Niles MI Apple Festival

Dear Hubby and I went to an Apple Festival about a month ago. There were food vendors, crofters, and rides. A good time was had by all. I picked up this frame for my little girl Alison. The little words are magnets and they hold the photo in place. Cute idea!

Show and Tell Friday

Stop by Kelli's blog and visit show and tell Friday. Her link is on my sidebar. It a lot of fun. Bloggersall over link to her blog and share something that is special to them. Kelli also has an awesome on line magazine called Seasonal Delights. She featured a banner in her premiere issue that motivated me to make one for the fall season. Thanks Kelli, now I'll have to make one for every season, gosh...LOL It came out okand I'm enjoying the bit of color it adds to the opening in my kitchen. Here's a set of Autumn Leaves stamps. I used on the white circles. I really like these stamps. They are clear and stamp a sharp image.

Here's a close up of one of the circles.

Here's a close up of the rest of the opening. We put the "window" in the wall when we moved into our home to help open up the kitchen. It's a fun little spot to decorate for the seasons. Thank you for stopping by. (I got the cute little pumpkins for $1.00. Gotta love a bargain.)

Fall Florals

I taught myself to arrange flowers back in my 20's. I couldn't afford premade things and just has a willingness to make my own. I'm not quite sure why I lived with this... like this... for so long, two years, but I suddenly had to change it. No doubt you can see why... Here it is...a wall hanging I purchased from a home party business. I love the concept, but the greenery really didn't do anything for me.I took pictures of my creative process, maybe it will be helpful to someone in blog land. Here's how I store my silk flowers. The large plastic containers allow room for the stems and they don't crush the flowers.Once I decide what I am going to do, I cut apart all the flowers from a bush and separate them according to type and color.

Now the creative process begins. I start with a middle flower and work from that, adding until there is a pleasing flow form top to outer edge.

At this point I forgot to add moss and added it...

And finally wall decor I can be proud to display. I plan to do arrangements for each season.Also, I added a few Fall picks in between the pots, to add a little Fall detail. Thank you for stoping by.
Trudi M.

My Classroom Crafts for Fall

Good golly, I haven't posted forever. So sad... I'm having a really hard time with my time management right now. *sigh*

This weekend dear hubby and I went shopping and boating. We had a quiet, but nice weekend. I'm so ready for cooler weather. It's suppose to be in the high 80s for the next two days and then there will be a cool down to the low 70s. I so enjoy the seasonal changes in the Midwest. I'm also ready for a slower pace as the weather gets cooler. We don't seem to be as busy in the fall and winter as in the spring and summer.

Schools off to a good start now and that's a good thing. We have started our craft business. The school system use to give us plenty of money to educate the students in the community. Now the budget has been cut to less than one third, yes you read correctly, one third. Not only that, but we don't even know when the money is going to come in for our use. Grrr.

So to off set the expenses of taking the students into the community for shopping, eating out, using public transportation etc. we have started a business called Teens Create. Right now we are making stuffed pumpkins and decorated mason jars. The jars hold a votive cup and have been very popular with the school staff. Thank you very much! Here are some of the pictures and I'm listing them on Etsy. Please stop by our little shop and support this worthy cause. All profits will go to the students. Thanks a million.

We are making these as we get orders. We will be making them for at least another two weeks. If you are interesed in one, please email me. tlateach@msn.com They are $6.00 each. I'll let you know on shipping when I get your order. Just discribe the jar in your oder. I'm going to ues ESTY but for now I'll take an email. Times running short for fall decore. Have a good week and happy blogging.

Please give me some feedback...

Some of you have mentioned that my blog wasn't loading. I was having the same problems and thought it was my Internet connection. I eliminated some of Htmls on the side bar and I think this has helped. Please let me know.
I'm signing up for the class from The Big Picture Show, please post if you are going to sign up. I think it looks fun. See my August 31 post.

Hobby Lobby Coupon

Hey all, this is something that I take for granted. However, I've learned through conversations with co-workers that not everyone know this... So if you don't, here you go. Every other week, Hobby Lobby has a printable 40% off coupon. It can be used as often as you want: print it, one coupon per person, per visit. I use it a lot in the classroom with the students. We go there and shop for supplies for crafts and can get some really good buys. Heck, I need tissue paper right now and I'll save 40%. We're starting to work on crafts for our classroom to sell. I'm going to call our little cottage industry Teens Create, and I plan to list on Etsy. (I've mentioned this in past posts.) We need money for the kids to go shopping, out to eat and to use public transportation. With the budget cuts around the state, I'm not getting money to do these learning activities with the kiddos.
Here's the link for the coupon: Coupon here I come...

Labor Day Activities

Picture from wedsite

Well, dear Hubby and I stayed busy, but not too busy. I've been really tired since starting back to school. We went to the Blue Berry Festival in Plymouth IN, on Saturday. It is a really large festival with sporting events, tracker pulls, concerts, tons of arts and crafts and gobs of food. We go for the food and crafts. Jr. went with us, so we hit the midway too and he rode a few rides. It was a good time, but warmer than I would have liked. I saw a really cool product related to the scrapbook. All your work is done on line and then you can have the company, called Heritage Makers make a bound book out of your pages. I haven't investigated it too much, but wanted to share the link. There's also a consultant opportunity... Looks kinda interesting.
Heritage Makers, check them out. Let me know what you think and if you worked with them.
Sunday we slept in and boated. It was a beautiful day.
Monday I started to "put the garden to bed". Learned that term last year. IE, I pulled and cut back dead flowers. It looks so much better. We've had a lot of rain so the plants got a little out of control and some were just done.
I hope you all had a good and restful weekend. Four days and the weekend. Yeh!

