on friday.... i gave my two aunts and cousin a

birthday party! my mom and cousin hali came to celebrate, too!

the table was set with tacky

vintage souvenir china laid upon a chenille bedspread--makeshift tablecloth...

we sipped cheap white wine from large mouthed canning jars. and,

our napkins were mismatched hot pads. all in attendance, were required to wear vintage hats from my little collection and very tacky retro aprons. all were such good sports and without hesitation... choose hats and aprons to wear!

we're holding signs that say hi aaron- my cousin in new york university film school. his gramma and mom are back row left. we sent this through facebook-- in hopes to make his day.

what would a party be... without an antique glass urinal to pour your water from?

lunch was a massive garbage salad... with just about everything in it. and beer bread with herbs sprinkled on top. and parmesan cheese.

between the downpour of raindrops.. i picked rhubarb and baked a rhubarb cake in canning jars.... cool-whip and lots of it...was dropped on top! note: aprons in the background!

after the mid-day feast... i planned a garden craft,
which my new friend cassey told me about. we all sat around the chenille covered table, giggled and made glass wind chimes!
on tomorrow's post.. i'll share the instructions and snaps!
smile, wink, nod!

antique postcards!

we've all seen antique postcards before.

but have you ever really stopped to think about when they originated?

the different borders? the scalloped edges? and other little tidbits?

my answer to these questions is a definite no. it never occurred to me

to delve deeper into the history or embossed postcards. --until, i visited

my michigan friend, mitzi's blog. she shares a handful from her collection

and a short history!

it's worth the click over to her blog! click here!

she also welcomes you to cut and paste and

use her postcard images for your own craft use. which, i know, i will be doing!

thank you mitzi for educating me!

smile, wink, nod!

i did it. i finished the grapes of wrath. the book was spectacular. outside of the bible, it's the best i've ever read. the beginning was slow and i admit, i wondered what i got myself into. as the story progressed with a titanical thrust, i felt i actually had a relationship with the characters and a certain connection. i felt steinbeck's voice echoing in my head... as if he was reading it to me. his simultaneous writing levels of human existence reflects much of what is happening today, 2010. the greed. families loosing homes, their dignity, farms and traumatic job loss, big business slaughtering small business, and yes those of us drawing on the spirituality of each other to survive in these times, our commitment to fellow man and the earth we inhabit. i will most defiantly be reading this again. and again. and again. yes-it's that good. the grapes of wrath, is a lyric in the battle hymn of the republic. in turn, the battle hymn of the republic refers to biblical passage in revelations 14:19-20.

in the souls of the people, the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.

okay... now that i spilled my passion for this profound nobel prize winner... how about taking a look at this recycled pillow i made out of dyed fleece (i used kool-aid) and recycled flowers from an old skirt. the pillow- retro green from the 70's came from goodwill. .99 cents.

my aunt joyce sent me such a cute article, which was in country living magazine.

she knew, i'd jump on this quick craft as soon as i could! and i did.

all you do is........ gather a few clean bottles, bowls, even a lampshade! find interesting

knit sweaters that you no longer need or purchase at a thrift store. plug your hot glue gun in.

then, slide the sleeve of the sweater over the bottle. measure, cut and fold the bottom to

the bottom of the glass... hot glue it into place.

this is how my finished project turned out!

i need to venture out and pick a winter bouquet of dried weeds

to stick in the bottles! i think dried goldenrod should do the trick!

i just love this bowl.

i used an old knit hat from the gap.

i wiggled it on the bowl and made a knit rosette!

and topped it off with a vintage button!

it sits on my coffee table...

holding my rug hook, scissors and sewing odds and ends.

so now, why don't you meander into your closet... pull out that shrunken cotton sweater that you never wear... rinse out a soy sauce bottle

and make a vase!

it's fun.

it's addicting.

it's a fun-addiction!

smile, wink, nod!

mighty proud of these projects, i am!

i'm mighty proud of the bookmarks i mod-podged!

