Jiggywinks!

I was just paid $20 to embroider a child's name on a tai kwan do uniform. It turned out okay, but don't do what I did--go buy a protractor and actually measure the angles! I did a little bit of general measuring to make sure I drew the letters about the same size and spaced them out a bit evenly, but for the love of mike I just lucked out. Four rows of chain stitch in black, instead of the more traditional satin stitch. Not only was it faster, but it will be easier to rip out when it's the sibling's turn to wear the jacket (the real reason for embroidery as opposed to a black magic marker). Cost: Nothing to me, I had black floss laying around. $20 for my time.

Greetings Lovely People! The big question (for whoever ends up reading this blog) is why such the big gap? Did I not work on any projects? The answer is of course I did! Since July of 2019, I was cast as Christine Penmark in MTG's "The Bad Seed", a 1950s horror-type play about a young mother whose world spirals out of control when she realizes there's something sinister about her 8-year-old daughter Rhoda. So, I was busy rehearsing my first lead role (!) until the show ran for the first two weekends of October. Not only that, but I was busy with preparations for MTG's "Beauty and the Beast", which is scheduled to run the first two weekends of December. At first I was stage manager, but then I ended up helping play piano and rehearse with actors for their auditions, and I played piano for all the auditions, which were in August. Encouraged by an email to audition "just for the heck of it", I did. Never expecting to be cast, merely wanti

Ever since we moved into our lovely apartment, I knew the empty space over the kitchen sink needed SOMETHING. In a house, it would be a window. In our cave of a kitchen with my spice bottles stored on the counter, it was a spice rack! Cue the "Mission Impossible" theme as I searched online for a suitable candidate. And searched. And searched. I quickly learned that for someone who wanted only a shelf to house her own spice collection (plus knicknacks) and not a pre-arranged counter set, this was going to be difficult. And expensive. The type of rack I wanted--the cheapest one I thought--was a simple wooden rectangle with shelves. Nope. Every shelf option that was reasonably priced was for counter storage, sized with accompanying bottles I didn't like, with guard rails (so I couldn't show off my knicknacks) or too small for the space. If I found one that kinda-sorta was like what I wanted, it was on Etsy for over $60! NO THANKS. I went to Menards and bought two of th

I went to the Green County Fair and came back victorious!! For a graduation present in June, I made an ugly sweater that, on my baby sis, is transformed into a thing of beauty. Go figure. I used Lion Band Wool-Ease in a blend of colors guaranteed to camouflage anything she spilled on it, machine washable, and oh-so-quick to knit! First time I ever made a sweater, and I learned a couple new things along the way, like twists! Here's the thing: I slapped it together in a couple weeks, sewed the seams using the ends of the yarn, and didn't even bother weaving in my ends. I didn't follow the neck pattern and fiddled with it to make it a little bigger so it wouldn't smoosh her hair which I should NOT have been doing because I don't know what I'm doing. I also ignored the gauge (which I should not have done) and knit it tighter so it was warmer. When I dropped it off for judging I found a lose bit of yarn I forgot and I had to take apart a child's first aid

Sadly, I forgot to take a "before" picture, but my sister gave me a lamp when I moved out of my parents house. It had fake plastic flowers in it, and ugly fake-brass. What did I do? I sprayed that ugly brass hardware to an ugly antique brass color (at least it was different!) and reassembled it with origami cranes inside.

One year, I determined to have a hammock. It was AMAZING. I bought some canvas and grommets from Walmart, rope and hardware from Ace, and had a blast. Nothing like reading in the shade on a hot summer day. Wasn't expensive either! Sadly, the canvas proved more to be of the upholstery caliber than support-someone's-weight caliber...it ripped! At the close of the summer, I cannibalized it and folded the fabric up for another project. I didn't have to look far--when I moved to my brother's house I saw he had a towel binder-clipped to the rod over the laundry room window! The material was just enough for simple casement curtains. My first time, and I'm real proud of myself! When I moved out I left them, of course. 

