Catching Up on Gifts

I have this tendency to put the wedding announcements aside and collect them until I am ready to do something special. Today I had five to do.

When I was in Denver, my daughter-in-law gave me some baskets that hold pie plates. I decided to purchase some pie plates and etch their names on the back.

I only had three baskets, so the other two couples got their names etched on wine glasses.

I have to get the local copy shop to cut their names in vinyl and I use that as stencils.

Since the couples with pie plates got a nice holder, I had to do something special for the couple with the wine glasses. After their names were etched, I applied glass paint and glued a Swarovski  crystal to each one. I use special glass glue that doesn't come off. I wrote their wedding date at the bottom of each glass. If you click on the pictures you can see better detail. I love how their names are reflected upside down in the back of the glass.

So it was a productive day.

The other day I made a pillowcase for a friend who recently went through several months of chemo, only to have her breasts removed as soon as it was done. I figured she needed a pillow case on which to rest her weary bald head, so I made a pair for her. I used the green for the back of the pillow and the brown for the front, since brown is her favorite color.

These are fun ones that have a flap to hide the pillow. I got tutorials from here and here. Neither are ultra clear, and I ended up experimenting to get the end result. I think I will make up a tutorial myself. They turn out so beautiful though, I want some for my beds.


I also finished two purses I have been working on for a while. They got put aside for more pressing projects. I made them from this darling purse pattern. One is on its way to my niece in New Mexico. She just got confirmed last year. Her favorite color is lime green, I hope this is lime enough.

I'm keeping the other one and have my stuff transferred already .  yay!
I am keeping with my pledge to continue to finish works in progress. Anytime I run across one, I stop all other projects and finish. It is such a fun and liberating feeling. 

I hope you are having a wonderful day.
~a

Gratitude

I have gratitude so often in my heart, but sometimes I don't express it enough. That said, I would like to express that gratitude:

• First for my friend Bowbie. She used to coach my two youngest children in Swimming and Water Polo. She was one of the most positive people I know. She didn't allow cheating or underhanded things to go on during the meets. Believe me, there is a LOT of underhanded things happening in Water Polo. The very first time I witnessed a WP event, my youngest daughter, J, was on the team. She is just a wisp of a girl, very slender and tall, but not much meat on her body. She was being guarded by a. . . well, how do you put it gently. . . lets just say she was exact opposite of my J. I could have fit three of J side by side next to this girl, well maybe just two, but she was formidable. As I stood there watching, this girl took J by the swimsuit and pulled her under. Just like that. I watched in horror, holding my breath, I guess in sympathy, and maybe to see if she was in need of assistance. Finally she came up, grabbed a breath and down she went again. After she came up for the third time, with my heart absolutely stopping in horror that I would witness my daughter being drown, I began to holler at the ref: "Watch number 9, she is drowning my daughter!" "Hey! HEY! HEY! YOU THERE, NUMBER 9, STOP THAT!" Pretty soon the whole spectator group was hollering at the ref. Finally he blew a whistle and called something on that stupid girl. I was about ready to climb over the railing and do a high dive from the bleachers into the water with all my clothes on to save J. The other coach flipped us off!!!  Meanwhile Bowbie called a time out and talked to the group. I don't know if it was about this incident, but later J told me that Coach had told them not to cheat. Everything must be above board. When my daughter told me of that talk, I almost cried. I was so ready to just kill this girl, and that sweet Coach Bowbie was applying Gospel principles to the game. 

Lately I just discovered her Blog. She had made a comment on my blog and told me she had a surprise for me. She gave me an award. (see sidebar)

I am not sure of the significance of the words Ultimate MeMe Award, but the words she said about me were very humbling and touching. Thanks Bowbie. You are a sweetheart and I love you.

• Next, I'm grateful for family. Last week, my second oldest daughter, Kt came to visit. It was one of the COLDEST weeks I have ever experienced and I am sad we didn't get to take her and her cuuuuuuttttte little children to the park to see the lights. Our tiny town has such a fun display of lights at Christmas.I might have to get Sailor to go and take some night shots so we can share them with her children.

Kt made us chicken pot pies. YUM. She has become such a great cook. When she was young, she loved to make cookies and to this day, I cannot ever come close to the delicious factor she reaches. I use the exact same recipe, but my cookies are NEVER as good. Thanks Kt. You are so sweet. It was so fun to love your children and play with them.

