BLAST FROM THE PAST-MAKING VALENTINES AND NEEDING PROZAC -FRIDAY THIS & THAT

 

I was looking through some of my old posts

and kind of got a lump in my throat 

reading this one so I thought I would share it with you.

Grab something with caffeine because
you will be tired when you are done reading this.

Step One:
First you must hang a banner inside 
so the grandkids
will know which holiday they 
are celebrating.

Just a word of caution..

If you hang one

that looks like

the one below..

SOMEONE

(who shall remain nameless)

will be sure to ask..
IS HIMS NAKED?

Your reply should be

Absolutely..

That is why he is

carrying an envelope.

This is sure to produce

a giggle from at

least 2 or the 3 grandkids.
The third one doesn't giggle.

She doesn't giggle 
because she doesn't
"get it".  
She is trying to figure out 
where HIMS got that big of an envelope.

Step Two:

You must lay out supplies.

These will cost somewhere

in the neighborhood
of $459.00...and....

after you buy

ALL THAT STUFF,

you will realize that you have

forgotten at least one or

two crucial supplies..

Like...

Elmer's WASHABLE glue. 
Lord help you if you buy the 
regular Elmer's glue
because it will NOT be pretty!

Now that you have

your supplies home
and have signed the bank loan

to cover the expense..

you must lay out the goodies...

Lay them out nice and neatly..

Sigh over the paper-Oh So Sweet

Step Three:
HANG A FLAG OUTSIDE YOUR DOOR.

A cute little cherub flag

to greet them with a smile.

Isn't it perfect?

Love Mary Englebriet's flags.

Then they arrive bringing presents.

Bringing PRESENTS?
PRESENTS FOR ME?

Yep-these are for Nana..
and they made them all by themselves.

Inside are beautiful little

hearts made with love..

One from Ria.

Two from Lulu...

and one from SweetCheeks.

Of course I must put them all on..

I pick up SweetCheeks...

What does this say, SweetCheeks?

That's jus' sumbuddy ehlse's name

on there...Doan't pay eny

attenshun to the name...

just putt it on..

Whereupon I am informed

by Lulu that

"I told SweetCheeks

NOT to give you that one".

Whereupon SweetCheeks says

NOAH.YOHU.DIDN'T.LULU

an' I dohn't care cuz I am ghiving

it to her enyways! PFFFFFT!

I start the legal paperwork

to change my name to Allison.

Great.. We are off

to a nice, calm start...

Now where were we?

Okay..girls..

Let's get started...
WHO WANTS TO MAKE A VALENTINE?

Everyone's hand shoots into the air.

In short order everything

 looks like this.....

All three girls are

Busy-Busy-Busy

Lulu made this-

 Ria loved the self-stick hearts...

SweetCheeks has changed into 
her 3rd Princess outfit and has busied herself

making th...........

Oh, Dear Lord In Heaven...
While I was refilling my coffee cup,

pray tell WHO handed HER 
the glitter?

There is glitter glitter everywhere..

On the floor and on the chair..

In her mouth and on her hair....

I could go on and on with the

rhyming thingy but I'm afraid

the Dr. Suess police will get me.

An especially nice touch? 

The globs of

glue that dropped here and there

and shine brightly up

from the chair...and the table...

and the floor...and the countertop...

Did I say floor? Ah..yes...

and back to the glitter...

Nothing like glitter on the floor

that can be tracked from

room to room..

Leave NO ROOM untouched

seems to have been the motto

of the day.

I decide I need a bathroom break

to dispose of the 3 gallons of coffee

that I have downed in an effort

to keep up with this

CRAFT DAY WITH THE KIDS.

Lo and behold,

in the small reading nook

(where the old steps used to be)
I SEE THIS!!!

How did all these books get off

the shelf and on the floor?

I ask ever-so-sweetly-

between slightly gritted teeth.

Uh-oh---Here it comes...

Welllll...says SweetCheeks..

Ria toohk a few books off

the shellf and then I helped her

and taked the rest offf..and

we jus' put 'em there for now.

Yeah? Where do you think

you're gonna put them later?

Wellll...It was Ria's idea.

I dunno how they gonna

get bahck on the shelfs.

Hmmmm...I dunno where YOU'RE

gonna go either if you guys don't put

these books back.

All too soon-

hahahahahahahaha

the day ends and we clean up the

mess, they put on their matching
dresses that Nana bought them
 and they get ready to go home.

As you can plainly see 

SOMEONE has been so overworked

she has collapsed in a heap

using her sisters as pillows.

These little girls are big girls now...
but I love them as much as I did 
when they were little like this...
even more...

Kind of bittersweet to look back on 
these special times.

I am so glad I had so many

hands-on experiences with these kiddos.

Now I have two dogs hanging around

instead of the girls.

Hmmmm....wonder if they would like to

make Valentines using

doggy treats?

I suspect they would eat the 

supplies before we could begin!

