How to Remove Ugly Marks From Your Dishes

About 8 months ago I splurged 
and ordered some new dishes.  

Sadly, they now look like this

 I remembered reading a tip long ago about using 

Bar Keepers Friend to remove the marks.  

It was certainly worth a try.

You can get it at WalMart.

At first it didn't work so well for me.  

I was using a cloth and it seemed like the progress was slow.  

I discovered that if I used my fingertips with just a 

small amount of water I got much better results.  

Can you see the difference?

I'm a happy girl!

Maybe everyone already knew this but me, 

but just in case - I thought I'd share since 

nothing else I tried worked this well.

Personalized Carved Pumpkins

Would you like to carve some pumpkins that are personalized to your family?  Here's an idea for making a pattern with a little help from Picmonkey.

Take or find a picture of the person you wish to carve on a pumpkin.  I used this picture of my son wearing my sunglasses.  (He will be so thrilled!)

 

In the case of this picture, I cropped and edited out everything I didn't want in the background.  To crop in Picmonkey, select the top icon on the left, and then choose CROP.

To create the pumpkin pattern - select the Magic Wand icon on the left, and scroll down until you find POSTERIZE.  You will only want to use 2 colors, and probably slide the Details Bar until you get the look you want.

You should get a picture that looks something like this!  Isn't that cool?

All you need to do now is save your picture to your computer.  To print the pattern - insert your saved picture into a Word document and adjust the size.  Trace the design onto your pumpkin, and shave away all the white areas of the picture.

This is just a mock-up, but it gives you an idea of what your carved pumpkin would look like.

Wouldn't it be fun to use pictures of your kids with crossed eyes or sticking out their tongues?  Just remember to keep it simple, or you'll be carving forever and writing icky comments to me!

Lavender Tub Tips:  When taking the pictures - try to use a plain white background with really good lighting.  You want strong contrast in your pic.  If it is not turning out the best on the POSTERIZE - you might need to play with it by going Black and White, or upping the contrast.  Each picture I've tried has been a little different, so you might need to play with it a bit.

Family Heirloom Vintage Scale

I bet everyone has a thing or two in their home that has been hanging around for a while that they don't even realize how cool a treasure it is.  For me one of those treasures is this old scale.

Edward brought this to our marriage from his grandpa's shop.  His grandfather used to sell his excess tomatoes and other vegetables to town folk, and he would use this scale to weigh them.  Edward grew up playing with this scale all the time.

We have always enjoyed its nostalgia, but I think we both thought Edward would refinish and paint it before it found a place in the house instead of the garage.

But things change and one day you realize, 

It is completely perfect as it is!

Just look at some of its interesting details:

It has had a special place by our back door for a couple of years now.  I keep a wire basket on it, and it holds the things we need to remember as we leave the house.

Love.It!

Oklahoma Skies

I think many people think of wind when they think of Oklahoma, and it is absolutely TRUE!  They didn't just write "where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain"  for the sake of a good rhyme.  You couldn't live in a windier place.

But I don't think many realize just how gorgeous our Oklahoma skies are.  We are blessed with them so much that we honestly take them for granted.  It is not until we travel to other places that we stop and think, "Where is the beautiful sunset I'm so fond of?"

Last week, a summer storm came and went rather quickly, but WOW what it created as it went.  In this picture you can see a rainbow on the left as the rain was leaving, the Asperatus clouds that followed the rain, and the blue sky edging its way in on the right.  It was truly a magnificent sight.

Thanks for letting me brag a little about our lovely state.

Y'all need to come visit! 

Naked Ladies!!!

Here in the South we have the most amazing flower.  It is the Belladonna Lily, but everyone in these parts just calls them Naked Ladies.

The reason we affectionately call them Naked Ladies is because of how they grow.  In the spring, the first greenery many of us see comes in the form of long, slender-leaved fountains, similar to those of daffodils - only larger.  They pop up from the ground all over town and seem to bring about spring almost instantly.  

But then the greenery all withers away....

and you forget all about them......

Until late July, when like magic the entire town is covered in the most gorgeous, pink bouquets!  The funny thing is though, the flowers have no leaves.  No leaves at all!  Just tall naked stems.....

And thus, we call them Naked Ladies.

Have you seen these lilies before?

Aren't they interesting and fantastic?

These particular lilies are growing in my backyard.

I want to bring them in the house, but I so love looking

out my windows and seeing them - I just can't.

