HOW TO HAUNT YOUR HOUSE BOOKS 1-3

HOW TO HAUNT YOUR HOUSE BOOKS 1

Check out my new post on http://salemdarkhallow.blogspot.com

Dark Hallow for Halloween books how to haunt your house and see what wonderful creepy things you can create on a budget. The project in these books will have you feeling like a Hollywood prop expert in no time!

Remember

Have Fun Doing What You Love

            and 

Love What You Are Doing!!

Free Wallet Pattern

my personal wallet front

flower hand made

back

closure 

open view outside

open view inside

Have you ever looked at wallets and just didn't like them? Wanted one that just screamed your name ?Just so you? Well now you can have one that expresses your personality as well as the pride in saying I made that.
They also would make great gifts and the number of styles are only limited by your imagination! I used a tut ,but changed the material combination a little.I bought this fabric  before Christmas ,I just loved it.And the pattern didn't call for a lot of material.I used scraps for the pink-orngish and green strips.i also cut my strip material on a slops that gave it a climbing effect leading up to my flower i sewed on the front flap. I just loved the flower and the colors went great with this pattern.I love the finished wallet .

So if you have some Favorite material some scraps and time  give this a try and make a wallet that just screams at you . 

Below is the links to the wallet and flower tutorial I used to create my wallet and thanks to the ladies that share all these wonderful talents  with us everyday

 http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341c72ee53ef00e55219846f8833

 http://darnkat.wordpress.com/quilted-fabric-wallet-tutorial/

And as always 

Remember

Love What You Are Doing

and

Do What You Love

Homemade Caramel Recipe

caramel in a can

I have made caramel in the past.Stood over the stove and stirred for what seemed like hours.

It is a long ,hot,sticky mess  that taste heavenly. But rarely made because of the expense and long process, right?

Well imagine my excitement when I came upon this simple method on Pinterest.

I thought...no way is it that simple.

Yet it was. As I have been told this is not a new method,but I wanted to share this with you so if you never heard of it(like me") you can make some as well.

First this is a soft dipping caramel not hard.If you want hard there is only one way I know of to make it.....stand over the hot stove.but if you want to dip apples or anything else then this is the recipe for you.

First some things you will need

crock pot

any size can sweet condensed milk

water

Directions

place your sweet condense milk in the crock pot,fill it with water until it covers the can.Turn it on medium and place lid on top.

Now go sit down and relax.

8 hours later take the can out (careful it is very hot) and place it in the refridare 

can right from the fridg

Leave it in there until it is completely cold or overnight .

take it out and open it to see all that soft caramel .

Sweet caramel right in the can!

Place it in a container and that's it.

simple,sweet and no mess.

Remember all crock pots cook different so try to 

remember the time when you make 

it.Record how long it took on what setting  so you can 

get it  just the way you like it.

Also I like to leave mine in the container and place back

 in the fridge for about 2 

days.To me it seems to taste better and get

 smoother.Again this is to your taste.

Who knew a treat like this could be that simple.

Now go and make your family (or yourself) happy and 

make some caramel!

Remember

Have fun doing what you love

and

Love what you are doing!

Re-purposing all Kinds of paper

 Brian Dettmer

 Doing my usual searching  I came across some amazing art work using old books.I would never have thought that you could make something so simple as old books turn into something that was as awesome as this. His name is Brian Dettmer or the book surgeon.  I wanted to share his link with you so you can see his work.Just think of all the books that would have rotted ,filled up the land fills or been burnt( I discovered all books do not get recycled due to the large spine!Who knew?!!!)  I think he has created true masterpieces here. click the link below to go to his homepage and discover that you can do more with a book than read it

.http://briandettmer.com/

 Brian Dettmer

 Brian Dettmer

 Brian Dettmer

 All photo's belong to Brian Dettmer.

Remember
Love what you are doing
and
Do what you love!

Twilight Inspired Apple

Here is an apple that I have been working on .It was inspired by Twilight but mostly because my youngest loves it. It's made of Sculpty clay and I used printed pages from book,tore them,then burned them to give it the feel I wanted I mod podge the pages to the apple giving it a final coat to fully seal it. If your interested it is for sell in my esty shop at http://www.etsy.com/listing/89521387/clay-apple-with-worm
Remember
have fun doing what you love
and Love what you are doing!

