I’d really like to say that I’ve gotten some cards made, or done anything crafty, but honestly, today was a day for cleaning.  We had the man that cleans our windows here, and we were trying to figure out why our High Efficiency Washer isn’t very efficient.  So we decided to take our blankets, comforters, rugs, sheets and towels to the laundromat.  I’m so disgusted that I can do a load of heavy weight materials such as I mentioned above, and after running them through the washer, the tops of some of the materials are still dry.  I understand the point of the High Efficiency washers is to save water blah blah, not clean anything, but this is ridiculous.  I have a girlfriend that just sold her house and bought a new one.  She begged the owner of the home she was buying, to leave her “old” washer there, so she could be free of the high efficiency washer in her old home.  So I guess I’m not alone.  I think the thing that bugs me the most, is that there’s no agitator in the center of the washer.  If there’s no agitator, what are the clothes slapping against to get clean.  If we go with the old theory of beating clothes on a rock, you need a rock for the cleaning process to work.  In my system, I don’t have an agitator (a rock) and I don’t even have any excess water, so what exactly are my clothes doing in there besides swirling around in water?  These are the questions that keep me awake at night.  No, but they are the things that really bug me.  I even started making my own laundry detergent because I couldn’t believe that it was my brand new washer that was to blame.  Let me just say this.  I had a dog bed cover that Honey had vomited on.  So I washed it, then I dried it and when I opened the drier, it smelled like a dog was living in there.  So I rewashed the dog bed cover and re-dried it, and opened the drier to the same smell.  So I put the laundromat to the test.  I washed the same dog bed cover and dried it, and when I opened the drier, it smelled like (and this you won’t believe), something that had actually been washed and dried.  Now I’m no expert on all things laundry, but I do believe I could be onto something here.  How high efficiency is this washer if I washed something twice and it still smelled like a dog?  So I might just be looking to buy a new (old ) washer now.  I just can’t believe how much time and energy I spend washing clothes that don’t get clean.  I’m tired, but feel like I really accomplished something today.  I have a clean dog bed cover and am committed to getting rid of my washer.  You’ll find it on Craig’s List under “things some sucker bought that just don’t work,” unless I find an equally descriptive category to sell it under.  Maybe “Junkers R Us” or “Crap we wish we hadn’t bought.”  I’ll keep looking until I find just the right place to chuck it, maybe a scrap metal reseller….that could be the winner.

I’m pushing Rich to catch up with me with videos and so he’s been working like a dog for the YouTube channel today.  We also visited a friend who just had surgery and took her some meals to get her through the next day or so.  Whenever I have a surgery, it’s always nice when people are kind enough to provide hot meals for us, so I like to do the same for my friends.  I gave her a list of the foods I make best…I’m an old fashioned cook, my specialties are things your grandma would make….Chicken and biscuits, meatloaf, chicken noodle soup (no, not Campbell’s), lasagna, roast beef….Picture me in the role of your grandma, and chances are, we make the same kinds of foods.

Her surgery was Monday, and she chose today as she knew she wouldn’t be feeling up to eating yesterday.  She said chicken noodle soup sounded good, and her husband loves chicken and biscuits…..I also offered orange jello with mandarin oranges as she doesn’t like sweets, (I know, what’s up with that?)  and she said her stomach had been upset, so jello sounded good to her as well.  So this morning, I made all of the essentials and we loaded up the car with everything, and even after a forty minute drive, only a little bit of soup leaked into the box that I lined a  grocery bag with. To have that small of a mishap is almost unheard of for me.  I really expected to get there and have to pull all of the containers out of a pool of soup and noodles, but no, it went well and I was happy.  I did feel a little bit bad though, because their young springer spaniel found the box with the soup drippings in it, and had a great time licking it clean.  I really hope she doesn’t get an upset stomach from it…I’d feel so bad if her dog got sick because of me.

On the way there, we stopped at a roadside Amish vegetable stand and bought the cutest cantaloupes that they call “lunch box melons”…..they were the size of a grapefruit and I just had to buy some.  So while I was visiting, I cut one of them into small pieces and added more fruit she had there, to create a small fruit salad for them for later.  I felt so bad for her, because she was really in a lot of pain, and there’s really nothing you can say or do to help with that.  So I had Rich entertain her while I did her dishes.  We know how it goes when the woman of the household isn’t well.  Our men have great intentions, but really struggle with the day to day operations of running our homes.  I think she was relieved that her kitchen was back to normal and that she and her husband both had a hot meal.  It’s the little things that makes us happy.  She’s told me in the past that if she won the lottery, she’d have fresh flowers everywhere in her house, so I had Rich cut a bunch of hydrangea’s off our big green hydrangea bush, and took them to her.  She said she was going to put them beside her bed, so when she doesn’t feel well, she can lay there and look at them.  I can see her logic, as fresh flowers from the garden just make me think of springtime, and I guess they make her feel like she’s won the lottery and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Our great niece, Erika, came to visit for a week and we did some crafting together. Erika wanted to make bath bombs like you would buy from the store Lush. We got our recipe from a website called DIY Projects for Teens:
You’ll need:

1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup citric acid–you’ll find this in the canning section of your local Walmart
1/2 cup epsom salts
1 tsp water
2 tsp essential oils of your choice–Erika used lavender and lemon
3 tsp olive oil
food coloring to the color you desire
rose petals (optional) If you use rose petals, you’ll want to put your bath bomb in a sock or panty hose and knot the end so you don’t end up with rose petals in your drain (it could clog it.)
We ended up with five cupcake shaped bath bombs from our recipe.
You will want to combine your dry ingredients and then combine your wet ingredients and add them quickly to the dry ingredients.
You can mix a couple of essential oils, and I made another batch and used clove, orange and vanilla in mine.
As for coloring, Erika wanted hers to be purple, so we mixed red and blue together and instead of it looking purple, it had more of a gray tint. It looks purple on camera, but more gray in person.
We cut the rose petals so they were smaller and wouldn’t take over the whole ball, and then put them in the dry ingredients before adding the wet.
We couldn’t find a ball to make our bombs, so we lined silicone cupcake molds with plastic wrap and filled them with the bath bomb mixture. We had to continue to push them into the molds as they seem to grow. Erika pushed a rose petal into the top of her cupcake to continue the look of the cupcake and they looked really cute. The recipe said they would dry quickly, but since ours kept growing, we pushed them down until they stopped growing, and that took overnight.
I made another batch that I did put into the Christmas ornament balls and they kept blowing open the balls as they do expand, so I recommend you not filling your molds as full as you normally would, and let them expand within the mold.

I hope you enjoyed this quick and easy stocking stuffer idea and it was a lot of fun crafting with Erika.

I talked to Rebecca, the owner of Peg Stamps today, and she’s going to mail me a case of stamps, inks and paper, and I’m going to do a destash video where I include her items as well as dies that I want to sell and other items that I have duplicates of.  All of the proceeds will go to buying gift cards for the victims of the floods/hurricanes, and I’m really hoping people will buy the things we are selling.  It’s the perfect time of year for this and I’m hoping it’s a big success.

As for today, I made some food for a friend who had surgery yesterday and then worked around the house.  It wasn’t a huge day, but we’re getting closer to getting the closet fixed and ready for me to use it for more storage space.  I can’t wait to get things in there and off of the floor of my room.

As of today, we hit 5,000 subscribers.  I’m having a huge party in my head…I’m just so amazed at the number of people who watch and enjoy my videos and want to take this time to thank everyone who has watched even one.  It’s a great day to celebrate!  I think I’ll eat some cookies, as there’s nothing better than cookies when you want to have a mini celebration.

As I lay here (in bed unable to sleep), I’m thinking hard about the fact that I am four subscribers away from 5,000.  I never thought I would see 1,000, let alone 5,000.  It is absolutely amazing and surreal.  Seriously, what were the odds that people would be interested in watching me say and  do really quirky things.  And yet they are, and growing by the day.  To say I am honored is not even close to what I am feeling.  Rich and I are so proud of the channel and of its future.  As it continues to grow, I am more and more energized by it, and ultimately what it can do for people like myself and others.  A lot of people don’t know that my channel isn’t monetized.  That means I don’t make money from it.  I won’t change that in the future either, as I want everyone to know that if I like a product, it’s because I like it, not because someone else is paying me to say so.  I don’t want anyone to wonder why I would recommend something, and hope that if they do, they will ask.

I hate watching advertisements on other sites and know you must as well, so (and I don’t think it happens), you shouldn’t see any ads on my channel.  I love thinking I control that, and can stop any advertising from popping up, but really, I’m not sure if YouTube can just put ads on my videos or not.  I’m just not really up on those topics, sorry, maybe I’ll figure that one out somehow.   YouTube doesn’t have a place where I can call or email them with questions..They reserve that right to the big YouTubers, people with probably 6,000 subscribers.  Seriously,  I think it might be in the hundreds of thousands before they give you a contact number, so there’s a good chance I won’t ever have a key to Emerald City for answers.  I never really watched The Wizard of Oz the whole way through (too scared of the monkeys), so I’m not even sure if my reference made sense.  That, and it’s after 1AM and I’m still typing.

So I’m going to go to bed and wonder if tomorrow when I wake up, will the channel have over 5,000 subscribers.  It will be a big day for us if it is, so we’ll probably go crazy and buy a new home with a craft room the size of my current home, or maybe instead, I’ll go to the doctor and get the stitches out of my head from a little surgery I had.  No, not to try and push more brains in there, but wouldn’t that be cool…

For those of you who have been with me for almost two years, bless you.  And for anyone new to the channel, hang around, you never know what I have in store for you, but whatever it is, I hope we have fun.

