Tolentreasures

Finished this up yesterday AM. I am embarrassed to say that it has been sitting here for a year. A couple of coats of varnish and it is out of here also. And Gracelyn's Stocking. Two more of these to go. It still needs steamed. These are great justification for the "hoard". These were made without purchasing anything! Everything was found in my stash! Today begins some tense moments around my house. The new carpeting comes on Friday. But first... The family room needs re-arranged, The kitchen needs some adjustments to allow furniture to pass through, The dining room needs emptied, The living room needs emptied. The old carpet needs ripped up, The living room needs another coat of paint, all before Friday Morning and the kicker is... a man, that would be JWS, that hates upheaval of any type. I am searching for the medicine that the doctor gave me for flying... I'll just be slipping some of that in his morning coffee. Way less of a crime than I could commit when he

For those of you following along, there was this aggressive, impulsive moment when I thought I could do thirty projects in thirty days. Everything started off great, but somewhere along the line, I got way behind. Trying to get back on track. so 12. Decorating the church, check! 13. The Stewart plaque in the previous post, check. 14. The other name plaque that I cannot show, check. 15. The coffee pot above, check. 16.  This snowman board, check. And... 17. Garren's stocking. Not to worry, 18, 19, and 20 are laying on the living room floor in various stages of completion. Stockings for the rest of Garren's family. So, that being said, I have 13 projects to go and nine days! Yikes! To be fair, part of the things that I wanted to do involved Christmas decorating and since I have new carpet coming on Friday, and since half the house needs moved to the other half of the house. Decorating seemed senseless. So back to work today.  Shouldn't I feel more refreshed and ready to

1. Painting orders finished. 2. Who cares if the firewood bin goes empty? 3. Food from the microwave all weekend. 4. No one cares if there are dirty dishes in the sink. (JWS is a  little obsessive over the sink) 5. More orders finished. 6. Full possession of the remotes. 7. Messy sewing area and who cares? 8.  All these projects spread all over the living room floor. 9. Full possession of the laptop. and Number 10... Full possession of the king size bed!!! I really will be glad for him to get home, but it is almost a mini-vacation for me! Oh and one last item. Anyone remember the roaster lid that I painted? Well it seems as though the person that brought it to me, doesn't want it. Does anyone else?  I will swap something for it!  Let me know!

Ok. I got nothin'! Big plans for the weekend of what I was going to accomplish... and yes, a few orders are finished, but nothing close to the very aggressive and productive LIST that I had. But, an evening out with three of my favorite young women, listening to music and a little dancing! Saturday spent with family that I don't get to see often enough. and a great night's sleep last night. The kitchen cleaned up, firewood brought in, and some of this water! Off to church and then ready for the day. I still have tomorrow off. Procrastination is the key! The water is this. A marble sized piece of ginger peeled and sliced, Two strawberries sliced, One lemon sliced and A handful of mint. Muddle that and add water and ice. You can reuse this for quite awhile. Just keep re-adding the water. and when you are done with it, It sure makes the garbage disposal smell good! 

For those of you who missed the Strate Thanksgiving Saga on Facebook, Here is how the day started. (and by the way, yesterday was our Thanksgiving) Syrup made for the Sweet Potato/Yam/The Final Butternut Squash Casserole. (Those of you that have been following along should be happy with the FINAL Butternut squash idea) Anyway, I try to turn off the burner and NOTHING! It does not turn off. I twist. I turn. I maybe "reef" a little too hard. And The knob breaks. "JWS, we have a little problem" For those of you also following along, you might realize that we also have been having an oven problem. JWS, walking to the kitchen says, "What did you do now, Rambo?" A short time later, my kitchen looks like the pic above. Tyler is repeating over and over the stove has problem, big problems. and Logan is quietly sharpening colored pencils all over my freshly vacuumed floor. Jenn is watching it all amused drinking her coffee, And JWS? Full Panic Mode. I mean Full, ma

An order for a customer, Calling it Number 10 in my 30 items in 30 days. Wouldn't want to roast the turkey in this! And Number 11. I am not going to show the whole thing until after Christmas. It is an order also and a Christmas Gift. Done! Last night was the annual noodle making event!  They are still drying for tonight's festivities. We have our holiday meal tonight. Allows the kids the holiday to attend all the other events. And us? A nice, quiet day with leftovers! Hope that all of you have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

Saturday afternoon and evening was spent in Pittsburgh with Shawnee, Gracelyn and Garren. It was the second night of Light Up Night and while at first I said that I didn't want to go, I am so glad that I had second thoughts! It was a wonderful evening and the weather was perfect! Gracelyn loves all things horses! And she waved until I thought her arm had to be tired. The princess wave of course. And Garren thought it was OK also. I was using Shawnee's camera and the shots were not all that great. Not her camera, I am sure it was the person behind the camera. Elmo and Cookie Monster made an appearance. I liked these caped riders. A Cinderella moment. And these little minis were so cute! If you live near here and have never been to this, mark it on your calendar for next year! It was a great event! Parking and Traffic were minimal issues. and it was a great family crowd!

What fun! Digging through all those beads! I had so many 1, 2 , 5  and 10 of a kind and not a lot that matched anything else. But, with these, it didn't really matter. A piece of Amber bought in a little side street store in the Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. What memories! I may have to keep that one. Some sparklies. And polka dots. And I little antique look. And viola! Five more bracelets! Some pink... Blacks and golds... More black and gold. More colors.. And a soft purple and green. It's going to be hard to part with them, I like them all!

This is my take on it anyway. To be truthful, I have never been in an Anthropologie store. I didn't even know what they were until my neice got a job at one and I googled it. Apparently, I don't get out much! But I found this tutorial on my new addiction, Pinterest. (My account is under my name, Cathy Strate, if anyone wants to add to that addiction) and in my efforts to use what I am "learning" there, I made this bracelet. Here is the tutorial. http://twelvecraftstillchristmas.blogspot.com/2010/09/stuff-your-stockings-saturday-anthro.html I have to go back and check out the other eleven projects that she has. This is a really good tutorial, I have never worked with elastic thread before and it is a little tricky to get used to. Funny story there. In the mess of errands that I had to run in the 3 hour wait for my MIL to be done with dialysis... the final stop was Wallyville. Elastic thread, Contact Solution Hair Mousse Got it all, Check off the final stop on my hand