:(

Alas.......my heart is here, but I can't seem to be.

My head is bursting with ideas, but the time is not right.

Hope you understand.

Ellie

Necklace Charm

Here is a fun, tailor-made gift idea for a friend or family member.

 I recently went to a craft show in our area and splurged on this necklace and earring set.  It was designed to hang a charm from, and I knew exactly what charm was needed.

First, I printed very small pictures of Pistol Pete -  THE mascot for the Oklahoma State Cowboys - onto card stock.  I actually ran the card stock through the printer - twice - to get a nice vibrant color.

Then, I painted clear nail polish over the entire design, front and back, and let it dry.  I learned to do this through error, for my first two attempts failed due to ink that ran.  

DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP.  

COMPLETELY SEAL YOUR DESIGN OR THE INK WILL RUN.

Next, I poured a very small amount of this product 

into the bottom of this bezel - and placed my cut out design on top.

Using E6000 glue, I attached small strips of rhinestones around the perimeter of the inside of the bezel.  It is best to glue these in place before using the dimensional medium, otherwise the rhinestones tend to fall over.

Finally, I dripped more of the Mod Podge into the bezel, completely covering the design, but not the rhinestones.  Allow this to dry for 12-24 hours.

Imagine what fun necklaces you can make that reflect your loved ones' personalities.  I know I would love something so personal.

OK, COWBOYS!  I'LL PROUDLY BE WEARING MY BLING TOMORROW!  

LET'S ADD ONE MORE WIN TO THE SEASON!!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Ellie

All of these products can be purchased at Hobby Lobby.  The total cost of this charm is probably about $2 by taking advantage of the sales at Hobby Lobby.

Parties I Will Be Linking To:

Sunday - The Sunday Showcase Party at Under The Table and Dreaming, DIY Project Parade at The DIY Showoff   

Monday - Brag Monday at The Graphics Fairy, Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Tuesday - Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife,  

Wednesday - Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style, 

Thursday - Open House Party at No Minimalist Here,   Catch As Catch Can at My Repurposed Life

Friday - Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed, Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home, Weekend Wrap up Party at Tatertots and Jello 

Christmas Craft Tutorial Link-up Party at The Project Queen

Glass Candle Gift

This candle idea is nothing new if you've been around Blogland at all.  By simply gluing some type of container onto a candlestick, you get a nice, yet inexpensive, hurricane glass container to fill with all sorts of fun things.

 

I have not seen this exact model out there, although surely it has to be.  To make my version, pick up these candle holders at the Dollar Tree ($1 each)

and glue them onto a glass candlesticks using E6000 glue.  

The one pictured here is also from the Dollar Tree ($1 each)

I prefer to find candlesticks at garage sales, because they are actually much nicer and run between . 50-$1 each.  

 I really, really like the size and shape of this candleholder.

I have a set on the top of my piano and just 

change the decor with the season.

Giving a pair makes a wonderful gift........

.......but an even lovelier gift is to put together 

several little bags of fillers.......

.......take pictures of the various designs you've come up with.......

and give a little photo book of ideas with the candleholders.

Your non-crafty friends will appreciate the extra thought.

Hopefully the pictures throughout this post

will give you lots of ideas to try.

The concavity of the jar allows a wreath to stay put

just by bending the wire form in a bit.

This wreath wouldn't stay up, 

so a touch of hot glue holds it in place.

I'm using a glade candle inside of mine

The shape of the candle 

matches the shape of the jar.

Aren't they elegant for just a few bucks?!!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Ellie

Parties I Will Be Linking To:

Sunday - The Sunday Showcase Party at Under The Table and Dreaming, DIY Project Parade at The DIY Showoff   

Monday - Brag Monday at The Graphics Fairy, Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Tuesday - Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife,  

Wednesday - Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style, 

Thursday - Open House Party at No Minimalist Here,   Catch As Catch Can at My Repurposed Life

Friday - Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed, Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home, Weekend Wrap up Party at Tatertots and Jello   


Christmas Craft Tutorial Link-up Party at The Project Queen

The Gift of Reading

One of the greatest gifts in the world.......is reading.  

