Month: April 2021

#AtoZChallenge | Kindergarten crafts and recreating my daughter’s paper peony flower

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The volume of art projects that my girls brought home in the Kindergarten years was prolific. I saved many of them but couldn’t keep up with the onslaught so ultimately I starting filling a suitcase with the most memorable pieces. I kept one suitcase for each of my girls and continued to add art pieces and other projects throughout their school years. It came in handy when my oldest graduate from Art School. I was able to put together a retrospective of her art work through the years starting in preschool.

Every now and then I’d find a way to incorporate their art projects into our home décor. In preschool my youngest daughter made a handprint wreath that I continue to display at Christmas every year. And, in Kindergarten she came home with a large tissue paper flower.

I displayed it for many years in a large glass water jug filled with loose change. It made the perfect makeshift vase. The paper flower added a little pop of color and happiness. I love a good pop of color. The flower was there so long that when it finally deteriorated and had to be thrown out the jug didn’t look right. Something was missing.

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#AtoZChallenge | Jazzy art deco labels for my husband’s homemade shrubs

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Early in the pandemic, one of our home projects was putting up a bar. I promise the bar was unrelated to the pandemic. It was a long overdue project. We had been storing our liquor bottles on top of a tall bookcase in our living room. It wasn’t a great aesthetic and it was awkward to get the bottles up and down from that spot. 

After looking at various pieces of furniture we went in a different direction. I saw some shelves at Ballard Design that were the perfect fit for the space I was trying to transform into our bar area. 

Of course, being me, I did some custom modifications. I wanted to be able to store glassware and wine bottles too. I found some under the cabinet wine glass holders that fit the bottom of the shelves perfectly. I spray painted them gold to match the shelves. Since the shelves are metal and do not have a solid base, I couldn’t just screw the holders easily onto the bottom. After copious amounts of gorilla glue, I attached a wooden piece inside the metal base to provide a solid surface. I also pre-drilled holes around the outside metal edge and between those two modifications was able to securely attach my wine glass holder to the base of my shelves. 

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#AtoZChallenge | Inspirational mason jar filled with my post pandemic bucket list

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COVID-19 is taking a toll on all of us. I was reading an article about shared trauma. We’re all going through it. I truly believe it too. I read something online which I am paraphrasing liberally that said we’re all operating at about 90% capacity. I’d expand on that to say some days that number is lower although occasionally we get closer to our pre-pandemic levels.

Fortunately, it will come to an end someday, hopefully soon. Maine recently updated their vaccination scheduled and my husband and I got our first shots last week. While it doesn’t mean the pandemic is over, it feels like progress and movement towards the end of this shared nightmare. When that happens I’ll be ready to jump back in to all the things I’ve been missing for the last year. It’s a long list.

I wanted a colorful visual representation of things to come to help me weather the monotony, constant anxiety and Groundhog Day drudgery of COVID-19.

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#AtoZChallenge | Hand support with a little frozen rice and patience

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I thought I was developing arthritis in my hands. I had some numbness and general low level achiness. After a trip to my doctor, it turns out the likely culprit is carpel tunnel. There’s a family history so not surprising. What was surprising is that I didn’t think of it first.

While surgery may be in my future, I decided to try some short term treatments including making a hand support to use when typing on my computer and laptop.

When my husband brought back the large bag of white rice from the grocery store, I immediately put it in the freezer. In researching this project, I learned more than I wanted to about the potential for bug eggs in my rice. After one week in the freezer, I was hoping to say goodbye to any little critters that might be lurking.

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#AtoZChallenge | Glass etching to make my newly minted 21 year old some one of a kind wine glasses

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My love of crafting has prompted me to take dozens of art classes through the years. I have a vague recollection of trying glass etching during one of those sessions. It was a quick lesson and probably part of broader class covering other techniques too. The only reason I even remember was because with little idea as to what I wanted to create I ended up making a simple ornament design on a stemless wine glass and I bring it out every Christmas. Otherwise, I think I’d have completely forgotten I even took the class.

What I do remember, is that the etching process itself was extremely easy. It was picking and executing the perfect design that was the hard part. For this second round of glass etching, I had a much clearer idea of what I wanted for a design. My youngest daughter turned twenty one this past November and is enjoying drinking more adult beverages these days. She went back to school with wine bottles in tow but no glasses and no cork screw. While she’s on her own with the cork screw, I had a plan to create some memorable wine glasses for her.

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