When I moved to my brother's house, I was seized with the fix-it bug. The first project to get the treatment was a dresser given to me when I moved. The interior drawers were prone to snagging my clothes, and the hardware didn't look like it went with the rest of the dresser. First thing I did was line the drawers with wrapping paper--I bought it for this especially because it didn't have straight lines and you couldn't tell if I put it in crooked or not! I rubbed the drawers with soap so I could get them in and out easier, and then I went on my search for new hardware. I settled on an antique oiled-look with porcelain, as it matched knobs already on my nightstand. This dresser made it to my new apartment, but it quickly left to make way for a piano.  Next to get the treatment was a desk. I removed the glass top, painted it "chic yellow" (I remember the paint saleslady at Walmart calling it "chick yellow") and put new knobs o

About a million years ago (about 8 years ago), the daughter of our church pastor was in trouble. Her Barbie had been played with for so long the one dress she had was in tatters. (I gather that her parents weren't that fond of young-women-looking dolls, and this particular one had been a gift from a grandparent). Anyway, Barbie was now living under the bed because she wasn't under fit for public appearances! Anyway, I borrowed my cousin's doll as a model, begged some fabric scraps from my sister-in-law, and dug through my sewing box. Next thing I knew, I had a small little wardrobe to give to the little girl (I forget her name) next Sunday. I wouldn't mind having some of these clothes myself! The first dress I made was actually part of a sheet scrap, if I remember correctly. I made the bodice first, sidestepping the dart problem by making neat diagonal folds down either side of the bodice and basting. The skirt was measured to Barbie, machine-basted and gat

This year my baby sister will be graduating from high school. Coincidentally, I was hired by the high school to play synthesizer for a production of "Bye Bye Birdie" at the last minute (essentially three weeks rehearsal before the show opened--and I am by no means a professional musician). I walk into rehearsal, and who should be there but my little sister, playing flute? Despite Jocie's help getting me caught up, it was by far the most stressful show I've ever been involved in. Important practice though, and it made me appreciate my MTG shows all the more. The band director asked if I would be interested in coming back next year, and I said "definitely--if you let me know earlier!"  In the end, Jocelyn played beautifully, and I struggled valiantly (I shot the director the deer-in-the-headlights look more than once!) and together we made it through. Love you sis!

So, over a year ago when I was planning my wedding, I hauled off and bought a bunch of vintage postcards, that I immediately realized I could NEVER use as decoration because what if they got ruined??  I love these little pieces of history! So, when we moved into our apartment together, I wanted a way to display them. It took a while but when open frames went on sale for half-off at Hobby Lobby, I grabbed one! A few measurements with a ruler...a few dots of hot glue and some fishing line... and some mini clothespins and voila! I have many more vintage postcards, so I hope to have a lot of fun changing and updating them. Fun fact! I bought these postcards on Etsy from a vendor in the UK--and most of these are from UK and Continental European locations. HOWEVER... second row from the bottom, second row from the left, is a postcard I think is probably a hundred years old--and it depicts our state capital of Madison, WI. WOOHOO! $20 for the frame, and I think maybe $5 for a

I love finishing projects, don't you? It's like a load of stress just got lifted off my shoulders--what a rush!! Woohoo! Recently, I finished two big projects. One was the longest time I've ever taken on a knit project: over a decade! The other two were fairly quick, but one got rid of a skein of cotton yarn I've had hanging around for over a year, and the other one took up a LOT of room. This feather-and-fan pattern was written out on a piece of notepaper and given to me by my Grandma, together with a pair of needles and the yarn. After I got two skeins in, I dropped a stitch and couldn't find it. I stuck it away, and let it sit for years. Last year I pulled it out again. I took it completely down, off the needles, and started over from scratch. I ended up being about a skein short, so I went on Ebay and managed to find a skein of the exact dye lot! That was nothing short of miraculous. I found two additional skeins on Etsy of the same color so I could do th

My rehearsal bag is an enormous tote, with lots of pockets inside and out. Not only does it hold my rehearsal gear, but it also holds my clothes during costume changes and my outerwear as well. Especially if you’re working on a show with a big cast (my last had 69 cast members!) what’s in your rehearsal bag is your lifeline to keep from going crazy during those long, long rehearsals. What’s In My Rehearsal Bag? Mini Hand Sanitizer. Besides being used on your hands, you can squeeze hand sanitizer on to a tissue or a napkin and use it as a wipe to sanitize surfaces. A Packet of Tissues/Hankie. Don’t count on anything softer than toilet tissue to be available, and you don’t want to be sniffing all night long. Lip Balm, Travel Size Hand Lotion. If your lips or skin get chapped, it’s really distracting. Pencils/Pens, Sticky Notes and Tabs. These are great for marking lines, cues, and scene/costume changes, as well as any changes to the script that the director makes. Someth