SUBWAY SIGNS

           

These subway signs, tokens of New York City, are $795 each from Restoration Hardware.

They are approximately 32" wide and 83" tall. The street names are printed on heavyweight card stock. The story of the original New York City subway signs can be found here. However, the great thing about making them yourself is you can adjust the size to fit your space, and you can personalize the street names for favorite spots in your own life and city.

But, I was out shopping yesterday at one of my favorite shops in the Milwaukee area, Harvest Home.  She has a great collection of Subway-type signs.  But rather than showing locations, her signs are about highlighting "rules to live by".  I liked this one, so I decided to support someone else's dream today!

HOWEVER!  You COULD make that!  So . . . .

Below, you can see a roughed out version of my "Subway Sign".  The spacing didn't transfer over to the blog perfectly, and there are some "east/west" arrows that are on the document that didn't come through.  But you get the idea.  It shows our own personal home trail through the years.  Someday . . . I WILL paint this sign.  It begins with my husband's childhood home location, followed by mine, and then the trail we have left together.  I love it!  It tells our story!  However, I'd better leave a little room at the bottom of the sign.  Our story isn't done yet.  We have been accused of having a little gypsy blood coursing through our veins.  So, I guess you never know when we'll be packing up and moving on . . .

R R D E W I T T  NEBR

P  A  L  A  C  E     AVE 

M  I  N  N  E  S  O  T  A

EASTBOUND TO WISC

2425  NORTH TO  2633

  NORTH 81ST  ST 

     W  A  U  W  A  T  O  S  A        

 WESTBOUND 

NORTH  AVENUE 

124th      S  T  R  E  E  T

B U R L E I G H

LAMPLIGHTER 

P  A  R  K

APPLEGATE   L A N E

 B R O O K F I E L D

  

A NIGHT MAKING ORNAMENTS

We had such a fun time making ornaments last night.  I figured it would be a rather quiet evening, with everyone concentrating on making just the right folds etc.    You know . . . Christmas music playing softly in the background . . .  people nibbling on cookies here and there as they busily, quietly, and thoughtfully worked on their creations.   Well, not so!  It was one of the most laughter invoking, disorderly evenings I've had in a long time!    If this had been my classroom - a few people would have had to have a SEVERAL time-outs, or even a trip to the principal's office.  But when the principal is one of the culprits, what can you do?  

No one wanted their faces shown in the pictures.  Imagine that.  But, here's the workspace!

Add a ton of glitter and you get the idea . . . 

 So, here's a run-down of the spoils of the evening.  It's fairly self-explanatory, so I'll just show photos of the steps and then let the pictures do the talking.  The great graphics came from The Graphics Fairy,
of course!

Ornament #1

Ornament #2

Ornament #3

Santa Claus How-To1. Fold a 4-inch stick of puffy red chenille inside a 7-inch one. Tuck in a 1 1/2-inch piece of wooden stick for a face. About a third of the way down, twist a 4-inch chenille stick once around to make arms; wrap torso with a 10-inch stick.

2. For the feet, loosely wrap narrow black chenille stick around a pair of needle-nose pliers, then shape coil into boots. Use bits of white pipe cleaner and white craft glue to add the details to his suit. A cotton ball supplies his beard and hat.

Ornament #4

Snowman How-To1. Fold a standard pipe cleaner in half. Slide a wooden bead over the fold for a head, leaving a loop at the top. For the arms, twist a 3-inch pipe cleaner once under the bead; then wind a full pipe cleaner around the torso, below the arms.

2. Shape the hat from a 6-inch strip of narrow black chenille that has been wrapped around a pencil.

3. Use hot glue to attach wire-tinsel skates; crimp up the feet for the best bond. Draw in a face with a felt-tip pen. Add a cane and a striped chenille scarf, and off he glides.

The last one was the favorite of everyone.  The Anthropologie inspired Book Page Christmas Tree.

The base of the tree was made from a spool and a wooden skewer.  This was hot glued onto a disk of cardboard for stability.  We glued a strip of glittery pipe cleaner around the edge to frame the base.  Then, of course, lots of glitter on the base.  

Lots.  Of.  Glitter.Then one by one pull the graduated squares onto the skewer, leaving a little space between each square.And there you have it!  It was a busy night (with lots of off-task time) but everyone went home with five ornaments!  Thank you ladies, for your participation!

ROCK CANDY CHRISTMAS TREES

I just had to post these great Christmas trees made by my friend, Jan, from McKinney, Texas.  We've done a lot of crafting together through the years and it's hard to be apart at Christmas when great project possibilities are everywhere!  She sent me these photos of trees she made with rock candy, hot glue, and some paper covered styrofoam cones.  (Don't try using hot glue directly on the styrofoam - the cones will melt.)  Aren't they beautiful?  

Jan purchased the other trees at Hobby Lobby, but we think they're probably very make-able too!  I think a little heavyweight watercolor paper is a possibility.  Or maybe some paper mache pulp and a leaf shape cookie cutter.  Felt?  Any other ideas?

