Peddlin' the Wares

Closets are cleaned, clutter is boxed, rooms are lined with said boxes...that can only mean one thing. It's almost time to peddle our wares!

Our garage isn't exactly a prime location for a garage sale, being awkwardly situated in a narrow city alley such as it is, so we've been seeking an alternate spot to set up shop. No luck in this department, which has led dear daughter and I to instead put on our positive thinking caps and work with what we've got - our wee little yard! The biggest obstacle will be our chatty puppies, who desire nothing more than to verbally announce the presence of any living creature within a 10 foot vicinity - often even announcing their own people, much to their people's annoyance. We love them, we love them, we love them! But I digress...

Now that the house is mostly decluttered and cleaned and sorted and shredded, it's time to start working on the contents of the aforementioned pitiful garage. This has been a work in progress for about the past year. I'm guilty of not doing much with it because, hey, out of sight out of mind, right? Not anymore. I need to get that building whipped into shape so I can have a decent cold weather woodworking shop ready to go for this winter. In order to accomplish that, we simply must rip out the existing wooden swing-out doors and install a sturdy, modern overhead garage door. And that, my friends, will require emptying the garage of everything unnecessary, which includes more sellable items, a few craft projects in the making and some, um, junk.

The primary goal in all of this is to eliminate clutter in our entire home, including the yard and garage, to learn to let go of things in order to make room for people. I have too much stuff. I hold on to too much stuff, physical and emotional, and it's just time for me to let go. And this is one more step in my ongoing mission.

 

When we're finally ready for the big sale, I'll let you know so you can stop by and say 'hello'! :)

Cleaning Out My Closet

"Let It Go...Let It Go..." I have yet to see the movie "Frozen", and to be perfectly honest, I don't know that I'll ever see it. But I'll admit, that's quite a catchy tune. And it sort of became the underlying theme of our small group meeting last Sunday evening as we were talking about what led each of us to Jesus Christ. The fact that one of the gentlemen was singing it helped embed it deep into my brain so that it could come out rather unexpectedly yesterday. I sent a message to one of the ladies in my small group that said, "I'm cleaning out closets today and found myself singing 'Let It Go'!"

I have difficulty letting go of clothing...and papers...and books...and photographs...and anything else that may or may not have sentimental value. Yes, I have clutter and it frightens me that I may have hoarding tendencies. Yesterday morning I was laying in bed fending off the start of another migraine and I realized I had turned on the TV to an episode of 'Hoarders' that I actually had never seen before. I felt horrible for the people in this particular episode and decided, I need to do what I can to stop whatever tendencies I have from progressing. I did a bit of research on the subject as I waited for my meds to do their thing and discovered why people create clutter and how hoarders begin hoarding. It is fascinating and terrifying at the same time.

Once I felt my wooeyness had subsided enough to do something productive, I didn't hesitate to start cleaning out closets. This actually makes the fourth time I have done this since January 2013 and each time it gets a bit easier. A few months ago I actually invited my husband to help me and it was a great activity for us both. I didn't have as many clothes to remove from my closet because of a drastic size change this time, like I have the last 3 times, because I have maintained my weight loss and my size hasn't changed again (thank goodness, because that can add up quickly).

After I finished my closet, it was time to start on hubby's closet. Yes, our house was built in the 1880s and our master bedroom does indeed have two separate closets. My husband also has probably three times as many clothes as I do now. Wow. I don't think he realizes that, either. So I began sorting and singing "Let It Go...Let It Go!!!" As I was sifting through his piles and piles of shirts, I hit the motherload of firefighter t-shirts. He worked so hard to earn them. Some from the fire academy, others from the tech rescue team, more from the fire department. I can't believe this October will be 10 years since he's been on the department. That's when it struck me that, even though he no longer wears these shirts, they are an important part of his life and I need to do something special for him with them. Individual pillows? Nah. T-shirt quilt? Yes.

I mulled over the idea the rest of the afternoon, wrestling with how I'd bring it up to him. While we were eating dinner, I just sort of blurted it out. Much to my surprise, he loved the idea. So I've added another very special project to my long, long list of very special projects. I'm pretty sure this will be my favorite one.

A Novel Concept

I find myself taking more and more of these Facebook quizzes..."What Is Your Dream Job", "How Does Your Brain Work", "What Are You Meant To Do"... and I answer the questions as if there's some mystery that will be revealed at the end of it all.