The three year old is such a cute little guy. I love how he plays. He discovered our Christmas tree revolved. He discovered how to turn it on, and was so sweet to ask every time if it could go around and around. The first time I realized he had figured it out, he had asked, and I went over to flip the switch, but he had beaten me to it and was starting to play. I have a playschool manger scene in front of the tree, and he had taken all the figures and placed them on the tree.

I hadn't decorated much, Sailor and I had put up the tree with the lights, and some ribbon and bows, plus some sparkly pine cones, but that was it. Now my tree is graced with all the members of the manger scene, and some random stuffed animals. I can't bear to take them off. Some of the participants are well hiden. I haven't seen the Baby Jesus, as often as I have stared at the tree. I've seen Mary, Joseph, shepherds, sheep, Wise Men, even the little palm trees that go on each side of the stable. It is like washing off the little finger prints from a window.

 He plays so cute. Look at all those little toys lined up in a row.

Her youngest has the most beautiful blue eyes. She helped her mommy with the pies. she would press the cookie cutter into the dough and say "Did It!"

 Look at that cute little bum!

It was very cold outside.

Last, but not least, I want to express gratitude for all the grandchildren. This little guy is our newest edition. Such a beautiful little boy. He reminds me of his dad. Look at all that hair!  I am constantly in awe of the parents of these beautiful grandchildren, (my children and their spouses)  

Looking at this tiny baby, I can't help but think of our Lord and Savior, born in a Stable, laid in a manger. I feel a great amount of awe towards His parents.  I am grateful for the Love our Heavenly Father has for us, to send his Son. 

May you have a blessed and wonderful Christmas, dear reader. 

*:·-:¦:-·:**MERRY**:·.-:¦:-·:* *CHRISTMAS**:- -:¦:-·:* 

--

The Lord has two homes: Heaven and a Grateful Heart. ~Thomas S. Monson

December Birthday

ed note: I wrote a similar thing in my December (birthday) grand daughter's card


Having a December 1st Birthday is the way to go!

It means all sorts of fun things:

• Great gifts, because the toy stores are all stocked with many fabulous things, and it gets every one in the shopping mood
  

• Getting your birthday gifts wrapped in Christmas paper

• Getting your birthday gifts combined with Christmas gifts even though they don't do that with the June Birthdays, or any other month for that matter
  

• Combining Thanksgiving and your birthday (that's when you travel to Grandma's house - well that happened to me all the time)

• The stores are all decorated for your special month
• and the star is lit on the mountain too
  

• Celebrating Jesus' birth in the same month

• Christmas Carols

• Christmas Trees

• and all that other festive stuff

Thanks to all who remembered me this year. I feel so loved.

~a

PS This bouquet just arrived, from my sweet hubby as I typed this. I have Never seen an arrangement this huge. I decided to take its photo where the Christmas tree usually stands. It is a good 2.5 feet high!

Thanks Best Friend in the World <3 ~a

Rice Therapy Bags

I got this wonderful idea for Christmas for my college-aged twin nieces on this site. I used Christmas fabric.

I made an inside bag out of muslin and treated the rice with cinnamon for the hot therapy. Then I made a fancy removable cover, so they can wash them. Then I made smaller bags to match. I stuffed them with wheat and lavender for the cold therapy.

Before I wrapped them, I put the finished products in different zip-lock bags so the scent would stay. One is for the freezer, one is for the microwave. These are really wonderful, and scented, I imagine they are even better. We use ours my sister made all the time. They are great for a cold night to warm my feet.

The maker of the pattern even has a link to an Adobe site where you can print beautiful tags to go with it. It went over very well

one warning: Don't use near the microfiber or suede couches. Ours got permanently creases where the hot bag touched the couch. But sheets and quilts are great. Doesn't hurt them a bit.

I hope you find this helpful. What do you think? Leave a comment.
and have a nice day
~a

Scented Rice for Rice Heat Therapy bags

I have made scented rice bags or rice heat therapy bags several times as gifts. I use this tutorial. 
Scented rice: In a glass Mason-type jar pour a teaspoon or slightly more of potpourri-type fragrance or essential oil, swirling the jar around to coat the insides. Add nearly a pound of uncooked, small grain rice. Place a coffee filter over the top and screw the lid on tightly. Shake well to coat the rice and place the jar on its side. Over the next few days, roll the jar frequently until the rice has taken up the scent of the oil. Cinnamon, apple, cloves, lemongrass, lavender, lilac, orange blossom, honeysuckle, rose, sandalwood, bergamot – the scent choice is yours.