... i recycled heavy cardboard from socks i received for christmas! then mod-podged scrapbook paper, vintage ric-rack, fun pictures and scrapbook stickers. now.... there's no reason for me to "dog-ear" my pages, anymore!

here's another mighty-proud project, that took all of 3 seconds to make. i used vintage tins, which i found at an estate sale, for a dime each.... and stuck simple scrapbook stickers on them. the cylinder tin will be home to a collection of foreign money we've collected from friends and family. the other... will be a cheerful recipe box.

the simple woman's daybook!

the simple woman's day book for november 30th

outside my window: it's dark and i see flickers of christmas lights bouncing off our windows!

i am thinking: how king henry the first died in the 12th century of eating too many lamprey's.

i am thankful for: a full pantry and full freezer of really good food. and i'm thankful for my furnace. i'm thankful my husband likes it's toasty warm and cozy.

i am wearing: jeans, red sparkle tee shirt and black rhinestone zipper sweatshirt.

i am remembering: how much my dad loved christmas time and all the fun we had working together during the holidays.

i am going: to lansing this weekend and to a christmas tea tomorrow night!

i am currently reading: (still) plain language

i am hoping: to get a burst of wild energy very soon. can you say pms meets menopause?

on my mind: tons of things swirling around... politics, christmas recipes, crafts, tiger woods, christmas shopping!

from the learning room: light homeschooling today after 4 days off of non-stop fun. today, one of the things we did; watched a 30 minute movie about the great fires of yellowstone national park.

noticing that: that my roots need done desperately!

pondering these words: as told from our pastor to the congregation right after paul simon's "you and me in paradise," song was played ..."to be the sparkle in someone's eye."

from the kitchen: a new big bag of honey roasted almonds! two bags of fresh apples and a free box of duncan hines brownie mix!

around the house: christmas movie playing on abc family t.v. station, christmas lights everywhere, christmas decoration clutter, dog whining to go out for the fourth time tonight, table loaded full of homeschool books, and general clutter.

one of my favorite things: maple candy from the bulk food section at the grocery store!

i made a couple of baby bibs to resell at my cousin's craft show. they're made from a recyled skirt and a chenille bedspread!

below: a new pampered chef pink knife i picked up for .19 cents at goodwill.

easy and cheap christmas gift....

i just finished making this organizer. it's actually a gift for my cousin, for christmas. she is so quirky and fun... i know she'll adore this. she can use it as a storage bin for magazines or in her closet... or as an organizer in the back of her car!

i picked up some vintage record albums at goodwill. .25 cents each. i knew what i'd be doing with them, so i looked for "theme" albums. i bought five of them. four sides and a bottom. then tonight after dinner, while brad was watching fox news (is there any other?) i marked off one inch dots and brad paper punched them for me.

this is a snap, looking down inside.

i used heavy orange rope type twine, to reinforce the sides and bottom.... i went over it twice. just to be sure it was good and strong.

the project took me about an hour and a half... and happy me, i have one fun box to fill for my cousin for christmas! i am sort of itching to get back to goodwill and look for more that i can whip up! smile, wink, nod.

pumpkin cookies and pumpkin pot holder!

today, i followed in my fall tradition of baking pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. i actually made jumbo pumpkin chocolate chippers. i dropped these with a huge spoon... and baked them for 20 minutes. here's the recipe: pumpkin chocolate chip cookies! i doubled the recipe and ended up freezing two large ziplock baggies of the dough.

in between our homeschool classes, i sat and made this happy pumpkin pot holder, from 100% recycled wool. it was originally going to be a pillow, but... i have way to much clutter sitting around... and ugh, so well.... i thought, maybe a pot holder would be nice. and it is. i used it when i pulled out my piping hot, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. smile, wink, nod.

wild turkey and green friendly rebel!

i just made a batch of these 100% recycled wool pin cushions! they were a blast to make... deciding on colors and recycled thread! the process of felting the fabric together wasn't green friendly... my whirlpool dryer can vouch for that... but sometimes a girl and her dryer, has to rebel against green in the name of cuteness.