For 10 years, I had the privilege of homeschooling my kids and 

Oh, the books we have read!  

It's hard for me to think of what makes a great gift 
without thinking of books.

So, I thought I'd share a series of books we discovered during our homeschooling years.  This series is exciting, inspiring, life changing, and very enjoyable to read together as a family.  

The first book you should try - to see if you like the series is:

I promise, you will not be able to put this book down.

All of the books in this series are excellent.  

I've included pictures of our top 5.

The book titles I'm listing in this post are of Christian missionaries, but the company who publishes them also publishes an equally fascinating series on 
Heroes of American History.

You can check out their web-site here:

I have no connection with this company except for purchasing their books.  I simply wanted to share with you what a wonderful gift I believe these books would make.  Even though you're not making them and you will spend some money on this gift (6.99 each), you will get tremendous "Bang for Your Buck."

And if you read them with someone else - 

What a Gift!


Thanks for stopping by,


Ellie

My View From the Tub - Christmas Gifts

Do you have your gift list READY?

OK

     SET .....

Actually, hold on for one minute........

Before you jump into to all the craziness that leads up to

CHRISTMAS

Would you take just a couple of minutes to watch this video

Perhaps this water project isn't

where your passion lies.

This happens to be one of mine, but I am also

passionate about stopping

Human Trafficking 

and 

Providing Blankets for

Impoverished People

In 

North Africa

and

Giving to People

Who Have Lost Their Jobs.

Over the next several days, I'll be sharing

some gift ideas and some gifts that have

meant the most to me.

I sincerely hope you will share ideas back.

The value of a handmade gift is 

undervalued in our culture.

Let's change that!

If we really want to Occupy

This Christmas,

Let's give a little less to the 

Big Companies with all the Gadgets,

And a little more to the 80%


Who live on less than $10/day.

These are just 

My Views From the Tub 

Thanks for stopping by,

Ellie

"It's Halloween - My Pretties"

It's Halloween!

You know what that means?  

It's only 55 days until Christmas!!!!

At least that's what us Girls are thinking.

Starting tomorrow, I wish to share several posts with you about gift ideas for Christmas. 

 I hope you will join in - not only to get some ideas - but to share some as well.

This post is actually a Halloween and Gift post, 

because I'm featuring some Halloween crafts made and given to me by my Mom.

My mom made me chuckle when she gave me this little witch. 

 Our family is not really into creepy/evil things for Halloween, but when she handed it to me she said, 

"I don't care........

she was sooo cute - 

I just had to paint her!"

Well.......she is pretty cute.

She also painted this beautiful pumpkin basket for me.    

Most of her painting was crafty like this.  

Not that she couldn't do other painting, 

but she loved kids and holidays

 - so projects like this were really her passion.

A time or two we talked her into selling her crafts, 

but she couldn't do it.  

She wanted to craft for gifts, not selling.  

Somehow the selling took all the joy away for her.

Oh, how I love my mama's gifts!

Thanks for stopping by,

Ellie

Corn Basket and Antique Bench

Can you get too much Fall?

We had such a HOT, HOT, HOT Summer of drought

That Autumn seems especially nice this year.

And Who doesn't smile and think happy thoughts 

When they see pumpkins spilling off of 

Neighborhood porches.

This old bench has been in Edward's family

for around 100 years.  

It is so old, we can barely move it.

It still seems to say,

"Welcome Home".

My sister bought this sign for me a few years ago.

I think the bench and I agree - 

This is right to approach life!

Thanks for stopping by,

Ellie


PS - I have used the same dried corn for at least 10 years.  I just wrap it in plastic trash bags and store in plastic tubs in the garage.  If that's enough to keep critters and insects out in Oklahoma - it should be good anywhere.