Edited to add:
MyHero reads my blog and says:
 You SPENT $459 ON THIS STUFF?
(Sheeez...don't ya know a joke when you read one?;>)

A VALENTINE'S DAY TUTORIAL TO MAKING VALENTINES--A BLAST FROM THE PAST

With Valentine's Day coming up

I thought it would be fun

 (kinda like poking my eye out

with a stick)

to craft a few Valentines

with my grandgirls when they 

were little.

This, of course, involved

GLUE & GLITTER,

the bane of my existence.

I set up "stations" before

they arrived at my house.

Look how handy these sweet

chalkboard plates
(that my daughter-in-love made me)
 came in!

Station One:

Station Two:

Station Three:

This involves scissors & a hole punch

AND a paper cutter which the girls

are NOT ALLOWED to use.

I gave them a very sweet, gentle reminder

about "HANDS OFF" the slicer/dicer.

SweetCheeks said:

Yohu wouldn't do that enyways, Nana.

That is a stooopid sighn.

Hmmmm...That kid was smart even

when she was little.

Choosing materials each girl started

crafting. 

Thing One

Thing Two

And, last but not least,

Thing Three

How did everything turn out?

How much glitter was spilled in the process?

How many fingers were glued to eyeballs?

How many scraps of paper were

glued to the floor?

Maybe at some point

in the future when I

TRULY RECOVER

maybe all your pressing questions

will be answered.......maybe.....

This post will make SweetCheeks

smile as she continues to recover

from her surgery.

She is getting as spoiled today

as she was back then.

She is doing really well-

in some pain but is managing

it like a trooper.

HAVE A WONDERFUL

VALENTINE'S DAY
from our little 
Bright Eyes!

ps- please forgive the quality of those old pictures.

To tell the truth, I am not much better

at photography now.....

VALENTINES DAY CRAFTING WITH KIDS-A TUTORIAL -NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART

Well, you started all this-
You seemed to ENJOY the previous post about
The Three Bears Cereal Tutorial!

So- I dug another post out of the archives
to share with you.
Grab something with caffeine because
you will be tired when you are done reading this.

Step One:
First you must hang a banner inside 
so the grandkids
will know which holiday they 
are celebrating.

Just a word of caution..

If you hang one

that looks like

the one below..

SOMEONE

(who shall remain nameless)

will be sure to ask..
IS HIMS NAKED?

Your reply should be

Absolutely..

That is why he is

carrying an envelope.

This is sure to produce

a giggle from at

least 2 or the 3 grandkids.
The third one doesn't giggle.

She doesn't giggle 
because she doesn't
"get it".  
She is trying to figure out 
where HIMS got that big of an envelope.

Step Two:

You must lay out supplies.

These will cost somewhere

in the neighborhood
of $459.00...and....

after you buy

ALL THAT STUFF,

you will realize that you have

forgotten at least one or

two crucial supplies..

Like...

Elmer's WASHABLE glue. 
Lord help you if you buy the 
regular Elmer's glue
because it will NOT be pretty!

Now that you have

your supplies home
and have signed the bank loan

to cover the expense..

you must lay out the goodies...

Lay them out nice and neatly..

Sigh over the paper-Oh So Sweet

Step Three:
HANG A FLAG OUTSIDE YOUR DOOR.

A cute little cherub flag

to greet them with a smile.

Isn't it perfect?

Love Mary Englebriet's flags.

Then they arrive bringing presents.

Bringing PRESENTS?
PRESENTS FOR ME?

Yep-these are for Nana..
and they made them all by themselves.

Inside are beautiful little

hearts made with love..

One from Ria.

Two from Lulu...

and one from SweetCheeks.

Of course I must put them all on..

I pick up SweetCheeks...

What does this say, SweetCheeks?

That's jus' sumbuddy ehlse's name

on there...Doan't pay eny

attenshun to the name...

just putt it on..

Whereupon I am informed

by Lulu that

"I told SweetCheeks

NOT to give you that one".

Whereupon SweetCheeks says

NOAH.YOHU.DIDN'T.LULU

an' I dohn't care cuz I am ghiving

it to her enyways! PFFFFFT!

I start the legal paperwork

to change my name to Allison.

Great.. We are off

to a nice, calm start...

Now where were we?

Okay..girls..

Let's get started...
WHO WANTS TO MAKE A VALENTINE?

Everyone's hand shoots into the air.

In short order everything

 looks like this.....

All three girls are

Busy-Busy-Busy

Lulu made this-

 Ria loved the self-stick hearts...

SweetCheeks has changed into 
her 3rd Princess outfit and has busied herself

making th...........

Oh, Dear Lord In Heaven...
While I was refilling my coffee cup,

pray tell WHO handed HER 
the glitter?

There is glitter glitter everywhere..

On the floor and on the chair..

In her mouth and on her hair....

I could go on and on with the

rhyming thingy but I'm afraid

the Dr. Suess police will get me.

An especially nice touch? 

The globs of

glue that dropped here and there

and shine brightly up

from the chair...and the table...

and the floor...and the countertop...