Humanitarian Newborn Kits

The following is mostly for my own record. I keep losing the handouts given me at Relief Society.
This is an amazing way to make a quick receiving blanket. The specifications for the receiving blankets for the humanitarian newborn kits for the LDS Church say between 36" to 45" square. These make easy and darling gifts.
This is a link to the humanitarian site that gives you patterns and other specifications should you feel so inclined to donate or organize your own humanitarian project.
I am going to make my blankets 36" then use the remainder of the fabric to make little matching booties.
We had a young man as our guest speaker last night. He and his friend decided to do humanitarian work in Tonga where his friend served his mission and in Tijuana where Dallas had served his mission. It was on the plane going to Tonga that they met a Channel 5 reporter, Carol Mikita who did a story on his humanitarian work. After that publicity, the LDS Church's Wards and Stakes started asking him to come talk to their congregations about the work. It was while he was in St. George, preparing to do a Fireside, that he had an accident while long-boarding down a hill. The accident turned his life upside down and he almost lost his life, but miraculously he recovered. He has to have help walking, someone walking in front of him while he shuffles, but he is doing so well, that seems like nothing compared to what everyone thought would happen. They didn't think he would make it through the night that first night, and he was in a coma for 6 weeks.
He says he can remember everything that was said and who was there that whole time, so don't ever think when someone is in a coma they can't hear you. When my sister was in a coma, she remembers the doctors standing beside her bed and saying quietly that they didn't think she would make it, and she remembers mom coming in and saying to her, "DON'T YOU GIVE UP. That is basically the reason she rallied and came back, was mom "pestering" her as she puts it, every hour.

Anyway, for now, Dallas is recovering and is amazingly positive about all that has happened to him. He is determined to go back and continue with this work with his friend. He inspired me to do more.

~a

A Different Kind of Easter Gift

As a child, I remember our Easter Bunny brought baskets with fake grass (different colors for each child) filled with chocolate eggs, jelly beans and always a delicious Mr. Manuel's Sweet Shoppe Chocolate (lop-eared) rabbit. The baskets always were hidden outside, and we would get to hunt for them in the morning. Then we would gorge ourselves on Easter treats.

One Easter though, it snowed. It was much to cold and snowy to hide or find eggs outside. Besides we might be able to follow the bunny tracks in the snow and find the baskets really easily. So guess what? The Easter Bunny came inside. We had a lean-to porch by our kitchen door, and the porch floor was wooden and painted a John Deere Green. The reason I remember this so clearly is because that Easter Morning the Easter Bunny had left snowy paw prints from the outdoors to the inside across that green floor. Apparently his feet got dry after he got inside, because he didn't have exit tracks. Somewhere along the line, years later, I found out that my Daddy had painted those bunny tracks with some sort of white paint that he was able to wash up right after we saw the amazing phenomena . It was so magical though, and we naturally went and found our Easter baskets inside that year. We also got a darling stuffed duck, chick, bunny or the like. My mom was so careful picking out the most beautiful stuffed animals. Mom and Dad always made the holidays so special for us.

As I grew up and became the parent, I took my job of Easter Bunny really serious. I tried to carry on all the cute and sweet traditions my parents did, plus teach the children the true meaning of Easter as well. We didn't grow up with any religion until I was 10, so our version of Easter was watching The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur or that other one they showed every year on TV about Christ dying on the cross. I knew about Easter, and why we celebrate it. But I loved the playful side of Easter as well. As my Mom became a Grandma to my kids, she would send candy. After several years, it became a check to buy the candy, thus alleviating the postage costs. Always a carefully chosen card came from Grandma. I am not that great of a grandma when it comes to Easter. There are so many birthdays in the spring, I have a hard time keeping up with them.

But this weekend I found a new kind of Easter "basket". This year instead of bringing Easter Baskets to my children, I brought one of them myself, time and service. This Saturday before Easter, Sailor and I went to S2's house and helped him pour a concrete slab in his back yard. He is trying to sell the house and thought that this deck slab would be a good selling feature.

