Crafting Homestead

Author: Valerie

  • Summer is almost here!

    It’s quickly approaching one year since beginning my blog. I had hoped to already be moved, definitely further along with being self-sufficient, and having a thriving blog business. However, although it hasn’t happened yet, we are still proceeding in that direction.

    The school year is almost over, just 4 more days, then a wedding, a week to prepare for a little vacation, the vacation and BANG, serious time.

    Things have been going fairly well. The crafts I have been making are selling at Stacey’s shop. Well, actually, I hope, find out today as I pay her rent for the start of my 3rd month with her. Hopefully she has a generous check for me.  🙂  I am about to place a large order of supplies for my stock along with another piece of equipment to help with the process. My husband is always so agreeable. He sees my commitment much more than he has in the past, yes he never denies me whatever I look to pursue.

    The crafts are only a part of the plan. They will provide the fun and peace in my life…and maybe even some cash to pay for necessities.  😉

    Truly the most challenging thing is having teenage girls. The rough daily mental plan I make for myself each day generally gets tossed right out the window as soon as they wake up. Yesterday was the first day of high school finals. One child didn’t get to finish one test because of some issue which happened during the last class under the supervision of a substitute teacher. So, a make up test (??) involving staying after school seems to be in order. The other teen only has one exam so wishes to not remain at school the entire day. Meanwhile, I *am* still working, two schools are on half-day schedule, but the third is not. Both girls attend separate high schools, about 5 minute drive away from each other, but 30 minutes from our home. SO…do I go to work (driving) for 3 hours, drive 30 minutes to school #1, drive her home, go back to work and drive for 2 hours, drive to school #2, drive her back home, go back to work again for an hour to keep them happy? This means that the few moments I could accomplish *anything* would be gone AND I would be driving in the blistering heat of the third day in our heat wave. I hate sweating. Yes,my vehicle has AC, but my large yellow tin can does not. That’s assuming I have “my” bus as yesterday it was out of commission, having to borrow 2 others. Am I complaining? I kind of feel like I am complaining.  🙁 Have I mentioned that I don’t like to drive? I know, wacky that I am a bus driver, but remember, that was  means to an end. So I could drive the motor home coach.

    Sheesh! I have typed a book already and we haven’t even talked about dance. So much more to talk about, yet, no time. I’m going to get ready for the day – STAY COOL and enjoy yours. 🙂

  • It’s been a while.

    So much has been going on. Just that time of year I suppose. Things are beginning to wrap up. The school year is almost over and the extra-curricular activities have all but stopped.  PHEW!

    Girl Scouts has finished, field trips are done, the recital is over…the count down to the last day of school and then…

    There is one major and totally awesome event left: A WEDDING!

    Yes, on June 17, 2017, we will be attending our youngest sons wedding! The ceremony and reception will be held at the brides mother’s house. We recently attended the bridal shower which was also held there – WHAT FUN! Their backyard, while small, has all the elements of a vacation spot, specifically Key West! There is the all important bar area, the gazebo area, the fire pit area, the beach area (!!), the tiki area and the patio area.  All kinds of memorabilia and decor to make you feel as if you are on vacation in the Keys. I dare say, the only things missing was the salt water smell. I bet we could figure that one out!  😉

    The Bride and Groom are keeping everything simple and low-key,  it will be small (under 50 people). Not an easy task when the Groom’s immediate family is 24 (grandparents, parents, siblings, significant others, niece & nephews).

    I do hope to post again prior to the wedding as I have been busy making crafts…so busy making things, that I haven’t switched gears to attempt to sell them.Definitely have to work on that!

    So, toodles until next time…

  • It’s the most amazing thing!

    A friend and former co-worker has been crafting in her basement for a few years and had begun bringing her finished products to a few different stores to sell. Then something wonderful happened! While her wares were selling just fine at these stores she wound up with an opportunity to OPEN HER OWN STORE! I am beyond happy and excited for her…and yet…wildly jealous! As I mentioned, she is a *former* co-worker. She was able to leave her job and start living a dream! All that is fantastic for her, but as wonderful as that is, it completely motivated me to really crank up my crafts. Why? Because before, to sell something I had to list it in Etsy, on eBay, post it on some tag sale site on Facebook, or here. Most of those options involve shipping and typing up lengthy descriptions, snapping pictures and that cuts into my crafting time.  UGH! Now I make a bunch of things and bring them to her shop. Beautiful! And *amazing*!!! I am selling items already and she has only been open for a couple weeks.  The Grand Opening is May 5,2017.