Photo Light box tutorial from Luthien

image is the property of Luthien

 I have often wondered how Luthien took great images of her art.They are very professional looking and inspiring.I love her work very much.So when I saw this tut she had on devantart i was so excited!She shows you how to make a light box like the one she  uses. Above is the image of   Luthien s   finished box and as you can see it looks very simple to  make. I am in the process of finishing my box .Mine is different than hers as I used the materials I had on hand.It was modeled after hers and so far it works great here is a image i took with my simple camera.(remember I have not finished mine yet.)

As you can see I still have some things to 

solve on mine but they took better pictures than I get with just my camera and house light . If you want to make one head on over to http://luthien27.deviantart.com/#/d4j6hu8

no flash

and follow the tutorial 
And if you do make one give her a thanks on her comments .
You can also visit her on her blog at http://www.alteredalchemy.com/ and view the great art she makes !  She sells  on esty as well.If you are interested here is that link http://www.etsy.com/shop/alteredalchemy

with flash

Now go build your light box and take some great pictures!!






Remember 
Have fun doing what you love
and 
Love what you are doing!

SANTA CLAUSA & REINDEER FOOD TRUE STORIES

ORIGINAL PICTURE FROM SANTA
TO MY OLDEST
17 YEARS AGO

 

AS time goes by I find myself revisiting my
 child hood .Remembering all the times we got up on Christmas Eve to open presents. Yes eve due to the fact that my mother's farther was born on the 24^th of December. We celebrated Christmas on that day. We didn't have much and presents were only given by mom and dad to us. We had 2 or 3 presents each but we had a great time. My father's family was large (14 brothers and sisters and mom has 8) I never remember feeling as if we were missing anything. But sitting here today I do. We have become so materialistic that the season has been about what and how much we are going to get so last year I decided to start old fashion Christmas. I have skills that I can apply and the love I instill in each thing I do means more to me than anything I could buy. I feel the same way about receiving gifts (as you can tell from other post) things my family and friends give me that is special to each of their skills means more to me than anything they could buy. Most think that they have no skill or anything to offer. But saying you have a skill never limits itself to a craft or creating a masterpiece. Here is an example, my husband and girls do not hunt. I grew up with my brothers and farther hunting and raising pigs. We even had chickens and grew our own veggies .No we didn't live on a farm. We just had limited resources and as my parents family grew up poor they had the SKILL to do the things that would round out our lives. Point? I would love deer meat for a present as I do not get it often anymore, my mom makes fabulous cakes ,but I cannot for the life of me get one not to fall apart, my farther now works on a farm that his nephews owns, so they grow greens ,lemons broccoli and such, my brothers are good with their hands ,wood work and well as helping with heavy things at home( I have girls ) .Their wives hunt as well and I could go on and on with my nieces. Skills mean so much. Something someone can do that you cannot or something someone has that you need. That is what old fashion Christmas means to me. Beauty and necessity are gifts that can be as priceless as the Mona Lisa.

So maybe next year rethink how you look at Christmas. Yes kids still wan the new itouch and all the things that make them cool to their peers but it will be the memories of their Christmas with their family that will outlast the material things. The new expensive in thing will be old news but carving a walking stick, making a tree house ,making a small village, teaching them to make a cake will live in their hearts and minds forever. When they are retelling the stories from their past Christmas's the cake failure or the tilting tree house will be the story they share with their family forever. Not the IPod. You are what they will share.

So with season greetings and good cheer here are 2 stories from my own daughters past Christmas's that are warm and touching to my heart.


 
WHEN my oldest was young she was new to everyone and I mean new lol. The first child, first grandchild on both sides of the family .The first great grandchild and great great on my husband side child .She got a lot of attention and soaked it all up. When she was about 3 or almost 4 we had done all the mall Santa and all the who and what he is ( my children can ask my till I am 200 and I will always believe Santa is real ..So there) as most parents know mal Santa sometimes are a little rough and sometime scary to little kids. My daughter was like most but for her age she was a little on the smart side..No way was that Santa. So as the season grew closer and the weather was starting to cool down a little we received the greeted gift as a parent. Santa found my daughter.