below: a snap of the top. which is silly-cute. and frankly, the most interesting part of the palm-sized craft.

hopefully, i'll be selling some of these in my etsy shop. if not, i know the ladies in my circle would appreciate them for a little extra christmas gift.

now... it's off on a homeschool fieldtrip. tommie and i will be dissecting a wild turkey and plucking it's feathers this morning. it was roadkill. and the person who found it thought we would just love using it for a homeschool lesson. you bet your sweet bippy, we'll be taking pictures... stay tuned.

30-second seed bottle!

i love quick crafts.

i love thrifty-recycled crafts.

and, i love stupid humor. that said, i recycled this vinegar bottle into a dried flower seed container. i'll sprinkle the variety of seeds in my wildflower bed in the spring. i crudely cut up a vintage cowboy magazine, dotted the black and white picture with pastel chalk and slapped some modge podge on it. i honestly think the whole project took 30 seconds. the seed bottle now sits on my basement shelf, in my pantry...eagerly waiting for spring. smile, wink, nod!

saturday craft!

i'm always inspired by the modge podge rocks blog! she has an enormous amount of ideas. and well, since it was a rainy, dreary, damp fall day yesterday (see the maple leaves on my patio?).... i decided to try my hand at modge-podging! yahoo!

my blue eyes spotted a set of coasters at goodwill. .19 cents each. fair enough. then... i pulled out an old black and white vintage book...started cutting up weird pictures, filled them in with pastel chalk...and mod-podge over them!



these snaps were taken when the project was still wet...when dried they look just perfect!

i'll either use them myself or give them as a gift to someone crazy!

love those quick weekend crafts!

visit modge podge rocks: click here!

shabby chic refrigerator magnets!

i had a blast all by myself today... making homemade shabby chic refrigerator magnets. recycled at that!

find a piece of newspaper. i chose a page from brad's farm journal newspaper, all because i didn't want to use anything depressing from the regular everyday newspaper. nor did i want edward kennedy or michael jackson, or hurricane danny on my fridge....


next... saturate the newspaper with your favorite acrylic paints (i watered mine down a bit)... and then sprinkled gold glitter all over the paint... then waited for the paint to dry.

i cut out randomly shaped flowers of different sizes, then wadded them up and unfolded them... next i took needle and embroidery floss (hot pink) and sewed a vintage button to the center of each! i attached a magnet (from the craft store) to the back of each flower.....

then the best part... hanging them on the refrigerator! i loved doing this little project. i think the flowers would be an adorable "bow" on a plain brown paper gift bag! smile, wink, nod!

p.s. this morning i was dehydrating more zucchini chips... i plugged in the dehydrator... left it on the back porch, so i didn't have to deal with the fan running on it all day. i went back and the motor was burning up.... leaving the entire back porch filled with smoke and a dreadful toxic smell. i quickly unplugged it and threw it out the back door! i'm thankful i listened to my inner voice last night... i almost plugged it in while we were sleeping and my gut instinct said..."nah, you better not." thank's be to God.

i'm on etsy!

what's new today?
i listed bunches on ebay. watched shakespere in love video from goodwill. oh my! excellent! started a new rug hooking project: a shabby chic fall, floral purse. oh, and opened a store on etsy.com. if you scroll down to the bottom of this blog... you can sneak a peek at what i have for sale. of course, feel free to purchase, something too!

here's the direct link to my etsy store: hyper jane's on etsy! my store name is from a boutique i owned (1994-1998) before tommie was born. i'll be adding more to it on and off...so be sure to check back or add it to your favorites!

smile, wink, nod!

rags!

just finished the last touches on my rag hooked rug, tonight! i've been working on it since my adventure in northern michigan...at boy scout camp! it's true... i spent many hours around the adult campfire hooking this and even propped my flashlight up in my tent to hook. addicted, yes. i used bits and pieces of wool strips, old dresses and tee-shirts and a tablecloth. in real life, the colors are a little perkier! smile, wink, nod!

