Holiday decorating

Okay, okay, I know it is not yet Thanksgiving and holiday decorating should not be started before that day but I will be out of town (actually out of the country) during the Thanksgiving week. Add that in with the fact that this holiday decorating is for the competitive library department holiday decorating has a compressed my timeline. Which means that I had to get on it right now.

Yes, I know that I have staff that can do the decorating and they will do most of the manual work (the whip will be cracked, meh probably not) but my staff is not very creative. They have other gifts and skills that I will never have so I will be in charge of aesthetics.

A trip to the thrift stores in our little town netted me 4 little fake Christmas trees and some mardi gras beads ($10, you can't beat that considering the long term use I'll get out of them). 

I also got online to one of my favorite digital library websites, American Memory, to find some WPA posters. Which I asked one of my staff members to print up on our large plotter printer. They look very cool.

We are going with a winter wonderland theme. Trying to keep in secular, you know since I firmly believe in the whole separation of church and state thing.

This week I'll head to my local store for some fake snow and some fishing line to hang the snow flakes we will cut out of maps that we had scheduled for destruction.

I'm going for thrifty charming. I'm hoping it doesn't look trailer trash charming. Trust me that's a thing. And, it's not good.

Stay groovy,
M

Weekend Christmasifing

We sent the weekend putting a little touch of Christmas to the house this weekend. I'm not near done yet but lets review what we have gotten done. Or more to the point, let's just walk through our weekend.

Saturday:
We did all of our weekly shopping. Every week I vow not to take JR with me and every week I forget that vow. Every week I spend too much money. See the correlation? 

We went to get our Christmas tree and a couple of bags of greenery trimmings. The tree cost us money, the greenery trimmings were free. One of these days I need to figure out how to make a tree out of the greenery trimmings. I used the greenery trimmings to do up our mantel.

I started decorating the mantel.

 

I finished up with it on Sunday morning. I'm pretty happy with the results. 

JR hung the outside lights.  The weather was really hot (over 80 degrees) and humid so we didn't work real hard.

Later in the day we went to a holiday party. The party was in a neighborhood called The Heights. Every year this neighborhood gets together to do something they call "Lights in the Heights". Most if not all of the owners decorate their houses for Christmas. It is pretty over the top. I took just a couple of photos. 

Of course, some owners went all decorator and elegant with their displays but those were not the ones that interested me the most. We didn't stay late when all the real action starts; lots of people walking the streets looking at the lights, carolers on the porches, bands playing, private and public parties, etc.

Sunday

In the morning I made Eggs Florentine for breakfast.
Layers from bottom to top
toasted roasted garlic & Italian seasoned ciabatta bread (this was leftover form the night before.)
Fresh tomato slices
Spinach (I thawed some frozen spinach, squeezed out the water then heaped it on top)
poached eggs
Ina Garten hollandaise sauce (have you ever tried this stuff? It is amazing. I could drink my weight in this stuff. And it is dead on easy to make. I make a double batch and use it like mayonnaise in things like spinach dip, gravies and as a sandwich spread. She makes it in a blender but since the glass container part of my blander broke I made it with my handheld blender. Worked just as well.)

I made a batch of home fries with this that were very good. All and all this was a fattening and filling breakfast that last us all day.

We decorated our tree. Let me rephrase that, I decorated our tree. JR alternately watched me decorate the tree and watched football. It is his Sunday thing.

Watched A Muppets Christmas Carol, ate homemade pizza (FYI, I make terrific pizza), played with the dog, went to bed. Wow! We are incredibly boring.

So what was your weekend like? Are you ready for Christmas?

Peace out,
M

How to make garland

I mentioned a week or so ago that I would re-post my garland making technique. I did this post in 2009 and I haven't really changed the way I do it. In fact, I'll be sitting down this weekend to whip out 30 or 40 feet of this stuff for my mantel, stair railing and front door. I'll also be making 2 or 3 sizes of wreaths for above the fireplace, on the front door, and for the dining room bay window. All count I will make 5 wreaths minimum but since I've become the wreath master they shouldn't take near as long as 40 feet of garland. I'll post next week on how I make wreaths out of coat hangers.

