Good-bye to a Faithful Friend

Our dear, sweet 13 year old border collie-mix, Angel, died last Friday morning. It's difficult to put into words what Angel meant to our family. Anybody who has ever had a pet knows what it's like to receive unconditional love and loyalty every single minute from them. But once in a lifetime, there is that "larger than life" pet who leaves permanent paw prints on your heart. Angel is that pet for me.

My kids and I adopted Angel during a summer when our lives were in major turmoil. We had not celebrated Christmas together that year, so Angel was our late gift to ourselves. We named her "Angel Christmas", and what a gift she turned out to be.

Angel gave and gave to us her whole life. Besides unending love and loyalty, she gave us reasons to laugh again. She gave us a sense of safety and feeling protected. She gave us comfort and a distraction from the stifling stress. She gave us pride with her intelligence. She gave us warm, sincere companionship. And now even after her death, Angel keeps on giving. She's giving the gift of endless, happy memories when she was such a strong, fun part of our family.

Angel may be physically gone, but her special spirit will forever live in a warm corner of my heart.

Ever Hear of a Fringe Tree?

I hadn't either--until we happened upon this pretty little thing at a local nursery a couple of years ago. The fringe comes out during mid-spring, and it only lasts a couple of weeks. The fringe has a pleasant, sweet smell. LOVE IT!

Tutorial: How to Cover Alligator Clips with Ribbon

This is my first attempt at a tutorial. I like to call these "Cute Clippies".

First, you need to gather all needed items: alligator clips (mine are 1 and 7/8" X 3/8"), 3/8" wide ribbon (I prefer grosgrain), Fray Check, hot glue gun, buttons to match ribbon, button shank remover, small ruler, and scissors.

Next, cut two lengths of ribbon, each 5" long.

Put Fray Check on each end of the lengths of ribbon.

Put one end of each ribbon inside of alligator clip. Make sure the ribbon is centered.

Begin gluing ribbon to alligator clip. Do one section at a time, making sure along the way that the ribbon stays centered. Open the alligator clip and remove any excess glue after each section. You don't want to end up having your clip glued together!



The ribbon will not reach all the way to the end of the clip on the back.

To add a cute button, you first need to remove the shank from the back. The shank remover only works on plastic buttons, but it cuts through like butter!

Use the glue gun to hot glue a button to each clip. If you make a matching pair like I did, be sure to turn the clips so that you have a "lefty" and a "righty".

I plan to put mine in our craft show, so I made up a little card to attach them to. What do you think?

New Project

Here is my latest bead project. I saw this in a magazine and thought it was really pretty. I asked my daughter if she liked it, and she said that she would wear it if I made it. So I did!

I really like the glossy texture of the beads. And the geometrical design of the clasp looks perfect with the bead shapes.

I think I'll make another one (or two) just like it for our craft sale . . .

Oh. My. Word.

I think I still have my sanity. Managing 24 active, naughty, hyper 6 & 7 year-olds is not what I call a fun time. At last, at last they're gone! And they can all read. And they can all add and subtract. And they can all write a coherent sentence. And they all know the life-cycle of a butterfly. And they all know the difference between "needs" and "wants". And they all know they will be in 2nd grade next year. And I know that I only have one year left with this sometimes insane job.

Don't get me wrong. I still feel there is something special about teaching 1st grade, and it's been an extremely rewarding journey. Maybe it's because I'm older, or maybe it's because the children of today are so different . . . or maybe it's a little of both. But the intense pressure and fast pace of every day just plain wears me out. I'm looking forward to enjoying my days--not just surviving them!

And now this is what I can look forward to working with during the upcoming weeks. I think our roses are really pretty this year!

Fun Finds at JoAnn's

I stopped by JoAnn's after work today. I needed to get terra cotta pots for my kids to paint for Mother's Day. Of course, I had to browse around, and I couldn't resist these fun finds.

I just had to have this new fleece. It is so soft, and is covered with a bear paw prints pattern.

And I think the little spring birds are so cute. I'm going to dress up our main bathroom with them.

Spring Flowers

Yay! It's Friday!!

I'm learning how to post pictures, so I thought I'd practice by sharing pictures of our pretty Bleeding Hearts. They are in full bloom and are so pretty. The purple flowers in front are Vinca.

Hope I can do this right . . .

Mid-Week Blahs

As a teacher, the middle of the week at this time of year is not a fun time. I am desperately tired, and it seems forever before the weekend. One thing that helps me psychologically get through is to plan a trip to JoAnn's on Thursday evenings. I am addicted to fabric, beads, ribbon, and buttons so this plan gives me something to look forward to. And my 50% coupon is tucked safely away in my purse.

Silly, I know, but it works for me. Looking forward to visiting JoAnn's tomorrow night!

First Post

This is my first post. I look forward to sharing my thoughts about my family, interests, and life in general. More to come soon!