Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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DIY – The Jumping Jacks Have a Home

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I give you Exhibit A:

Don’s collection of Jumping Jacks in need of a proper home after being stuck in the back of the kitchen hutch for 5 years.

I give you Exhibit B:

Section of kitchen wall between the chalkboard and the cushioned bench. Because I had to hang the chalkboard above the light switch, I’ve always felt that the area below the switch needed something to tie it all together. What to do?

Your Honor, I propose a solution:

Cup hooks (which I had on hand already) added to a piece of trim that was originally intended for the chalkboard but didn’t quite work out. I found it in the shed, where all things I don’t know what to do with end up.

Some paint – left over from painting the dollhouse shutters, saved in a glass jar and residing in the pantry.

Then attached to the wall with screws that were painted the same color as the rest of the piece. Oh, and the cup hooks were also painted. No shiny brass for me. Oops, except for the doorknob and lock to the right. Hmmmm – a future project?

Each Jumping Jack assigned his/her very own cup hook.

Behave, you guys!

And there you have it.

I like little touches of whimsy in my home. The finished project connects the color of the chalkboard and the red of the Roman shades and bench.  And it made Don smile. Me, too.

Cost? Nothing.

That’s my kind of DIY project.

(Sorry for the graininess in some of the photos. This area is always hard to shoot because it is flanked by a window and a door with a window. To top it off, it is cloudy and rainy today. That’s why there are some variations in light and color.)
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Make sure to scroll down and read my book review, posted earlier today. I really love this book and think you will, too. And I’m giving one away!

What Is It With Me & Glue Guns?

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Before I launch into my glue gun adventure, let me say that I do not plan on receiving a new camera for Christmas as some of you have suggested. Oh no. We are on a tight budget here and our gift exchange will be meaningful but far from opulent. I am going to have to save my pennies for a new camera and that might take quite a while. Meanwhile, I’ll keep researching and dreaming. And visualizing.

Now, on to the glue gun problem. I bought a glue gun earlier this year at Michael’s. I brought it home and plugged it in. Nothing. No heat, no anything. It was very inexpensive, so though I was frustrated, I wasn’t out much money. The other day I got the idea in my head to make something, inspired by this post. I didn’t want to decorate the stairway the way I had in the past, with faux pine garlands, etc. It just seemed to be too much for this particular Christmas. I thought maybe a wreath would look nice. The ever-popular coffee filter wreath.

Off I went to Michael’s to buy a wreath form and a glue gun. This time I went with a more expensive model, thinking that my cheapness with the previous purchase might have given me what I deserved. I could hear “You get what you pay for” ringing in my ears. I set up the craft table, armed with a stack of coffee filters, glue gun, and wreath form. For a bit, all was well. Glue was melting, filters were being made into a wreath. Then… a problem. The trigger would no longer push the glue stick further into the gun. I had to manually push it, and then it would pop back out. No hot glue. I found myself trying to hold the filter in one hand while trying to manually push the glue into the nozzle with my finger, and when that didn’t work – a stick. Since I don’t have 3 hands, this quickly became hopeless.

Sick of the whole thing, I turned to my trusty Quick Grip glue and proceeded to glue many, many, many filters to the wreath form. Then I spent the next 3 hours peeling glue from my fingers.

I think the universe is telling me I am not supposed to work with a glue gun. Ever. Between the glue on my fingers with this project and kneading biscuit dough later in the evening, the theme for the day was Messy Fingers.

Here’s the finished project:

I like it. I know this project has been everywhere in blogland and I’m rather late to the party. However, better late than never.

So, here’s my question. Am I the only one who has a problem with glue guns? Please tell me it’s not just me. Have any of you glue gun stories to tell?

The Pattern and a Party

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Happy Friday, everyone! Thanks so much for all the compliments on my garland. By the way, I fully intend to keep it up all year. Yes, it is the Christmas season and those little snowflake/flowers are perfect for the holidays. But I’m now realizing that I made it to grace my home every day of the year.

For those of you new to crochet, let me just say this: I taught myself how to crochet by reading books and, even more valuable, by watching videos on the internet. There are a ton of them out there. I am visual person. Seeing someone actually working with a hook makes a learning to crochet so much easier. Just google ‘crochet and video’ and you will be surprised at the links that appear on your screen.

This little flower is pretty easy. Let me give you the pattern, which is based on this pattern:
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Chain 6 and join with sl stitch to form a ring.

Chain 3 (counts as 1 dc), work 13 dc into a ring. Join the last dc to the first dc with a slip stitch.

Chain 1, turn.

Work a sc into next 2 dc. *Chain 4, sc in next 2 dc. Repeat from * five more times (creating 6 – 4sc loops).

Finish it off by slip stitching into the next stitch and weave the end into the stitches.

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That’s it – easy. sc – single crochet, dc = double crochet. When you see ‘join into a ring’ you do that by slip stitching the last chain on the hook into the first chain you made. I really just went with the pattern for the flower portion of the scarf and figured out how to isolate the flower. In the original pattern, the 13 dc are not joined together. For the purposes of this project, I slip stitched them together. You could make the flower bigger by increasing the amount of dc you start with. Just have fun with it. There’s no right or wrong. I had 7 loops on a couple of my flowers – who cares? It is supposed to look homemade and one-of-a-kind.

Have fun!

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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