We went up the night before to celebrate D1's birthday, then spent the night at S2's. He fixed us breakfast then we got to work. Making the form, ordering the concrete, then hauling it back in wheelbarrows and tapping the cement down and leveling it. I guess we did 2 cubic yards. The slab is about 10' x 18' and about 4 inches thick.















I have always watched the cement process from the side, while my daddy frantically did the whole thing with a bunch of helper men. I kind of knew the process from the recesses of my mind, but we are talking many, many moons ago when I was only 7 or 8 years old. To be actually in the midst of the workers was a new one for me, and I could feel my Daddy's spirit near. He was an amazing man. I miss him. I hope you're proud, Daddy.



Sailor recalled his own experiences of pouring concrete with his father, and I'm sure his dad's spirit was hovering nearby as well, because his Dad's idea of a wonderful day was when everyone got together and worked, hauling hay, pouring concrete, the like. I think he had a warped sense of fun.

But then again, I felt so satisfied after we were done. It was pretty nice to see this slab of concrete nicely curing as we pulled away from our son's house. We had a really wonderful one-on-one visit with our son. Maybe Sailor's dad has a point after all. . .

It is an Easter Weekend I will always remember. And I am glad I got to participate.

Happy Easter Everyone! What did you do for your Easter Weekend?

~a

Happy Birthday Grand Daughter, Happy Easter All

Yesterday was my oldest grand daughter's 7th birthday. She has known how to speed dial me since she was about three years old. I quite enjoy these darling conversations and am so grateful her darling parents have allowed her to do this. It is an amazing treat for me. She called yesterday afternoon to report about her birthday, and Sailor was home to hear the conversation:

"Hi Grandma, Guess what I am wearing?"

"Well, I don't know, Sweetie, what are you wearing?"

She proceeded to tell me she had a brand new backpack with a flashlight and water bottle that she got from Nona, the Other Grandmother. Then she listed all the gifts she had opened and what kind of cake she had, and that it was all eaten up now. Then:

"Thank you for the money, by the way."

"You are welcome! What will you buy with it?"

She reported that she was saving her money for something special, but she doesn't know what is special enough to buy yet.

Then we got a book report on her latest most favorite chapter-book she is reading. She read the latest poem she had written that the teacher had her copy onto a poster and was hanging in the school room. She had been sick on Sunday and had to miss Sunday School with her mother who was also sick. She is a great talker and always has many things to tell us when she calls.

Usually at this point, she begs for some sort of story from our childhood, so we have been reaching into the back closets of our minds and saving them up, in case she decides she wants a Story-On-Demand. We were ready with a few, and even started to tell her a couple, but she wasn't interested in listening this time, just talking. So we listened and asked appropriate questions.

The next topic was about the amazing remote-controlled car she got that fits Barbie dolls. She began to describe this amazing car. It had everything. It is more equipped than the little Grand Am I drive, for heaven's sakes!

"Did I tell you it was remote-controlled?"
"Oh, Yes you did, that is amazing!"

As as she was talking, she was discovering new features on this car and was excitedly reporting to us and her Younger Sister who happened to be nearby.

"OH, Look YS it has little rear-view mirrors! And it has neat seat covers and the steering wheel looks metal, and. . . IT HAS A TRUNK!"

I told her that with a trunk the Barbie's could go on trips and pack their clothes in the trunk.

About this time, she interrupted and said, "You don't have to talk anymore, Grandma. Even I am getting tired of talking. I love you! Bye!" And she hung up without any more fanfare.

Sailor and I just laughed and laughed over that. It is a First for this Girl. She usually has to be told by her folks to hang up and she does that with great reluctance and sadness.

But today, after all, was her birthday and her parents had hit the Jack Pot with this gift that she could hardly wait to play with. Grand children are so much fun!

On another note. This weekend is Easter. Happy Easter Everyone! My weatherman/choir director informed us that this is the earliest Easter Sunday since 1913, and it won't happen again until March 2228. He explained that "Easter is the first Sunday, after first full moon, after the first day of Spring."

Because I have been working for a contractor who works at the Power Plant's outage for that last few April's I have missed a couple of Easter Sundays, and have felt so deprived. This year it is early enough that I will get to celebrate it! But this year all the kids have other plans.

Someday I will write a post on my earliest memory of Easter. It snowed, and the Easter Bunny actually came inside our house to hide the eggs. He left tracks on the porch. It was so magical and amazing. I am in awe of my father, who was an artist, by the way. He was such a cute Daddy.