I finally took the time to write my idea for the Make a Difference Day help for the hurricane victims on facebook.  I should have written it out before, but don’t know why I didn’t.  It’s out there now and I’m wide open for ideas.

So that’s the one thing I accomplished today, oh, and I de-fairy dusted my sun room.  If you haven’t read yesterday’s blog, my cousin Shelli, her friend Linda and I made fairy gardens.  We made quite the glittery, mossy fairy mess, and it was so much fun.  I wouldn’t have two great videos from it and a great idea for the beginning of the video if not for Shelli and Linda.  Shelli asked Rich when he was videotaping the three of us for the opening of each video,  if he could possibly insert Farrah Fawcett circa 1970’s over her face and body.  At that point in the day, I was so hot and sweaty, that I’m sure I look like a lunatic, but maybe I might be Jacyln Smith or Kate (sorry forgot the last Angel’s name) Jackson.  I had to look it up as that was just not right that I forgot her name.  So I envision the opening segment of the video with us in that infamous pose where one is pointing her fingers like a gun to the left and another pointing their gun fingers to the right and one pointing gun fingers directly ahead.  I thought that was THE photo of them.  So I looked it up online and this is what I found…https://www.pinterest.com/pin/13018286398593096/

What the heck is that?  I don’t remember them actually praying, do you?  It blew my mind.  So I kept searching and never found a picture of the three of them doing “The Pose” as I’ll call it.  And why is Jaclyn Smith wearing a bikini while the other two are fully dressed?  That’s one odd photo and such a disappointment.  Now there’s no way Shelli, Linda and I can be superimposed with the original angels because we’d have to fight to see who would be the one willing to be the bikini angel…hey, after the age of fifty, that bikini idea is off the table.  (Ok, I’ve never actually worn a bikini, but I’m not going to be superimposed with one now.) haha….And now you know what I think about when I’m supposed to be doing my part to upload videos.   Practicing my gun finger pose, no, but thinking about it.

I watched a video by Little Hot Tamale and it inspired me to create my own matchbook notepads. Here’s her video in case you’d like to check it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBtwvfDYVnQ

I keep track of videos I watch in a journal and will link that video to the end. For some reason, I thought this video was older, but didn’t realize it’s a pretty recent video.

I used my own measurements and changed things to accomodate the papers I bought at Joanns. They were on sale for 10 for $2 and every sheet had several pieces you could cut to create the front of your matchbook. Many of you know I’m a huge Halloween fan and am trying to help others with fun ideas for classrooms for Halloween. A friend is doing a fundraiser and I wanted to donate some things, and these are fast and easy to make.

I used ten pieces of typing paper cut to 7 1/2″ x 3 1/4″ wide and fold them in half. If once you fold them in half, you have any edges that stick out, trim them with your paper scissors.

For the outside, you will cut it 8 3/4″ x 3 1/2″ then score it on the 8 3/4″ side score at 3/4″ and 5″ but be careful scoring trying to make sure you don’t push so hard that you crack your paper. Fold the 3/4″ score up and the 5″ score down, so it looks like a matchbook. I used an electric stapler (as I don’t have the strength to staple without it through this depth of paper.) Use your bone folder on the typing paper and really press that fold as thin as possible. Use the bone folder on both sides (flip it over), so you make that stack as thin as possible near the top so you can staple through them.

I used an Infoguard electric stapler that I think I bought at Walmart for my stapling.

Put your folded papers into the bottom where the 3/4″ fold is, and center the 10 folded papers with the fold edge down into the bottom and use your stapler and staple on the bottom with two staples. I didn’t like the way the backs of my staples stuck up, and worried people would catch the staple on their clothes, so I used pliers and squeezed the staples so they were flat on the back.
I cut the papers from Joanns down so they would fit on the front of my matchbook, but not so it’s sentiment might be lost under the bottom flap. I used tape runner and wet glue to apply my image, then used a brayer to ensure it was well adhered. I liked the idea of adding washi tape to the flap on the bottom so it would cover the staples and look like the thing you strike a match on. I used two layers on front and back to make sure the staples would be able to be well covered.

Please make some of these and share them on my facebook page, crafting for almost everyone, as I’d love to see what others are making.

I have to say that today was a really great crafting day.  My cousin Shelly, and her girlfriend Linda, came and we made fairy gardens.  It was so funny, because I kept calling it the wrong thing, probably at least ten times, and Shelly kept saying fairy garden, and then I immediately called it something else again.  Rich has so much editing to do because I just couldn’t get the name straight and we had to repeat and repeat….in the end, Shelly and Linda both made fantastic fairy gardens (geez, now I’m wondering if I’m calling it the wrong thing again–I’m crazy, or at least a little bit certifiable.)  Let’s go with fairy garden until you hear otherwise.