 Tomorrow night is craft night at my house.  Five friends will be here working on some of the ornaments I blogged about here.  So I'll be taking lots of pictures and putting them on the blog in a day or two.  Check back soon . . .

MY DAD and 52 WEEKS OF MAIL

I recently saw this great idea on Etsy.  
52 WEEKS OF MAIL!

With almost all communication going by way of the email these days, the old fashioned art of a handwritten letter has gone by the wayside.  I think Christmas would be the perfect time to resurrect it.  Nothing beats opening up your mailbox and seeing the handwriting of your favorite people on an envelope.  You can go back to it again and again and relive the connection with that person.  Emails are flying back and forth between people every day, but holding the same piece of paper that a loved one actually held and sealed with a message meant just for you is something I miss.  

Some of my favorite saved letters are from my Dad.  He would have turned 86 years old tomorrow, but for almost 16 years now, the letters are the closest thing I have to being with him.  Probably more than anyone, my dad was the one who encouraged my creativity.  He would have loved Norma, and reading about the things I'm making, on this blog.  Most of his letters were not very long, but they were always full of loving and affectionate thoughts and encouragement.   

So, in memory of a great Dad (and letter writer) I'm going to give "52 Weeks of Mail" a try.  Maybe one of you will give it a try too!  Even for people living in the same town you do - there's nothing like getting a letter.  Email accounts are great, but there's nothing like an actual piece of paper a good friend, a son or daughter, or especially a loved mom or dad hand wrote a message on - just for you!

YOU COULD MAKE THAT!

(someone's day, that is!)

MITTENS AND A GOOD BOOK

                                                                                          

  

A good book + good friends + Christmas = Book Group Christmas Dinner

Last night my book group celebrated Christmas with our Annual Christmas Dinner/Book Group Meeting.  Over a beautiful dinner, we discussed a really good book that gave a lot of insight into the early married life of Ernest Hemingway through the eyes of his first wife.  It is a fictional book, but based on real events according to writings of his first wife, Hadley.  

In addition to the usual discussion of the month's chosen book, we bring another book - this one wrapped in plain newsprint, to exchange with each other.  So, you never know what new book you'll be bringing home with you that night.  This is followed by a gift exchange and this year I made mittens.  I wanted to use felted sweaters but I had too much trouble finding enough wool sweaters in the colors I would need to go with all their coats - so I opted for stretchy fleece instead.  So here are a few photos of the mittens I brought last night . . .

You can watch a very informative little video that will show you how to make the mittens by clicking here - pattern pieces are available at this site also.

Tomorrow, bright and early, we're off to Chicago!  It should be VERY festive down there with just 15 days until Christmas!  We'll be having lunch in The Walnut Room in Macy's again (so we can see the tree fully decorated) and stopping in at The Painted Lady.  Of course, pictures will follow . . .

MAKING CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

Trees are going up and the ornaments are coming out.  Along with all the decorating, I'm getting ready for another craft night with friends.  This time we're going to be putting together several ornaments - because you can never really have too many ornaments!  Here's a little preview of what's being planned:

Glittered Star
 (minus creepy looking lady in the middle)

Victorian Chenille Angels

7" Felted Christmas Tree

Paper Ball with Script

Santa Music Ornament

So, next week, one of my posts will show you the results of a fun night getting ready for Christmas with some good friends.   There will be photos and tutorials showing how to make each one, so come back to see our handiwork!

MONCHES AT CHRISTMAS

It was a relatively warm December day here in SE Wisconsin, rainy and sloppy.  It really didn't seem much like Christmastime but we fixed that with a trip out to Monches Farm's Holiday Open House.  It was jammed!  They had hot apple cider, cheese and crackers, a fire pit all ablaze, and Christmas trees.  But, as usual, best of all was the shop filled to the brim with decorated trees and other Christmas decor.  

I'm planning a craft night with my book group friends and got some great ideas.  Here are some pictures from the day - enjoy!

 The greens are nice, but the sled they're sitting on is beautiful!

My Santos Cage Doll needs some holiday bling!

A wooden candlestick, round wooden disc, and some decoupaged script and pictures?  Great idea for a  cake plate or cupcake server, and pretty easy to make. 

 A HUGE garden fairy!

Hot apple cider inside!

These last photos show some great craft night possibilities!

Sheet music flower ornaments.

A owl encased in a glass ball.  It could be made as a snow globe . . .

An old-fashioned pine cone snowman.

The photo doesn't do this ornament justice, but it looked like a jewelry box decoupaged with some antique clip art.  I'm sure the Graphics Fairy has some old postcards that would work well.

Martha Stewart has patterns and instructions for similar houses on her website.

More Graphics Fairy clip art with some glittered details?

I'm looking forward to getting back out to Monches next spring.  But for now, I have some decorating and crafting to do!  

There are only 22 days until Christmas!