In His Grip

TV Can Inspire Creativity

I don't watch TV during the day, but for some reason I had it on this morning and it was tuned into the Rachel Ray show.  First off, can I say, I just love her.  Her peppy personality can pick up anyone's spirit.  Today, I am not even sure what was going on because I was so taken in my the pillows that were on the sofa she was sitting on.    They are to die for!!!  I hurried and got my camera and snapped a quick picture so that I could remember them.  You just wait I am going to make those pillows and you will see them on the site some time in the future.   Does anyone else check out the accessories on the set of TV shows, or is it just me? 

Summer to Cozy Winter Bed

This is our master bed the way it looks from March-ish through October-ish.  We have a wide variety of pillows and if it were up to me we would add some Euro shams behind the shams you see here but Jeff has put his foot down and says there are too many pillows as it is.  (Like he makes the bed and arranges those pillows on a daily basis.) But being the compliant wife that I am (ha, ha), I have let the Euro shams go for now.  (I do have some fabric set aside in my"fabric closet" that will do very nicely as Euros someday, shhh, don't tell Jeff.) 

When the weather starts to turn chilly I want a more cozy look to our bed.  So I just make a couple of changes.  I add another down comforter with a velvet duvet cover and the shams are change out to match as well.  The matelasse cotton throw is folded up on the end for an extra blanket if we need it.  And wal lah, a cozy bed for winter cold nights.  When the temperatures get even colder I have some fun brown and blue snowflake flannel sheets that will help take the chill off of those cold sheets. 

Unbelievable School Spirit!

On Friday night, Jeff and I attended the Gardner High School football game.  Never before have we experienced a high school football game with so much team spirit.  Not only was everyone dressed in blue, but we even saw adults with their hair painted blue, oh, and one was a co-worker of Jeff's, ha,ha.  There were 230 elementary school girls there to cheer along with the cheerleaders for the 1st quarter and they were all sporting their "Raise Her a Blazer" t-shirts. Before you entered the stadium there was the booster club selling Gardner Blazer gear, 50/50 tickets, and thunder sticks.  Okay, then you enter the stadium. You can't help but notice the large blowup in one of the end-zones.  As the excitement of the game heightens, you see the team start to enter the field, but before they do they all fit inside the blowup and   as smoke starts to billow out of the large football helmet the teams bursts out.  It was the best team entrance that I have ever seen at a high school game.  If you want to get the experience of a small town totally behind their football team check out a home Garden High School game. 

I'm Sport'n a New Doo

Yesterday afternoon I had an appointment to get a hair cut.  On my way over I began to think of how long I have had the same look and decided that I would ask my hair stylist if she could suggest something new.  I told her that I was wanting a new look and to keep in mind that I was over 40, nothing too short, but I defiantly wanted sassy.  I told her to surprise me.  Now, I have been with this gal for a couple of years now and I do trust her, I mean how could you not she is a cute as she can be, and is always wearing the latest style herself, however, I don't think she is much over 25 or 26.  So here is what she has come up with and I really do like my new look, but I think it is very close to the hair cut that Lindsey has, oops.  I have been told all my life that when someone copies you it is the best form of flattery.  So, Lindsey, I really like your hair cut. 

Here is a shot of the back too.  Now can I just say how hard it is to take a picture of yourself in the mirror and not make it look like you are taking a picture of yourself. Young people that take pcitures of themsevles have a talent for it because I just don't seem to have the knack.   I not only wanted to get the front but the back of my hair in the picture as well.  But I really did not want my back fat to show either, so needless to say this is the best I could get and that troublesome back fat is cut off.  I wish that was all we had to do in real life to eliminate those areas that we wish we could forget about but still need some work.   

Time 4 Fun Gift Box

I have been going to Sonic Drive-In happy hour (all drinks for half price) a lot this Summer.  So needless to say, I have accumulated several of their drink holders.  I knew that there was something cool to do with them I had just not figured it out yet.  Well, I finally came up with something.  A gift box.  I took strips of paper and sewed them together for the sides and then used my Cricut machine to cut out the "Time 4 Fun" letters. I then tied some bows here and there filled it with tissue paper and some shred and there you have it.  A very fun gift box.  I love to make something out of nothing, it always makes me feel so accomplished.

 

Speak to Me in Terms I know

When I am in the kitchen and following a recipe I hate it when they tell you to use 16 oz. of something and then on the label the product is listed in pounds.  Now I know in my head that 16 oz equals one pound, but it would be nice just to confirn to me that I am remembering my elementary school weights and measures training properly.  And what if the recipe is calling for some other random ounce mearsurement that is not right on the top of my head?  The number of grams in the product is just not helpful to me.  Anyway, who out there is using grams and why do I need to know that?

Rays of Sun

This morning the air was so thick with humidity that you could see it.  I took this picture in our backyard and you can see the rays of sun coming through the trees that even my cheapy camera was able to catch.  I love it when you can actually see the rays of sun light like in this picture or up in the sky when you see rays of sun shining through the clouds.  It reminds me that there is a God out there that is much bigger than me and I know Him and He knows me.  Cool, isn't it? 

Indian Creek Gradner Campus Picnic

Last Sunday was the first ever Indian Creek Community Church, Gardner campus picnic.  After church, we all headed out to Celebration Park were we had great food and fun.  The weather before church looked very questionable, but by the time church let out we had a great sunny day.  There were over 100 people in attendance. There was a water balloon fight, boccie ball,  and we passed out pop ice to everyone at the park whether they were with Indian Creek or not.  The kids as well as the adults had a great time on the play ground while we all enjoyed the pop ice.  It was so much fun and I look forward to more picnics in the future.  You just can't beat hanging out with great people.

Only in a Small Town

When you travel to different places you realize that there are just somethings that you will never see anywhere else.  Yard Birds is one of those places that just cannot be replicated.  It is a local store in Chehalis, Washington, that has been around for years and back in the day there was not only this "small" yard bird but a very large yard bird that you drove through to get to the parking lot.  Sometime back there was a fire that took the "big" bird out.  Only in a small town would such a sign like this even exist.  It kind of reminds me of the old pictures you see of a burger place that is shaped like a hamburger or the ice cream store with giant ice cream cone on top.  We just don't have these kinds of things around any more.  Yard Birds was a department store back in the day that was similar to Wal-Mart and the story is that people came from miles around to shop there.  Now, it is a very large second hand, junk/antique mall.  It is like there is a garage sale going on in there everyday.  You really have to be there to get the full enjoyment.

Finding Treasures

It is so much fun to find these little treasures for such little money.  I bought all of this and spent only $2.50.  Now I know what you are thinking, "What the heck are you going to do with this junk?"  Well, just so you know I will do something very creative and I will post the results here.  I have been wanting to do some altered art that uses old photos and ephemera (I have picked up some of the professional junkin' terms since I have been with my sister).   Look at all those buttons, I have a real liking for buttons, I am not sure why, but I just can't get enough of them.  I had better come up with something to do with all my buttons because my personal button collection seems to be growing every week.