Celebrate Celebrate Celebrate > Be Mine

This post was supposed to be about making this Valentines Banner, incorporating a lot of sparkly stuff that I love.  

But . . . making this banner made me think about my "Be Mine."  Now I want to write about my favorite Valentine, my husband!   


Reasons why I cherish my husband and why I know he cherishes me:

• He lets me ride in the front of his truck and not in the back in a cage.

www.nikkicrumpet.blogspot.com

• He carries all the heavy loads.

www.nikkicrumpet.blogspot.com

• He loves me more than his bike, boat, truck, etc. and would rather sleep with me than the fore mentioned items!

www.nikkicrumpet.blogspot.com

Ladies, cherish those husbands and let you favorite guy know how much you love and appreciate him. - unless one of those pics are of you then I would just ignore Valentine's Day!  


Okay, back to your regular sponsored program - the "Be Mine" Banner.  First up - it's "Be Mine" because I was too lazy to make "Be My Valentine" or "Happy Valentine's Day!"

Have you seen those cool ads for Sherwin Williams Paint in Better Homes and Gardens, where they've made a cake out of their paint chip cards?  I see those and I think they're saying to me, "Come get some of these cards and use them to make something."  I'm sure that's what they're saying sooooo, that's what I did.  

My Valentine banner is made from Glidden "Candy Apple" paint card, ric rac, book pages, glitter, and sparkly letters and hearts that I picked up last year at Walmart for 99 cents.  There you have it - easy and almost free to make!


-Laurie

Frock Me Friday > Lucky Red

Is there a better way to start Friday off than by gazing at some fashion?  Monday was Chinese New Years and I'm all about wearing some of that lucky "Red." I'm really not the kind of person to wear all red, although I've rocked a pair of red jeans back in the day.  I should have hung on to them because, wouldn't you know it, they are back in style this year (and I'm exactly the same size now as I was then...haha, *sob*)!  Now, I'm a bit more conservative and I like my red in smaller doses.  If you're shopping on Polyvore you can put together any number of crazy expensive outfits while sitting in your cozy little home, never having to bankrupt yourself for fashion.  I love it!


Outfit #1 

I do love those red booties.  Remember in the movie, "In Her Shoes", where she has that closet full of gorgeous shoes she never wears because just looking at them makes her feel good - having these booties in my closet would make me feel aahmazing!


Outfit #2

Check out the purse above - that was in my Polyvore wardrobe a couple of weeks ago.  The earrings you will be seeing again in the next outfit.  


Outfit #3

The red flats were already in my Polyvore Wardrobe from a couple of weeks ago.


Outfit #4

There are those red flats, black handbag and red earrings again!!!


My Polyvore Wardrobe is like my actual wardrobe - I'm trying to build on things I already have! If you take a closer look you'll see that most people already have a lot of those items in their closet.  Everyone has a basic black turtleneck, several pairs of jeans, black handbag (if you are me you have a red handbag also) and you probably even have that pair of gray slacks.  We all know that we have handbags of every color in our closets.  And I don't know about you, but I have enough coats to keep everyone in a small nation warm.  


Ladies, go assess your closet and what the heck, start your weekend off early and do a little shopping for some red.


- Laurie

Celebrate Celebrate Celebrate > Be Mine, Valentine - Part 2

Okay my little cupids, here are the photos of my DIY school Valentine's Day cards that I promised you yesterday. Finally! 

My laptop lives another day, but looking at these photos you might notice that my camera (or camera skills) have seen better days, but here they are!


This one is my playing card themed Valentine:

It's cute message reads, "King Cole commands you a happy Valentines day!"

Here's the inside:

I put a couple of minis in a cello bag and then stapled the tops together.

The next one I did was a pirate themed Valentine:

I used chocolate coins as my "treasure"

Last but not least is my "Fish in the Sea", themed Valentine:

It reads, "Of all the fish in the sea, thanks for being a friend to me!"

I finished it off with some gummy fish and sharks in a vase shaped cello bag.

Thanks for being patient! Now I have to go and try to distract myself from all this Valentines candy laying around...

~Angela

Celebrate, Celebrate, Celebrate > Be Mine, Valentine!

Love is in the air! Well "something" is in the air over here.  Love at my house must smell like bacon and boy feet...

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I've started thinking about the dreaded "school Valentines" dilemma. I love a holiday that revolves around the color red and any excuse to eat candy (oh yea, yea, and love), but picking out school Valentines is like a supreme court deliberation. Oh. The. Pressure.