Happy Easter to all. Enjoy another edition of Savage Chickens on the subject of the Easter Bunny.
~a

Home made and cheaper

Sunday after Church, I found a package for S3 and wife inside my screen door. It had no wrapping. It was a baking pan with three spiral bound books inside and tied with a bow. The books were titled: 100 Helpful Household Hints: Baking Soda. The other two books were titled the same, but for Salt and Vinegar. They looked so very interesting!
The other day on Oprah, Dr. Oz made a comment that stuck with me. He said that if we threw away every cleaner and used Vinegar, Salt and Baking Soda, we would have a healthier environment and our grocery bill would go down, or something to that effect.

I think it is really interesting that two things within two days had the same topics.
I used to work as a substitute in the HS lunch room with Gift Giver, and I know she shops at those Book Fairs that come to the schools. Not knowing how to find a book fair, I began to search online for these titles.
I found a set on E-bay but I lost the auction at the last minute. Then I found them sold separately Amazon, but the costs were outrageous, and the shipping was crazy. Finally, through some more web searching, I found this source.

So, for under $12.00, including shipping USPS, I can have my own set! Now I won't have to write a fake a thank you note to Gift Giver, pretending to be S3, so I can keep the interesting-looking books for myself.

I am a sucker for those home made remedies, recipes and helpful household tips. I have several books on my bookshelf in the same genre.

While searching for these books online, I found a recipe for Dish Washing Detergent. There were several with part of the ingredients, but this one looked like she had done some serious experimenting. Here is the one that looks the best:

Dish washing Powder.

In a plastic container with a firmly fitting lid, mix:
1 cup borax (20-Mule-Team Borax, available in any supermarket)
1 cup baking soda
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup citric acid (available in brewing stores among other places--if you haven't tracked it down yet but must try this formula, use two packets of Lemonade-Flavored Kool-Aid, ONLY lemon, or you'll dye your dishwasher! and ONLY unsweetened Kool-Aid!)
30 drops citrus essential oil--lemon, grapefruit, orange, tangerine, or a mixture

Put all of it in the container, shake it up.

To use, put a tablespoon or so into each cup of your dishwasher. I've found I no longer have to use the scrubbing cycle but can get by fine with the short cycle, thus saving even more money. On average, it looks like this is about 8 cents a load compared with Cascade at 22 cents a load. Compare it with EcoVer or Seventh Generation and it's a steal. I have also started putting some of this in a shaker canister--the one I have we got at a restaurant supply, it's aluminum and was made for popcorn salt. I use it to clean my sink and anything else that I'd normally use Bon Ami on. Works great, and the essential oil makes it smell fantastic.

This is the site I found the above recipe on: home made cleaners.

Sweet Sailor is always worried about the future and how we can get along without the things we are used to in this day and age, should the fuel become scarce and the trucks stop delivering to the local grocery store. I figured that I had better be ready with lots of these books, home remedies, recipes, and cures. Of course if this happens, then I probably will stop using the dishwasher, but in the mean time, I will save some money. How about that?

Now I have a new list of supplies to shop for next time the case lot sales are on: Baking Soda, Vinegar, Salt and Borax. Oh and Lemonade Kool-aid! :D

a

PS I have to add that the source I mentioned is VERY SLOW. I ordered these books on the 11th of Jan. I called them today and they told me they were back-ordered and would email me when they mail my package. Today is 1 February. . . We shall see. I would advise you to call them instead of ordering online, that way you can talk to a person and see if they are in stock or not. . .

Christmas Memories

Channel 5 has a local program called Studio 5. They have demonstrations of crafts, and cooking, ideas for Christmas and guests. It is a fun one to listen to while I do other things, like wrap gifts. Their contest today was "What is the Most Creative Gift you have ever given or received."
I thought about it and came up with one memory

Here is mine:
When Sailor was Cowboy/Farmer in our past life on the farm, he was training a horse to pull. His dream was to get her to pull a sled or a wagon and we could ride behind. He worked with her in the summer and taught her to pull a plow.
Now he was talented when it came to working with animals and training them. He was also very clever when it came to guessing gifts. I hadn't succeeded in surprising him with a gift in our entire married life.

