Awards and birthdays

Friday evening was the awards for the jr high musical. Matt and Rachel didn't win anything, but they had fun working behind the scenes. We then went to Dairy Queen, along with a whole bunch of other jr highers.


Last night we had my dad and James' birthday party. We combine since the dates are only 2 weeks apart. James got the rocket that he wanted. He'll have to build it and get ready for the Cub Scout rocket launch next spring. He also got some Legos, Bionacles, and Pokemon toys.


Here's my dad with his gifts. My sister got him some garden items. He's holding frog statue for his flower beds (I had to take a frog photo for my crazy cousin, Michele, who use to collect frogs).

Today I need to catch up on laundry. It's beginning to pile up. I still need to get the candle mats ready to list on Ebay tonight. I found some large mailing envelopes for the large USA candle mat at Walgreens yesterday. They were on clearance, and I didn't need to buy a package of 100! Gotta like that. Sometimes it can be a challenge to find the right packaging for mailing crafts, so I bought several envelopes.

Have a great weekend!

Baking fabric

I finished this candle mat! I LOVE how it turned out. I was aging it with coffee/vanilla, then baking it (to dry it) this afternoon. Andrew comes home from school, and without hesitation or question, says, " oh, you're baking fabric again." Yep, he has it right! :) This is a large candle mat, about 11 inches across. I think it will hit ebay later this weekend.

This is another crow and star candle mat - about 8 inches across.


This is a mini candle mat, about 5 inches across that I started. I'll see how far I get later tonight.

I took Matt to Walmart tonight to buy some pants. The 30x30 are still too big, but the boys size 16 are almost too small. I can't find anything in between. He needs jeans, so that should be fun to try to find.

Tomorrow is my last day for the year being the ice cream cashier at school. But, I did find a job posting for the library this afternoon. It would be 3 mornings per week, which would be perfect. Hopefully I'll get an interview, but I don't know how many people will apply. It's a tough market out there!

Whatcha working on Wednesday?

Last night was had 19 people for a barbecue for Cub Scouts. Yes, on a school night. It took place for their last den meeting. I don't know if we'll do it next year or not. This year, there were only 4 boys in the den, and next year, we might have to combine with another den that lost their leader. That would make about 11 boys - yikes! I had put out some Memorial Day/patriotic decorations. These are some star bowl fillers I had made last year.


I finished stitching this candle mat last night. I combined a couple different graphics to get the vines, stars and crows. Do you like the light blue lines? That will disappear once I age it in coffee and vanilla.

I stayed home today and stitched up this. I still need to finish the front - maybe I'll finish it late tonight. I'm thinking of turning this into a large candle mat/table mat. I was going to make a pillow, but now want to do something different. I'm liking the button hole stitch, so maybe I'll use that to stitch it to a background. I had used this pattern as framed stitchery for a friend. She had a party for her adopted daughter when she became an official US citizen. Now that it's patriotic/americana season for decorating, I thought I would stitch another one up. It looks so blah without some cranberry color. That's the last color to stitch, then the colors will pop! :)

Punch Needle Cat for Ebay!

I just finished this punch needle kitty to list on ebay tonight. I sold a couple stitchery candle mats this past week, so I took the extra on off my selling blog and listed it on ebay. It already has a bid! Makes me motivated to make more.

It's back to school tomorrow for the kids. Two weeks from Wednesday, and school will be out for the summer. Hard to believe I'm saying summer, since it's cool outside and cloudy. The pool doesn't open until June 6 (or so), so it doesn't need to get warm until then.

Tomorrow will be busy with the Cub Scout den (and families) coming for a barbeque. I cleaned today, but will have to shop tomorrow and set up. Add in a couple hours of work during the lunch hour, and that will keep me busy all day. At least Walmart is empty during the weekday mornings! :)

Blooms and birds

It's a nice long Memorial Day weekend! Yesterday I spent the entire day edging the backyard, pulling weeds, and spreading a little mulch. My little pink flowers bloomed in the garden. I don't know what these are, but it' s a nice small mound that does well. It isn't invasive, but it has grown in the past couple years since I planted it.

My chives bloomed, too. Pretty purple flowers. When I thin them out every couple years, the yard waste bag smells like onions! But I like that they are a little taller, and the green stay all summer long.

This is a morning dove that has built a nest under our deck. She's busy sitting on some eggs. The morning doves don't attack if we're in the backyard, so I don't mind. It's the robin that's attempting to build a nest high on the gutter that's getting me mad. The first nest blew off in a wind storm. The robin went right back and started building again. It's leaving twigs all over the patio, and poop on the siding. Yuck. Maybe I'll get out the hose the go after it! :)

The above photos were taken by Matt. Russ and Andrew have my camera, and are at a shooting match in WI this weekend. Matt gets worried that I'll take his camera, so he took photos. He's very possessive about his nice Canon Powershot A590!

I haven't done any crafting this week at all. This is my last week of lunchroom at school cashiering for ice cream, so maybe I'll have some more time in the next couple weeks. I started a cat punch needle a couple weeks ago, but need some more floss to finish it.


I got the school registration forms for next year. Since the referendum failed, they increased fees (once again). It's now going to cost $822 just to sign up for school. That doesn't include assignment notebooks, gym suits, yearbooks, home ec fees, supplies, etc. Ouch!

Have a wonderful long Memorial Day weekend!

