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Projects and Promises
Over the years, my enthusiasm for holiday decorating has ebbed and flowed. Some years, I am a classic overachiever; other years, I am overextended and overwhelmed.Between 1996 and 2003, the Sidetracked Sisters held craft shows where we created and sold handmade Santas, melty snowmen, and even bare-breasted angels. I loved getting ideas from craft books and then adding my own flair. I added beads to the angels’ halos and tea-stained the linen fabric for the snowpeople. A friend made beautiful jewelry with beads, so naturally, I had to try my hand at it too. I made my own beads from Sculpey clay and added wire embellishments.
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The Magic of Jewelry Making
I’ve had hobbies come and go. When I was a child, I would get craft kits as gifts. I created holiday ornaments that I painted and glued together. In Jr. High, I took lessons to play the guitar. I practiced for about 2 years but my progress was not impressive. I took up Caligraphy at one point and got special nib-tipped pens and bottles of ink. However, I only completed a single page of practice in my lesson book.
One hobby that had a longer life than most was jewelry making. I made necklaces, bracelets, and earrings…lots of earrings.I enjoyed all the parts of the process.
Walking into a bead shop is a lot like being a child walking into an old-time confectionary. You just stand there and drool. Where do you begin? Every tool, doodad, charm, bead, and book held so much…potential.
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Have to Have it All
Each box is dedicated to a different type of craft I can’t say that I have a favorite activity or hobby. I tend to start them, but never carry them to completion. Over the years, I’ve tried crocheting, watercolor painting, acrylic painting, sewing, making earrings, bead making, scrapbooking, card making, and more.
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From Decorating to Grandkids
For years I considered decorating my hobby. I love to plan and create beautiful rooms. I enjoy refinishing furniture. Antiquing can be regarded as a hobby. Nothing gets the old blood going better than entering an unexplored antique store. -
Home is Where the Heart is
Our First Home As a teenager, I always said, “When I am eighteen I am out of here.” Well, guess what, out of my family I am the only one that has never left. I have lived in the same town my whole life, have moved only four times, and owned two homes (not including vacation properties). I moved from my childhood home to an apartment when married, then from there to a new tri-level, and then to a two-story which I am still residing in.
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Dorm Sweet Dorm
Picture from the Eau Claire newspaper My first dorm room was really something to see. During summer orientation, Janelle, our moms, and I went to Eau Claire to get the lay of the land and much to my delight, they gave us a floor plan of our dorm room. By the time we had driven the 3 hours home, I already had it all figured out where everything was going to go (complete with measurements).
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Home Sweet Home
When I considered moving back to my hometown, we had a real estate agent show us house after house in our price range. All were in good neighborhoods, but considered “fixer-uppers”. Then he showed us a red brick home in the heart of downtown and we were in love.
After moving there, my marriage came to an end and the house became solely mine. -
The Long Road Home
Writing about the places I’ve lived, takes me down the long road home and overwhelms me to the max! I’ve moved seventeen times living in multiple states. To bring things down to a manageable number, I’ll focus on the last four.
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Time to Clean – Becoming a FlyLady
If you are anything like me, I have a hard time wanting to clean my house. I don’t enjoy cleaning at all. Growing up, my mom did it right. She had it set up that Lisa and I had jobs to do to clean the whole house by the time she came home from work. I dusted and Lisa vacuumed. On Saturdays, you didn’t do anything else until those jobs were done. -
Wallpaper With a Twist
In our family, we all like to help each other with projects, especially home projects. Just one word of warning. If Sandy is creating be sure you understand the parameters of the project. We were asked to help wallpaper Michelle’s bathroom. That request sounded tame enough. Right??
Wrong!
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I Love All Colors!
I love all colors. I also love a monochromatic color scheme. Do I ever use it? Never. Oh well, I love the white-on-white idea of just about anything from china, to room decorations, etc. -
Orange is not for everyone!
All of my life, as I remember it, I have been very aware of color. My older sister always looked so pretty, so for the first many years that I could choose colors, I copied her example. I constantly asked myself why I looked washed out and dumpy when she looked wonderful? -
What color are you?
What color are you? What colors look best on you? Back when I was a teen, my mom and my god-mother took my girlfriend and I to “have our colors done”. Some of you may ask “You had WHAT done?” Well – the process of getting your colors done involves determining what colors look best on you. (Color Me A Season)
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Color Me Green
When I was a kid, mom decorated my bedroom in pumpkin orange, mustard yellow, and avocado green. (I’m just gonna say it…I hated these colors!) There were lollipops painted in these colors with a ribbon on the sticks that made a headboard. I regularly hid the suckers under the bed in protest.
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Can I Decorate?
I’ve never considered myself very good at decorating… I especially got a complex when mom would come over and move things around after I’d arranged them… -
Picture Worthy Fluff
My life is decorated by my children. Decorations are the fluff that adds sparkle to your life. Not necessary to survive, but the stuff that makes us smile when we think back. Decorations are the people, places, and “stuff” that we take pictures of. They are the stories we tell… -
My Decorating Mentor
Whenever I think of decorating, I think of my sister (and her two talented daughters). She is hands down the best decorator I have ever met. So she works professionally as a paralegal and office manager. Go figure!
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A Passion for Decorating
If anyone really knows me they know I love to decorate. I can waste more relaxing time (what’s that!!) planning for re-arranging a room, decorating or redecorating it, whatever the case may be. I love planning and gathering all the materials before starting the decorating project. I do not like to start anything until I have all the items needed to finish my vision. That way, if there are changes to be made, it is easy to do so. I think you need to start with one item that you just love and decorate around that. One time I decorated a room around one little pink light. (sorry Lisa).
