There is never a shortage of bizarre things to hang on your wall at the thrift store. Here’s one example:
This lovely item was dimensional and made of feathers. Yes, even the dog’s face was made of bird feathers. Maybe even from the bird that was dangling from his mouth. Weirdly, I was tempted to buy this as a gag gift for my duck-hunting brother-in-law. Though I’m not sure he would have gotten the laugh out of it that John and I did.
I found an old cuckoo clock at Goodwill two weeks ago. It cost me $4.
It was missing a few parts — the weights, the pendulum, and the gong. I had no idea if it worked but thought it was interesting enough to take home. A few days after buying it, I took it to a clock shop to see if it was possible to get it running again. They told me it was worth over $500 since it is of high quality and also plays music. They also told me they could get it running again for $235. Uh, no.
I took the clock home and started searching around for info on repairing cuckoos. There is a ton of information on line. I found another local shop that had parts and took it there. They sold me the pieces I needed for $25. They also showed me how to turn the cuckoo on (who knew it could be on or off?), which chains were off gear, and a few other tips on getting it running. I took the pieces home and fiddled with my clock. It works! It cuckoos and plays “Edelweis” every hour and cuckoos once on the half hour. It’s keeping perfect time and I am thrilled to sit and listen to it tick and tock.
And John? He’s thrilled that I can turn the bird and music off at night so it doesn’t drive him cuckoo.
At the end of summer, John’s parents had to leave their home and move into a nursing home. The past few months have been spent dealing with health issues related to this transition and helping them adjust to their new life. Only recently, have we started to make plans for their home and the contents. My mother-in-law has been a lifetime collector of interesting things. Never has this been more apparent to me than as we prepare for the estate sale. Of all of her collections, the one that sort of defines her (in my mind) is her George Washington collection. She has portraits of him throughout her house as well as dolls and lots of colonial memorabilia. Anytime I see something with his likeness, it catches my eye.
While at a clock shop yesterday, I saw this:
Isn’t it awesome? His eyes move back and forth as the clock tocks. It’s so creepy cool it makes me laugh.
Now, I’m finding myself mildly obsessed with making a similar clock. I have no knowledge of clock making and some time spent googling this yielded nothing. Maybe things like this just aren’t made anymore. Or maybe I just need to cave in and go for this one.
Then I could have a daily reminder of my beloved mother-in-law and her collections. One that symbolizes the passage of time and the fact that there is much humor to be had along the way.
One of last year’s resolutions was to build something big with John. Mission accomplished.
This was the final step to completing our TV stand. The bottom part was found curb side a few years ago. We refinished it and it’s been useful ever since. Still, it was screaming out for a top. After much planning, much procrastinating, and much work, we finished it! And moved it on on New Year’s Day.
Now it’s time to plan the something big to build that is on this year’s resolution list. Somehow I doubt it will be bigger than this project was!
The Christmas decorations are coming down! Before they are gone, I needed one last photo of my “Santa Mantle.”
Santa Mantle
The parks department in the next town made a bunch of reindeer from a big old tree they cut down. They placed the reindeer all over town and I loved seeing them everywhere. I loved them so much that I had to make some for myself. John and I dug through our woodpile and came up with enough parts for two of them.
All told, they took about 30 minutes each to make. We had help from Margaux.
And in the spirit of giving, we snuck one over to our niece’s house for a holiday surprise.
Now I can’t help but view every downed tree branch as potential reindeer parts. I wonder what other creatures we could also make.
Out with the Halloween decor:
And in with Thanksgiving:
Let the Halloween crafting begin!
I am crazy about Halloween! I started crafting a few weeks ago and my house is slowly being taken over by my favorite decorations. Of course, every year, I need to make more. This year, I’m making throw pillows. The heart graphic came from the Graphics Fairy — there are tons of free anatomical parts to print. I printed this one on plain white muslin. The muslin was sewn to a pillowcase made from a painters drop cloth. The best part? After Halloween, I can just slip the pillow cover off and remove all traces of Halloween. Or not. Ha, ha, this one might work for Valentine’s Day, too!
Two more are in the works and then we’ll see what other crafts come up.
John found this star in the trash.
The size and shape were right but the color was wrong for my house. Out came my stand-by favorite black paint and in minutes, it was more my style.
And perfectly at home on my front porch between the shutters. I do love a quick paint project!
I found this wooden anchor at a thrift store. It was ugly but had potential for my beach-themed screened porch.
With a little black paint and some fresh rope, it is fresh and perfect on the porch.
