How to Make a "Legal" Firecracker!

As promised, I wanted to show you what the cute little firecracker belonged to. Isn't this fun? Supplies: 1" diameter dowel, blue glitter, gold pipe cleaners, one drill I gave to my husband for our first Christmas back in 1892 (not a type-o, a joke...but some days it doesn't feel like a joke). :-)

Mark it at 3" and either cut it with a hand saw or Bandsaw. I blew the dust off of my Bandsaw and used it for these. Maybe I'll get out there and start cutting wood again. I've missed that.

Drill a hole on the top to glue in the pipecleaners. As you can see below, just glue the scrapbook paper around, add glitter around the stars, and glue in the pipecleaner "sparks".

I only had the supplies to make two of these. One for us and one for the Etsy Shop. I put the one in my Shop on Friday night, but it was gone Saturday morning. Thank you to the "person" who patronized my Shop yesterday. : )

I hope this helped in any way. I've seen firecracker groupings of three in graduated sizes tied together, before. Maybe that would be fun to try. : )

A Fun Little Tutorial

Okay, I wanted to take a little Birthday gift to one of my sweet 'Quilt Retreat' friends the other night. But the gift was so microscopic-small, that I felt like I had to give it in a special little package.

So I took one of those M.E. $1.00 boxes from Michael's, an old Christmas ornament (cupcake), and some paper supplies. I felt like the box was too shallow to look special, so I used some thin cardboard to make it a little taller.

I taped it in place after I had the desired height.

Here's the little, tiny gift I was giving her.

Another view of the box, taller.
Next, I wanted to disguise the cardboard with paper.

I added some border stickers...

Popped in the necklace, used a cute font to type, "Make a Wish".

Hot glued the cupcake, candle, Wish Flag and crepe paper frill at the top,and here you have the finished product. I was very happy with it. : )

Hope your birthday was a happy one, Leslie. : )
Did any of you buy this stuff at Hobby Lobby right after Easter? I just knew I would put them to good use.
Here's a peek. I'll show you the whole project on my next post. Oh, the fun I had making this one.

Wednesdays With My Mom

Just a short one today.Little Diana's getting older now and so adorable. I love these old photos of my parents. For those of you who haven't been tuned in from the beginning, I should let you know that my parents bought a new camera when they were engaged and loved experimenting with all the settings and taking it with them everywhere they went. I can't get over the legacy they left for us because of this one wonderful purchase.

My Dad use to call Diana his "Little Firecracker" because she was born on the 4th of July. : )

Opening mail from her children and grand children on this day last week.

Children always make my mom smile. So I thought I would tape these two great grand children to the water bottles so she see could them each day for a while.

Ballet has started back up, so my two little ballerinas came by for a visit.

I will be posting another Tutorial next post. I didn't want you to think I would stop doing them, since I opened my Etsy shop. Hope you're having a wonderful Wednesday.

Sunday Funnies

No, this is not a Halloween post. It all started when the whole family was over for Sunday dinner last night. Miss C. showed me her new shoes, which resembled gold egyptian sandals, then proceeded to ask, "Nana, will you get your dress-up boxes down so I can dress like Cleopatra?"

Of course, Thing One and Thing Two (hee-hee) wanted to get in on the action too. : )
Notice silly Mr. S. with his Doctor's Bag AND one Mickey Mouse glove!!!

Little Miss G decided to try her hand as chief Chef.

It was Aunt Sara who suggested I get the dough hook from my mixer when Mr. S decided to play Pirate. So cute! : )

What would this world be like without children? I never want to find out. :

H H H H

Excuse This House

"Some houses try to hide the fact

that children shelter there.

Ours boasts of it quite openly,

the signs are everywhere.

For smears are on the windows,

little smudges on the door,

I should apologize I guess

for the toys strewn on the floor.

But I sat down with the children

and we laughed and played and read.

And if the doorbell doesn't shine,

their eyes will shine instead.

For when at times I'm forced to

choose the one job or the other,

I want to be a housekeeper,

but first I'll be a Mother."

Author Unknown

Offered to all the young mommies out there from this little "Nana". : )

My Mother's Aprons

Here's a sweet article I've saved in my files since 1994. It's such a poignant article that I couldn't throw it out, and now I get to share it with each of you.

Illustration by: Christine Foederer

Just click on the magazine article below and enjoy a trip down memory lane. : )

Foo-ey, I meant to post this adorable pic when I announced the three winners yesterday. But it's still worth a giggle today. (How do you spell Foo-ey, anyway???)

Hallmark Card Company

Addendum: Just added today. Happy crafting!!! : )

The Three Winners and a Thank You!

Okay, I wanted to make sure I did it RIGHT and FAIR. So here are the three numbers the 'True Random Number' picked out over at Random.org.: The winning numbers are in blue.

I typed out every single person's name and numbered them so that you could see that everyone got just one entry.

So CONGRATULATIONS TO:

Marmielu @ Marmielu's Nest : who won the Ballerina on a box
MiMi @ Living in France (who doesn't live in France): who won the Eiffel Tower pendent necklace. After the Random.org picked her number, I had to give her the necklace when I saw her blog title. : )
Deb @Wise Old Owl: who won the Pumpkin on a box

I didn't realize how hard this post would be, knowing there would be disappointment in those who didn't win. But let me take this moment to THANK each of you for your kind comments and for participating. As it gets closer to Halloween, I'll be sure to add some of my seasonal items to my Etsy shop. A big THANK YOU to those of you who made that a BIG success for me too!!!

Thanks to all,
Mary Lou

Wednesdays With My Mom (and giveaway reminder)

Well, last week was one of the wackiest I've had in a long time. So I ended up making my usual Wednesday all-day visit on Thursday.
This picture, above, is way out of order. This is actually a photo of my mom holding child #3, my sister, June. I'll get back on track (chronologically speaking) next week.

Okay, a precious story:

The cutest thing happened this night, last week. We were watching 'The Rookie', with Dennis Quade, and during the scene of the High School baseball game they sang the National Anthem as usual. Well, I was over at the ironing board and I JUST KNEW she would sing along. So I stopped everything I was doing just to watch her. She had a smile on her face and was singing along ever so softly. I snapped this pic later. : )

Just a reminder to sign up for the Giveaway before Friday at noon by clicking here. Thank you so much for all the sweet comments and participation!!!