Flubber - the best gift ever?

As usual, I found many of my gift ideas online - this one was no exception.  I planned to make some for some of the younger nephews, and kept some for Madeline to play with.  It was a hit at our place, at the Aitkens, in Grenfell with all the kids (M took her blob out there), and with the Friesens when they came.  Maybe next year everyone will get some!

M helped make the first batch.

All the kids loved it - the little ones were really funny.

Cool...

We made another batch with the Friesens.

Silas' mad skills.

Six hands work better than two.

Can we get any more creative with it??

Here's the recipe for you (from this blog, via pinterest):

 

Flubber

Mixture 1:

1 ½ cups warm water 2 cups Elmer’s Glue  
Food coloring
 
Mixture 2:
3 tsp Borax
1 cup warm water

Stir mixture 1 together in a bowl, and mixture 2 in another bowl. Make sure both are mixed well, then pour them together.  There is no need to stir the mixture  because it is the chemical reaction that actually makes the flubber, but you can if you want.  It's kind of hard to resist.  When it is in a glob, work it for 2-3 minutes. Initially it feels wet but it eventually dries up to the final product.

(If you live in Regina and want 3 tsp of Borax instead of buying the whole box, I'd be happy to share!)

DIY: Passive Humidifier for a Piano

This is a passive humidifier.

This is a passive humidifier in the context of our piano.

A passive humidifier is something you can make for free at home to keep your piano at the right humidity, which helps keep it in tune.  Our piano tuner told me how years ago, and since I was reminded of it when I had to open up the piano top remove it before it went away yesterday, I thought I'd put a helpful little tutorial up here for you and your dry, going out of tuneinstrument.

1 - Collect 3 2L pop bottles.  Cut the tops off.
2 - Get one wire hanger and cut the long piece free, leaving just the curve on the ends.
3 - Punch holes on each side of the pop bottles and thread the wire through.
4 - Get 3 strips of felt, long enough to hang over the wire and down 3/4 of the way to the bottom of the bottle.  I used a few scrap pieces sewn together to make it a little thicker.  These are your wicks.
5 - Fill the bottles with water; one almost to the top, one 3/4 full, and one half full.  Every month or so check the levels and top up the lowest one.

There you go - simple as pie!

This is our barren living room.  The piano was picked up yesterday, given away to whoever would take it off our hands, the same way we got it.  We plan to get a smaller electric one that will fit in that spot better, and sound way better.  Plus, it will be way easier to move if we ever need to do that.  We will watch for boxing day sales and see if we can't find a good deal then.  Madeline had her recital last night, and has a couple weeks off lessons, so not being able to practice will not be a hardship for her at all.  While that spot is open it's a good chance to fix up the paint, put on the baseboards and the grate.  So much work on this house...

And finally, this is M going through all the stuff that was in the piano bench.  Lots of books and recital lists and broken pencils - enough to keep her entertained for a while!

A Counter for Christmas!

Sean brought home the counter top today!  It`s not attached yet, but set in place, and I used it to make Butterscotch Treats and Poppycock.  I imagine it`s a very happy counter top, getting a new family for Christmas, and being welcomed with such yummy love.  It`s a dark grey, so it blends nicely with the black and stainless appliances.

I`ve made the Christmas food list, and tomorrow I`ll be making the potatoes for Christmas day at Carla`s, Christmas afternoon I`ll put together the marshmallow salad for Boxing Day at the Wards, and before church on Sunday I`ll make the apple crisp.  Not too bad.  I already made a batch of poppycock this week to take as gifts for my co-workers - today`s batch is for us.  

After Christmas I`ll post photos of some of the stuff I`ve made as gifts.  Don`t want to spoil any surprises just yet!  One more to make, but it`s to go to Winnipeg, so I`ve got an extra day or two for that. 

I will say, though, that I love vinyl!  A friend saw the parent / child aprons I made last year and asked me to make some for her and her two daughters.  No problem - I whipped those up last weekend for her.  She also has a little boy who needed a holster for his gun... so she brought me some brown vinyl when she came with the apron fabric she had picked out.  I impressed myself with my pattern design skills (must have got that from Mom), and I loved working with the vinyl - it`s smooth like butter.  I`m going to have to get me some of that to play around with.  Watch out - next Christmas just may all be decked out in vinyl.

These three are all the same - reversible with pockets on both sides.  M is my always willing model.

Oh, I do have to tell you that I rocked the serger today.  And by rocked I mean that it had a broken thread which I successfully re-threaded, and then when that bobbin promptly ran out of thread, threaded it again.  And, when another thread broke, I re-threaded that one.  And the end one, when it ran out of thread.  And finally the fourth one, when it wasn`t connecting the way it should.  It didn`t even feel like the machine was my enemy, either - we were strange cohorts, in a joint effort to boost my confidence in my serger rocking abilities.  Hooray for me, and thanks, Singer!

Happy Gifts

I made the best little gifts yesterday - have a look (except if you're in book club!!!):

Little Book Club Ornaments

With Pictures Of All The Books We Read This Year Inside

And Wrapped So Prettily!

