A Little Project - Jewelry Display

My daughter loves making jewelry.  She makes a lot of the things she has from glass beads.  She also likes to display them on her dresser.  She loves to display everything.  I, on the other hand, prefer everything to be put away in drawers or in a closet.  Too many things on display equals clutter.  So I figured I would make her something cute to display her kids jewelry on.  

The next morning I awoke not only with the desire to find a frame at an antique store that I could repurpose, I also awoke from a dream where my basement flooded.  Good thing it was a dream.  I knew there were a few things on the floor that needed to be cleaned up in a certain closet - stuff I had just not been in the mood to sort when we moved in because I was too sick to care.  Guess it was a good thing - maybe our minds are more aware of things we've forgotten than we realize. So I started cleaning.  It took from 9 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.  I found two frames - one was an 11x14 - the other a 16x20.  I loved the flourish of the 16x20 but it was too big for her room.  

This was quite messed up and in need of something.  So I pulled it apart.

 Lucky for me the back was made of that foam board.  If not, you can cut a piece of foam board. The fabric was from JoAnn's. I also cut an 11x14 piece of fusible batting that I purchased at JoAnn's.

I set my iron to steam and it adhered the batting to the fabric and the board.

Hot glue to the rescue - it's not thick enough board for staples.

I marked the spots for the ribbon.

And then hot glued the ribbon in place.

I even hot glued a piece of fabric to the back but that was after I added the fabric tacks and mini cup holder hooks.

It took quite a few coats but I love how the frame turned out.  I'm ready to spray paint more items around the house.  I used vinyl gloves to protect my hands from drips.

 #210 white upholstery nails from JoAnn's and the Cup Hooks from Lowes.

I placed the cute fabric covered board inside the frame.

And then we placed it on the wall on the beadboard above her Pottery Barn chair.

Some of her glass bead jewelry is form JoAnn's and some from Michael's craft store.

Some of the necklaces are made from washers and scrapbook paper.

So I guess I accomplished two big tasks on one day.  I cleaned out that daunting basement closet and found plenty of things I needed that have been missing for 4 years, items that I could repurpose, and some important paperwork.  I also improved something that I found in that pile in that closet and made it into something that would reduce the clutter on my daughter's dresser and allow her to display her handy work in a beautiful way.  As I've been watching other decorating blogs I've realized the beauty that we can add to our homes on a budget and the importance of creating a beautiful atmosphere for our family to thrive in.

Family History Blog

I recently started a family history blog for the Christensen and Goff side of the family. Here are some examples below.  On though the blog is private and family members who want to view it must be invited, we only share photos of those who are living and no personal information.  That's why you can't see most of what's written in the pages below. There are links to grave sites and photos of headstones.  There are restored photos and other things that we are working on sharing.

  If you've taken my Photo Preserves class you received a page with all the information you'll need to get started creating your very own Summary Pages.  These pages are chapter markers or the first page before other scrapbook pages about the person's life.  If you'd like to take my photo preserves class it will be offered again soon. You can sign up for a free membership at ReneePearson.com and she'll send you an email when any new classes are available.

If you are family and would like an invite to the blog, let me know.  I'm not quite ready to start any other blogs for other family members because I have had such a great response with this one.  There is a lot to be done - photos to restore - scrapbook pages to make - posts coming out my ears!

World Joy - Benefit Dinner

Join us for dinner and learn about World Joy.  I can't help but notice when I look at the photos of the schools before restoration that these people are so poor that they don't even know there is a recession. Seriously - you need to take a look at this ONE. Sky View High School even raised money and built Sky View Ghana Kindergarten (an elementary school). Let's help them help themselves.  They can do that with education.  My friend Stephen is from Ghana.  He graduated from high school - I believe he is the first in his family to do so.  He even came to the states and got a college education.  Now he is back in Ghana with his beautiful wife and two children helping the people of his country through many avenues.  You can't help but find hope for your own life when you help give them hope.

Register for your seat or table by January 31st to get 10 free raffle tickets.  Raffle tickets that night will cost $20 for 10 tickets. There will be a silent auction and opportunities to donate directly.  If you're not able to attend, call World Joy and donate there.  School Uniforms are only $8 a piece.

801. 294. 5581 and talk to Linda

Check out our facebook invite too!

Click on the postcard below for more information:

Click to see the photos larger:

Here are the second year students - even more students than the first year.

In honor of ...

