Keeping With The Times

living, learning, and keeping with the times

Texture Tuesday

by 27 Comments

Texture Tuesday Pansy

What do I dream about? When I thought about it, I didn’t really have an answer so when I challenged myself to come up with one, my garden came to mind.

Yes, I dream about my garden. I miss being able to walk outside to pluck even the tiniest little bloom. I miss my potting bench (which was a simple dream of mine that came true), and I miss photographing flowers. I had to dig around my files this morning and I came up with this tiny pansy bouquet. Such a simple little thing and at the time, I don’t think I appreciated it as much as I do now.

What’s one simple thing you dream about?

Texture Tuesday at Kim Klassen dot com

DIY old dictionary page, maple leaf wreath–for early autumn

by 34 Comments

I’m loving my diy, old dictionary page wreath, and it’s maple leaves this time . . .

Maple Leaf Dictionary Page Wreath

I used the same dictionary that I used for my Christmas wreath–so no more old books were hurt in the making of this project . . .

Maple Leaf Dictionary Page Wreath

It feels like a breath of fresh air . . . and is light as a feather . . .

Maple Leaf Wreath

I wrapped a wire frame with burlap . . .

Maple-Leaf-Wreath

. . . and it even looked pretty before I was finished . . .

Maple Leaf Wreath

. . . love it!

Maple Leaf Dictionary Page Wreath

To make the leaves I downloaded a maple leaf shape and cut them all by hand. I know, it sounds like a lot! But because the pages were so thin I was able to cut up to 12 leaves at once.

After I had them all hot glued onto the frame, I spritzed the wreath with a bit of tea and ran my hand gently against the direction of the leaves. I then set it out in the sun for about an hour to dry. It ruffled and curled them up just enough to give it some texture.

It’s quite a bit different from what I usually put up for autumn.

Where’s the colour??!! Not to worry. I have colour on my mantel. My very unusual and unique looking mantel. It’s a new style for me. Can’t wait to show you that!

Spring Willow Wreath

by 23 Comments

Pussy Willow Wreath

It seems all over blogland people are decorating their doors for spring. Well, it is spring in Alberta too but, hmmmm, I don’t see any tulips peeking through the ground (could be because I can’t see the ground) and there certainly are no pansies sitting prettily on my step.

But the Pussy Willows are out in full force and I ventured out on Sunday to gather the usual armloads to create my new wreath.

Pussy Willow Wreath

I love gathering these branches. It was quite a nice day and it always feels so good to be outside. I could hear geese honking, ravens croaking, and water running. I could also smell wood smoke in the air – so sweet. Someone must have been cleaning up their yard already.

My wreath looks so at home on my new green door (painted last autumn). It’s a very authentic representation of what our world looks like right now. Twiggy and branchy with a promise of spring.

Pussy Willow Wreath

This year I added a little birdhouse and bird to create a little interest and make it different from other years.

Pussy Willow Wreath

Check out my How to Make a Pussy Willow Wreath tutorial. It’s really very easy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Handmade Christmas globe ornaments

by 53 Comments

Once again this year I made a few more paper globe ornaments. I have this thing for paper . . . and instead of scrapbook paper I’m using Christmas cards from Christmas’s past.

What a great way to put these treasures to use and to honour the people who have taken the time to send cards to me over the years. These are just so simple to make (see tutorial at end of post) and they give me so much pleasure. I’m hoping they become cherished heirlooms someday.

You can add sparkle to the edges, a tassel, just anything you can think of. Here I’ve added little red and gold gems just to give it a bit of bling.

Old Christmas-Card-Globe-Ornament

Use a punch to cut 20 – 2 inch circles.

Make an equilateral triangle out of brown cardstock that is 1 3/4 inches on all sides. The angles of an equilateral triangle are 60 degrees.

Use it to make three marks on your circle to use as a guide for folding.

Score, and then fold up the three sides of your circle. You can use a bone folder and a ruler to score, but I use my small paper cutter with the blunt folding blade – but use it ever so lightly or you will cut through the paper.

Christmas-Card-Globe-Ornament1

Christmas-Card-Globe-Ornament, diy

Christmas-Card-Globe-Ornament4

Christmas-Card-Globe-Ornament3

 

Have fun!

Oh! Christmas tree!

by 44 Comments

Well, I finally have the tree decorated and *whew* we’ve never had such a tall tree in all our 37 years of marriage! I had to use a step ladder to get to the top and I may or may not have stood on the TV cabinet to reach the star . . . hmmm, after I put the star up I could see that it was being dwarfed – so what to do? I went out into the yard and snipped off a few birch branches to create a little burst at the top and add some weight. I really kind of like it.

Thrifty Christmas Decorations
I’m loooving my tree this year! To start with we haven’t had a real tree for quite a while and I completely changed all the ornaments. Don’t be shocked – I know ornaments are extremely expensive which is why I made my own garland.

Thrifty Christmas Decorations

Then the other day I was rummaging around in my crafty stuff trying to think what else I could use when I came across a stack of light cardboard that I had saved (being the hoarder that I am) and thought, I am going run down to my scrapbooking store and see what die-cuts they have. This lovely snowflake was sitting there calling to me and I spent the better half of the morning churning out about a hundred of them. Cost? $0.00 – I have a membership at the store and use of the die cut machine is free for members. Oh man, I couldn’t have been happier.

Thrifty Christmas Decorations

The rest of the ornaments – the birds, the felt skates, felt reindeer, and felt mittens I had bought at Superstore at the beginning of the season. Take my word for it, they were very affordable.

Tree4-copy

Thrifty Christmas Decorations

And last but not least I have my Paper Ball Ornaments made from Christmas cards past. Go here for the tutorial on how to make them.

Thrifty Christmas Decorations

Birch branches…

Tree6-copy

My birch branch burst… try saying that three times over!Thrifty Christmas Decorations

I am officially exhausted. I’m on my own tonight so I may just pour myself a bowl of Nuts and Bolts and sit back and admire my creation. And since I worked so hard I may just have Baked Caramel Popcorn for dessert.

Happy Decorating Everyone!

My Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary Wreath

by 54 Comments

Check out my tutorial with 5 easy steps for creating a beautiful dictionary wreath!

Be still my heart! I have my very own book page wreath!

I’ve been ogling these gorgeous wreaths out in bloggyland for months so I finally went to my favourite antique/garage sale store and for $5.00 I bought ‘The Consolidated Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary – A Library of Essential Knowledge circa 1957’ and proceeded to tear it apart.

I started rolling and stapling and gluing and I didn’t stop until I couldn’t push in one more cone. Love.

Dictionary Wreath

Dictionary Wreath, diy, tutorial

Love. Love. Love.
Love, I tell ya.

Here’s my mini tutorial in a nutshell:

  1. Use glue to cover the top of a large ice cream container with some dictionary pages and put a punched circle in the middle as a guide to keep the wreath balanced.
  2. Use a pen to roll each page then slowly release the bottom until the top fans out into a cone.
  3. Staple the bottom of the cone to secure it.
  4. Glue each cone to the ice cream lid, in a circular pattern.
  5. Make the cones smaller as they get closer to the middle.