Odds N' Ends

If you are anything like me, you find things when you are out and about (I call it gypsy junkin') that you think are interesting or have an eye catching shape or that you just know would be useful in some way if your were a bit more imaginative. Behold: the answer for my empty jelly jar and metal hose clamp pile (yes I have a pile)! I will be making these not only for each bathroom in my house, but also in different colors to sell at this winter's shows. I plan on using pallet pieces (that I always have) and metal hooks from the dollar store....and I fully encourage you to do the same...

LED Cloud Lights- DYI

Here is a link to tutorial for DIY LED Cloud Lights! Must try this for my daughters room!

http://www.elementalled.com/academy/blog/diy/weekend-lediy-project-led-cloud-lanterns/

Must Remember......

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost,

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by frost....

No Pressure

The latest from Brick Knob Studios:

See that huge antique clamp sitting over there in the corner of that Re-Store table? It looks cool, and old, and interested...and it's marked $4.99. "This is so neat" you think to yourself, "but what would I do with it? Where would I put it?"
Well, if you were this gypsy, you would put it on the base of a pallet birdhouse, glue some moss from the dollar store to it, and bask in the glow of thinking outside the box.....or in this case I guess the birdhouse.....

Who's Afraid Of the Big Bad Chainsaw?

As I stand here looking at what was once my nice, neat front yard, I have cause to wonder if my family is crazy or if everyone else is. My husband and I have no super powers to speak of, no extraordinarily unusual gifts to boast about, and were not born with any additional skills (unless of course you count sarcasm).

So, when the decision was made that several large, dead tree limbs that were precariously perched above our home needed to be removed forthwith, all were in agreement. We have long, hard winters here in Northern Michigan and lake effect snow storms are the boogiemen that we chase each other off to bed with. Removing said limbs before they decided to make themselves comfortable in my upstairs den was a no-brainer. How to go about said task was another matter entirely......

Choice #1: Call up local tree removal/nursery company in our town, invited them to inspect the situation, schedule a time and date and fork over about $400 for them to remove the worst offenders.

Choice #2: Allow my husband to rent a 40 foot tall cherry-picker (still not sure what the technical name for this massive piece of equipment is) borrow some tools, which included a rather intimidating chainsaw on a stick, and take the offending limbs down ourselves for $100.

The question being-as the ultimate DIY'ers, where do we draw the line when it comes to taking on jobs ourselves instead of sending up a flare and screaming for the professionals? Now we are know people that can't seem to mow their own lawns or change a switch-plate without assistance, but I would suggest that even the most die-hard home improver would at least hesitate at the prospect of the four legged, many-switched, bright blue behemoth that squatted in my yard over the weekend. We had never used one before, and we did not invite over someone who has used one before. We simply went over the basics and safety measures with the rental company, hitched it up, and away we went.

Bottom line-success! No injuries to report & no damages to claim. The glow of a job well done has settled over the Lilly house, much to the delight of this gypsy. I was originally doubtful and probably put the most gregarious parrot to shame with my repeated pleas for caution, but the bottom line is still the bottom line, the only way to learn how to do these things is to do them. Who better than 2 able bodied grown men, both familiar with power tools and reasonable confident in their abilities to attempt the wrangling of a large project? I for one am proud of my amazing mate, who has once again shown me that he is the most capable man of my acquaintance, and I am a very lucky gal to have him....

Photootoothis, a daughter diagnosed

Photootoothis (photo-oh-tooth-is) n. 
       A startling condition that is most often observed in small children, usually between the ages of 4 (four) and 7 (seven). In order for Photootoothsis to occur, two criterion must be met:
        1. Said child must be missing at least 2 (two) or more juvenile deciduous (commonly referred to as baby teeth)
        2. Said child must be scheduled to participate in their educational institution's annual photographic recording event (commonly referred to as School Picture Day) the same week as the loss of the baby teeth occurs.
        There are no know cures for Photootoothis, experts strongly recommend cherishing photos as evidence of growing up and extreme cuteness.

Rustic Fall Flower Boxes

If you are anything like me, you are left with naked flower boxes by the time fall rolls around. Fall happens to be this Gypsy's favorite season, so I am always looking for new and interesting ways to decorate for this crisp and colorful time of year.
This year I decided to create my own rustic pumpkins to add color to the front of our home. My first stop was my husband's scrap wood pile where I picked out a pile of thin boards that I thought would make interesting pumpkins. I laid out my 3 "groups" on the ground so I could get a better idea of what would look best: a big square board in front of a tall skinny board, some boards vertical, some horizontal, etc. When I had all my pumpkin boards chosen, I gathered interesting thin scraps to use as stems, again choosing a variety of tall and thin and short and fat.
Making sure you remember which end is the "top" of the pumpkin from your previous layout decision time, use a chop saw (of a handsaw if you are not comfortable with power tools) to cut the top 2 corners off of your boards so they look less square and more "pumpkiny" (I sweet talked my hubby into doing this for me)
Next came the painting, I used orange, red and yellow paint and mixed up several different shades of pumpkin and squash colors, whatever struck my fancy, some very dark and some very light and all the rest somewhere in the middle. I suggest you paint each pumpkin in your groups a different color so they stand out better from each other. I did the same process with green for the stems, making some a darker green and some a lighter green. After lightly painting some faint lines on the pumpkins to suggest shadows from their seams, I screwed the stems onto the backs of the pumpkins with a screwgun and used a staple gun to attach some pieces of grapevine I had left over from another project. (A great way to stockpile cheap grapevine is to buy old Christmas wreathes at garage sales and re-sale shops, I buy them for about a quarter each by the bag full, cut the pieces holding the wreath together and am left with feet and feet of grapevine) and carted them all out to the flower boxes.

My husband screwed some small sticks of wood onto the backs of some of the smaller pumpkins for steaks so they would stand up better, you can do this if you do not have something for your pumpkins to lean against.
After putting the pumpkins into the flower boxes, I added some fake fall flowers and leaves that I picked up at our Goodwill for about $5 and bingo! Pretty fall flower boxes that are rustic, unique and lovely!