I usually trudge around store to store, hunting around for the best deal for 90 Valentines (Yes, I said 90!) , and looking for a Valentine that does not violate the "boy code" of Valentine giving. There is a detailed list of criteria for school Valentines for boys that rivals NASA's liftoff check list:

• There can be no mention of "love" or "kisses" or "hugs", because that is so "ewwwww!" and you will be witness to a full fledged freak out of, "This one says love! I can't say love to my friend Cameron!  Moooom!"
• There can be no "girl" stuff on them.
• No pencils or erasers, or anything else that doesn't involve a piece of candy.
• Has to have some kind of candy directly attached - and it has to be the "good" kind of candy.  No peppermints, sweeties or tootsie rolls. No recycling of the dredges of your Halloween candy (darn)!!
• It has to incorporate something "cool" or "funny" like fire, superheros, crossbones, four wheelers, ninjas, burps, or any other things that would impress a 7- 11 year old boy, and maybe one or two girls.

Why don't I let them pick out their own, you ask? I tried that once and lets just say, that we would probably still be standing in the Valentine aisle from last year, and someone left the store in tears - it wasn't the kids.

So I got ahead of the school Valentines game and made some great valentines that everyone will love, including your picky kids:

TA DA!

What? You can't see them?! Oh, that's right, that's because my computer is a hunk of junk and won't read the disk that have these awesomely cool Valentines pictures on them. ARHGGG! So while I curse at my laptop and try to repost them, here are some great ideas other fabulous gals came up with:

Plumadorable  (Free printable!)

Fiskars

Fiskars

Zakka Life (Free printable)

Check back later for pictures of my ideas - or pictures of my computer in the garbage, whichever comes first.

~Angela

Celebrate, Celebrate, Celebrate > Chinese New Year

Happy New Year's - that's Chinese New Years to you.  


If you didn't know, today is Chinese New Years and the Year of the Dragon.  I like any reason to celebrate and Chinese New Years offers some unique opportunities.  






Reasons why I like Chinese New Years:




Clean House:  You know what they say about a great way to get your house in order is to have a party.  Well, Chinese New Year takes care of this because traditionally before the new year, homes are thoroughly cleaned to sweep away ill fortune and to welcome good luck.  I understand this because a messy house seems like ill fortune and when my house is clean anything seems possible.


Buy new clothing:  Any celebration where buying new clothes is involved is okay with me!!!  New clothing symbolizes a new beginning, and having more than enough things to use and wear in the New Year.  Also red clothing is often worn because the color red is believed to scare away evil spirits and bad fortune.  

New Clothes + Red = Good Fortune 

Family Gathering:  Celebrating with family, again for the same reason I have a get together on New Year's Day - I want to begin the year the same way I mean to continue - surrounded with family and friends.


Gifts:  Gifts are usually brought when visiting friends or relatives at their homes.  Yep, that's right, come and visit me and bring me a little gift - 'cause I like gifts.


Fireworks:  I like fireworks (just ask my neighbors.)  Enough said about that!


Have a little dinner party to celebrate.  I'm going to give you my recipe for Chinese Chicken Stew.  I don't know where this recipe came from as I've had it for years.

CHINESE CHICKEN STEW 

2 lbs. boneless skinless               2 cans chicken broth
   chicken                                       2 TBL cornstarch

2 tsp five spice powder               2 red bell peppers,

1 tsp red pepper flakes                  coarsely chopped

2 TBL peanut oil                         4 TBL soy sauce

2 onions, coarsely chopped         2 TBL sesame oil

16 oz. mushrooms, sliced            4 green onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced                Cooked rice

 

Toss chicken with five spice powder.  Season with red pepper flakes.  Heat peanut oil in large skillet.  Add chicken, cook and stir till chicken is brown and almost completely cooked.  Add onion, green pepper and garlic, saute till chicken is completely cooked.  Add chicken broth (reserving 1/4 c. broth for thickening), mushrooms, and soy sauce, simmer for about 40 minutes.  

Mix chicken broth and cornstarch together.  Stir in cornstarch mixture, sesame oil and green onions; cook another 10 minutes or so until stew is a nice thick consistency.

Serve over rice.

Now for the disclaimer:  I kind of think recipes are like a rough outline and you can use some or all of it.

Don't like mushrooms - don't add them.  

Red Peppers -I'm using the mini sweet peppers because that's what I have.  I've used green peppers before also.

Red Pepper Flakes - I've been known to use 2 tsp. red pepper flakes because I like this a little spicy.  