We were at a local restaurant with her in a highchair .Waving her fries in one fisted hand and stuffing the other in her mouth with the other hand. Swinging her feet and all giggles and smiles when all of a sudden she stood up in the chair (frightening me to death) pointing her fisted hand of fries and screeched 'SANTA CLAUS!!!!!!!!!!'

After grabbing her and glancing across the room there was a man smiling and waving as he took his ticket to the cashier. My husband was laughing and talking to my daughter trying to get her to calm down as all the other customers smiled and enjoyed her happiness! She would have none of it .Santa was here and she was so happy to finally see the real one. He came to our table and said hi to her and she just has to hug him around the waist as he stood by her chair. I could tell he enjoyed the love he felt from her, his eyes had those smile crinkles as he laughed. My husband told him that he must get that everywhere he goes and Santa said yes he did, then reached for his wallet and pulled out a picture of himself and gave it to my daughter and told her it was hers to keep. She then (warming my heart) asked him why he was there and not at home making things with the elves .He just laughed and my husband said "Santa has to take a break too and eat". Santa told her he was heading home right then and after a little bit of chit chat he told her bye and she watched him as he went out to his car ( I think she was hoping to see his deer).She was so excited and could not wait to tell her grandparents about meeting the real Santa. She never asked him for anything and he never asked her what she wanted for Christmas. Material things didn't ruin the meeting between this magical moment between child and saint. It was a pure memory that I will treasure for the rest of my life.


 

 

 

 

REINDEER FOOD I SAVED FROM
THE NIGHT MY YOUNGEST TOLD ME THE
DEER WERE HUNGRY.
SAVED IN CLOSE FOR13 YRS

Now my youngest child was a leave me alone baby, preferring not to be held and cuddled (hard for me because she was the last child I would have) She had lots of needs (not actual, but she had some she made up) but when she felt something for someone else that had needs she was very focused on getting what they need. It didn't matter if they were magical or not. If they needed it she felt compelled to give it.

She was in pre k at our local school .And everything was hectic due to parties, shopping and cooking (I like to include all the people that had a hand in my girls education by making them divinity and she found "new "people she felt helped so my cooking list was long) sewing felt stocking for her older sister class and getting everything ready for their school parties and crafts was a all consuming mom job. On Christmas Eve we made cookies popped popcorn giggles and sewed some popcorn garland. Christmas music filling the house and her ever asking is it time for Santa Claus. We crafted gifts for the grandparents and she really gets into that .She loves giving presents almost as much as she loves getting them.

Late that night she got her bath .Put on her pj's and came with me and her older sister and a blanket to ride our area looking at the lights. The whole time worrying about when Santa would come and all the things most children worried about like how he will find her. But my daughter is a Q&A kind of girl. She wanted to know all there was about Santa, now that she was all grown up and had factual information from all the kids in school. So as we came home I answered all the questions and tried to answer the technical stuff as well. We got home and started laying out the cookies and milk .As we were placing the plate and glass down on the fireplace she looked up at me and said" what about the reindeer?"

I said "what do you mean?" She looked so cute worrying out the problem in her mind. "They pull Santa all night and never get anything to eat .They get hungry to. What are we going to give them?" I was at a loss and scrambled for something to give them. I told her that they could have cookies and she said 'mommy deer don't eat cookies they eat reindeer food.' I had never heard of that before and told her I didn't have any to give them not even a carrot. That's when she flipped her hand at me and said." That's ok I know how to make it. That's what they teach us at school.' Then pranced off to the kitchen where she taught me to make the deer food for them. She explained why glitter was in there, because everyone knows that they need that to see it on the ground .She explained all this with a roll of the eye and the entire patient I had just showed her in the car. We all took the bowl and walked out into the cold night and spread the food out for the poor hungry deer to eat while Santa snacked on his cookies. The next day she went out to look for the food and was happy to see that it was gone and to her the deer had at least one good meal that night before heading home. For her worrying about the lesser creature never meant what it means to us. She never thought about the deer as being beneath Santa but as an equal and deserving of being treated special just like everyone else. Knowing that she extended her heart to include others makes me treasure this memory. As they grow these are the things that will be treasured forever with love and pride. Giving me new hope as they grow into young woman that not only will they see to their own needs but will be aware of the needs of those around then. I remember telling her at that age that I never wanted her to grow up and to stay little forever .She told me she would stop growing right then and there. I asked her how she was going to do that.

