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Archive for February, 2012

Wordless Wednesday

Posted in Wordless Wednesday on February 29, 2012| 2 Comments »

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It’s All The Rage

Posted in Everyday, tagged on February 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »

By now you’ve probably heard of a little thing called Pinterest.  I recently joined and I still don’t understand all of the nuances, but can clearly see how a person can get addicted.  It’s an entire universe of ideas, videos, photos and websites in a format we in the older generation would equate with Reader’s Digest condensed books.  It’s a virtual bulletin board that can hold an infinite number of thumb-tacked reminders, without the thumb tacks.

With Twitter and Facebook I pretty much have my hands full with the whole social network thing.  I’ve decided to make Pinterest my own.  Except for the one little board I call Auntie B’s Wax Featured Items, which is a small sampling of what I have to offer in my Etsy shop to anyone who’s interested, I’m pinning things for my own reference and enjoyment without regard to impressing anyone else.  I’m not pinning to win friends and followers, i.e. racking up the big numbers; however, I’m hooking up with people I think have impeccable taste, cool DIY projects or great things to sell.  For me, Pinterest isn’t about who’s hot, it’s about finding things that are awesome to me.

In the interest of being a well-rounded blogger I’ve added a Pin It button at the bottom of my posts, as well as a Follow Me On Pinterest button on my sidebar.  You won’t, however, find every single thing I pin posted as a status update or a tweet.  My pinning is limited to Pinterest and will not spread to Facebook or Twitter.

I’m looking forward to increasing my knowledge of Pinterest and finding out all it has to offer.  I’m also look forward to having enough time to add to my boards and incorporate some of the “pins” into my life, home, and business.

Got some great boards you want me to see?  Let me know, because I really like cool stuff.

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Mardi Gras

Posted in Everyday, tagged , , on February 27, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Every year my family gets together for a little Mardi Gras celebration.  We even have a king cake with a tiny plastic baby hidden inside.  The person who gets the baby in their piece of cake gets to throw the party next year.

As you may know, Mardi Gras in New Orleans is all about masks and costumes (not to mention being on the precipice of Lent, the season of stark sacrifice), and in my family it’s no different.  We always wear a mask and don the ever-glamorous plastic beads.  I’ve been wearing the same mask for several years but got bored with it.  I was going to go to the craft store to get makings for a new mask but time got away from me, so I was left to my own devices and my plethora of crafting materials to come up with some kind of mask at the last minute.

I took an old pair of glasses, ca. 1980, and embellished them a little.  It’s good to have miscellaneous craft supplies and tools around.  A hot glue gun is a life saver in a situation like this.

All right, so the mask isn’t as glam as most, but it sure was fun to make. I felt like a naughty kid taking a marker to my prescription glasses, and I felt like a hippy looking through them.

Dolly enjoyed fashioning my mask.  I especially like the little antennae.

 

OK, so I had a little bit of trouble actually seeing out of the glasses as the prescription is about forty years old and they were embellished with Sharpie colors.  But the beads were dangly and sparkly, and Dolly and I had a very good time during our photo shoot.  The “mask” kind of made me giggle too.

Charlotte was the host of this year’s Mardi Gras party.  I always enjoy going to her house for a party because, well, she knows  how to throw a party right.  It was all very festive, complete with lots of New Orleans food, music and decor.

Charlotte took advantage of the family’s presence and turned this celebration into not only a Mardi Gras party but also a birthday party for Pinky.  So the king cake was also a birthday cake.  It was just a big old party all the way around.  She even made fancy frozen blender drinks!

A toast to Charlotte and her excellent party throwing abilities, and to Pinky, who now can get a discount on his car insurance if he takes a special driving class for old people.  Laissez les bons temps rouler!

P.S.  My dad got the plastic baby in his piece of cake, so next year he’ll be hosting. Should be good!

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A Nice, Big Helping of Weekend, Please

Posted in Everyday, tagged on February 24, 2012| Leave a Comment »

The weekend is upon us and I breathe a sigh of relief.  What’s in store?  Oh, not much.  A little house cleaning, a little socializing, a little production to increase my inventory, and a little relaxing. 

I’m looking most forward to the relaxing part.  I’ve rediscovered the bliss of going to bed at a decent hour and unwinding with a book.  An actual book.  I hope they never go out of fashion, because from what I’ve been hearing the brain likes to read pages much better than reading a screen, especially before bedtime.  Kindles are cool, but books are the bomb.

Light some candles, or set a fire on the hearth this weekend. Turn off the noise and breathe deep.

How about you? Any plans for destressing or recharging?

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Sell It All, Wall To Wall

Posted in Everyday, tagged , on February 23, 2012| 2 Comments »

Those are the words Husby utters frequently these days.  You see, it has come the time when his parents’ worldly goods come out from under the stairs for all to see.  These worldly goods will also have price tags on them.  It’s estate sale time!

I know I may seem a little too joyous about this sale; after all, an estate sale usually means everyone in the house is dead.  Not quite the case in Husby’s situation, but paring down is certainly necessary.  It is absolutely amazing how much stuff can be accumulated in 50+ years.  Beautiful things, kitschy things, useful things.  There are some things so ugly or useless I can’t imagine why they were kept.  But people keep things for their own reasons ~ sentiment, entitlement, fear of loss ~ and we must handle those things with care simply out of respect for their love of the stuff, or their dysfunctional need to cling to material possessions.  Mrs. Husby is probably rolling over in her grave with our putting a price on all of her things.  For Husby this sale is a passageway to freedom, a breaking of the chains.

Of course Husby gathered items that are sentimental to him, adding to our own accumulation of things.  Old photo albums, remembrances from his grandparents’ houses and mementos from his youth have all entered into our own house to be kept just a little while longer.  It’s an emotional time but it was also inevitable.  As an only child Husby faced this house full of stuff like a real trooper and bulldozed his way through every cupboard, closet, and crawl space making sure he knew exactly what was there, what he wanted, and what he wanted to let go.

Some of these things will end up in other homes, some will be on a shelf in a quaint little shop.  The trinkets that make up our homes, bring smiles to our faces and stir memories, the things we can’t bear to part with, become nothing when we are gone.  Nothing, that is, until someone else finds them and makes them their own.

The estate sale will be held on February 25th and 26th.  If you’re interested in attending you can find the details at Classic Touch Estate Sales. 

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