Chicken - I usually use 3 lbs of chicken. 

Peanut oil - If I don't have it, I use olive oil.

There you have it! 

For dessert, I made fun Fortune cookies.  I dipped them in Almond Bark and then dipped in sprinkles.  You can't go wrong with sprinkles and a fortune!

Now I'm off shopping so I can start the Chinese New Year with new clothing.

-Laurie

Frock Me Friday > 2012 Fashion Trends

Now that 2012 is steadily rolling down the track, all the designers are pumping out all of their new spring looks. Today on Frock Me Friday, we are going take a look at some of the fashion trends for 2012.

Did I lose some of you with the word "designer"? What, you can't relate to people that make a $3000 jacket out of Karl Lagerfield's belly button lint? You can't envision yourself wearing the same outfit that a model who considers her saliva lunch, wears on the runway? You don't think you can pull off "military zombie" makeup on date night?! Yes you can!

Designer fashion is alot like that girl you knew (or were) in high school. You know, the one that was really outspoken and wild; pushed all the limits with her skirt lengths, life choices, and crazy things she said. The girl that seemed to have cornered the market on Wet n Wild lip liner, black eyeshadow, and boyfriends. Or anyone that wore a feathered skirt, baby doll socks, lumberjack hat, or safety pin jacket. Fashion designers are that girl! Underneath all that, "Look at me!!", what they're really saying is: "Look at me and like me, 'cause I'm just using this pointy cone bra that I'm wearing, to get you to notice me". You did notice and probably envied how brave and cool they seemed, but knew that there was no way in heck you were going to walk around with cone boobs...It's all about interpretation my lovelies, and anyone can pull off any high- end fashion look and make it work for you!

Here's the good news ladies: 2012 is looking chock full of bright color, feminine prints, and romantic lace. It's the year of the girl!  Here are a few great fashion trends for 2012 that any, better- than- average gal (yes that's you!) can wear this year:

Electric Blues:

2012 blues by glossyflossy featuring embellished dresses

Romantic Lace:

Romantic Lace by glossyflossy featuring a lace coat

Feminine Prints:

Feminine Prints by glossyflossy featuring a pleated skirt


Remember to pick and choose easy pieces that work for your style. Happy Shopping!

~Angela

I Need Minions > Get Out Of My House Continued

I bet you're wondering who's Fred and what does that have to do with getting things out of my house?  Maybe I want Fred out of my house!  No, not really.  






I've been on a "GO" roll.  Things I've "GOed" out of my house:

• Cranberries 
• Candy Canes
• Pumpkin - Had big dreams of using this at Christmas - but as usual my "I Want To Do" list was bigger than the actual number of hours in the day.  Anybody else have that problem?

Now for the results:
*Cranberries:  I made Pioneer Woman's wonderful Pork Loin with homemade cranberry sauce.  First time I've ever cooked cranberries myself. Yup, that's right I'm a cranberry cooking virgin!  I blame that on my Mama because she always makes cranberries and gives me some of hers.
*Candy Canes:  Like everyone else in America I made heart suckers.
*Pumpkin:  I made dog treats for all my kids' dogs.

Fred

Everyone (except us) has dogs (all are rescued dogs.)  I wanted to make dog treats for Christmas but I ran out of time so those dog treats are now Valentine Treats.  These treats were made with pumpkin because it supposedly is good for a dog's digestion, and rice flour because some dogs are allergic to wheat.  Okay, that is someone else's blog saying that - not me.  These dogs come over to my house, eat stuff off the floor and sometimes I look outside and one of them will be eating something that they have found.  I'm pretty sure I don't want to know what that something might be.  I do want to be a good Grandma to these dogs so I made them healthy treats.  

Cleo’s Pumpkin Dog Biscuits

2 eggs
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons dry milk
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 1/2 cups brown rice flour 
1 teaspoon dried parsley (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.

In large bowl, whisk together eggs and pumpkin to smooth. Stir in dry milk, sea salt, and dried parsley (if using, optional). Add brown rice flour gradually, combining with spatula or hands to form a stiff, dry dough. Turn out onto lightly floured surface (can use the brown rice flour) and if dough is still rough, briefly knead and press to combine.

Roll dough between 1/4 – 1/2″ – depending on your dog’s chew preferences, ask first – and use biscuit or other shape cutter to punch shapes, gathering and re-rolling scraps as you go. Place shapes on cookie sheet, no greasing or paper necessary. If desired, press fork pattern on biscuits before baking, a quick up-and-down movement with fork, lightly pressing down halfway through dough. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully turn biscuits over, then bake additional 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely on rack.

