Kites

As I was reading another blog post from a friend, It made me think about my childhood. Jack over on the ShipLog Blog wrote a post about homemade kites and how as a child he would fly kites made out of brown paper his dad would bring home from the dry cleaners. You can enjoy his post HERE.

This made me think about how I used to love it when momma would make us homemade kites. She would tell us to go find two straight sticks. This would get us out of her hair for a little while. We would run out into the woods and pick the perfect ones. Then we would bring the sticks into momma and she would make us a kite out of the daily news paper. If I can recall, she would use ribbon and bows for the tail. 

Sometimes they would fly and sometimes they wouldn’t but I would find an open area without any power lines or trees and take off running. The kite would often be bouncing on the ground behind me until a good wind would grab it and take it into the air. The open area I found was often just the dirt road in front of the house. Trees were all over but to an eight  year old, the space above my head was forever clear. 

The homemade kites never made it past a couple hours as either they would tear up from dragging the ground, fought over it with my sister and brothers or stuck in a tree. 

Now days I still like kites. I have a real store bought one at the beach that I keep in the camper just incase I want to fly it. It’s nothing fancy and its small but It’s fun to fly on the beach were It will reach sun. 

Handmade Hair Pins

I’m at it again. Playing with sticks. Whittling and carving. 

I have been intruiged with hair pins lately. Until a few months ago, I had no idea how women held their hair up with a hair pin. I mean, how is it possible that a single stick will hold a whole head of hair in a twisted updo? Well, obviously, easy. I was amazed when I gave it a try. I have been in favor of this type of hair pin ever since. 

Since Covid took half of my hair, I have had to be careful at how I put my hair up. I do not want to use anything that can be damaging. I stopped using stretchy bands and now only use hair pins or claw clips to keep from damaging the little bit of hair I have left. In case you missed it, you can read about my Covid hair loss HERE. 

After 3 months and losing 50% of my hair, It finally stopped falling out. Now it is in the regrowth phase. I use special shampoo and oil to help with the process. 

I got this fancy idea to make my own hair pins so I had my husband gather me a few sticks during his morning walk. He didn’t ask, He just knows when I gather little pieces of nature, I have a craft idea. 

I picked through them and found some that would be perfect. So the carving and sanding began.

Being a minimalist, I like to keep things simple. I do not like a lot color and I love things that come natural. Nature is full of things we can use in everyday life. I think I could seriously live in a tee pee, and eat berries for a living. Haha. 

After I carved the sticks to the size and shape I needed, I continued peeling away the bark to reveal the raw wood. Then I sanded them smooth and gave them a thin spray of clear coat. 

I gave one a burnt design with my wood burner. One has a silver painted tip and one I left alone because I thought it was just so darn cute with the “Y” shape at the top. Each one comes out different and has its own unique shape and color. 

  

I had to try them out and love how fun they are. (Girls, these can be used in self defense also) . They are approximately 6 inches long and made of Wonder wood (Wonder what kind it is). Haha. Seriously though, I think they are from an oak or maple tree. 

I plan to make some more and maybe even try to sell them. I’m just not sure this old fashion technique will ever be popular again. But who knows, there could be someone out there that would love to have a piece of nature to wear in their hair. 

What do you think?

Do you wear your hair up with hair pins?

Branch Weave

I have been having a little fun with weaving lately. A couple post ago, I shared some things I created by weaving on a homemade loom. In case you missed it, you can find it HERE.

Then I learned about a thing called “Branch Weaving”. I looked at a few pictures and thought, “Hmmm, I think I can make that”. On high interest, I kept looking around. What is branch weaving and what do you do with it? Here is what I found.

1. Branch weaving started back 12000 years ago in the Neolithic times. Branches and twigs were interlaced to create fences and shelter.

2. Fiber artist created many different styles of branch weaving and no two are alike.

3. Creators make branch weaving as art to hang on walls. You can find them for sale on Etsy and other sites.

4. Some list for over 800.00! Smaller ones like mine are selling for approximately 50.00 each.

I just wanted to see if I could do it. There is just something about bringing nature indoors and creating something unique. 

