My Blogging Vacation Is Over

Back in 2008, my blogging hobby began. Mostly because I read that blogging would increase traffic and sales to my Etsy shop and partly because it made me feel useful in the midst of crazy, unpredictable parenthood. My Etsy shop eventually took a back burner along with other things. (Etsy shops take enormous amounts of background legwork!) Not that I haven't been sewing behind the scenes but time constraints have kept me from publicly selling my goods.

You know, parenthood doesn't always leave a mama feeling accomplished because of all of those annoying little tasks that never get done. Those undone, annoying,  little tasks that bury themselves into your psyche and make you feel like a failure, or slacker, or even a slob. The sink full of dirty dishes (even though you have a dishwasher), the overflowing laundry baskets, the garden of crumbs on the kitchen floor, or the toy store that somehow managed to set itself up from one end of the living room to the other, all left this mama feeling unaccomplished.

Those sorts of things pushed me to blog back in the day. Publishing a blog post was an accomplishment! It was something that I could cross off of my to-do list. Blogging got me through some tough times that I'm sure I'll share details about in the future. My Etsy shop benefited from a meager traffic flow as a result of blogging so that's a plus in my book. I wasn't in it for monetary compensation so that was OK too. So you see, taking a break didn't cause the stock market to crash or the interstate to back up so I could afford being slack. It's all good. 

So why did I take so long to come back? A great number of reasons.  Probably the biggest reason was an expansion in our family member department.  (You'll probably hear that crazy story eventually too).  My kids come first over my hobbies so blogging took a serious back seat. I guess it would be fair to say that a broken computer had a big part also but I wasn't in any hurry to remedy my computer situation anytime soon. 

Just what are my plans?  

Well, I've been seriously planning upcoming crafting tutorials,  a few cooking tutorials,  numerous informative posts on things from azalea pests to natural healing.   I expect there will be a lot of sewing, crafting, experimenting, food preservation, and (hopefully) a lot of garden growing going on.  

Probably what I'm most excited about: A very special weekly series called, "Dementia Stories".  Writing about the bare bones and sometimes ugly truth of dementia and how it affects my family is something I felt led to share many months ago. I'm finally taking the plunge. Maybe there are some of you wonderful people out there that would benefit from knowing that you aren't alone when care giving.   Maybe you too will learn to laugh at the little things.   Let me warn you, there will be a lot of humor thrown in as I've been taught to laugh my way through the tough times by my precious mother and mother in law, many, many times over the past few years.

Times have changed. I have changed. My circumstances have changed.  I'll do my best to make you happy.  It's all good. I hope you'll enjoy the ride along side me!

Back in Business!

Sometime ago, I posted that something new was coming to Minnie Maes. After a long wait, that something new has made it's debut.

Yes, you read that correctly, Minnie Maes is back in business.  Yes, there is a new product in stock. As a matter of fact, this awesome play mat is currently one of a kind. If it sells, there will be more to come like it. I actually have an under water mat, a cowboy mat, and a super hero mat that are in the process of being duplicated. (The originals are being kept for a little one at my house).

I haven't forgotten about the spiky fellow in the photo. He is anxiously awaiting a new home too.  

Stay tuned for new goodies to be added daily.

Kitchen Cabinet Organization...

Above the stove organization

I'm still working on trying to get my kitchen in order. So far I have bought these nifty little containers to store our medicine in. Each little plastic container is labeled with what is inside so it makes it really easy to find what we need, when we need it. I had a three-tiered shelf that I was able to put our vitamins and supplements on. Short little plastic trays made a nice home for random things that I need almost every day like baking powder and salt.

I saw this awesome tutorial on using Dollar Store cookie cooling racks to make spice shelves. It only took a few minutes to make all four of them. They are held in place by plastic, ashesive hooks.  I'm a little leery of trusting those adhesive hooks but so far they are holding fine. Spices don't weigh very much so I think we'll be ok.

The next job that I'm going to tackle, is the school cabinet. I may have to call for reinforcements!

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The Organization Bug bit me....

This just happened.  Right now.  I mean, sort of....ok, last night, this just happened!

I now have a kitchen command center. I'll have to train myself to check it often but I'm pretty sure it will be a good thing in the future.

I'm slack in the tutorial department.  I'm sorry.   I can tell you that if you take advantage of the back to school sales right now, you can pull this off too.

I had the bottom cork board already (dumpster dive at our storage facility- don't judge, it was just sitting there on top of a box waiting for me at the dumpster).  I bought the two dry erase boards and the calender at a local retail store for around $22.00.  They even came with fancy-smancy markers and erasers. I bought another large magnetic eraser and the magnetic marker holder for somewhere around $6.00.  The picture at the top was on clearance at another local retail store for $4.99. 

Everything didn't start off having black trim.  A can of spray paint fixed that and, voila, matching frames.

So, with some picture hangers, a level, and a hammer, it came together. I'm pretty happy with the end result.   :)

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Crafty Fail #??

Vacation Bible school is next week. I had this great idea to make a sensory bottle.  Well, the sensory bottle did not turn out ANYWHERE like those cute ones on Pinterest.   Where did I go wrong?  I put in water, baby oil, and cooking oil.  I added a bag of these cute little butterfly charms and the glitter.   I hot glued the cap and screwed it on.  Easy peasy, right? 

Maybe I should have used fine glitter and not so much red?  I don't know.  Maybe a smaller bottle?  Speaking of the bottle, I bummed it from my son.  Now he doesn't have a water bottle.   I'm feeling guilty now but I'll make sure he gets a new one.  Well, chalk one up for a crafty fail.  Life will go on!  :)

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Just When I Had Given Up on My Seeds...

This here, is a pea in the making.

Its been 2 weeks since we planted our seeds in our square foot garden.  It had previously been pretty cool outside but for the past 3 days or so, we've had some nice, warm, spring weather. 

I guess thats all it took.  I'm so glad because I was worrying that my seeds were too old to come up at all.  They are all heirloom seeds because I feel that it is extremely important to stay away from all of the GMO infused concoctions that are becoming so common.

Maybe we'll have come carrots and cucumbers in the near future.

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Still Painting...

The final painting

I've lost count of how many days its taken to accomplish this monumental task but, we are done!  I have to wait one week for the paint to completely "set" and become scratch resistant.  (A necessity concerning play equipment!)

The finally paint count: 4 cans of blue, 4-1/2 cans of green.  Seriously,  it took that much. At least we have some blue left over that can be used to help decorate some props for Vacation Bible School that is coming up soon.  :)     

Once our 1 week "curing" time is up, I'll post a pick of it all put together.  I'm excited!

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Something Old is Going to Look New

Laying out the first pieces

Kind of what we're starting with

Marking off the "wood"

A work in progress with 1 coat

I bought some used, plastic kiddo furniture.  I was thrilled to get it.  Like most plastic outdoor furniture,  it was a little faded but otherwise in good shape. I had seen these "Little Tikes Make Overs" on Pinterest and I knew that I had to make a go for it. 

On those "make over" tutorials, most suggested a particular brand and type of spray paint.  This is the point where I was stopped in my tracks. Why, you ask?  I went to both home improvement stores in my town and guess what?  They didn't have any other than 4 cans of a "girly" blue.   That was not going to work. My search continued......  I finally found what I was looking for at a local department store.

I bought 2 cans of blue, 2 cans of green,  and a can of brown.   Having already washed the pieces down with some Charlie Soap earlier in the day to allow everything to dry, we got to work spraying the first coat on most of the pieces.

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to spray most of the pieces with a second coat. I've already used a full can of green so I'm assuming I'll have to go buy at least one more can of both blue and green.  We'll just have to see....

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