Let the Easter Crafting Begin!

Last Day of February...
Tomorrow March is here at last!  In February, it doesn't seem like spring will ever come.  But March gives me hope!  I am still trying to get the snowmen off the front door garland...but it keeps snowing and blowing.  I have the cutest Easter wreath from Disney.  It's all pink and pretty with Thumper at the center.  I can't wait to dig it out of the storeroom and get some Spring in (my front) steps.

The bunny card to the left is one of my favorite graphics.  I've had it for a few years now...this year I think he will feature in a few projects.  I finished a couple of things last weekend to share.

Re-Purposed Mini Muffin Tin...

It's quite small...only 7" by 9".

Birds and nests are a few of my most favorite things.

Tin Sign w/Vintage Postcard...

Quick and easy project...got frame from Pick Your Plum last Halloween.

Large Oval Gift Box....

This will be filled with Easter treats for a fund-raiser.

Thank you for letting me share my first Easter projects for 2012.  I have a lot more ideas running around like toddlers inside my head.  I hope to share those as well...when they've settled down long enough to be created. =D

Note:  I just noticed that this is my 100th post!  I cannot believe it!  I only started the blog in August.

 Thank you, everyone for encouraging me!

When I Was Your Age...McKenzie & Macy!

 





















Harrington Elementary...
The two little beauties above are, McKenzie, on the left, and Macy.  Kenzie is in the fifth grade and Macy is in third.

In third, fourth and fifth grades, I attended Harrington Elementary in American Fork, Utah.  "Old Hairy Legs" we called it.  I liked going to school there...the teachers and principal were nice.  Mr. Durrant, my fourth grade teacher, was the nicest man in the world.  We (the girls) cried on the last day of school, we loved him so much.

Fifth Grade...

This is me in fifth grade.  My favorite subject was writing and I loved to write stories.  Reading and vocabulary were also things I was very good at.  I once called a little girl who was teasing me "obnoxious and abhorrent."  I was sometimes bored when the work was too easy.  My teacher, probably to give me something to do, would have me read aloud to the class whatever book we were on, like "Where the Red Fern Grows."

I was a champion jacks player...in my mind!

Two of the most popular games at Harrington were tether ball and foursquare.  I wasn't the best at any sport...but I held my own at recess!  Another reason why Mr. Johnson had to keep me busy was...

...Batman! 

I was totally crazy about him!

I spent a lot of my time doodling bat symbols on my papers.  It was such a cheesy show!  What was I thinking?  When I was wasn't drooling over Bruce Wayne, I was at my friend Carrie's house for 4-H and dancing to...

...The Beatles!

I wanted to be British so bad that I faked an English accent and pretended I was an exchange student.  This only annoyed my real...American...family!  Carrie had all their albums...and a real stereo console in her living room.  We hadn't had a working record player for some time.  One day, my friends and I performed a lip-sync to "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" for our classmates.

Third Grade...

This is my fourth grade picture.  I couldn't find any of my third grade ones...even after a day spent digging through many dusty boxes of photos and keepsakes.  I hope they turn up some day.

We moved from Alpine to American Fork the year I started third grade.  After a long summer playing outside in the sun, my skin was as dark and pretty as yours, Macy.  On the first day of school..I had my hair in braids that day...a little girl asked me if I was an Indian. Since I do have some Native American blood...I told her I was.  I spent my first day at a new school being popular for the first time in my life...I enjoyed being so exotic and interesting.  Too bad it didn't last. =D 

Favorite Books...

All-time Favorites...Little House on the Prairie

I was always in the highest reading group and had been reading chapter books since second grade...where my favorite series was...

...The Boxcar Children

I loved the idea of children fending for themselves and living in a train car.  For the longest time I wanted a caboose for a playhouse.  In third grade I discovered...

...Classics Illustrated. 

These comic books made the great books of literature fun to read.  My favorites were "Oliver Twist" and "The Time Machine."  In third grade I got the brilliant idea to write a script for a third grade production of Oliver Twist...too bad Mrs. Mortensen wouldn't cooperate with my scheme.  I had it all written and cast too!

A Sad Day in November...

John F. Kennedy was President of the United States.  When I saw him on television, I thought he was the most handsome man.  I knew nothing about politics...but I liked him very much.

