Happy March

Well, this first Monday in March I awoke to some SERIOUS lake effect snow!!! It was a surprise to even the meteorologists, apparently. Being near to a huge body of water (very near, like six city blocks) sometimes gives us weird weather anomolies. My mom, who lives about 20 minutes away from me, thought I was kidding when I said we had a foot of snow. She said they had a dusting. Hmmm. If this is winter's last hurrah, I can deal with it. Time will tell if it is or not, though...

In other news, my friend had her baby this weekend!!! She has two wonderful, active, crazy, funny, wild boys and was hoping for a little girl--and that is just what she got!! I have a pretty nasty cold, so I haven't gotten to see her--but I did run out to the car and take a peek when they picked up their boy (who is in my daughter's 4k class, and I brought home with me so they could take their time getting back from the hospital [did I mention a foot of snow?!]) with a scarf over my germy face. She was sleeping like a tiny little angel, what a beautiful little baby!! Can't wait until I am better and can hold her and check her over a little more. I said if I don't get well soon, they'll see my weird face peeking in their windows!

We have continued to work on the house. I put down my craft heat gun and picked up a hardware heat gun and stripped the paint off of the back of our front door so it would match the decorative, original 100+ year molding that my husband painstakinly stripped 9 years ago. As I did it I sang in my head to the people that will someday own this house, "I am making things pretty for you!!!" I wonder if the owners of my next house were doing the same--getting it pretty for ME! What a fun thought!

Although, ahem, I did crack the window--I think my heat gun on this side and the winter air on the other side was a little too much for it to bear. I didn't even think about it until I heard the "crrrrrrrriiiiiiick" and watched the spider cracks race through the window. Darn. Made more work...... (and I still have some work around the doorknob, but I wasn't up for removing that right then! Then the sanding, staining, etc etc!!!)

GUESS WHAT!! My resin is put away! I know you are shocked, I am as well! I still have to finish some pieces, glue on bails, etc. It does feel kinda good. Sort of freeing.

And it gave me time to work on something else! I fooled around with some wire and beads and made myself this business card holder for my craft fairs. It is pretty free form, but I think turned out nicely--it is not too crazy, is it?

Well, as the snow piles up around me, I have thoughts of newness, and accomplishment, thoughts of Spring!! Let's hope Mother Nature catches wind of my thoughts soon, and follows suit!!

Shrinking Some Dinks

Well, Girlie does not have school on Fridays, so today we decided to make some Shrinky Dink ornaments. She is at that stage where she just started drawing people. I find that so charming, and will be glad to have some permanent reminders.

I purchased sheets of shrink plastic, but because I got the clear kind, I had to sand it so the color would stick to the sheets, not to my girlie's hands. This was an event where she was allowed to use my permanent markers, and she was whole-heartedly on board for that. The forbidden fruit!

So she drew 'em, I cut them out and punched a hole in the top with a regular-sized hole punch. Let the shrinking begin! They really get twisted and turned, it is hard to imagine that they will get flat again. Sometimes they need a little extra help with that. Put something flat and heavy on them while they are still hot. I like using a heat gun to shrink them for a little more control.

Viola! Ornaments (well, once we get some string or ribbon through them for hanging). Fun for all. And honestly, despite being an adult, I still get such a kick out of watching them shrink! :-)
There ARE some hazards to permanent markers with a 4-year-old--thank goodness for Mr. Clean magic erasers http://www.mrclean.com/en_US/products/eraser_extra_power.shtml!