But Christmas 1979, I succeeded! And here is how I did it.
I wrapped a 3x5 index card in a large box and sent him on a treasure hunt. The gift I gave him made noise, so to wrap the actual gift was out of the question.
On the card was a silly poem I made up, and here is what I said:

Dearest Husband (I used his name)

This next present is just for you
It's hard to wrap, so here's a clue.
I'm sure that it will just "fill the bill"
It won't take much effort, and yet it will
If you use it right,
You will have a noisy but silent night!
Now if this has set your curiosity on fire
To find your gift, go look in the dryer!
Love,
Annie

Inside the clothes dryer, hidden in a pile of towels were two sets of sleigh bells.

Really Happy Birthday

I have always loved December not only because of Christmas, but the 1st starts the season with my birthday. Mom said she always got into the Christmas mood because the toys were now in the stores and she had so much to choose from. I really don't remember any specific birthday gifts, but I did get some amazing dolls for Christmas every year, which have resulted in a huge collection in my sewing room and all over the house.

Yesterday started out waking up beside my sweet husband and opening my eyes and stirring to see him open his eyes and the first words out of his mouth were to wish me a happy birthday. Just the fact that I have gotten to wake up beside him almost every day for 33 1/2 years made me feel so happy and blessed to have him. Right away he jumped up and got some things out of the cupboard, a book and a dvd I have been wishing for. Another book arrived in the mail later. He said there is still more to come. He discovered my Amazon.com wish list and ordered a bunch.

There was only one snag in my day, when I thought I had lost some tickets my daughter had given me for a concert on Sunday. We spent about an hour looking (no tearing the house apart) for them and finally gave up and left for our 2 1/2 hour trip north to our choir concert. After we left, we made a stop at the filling station to get some soft drinks, and while waiting, I decided to put some things in the trunk and there, among the mail I need to take to the newly wed couple was that envelope with the tickets.

During the morning of packing and frantically looking for my tickets, I got many sweet calls from my children, neighbor, and my sister in the next state along with my mom who left a message by singing Happy Birthday to me. And both sons who have children allowed each of their children to talk with me as well. That was so sweet to hear their tiny voices whispering, "Happy Birthday Grandma." One doesn't talk, but she said "mmmf" several times as I responded to her and her dad coached her from the other side. She is always willing to try anything they ask her. Another one said, "what is your last name? I need to know which grandma I am talking to. Are you the one in (neighboring state), or the one in (my state)? When I answered, she said "YEA! This is (her name)" One other tiny one talked so well, I thought at first she was the older sister until I heard her dad say, "very good, (her name)." All of them are precious.

Because of the frantic, unscheduled ticket hunt, we arrived a bit late to the rehearsal, but no one except the conductors wife really noticed. She had saved me a seat next to her with a birthday present under the chair. She is a dear friend, and I was so honored she remembered me. Several others in the choir wished me a happy day as well.

My birthday present to the world, or the city was to sing to them. The concert was just beautiful. It was preceded by a beautiful snow that stayed on the trees like someone had flash frozen it to them. The storm made it all the more perfect for a Christmas Concert. We were all in the Christmas mood. Every year, Our Choir puts this on for the Angel Tree, which is sponsored by the Salvation Army. They have Christmas trees set up in the foyer with tags shaped like Angels. The tags say if it is a child or a Senior citizen and the gender of the individual, and their wish, which is one or two items. It is very humbling to see their Christmas wishes, like a pair of sox or gloves. They are very simple and not extravagant. You can pick an angel off the tree and buy a gift for that elderly person or child and deliver it to any Macy's in the valley to help their Christmas be a better one. The ticket sales profits from our concert go to the Salvation Army as well. The downstairs of the auditorium was packed.

The Grinch made a surprise appearance and then Santa came out and chased him away and handed out candy canes to the children while we had a community sing-in.
Our guest soloist, Greg Pearson has an amazingly beautiful bass voice and sang "You're a Mean One, Mr.Grinch" so well and out of the side of his mouth no less. Then with just as much passion he sang the Innkeeper from Forgotten Carols, by Michael McLean which gives me chill bumps every time.

A children's choir, Studio A Children's choir joined us and sang some songs with us and some on their own. And every year, the same Symphony Orchestra teams up with us for this concert. The evening was perfect. We topped it all off singing the Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah.

Later I went to the balcony where my family was waiting, and several of the kids gave me gifts. I wasn't expecting this, but I got a nativity scene and How the Grinch Stole Christmas DVD. Perfect!

