AMANDA'S BASKETS: Snow, Snow, We Got Snow!!!

Friday, January 13, 2012

Snow, Snow, We Got Snow!!!

Remember the four inches we were supposed to get...well, add about ten inches to that and you might have the total!!!   And guess where my car was?   Right! In the street.   After the plows came by, the snow was packed up pretty high.

But with just a little shoveling and some great 4X4 (along with some direction from number one son), I was able to drive right out of the mess.   And even better, while I was driving around the block, someone came by and cleaned out where my car was parked so I could park right back where it was...this time without snow!!!!

Football this weekend.   Looks like we may have some good games...but then last Monday's night game between Alabama and LSU was supposed to be good.   Someone forgot to tell LSU that, unfortunately.

I'm still working on my Toilet Paper Rolls Journal.   I have decided that instead of a journal, I'm going to write a story and then make some finger puppets that go along with the story.   The story cards will be inside the rolls.   The puppets will be on the outside in the pockets.

So far I have decorated the open edges of the tubes...

I'm also going to hinge it. First I cut the rolls in half lengthwise. To add durability I covered them with fabric. After drying, I cut them in half and then folded each half in half. Each roll will have two pieces of the 'hinges' inserted. The pictures below show the hinging process thus far...

I have also begun to make the pockets. I cut a square of fabric, then using a brush, I applied Mode Podge to the wrong side, folded in half, right side out, applied more Mode Podge on the outside as well as some lace trim. After drying, I trimmed the pockets. I will then attach them with glue to the individual tubes.

I found this small book of card stock cards last week and thought it would make a neat small journal. And it was really cheap. The cards can be detached, but I think I will just use it as a journal and keep all the cards in the book.

Well, that's all for this week. If you're stuck inside, curl up and enjoy a book. Or, if you're like me you'll enjoy some football. Be sure to spend some time on yourself.

Thanks for visiting...

CRAFTING IDEAS

I am always looking for a small piece of paper to write down something which will later be disposed of. I decided to use some of the scrap paper of which I have a ton. I mostly use the paper for glueing projects. I decided to cut the paper into a small size. (Six pieces from a piece of copy paper.). But just having them sitting on my desk would get messy without a container. So, using a cardboard box, I cut it down to size and using a hot glue gun I glued the ends together. Using a picture from a magazine cut into pieces and stick craft glue, I glued the pieces to the box inside and out. I also used some decorative tape for the outside edges. And to finish the top corners which were not covered, I used straight pins with colorful tops. Looks nice and works well.

MAGAZINE IDEAS

(New) One article in the Farmer's Almanac 2024 is a list of trends. One I knew about is the trend to downsize in just about every area. Another trend that I was surprised about was called ''The Human Library' which offers people on loan to talk about specific subjects. Finally, more folks are adding pets to their family and as a result, stores are adding more pet food, toys and medication to their offerings. There's also a nice garden article which suggests mixing vegetables and flowers together for success.

RECIPE IDEAS

Have you every made Cherry Dump Cake. It calls for 2 cans of Cherry Pie Filling (21 ounces), a white cake mix, 1/4 -1/2 cup butter, melted & 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans. In a 9 by 13 pan, spread both cans of cherry pie filling. Add the melted butter to the cake mix and break apart the resulting mixture and crumble it evenly over the pie filling. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 - 45 minutes until the topping is golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Fast, easy and very delicious.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

What if you want to establish better habits, then decide what habit you want to work on. Again, try an easier one first for that good feeling of success. Let's consider more exercise. Start small. Don't try to run a marathon right away. Set the amount of time, the type of exercise and when to do it to begin making sure that it is within your reach. If it works for you each week add a bit more. Walking is one of the best ways to get good overall movement but there are many exercise videos on YouTube of varying lengths and difficulty to check out. Change your exercise routines to eliminate getting bored. For hardcore exercise with weights, give yourself a day in-between to recover. Even on days you would rather not exercise, do it and see if you feel better. It takes an average of 66 days to establish a habit. Just think 66 days to establish a good habit for a lifetime. Sounds like a good thing to me...how about you?