Here is the post with my beloved Tripper who died last year at this time. I titled it a Meatless Monday recipe.

A Recipe for Garland - Meatless Monday


I realize that some people think that vegetarians eat nothing but leaves and twigs but no I'm not going to make you eat the pine boughs.

See a recipe doesn't have to be about food. According to Dictionary.com a recipe is:

rec⋅i⋅pe 

–noun

1.	a set of instructions for making or preparing something, esp. a food dish: a recipe for a cake.

2.	a medical prescription.

3.	a method to attain a desired end: a recipe for success.

See, instructions for making something. And, the something I'm going to show you how to make is garland. I made 30 feet of garland for our staircase, mantel, and gallery railing this weekend. This is a fun, cheap and easy project.

I made all my garland out of a shopping buggy full of cuttings from Home Depot and a package of garden twist ties. The cuttings were free and the twist ties cost all of about $2. If bread bags still came with twist ties or I would have had enough foresight to collect them, this would have been a free project.

Get your stuff together.
You'll need:
a pair of clippers, a tape measure, a pile of clippings, twist ties or flexible wire, and someplace to sit.
A dog friend helps.
The tree clipping are the parts that are cut off from the Christmas tree that they sell. Sometime people don't quite want the tree as high as it is so the store cuts it off and tosses it away.
Think of this as recycling.

Big pieces.

You'll need to cut your cuttings into big pieces and small pieces depending on the clipping.
See what you can get out of each one.
You should get some of each.

Small pieces.

The trees that places like Home Depot sells have been sheared.
This makes it so that there will be lots of pieces that are forked like the one above.
You'll need to place short pieces on top to fill it out.

This is my beginning piece.
I used it because it was fluffy on top
and long and thick on the bottom.

Put a couple of cuttings together.
Over lap them so that one is not matched up.
The tail of the top piece should stick beyond tail of the bottom piece.
You are going to take the third piece and lay it over the second piece then tie them together.
You know, make a rope type thing.
Put a twist tie over top of the cuttings leaving a tail on the underside.
Wrap around as many times as you can leaving as much of an ending tail as you need to tie the beginning tail to the ending tail.

It will look like this on the underside.
Continue overlapping, wrapping and tying until you get the length that you need.
If you want it fluffier just keep adding to the same place until you get it the way you want it.
Don't make it too long. I'd say 80 inches is the longest if you have a friend to help you hang it. 50 inches if it is just you.

Tie onto your banister with the twist ties or lay across your mantel.

Decorate.

Now that's a holiday recipe that won't make you fat.

I'm calling this my recipe spin for the week. According to Jen we were to find our favorite holiday treat. This is a holiday treat that isn't any more difficult than making a batch of cookies or candy, lasts longer and won't add to the waistline. And it's meatless and good for the environment. (yeah, it counts. Doesn't it Joey?). What a nice way to reuse and recycle.


I hope you all enjoy this recipe.

Love,
M

Productivity over the Turkey-day Weekend

We were really productive over the long weekend. It was like we had all the time in the world so let's just slap it into submission. The list of our weekend accomplishments is amazing and it is little wonder that JR is snoring away at 6:40 tonight.

Here's the play by play,

Thursday:
*cooked like a mad woman. I know I said I wasn't going to work that hard but it seems I can't help myself. Though I have to say that our dinner was wonderful. Roasting your vegetables just to make stock for the gravy was the best idea ever. I'll be repeating this for other holidays. And, it makes a ton so I have it frozen for future use.

*JR tried to replace a bulb in the truck headlight but was totally defeated. They just don't make vehicles that an owner can really work on for themselves. It is a sad fact.

*We cleaned the garage out. There are only 3 more boxes that need to be gone through and put away from the move but now the garage is clean enough to get the car in. Of course, it is a two car garage but we are not going to let a silly thing like one whole side of the garage stuffed with boxes deny us a sense of accomplishment.

Friday
*JR had to go to work. I met a coworker at the local Goodwill for a little thrifting. Then we went to Micheal's Craft store for work related holiday decorations. We scored big.

