Late again, it's getting to be a habit

I guess it's the time of year for me and probably a lot of you to be running behind on just about everything. And I do mean everything! I had signed up with some of my HGTV board buddies to do a Trash-to-Treasure Christmas ornie (ornament) swap and guess who brought up the tail end of that one? Yep, guilty as charged. I'm hoping that Becky (the person coordinating the swap) received my package today. She was supposed to have received it Saturday as she was planning on sending out all the goodies to everyone today. Once I know that everyone has received their swap packages, I'll post pix of all the trash to treasure ornaments. The shops have been busy, especially the new Corner Nest mall in Elizabethton. We have three spots there now; however, one will be temporary through probably this month. We're due to move into still another shop in Bristol, TN and Robin (proprietor of the Nest) was good enough to let us rent a spot (albeit temporary) and save us from having furniture piled upon every surface in our home. We were actually lucky to get it, as her building is packed full. If you're in the area this weekend (December 1 and 2), I hope you can stop by for the annual Open House that she always hosts. There will be lots of food, door prizes and of course, quality items available for purchase. Have you noticed something new here? The music? ;-) I hope you enjoy it as much as I do and that you really take a few moments to listen to the words of these songs. I admit shedding tears every time I hear the one by Mark Harris. He wrote it for his children and of course, I think of my own precious children as I listen to it. They are grown, of course, as you can see in the slide show and very few moments go by in the course of the day that my family isn't on my mind. Both my kids are excellent parents and I thank and praise God for this. I have an off the topic item to share with you. You know, it's bad enough that gasoline has gotten so expensive that you have to take out a second mortgage in order to fill up your vehicles. But have you noticed how the price of groceries have spiraled up while the contents of the packages have zoomed downward? For example, have you purchased a pound of bacon lately? A real pound? Remembering that a pound is equal to 16 ounces, have you noticed that bacon is mostly being packaged now in 12 and 14 ounce packages? (I'll give you a moment here as you check your fridge...) Here's something I really had to show you:

I'm not one to fix a lot of frozen prepared fish or meat for dinner but we've been so busy lately that last night's dinner was an exception. The top picture is the "before" baking shot of the contents of one of Mrs. Paul's "10 crispy battered fish fillet" packages. I set a teaspoon next to the one fillet for a size reference. Look how tiny that poor little baby fillet must have been! Do you think the egg was completely hatched? It struck me as being really funny as I slid the contents of the package onto a cookie sheet. However, if I was someone who had just searched the crevices of my sofa and chairs in hopes of finding enough change to purchase that box, it surely wouldn't have been laughable. The second picture is the "after baked" photo; my hubby held a ruler above the little guy. You can see it barely measured a full two inches. The other pieces, by the way, could hardly be called "oversized".

Now, here's a shot of a "make-do" snowlady I'm working on:

A "Make-do" is a term that was used quite a bit in days gone by. It refers to what people used to do when they were making something but didn't always have the proper equipment to do the job. I recall my great-grandmother sewing a patch or repairing an item, then declaring, "That will have to make do" as she finished it. Pictured here is a snowlady "make-do". I've fastened her atop an old bobbin. She's looking quite tired but happy, just the same. She still needs a dress or an apron, maybe a cape, and a couple arms. I'll give her something to hold, too. The bobbin I used is the kind that Eastman (remember Eastman-Kodak?) Corporation in Kingsport, Tennessee used to use with yarn machines. I love designing and making handmade items and especially enjoy being able to incorporate into my items things that were meant for another use. But then, you already know that, as that's what trash-to-treasure and recycling is all about. Drop me a line sometime and let me know the ways you try to keep things from going into a landfill. Let's share these ideas!!! The earth belongs to us all. 'Till next time (hopefully, just a few days from now)!