Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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?

Thursday Snapshots

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On the hook:

In the mail:

Hanging in the windows:

In my in box:

1. Scarf #4. I’ll show you photos of #3 and #4 later this week.

2. My Moo minicards. They are smaller than the usual business cards and are popular with artists and bloggers. I love mine. I picked a favorite photo for the front. On the back is my blog URL and email address.

3. The infamous Big Lots Bottle Brush Wreaths are hanging in the living room and kitchen windows. I wrote at least 2 posts last year about scouring the entire Big Lots store and scoring 4 of them. I love them. However, one of the wreaths in the kitchen keeps turning slightly to the right. After 3 days of trying to get it to hang straight, I have officially given up.

4. I’m being taunted. Right after I wrote about wanting a new camera, this showed up in my inbox. Both my cameras have come from B & H (simply the most fabulous camera-and-everything-else store in the world.) It’s as if they can read my thoughts. They also send me a coffee-table-sized catalog every year which is on my bedside table. I look at the pictures every night. Visualization. Oh, and this morning I was reading the NY Times online and there was an ad for a rebate on Canon cameras staring me in the face as I tried to read an article. I’m being taunted, I tell you.

How is your day today?

Pining for Pine

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Have I mentioned that one of my favorite scents in all the world is pine? It may even be my favorite. I have a long history with pine. I grew up in Michigan. Summer vacation for our family was a camping trip to the Pigeon River State Forest. We started out in tents, then eventually graduated to a pop-up camper, and by the time I was in high school we had a trailer/RV. As we neared the campground and I caught my first whiff of pine, I knew we were almost there. (I didn’t particularly like camping, but I loved that piney scent.)  In my college years I was a camp counselor in the northern Michigan woods – more pine. To my mind, it was absolute heaven to be surrounded by pine trees. To this day, whenever I get a whiff of pine, I relax and feel my shoulders drop.

When I lived in Philadelphia in my grad school days, Wanamakers carried this wonderful pine bath from Austria. I bought it and used it religiously. A hot bath with the scent of pine was the perfect way to relax after a long day.  When I moved to Boston, I found it for a while at Crabtree and Evelyn or Caswell Massey (one of those ‘C’ shops.) But no longer. I search for it whenever I travel. I miss it so much it hurts. If you ever run across some form of pine bath, let me know please!

We always have some form of pine scented candle in our house. The best, bar none, are the ones from Aunt Sadie’s Candles. It’s their “Tree in a Can.” Heidi sells them in her shop and they sell like hotcakes every year.  I usually stock up on them for the long winter ahead.

But this time of year, I get the real thing. Right in my home. There’s nothing better. That’s why we always have a real tree here at MHC. Pine heaven. I don’t want an artificial tree. I love picking out a tree at our favorite nursery and that each year’s tree is different in size and shape from all the others we’ve had in previous years. Every year we say, without fail, “This is the prettiest tree ever!” This year’s tree is particularly well-shaped.  Let me show you.

Oooh, it’s pretty. It’s covered in vintage ornaments, as well as some newer ornaments that look vintage, like my favorite bottle brush ornaments:

(this was on my photo blog, hence the different water mark.)
A perfectly shaped tree loaded with cherished ornaments and the scent of pine? I may just stay in the den for the rest of the holiday season.
Thank you so much for all your compliments on Don’s video. (If you haven’t seen it, just scroll down one post.) I hadn’t planned on being in it, but the filmmaker requested my presence one day last week. Let me tell you, it was friggin’ freezing that day! The temperature was in the single digits. And when he asked us to lie down on the ground I thought he must be joking. He wasn’t. I was sure that little segment wouldn’t make it in the video, but I was wrong. Don says to tell you that the song isn’t on iTunes yet, but it will be soon. I’ll let you know when it’s there.
I’m off to do some shopping. And then back home to more crocheting and crafting. And hot chocolate.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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