30th Wedding Anniversary!

Can hardly believe its been 30 years ago today! I can still remember the day we got married. It was a perfect 75º day. Wow...time flys when you are having fun! Can you believe how big my glasses were! Yikes! How styles change huh! And now here we are 30 years later and still putting up with each other. LOL We couldn't be more happier with 2 grown daughters, 1 granddaughter and another one on the way in January. Life is good. We plan on celebrating Memorial Day and our Anniversary today, boating out on the Mississippi river with my sister and hubby. They just got a new, bigger boat. Should be so much fun! Everyone have a happy and safe Memorial Day!!

Sweet Hummingbird!

It was such a nice day today that I sat out on the deck and ate my lunch. And got a little bit of sewing done, on another doll dress ornie that I finished up today. I was enjoying the hummingbirds coming to my feeders out on the deck and thought that I should set up my tripod and try to get some close shots since they weren't to afraid of me. I think these pictures turned out spectacular! I just think these little birds are so amazing! Never get tired of watching them. As you can see in the one picture a little ant is sharing the feeder with him. The ant didn't even bother him. I need to get another one of those ant traps that you hang from the top that have the water in them.

Here is my new dress with the fabric that I bought yesterday. It will be for sale in my etsy shop tonight.

What I'm Working on Wednesday

Made a special trip today to my favorite quilt shop to find some Civil War Reproduction fabric. It had been awhile since I had seen Harlene the shop owner of Quilts by the Oz. You could totally get lost in the rows of fabric in her shop. So I picked up these fabrics to make more doll dress ornies and birds. Couldn't find a red shade that I liked, so will see what I can find online.


Here are a few more doll dress ornies that I finished up today. Will get them listed in My Etsy Shop tonight.

More Succulents!

I've got a huge addiction now to succulents. I bought a bunch more yesterday. I made 3 more hypertufa pots on Thursday. It will be awhile before they will be ready to plant in. They have to cure. Not exactly sure how long they are suppose to cure as I've searched on the Internet extensively about making these pots. It's anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 months before you can plant in them. So I'm gonna go with 2 months. I made 4 of them about a month ago. So in about a month I will plant. I wanted to buy the succulents now as I'm sure in another month they will be gone. So here are a few more that I bought. I just think they have the neatest shapes, textures and colors.






I also took a few pics of some of plants growing in my yard.

I absolutely love coleus too! The bright colors are just gorgeous! Here is my favorite one.


Had fun with the Maco setting on my camera today! This is a pansy.


Variegated Lantana

Cranesbill Geranium

Hosta Leaf. I love the ones that have a lot of white in them

Pink Spiderworth

Marigold

Rhododendron

White Goats Beard

And then today I decided to paint my hosta leaf bird bath. All I have to do now is put a sealer on it.

Well that's it for now. I think I will spend the rest of the day inside. It's 88º right now and should hit 90º later on today. Can't believe just the other day it was only in the 60's.

Primitive Vintage Doll Dress Ornies

A couple of weeks ago I made a little primitive doll dress on a hanger, which I made using cardboard and fabric. I thought I'd should just make one with just the fabric like a real doll dress. So this is what I came with. They sure were fun to make and decorate. I used reproduction civil war fabric along with different vintage trim that I inherited. I've had this big box of old trim that I've been dieing to use. And I made my own little hangers out of rusty wire! I think these would look perfect hanging from a cupboard or to decorate up your laundry room. They measure 7" tall by 5" wide without the hanger. Add another 2 inches with the hanger. I have one of mine hanging from a rusty nail on my refinished wooden shelf that I have in the kitchen. I will be listing these in my etsy shop starting tonight.

We had a cool cloudy rainy day today. But much warmer and sunny weather is on tap for this weekend! We are expecting 80's and maybe 90's. Yikes talk about a huge jump into summer. It only got up into the 60's today. You won't hear me complaining. I like the warm weather, better then freezing do death. :)

Well that's all for now. Everyone have a wonderful weekend!!!

Primitive Spring Folk Art Pioneer Prairie Dolls

Sorry I haven't been around lately. My daughter and granddaughter were in town for 10 days. I was a full time babysitter while my daughter was studying to take her boards this past weekend. She needed to get a score high enough to be able to practice chiropractic care where she is living now in NC. I'm sure she did great on her tests. The bad part is waiting 6 weeks to find out your score.

So now its back to normal life of sewing and gardening. I've only put a small dent in planting with the weather not cooperating and busy with babysitting.

I finished up these sweet little prairie dolls today. Sold the only two dolls I had in my etsy shop last week, so needed to get a few more up for sale. They will be listed in my etsy shop shortly.

Tomorrow it will be a day of planting flowers. I also have plans to make a few hypertufa pots. I bought a bunch of those cute little succulents from Lowe's to make a rock garden. I'll be sure to post some pics of my pots when I have them finished.

Hosta Leaf Bird Bath

Here's a fun project for you to make! I subscribe to Birds and Blooms Magazine and in the February/March issue, they had a tutorial on how to make a hosta leaf bird bath. I have some hosta's that have huge leaves and thought that this would be perfect to make.

Materials Needed:

Large Leaf

Bag of play sand

3 to 4 cups of contractors sand (fine grade)

1 to 2 cups of Portland cement

Concrete fortifier (you can get this at Lowe's)

Rubber gloves

water

The size of the hosta leaf that I used was 13" long and 9" wide. You can also use rhubarb, burdock, gunnera, castor bean, caladium and elephant ear leaves. Make sure you cut the steam off your leaf.

Spread out a piece of plastic. I just cut open a large plastic bag from Target. Pour some play sand into a bucket and add enough water so the sand sticks together, like you were building a sand castle. Form a mound about the size of your leaf.

Once the sand is piled, cover it with a piece of plastic. You are now going to lay your leaf vein-side up on top of the plastic.

In a plastic container (I used a kitty litter box) mix three parts contractor's sand to one part Portland cement. I used 4 cups of contractors sand and 2 cups of Portland cement. Mix in a 1/4 cup of water and 1/4 cup of concrete fortifier, add slowly to the sand until it reaches the consistency of a thick brownie mixture. Mix in a little more water and fortifier if needed. Use your hands with rubber gloves to mix thoroughly.

Now pick up a handful of the sand mixture and plop in on the center of the leaf and spread to the edges. Smooth out so you get out all the air bubbles. Slowly build up the thickness so its between 1/2" and 1" thick over the whole leaf.

When your leaf is completely covered with the mixture, cover loosely with plastic. You don't want it drying to fast as it may crack. I let mine sit for 2 days before peeling off the leaf.

After your leaf has dried for a week, you can paint it or seal it. Or you can leave just as it is. I haven't decided if I am going to paint mine or not. It's still in the drying process.

Primitive Hanger Dress Ornies

I thought of something fun to make today! Dress ornies on hangers. I was in the process of making one when my daughter stopped by, and I asked her if she wanted to make one too. It was great hanging out with my daughter who rarely does any crafts. We each made a dress. Mine is the prairie style dress with the apron and Becky's is the patriot one. I then made rusty wire hangers to hang them up with. Aren't they the cutest! I have tons of old trim, lace and buttons. I could make a whole wardrobe!
They are super easy to make. I just used cardboard from a cereal box and mod podged the fabric on and then decorated.