Note:  I added more pumpkin so I could work in all the flour.  I also used white rice flour instead of the brown as that was what I had. The recipe came from Simmer Till Done.


I just realized that I make sugary, white flour treats for my Grandkids all the time.  Guess who got all those heart suckers?  Does that make me a bad Grandma?


-Laurie

Things Will Go Wrong > A Storm's A - Comin!

Here in the Pacific Northwest we are expecting our first major snow of the year - up to 8"! I hear your snarky laughing, Montana girls, but for us that is some major winter activity.

This forecast is giving me anxiety for the following reasons:

• I'm allergic to the snow shovel. It's true. I break out in hives...
• There's going to be a snow day. The kids have spent more days at home in the last 30, than in school.  My grocery bill is killing me and if I have to play another game of Uno, I'm gonna run away el' uno.
• It's been cold, cold, cold, and Winter is giving me a bad case of cabin fever. I love my house but I don't want to be there 24/7. I'd rather be out helping with the search party for the sun...or shopping. Yea, shopping.
• Several of my friends are slowly torturing me with sunny pictures from Disneyland and Disney World. Seriously, girls, have some compassion for those of us who are slowly freezing  to death when you are Facebooking. Sheesh! Okay, maybe that was a little melodramatic...
• I love to snow sled but I hate snowpants almost as much as I hate swimsuits. One year I tried to get away with just wearing dark pants and that ended with horrified children because I looked like I had peed myself...  Maybe I had, some of those Carmichael runs are white knucklers!

So in an effort to save my sanity here are a few snow day activities that are fun for kids AND their mamas, or any of you ladies who are stuck inside:

• Play in the mud:



Okay, not this kind of mud. Even that cow is thinking, "Ewwww!". I'm talking a fun, chocolate, mud mask facial for Moms and kids. Yes, I said chocolate.

Chocolate Facial Mask:

1/3 c. Cocoa powder

3 T. Heavy cream

2 t. Cottage cheese

1/4 c. Honey

3 t. Oatmeal

~Mix well using a small blender. Smooth onto face. Relax for 10 minutes and then rinse.

Or eat it. Whichever...This could be a fun kitchen activity and snack all in one, and everyone gets soft, yummy smelling, skin. Yay, everyone wins!

• Christmas Card Recycling. I'm sure a lot of you have Christmas cards still laying around, right? How about some crafty  recycling:

Christmas card trees

Have the kids make mini houses:

Have some great laughs and make wacky photo collages from the photo cards you received this season:

This is a real Christmas card but you get the drift, right? Give them glasses or hats, or put them on a beach or riding an elephant. It always a guaranteed laugh when you tape a top hat to someone's head. I have a cute "NRA" (no joke) themed Christmas card from one of my friends that I'm dying to use. Mabe I'll post pics... 

• Or how about bringing the outside activities in.

Bowling:

@ Ucreate

Go to the drive-in movies:

Play some volleyball with a balloon:

• If all else fails, just eat your way through a snow day. Today is the day that you scrounge around in your pantry and you finally make that old package of muffins, cookies, brownies, or anything else you got suckered into buying at Costco and then never made. Or use up your coconut - doesn't everyone have a weird bag that they don't know where it came from or how long its been there...?

• Or make Snow Cream!

1 gallon snow

1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups milk

Directions: When it starts to snow, place a large, clean bowl outside to collect the flakes. When full, stir in sugar and vanilla to taste, then stir in just enough milk for the desired consistency. Serve at once.     

Make sure you read clean snow, although eating dirty snow all those years, didn't seem to hurt my little brothers...

For you ladies who get to spend a snow day by yourself, here are a few ideas for you lucky ladies:

• Make today "Ladiscape Day". Get out the paraffin wax kit, pedispa, exfoliating kit, or anything else that's been stuck under your bathroom sink since it was given to you on Mother's Day or last year's Valentines Day and give yourself a little winter spa day.
• Catch up on all those trashy and frivolous TV shows that you never get to watch because your husband acts like he's having a seizure when you turn them on. Us real housewives need to stick together! You can even watch them online on your laptop or smart phones - in bed!
• Take a bubble bath and catch up on your pile of magazines we all have under the table. Or better yet, check out a free digital book or cookbook from your library. (Seriously, if you haven't done this you need to try it! Just log on to your local library's website and follow the instructions.)
• Go through all your "favorites" bookmarks on your computer and get inspired all over again. Make a new recipe, rearrange your decor, or follow a tutorial on how to jazz up those family photos.
• Discover Pinterest! If you haven't already heard of it, it's a virtual pin board where people put photos that they like or inspire them onto different themed "boards"; and then it gets shared with all the other users. Okay, that was officially the worst description of Pinterest ever, but if you click the red "P" on the right hand side of this blog you can see what we've been "pinning." A word of caution: this site is very addictive! You will find yourself planning a pretend wedding, decorating rooms in your house you don't even have, putting together fantasy wardrobes, and drooling over delicious recipes, oh and losing track of all time and space around you. You've been warned. But do it anyway.
  