Parties I Will Be Linking To:

Sunday - The Sunday Showcase Party at Under The Table and Dreaming, DIY Project Parade at The DIY Showoff   

Monday - Brag Monday at The Graphics Fairy, Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Tuesday - Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife,  

Wednesday - Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style, 

Thursday - Open House Party at No Minimalist Here,   Catch As Catch Can at My Repurposed Life

Friday - Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed, Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home, Weekend Wrap up Party at Tatertots and Jello   

Fun With Wired Ribbon

Wired ribbon is one of the most fun things ever created!  Of course it makes beautiful bows, because you can shape and fuss until your bow looks spectacular.......

But here are a few other ideas to get your creative juices flowing for the holidays.

Cut a length of wired ribbon and on one side only, pull the wire partially from one end and then the other to cinch up the ribbon into a yo-yo.    Then twist the two end pieces together to hold the shape of the yo-yo.  There are so many beautiful Christmas ribbons, you could truly decorate an entire tree with them.  They are also inexpensive and fun to make with the kids.

Take it a step further and stack different sized yo-yos to glue onto headbands or.......anything really!

I used yo-yos on this candelabra to cover prongs that didn't look right with the pumpkins on them.  The yo-yos make a perfect cover up.  

  

Pull the wire completely out of one side of the ribbon and cinch the other side to create a gathered ribbon.  Stitch this onto towels, little girls' items, pillows.......again whatever your heart desires.  Just zig-zag across the wire on the gathered side of the ribbon, then pull this remaining wire out.

If you cinch up the wires on both sides of the ribbon, you can create a collar for a mason jar.  Wouldn't a plaid ribbon be adorable on a mason jar for Christmas?

I hope you'll have as much fun coming up with new ways to use wired ribbon as I did!

Thanks for stopping by,

Ellie

Parties I Will Be Linking To:

Sunday - The Sunday Showcase Party at Under The Table and Dreaming, DIY Project Parade at The DIY Showoff   

Monday - Brag Monday at The Graphics Fairy, Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Tuesday - Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife,  

Wednesday - Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style, 

Thursday - Open House Party at No Minimalist Here,   Catch As Catch Can at My Repurposed Life

Friday - Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed, Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home, Weekend Wrap up Party at Tatertots and Jello   

Antique Bird Cage

One of the more fun things that has happened since I started this blog is people giving me things to see if I can "do something with it".  What a delightful challenge for me!  I love, love, love taking  things that would otherwise be discarded and making something useful or beautiful out of them.

Now I realize beauty may be in the eye of the beholder and some things may be a miss to some people, but my thinking is - the more you try, the better your chances for a real hit! 

I also firmly believe that

 a person becomes more creative the more they create.  

So, 

Go For It!  

Have Fun!  

Take Some Chances!  

The journey will be a blast.

This is a birdcage given to my daughter to give to me.  It is an antique and had been in the person's family for a long time, but they just didn't know what to do with it anymore.

I didn't do much to decorate the cage itself, just a good cleaning, reattaching some of the wires, and a coat of Krylon's Satin Ivory.  I also removed the wire from the top and replaced it with a new finial.

The fun part was decorating it for the season.  It seemed to be begging for feathers, so feathers it was.  Since it is located right next to the trash bag wreath I made, it also needed some bright orange.

I think the little sparrow is liking his new space.

Thanks for stopping by,

Ellie

Parties I Will Be Linking To:

Sunday - The Sunday Showcase Party at Under The Table and Dreaming, DIY Project Parade at The DIY Showoff   

Monday - Brag Monday at The Graphics Fairy, Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Tuesday - Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife,  

Wednesday - Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style, 

Thursday - Open House Party at No Minimalist Here,   Catch As Catch Can at My Repurposed Life

Friday - Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed, Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home, Weekend Wrap up Party at Tatertots and Jello