Valentine Portrait and A Bit of Snow

Amelia's fever trickled down to a head cold and she was sniffling for the last few days, but Friday she was in good spirits and I needed a Valentine pic.  I bribed her with a new outfit.  Did not come out as I hoped,  as she frowned in between each. 

And even though it was not what they predicted, finally...some snow.  She spelled MOM. 

It is suppose to drop below zero this week, figured it was perfect time to fill some water balloons and make a few crystal balls.

Will see how these turn out.  We did these last year and you can see the result here:  Crystal Ball for the Snow Princess.

I used water balloons this time and no food coloring as I thought the clear looked more...magical :)  

Finally this week, a teeth cleaning.  She didn't want to go as she still had sniffles, but left saying "that was great!".  If only I could say that when I get my teeth cleaned.  She insisted I hold a tissue...just in case...and hold my hand.  Kinda hard when you want to get a pic. sigh.  

Winter, Valentines and a Snow Bear

We are ridiculously low on snow this year.  It's the warmest Alaskan winter on record, which explains the snow to rain and back again kinda season thus far.  I, for one...am not complaining. :)  It was wonderful not worrying about snow hampering Christmas shopping and activities and other than a bit of freezing rain since then, hasn't been bad driving down our mountain.  

There is a downside.  Rain over snow makes for dangerous sledding and although the temps have been pretty good for snowman making...there just hasn't been much snow to make one!  

We snuck out and got one in the other day.   It was a mini.

Our winter woods got a bit of use as well. 

We were entertained with a few parties this past week...one where there was a swing in the playroom (she didn't want to leave) and her friend, Penny's nail birthday party (she didn't want to leave this one either), not to mention a few dance shows at home. 

But then that stopped for a bit as Amelia was down with a fever for a couple days.  

Rebounded with quiet entertainment in her "Treehouse" where she read fairy books, wrote in her journals about her adventures (?),  and watched Max and Ruby on her portable DVD player that was positioned on the upper stairs.  

 She was kept company by her new plush pup "Herchazel" named appropriately after my sister's dachshunds, Hercules and Hazel.  She usually gets a little something from the "closet" when she is down and out with a sickness...keeps her spirits up a bit.  I didn't tell her she missed school Friday, as she would have been devastated.  She loves pre-school.

Did manage a bit of Valentine decorating.  However, this year is difficult as we are leaving some of our Christmas decorations up due to her Winter Woodlands themed birthday party that is coming up the first of March.  I didn't have the will power to take it all down...then put it back up again.  Yes I am talking the Christmas Tree.  Errr...now there are actually 2 trees!

 

Laslty, will share a new site and pillow I bought.  

I follow the blog, Craftberry Bush who sells her art on Society 6 where artists can sell their work.  I saw her polar bear and thought it would look great on a pillow for our couch that sits under our beloved Snow Bear painting, I purchased several years ago from V. Rae.

Now I am in the market for a grizzly pillow for the other side.  Found this.  It is in my cart as we speak :)  Not by Craftberry, but will go perfectly with our polar bear. 

Obviously, no one can lay on them.  Hahahaha.  

Nothing Like A Gift That Is Handmade

This year, I decided to make coasters for my niece, Liz. 

 A year or so ago, Rob was given a set of coasters from a co-worker for Christmas and I loved how she did them.  I found the pin she used on Pinterest (and a bunch of others) and kinda went from there.

I LOVED HOW THEY TURNED OUT!

I decided to make more...

My brother-in-law's mother needed a set of the kids....

and Rob's Aunts who have visited...need a set for each of their travels here.  

But, I was out of the tiles that were left in the upstairs bathroom from when the house was built. :)  Off to Lowes. Couldn't find any tiles like I had...OHHH they had stone ones!  Great for the Alaskan theme!  

Hmmm...how about trivets??? My sisters, niece, nephew...

Back to Lowes.  This time a different store. OH they had ones that were similar to the original tiles I used!  19 cents each...got a  bunch of them along with the 6x6 Italian stone  for the trivets. 

I had a great idea...need to go buy a few mugs and use my porcelain pens to decorate them ... to go with the coasters!

I asked Liz and Ryan to send me their signatures...and tried to copy them the best I could. 

 

Amelia wanted to make a set for Andrea.  She picked out the picture and the mug.  FYI...Andrea makes the BEST Hot Chocolate on the planet Earth.   It seemed fitting. 

Why not a gift for her dance teacher?

Made another for Grammy, as I seemed to remember scrambling for a coaster at the computer desk...perfect.

Oops..the one I made for her dance teacher had fuzz stuck on.  Will make another and try to fix this one for dad.  Sanded and resprayed the poly.  Perfect!  Dad gets one too!

However, now I had a problem. Hahahaha!  

