The kids....

Finally got them all in one room! Back row, Angela, David, Tara, and in the front row, Nicholas,all my kids. The other two boys are my nephews Victor (left), and Alan (right) those are my brother's boys. I am making this short, I'm not feeling well today. Not sure if I ate too much yesterday, or I am getting what others have had around me! Had a nice day yesterday, how about you? I will stop in tomorow with some crafts I have done this week! Hugs, michelle

Gingerbreads all over the place!

Good morning! Are you all getting ready for Thanksgiving? Are you having dinner at your house? I am. My brother and sister in law and thier two boys will be here with us this year! I'm so glad they are coming! Not sure if my oldest daughter will be here or not, she has issues.....believe me! Nicholas has another cold, poor little guy, and the other two are just fine! Anyway, the gingerbreads! I wanted to share with you my ginger breads I have in my kitchen. Make sure you click on the pics to make them bigger! I made most of them. Let me take you thru the pics. The top one is my corner in my kitchen breakfast nook. I made the little stuffed dolls, I sewed them by hand a while back. I painted the old coffee cup and the hearts I sewed, and the ginger is made of Faster Plaster (anyone remember that stuff?). I used a rice krispes treat mold to make it, then painted it. The candle holder I made too, just a jar with the heart taped off with contact paper, painted, then antiqued. The little dangly leg ginger is a gift, and the plushie is also a gift.

Then next one is a little old chest my husbands grampa made from old crates many, many years ago. I have on this an old lunchbox I painted one time, a little coffe pot I painted, a jar candle holder I made, and little "smooshie" pillow I made, courtesy of Lollychops pattern(visit Lolly from my sidebar!) The candle holder (the gingerbread one laying down)is rom Yankee, and the stuffed ginger is a gift from a good friend. If you squeeze his hand he plays Christmas music, but it's really loud! The raisin candle is from Home Interiors, which is not called that anymore, I forget what it is now.

The next is a shelf above my kitchen nook table. I painted the muffin tin, and the little round face at the bottom, that's a candy tin, and there is a little guy peeking from behind the tea set, that is a wooden one we cut out a while back and I painted him, he's hard to see, I will take a pic of him later, he is really cute! The tea set is a gift from my mom. And there is a recylced jar candle holder I made.










One more. This is just the things hanging from the shelf. I made the two wooden gingers hanging there, and the Welcome star with the berries was bought at at craft show a while back. I was kinda mad about this particular thing, though, because I bought it and a little spindley tree with berries and bows, and something else, can't remember. Anyway, when I got the star home, there was a sticker on the back that said "made in china". I thought it was handmade!!!!! That was the first time I realized that people dont' always make what they sell. They sell things from china at a craft show. I am more careful now. I like it, that is the only reason it is used, but I look at it and get mad about it sometimes! Anyway, those are my kitchen things. There is more, but that's all I have time for today! Take care, have a safe and Happy Thanks giving, whatever you do! Hugs, michelle

Some painted pans.....

Aren't they cute? I got them at a yard sale, so I painted some snowmen on them, and I'm going to put them on a shelf in my kitchen. I had a few more, but sold them at the craft show last weekend. I also worked on a little challenge project for the Papercraft Planet Group I joined. It's Whimsie Doodles. You can visit them from the links on my side bar. Whimsie Doodles are digital stamps, and they are so cute! Go and check them out, they are alot of fun!



I got my bank stuff all straightened out yesterday. The teller said my problems were mild compared to what they'd seen and heard all day! I can't imagine! Then on top of it, I was having trouble with the internet banking, so the girl tells me to delete the cookies, temp. internet files, and all that. So what do you think happened? I lost all my passwords, and my usernames, and spent half the day yesterday and this morning trying to restore or create new ones for the many millions of places I frequent! What a job! I wrote them all down and put them in my room, so if that ever happens again, I will be ready! LOL!You all have a great eveing! Hugs, michelle

A look at some of my Fall Handmades

I am sharing with you a punchneedle turkey coaster I made, from a pattern I got I believe in Create and Decorate, I am pretty sure. The litle wool leaf mat, I just sorta put together my self using a cookie cutter for my pattern. Then there is Spike. He just had to dress up like a pilgrim for the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday. I love how he likes to dress up! Sally is jealous, because she does not have a pilgrim outfit. We will just have to get her one! Anyway, hope you enjoyed me little things. I have a busy day today. Our bank has changed over to a new bank, and so far I'm not liking it. I dont' like how they add deposits and make you wait for 3 business days for it to show up. I am a little worried about a large deposit I made yesterday, because the girl was new and seemed confused. I'm not seeing it on my online banking account, so I am really worried! I'm going to call customer service today, but I have a feeling, I am going to the bank! I wanted to stay home and work on my quilted hot mats I've been working on. Oh well!

