You Don't Have To Be An Artist - You Can Just Be Practical!

If you stop by this blog often, you may have seen several of the crafting videos that I have posted here.

I am often told how creative or artistic I am.  But the reality is, I really don't think I am all that creative or artistic - at least not in the traditional sense.  I craft and create because of a need of something, or because I just don't want to spend the money to buy something.

I am PRACTICALLY CRAFTY!

In the video below, a segment on a recent Local TV Morning Show, I had the honor of sharing two project ideas that can be used to "cross craft" to make many other projects.  It combines the techniques used in the Blinged Out Flip Flops video and the I Tip My Cap To National Crafting Month Posts.  The result of using a bit of fabric, a few rhinestones, and the right kind of glue results in the ability to make countless gifts, decor items, or fun and cute accessories for yourself - like the projects  you see in the photo above.

Enjoy, and have a blast being PRACTICALLY CRAFTY!



Video Courtesy Sonoran Living Live, ABC 15.

Hat Trick Tips - Paper Beads!

Fun, easy, and inexpensive paper beads make a great summertime project to fill the "I'm bored!" time! Great for parents and kids. Your imagination is your only limit with this project!

The Lazy Days of Summer.....

Ahhhhh.....summer...

I loved summer vacation as a kid. Who didn't? Hanging out with friends. free from the bondage of school, able to just hang out, chill, and relax with friends. No responsibility to speak of. Lazily hanging out in my room listening to my albums ( for any one born after 1985, this is the way we used to get the tunes...) lounging around in a bathing suit all day long because I had no where to go. No real schedule - just go with the flow kind of days. Late nights spent talking with friends - remember back when we used the phone or talked face to face? And the best part....the most amazing and rewarding part....the thing that every teenager waits all year for.....the chance to sleep in!

Today is the first day of summer for all of us in my household. The kids are all done with school, my classes are done, and we have no where to be this morning. Would have been the perfect morning to sleep in....don'tcha think? But instead, here I am at 6 a.m. typing away at my computer desk, coffee in front of me, and my note books, to do lists, and a mind swirling with all the summer projects I need to get done. Don't get me wrong....It's not that I didn't want to sleep in. I just couldn't. It was not because I felt I had to get up and dive into my summer projects...I just physically couldn't sleep in. My body wouldn't let me. I was awake at sunrise.

Ironic - now that I am old enough to make the conscious decision to sleep as late as I DARN WELL PLEASE.... I can't.

Now, I'm sure there is probably some kind of biological reason for this. I have heard that as we age, we don't require as much sleep. The vanity part of me is not willing to accept this yet....so I have to find another reason for it. Perhaps it is because that deep down in my subconscious mind all the things that I neglected during the school year are coming around and paying me back for my dismissing of them. Maybe, just maybe, there is another reason.

Maybe the reason is that as we get older we get wiser - one hopes! But along with this wisdom comes the realization that our days are numbered. I'm not talking the doom and gloom- my life is over- start the bucket list kind of realization. Maybe it's more of an appreciation.

We realize that time is valuable and the more time we spend conscious and aware in the time we have, the more chances we have to discover the joy, beauty, and opportunity that are in moments that God has given us. We realize that everyday is a gift.

So, as I sit here, instead of lamenting the sleep I am not getting, I will rejoice in the awareness and opportunity that I am getting. Today is full of promise. It is my choice to accept it or reject it. I think I'll take it with open arms!

Hot Crossed Buns...Don't Get Burned!

If you live in a desert area, you can probably relate to this.....

You're on your way out to run an errand in the middle of a hot summer day. The air is hot and and actually burns your skin as the 117 degree blast hits you in the face as you step outside. You get in your car, knowing that you can make it to where ever it is you need to go because your car that you've had parked in the garage will keep you nice and cool till you arrive at your destination.

As you drive down the road, you can actually see the heat rising from the road. It is an ominous reminder of just how hot the desert summers can be. But still, you don't lament much...at that moment... because you are still in your nice cool car and are headed into a nice office building, grocery store or mall. You know that despite the heat, you can bypass the pain of the blazing temperatures.

You pull into the parking lot of your destination. Then realization hits. The car you've been in will soon be sitting in the hot summer sun, transforming from a vessel of comfort to a blazing hot oven! When you get back into the car to leave, your hot car seat will give new meaning to hot crossed buns. And, unless you want to be branded with the metal of the seat belt buckle, you'd better find a way to keep the car cool.

So, you search and search for a shady parking spot to keep your motorized domain cool. Your eyes scan the parking lot. You see a few spaces shaded by small desert trees, but those that were there before you reaped the benefit of the shade. Just when all hope for finding shade is gone, you see a shopper leaving the building and heading towards a shady spot. You think your parking dilemma is over. Quickly you navigate the lot until you are right behind them. Slowly and stealthily you lurk behind ever so slowly inching your car forward as they approach their vehicle. You take the assertive posture, moving you car to the center of the isle as to not let someone from behind gain the upper hand. You put your blinker on and make definite "don't even think about it" eye contact with every other driver you encounter while on your hunt for some respite from the summer sun. The patron slowly backs out of the space. Without hesitation, your accelerate your car forward and into the newly available spot.

Feeling proud and accomplished at reaching your goal, you look up to admire the canopy of shade that protects you and your backside from the heat. You expect to see a lush, shady, green covering above. What you see is the twiggy, small leafed, sparsely covered branches of a Mesquite tree that are about as effective at shading your car as an umbrella made out of fishnet is at keep you dry in a rain storm.

There is nothing left to do but crack the windows, find the few stray napkins from your last drive through stop to use to cover the steering wheel, and pray that a rogue monsoon will miraculously roll in and minimize the heat.

So...what's the purpose of this summertime parking dramatization?

Sometimes we put ourselves into situations that we know we will get burned in, often times repeatedly. We are willing to take the same risks and apply the same behaviors but expect different results. To avoid getting burned, we often need to re-adjust and take a different approach to life, an approach that keeps us out of the heat.

As a side note.....Ive learned to do most of my summertime errands after the sun has gone down.....