Did I say floor? Ah..yes...

and back to the glitter...

Nothing like glitter on the floor

that can be tracked from

room to room..

Leave NO ROOM untouched

seems to have been the motto

of the day.

I decide I need a bathroom break

to dispose of the 3 gallons of coffee

that I have downed in an effort

to keep up with this

CRAFT DAY WITH THE KIDS.

Lo and behold,

in the small reading nook

(where the old steps used to be)
I SEE THIS!!!

How did all these books get off

the shelf and on the floor?

I ask ever-so-sweetly-

between slightly gritted teeth.

Uh-oh---Here it comes...

Welllll...says SweetCheeks..

Ria toohk a few books off

the shellf and then I helped her

and taked the rest offf..and

we jus' put 'em there for now.

Yeah? Where do you think

you're gonna put them later?

Wellll...It was Ria's idea.

I dunno how they gonna

get bahck on the shelfs.

Hmmmm...I dunno where YOU'RE

gonna go either if you guys don't put

these books back.

All too soon-

hahahahahahahaha

the day ends and we clean up the

mess, they put on their matching
dresses that Nana bought them
 and they get ready to go home.

As you can plainly see 

SOMEONE has been so overworked

she has collapsed in a heap

using her sisters as pillows.

These little girls are big girls now...
but I love them as much as I did 
when they were little like this...
even more...

Kind of bittersweet to look back on 
these special times.

I may invite them over to
do this again this weekend. 

If you don't see me by Monday

I will be glued to a seat somewhere

in the house.

I hope it is in a chair in front of

the computer.

Edited to add:
MyHero reads my blog and says:
 You SPENT $459 ON THIS STUFF?
(Sheeez...don't ya know a joke when you read one?;>)

I HEART YOU! I HEARD YOU! HERE'S A TUTORIAL ON HOW TO SEW A HEART-

 Good Morning, Blog Friends!
Let's have a little heart -
for each other--and respect.
I am NOT getting into the 
Inaugural Debate here today-
as I am seeing way too much of it
on Facebook AND blogs.
Blogging is not a political platform
to me.
I have my beliefs- you have yours-
let's share JOY in those things
WE AGREE ON.

Like PRETTY THINGS
for the loves of our life.

I know a lot of you are

GLUE GUN fans.

As for me, I would rather

SEW instead of GLUE.

Here are some sweet little

hearts using bits and pieces

of fabric and lace.

I made that one in about twenty minutes

using the sewing machine.

Ready for a quick lesson?

You GLUE GALS might even

find this easy enough to do.

First cut 2 hearts out of fabric.

I used a rough homespun for the

outer heart.

I iron each piece as I go.

Then cut out 1 heart using a THIN

batting (like a quilt batting)

DON'T IRON the batting.

DO NOT ask me how I know this.

l place the batting on top of the two

pieces of fabric.

MAKE SURE YOUR PRETTY FACES

ARE FACING EACH OTHER AND

ARE UPSIDE DOWN WHEN YOU 

PLACE THE BATTING ON TOP OF THEM.

Then sew all the way around the edges

making sure to catch  all 3 pieces

(2 fabric hearts and batting)

No need to leave an opening for turning-

you'll see why.

Now-if it is all stitched together- turn it over.

The batting will be down and 

you will be looking at the fabric heart.

The upper left edge is turned under

in this picture-

but it, too, is stitched.

Take your scissors and cut a slit

right in the center of the

PRETTY FACE of your heart.

Then, turn it inside out.

The batting will be sandwiched

between the two layers of fabric.

  It's gonna look ugly.

Don't worry you will be covering

the ugly later.  See? Ugly!

Now cut a smaller heart out

of a contrasting fabric.

Iron it and place it over

the ugly hole. 

Using a ZIGZAG STITCH

sew it in place.

Then cut a third smaller heart

and stitch that on top of 

the 2nd fabric using the 

zigzag stitch.

After doing that

thread an needle with 6 strands

(or 3 doubled) of embroidery floss.

Because I don't want to tie a knot in my

floss I start the stitch way

down inside the heart and pull the

thread up and into the heart

but not through it.  It will hold

itself if you don't pull it too hard.

Place a long running stitch around 

the heart following the shape.

When you have gone all the way 

around, put your needle through

the back of the fabric and snip it off.

I added a ribbon bow and

a "gem" on the front of this one.

To finish it off I added

A RIBBON HANGER

and 

KISSED IT CLOSED 

with an

X Stitch.

So....even if you are not a sewer,

these are pretty easy.

AND

Pretty Sweet, Huh?

These two took me less than an hour

from start to finish.

The second heart has things 

that are glued on--like the clock face

and the little pearl heart.

Aren't they sweet?

Sure better for you than 

THESE SPICED HEART KISSES!

(Made in town here by Seroogy's)

-although they sure are good-

Hmmmm. 

Those look like

FIFTY SHADES OF GOOD

to me!