Last nite, my little boy and I cleaned his toy corner. I wished I would have taken a pic of what it looked like before. He is a total pack rat, worse than me!!!! His little table was packed solid with the tiniest little pieces of I dont' know what, money, cars, papers, cards, gumball machine prized, old glow sticks and glow bracelets, you name it, it was there! We had these opened top containers for him to put his "special" toys and matchbox cars in. You cannot imagine how many "special" toys he had in those, they were overflowing all over the floor, under the chair, just everywhere. So I bought two huge containers with lids, filled those, threw almost all the crap on the table away, except for actual toys, got all his webkinz in the open topped container, took the table out of that corner, put it behind my couch and put a fall table cloth on that, stacked all neat over in the corner, and it looks so much better. I wish we had more closet space in this house, but we dont', so much of my life is organizing, putting things in places that I can't find it later, we are a little cluttered in this craft/dining/play room. Anyway, I am glad that is done for a bit anyway! You all have a great day! Hugs, Michelle

Craft Show Report......

This is a pic of a canister set I rescued from the trash, I was going to pitch it , and changed my mind. I'm sure I posted it before, but I wanted to share it again. These are the kinds of things I like to do. As far as the Craft Sale I did,
I sold alot of things this time, for a change. The show was quite busy all day! I was so amazed! I think it is all in the timing of these things. I dont'like doing October shows. Everyone around here is busy going to pumpkin patches, homecoming games, fall festivals, Halloween parades and parties. They are too busy doing all that to worry about small craft shows. November and early December have always been good to me! I sold all my painted lite bulb ornaments. I could have sold 50, but I didn't have that many. I sold all my painted flea market finds, the measure cups and all that. I sold all my painted puzzle pieces too. I made some pins, ornaments, and I had some really huge floor puzzle pieces that I painted black, and painted snowmen themes on them, punched holes in top with my Cropodile, and hung them with homespun material ties. People love these things! I had a lady that paints all glass ware, plates and vases, candle holders, ornaments, come over to me and ask me if I would paint for her. What a wonderful comliment, but I declined. You see, I don't want my love of doing these things to become a job! Been there, done that. Some years ago, when my husband and I were cutting all that wood stuff on our scroll saw, and I was painting my rear off, we were in heaven! We sold out every show, and then would sit down in that dirty cellar for hours and hours and cut and sand milk crates full of wooden treasures. I would sit in my dining room for hours and paint and stain and seal. No one painted like I did , because I took no classes, bought no books, just did my thing. My painting background consisting of teaching ceramics classes when I was 16 years old, that was it. I did that till I was 21, then life started for me! Anyway, people began ordering our wood stuff, and it was ok at first, but I didnt' like the push of orders needing to be filled at certain times, people telling me how to paint, trying to change my work too much. So we got burned out, and I quit. Now we can't cut wood, because he works too much, and my kids can't take the dust that comes up thru the vents of the cellar, they have respiratory problems, so till we get a way to do it outside, I am stuck, and I miss it terrible! So when this kind lady asked me to paint for here, while I was flattered, I did have to tell her no, but thank you so much for thinking my work is that good! It is not that great to me, it's very "primitive" to me at times, but "fun" at other times, depends on my mood.

As soon as I can get a chance, I will post some pics of the light bulbs, I am just so busy right now trying to get my house cleaned again for the month! Soon it will be Christmas shopping time, and I will never get anything done! Thanks for reading all this, I appreciate it! Have a great evening! And to all who do stop by my little corner here, thank you! It means much! Hugs, michelle

Working on some things.....

I made a bunch of salt dough onrnaments and little cookie type ornaments. I dipped them in an old almond biscottie candle and sprinkled cinnamon and cloves on them. I have some plans for them, so I hope I will get them done for the craft show Saturday.

The kids are off school today for Election Day. I have to work at 2 today, and we probably won't be busy. I hope not, I am tired today! Well, back to cooking my dinner so I can get going soon! Have a great day, hugs, michelle

It's Monday....already!

Good November 2nd already morning! Where did the month of October go???? Sally wonders too! She also wonders why we always put something on her for the holiday! She did not like her kerchief we bought her, cant' you tell? She also did not like the trick or treaters banging on the door! She's a little spitfire! The picture of the kids did not turn out so great. I had to grab them before they went flying out the door, and the "witches" did not have thier hats on either! The one with the mask is sick Nick. He did not go out to get candy, but my son's girlfriend, got him candy from the neighbors.

Now, what is this mess? I'll tell you later. I'm not done yet. I sure do have a messy table, but I work better that way! I love having my paint water in my way, so I can spill it while reaching for my coffee! It just works for me! I'll hopefully show you tomorow what I a made with these. I will tell you this much, they are salt dough ornaments. Hugs, michelle

I won some blog candy!

Would you not know it, my cameral is out of batteries! I won a wonderful book from Lynette Anderson over at Woolensails blog! I recieved it yesterday, and finally got a chance to sit down and take a good long look at it! It is a great book! It is her new release. I am planning on the punchneedle in the book, which is really nice! The book is called "A Gathering of Crows". Visit Woolensails blog (on my sidebar) and then visit Lynettes blog soon! I thank them both for the chance to win the sweet book! Hugs, michelle

Good Morning and did you.....

Remember to set your clocks back? I did not........Hugs, michelle