November 22, 1963 was a normal school day.  When we went for lunch, all was well.  After lunch, I entered the school room.  The cute boy, Jon, sat at his desk listening to his transistor radio surrounded by a bunch of kids.  The substitute teacher was writing on the board..."Lyndon Baines Johnson."  Something was very wrong.  The teacher then informed us that President Kennedy had been killed.  The news was everywhere.  It seemed like the whole world was turned upside down.

The sight of the pretty widow and her two little children was so sad it made me cry.

This was a little of my life when I was your age.  I had many more adventures...some real, some imaginary. When you are my age, Mckenzie and Macy, what stories will you tell?

I love you,

Grandma Shirley

Post Script:  Just a day or two after this was posted...the news came out that Davy Jones had died from a heart attack.  How sad to lose a childhood hero. 

Daisy, Daisy!

What's in a Name?

After we lost Jack, our golden retriever, I sadly took the name letters down from the shelf in the mud room...leaving an empty space on the shelf and in our hearts.  Then Daisy came!  She is so bright and pretty...

...and always in motion.  As sunny as a daisy in springtime is our baby.  This week I felt it was time for Daisy to take her place upon the high shelf.  So with some paper mache letters from Hobby Lobby, October Afternoon paper and 3Dimensional daisy stickers...our mud room is now a brighter and sunnier space. 

Close-up of D and A

Close-up of I S Y. 

The letters look so bright and vintage-y.

Not a great pic...there are no windows in this room off the garage.

But I was able to find a cute daisy cannister to help brighten things up.

This is just a short post...still working on the next posts for my granddaughters.  They are coming down tonight for a quick (un-expected) stay...a cousin on their Dad's side is getting married tomorrow.  Gotta go get a few things ready.

When I Was Your Age...Madison!

To My Granddaughters...
I've watched you grow up...eight beautiful girls!  I think I know you pretty well...but perhaps not as well as I should.  But here is a question...How well do you know me?  Like you, I grew up with two loving grandmothers, but I really didn't know what they were like when they were young.  Where did they go to school?  What kind of music did they like?  What were their hobbies and other favorite things?  Who were their friends?  I sure wish I knew!

So...I got this great idea...I will tell each of you what I was like when I was your age.  Madison...you are the oldest, the first grandchild.  We were so excited to be grandparents!  I cannot believe you will be in high school this fall.  Yikes!

When I was Madison's Age...

I was born in 1955.  It was a VERY good year!  Disneyland opened for the very first time that long ago summer.  Now you know why I love Disneyland so very much...and why I will never get too old to have fun! 

Eighth and Ninth Grades...

This is a picture from my ninth grade yearbook.  Not my best hair day...lol!  When I was in the eighth and ninth grades I loved to write and enter speech and poetry contests...I was pretty good.  I learned to sew and made all my own school clothes.  In ninth grade I was on the yearbook staff and wrote for the school newspaper.

I wore my hair long and in a "flip" like Marlo Thomas in "That Girl,"a TV series that I liked a lot.  Sometimes the boys would tease me and call me "Marlo."  I didn't like being teased...but there are worse things in life than being compared to a pretty actress.  My big dream back then, was to go to BYU, major in Drama...and be a stage actress.

You know how much you love your ipod?  I loved my transistor radio.  I had an earbud...it wasn't stereo...and sometimes I would put it under my pillow and listen to my favorite station...KCPX...all night long. (They hadn't invented ipod pillows yet)  Sometimes in the middle of the night I would get a station playing the Wolfman Jack show...but that was only when the weather was clear.  My favorite group when I was in junior high was...

The Monkees!  Yay!

The Monkees were THE boy band of my day...before NSYNC or New Kids on the Block...or the Jonas Brothers.  I also listened to Sonny and Cher and The Rolling Stones...the Stones have been around since the Stone Age...pun not intended. =D

Beauty and Fashion...

Twiggy was the Super Model when I was your age.  She wore the cutest clothes, but was so skinny that she was controversial.  Here she is on the cover of Seventeen Magazine.  I adored Seventeen, but I couldn't afford it...so I went to the library to read it.  Sometimes for kicks and giggles I would go down to the basement of the library and read the back issues from the decade before and laugh at the outdated styles.

Our dresses were either very, very short or long "Granny Dresses."  If you were lucky, you could afford a pair of...Go Go Boots!  The coolest boots ever!  I wasn't lucky enough to own a pair, but I did get some fishnet stockings...which we held up with garter belts since panty hose hadn't been invented yet.  I wasn't "allowed" to wear makeup, but I was sneaky and bought some of this...