*We made this

That is two boxes of 18 candy canes glued to a very narrow vase. I think it is adorable.

*Later on in the day we decided that we just had to go to Hobby Lobby for more crafty stuff. We didn't find anything for the work holiday party but we did come up with these:

Little jewel colored hanging pots. I love the way they glow when the sun shines in. I saw some really pretty bottles in the same jeweled tones. I'm thinking of going all the way over the top and hanging them here also. You know, because more is more.

*We ate leftovers and all was right with the world.

Saturday
*I made tomato bruschetta topping, herb goat cheese spread and another batch of mushroom pate. I had to make another batch because my friend and I polished off the first batch. We had friends coming over in the evening so I wanted to be prepared.

* JR sanded and painted an old bench.

*We did all our food shopping.
*I hung the little pots.That was actually a little harder than it looks. I had to come up with something fun. Turns out some old beaded curtains came to the rescue. Sometimes it pays to be a pack rat hippy.
*JR tried again (unsuccessfully) to put in the headlight lamp.
*I installed a magnetic knife holder and under-counter light both of which I had been hauling from place to place. So make that pack rat hippy handy-woman.

Do you have one of these magnetic knife holders? No? Go get one ASAP, unless you have bloodthirsty children then I would wait until they go to college.
*Then we cleaned a little because we had friends coming over and the place was kind of a mess by this time.
*I made a Christmas present for Dr. Boy. Since, he reads my blog occasionally I can't show it to you but it is terrific. Now, I want to make some for myself.  Make that pack rat hippy handy-woman crafter.

Sunday

*We cleaned up from having friends over because by the time they left it was all we could do but go to bed.
*We gave Nessa a bath and trimmed her up a little.

Doesn't she look gorgeous? And, she is so soft.

*JR stared at the truck headlight in frustration. Then opened the hood and stared and fiddled in frustration. I'm pretty sure there was some swearing. He was once again unsuccessful.
*I finish one painting, started a commissioned painting and got a good deal of this one done for Dr. Boy. I had been promising to him for forever. The next month will be taken up with painting, painting and more painting.

I've got a bit more to go on it but I think it is looking pretty hawt! I've never painted in just shades of gray before. It is interesting and edgy. I love edgy.

Well, I think that is about it. We were in bed by 8pm which is an example of what we got done and our age.

How was your weekend?

Peace and love and off to the dealership,
M
the pack rat hippy handy-woman crafty painter

Wine Cork Ornaments - A How -To

Remember how last week I was all embarrassed about the inappropriate number of wine corks I had accumulated in the last several years? 

I KNOW!  

It's sad.

Don't be afraid of the staring sea lion in this box.

I realize that most people don't have a bin o'wine corks like I do. I'm pretty sure that this is some sort of disorder that the psychological community will want to study. Something like; winecorkarecyclingaphobia. I've only got one thing to say to them; "bring it on".

You can buy new wine corks at craft stores or wine/beer making shops. I bet you could order them online also. I wouldn't really know. I come by my corks through hard work. :)

Well, a friend of mine saw that post and sent me some photos of a useful way I could use all these corks as:

Christmas ornaments.

Now, this is a great idea for several reasons.

1. I can hide my wine cork problem

2. Free gifts

3. Allows me to get my crafty hat on. (it is a very attractive crafty hat)

Upon which I thought AWESOME! Then I thought; I could do that. Then I thought; I don't even have to go to the craft store. 

I grabbed my craft boxes (yes, I am so organizationally anal that I have a box just for craft supplies. In that box is smaller boxes. jars, and zip-top bags that contain like items then sorted within the bags, jars & boxes, within the big box, etc.)

Picked out of my massive amount of wine 

corks a few likely victims.

Located my bag of beads. What? You don't have a bag of beads?

Riffled through my cache of old costume jewelry for dangly stuff. My MIL owned an amazing amount of gaudy jewelry. God bless her! She must have known that I would need all of it much later.

Gave a little thought to the mechanics of string through cork transfer. I decided on a large needle.

I threaded the needle with some heavy fishing line with the thought that I would just stab the needle through the cork and voila it would be more than half way done. 

