Life is what you make it.
My sister has done the most of the sewing for our Barbie Christmas donation project. Julie has made over 120 pretty little Barbie outfits including gowns, sundresses, pants, shorts, coats and more. All sewn by hand! A fascinator for Barbie's special occasions! I have busied myself with other creations. I made my own pattern and… Continue reading Barbie Loves a Good Hat!
My sister and I are lucky that the Barbies we are refurbishing for donations to Christmas toy drives are in good condition. Most just needed a comb run through their hair. But what if you want to change Barbie’s hair style or you have a doll whose hair resembles a rat’s nest? Lucky for the… Continue reading Refurbishing Barbie: Messy Hair Gets a Re-Do!
Creating a storage box for Barbie and her accessories. I ran out of house photos for the box lid but a piece of original art will serve this one well. As my sister and I contemplated how we would package the refurbished Barbies, clothes and accessories we were putting together for holiday toy drives, we… Continue reading Building Barbie’s House From a Shoe Box
Earlier this summer I spotted a Barbie doll while surfing Ebay. It was a red-haired doll called a “bubble cut” from the early 60s. It was one of a mixed lot of dolls that someone was selling for a more than fair price. Feeling nostalgic (this was the first Barbie I owned as a child)… Continue reading Refurbishing Barbie for the Christmas Toy Drive: The Beginning
As we grow older and outdoor spaces become more work than we can handle, many gardeners feel the need to downsize. They sell their homes and move into smaller apartments or maybe a condo – some place that won’t require lawn and garden chores. As a result, they save themselves the work, but they lose… Continue reading The Low Maintenance Garden Experiment: Planning a Garden for Senior Living
Maybe it's the drama and tiresome happenings in the daily news that is causing everyone to need an escape. Looking around my small town yesterday, it seems that everyone is getting geared up for the holidays extra early this year. I even saw a couple of homes with outdoor holiday lights brightly blazing. While my… Continue reading A Williamsburg Style Holiday Wreath
When I was about 3 years old, my dad very gently hammered two tiny nails into the wood paneled wall of our dining room. He tied a length of string between those nails and Voila! We had a holder for the first of our Christmas cards that had arrived that afternoon. It was fun to… Continue reading Merry Christmas in the Mailbox
Growing up in the 1950's, my mom, aunts, and female cousins were all making fudge. It didn't require fancy and expensive ingredients like chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, or marshmallow cream that those West Virginia farm girls didn't have. It was made with basic ingredients they found in their kitchens. If the too soft candy… Continue reading Old Fashioned Hershey’s Cocoa Fudge