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The first screw just went in attaching cabinets to the wall.  This week they should all go in and the plumbing done.  The counter top won't get here till early next week, so I won't have that or a sink until the week before Christmas - the race is on to see if it will be done by Christmas or not!  As soon as the cabinets are in, though, I can put back all the stuff that is currently in the living room and 'move in'.


Madeline is out volunteering - she goes the second Sunday of the month to help with the service our church puts on at the rehab hospital.  She loves being there, and I'm glad for the couple who takes her along (and usually out for lunch after) each month.  Nice for her to have her own serving thing, and the friendship of this great couple, too.


Tonight is her Christmas concert - she is doing a duet at the beginning (which you can watch online if you can't be here to experience it in person... 6:30, westhillchurch.ca).

Or so I thought.

I thought we were done with the destruction. Apparently a bit of the wall into the living room needed removal, too. Sean is so good at getting things done right.  This first photo shows the end cabinets and sink being taken out, and the second is the new look of the living room.  The other view of the living room looks like a garage sale, with all the stuff we need out of these cupboards out on the coffee table.

I just finished a great book and I just started another great book.  My thoughts on those coming soon!

Homemade Christmas

Christmas is wonderful - celebrating what Jesus did for us by being born a human, and getting to see family.

The gift giving side of Christmas is not high on my priority list; my love languages are more in line with physical touch, words of affirmation and quality time; gifts is at the very bottom.  (A hug and sitting around the living room?  Perfect.)

I do enjoy giving gifts when I can come up with something homemade and perfect (it's hard being a perfectionist)!  I love being excited for someone to open the gift from me because I put thought and effort into it, rather than being half apologetic because I couldn't think of something better.  (It's also true that I think too much.)

I also like a simple life, and am trying hard to come up with ideas of things I can make without getting frazzeled by 'the list'.

Today I thought I would share with you my strategy for this year:  the in-ter-net.  I just googled 'gifts to make' and got a great idea for the boys.  I found something online a couple of weeks ago that I just had to make for K, and bought enough supplies to make some to sell at my craft sales.  I found something for just about everyone on my list; now I just have to get making!

I do recognize that not everyone appreciates homemade, and don't worry, I would rather spend money on something someone will actually use than give them something I made that will be junk in their home.  I am as concerned about usefulness as well as being frugal.  :)

I'm not intending to go on a big rant here; I don't want you thinking that you have to give me something homemade or I won't appreciate it.  I would be happy to open anything, because I know it comes from someone who cared enough to think of me.  I would be very happy with a mixed CD or baking or a family photo for my wall.  I would be honored to know that someone gave a donation to a charity (water projects or education in Africa?) in my name.  I would laugh if we got money to go towards our kitchen renos...

Here are a few sites to check out:
Advent Conspiracy -  be sure to check out the video.  Our preaching series for Advent is going to be on the four themes laid out in AC - Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All.  I'm very excited to see if our church grasps the idea.
How About Orange - fun stuff on this one.  I like the printables.
Instructables - "Homemade gifts are the best" is what they say!
whip up - I like that most of these blogs have a list of blogs on the side so you could get lost in crafty-blogginess for a good long time.
Craftster
Craft Gossip

At Thanksgiving, playing the family trivia game I made for Christmas last year.

I would love to hear your thoughts on Christmas gifts, family traditions, or sites where you find inspiration.

X is for eXcavation eXperiences

Kitchen Renos.  It's actually kind of fun to be destructive instead of cleaning!  The floor tiles are not coming off as easily as I had hoped, but the baseboards and chair rail are all gone, and I discovered a new layer of wallpaper behind the fridge and stove.  A shiny blue eighties flower print. 

It was at that point that I imagined people being like this kitchen - we keep renovating ourselves and adding layers of identity, covering up the old with who we want to be next.  Trying to stay fresh and current, but not always doing a thorough job of it and doing a deep cleansing down to the core of the problem.  The last few remodels in this kitchen have added wallpaper over other wallpaper and over lino, a chair rail and some paint.  This time, though, we're taking down the walls right to the studs, making sure the insulation is adequate and vapor barrier is in place, then putting in fresh walls and new paint, and new floors (and probably new cabinets, which were not planned for; anyone want to finance that bit???).

We've been talking about restoration and becoming the 'Me I Want to Be' lately, and hard as it sounds, we need to put ourselves through this process too.  We need to let God strip away all the layers that we've accumulated, clean out the junk that has stuck where we can't see, and start to rebuild us from the inside out.  New and fresh and clean.  We will be more useful, but also will enjoy being who we are.

V is for Vintage

We are doing some updating in our kitchen this month.  We've got plans for new flooring in the kitchen, hall and bathroom, we're taking down the wall paper and border and painting the walls, and probably give the cabinets a new coat of paint, inside and out.  We've also got a new top for the counters and a new sink and faucet, and will do a new back splash. 

Here's me taking a deep breath and hoping it doesn't end up much bigger than that.

This is the 'Before' shot.

The destruction begins.

Here's where the vintage comes in!  Any of you have wallpaper like this in your home?

the destruction begins

I have a story for you. It's not a finished story; it's in the middle. I will tell you the story up to the minute, then you can check back for updates.