This seemed like a sensible idea. 

Yeah, right!

Until things got a little sticky (pun intended)

Maybe beating the needle with a hammer would be a good idea.

Meh, not so much.

Figured out that I screwed up.

Then rethought the plan.

A large straightened paperclip was employed as a threading device.

 Success!!

Basic Directions

1. gather stuff - large paperclip (straightened with a small loop bent on one end.), beads, something a little bigger and heavier than the beads to hang on the end, thin wire or heavy fishing line, needle-nosed pliers.

2. Thread about 8 inches of wire through loop in paperclip. 

3. Using the pliers push the paperclip through the wine cork. It is very helpful if the wine cork has that hole from the cork screw. Leave about equal amounts of wire on either side of the cork. 

4. Thread beads onto one end, tie on heavy piece. Trim excess wire. Push the beads and corks as close to the heavy piece as you can. 

5. Thread a few more beads onto the other side of the cork. Fashion a loop at this end of the ornament.

 I'm so happy with the way these turned out that I will be taking these with me to Seattle as hostess gifts.

I think this would be a fun activity for a holiday party. Everyone could than take home a little something that they made to remember the event. It could also be done on Christmas eve or Christmas day during that lull in the holiday celebrations between opening the gifts and eating dinner.

Have a happy holidays everyone

Love,

M

A Recipe for Garland - Meatless Monday

I realize that some people think that vegetarians eat nothing but leaves and twigs but no I'm not going to make you eat the pine boughs.

See a recipe doesn't have to be about food. According to Dictionary.com a recipe is:

rec⋅i⋅pe 

–noun

1.	a set of instructions for making or preparing something, esp. a food dish: a recipe for a cake.

2.	a medical prescription.

3.	a method to attain a desired end: a recipe for success.

See, instructions for making something. And, the something I'm going to show you how to make is garland. I made 30 feet of garland for our staircase, mantel, and gallery railing this weekend. This is a fun, cheap and easy project.

I made all my garland out of a shopping buggy full of cuttings from Home Depot and a package of garden twist ties. The cuttings were free and the twist ties cost all of about $2. If bread bags still came with twist ties or I would have had enough foresight to collect them, this would have been a free project.

Get your stuff together.
You'll need:
a pair of clippers, a tape measure, a pile of clippings, twist ties or flexible wire, and someplace to sit.
A dog friend helps.
The tree clipping are the parts that are cut off from the Christmas tree that they sell. Sometime people don't quite want the tree as high as it is so the store cuts it off and tosses it away.
Think of this as recycling.

Big pieces.

You'll need to cut your cuttings into big pieces and small pieces depending on the clipping.
See what you can get out of each one.
You should get some of each.

Small pieces.

The trees that places like Home Depot sells have been sheared.
This makes it so that there will be lots of pieces that are forked like the one above.
You'll need to place short pieces on top to fill it out.

This is my beginning piece.
I used it because it was fluffy on top
and long and thick on the bottom.

Put a couple of cuttings together.
Over lap them so that one is not matched up.
The tail of the top piece should stick beyond tail of the bottom piece.
You are going to take the third piece and lay it over the second piece then tie them together.
You know, make a rope type thing.
Put a twist tie over top of the cuttings leaving a tail on the underside.
Wrap around as many times as you can leaving as much of an ending tail as you need to tie the beginning tail to the ending tail.

It will look like this on the underside.
Continue overlapping, wrapping and tying until you get the length that you need.
If you want it fluffier just keep adding to the same place until you get it the way you want it.
Don't make it too long. I'd say 80 inches is the longest if you have a friend to help you hang it. 50 inches if it is just you.

Tie onto your banister with the twist ties or lay across your mantel.

Decorate.

Now that's a holiday recipe that won't make you fat.

I'm calling this my recipe spin for the week. According to Jen we were to find our favorite holiday treat. This is a holiday treat that isn't any more difficult than making a batch of cookies or candy, lasts longer and won't add to the waistline. And it's meatless and good for the environment. (yeah, it counts. Doesn't it Joey?). What a nice way to reuse and recycle.


I hope you all enjoy this recipe.

Love,
M