We reconviened in the parking lot to give things to the kids they requested from the house, a box of apples for one, a pie plate accidentally forgotten from Thanksgiving, and more cards and gifts for the newlywed couple. Then we bid goodbye to the kids. Because of Sunday's concert, we were spending the night with my sister and her husband, so we headed that way.

When we arrived, I called her on my cell to tell her we were outside and she opened the garage door to let us park inside for the night. As we went in, there on her counter top was an ice cream cake from Cold Stone! And part of my family, singing Happy Birthday to me! D1, SIL1 and my sister's youngest son and his cute wife along with my sister and her husband. I totally didn't expect that! I cannot remember having a surprise party since my childhood, OR a cake I didn't have to make!. In fact this morning, when I was talking to my granddaughter on the phone she asked what kind of cake I was going to have, and I told her probably none, because we were leaving the house for a couple of days.

Wow, what a sweet honor. I feel so loved, and now, I just noticed a blog friend, Lori wished me a happy birthday on her blog. Let me just say, I really feel honored, humbled and blessed for all the love I have felt today. And I wish you, dear reader, the same kind of birthdays too, whenever they may be.
a

PS tomorrow or the next, I will post some of the movies taken at this concert. They are taken on a digital camera that only takes 3~minute~tiny movies, so they are not the best quality, but you can hear us sing. It was the best concert I think we have done.

3 Dec 07~ Sunday we went to a Christmas Devotional in The Conference Center put on by our Church in Salt Lake City. These are the tickets my daughter got for us. It was so beautiful and a sweet way to kick off the Christmas season. I love this time of year.
::sigh::

Shopping Bag Rug

So! Next time you are totally bored, and are looking for a new project to crochet, how about recycling all those accumulated shopping bags? Crochet yourself a Shopping Bag Rug.

I have actually made several of these and just recently wore one out after 3 years of every day use.

To view step-by-step instructions and pictures, click on this link. Double Click on the "shopping bag rug" set, Click on "view as slideshow", and make sure you click in the middle of the first photo in the "!" to see the commentary on each photo, then enjoy.

For some reason, Flickr downloads your pictures backwards, so when you first come to the site, it shows #22. I have fiddled and fiddled and cannot make it start with #1 on that first page, but if you view as a slideshow, they will be in the correct order. I have labeled the pictures 1-23 with a comment below, and a few of the finished rug as well.

I did NOT include the actual crochet pattern, because I don't want to infringe on any copyright, so you have to come up with your own doily or rug pattern for your rug. I got mine from a Leisure Arts Floor Show pamphlet (LA2915), made for yarn. My pattern is called "Lacy Cluster". It says to use three strands of yarn, but I used just one 3/4" strand. I am sure mine turned out a different size than the original, but I like it. Mine measures about 24" across. I used about 15-20 bags, I am not sure exactly. Another one I made with wider cut strips and a larger hook turned out about 40" across, and used about 50 bags. The finished size varies with size of crochet hook and width of strands.

One thing I did not include in the instructions is how to join the two strands when you run out of one bag. I actually overlap the last strand with the new one by about 7 inches and just crochet my way through the two, tucking in the ends if they want to pop out. They are tapered from how you cut them, so they should fit in nicely. The ones I didn't overlap as long, eventually worked their way out, and that is what actually made the old rug wear out. So overlap them a good ways when you start a new strand. It was the washing machine that was its demise, because I didn't overlap it as well. That learned, the next rug has more overlap.

Another thing, Wal-Mart will not sell you a bunch of new bags, but some grocery stores will. The first one I made was from the local grocery store and had touches of blue and red in it. This one has only black specks. One I made for my daughter has red and green because it was a Christmas shopping bag. I use only ONE kind of bag per rug to make it look better.

Tip: I xeroxed the instructions and laminated them. Then I used a safety pin to mark my place on the instructions.
~ I also cut several bags in one sitting, and rolled them into balls, tucking the end of the ball inside so they wouldn't unravel and storing them in another plastic shopping bag. Store your crochet hook in a snack sized Zip-loc bag to keep from losing it.

I know it sounds pretty red-neck to have a plastic rug in your kitchen, but you really cannot tell when you look at it. I like it for the kitchen. And they can be tossed in the washing machine, which makes them very practical. I actually made this one for the boat, but liked so much that I kept it in the kitchen.

where to find the pamphlet link and here as well
and Amazon has four and if you check often, Ebay might have them once in a while