...with my babysitting money (25 cents per hour of torture).  When my mother caught me with it...I told her I needed the brush to get the tangles out of my eyelashes. I once had very long eyelashes like you and your sisters.  Later I bought...

...Great Lash Mascara...the best mascara in the world...and I still use it to this day.  But my eyelashes are no longer so long or full as they used to be.

You have blowdryers, curling irons and crimper/straighteners to style your hair.  I had this portable hair dryer with a bonnet to put on over my rollers...it took forever to dry.  Sometimes I would iron my hair like the hippie girls to make it stick straight.  But it was a losing battle.

An Exciting Era...

The late 60's was an exciting time to be alive.  Everything was progessing so swiftly...the modern age was upon us!  I was so intrigued by the thought of space travel.  I watched the rockets as they were launched into space...and I was glued to the radio in my parents' car on the day that Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.  I have always loved science fiction...I admit I am a bit of a nerd...and the most handsome man in the world to me at the time was...

Captain Kirk!

It tickles my funny bone to see how science today is gradually creating the scientific wonders found on Star Trek...especially communicators.  Cell phones!  Who would have thought it? One day...if you are very, very good...you will quit losing your Ipod Touch and may even have a cell phone of your own. 

The Impossible Dream...

In ninth grade I wrote a poem about the moon landing for Americanism Week and won first place!  It's pretty cheesy...but cut me some slack...I was only 14 when I wrote it.

The Impossible Dream

On alien soil lie the prints

Of strangers from a planet far.

A dream fulfilled since first mankind

Hitched his wagon to a star.

In silence tense, a world awaits,

And counts each second ticking by.

Rockets burst!  The glowing flame

Lights the early morning sky.

The missle gleaming in the sun,

Soon swallowed up among the clouds,

Leaves a wisp of smokey trail

For the watchful, earth-bound crowds.

The mighty "Eagle" landed

On a vast and barren sea.

Neil Armstrong took mankinds' first step

On the Base of Tranquility.

Gone now, but something left behind

Remains to tell the story.

Planted firm in lunar soil,

Stand proud and free "Old Glory."

Well, Madison...

That was me in a nutshell.  I could probably tell you more...and I would love to share stories with you sometime.  I wish you lived closer so we could spend more time together.  I love you and...

Love, Grandma Shirley

New Picture...American Fork Junior High

Added February 29, 2012

Out of This World!

Packing our Bags...
The mister and I are packing our bags and getting ready to leave tomorrow for other lands...Adventure Land, Frontier Land, Fantasy Land and especially Tomorrow Land.  After all the happy wedding chaos, it's nice to have a chance to unwind.  I still have not had a chance to work on some of my after-Christmas goals...I hope I can return on Monday with a new lease on life and renewed ambition.  The 70 degree sunny weather will help a lot!

See you soon!

Lovely Dotty Swap Gifts!

Going Dotty!
I couldn't wait to unwrap the dotty tissue paper to see what my swap partner Betsy fromThe Little Red Hen at Home had sent me.  Look at all the red and aqua happiness!  I've been loving that color combination lately...as my endless Pinboards will attest...and sweet Betsy picked up on it.  All her gifts were handmade...I feel so special!  I wish I could say I made all of Betsy's gifts myself...but I didn't even remember to take a picture, so excited was I to get them in the mail.

What Betsy made...

The Dear Dotty Apron.

I've decided there must always be an apron in this spot on the kitchen wall.

Sweet Coordinating Potholder

It has joined the apron on the kitchen wall...too cute to be separated!

Pincushion Notion Jar

I've pinned several of these because I love them so much...

...for now it joins my Zetta Letters in my office!

Thank You, Dear Betsy!

And thanks to Holly of Cutie Pie Cottage for hosting such a fun swap!

Well done!

Cute Dotty Cherry Mugs...

Cutest Enamelware Mugs!

I picked these up at the D.I. thrift store for 50 cents each!

Could make cute Valentines gifts next year.

The Wedding is over at last...

I intended to post pictures of  the wedding decorations...but in the happy chaos I forgot to take my camera!  Fortunately the photographer graciously photographed all my decor...but I haven't received a picture disk yet...when I do I will be excited to show you how nice everything looked.  It was a lovely evening!

Happy Valentines Day!