Buttons and Tea Cozies

There is something about buttons that I find irresistible.  I feel as if I have hit the jackpot if I find a jar of them at a garage sale.  I love old and dull ones and bright colorful new ones.  I love their variety of shapes, sizes and colors. I like to run my fingers through a tin of them.  I like to sort them out into color groups.  I can sit for many stretches of time sorting buttons into separate containers of color.  It is sort of like putting together a jigsaw puzzle to me.  I feel the same way about beads.   It must be some elemental remembrance of kindergarten, I don't know or maybe it is just my creative juices building as I sift through all those delightful colors.

I was inspired by a little button book I found at the craft store, and decided to make another tea cozy using black as the background and lots of bright colors of felt and buttons to create a

" flower garden tea cozy"

Olga has already laid claim to it, so I will consider it a little present for her future "hope chest".

Instructions

Cut out four tea cozy patterns in black felt (see previous post on "tea cozies" for instructions).

Iron fusing paper onto felt colors and then cut out a variety of sizes and colors of circles and leaf shapes and 2 flower pot shapes, using pinking sheers.

Place shapes onto felt tea cozy to "try out" where you would like to place flowers and leaves.

Peel off paper backing of fusing paper and turn shapes, placing them back on desired spot.

Iron shapes onto felt tea cozy.

Sew buttons on top of felt flowers.  Using embroidery thread, embellish leaves and stems and pot.  Now you will take the four black tea cozy pieces for the body of the tea cozy and

top stitch the 3rd and 4th black tea cozy pieces to back of each finished piece at bottom and then sew all four pieces together using a top stitch. 

Another way to word this would be to say that you will be sewing all four pieces together, but first sew the bottom of each side straight across.  You will be stitching two pieces together at the bottom of each side; next place these two sides together (four pieces in all) and top stitch around the tea cozy.  This way you will have a finished inside and outside, and it will be double insulated because it uses two pieces of felt for each side... I hope that makes sense.

Happy Father's Day Dad

This picture of Dad when he was a little boy, reminds me a lot of my son Nathan when he was little, and his son Elon right now.

Dad and his sister Cathy

Dad with me at the bottom my brother's above me and my cousins on the side.

Dad and I at my wedding

Dad with my step mom Kathy

Another picture like the one three pictures above.  Dad in the back, me at the bottom and my two ornery brothers above; over forty years later.  Look at my brother Dave with that grin he always cracks us up.

This was my Dad's 80th Birthday. I'm thinking he looks better than us kids. 

I put together a slide show for his birthday, but haven't figured out how to put it on my blog... maybe next year.

My Dad turned 80 this year.  We had a special birthday party for him in January and had a lot of fun celebrating with him. It is hard to believe he is 80, because he looks so young.  He could still probably pass for 60.  This Father's Day I am reminded again of my special Dad who has always been there for us when ever we have needed him.  He has always looked out for and blessed his whole family and instilled generosity into my own heart.   When he was a boy, he didn't have his dad around to take care of his family and bring security into his life, but when he was a Dad, he made sure that we did.  Thanks Dad  I love you so much.  Happy Father's Day

Scrapbook Board

Well, I have just spent about 4 hours messing with my blog; trying to give it a face lift and I don't think I like the changes that much, but am too tired to work on it any more tonight.   I will just have to rearrange it again later.  Here is my project for the week.   I took the poster board project that I did for Olga's graduation and began to put it into a scrapbook.  I created the memory  board to display her pictures at her graduation party.  When I put it together, I put all the pictures on scrapbook pages in such a way that I could put them right into a scrapbook when we were all done with the party. It is not perhaps a work of art (I am not the Scrapbook Queen) but was a fun project to put together.  I wish  I had done Russell's board like this, it would have made it easier to put together in the scrapbook afterwards.

Gorgeous Guy Turns 50

The love of my life turns 50 today.   Its hard to believe how quickly the years can go by.  We've been married over 30 years now.  How could that have happened?  We're just getting started right?  I think I am just now figuring out how to raise a family....but wait, they are almost all gone.... and as for marriage lets see it has taken us at least 29 years to understand that men are different from women and that is really a great thing Ha.  


My Guy is as gorgeous as ever. Like a good wine, he gets better with age.... and he started out pretty great so that's saying a lot.  It is indeed wonderful to grow old (older) with someone.  If you work through the difficulties of life together and allow love to come out on top, you are so greatly rewarded.  Friendship is more precious than romance, but romance need not diminish, merely soften and relax.

 I am thankful for you Steve, you are an amazing man. I am excited for the delightful years still yet to come.  Happy Birthday to my "Best Friend" and "Cherished Love".

Grow old along with me!  The best is yet to be,

the last of life for which the first was made:

Our times are in His hand

Who saith "A whole I planned, youth shows but half;

trust God: See all nor be afraid!"

Robert Browning

College Road Trip

Well, another week has gone by and all thoughts of working on my "52 weeks of projects " have gone by the wayside.... or perhaps I should say "roadside'.  After our graduation party was delightfully and successfully carried through, we (Olga, myself, and my girlfriend, Roxy) went on a  "College Road Trip".   I can't really say that it was "spurr of the moment", but it sure seemed like we just up and went.  We had actually been saying we needed to go, and I had told Roxy, we were going the week after graduation, and maybe she would like to go with us;  And then lo and behold, graduation was over, the graduation party was over, and there it was, the day that we had talked about leaving on.... So we went.

Perhaps I should go back several weeks ago, when Olga was offered a soccer scholarship to a small College in North Western Wyoming. This was the second offer she had (The first being a partial scholarship to a small University here in Colorado.  We felt good about this second offer for 2 reasons; The tuition was small, the school was small, the town was small, and scholarship was pretty good. Since the possibilities of a Christian College did not seem to open up for us financially, this seemed the next best thing.  We all thought whoever of us could make the trip should go up there and see what we thought.

In the same time-frame, The Lord  gave me a dream, which went like this: I saw Olga standing there, and the Lord with her.  In her hand he had placed a jewel and covered her hand with His.  On another occasion, I had a dream of Olga and saw her playing soccer with little girls.  It seemed to us that perhaps the Lord is giving a special gift to Olga.  Perhaps He will open up doors for her through soccer, and perhaps she will even minister to children through this open door.  We have had many discussions of missions opportunities, and have even talked about the possibility of her being involved in
ministry in Russia one day.  Many possibilities remain and we look forward to those things which the Lord will reveal.

The three of us girls had a great time on our "Road Trip.  We loved Wyoming.  The people were great hometown, friendly people.  We felt as if we were right at home.  It was definitely flavored with the "Old West", and delightfully so.

This summer Olga will be playing soccer in Sweden for the Youth World Cup  called the "Gothia Cup"; Another little gem that was presented to her. We are definitely looking at a summer full of soccer and College plans..... I am hoping we can squeeze in a visit to Marie, Elizabeth, Nathan, Luke, Russell and their precious families.  If not, perhaps they will all make it home for a visit for their Dad's 50th birthday....   stay tuned with me to find out what our next two months will hold.  I am about to write all these thoughts out and present them to the Lord for His hand to direct.  Until then, perhaps I can actually get back to another creative project. So as "Tigger" would fondly say TTFN (Tah Tah for now). And many blessings.