mirror fabric leftover from when I made my  bag. 

Since so many Tibetans have taken refruge in

India, that seemed to work for me.

I added this little bit of cutwork

embroidery that I picked up at smashingrubbish.

Not sure of the exact origin of this cutwork/ handwork, but Jennette and I both think

it is from that part of the world.

I decided to sew a ring over the ladys earring,

and to use it to hang my prayers from.

There is room so I will probably add more in the future.

It is hanging out in my garden,

where I hope the bells on it will tell me when

the breeze sends out my prayer.

If you are interested in participating in the Prayer

Project click on the button in my sidebar.

                                                                             

THE ART OF HOMEMAKING.......

Blackfoot Indian tepees,

photographs taken by Walter McClintock

in northwestern Montana

around the turn of the century.

(source)