Fresh air and sunshine........

Its a beautiful day outside around here, no rain, blue skies with lots of clouds and the sun peeking in and out. Its warm enough to need a sweater but not so cold you need anything else. I do believe spring is finally here. And so I felt inspired to finally go thru the woods here near my house. I tried but there's not a clear path and its pretty hilly. I was afraid Id fall. My bf  isn't home at the moment so if I did nobody would know where I am if I got hurt. I forgot my gloves too. I might have tried if I had them so at least Id could grab onto something for balance. But since there's tons of blackberry bushes out there, it wasn't a wise thing to do without protection. Its ok tho. It really is too early for me to find anything in the woods. No mushrooms, greens or anything sprouting up much at all. And so I decided to wait till its warmer.

In the meantime I saw a lady online make nests from found materials and I thought Id like to make one for my dining room table. This will be a work in progress. For now its a natural wreath to hold my candle. But as you can see from the pic up above, I did find some things to put in it.

 This is what I decided to do with it for now, make a natural centerpiece for spring for my table. Its not done yet either. I haven't brought out my Easter decor yet. Id like to put some eggs in that nest too. But for now this is made from branches and grasses and dried ferns and such I found around the property. I wrapped twine around them to hold the shape.You can see some of it but since its a natural material too, I figured the birds might use some if they found it to make a nest. But I did find some awesome moss growing on branches and lichen too. I also added some alder pods and a pine cone. Then I checked to see what was going on , on my back deck and decided to use some Dusty Miller bits. They will dry that color too. 

 I bought this bird nest on a stand long time ago. I use it for all sorts of things. This time I added a dried hydrangea from my yard to fill the nest. I'm thinking of tucking some tiny eggs in it next.

 I found a piece of ribbon in my stash that is light and airy and looks the color of the lichen so I decided to add it for now. I found a dried rose too and added that. That lichen you see below it is so beautiful. Ive been collecting whatever the wind blows off the trees around here to dry. I'm going to make a wreath from it with seashells and pearls and such for my front door. It just reminds me of the sea. I did some research on it tho and found out it only grows where the air and water are clean. Now that made me smile. But this nest isn't finished. I want to make it a real nest to put eggs in eventually. I want to find more natural things to add to it. But the one I saw that inspired this had all sorts of beautiful ribbons and fuzzy yarns and shiny bits and things added to it too. I still have to dig thru my stash to see what I can add but I want to do that to it too. When the other woman who made it was done, it looked like something from a fairy tale. But I like knowing it all started with beautiful things that grow right here on my property.

The latest things I made.......

I was wandering in Joanne's one day and thought Id buy some crochet thread to work on. I spotted this stuff..........its an organic bamboo thread. The colors were so soft and muted and old fashioned looking, I just had to have some! I looked thru my books for a pattern when I got home and saw this one, ironically done in soft colored threads too. This was an old book tho from the 70s so I dont know where they got those colors from but I thought it would be perfect for me.

So I made that doily up there for my bedroom nite tables. I was sorry once I did cuz you have to make many pieces. And it wouldn't have been so bad but this bamboo thread with a small needle splits at times and can be hard to rip out when you make a mistake. I finished one and now I knew I HAD TO  make the other to match.....sigh. So I plodded thru. They look awesome tho. And I will say this.........not only are the colors they sell this in.....stunning.............but the feel of this is so soft. It would make amazing clothing I think.

 So then I needed another one, a bigger one for my dresser. I was NOT going to make those stupid motifs again. And so I found this pattern and decided to use the same colors so it looked like a set. It starts with 5 motifs but that's it. OMG I adore...........this piece. Its soft, girly, old fashioned and if it was bigger would make a stunning shawl. Much easier to work with too when you use this kind of pattern.

This is the close up of that piece. I love, love, love it. But I bought blue thread too. And right now my bedroom has blue and white pillows on it for the summer. So I think Ill make some with the blue and cream and white next.

I turned a covered fuse box in my kitchen......

into something useable. This is the before. Not ugly but rather pointless. 

First I sanded it and wiped the sanding dust off real good.

Then I painted it with chalkboard paint. First across like you see in this picture. Then I let it dry for 4hrs as the paint can said. Then i did another coat up and down and let that dry for a few days.
(There's not much space here to take pictures so that's why I had to angle it.)