"You are a writer."

"You are a creative thinker."

"You are meant to write."

DUH!

Then I saw this quote posted somewhere on Facebook (because I clearly spend too much time on Facebook) and it finally hit me...I need to stop saying it's what I do and actually do it! 

And I don't mean just doing it for other people, but to start doing it for a greater purpose.

I have three titles in my head, one book started, one with illustrations started and another with a book cover. Why am I not completing these? Fear. Andrea Phillips nailed it for me in her blog post "The Four Fears That Stop Writers From Writing":

1. Fear about (lack of) talent
2. Fear about feedback
3. Fear about publication
4. Fear about being judged

No more time for fear. I have decided to take one of these projects at a time and, no matter how long it takes me, I intend to complete them. 

2 Timothy 1-7 "For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline."

I figure, if I can publish blog posts, write articles, tell tales about my critters and put my project successes and failures out there for all to see, why shouldn't I take the next, bigger step? Me thinks this is not how my story is going to end. 

Hang 'Em High

You know me...I'm all about giving old things new life. So when I came across a post in one my draft horse groups on Facebook the other day, I didn't hesitate to start digging through my heap of stuff. The original picture I saw is this one, which was a crosspost from Pinterest.

Aside from wanting a few more flowers to really fill mine out, I had everything I needed. Mine is hung with the halter upside down because this particular pot was a little too big to fit inside the nose band. 

I hung it in the corner of my little flower bed on the shepherd's hook my parents gave me for Mother's Day this year.  This is a great use for those stock plastic hanging baskets that never fail to have at least one arm of the hanger broken. Please tell me I'm not the only one that happens to?! I have a small collection of these pesky little baskets, but not many old halters anymore since I've become pretty proficient at repairing them.

Here you can see the little LED garden light, another Mother's Day gift, on its very own little shepherd's hook.

 

And that is what I managed to accomplish during a tiny break in this morning's rain. I think this wet weather has made the rest of the day prime for jewelry design...inside the house.

(Re)Claiming It!

It is likely not every mother's dream to have a truck full of wooden pallets delivered to her garage by her husband for Mother's Day. But for this crafty mama, it was a dream come true! I have a huge, long wish list of projects I want to make from reclaimed pallet wood that I wasn't sure where I'd start. Well, I've had two pallets sitting on the patio since last fall and haven't done anything with them yet, but I know I need way more than that for everything I have in mind.

Sunday night, hubby called before he left work to ask if dear daughter and I could meet him at the garage in fifteen minutes for a surprise. I, of course, initiated a quick game of 20 questions. "Is it big?" "Is it dead?" "Is it delicious?" "Is it alive?" He just laughed and finally answered, "It used to be" to being alive. I was hoping for a juicy steak. The truckload of pallets was so much better. And what put an even bigger smile on my face was seeing dear daughter immediately size up the huge wooden crate at the back of the truck and say, "This is going to be my tack box!" See, she had drawn up two different tack box designs on her laptop several months ago and, in this moment, she saw her vision starting to become a reality. Now she has a glimpse of what I experience when I see those special items that deserve new life and I couldn't be more thrilled.

The first project the hubby and I decided to tackle was a new saddle stand for Bettie Lou, my grandma Bettie's old saddle that decorates the corner of the craft room. It inspires me, as she was the craftiest woman I've ever known. I was so closely bonded with her and loved spending long hours in her ceramic shop when I was young, working under the professional cash register operator name that she and my Papaw Buck gave me, Miss Holly Cunningham. Oh my, did we all make some fun memories in that shop together. But I digress...

We still have some nail pulling and sanding to finish up before we assemble this very first one, but here's what we have so far. I couldn't wait to share this first project. The goal is to eventually create saddle stands entirely of reclaimed wood. But for this first one, I purchased a sheet of 1x12x6 pine for the ends. The finished stand should measure 36" high and 24" deep. These are the ends.

Hubby used his DeWalt reciprocating saw to cut the nails and deconstruct the first pallet. We estimate this first saddle stand, using the pine ends, will only require one pallet worth of reclaimed wood. Future stands made entirely of reclaimed pallet wood should require two pallets each.