not spaghetti.... not even close!

no.... this isn't a pot of skanky looking spaghetti.

it's actually 100% wool yarn, that i found a goodwill. .35 cents a skein... i bought several (plus) skein's with this idea in mind:

one of my goals this summer, was to self-teach myself how to dye with kool-aid. i have an opportunity to learn how to crochet at our homeschool co-op... although i haven't asked the instructor... i'm sure there's always room for one more student, right? and, i've also had an invitation extended to me from brad's uncle, to learn how to knit-a-winter-reversible-winter-hat-on-a-loom. which, i look forward to.

for now, i will use this yarn to bind a rug that i've been hand-hooking. i'll post snaps of it when i'm done!

you have no idea how beautiful this yarn was... hanging in my apple tree to dry! just beautiful.... at least to my blue eyes.

so.... if you're interested in learning how to do this (so darn easy and fun!) here is the site i used: how to dye with kool-aid!

sand candles and one good friend...

first things first! thanks LISA! for fixing my blog comments. once again, i can now receive and read and try to respond to what your write. thank-you, thank-you lisa... i owe you big time!

second things second! my niece, nephews and sister-in-law were in for a couple of days this week... they live in chicago. we always try to do something funky and memorable. you know... the type of stuff they'll remember when they're all 79 years old, sitting around, talking about the good old days, while eating a jello fruit salad at a family reunion. can't you just picture what i mean?

so with this visit, the kids (and me, too!) made candles. i've had this on my to-do list forever. today it came into fruition. this is a really cheap craft. all the kids 11-21 had a blast! i chose to make the bright colored candles above!

thanks to this blogger: that artist woman for her easy directions/instructions and her fab how-to pictures.

seven things.

seven things i did this weekend:

1. watched the dvd, "mama mia!" i loved abba when i was young and goofy. still do... only now i'm old and goofy! and how much fun did the entire cast seem to be having when they danced and whirled through the greek island singing "dancing queen." one song i forgot about and love is... "the winner takes it all." although i'm not sure that's the real title... the song empowers me. and, i've done my fair share of dancing to this song!

2. ironed a huge basket of clothes during a saturday afternoon rainstorm. tried to watch, "tea with mussolini." couldn't get into it.

3. ordered a few new homeschool books. story starters by karen andreola and horizons math grade six.

4. bought these awesome shoes in the picture... don't ask me why the photo shows them discolored... in real life, they're not. found them at goodwill for $2.99. i think they'll look awesome with a pair of boot-legged cut jeans this fall!

5. finished anita shreve's book, "the last time they met." it was absolutely excellent.

6. started another new book, "animal,vegetable, miracle."

7. went for a boat ride at my mom's. enjoyed a big spaghetti dinner tonight with her and her husband.

how was your weekend? i wish you could answer... but my comment tab is missing in action. lisa... help!

i found a super cute craft while i was at the 4H barn this week... took a snap of it... and thought it would be fun to make! wanna see what i'm talking about? click on my twisted education blog or click here!

shabby chic rug hooking!

Look what I've learned how to do! My mom taught me how to rug hook...the new england primitive style! She's been hooking 9 years and travels around to different rug hooking classes and schools. And, her work is really the best of the best... and I'm not just saying that because she's "mom!" her rugs are much richer in color... to go with her decor. but, my house is a little more shabby. hence, the whimsical colors.

over the fourth of july, she taught me how to draw patterns...the pattern i did is just a free hand doodle i did. she also shared her wool (below) with me. and taught me how to hook away! originally, i was going to make a pillow... but instead, i'm going to use this as a chair pad!

different textures really, really appealed to me... budget friendly! above: i used an old green tee shirt i had, the peach is a gingham cotton dress i bought and never wore and the yellow is raffia. thanks mom! i'm loving my new craft!