    So, what is her shop called? Stacey T’s Treasures and Artisan Boutique.  Have a look around!

    I can’t wait until someone can call me their former co-worker…  <3

  • Loving life

    Loving life

    Campfire in Virginia.
  • WOOOIE!

    WOOOIE!

    I love my kids SOOO much! We all love our kids, right? That’s how it’s supposed to be. We’re proud of them, take care of them, try like the Dickens to do the right things, while at least sometimes feeling like a complete failure.

    Well, I feel like an awesome mom this week (well, sort of, fighting some kind of cold this week)! We had a Sweet 16 party for, wait for it…our 16 year old on Saturday.  I don’t want to brag…wait, yes, I do…IT WAS GREAT! Everything went smoothly, she was happy, the other kids had fun, a bunch of family was there and they had fun, too.

    It was like having a mini wedding. We sent invitations, hired a hall, DJ, photographer, theme was masquerade, made decorations.  Everything was color coordinated, including her brother who escorted her into the party when the DJ made the announcement. There was the Father/Daughter dance, can you say “tear-jerker” OMG! It was great. She had her nails, hair, and make-up done. It was a production! I took mostly videos and I haven’t received the CD of pictures  from the photographer yet…so not many pictures yet. While I await them, please enjoy these. <3

    Yummy subs! ACKKK! The banner shifted! It is not straight and letters are not even…my OCD *hates* this.
    C & Oma, frosting courtesy of the sister.
    Papa with C

     

    Kids at the soda bar. Notice the fast moving grandson in the foreground. 😉

     

    The Candy Bar
    Most of the fam

  • Motorhome news

    Winter is the perfect time to get work done on the motorhome. Instead of taking up so much space in our driveway, it’s away getting some TLC. We needed  to get some caulking done and a few frivolous things, like gutters. Had them check out the belts, hoses and brakes…all fine. PHEW! But we learned that the tires were beginning to show some dry rot…UGH! We had been planning to take a lengthy trip and what a horrible surprise it would have been to discover that away from home.  We have AAA and Good Sam, but replacing 6 tires is no joke! $310/tire. 😛 So, since it’s having an extended stay at the dealers,may as well do a few other things. The sink is horrible, stainless steel, but rusted (hmmmm), not to mention the drain was higher than the bottom of the sink, meaning water sat in the sink. The faucet also crowed the sink so the large corn pot just wasn’t getting washed inside. So, new faucets all around (kitchen, bathroom and shower), I’m not a primadonna (promise), but my DH wants them to match.

    We can hardly wait to try it all out. For now we are just going to chill out waiting for the blizzard on Tuesday…THEN we’ll starting dreaming of our vacations!

  • Quick Change

    If you have been reading my posts, you know I have three girls living at home. They are now 16, 15 and 7.5. We wanted the oldest to have her privacy and gave her her own room. We only have 3 bedrooms so the two youngest shared. It worked well, but that was a couple years ago when the tweens hated each other. They *finally* found some common ground and often spend time bouncing around between each others rooms. #mommywin I’d include daddy, but he’s not into computers, or internet, or any other technology, he just got a smartphone 2 months ago (hand-me-down from the 16 year old)…totally old school and i *LOVE* him for that.

    Anyway, since the teenagers have been getting along so well and the 7 years old seems to get in the way I thought we should switch. I wasn’t sure the 16 year old would want to share or that the 7 year old would want to be alone as it’s not as close to mommy and daddy’s room, but much to my delight they had thought the same thing just a week ago.  AWESOME!!!

    So, no sooner than I mention it and the two girls moving start packing boxes all the details were worked out.           

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    There’s always a catch, some fly in the ointment… The littlest used to *love* pink, but now she’s hot into purple and blue. CRAP! Her bedspread, curtains, rug, pillows, lampshade, desk…all pink. What’s a mom to do, I am *not* buying all new stuff because we’re switching rooms, heck we’re supposed to be moving soon anyway.  Hmmm, I can DYE the fabric stuff, paint the desk (again) and lamp…may have to replace a shade (so sad, i *love* that little lamp). Off to Wal-Mart.

    Soon all will be well. The trip to Lowe’s for paint will have to wait, not feeling*that* ambitious today. The best part: since I am no longer a huge fan of driving, but the 16 year old has her permit, she got to drive me around today…WIN WIN!  YAY ME! It’s a great day. <3

  • What is that?

    What is that?