I had a few stressful days this week.  I found out that a friend from high school has cancer.  He's a father of 3 and so in love with his sweet wife.  He's also the bread winner.  As I shared my dismay with my husband  he held me in his arms and said that we know this will not be the last because if where I lived as a teen.  How right he was! The very next day I found out that another Dugway-ite had gone in for a biopsy and are going to be sending her back to the states to meet with an oncologist. Her daughter, a sweet friend just a few years younger, called me that afternoon and we cried together.  It's nice to be able to answer questions and help where I can. I was going to quit talking about my cancer this year.  I'll still talk less but enough so that I can help others.  It just seems like more and more young people are being effected than ever before. So I decided then and there to quit saving the fancy silverware my mom gave me my senior year of high school.  I pulled it out and washed it off.  The kids are excited to use it and we are happy to make every day a little bit more special.

And my little girl couldn't stand it.  She had to do something.  She got out the construction paper and markers and the stapler and got to work while I was busy ironing the huge pile of clothes I am behind on since surgery.  She made this for Mr. B and we'll be mailing it out Monday.  She knows he has 3 boys and she was concerned about them.  We are still trying to figure out what else we can do.  He is someone who has throw several fund raisers for friends in the past few years - one with cystic fibrosis and one with cancer I believe.  In the meantime we've called and added both friends to the prayer rolls.

I do have some good news.  My daughter is a sharp shooter.  We let her shoot my .22 single shot rifle and she hit the targets over and over again perfectly.  (She's got my aim that's for sure) And I'm almost done with my Oregon scrapbook.  Looks like it's going to take 2 volumes - my husband is one talented photographer.  Speaking of photography talent - you have go to see the photos of the Bald Eagle we spotted after target practice.  Good thing we took our cameras with us! It's right HERE.

It's about time I scrapbooked again!

Click on the scrapbook page to see it larger:

I've been trying to figure out how much I'm capable of and how much rest I need.  I always take longer to recover than normal.  Of course when they said 6 weeks, they meant 6 weeks before returning to a full time job.  That doesn't mean 6 weeks until you're 100%.  But I'm feeling well enough to keep up with the laundry and well enough to get the kids off to school, run a few errands, etc.  I crave sleep starting about 1 p.m. but the mornings are pretty good.  The sunrise this morning was gorgeous!  

Yesterday we went target shooting.  Tyler did all the work setting up the targets and such.  I shot my little .22 rifle a few times and sat down once I felt sore.  Tyler shot his hand gun and then helped our daughter shoot the .22 (she's got amazing aim). On our way back down the canyon I spotted a bald eagle in a tree near the river.  We stopped and Tyler took a few gorgeous photos.  Take a look at his facebook page to see them.   

All that fun and excitement tired me out.  I got my daughter off to school this morning and drove my son into town.  Grandma picked him up so I went home and scrapbooked the rest of the day.  What am I scrapbooking? Our family vacation. Our first family vacation. That's an example page up above.  I've worked long and hard to finally get my groove on this book.  I love scrapbooking for my own family.  I don't have to worry about what they think.  They love them and look through them often.  I love looking through them because the photos take me back.  I feel happy while I scrapbook and when I look back through my scrapbooks.  I haven't been scrapbooking as much as I used to and this helped me get my groove back.  It's simple with the photos as the emphasis.  I'm already 62 pages into it and think it's going to be a two volume book (hopefully not 3 but could be close).  Shutterfly can print up to 100 pages per book I think - of course I'm used to working with a whole bunch of different album companies so don't quote me on the 100 pages, it could be 70. 

I've also been busy with my new family history blog for my mom's side.  It's going so well I'm having a hard time keeping up but it will all work out! And now I'm going to get some of that sleep I've been craving.

2010 favorite gardening photographs

It's snowy and cold outside.  It's also just about time to start onion seeds. The following photos are in chronological order from my yard in 2010. So what are my gardening goals? - #1 - keep the deer away from my apple tree so that it has a chance to grow this year.  #2 - add 4 yards of soil pep to the veggie garden. #3 - add soil pep to the flower gardens, mix it in and mulch the completely planted areas with something the wind will not blow away. #4 - divide more plants and transplant away. #5 - I will not plant potatoes, I will not plant potatoes, I will not plant potatoes! #6 - plant more kohlrabi, carrots, spinach, and lettuce. #7 - Plant more echinacea in different colors on the back hill to prevent erosion.  #8 - more trees please.  I think that about covers it.