I am contemplating whether or not I want to personalize this particular stand with a bit of pyrography. I think it would add a really nice extra element to the finished piece. I have some time to think about it. And if I don't decide until after it's finished, it's something I could definitely add later.

Can't wait to share it with you once it's finished!!!

Pie Day Friday

"Would you like to donate pies for this coming weekend? You can bring store-bought pies, that's ok." It's for a great cause, the 5K that our church is hosting, and I do love a good slice of pie from time to time. I offered to bring 2. My husband bumped it up to 3. Then 4. When he learned only 1 more was needed to meet the quota, he offered my services to bring 5. Why do I say my services? Because he'd be at work when those pies needed to be made. Yeah, I wasn't about to go for store-bought. I considered it, but I have the time and I enjoy being in the kitchen, aaaaaaaaand I actually found some yummy sounding no-bake pie recipes to try out.

I love to cook, but baking has never really been my forte. I remember that I baked a homemade apple pie once. I believe I may have been in high school. It wasn't bad - pretty dense if memory serves correctly - and I'm certain I did something wrong or else I would have continued baking. So I opted for recipes that didn't require baking just for my own peace of mind. Hubby and I went to to grocery yesterday and loaded up on all of the ingredients for Twix pie, chocolate chip cream cheese pie, (2) peanut butter pies and fluffy key lime pie. I announced rather proudly that, if everything turned out according to plan, it would cost less to make the pies than purchase store-bought pies. Hubby's immediate response was, "and if everything doesn't?"

"Ummmmmmm, well, Mr. Donnie Downer, we just won't be thinking that way because then that just means the store-bought pies I'd be taking would cost almost twice as much, so that's not going to happen." What was he thinking???

After dear daughter was safely delivered to school this morning, I got to baking. Technically not baking. Technically, I got to mixing together several different ingredients. From 8:00 am to 10:00 pm, I successfully made six pies instead of the five I set out to make. It turns out the Twix pie recipe I had is for a deep dish pie crust. I had regular crusts. Yes, I cheated and purchased pie crusts rather than attempting to bake them today. So it's a good thing I invested in a few extra. Anyway, I had twice as much Twix pie filling as one crust would hold and was able to make two pies from it. I know a few teenage girls who will be thrilled to learn of this tonight!

This is what I managed to accomplish in two hours this morning:

Twix Pie

Fluffy Key Lime Pie

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Pie

Peanut Butter Pies

I really hope they taste as delicious to whomever takes them home as the filling did to me when I taste-tested each one this morning! Now I'm off to see what else I can get into today. This sure could get interesting.

Lovin' Leather

I love the smell of leather. Some days, I admit, I satisfy my own guilty pleasure of sniffing new leather by browsing around at one of my favorite local shops, The Bootery. Two years ago, I surprised dear hubby with the Tandy Leather Deluxe Leathercraft Set because he'd expressed an interest in learning leatherwork and because I could take advantage of a great discount offer at the time. WIN-WIN!!!

But today I sort of got tired of looking at the box just sitting in the corner collecting dust. I decided to crack that baby open and pound out some designs myself! No reason this thing needed to waste away any longer.

Instructions! Oh, thank goodness for instructions! I started pulling out all the little pounding devices and felt a little lost. Some of them honestly looked the identical to me until I educated myself by reading the instructions

First things first, we trace our design onto the tracing paper. Easy enough. Then, we trace it onto the leather. Got it. It tears up the tracing paper pretty good - at least the way I did it managed to - so I probably should figure out if I need to secure my tracing paper for future projects.

 

Then we go in with the knife. It took me two passes to figure out the right way to hold this little contraption and get my cuts deep enough. So far, so good.

 More pounding. Lots of noise. Dogs barking like crazy, thinking someone's banging on the door. Me giggling at them, pounding more and more, giggling incessantly. It's like some mad scientist scene up in here!

But now...I'm lost...out of my comfort zone. Like so far out of it that I'm off the map. I don't feel like I got anything to look right. I even did it twice, pretty much destroying two leather discs, but that's what practice is for. The first time (above), I did not get that fern design even close, but the second time (below), I kind of impressed myself. 

After looking over my finished work a few hundred times in near total dissatisfaction, I realize I need to work on this. A lot. I really don't think I did the kind folks at Tandy Leather any justice with my work here. I'm so sorry, kind Tandy people. :( I'll work on my skills for next time, I promise. Practice, practice, practice.