 And now it looks like this. I rubbed white chalk all over it to season it like they say and then wiped it off with a dry rag. I found Crayola has some great colorful sidewalk chalks to use. I wanted to get some Chalk Ink pens but they are very expensive.....almost $4 a piece. I have one or two but wanted more color. 

So this will be my grocery list. I figure I can use the colorful chalk to draw cute borders across the top to match the holidays and such. Since its summer..........I drew the beach.........with a sign telling you which way it is. My bf thought this was such a cute idea. 

To see more cute ideas:

I finally finished this runner.

I finally finished the embroidery on it. Its huck toweling that was stamped with a pattern to embroider. Swedish weaving on this type of fabric is what is usually done. But I had know idea how to handle this. I just know I saw a couple of these on Ebay and had to have them. One was a grape runner that Ive finished awhile ago, one was a rose runner that I lost out on :( and then this one with violets.

Here it is completed. It runs the length of my couch. I didn't measure it but I think its a 72in. runner.

Here's one end with a closer view. I searched for a nice old fashioned crocheted edging. Found 3 that were possibilities and ended up using this one. I think its the perfect choice.

A little bit closer shot. Sorry I didn't iron it. Since I'm not gonna use it right now and its only going to get packed, I figure Id skip that for now.

Close up of the embroidery. Don't know if this is how you do this but its what I decided upon. I used variegated threads to give it some shading and depth. I really like how it turned out.

And here's the next project in the works. This one the pattern is wrong so I'm having some trouble with it. Thank God Ive been crocheting for yrs or I would have dumped it by now. I wanted to make two but now I'm not so sure. I can't sit still at nite watching tv with empty hands. And apparently I crochet really fast so I figure its a good way to get these things done eventually. Problem is I get bored ez too so I have a million projects going and I'm always adding more!

Some Dollar Store fun today....

First, this is my table in my dining room right now. Took down the July 4th stuff and added my mermaids and some roses from my garden. Put a nice lacy white tablecloth on too so it looks bright and summery.

I saw these crafty things tho at the Dollar store and had to buy some. They are just plain wood that you paint and decorate yourself but wouldn't these be cute hanging around the house? Haven't decided how to do them and most likely wont until the move is over. But I figured if I didn't buy it now.....they would be gone.

Know what these are? Giant stickers but not just any old stickers. They are chalkboard stickers you can put your own messages on. They are quite lg. too about 1 1/2 ft. long. I thought either I could use them in my own shop to put msgs. on or prices or just use them around my house. I did buy the chalkboard wallies awhile back but these were much cheaper. Sometimes I really love the Dollar Store!

I won a little prize....

This is my prize!

This morning when I got up, I did my usual routine. I come online in here, then do my mail, then look at all the blogs Ive bookmarked on blogger. Today one lady was having a giveaway on her blog. Many of the crafty ladies do that. I may do that too once I get this business going. This lady tho just posted her blog and said the first 3 people to respond will get a prize.

Ok, now Ive seen this done elsewhere and I never win.......there's usually hundreds of comments then and they use a random generator to pick a number. But since this lady said first 3 and I saw 0 comments, I thought cool! I'm gonna win. Once I posted a comment tho I saw it was moderated comments. That meant I couldn't see it till the blog owner allowed them to be posted. I could be number 5 billion and not know it. Oh well, I figured I never win anyways.

Now I just started going to this ladies blog the last week or so. And I liked it enough to bookmark it . Funny.....one of her older blogs is about her nests that she makes and I thought, I really like those. Shes also from Oregon so that did it for me, I added her. And you can do if you like http://treasuresfromtheheartgifts.blogspot.com/

So today I got an email that I won! And I wrote her back and my lil nest will be on its way sometime this week. Oh , and I may be making a new friend too. She wont be that far from where I'm hoping to live that we cant connect sometime. She says she will make nests and I can cook lol .......darn I'm always stuck cooking! lol

So for now because Ill be moving in a bit, I did this with the lil nest. I had a cheese dome and since domes are all the rage right now, I put it in there . I tucked in a piece of lace, some dried flowers and the next. Its a bit cramped in there right now. Hopefully once I land in my new home, Ill be able to find a dome that fits or another cute place to put it. But Thank You Barb for such a sweet gift.