Shelf decorations

I added some things to my new shelf! I searched around the house to see what I had, and what I could rearrange. I manged to find an extra basket, stacking boxes, a snow goose, and some wood blocks that I had made. I had some extra pip berries to add to the pegs on the bottom. Now to search for a tiny basket for the peg, and I'll make a punch needle pinkeep to add to another peg. The shelf nicely fills in the empty space on the wall. (kinda hard to get the whole picture) When I find a larger barn star for above the deck doors, I'll add the smaller rusty barn star to the back of the shelf. Now to find another project ~ that doesn't cost a lot of money! :)

I added some butterfly bowl fillers to my selling blog this afternoon. I can finally think about summer, now that the weather is warm.

Tonight is the American Idol finale. I've heard Keith Urban will be singing, possibly a duet with Kris. I'll watch just for Keith!

Gardens and fences

Here's my box garden in the backyard. I've decided to take photos when each flower blooms. Each year I forget what's planted, so now I'll have a record! My pink tulips are blooming, as well as some Lilly of the Valley in the front right corner.


This is the sidewalk leading to the back patio. The tulips already bloomed here. I also have some mums, purple coral bells, and some mini day lillies. I've always wanted a flowering vine, but didn't have a trellis. I got the pickets on freecycle this week, and today I screwed them into some wood (I spent a whopping $1.34 on the wood) to make a fence. I bought a clematis to climb on the fence to add some color. I'll have to buy some plastic vine holders, to help it stick to the fence - that might be more than the fence cost me.


I finished Rachel's chalkboard for her room. (her bed isn't made - it rarely is). I also hung up a photo display board that we found at Goodwill last weekend for $2.99. There wasn't even a scratch on it. It has a pretty yellow/pink floral print fabric. It picks up the pink accents in her room.

We put up the shelf I had painted. Now to decide on what to put on the shelf and the pegs.

Too bad I don't have photos or a video of my "hot" son, Andrew. He went to youth group this week, and the game/activity was trying different hot/spicy foods. It started out mild, and worked the way up to 11 different items. The last was drop of Mad Dog's Revenge. Andrew went and did all 11 levels!

A few finishes & selling blog

Last night I finished this pinkeep (an adorable pattern by Primitive Bettys), then aging it with Distress It. I punched it with 6 strands of floss, and backed it with black wool. The edges have a black floss cord that I made.

I finished this candle mat with a blanket stitch. The backing is a navy and white star fabric to compliment the patriotic theme.

I've decided to start another blog - sort of. It will be for displaying my crafts that are finished and ready for selling. I don't have a website, and want to try something along with selling on Ebay. I've figured out how to use blogger, so this is the easiest route. I will post photos, descriptions, and price. Just email me, and I will send an invoice through Paypal (so you can use debit/credit cards). Or you can send money orders. I'll be working this week to get a couple items on it. The blog is
www.appleberrycottageshop.blogspot.com
You can either bookmark it, or add me you your "follow" list so you can see updates.

Below is a project that I started for Rachel's room. She rearranged her room last weekend. So, one wall needs something on it. We went to the Goodwill store on Friday evening, and found a picture & frame. We threw out the picture (musty and smelly!), but kept the frame and glass. I painted the frame white, and now have to slightly distress the beading on it. (it has a couple rows of "beads" on the front)



Back against the wall is the glass for the frame. I primed it, then used several coats of chalkboard paint to turn it into a chalkboard for above her bed. It's a lot easier to paint the glass than to cut wood. I don't enjoy woodworking, and don't have the proper tools. So, painting is the easy way. :) The frame was $3.99, and the paint was 67 cents. I already had some primer paint and chalkboard paint. She'll have a nice large chalkboard for under $5.00. Now Matt wants me to paint a chalkboard directly onto his wall. That might be a good project for when school is out.

This afternoon we're heading to my mom's and dad's for a simple dinner for Mother's Day. Then it's back to school tomorrow. Only 4 1/2 weeks left of school!

Crow on a vintage grater

I finished this primitive punch needle. I love the look of hooked rugs (but don't have hardwood floors, so I don't have any), so I drew up this crow and punched it using 6 strands of floss. I even tried something different with the Valdani thread, and used 3 strands of that together (not the 3 strand floss, but the regular Valdani in the large spool). The effect is very textured and prim. He goes on Ebay tonight.

Today Russ and I went to the Kane County Flea Market this afternoon. We hadn't gone in years. It was such a beautiful day, that it was nice to enjoy the outdoors. The Kane County Market is a lot of antiques, along with the usual flea market items. (gotta love those people selling socks next to some really nice antique furniture!) I ended up buying a couple more vintage graters for future projects. Russ bought a vintage shooting jacket. He thought it was worth more than the person was asking, and is taking chance of selling it - after he cleans it up. There's another one on Ebay for $275. I doubt we would get that for it, but who knows! I'll have to put the flea market on the calendar for next month to see what we find.

My first penny rug

I finished my first penny rug! I'll keep this one and put it in my bedroom. I'll need to buy some wool felt, but there's only one store that sells it around. It's 80% wool. I know there's another brand that's only 20% wool, and cheaper, but I'm not sure of the quality difference between the two. For now, I'll start another punch needle to attach to the grater I had found.

Today is a half day of school for the kids. Rachel wants to see the movie 17 Again with some friends this afternoon. I want to plant a couple evergreens in the front yard that I just picked up this morning. But before planing them, I will have to remove some ground cover. At least the dirt is really wet, so everything should be easy to dig.