I went out into the yard and found a twig from the only tree in the yard. The dogwood tree. 

I brought it in and had my husband cut it to the length I wanted. After a little rough sanding to get some of the loose dirt and bark off, I began stringing it from left to right. 

Then I grabbed a few colors and started weaving, making it up and winging it as I go. I was not sure how it would look until it was completed. 

I just impressed myself with this one. I loved the natural colors. If there was anything I would change about it would be to make the fringe longer. But hey, it’s my first one. Probably will not be my last one. Who knows, I am likely to find more nature to play with with. Stay tuned because I have another idea. 

Secret Santa

While at work the other day, me and some of the girls in my unit were looking at a post on Facebook from our local animal shelter.

The post was asking people to choose a pet from the shelter and be their Secret Santa. We jumped on the idea and started choosing a pet.

The choice was hard as I scrolled through the sad faces of pets waiting to be adopted or fostered. One pet caught my eye. He was a black 2 year old Terrier named “Meatloaf”. He did not have a Secret Santa yet so I reached out. They accepted my request and just like that I had a pet to shop for.

Me and one of the other girls decided we wanted to drop off our gifts during our lunch hour the next day. After work I stopped by he dollar store for a couple doggy things for Meatloaf. I found him a blanket, ball and a teether bone. 

When we arrived the next day with our gifts, they took them to a drop off area and said they will give the pets the gifts after they are looked through and approved. 

While we were there, they took us back to see the dogs. I havent been in the animal shelter since I was a little girl and thats when we went to pick out a pet cat. 

The animals were so pitiful. They gave us a little tour of the building and we got to see all of the dogs. They would bark and cry as we walked by. But not Meatloaf. He just stood in is cage with his nose pressed against the cell bars. As I walked away from him, he litterally laid his nose in his elbow and had a depressing look on his face as if he was unwanted and I was just another person to turn him down. But, “sorry Meatloaf, I was not there to adopt. I can’t have a pet due to allergies and commitment but Santa will visit you soon”. We left the building and the looks on those animals faces will forever be stamped in my mind. 

The next day, this video popped up on FB. It was Meatloaf receiving his gift. He was so excited. This made me smile. 

Click below for the Facebook video.

https://fb.watch/hh2ZBeLjjO/

If you are looking for a pet, consider adopting or fostering from your local animal rescue shelter. They need a home and someone to love them. I can only imagine the feeling of taking one of these pets home and seeing the look on their face in the back seat of the car while heading to a loving home. 

Weaving

For years now, I have enjoyed working with yarns. I used to do a lot of crocheting and made a lot of things for my Etsy shop. I closed my shop last year. I did not want to price my items too high and it got to the point where the price of yarn went up and so did the selling fees. Rather than raising my prices, I just closed down. Now I just make things for friends on a whelm or when I have a baby shower to attend.

I like to always be doing something with my hands. I like to settle down after my evening shower and watch tv. I admit, If I am not doing something, I will go to sleep and miss the whole show. So I will usually pick up some fiber from my yarn basket and play around with crochet, macreme or weave.

Did you read that? I have been weaving now too. I was looking around on Pinterest and seen where you can weave with only a board or picture frame and a few feet of yarn or cord and thought I’d give it a try.

I found an old picture frame and began wrapping some cotton yarn in a figure eight motion. Then I threaded a needle and began to weave.

Below is my first try. Nothing came of this and I started over with a different yarn. 

On my second try, I created a couple mug rugs (aka coasters). 

They are a little wonky, but not bad for a beginner. I already use them. I always use a coaster. Not to protect my table but because I can not stand the sound of my cup hitting a hard surface. 

It was relaxing sitting in my recliner and weaving. When my eyes get heavy, I will put it down and work on it again the next day. 

I also made a couple weaved bracelets.

 

I have actually been wearing them to work and get lots of compliments. They are just my style. They are light weight, warm and comfy. 

Always stay tuned because you never now what else I will decide to create. 

That’s if I can keep my eyes open after a long days work.