    Every now and then while driving on a main state road in my town I see this beat-up looking truck. The fact that it is a little rough around the edges didn’t make it stand out all that much. It was the letters on the front grill. Hand painted block letters on a piece of wood that didn’t make much sense, oh wait, they’re backwards (like the front of an ambulance)! OK, look again, but now it’s gone. Grrr

    A week or so later,same deal,old truck what’s wrong with the grill, ooh, it’s that truck, letters are backwards, right, quick, read it, what does it say??? sway? I don’t know…

    A week, a few days, whenever later, HEY, there’s that truck! It’s a web address! www.TimsWay.net Huh, that’s kind of intriguing…wonder what’s so clever about Tim’s way?

    Yesterday: Oh yeah! TimsWay.net, I forgot to look that up, Must remember to find out about this. It turns out to be a modest little website,and that’s when I noticed the first thing.  Ohhhhh, it’s Tim Sway! Mr. Sway is a *very* talented and modest man from what I can tell. He transforms junk into wonderful works of art.  I watched his video transforming reclaimed barn wood into a lovely chest. He speeds through the entire process. All the steps and detail, just inspiring. Each side has staggered pieces which when joined together create a nice sturdy corner, everything fit together perfectly. My favorite part, that would generally go unnoticed are the little feet. He tapered them so they aren’t just chunky little bits.

    Other items include wall sconces made from the turn signals from a Volkswagen Beetle. They are not my decorating style, but I love them! I appreciate his vision in creating them. There is no doubt, many more items he has created, and someday I will delve further in, but for now I wanted to share this with you.

    Anything to encourage anyone to reduce, reuse and recycle! Do your part!  <3

     

  • Opening the store

    Recently, I attended a webinar on how to create your own blog/website. Of course, I already have one, but it could sure use some tweaks.

    One of the improvements I have added since then was my storefront, which I believe is quasi-open at the moment. There are products up for sale, yet the portion that accepts payment isn’t complete. Great…

    Well, if anyone reads this bizarre post, please browse around the store and let me know what you think of my offerings. Maybe you will love something that was created with love. Any purchases allow this little gem of a blog keep going. So, many thanks in advance for your support.

  • Dismantling the tree

    Dismantling the tree

    As I mentioned in my February 1, 2017 post, I purchased an artificial Christmas tree in order to make some crafts. After realizing how big the tree was to store, a need to condense the material was realized. Some of the larger branches were left intact to use as is. Most of the branches were deconstructed to make eventual use of them easier.

    Initially, I had used wire cutters to remove a few twigs from the branch. Not liking the sharp ends, I chose to release the twigs from their threaded prison. The first one was horrible, the threads (there are 2 for each branch) would get easily tangled in the needles. My scissors were kept close by! Finally. the end of the branch, and I had a nice pile of twigs ready to be used for my crafts.

    It didn’t take long to realize that I need to start at the very end, the part that would be toward the center trunk.

    OH! That color-coded label is a sticker holding the thread ends to the branch. I may eventually post a video of the process, but until then these pictures of the process may help you.

    Here is one of the small branches. See the yellow tag? That’s how you know where to place it on the tree. It’s also just a sticker holding the threads wrapped around the metal bar.
    To begin deconstruction, tear off the sticker. I imagine all trees are built the same way, therefore they likely all are built by wrapping two threads around each branch.
    As you unravel more and more be sure to not let the threads tangle in the branches, trust me, it gets ugly quick! Hard as I tried, it still occasionally gets caught, just catch it as soon as possible.
    Here, enough has been unraveled that a few twigs are now loose – SUCCESS! Keep going, being careful not to tangle those threads.
    When you are done, you will have a pile of usable material. This small branch yielded 16 twigs, nasty, nylon, grabby thread, and a metal bar. After doing a bunch of these, you will understand my dislike of the thread. 😉

     

    Some branches were left intact to use for larger projects, two were bent to make a display tree for some crafts (pictures to come), the rest have been reduced to a large pile of twigs. <insert evil laugh> There is one remaining branch. In the near future I will unwind that one while making a video to help you see how easy it is. It may have already been done save for the fact that the weekend I spent on the rest of the tree injured my shoulder.  It’s been 3 weeks, it’s almost completely healed. (Pace yourself if you plan to do an entire tree, it didn’t hurt *at all* while I did it.)

    Now it’s time for the real fun! Making your projects using evergreen twigs! Here are some things I have made with them.

     

    Valentine wreath, small ribbon.
    Valentine wreath, small raffia.
    Wire basket on vintage wood board.
    Vertical wreath with large bow and ornaments.
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