It started on Thursday night. Madeline went downstairs to pick out some games to take to school for their month end party. "Mom," she calls upstairs, "the floor is wet!" Either the sewer had backed up, or the basement was leaking, which it's never done before, but we have had some rain... Yes, it's the sewer. Then Sean gets home, and we move everything out of the corner and Sean calls Roto Rooter. He'll be over as soon as he's done his other overtime job. He does his thing and tells us that the cardboard tube covered in tar (seriously?) has collapsed on the bottom, so we'll need to have the line replaced. Oh, yeah - overtime is $175 an hour.

Sean vacuumed up the water in his shop vac and dumped it a bunch of times. Then the carpet got rolled back and we ripped up and threw out the underlay and the lino tiles over the concrete. There's a nice crack on our concrete floor.

Friday morning I rented a Rug doctor and steam cleaned the carpet, then did it again after work, along with the hall, stairs and porch; figured why not, since I paid to rent it anyway! Sean started making calls to get quotes from the people who come and fix things and leave a big 'grave' of a mess on your lawn. Then we went to the farm Friday night and Saturday and didn't worry about it.

Sunday I picked up some kitty litter which we sprinkled under the carpet and in the laundry / storage room which was a bit damp, too, and that did a good job of taking away the last of the damp and odor.

Monday and today Sean talked to people about prices and now we've got our week laid out. The tree cutting down guy is coming tomorrow, and the trenchers and fixers are coming Thursday or Friday. The line goes right under our big (hugely tall) evergreen, so it has to go. I'm sad, because it's a big beautiful tree, but at the same time, our house faces north and the tree blocks the biggest window. Our living room is slightly cave like. I'm hoping having the tree gone will improve that. And pine trees kill grass. We've been fighting to grow grass on that part of the lawn for a decade. Once the 'grave' is gone, there is hope for beautiful grass!

So, because tree cutter guy is coming tomorrow, tonight after supper we went out in the dark and got to work. Remember all that nice landscaping we did this summer? It all got undone. Sean took the steps off the deck, I moved all the bricks to a corner of the yard, and Madeline moved all the mulch to a safe place. And then, Sean pounded out all the slats of our fence and we threw pretty much the whole thing in the back of the truck. Now, we are planning to re do our fence anyway, and we had talked about just ripping out the front and not replacing it. We hadn't decided on when, but now it's half done. The truck was full or we'd have done it all. We'll have to get the other half done soon so it's doesn't look quite so awkward. Here's some shots from tonight; check back soon for more drastic changes to our home front!!

 Before the destruction begins.  (Fun big work lights!)

 Sean with the steps off, adjusting under the deck; Madeline bagging the mulch from around the tree.

 

 After:  mulch raked over, bricks moved, steps off...

 

 The fence, before.

 

The lack of fence, after.  Notice the emptyness around the tree, too.  Tomorrow the whole tree will be gone!  Crazy.

The Weekend - or - a long ramble about not much.

We had planned to go camping this weekend, but Sean got sick this week so we (happily on my part, I must confess) canned those plans. We were going to have to come in a couple of times anyway...

Friday night we had a fire in the back yard and made smores. It was the first time we've had a fire this summer. Pathetic! Glad the warm weather is finally here now.

Saturday M started swimming lessons. She's at the Lawson pool, which also has a fieldhouse and weightroom, so our big plan is to get a pass and work out while she's swimming. Of course we didn't this week because Sean was sick, and we will both miss a couple of Saturdays for other things, but here's hoping we get some good workouts in.

Then we headed out to Sheldon and Lynsey's place for a housewarming at the acreage. Good times - we got to see family and meet her parents and grandparents. The kids had lots of fun playing ball and soccer (boys), UNO and water fights (girls) and quad-ing.

Oh, and I got my hair done on Thursday, and it's pretty much the same color as Lynsey's - she got hers done on Wednesday. Yep. Unplanned, and it's not the first time we've looked similar. Her's is still short, though, and I've been letting mine grow. I should post pics now, right? Soon... (It's just a straight dark brown, no streaks or anything this time, and looks a bit red in the sun.)

Church was good this morning - the newsletter I've been working on for a while now went out today. Now it's on to the next projects... our big fall church kickoff is out at the camp Sunday afternoon, so that's what I'll be doing this week. Also meeting with our tech guy to learn how to manipulate our website. Fun. I'm looking forward to messing around on there.

And this afternoon we went and shopped around a bit - I picked up a new album for me at Michaels (a 12x12 ring binder) and we got M an album, too, both American Crafts brown linen (her's is post-bound). She made a couple of pages with us a couple of weeks ago, but she made 12x12 and the album she has is 8.5x11. So I got her a big one, but picked up a decent price kit - 50% off coupon of course - I try to never pay full price there! Now she's got some stuff to work with and we went through photos on the computer picking out some to print off for both of us. It'll be nice to do that together once in a while.

I did feel like we were somewhat productive this weekend. I re-screened M's window (it's not in yet, though) and worked on the stairs. When we got the floors refinished, he didn't do the backs of the stairs. So I'm sanding them up and we'll cover a few holes and paint. We've put it off way too long, but it's going pretty quickly.