I decided to make a wreath with fairy components and it definitely wasn’t as cute as the other two, but in the end, we had three complete fairy projects to share….But, that wasn’t enough craftiness, so I talked them into doing Christmas wreaths and we think we will be putting them on family graves.  So Shelly (who just lost her step father this year) made one for his grave and I made mine for my parents.  I know it’s not something you get really excited about, but it’s a fact of life, and honoring the family that have passed before us is important, so we did our best.

Poor Linda was such a great sport during the wreath making, because Shelly and I wanted bigger bows on our wreaths than my bow jig would make, so we convinced, coerced, volunteered, whatever you want to call it, Linda, into being a human bow jig.  I did record Linda and her bow jig skills which where impressive, but was disappointed that I couldn’t capture the amount of glitter that ended up covering her from head to toe after her bow jiggery….Yes, that is a new term and I’m sticking with it, so don’t try and change my mind.

I keep saying I’m going to make a complete dictionary of terms that I use and often make up, but I’d have to re-watch almost (or maybe more than) 300 videos, to compile my dictionary, and I just don’t have it in me.   I do think it’s funny that people like the words I use, and now I’m starting to see more of my vocabulary come up in comments.  There is no greater honor than having your crazy words repeated back to you. Of course this in my opinion, and as for this commentary, since I’m the only one typing, my opinion is all that matters.

So as the day comes to a close, I’ve got two terrific videos in the bag, had a great time, got to know a new and lovely woman, and spent time with a great friend/relative.  Oh, even Aggie and Honey got in the videos as Aggie was laying beside Shelly’s wreath, completely oblivious to what was going on, and Honey was on the other side of the dog gate, looking completely forlorn, as she was just a little bit too distracting to be allowed in the craft area.  Bella was in our living room, on our dog-proofed couch, laying upside down, sound asleep…no need to say more, a great day was had by all, ok, except Honey.

 

 

Today was a big day for me.  Rich pulled all of his things out of the closet in my craft room so now I shouldn’t have any more excuses as to why I’m so disorganized.  While he was doing that, I was going through a ton of things in our basement, trying to organize the things I want to donate to the hurricane victims, as well as prepare for my cousin’s visit tomorrow.

I’m really excited as Shelly and I had so much fun last time we crafted together, and this time she’s bringing a friend with her, Linda.  Shelly has ideas she’d like to tackle and I don’t think her project will take very long.  After hers though, I want to surprise them both by making Christmas wreaths.  I bought several and have tons of embellishments for them.  They can make them for their homes, their families, or for cemeteries, and we will probably have a mix of all three.  I plan on making mine for my parent’s graves, as I’ve never put anything on them for Christmas and think it’s about time I did.  Shelly just lost her step-father this year, so she might want to make one for that grave as well.  We probably won’t talk about what we’re doing with the wreaths when we are on camera, as I don’t want this to be a downer for anyone, but it is a fact of life, and eventually, we all come to the stage where we do these kinds of things…

Shelly wants to play with the Tableau of Terror stamp that I used last Halloween as she really liked it.  I promised her we could make cards with it and I’m a woman of my word.

She also has a secret project that she wants to surprise Linda with, and I’m looking forward to helping her create this, as I think it’s something a lot of my viewers have made, or may want to make in the future, so it should be a fun video.  I always love crafting with someone else and it’s especially fun with family and friends.  I’m hoping we have three videos to show for our afternoon’s efforts and that everyone gets something new out of them.  I know I’ll be learning a new craft tomorrow and am really looking forward to it.

I spent the day today finishing interviews at the college Rich and I attended.  It’s something that I always really look forward to doing, and the accounting students get their jobs for Spring 2018, in the next few weeks, so this is really crunch time for them.  I love seeing their determination and ambition, and am really proud of the college we attended, so Rich and I do as much as we can to support them.  After all, we wouldn’t have each other if we hadn’t met, and if Rich hadn’t been failing accounting, then he wouldn’t have had me for a tutor, and the rest as they say, is history.  The head of the accounting and business department, always takes credit for our marriage and it’s success, as he’s the one that let me pick who I wanted to tutor.  Of course, I wasn’t any dummy, I chose all good looking guys….Ok, I chose a couple good looking guys, but had my heart set on one after spending a lot of time studying with him.

Our school was pretty small, but it was a close knit community of people, and Rich and I are still in contact with our college friends.  We’re having dinner with at least four of Rich’s friends this week and my friends get together as often as possible, and take trips together every few years.  It doesn’t seem like 36 years since we’ve been together–it feels almost like yesterday (until I look at our gray hair), and realize we might not be 19 anymore…(darn it.)