"I will stop eating "was her answer. I will say she tried but food was too much to resist for her. She still tells me the same thing she always did .I would say,' I thought you were going to stop eating and never grow up" her reply "I tried but I get hungry and can't help it"

Those memories and little faces are all grown now into 2 beautiful 20 and 17 years old women waiting for their life to take them to another home and another person .But the stories are mine to retell and treasure always and forever.


 
This holiday season as you are with your family shares the stories young and old. Create those new memories and rejoice in the season.


 

 

 
HAPPY HOLIDAYS

AND
MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM MY FAMILY TO YOURS.


 

 

 



 

 

Cotton plant Christmas ornament tutorial .

SNOW BURST

   As   promised here is the tut on making a Christmas ornament out of a cotton plant.This is a easy craft to do but it is very pretty when the lights from the tree hit the glitter.Oh how they sparkle! I live in the south and cotton plants are not hard to find here,but I do not know if you can purchase cotton online .

cotton in the field

Materials
cotton plant ( I got mine from local farmer)

 hot glue gun and glue sticks

glitter ( your choice but I like the fine iridescent glitter)
white craft paint (again your choice)
paintbrushes (not big ones ,use what you need to paint the snow burst)
ribbon(I like all kind but like anything else its what you like)
bowl (to catch the glitter for reuse.just pour back in glitter battle )

image 1

First you need to cut the cotton bulb off the stem. What you want is the husk or open bulb see image 1 . Then you need to remove the cotton from the bulb.This is easy to do just gently pull cotton out. See image 2 and 3.

image 2

image 3

Now take the husk apart by gently moving them back and forth while holding one side

hull broken apart 

drop of glue on torn end

Now using your glue gun place a drop of glue on the end of the hull.This is the end your broke from the other hulls not the pointy tip.Now add another hull to the one with glue on it. Hold a few seconds so it will cool and stay on. You want to alternation the hull position meaning the wider side and the sides with the indention should not always face each other.Neither should they always be facing away from  each other.see the image 4.

put another hull on the tip of the glued one 

hull position  image 4




Now take another hull and place it at the top and one at the bottom,. Making a star figure.see image 5 

image 5

this is the shape you want  for the bass

Now place a hull in center of star ( image 6) and another hull on the other side in the middle  of the star 

image 6

 Now keep adding hulls in between  to form a star burst like shape
See the images below .There is no wrong way to add the hulls .Keep adding
till you get the look that you want.

keep adding hulls

add hulls till you get the shape you want

finishes snow burst

 These are my finished snow burst.Remember each will be different.

Add caption

 Now take your white pant and cover the snow burst completely.This will need to be painted 2 times because the cotton hull soaks up the paint.Make sure to get in all the corners and hiding places .

paint snow burst

While the paint is still wet take your glitter and hold your snow burst over a bowl(to catch the excess glitter.you can reuse this ) Sprinkle glitter all over the snow burst making sure to get all sides and the insides.

 Now after it has completely dried take your ribbon and glue it in one of the hulls in the center of the burst. You can take a small bristle paint brush and paint the glue white if you wish ,being careful not to paint the ribbon where it shows

Ribbon added to dry snow burst 

 That's it! Now you can create an heirloom that you can hand down to your children and so forth.It's using nature to create and repurposed at its best. i enjoyed making these and my best friend already wants to make some for next year christmas gift! Below are some images of them on my tree.See how they sparkle? my camera could not do them justice.I hope you enjoyed this tut and if you have any questions please ask away!

 Remember 
Have fun doing what you love
and 
Love what you are doing!