  

Have a great snow day!

~Angela

P.S. If anyone knows where to find jegging snowpants, please call me ASAP.

Dress This Mess > Get Out Of My House

I know I said that January should be SOUP month instead of GO (Get Organized) month like all the magazines are calling it but . . . . I take it back, it should be called GO as in "GET OUT" of my house.  Call me fickle.  I have a bunch of stuff at my house that I need to get rid of.  Not get rid of, as in throw away, but as in use for it's original purpose or reinvent it into something else that's usable.


Number 1 on my list is this cool chair:

This chair was originally bought at a yard sale for pennies and was dressed up in fabulous 1960's green tweed, which I quickly recovered in a sunny yellow print.  In its' next reincarnation, it was remade in blue with an adorable helicopter pillow for my oldest grandson's room; which went with the airplane theme he had at the time.  It was then rehomed back to my house when his mama updated his room decor.  It had a cozy little spot in my toy/reading nook upstairs --- but then I got the GIANT elliptical and I had to shrink the toy/book area so that I could fit in that instrument of torture lovely piece of exercise equipment.  Now I have redesigned the back pillow to fit in with the little boys western themed room.  And FINALLY, once again, it is out of my home.  Whew! Was that TMI?! That chair has had more lives than Shirley MacLaine...


Check it out - don't worry no steers were hurt in the making of this pillow (some Naughas were - although I've never seen a Naugahyde).


I know you're thinking, "I heard appliqueing is difficult and time consuming and takes an expert seamstress," but this is Chaos & Gloss's quick, easy and smart version, or "Smeazy" for short. Smart because, probably like a lot of you readers out there, I'm not an expert seamstress but yet I want to make something that looks great. 


 Lets take a closer look at the helicopter  pillow because those Naughas are really shiny creatures.  This looks pretty good for being nine years old.

Anyone can make a pillow like this in any type of basic silhouette.  The steer silhouette is easy to make as it is a one color silhouette.  The helicopter was also easy although a little bit more involved as it is a 4 color pattern.  


Materials:

• Fabric for Pillow
• Fabric for Silhouette
• Sewing Machine
• Good Scissors - You really need a good sharp scissors as this is probably the most important part of the pillow making.  If  you mess up on this part you might have to start over.
• Pattern - You can make your own by finding a silhouette of whatever you want by doing an image search on the internet.  Kids coloring books also are a good source of basic images.  I used my printer to resize the pattern and taped it together for the perfect size for my pillow.

Directions:

• Decide what size you want your pillow to be.  Cut your front and back fabric to size.  Don't forget to add in your seam allowance, I used 1/2".  Set the back fabric aside.
• Cut your other fabrics a little larger than the silhouette.  Stack fabrics right sides up, with your main pillow fabric on top.  If you are using more than one fabric, stack the fabric under the main pillow fabric in descending order, from smallest cuts to largest cuts.  For example, on the helicopter, I stacked the fabric starting with top layer of blue fabric (main pillow fabric), then yellow fabric used in rotors, then black for base, then blue for windshield, and then the red for the body of helicopter. 
• Pin your paper pattern to top of the fabric stack you just put together.  Sew around outline.  See photo below, the arrow points to the stitched outline.
• Slowly tear off paper pattern.  Here's a tip:  Use light weight paper - it will tear off a lot easier.  I had a heavier copy paper in my printer and I also didn't cut away the overlaps when I put the two pieces together.  