Thanks for stopping by the Tub,

Ellie

Circle Cropping for Projects

Today I have a tutorial to share with you for cropping a perfect circle to use in your crafts, decorating, jewelry, labels, jar lids, scrapbooking - whatever you need a perfect circle for.  You can actually do ovals, squares, and other shapes once you get the hang of it, but I'm demonstrating with a circle since I find I often need one.  The great part is you only need your computer and printer, and you do not have to purchase anything special.  In fact, the online photo editor I use to do this -while they do offer a subscription to get other special effects - everything to do this application is FREE.  The photo editor I'm using is called PicMonkey, but there are others like Ribbet that you could also use.

So, go to PicMonkey.com and click on the Edit a Photo link.

Pull up the picture you want to crop from your computer, the cloud or wherever you have pictures stored, 

and select the Crop button.

Now, on the pull-down menu, select Square.

A highlighted square will appear.

Position the square highlighted box over your 

picture, centering the area you want for your circle,

then adjust the size to the smallest square possible 

that still includes the area you wish to include.  

Click Apply.

Next, click on the Frames link on the left of your screen,

and select Rounded Corners,  

check the box that says Transparent Corners,

then slide the Corner Value Slide all the way to the right.  

(See the aqua arrow)

Finally, Save your rounded picture back to your 

computer giving it a new name.

 Handsome boys if ever I've seen!

When you are ready to print the picture, go to Microsoft Word, click on the Insert button, and select the Picture icon.  Your picture will then show up on your page.  Notice on the right a place for dimensions (see aqua arrow).  Change what is there to fit the size of circle you are needing.

For my locket I received as a gift, I chose .90 and it created a perfect fit.  Just measure the space you want to put a circle in and input that dimension in fractions of an inch.  If you need a 3 / 4 " circle - use . 75.

I hope you have a lot of fun with this!

Happy cropping, and thanks for stopping by the Tub!

Ellie

Handstitched Tablecloth

I have a friend who is my other half, especially when we go yard saleing.  I can't even begin to tell you how much fun we have - it truly is the highlight of my week.  One of the things that makes it so fun is that we are alike in some of our tastes, but also quite different.  We've been together long enough that I know exactly the things she will go for - whether she needs them or not - and she knows the same about me.

This is us at Kohls pretending......

Oh, no amount of explaining would help you understand.......

Without hesitation, she would tell you that I snatch up crocheted doilies and other handmade items without fail.  It's true.  I don't need them at all, but I almost cannot help myself.  You see, I've been a stitcher, seamstress, crafter my entire life, and when I see a handmade item that I know took some person hours to create - I just appreciate it so much I have to buy it.  It really isn't that I NEED to OWN it - I truly just want to appreciate its beauty.  Most of the time they are priced at .10 or .25 cents, and that hurts my heart.  I know - so silly!!!

This tablecloth is nothing but an old, rust-stained thing until you get to looking at it carefully.  I think I paid $1 for it, but just look at it up close.  It is quite old, and can you see how it was pieced?!  The entire cloth is hand stitched.  Isn't that beautiful?  Someone worked on this for a long time. 

"Dear sweet kindred spirit from another time, please know that your work is admired and appreciated.  I will never know you, but it is an honor to display your work in my home!"

What are you sappy for?  For me it is the handmade items.  My friend so enjoys little miniature things.  Ahhh, the treasures of yard sales goddesses.

Thanks for stopping by the tub!

Ellie

Hello, Christmas - At the Gaylord Texan

A few weeks ago, Edward had a conference at the 

Gaylord Texan Resort 

near Dallas, TX.  Since it is only three hours from our home, we both thought it would be fun for me to tag along.

 

While he went to meetings all day, I whiled away hours walking around the resort, frequenting coffee shops, shopping thrift stores in Grapevine, TX, and strolling an antique mall.  It was like living in Cottage Living magazine for four days.

 This is the atrium in the center of the resort.

They say, "Everything is Big in Texas!"  

These boots above the Texas Station restaurant 

in the resort were enormous.

And this is Hank.  Hank hangs out along one of the paths

under the atrium.  He's real, but stuffed.

How's this for Early Mission style?

  Yes, it was dreadfully hard!
But what's a girl with 3+ days
all to herself to do?

The Gaylord was busy putting up their Christmas decorations on Wednesday when we arrived.

The big tree lighting and kick-off for their ice sculpture show was to take place on Thursday evening.  Many local families were there with their little ones for this magical event.

Sadly, the main attraction - a very tall Christmas tree in the atrium - did not light up at the end of the count down.  It was kind of a bummer for the children, but Santa showed up and the kids were soon over the dark tree.

So, want to see how they do Christmas at the Gaylord?

  

Now, y'all, if that doesn't get you 

excited for Christmas, 

I don't know what else will!

Thanks for stopping by the 

Gaylord Texan with me today.  

Wasn't that fun eye candy?

Edward and I certainly thought so,

and we had a marvelous time.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Ellie