These take A LONG time to finish...well if you have a deadline and making a million of them :)  Easy to make really, but drying times make it a week from start to finish.  Packages needed to be mailed!

AND even worse...I made Liz's set first and used regular copy paper and craft bond glue to secure the pic..then I sealed it with acrylic sealer, then about 5 coats of spray polyurethane (I think this is how I made her set..hee hee).  A day to dry between each process.

The others I tried something different.  (Actually, I think each was made a bit differently. hahaha.)  I used modge lodge to secure a heavier copy of paper (as they were scratchy stone) and then acrylic sealer, then the spray poly.  

Much better as Liz' was warped by the time I made quite a few sets (you can kinda see it in the pics).  AND no time to redo hers.  In fact, I was waiting for the trivets and Grammy's set to dry as I was packing up their boxes to ship....AND FORGOT TO TAKE PICTURES! ugh.  

I asked for photos Christmas morning.   Here are my sister Donna's, niece Katie and nephew Steven's trivets .

I did include a funny note to Liz with hers to explain I would make a new set if this one doesn't work out.   Funny, the person I originally made them for...got the worst batch! hahaha. 

I really have no idea how they will hold up.  

I did distress the sides of the coasters I made for his aunt's stone coasters and on all the trivets, as the stone seemed to need a rougher, softer edge. 

I cut and glued cork that I bought at Lowe's to the back with Liquid Nails (oh yet another day of drying time :)  Nothing else seemed to work as well.  The liquid nails was Rob's idea.  

The porcelain mugs I have made before.  Dad's Valentine gift. Instructions are in that post.  I do love making these and was pondering making Christmas dishes next year with a simple design.  Will see.

Time to change the chalkboard.

I liked this quote as it still implies Christmas :)

Bar stools...finally

Finally...the bar stool post. 

First, a bit of history.  We had 3 circa 1980's (I just like saying that) bar stools for about 10 years that were left by the previous owner.  Heavy, hard to swirl around, with big windsor backs.  They were very sturdy.  So, I sold them at our now infamous garage sale a couple years ago.  I think for a total of $30.  Hurray!  Now for some new ones...kinda sorta. 

I knew what I wanted.  They were the $300 each, all cherry, saddle seat ones at our local fine furnishing store.  :)  However, if I were to spend that much on bar stools, I would have to go back to work.  So, I found these at an August neighborhood garage sale.  For...$12 ...no not each...all.  I sensed potential. 

They were bought at Lowe's (it was imprinted on the under side) and a dark espresso with lots of scratches.  I figured I would try to refinish one and see how it turned out.  How can you go wrong at $4 per chair?

Did I mention...LOTS of sanding.  I could only use the hand sander for the top, then it was on to the hand sanding of the legs.  Oh my...I ruined 2 pairs of gloves doing this :)

Once everything was sanded with a 100 then a 150 then to a 220 grit.  I stained.  I used cherry to match the rest of our furniture.  The wood was some sort of mix, jointed and glued together in places.  Thus the stain was darker on certain spots.  I don't think there is much you can do about that. However, very sturdy chairs for this style, so although not perfect, not really noticeable. 

Then I used rub-on polyurethane...about 5 coats, allowing a day to dry between each.

Ta da!  I turned this one around to show the 2 different types of wood that join the leg.  This is the worst one and actually the 3rd or 4th I did and when sanded off the dark stain,  I thought UGH.  but the others are not visible at all and this one I turn so the bad leg is facing the wall.  

After I finished the one, I began the task of completing the other 3.  Did I mention I hand sanded all the legs?  

Hey, those upper cupboards are not there anymore!  Yet..another big project :)

They fit right in!  AND they are light and easily moved.  I love them and not only because they cost $3 each (and hours of my time hee hee).   

I am still working on a folding table that I may or may not sell on Craigslist after I am done, and of course the ceiling where the cabinets were is an eyesore.  However, sheet rock and texture paint is making me a bit nervous...but I can do it!  Need to find the 3 light fixtures that will hang over the counter too... oh I know what I want, just need to find them now ;)  Changing out the front hallway chandelier as well.  Craftsman style with the Frank Lloyd Wright look is what I have in mind for that.  

And planning the Winter Woodland birthday party.  Here is the wording of the invite: 

a magical place where you might find

wolves and hares and perhaps an ermine

an owl, a lynx, a moose , or an ox

are quite often seen

as well as the fox

there's dwarfs and giants , gnomes and fairies

and white unicorns tasting red berries

a bear roams the land spreading the word

“there's a gathering on” and tells all the birds

“amelia turns five in a few short days

join us to celebrate ... her winter birthday”

Luckily, I am getting tons of the Christmas winter woodlands decor at rock bottom prices...including a 7 1/2 foot tree that I bought for $17.  The bonus is in addition to the party,  we will be using it with our beloved first tree, next year!  I think we can put out all our ornaments.