It is almost Valentine's day and I decided to make something for the occasion. My goal was to use only materials I had, and to buy nothing, because I already have way too much stuff. I managed to do that. There are always lots of branches in my yard too. I like to use them to hang things from. One day I will show you my snazzy branch toilet paper hanger!
By the way, see that tree on the left? That's our gnarly walnut. It has a heart shape burl on it, so cool!
So I started with the roll of ribbon and divided it into 3 pieces of about 36 inches each. It is see-through checks, white on white with iron wire in the edges, to keep it in shape for bows, I suppose. Here it did not help me much and I had to run the iron over it to get the ribbon straight. But it did bend nicely over my branches and so the 3 strips of ribbon were easy to glue on with the glue gun.
Then, a la
Ruth Rae, whose book "
layered, tattered & stitched", is my current craft bible for interesting stitching projects -
If you don't have a copy yet, get one, it is well worth the small price - I stitched up the letters.
For the letters W and E I took an old pink linen napkin, folded it in half, and put some stuffing from an old bed pillow in it (pulled out to a very thin layer) to give it some body. I stitched up and down about a quarter inch or so apart in dark brown thread. I then cut it in one inch wide strips and "built" them into letters. Except the U, of course, which I did freehand and which came out a bit too small I think. But I considered it all my first Ruth Rae experiment.
From another red polka dotted napkin, I cut out a 4 hearts, sewed two of them together and stuffed it with the same old pillow stuffing. Hand slip stitch the opening.
Then I glued the letters and the heart on the ribbon with the glue gun, added some little silk flowers here and there, and glued the bottom of the three strips of white ribbon around another stick to give it some weight.
Finally, I added a bow, and a garland from the left over red dotted heart cut out pieces and a cord with which to hang it, and now it hangs on my front door, greeting visitors.
☯
~ Tranquility and Tolerance ~
It has been freezing here lately! Several mornings there was ice on the car windows. And I left my scraper in NorCal when I moved here. I am afraid the jade tree may have bitten the dust. When jade trees freeze they look fine for a while but slowly become mushy inside until they collapse. Very sad... Unfortunately, it was too large to dig up and put inside. In the thirteen years I have lived here, this is the first time it has been that cold that often in the winter months. We do not even have central heating in our house because we never really needed it. Last year we had a brief cold spell and bought a little space heater. This year, however, we had to buy several more. Fortunately, these cold snaps do not last very long. Still, unusual weather for SoCal and extra sweaters and long robes help, but for outside I really did not have enough "winter gear", so I have been making shawls and scarves.
Finally, I added a bow, and a garland from the left over red dotted heart cut out pieces and a cord with which to hang it, and now it hangs on my front door, greeting visitors.