• Now comes the cutting part.  The steer was fairly simple because I only had one color below.  Lift your top fabric away from the next fabric and cut inside the stitching of your silhouette.  If you are using a multi-color pattern, make sure know which parts will be which fabric.  On the helicopter, I cut the rotors first by lifting the blue fabric up and making a little snip, then carefully cutting away the blue fabric on the inside of the rotor outlines, leaving the rotors showing the yellow fabric below.  Next came the black base.  For this I cut through the blue fabric and the yellow fabric.  To cut the windshield I cut through the blue, yellow and black fabric and for the body; I cut through the blue, yellow, black and pale blue fabric.  The cutting is really the most detailed part and you want to cut slowly and carefully, being sure not to cut through your stitching or getting to close to the stitching.  I left about 1/4" of fabric around the stitching.
• Put your pillow front (with your silhouette) and pillow back fabric together, right sides together.  Stitch around three sides, leaving one side open for stuffing. 
• Turn right side out.
• Fill with stuffing.
• Stitch bottom edge closed.
• Now pour yourself a big glass of wine or iced tea and let out the breath you've been holding for an hour.

I should have named this post, "The Longest Post Ever."  Honestly, it took me longer to write this post than it did to make the pillow. Do not let this post intimidate you!  Anyone can make these pillows, including you!

I was going to share some more great "GO" projects that I did this weekend but I will share those on another day.


-Laurie

Frock Me Friday > Outfits for Marathon Shopping

Yup, that's right, I'm going shopping for Ding Dongs clothes.  


The kind of shopping I'm talking about is the kind where  you take armload after armload of clothes into your dressing room to try on (even when you know you're only walking out with two).  I'm talking, "Marathon Shopping" or the, "Olympics of Shopping."   That kind of shopping takes a special kind of outfit.  




It needs to be:

• something stylish because you don't want those shop girls thinking you don't know style.
• something comfortable for all day shopping.
• and something easy to get off and on. 

What I don't wear when I go shopping:

• Big earrings - they get in the way when you try on clothes.
• Too much jewelry - If I do wear jewelry, I usually only wear a simple necklace.
• Too many layers - it takes too long to take them off and put them back on.
• Button front shirts - self explanatory.
• Shoes or boots that are hard to get off and on.

Here are a few outfits that I would wear shopping:


Outfit #1:

All outfit details on Polyvore.

Love, love, love that bag but it's $400!!!!  


Outfit #2:

All outfit details on Polyvore.

The boots are only $68.  Trying on clothes is so much easier in the spring and summer but when it's 18.9 degrees out you need to wear a jacket or sweater.  That's right, that's what the temp is right now.  Thank goodness for that .9 - it makes it feel so much warmer.


Outfit #3:

All outfit details on Polyvore.

All of the outfits above would be perfect for a marathon session of trying on clothes.  Hmmmm, although, if I owned these outfits I wouldn't need to go shopping!


- Laurie

Dress This Mess > Wall Art

Today's post is about original art work for your wall, what to put on a large wall, recycling book pages, and a novel idea on how to frame canvas art.  

But what I really want to talk about is Hostess filing for bankruptcy.  Not Ho Hos and Ding Dongs, say it's not true.  Okay, I'm done crying - back to your originally scheduled program.

Check out this original art work hanging on the 2Wicked's wall.

The Future Mrs. 2Wicked (FM2W) is quite the artist and she made this for her future husband one year for Christmas because he had a large blank wall to fill and I think she wanted to class him up a little.

It is four canvases of different sizes overlapped and put together (screwed together on the back) to make one large canvas.   FM2W painted a tree trunk and branches and then for that touch of something extra, she made the leaves out of old book pages instead of painting them.

Let's get closer:

The large canvas looked great hanging there, but it really needed a finishing touch, like putting on your jewelry after you dress.  That's what the frame is to this canvas.  Now for the novel way to frame the artwork.  After hanging the canvas, Mr. 2Wicked used molding to make a frame but attached it to the wall, leaving about 1 1/2" all around between the canvas and the molding.  Doesn't it look great?!!  Okay I'm winging the part of how much space he left between the canvas and the frame, once again no one likes phone calls at 6am, maybe it's only one inch, or two inches, or an 1 1/4".  

No one get your panties in a bunch over the destruction of books.  This is really about Recycling, Reusing, & Repurposing.  There are a lot of books out there that would be going nowhere but to the landfill if we didn't use them.  The book I'm currently using looks like this:






Want to see something funny:

This book doesn't have a copyright date, I guess they didn't do that back in the day for textbooks; but the first person to use this book got it in what looks like July of 1959.  I was almost two years old and really they were going to school in July?  The last person that signed the book cover was some girl who apparently was "stacked."  Too funny!

Okay, back on track - 




I already used some of these pages to make my Mama's 81st Birthday Banner.








Some things that I'm working on using this pages are:

Watch for future posts.


Everyone go out and buy some Hostess Twinkies to show your support - that's where I'm going.


-Laurie