On Line Class by Big Picture Show

Here's the advertisement for the work shop.

"The power of YOU. The question is not whether we will have challenges in life, it's what we choose to do with it that matters. Learn strategies for maintaining a positive perspective as well as how to choose joy in spite of it all as we embark on a journey of empowerment, faith in yourself, and loads of fabulous projects. "

It is a eight week course and it's just in time for what I need. As I mentioned in my last post, I'm having trouble with my creative spirit right now. I need a kick start for sure. This sounds like what the creative muses ordered.

Here's the link: http://www.bigpicturescrapbooking.com/choosingjoy.php

This is a well established on line learning site. I've done other things with them. It would be great fun to do it with several of you... We could share and chat. If you decide to sign up let me know. I plan to after I get to the bank and get some money in my debit account. It sounds inspirational and creative. That's what I want to just-start my for Christmas.

I hope some of you want to do this with me. Post here if you plan to do the workshop, please.

Have a restful and playful Labor Day weekend. The weather here is suppose to be fabulous here. All my best.

Gosh It's Been A Long Time!

I am so out of the blogging scene it makes me sad. I had so many issues with my computer and then started back to school. Yikes, I'm out of it. I wrote this post last night so I could join the fun again. I miss you guys! School has been really busy. I have 12 students. That doesn't seem like much but their needs are times three at least. Love them, but boy am I worn out. I could be a stay at home "pup mom" on some days. (I don't have children)

Seriously, I think I would miss teaching very much but it is so nice to have the time during the summer. I keep a much cleaner home, more rest, more fun, more creativity, more everything...

Sigh, enough of that. What to share??? Well, here's my front door. I painted it in the last month. It was red, but it had more of a blue base to it before I repainted it. I'm pleased with the results. I must say, red is not an easy color to paint for good coverage. Yikes, I was even painting on top of a red.

I made the wall pocket. It was originally a shabby white, and I sprayed it black. Then, I added the greenery. Over all I'm please with the total effect. Let me know what you think, please... I begging for comments. LOL. Have a good weekend. Thanks Kelli for hosting Show and Tell.

Back at Last, Very Sick Computer

Yikes, I've been going through a lot with this blankity blank computer. I caught a virus and no... I did not up date my virus protection. Bad girl, I know. Boy have I learned my lesson. Yikes!

It's still not totally fixed but coming along.

No email, no blogging, no researching. It been hard. Hard I'm telling you HARD. LOL.

I thought I'd share some of the things the bride and I made for her wedding. It was several weeks ago and was so nice. She sent me the nicest card today. *smile*

Her wedding was pink and brown. It turned out really pretty. We made everything I'm going to share. I hope you enjoy.

This was a mason jar with tissue paper and modge podge. Very easy. They were the center pieces.

Candy jars for every table. (Little gifts for the guests to take home.)

A fan banner made of crete paper. Yikes this was not fun to make. If I make one again; NO Crete paper. It says..."True Love"
This was a really fun wedding to be a part of. The bride and I became very close and we also work together. Bye for now. Dear hubby's birthday.

A Wealth of Information, Martha Stewart

I'm not a big Martha fan; but, I must admit, I like her things at K Mart. Also, her wed site has a ton of great crafts and info too. I am definitely going to be checking in quite often. Show Me Martha

Pink and Brown Anklet

I haven't had much time this summer to craft. I've been in a mass re-organization mode in my home. Plus I'm a little ADD and don't stay with anyone thing for very long, LOL. Here's an anklet I made for the bride for last Sat. The wedding was pink and brown.

Here it is on the Bride at the reception. She wore Birks for the party. Aren't they cute, they are silver with bling buckles. I love them.

More About the Plate

I've been asked several questions and will attempt to answer some here. My image is from a CD from Luna Girl. Her prices are great and the selection of CDs is awesome. Please check out her site.
I printed the angel on a ink jet printer, but I wouldn't recommend it. The ink wanted to smear. In the future, I'd make a photo copy. (I want a laser printer for Christams, LOL.)
You can also use scrap book images, greeting cards, gift wrap, and I think fabric would work too.

This is such an easy craft and inexensive, just try it. *smile*

I also added some embellishments to the front with E600 glue.

Decorate Your Own Plate

First, I in no way wanted to offend anyone with my last post about comments. Nor do I want to make anyone feel guilty. As I said, I have had great comments and appreciate them very much.

I participate in the pink and brown swap, by Sweet Goodness in the spring. I decoupaged a plate and thought I'd share how I did it. Here's the plate:

Supply List:

Clear plate

tissue paper

decorative print, stickers, words etc.

Mod Podge, by Plaid

Spry fixative or Polyurethane

Directions: You will be working on the back side of the plate. Cut tissue paper in approximately 1 inch squares. Use your imagination, you may use one color as I did, or use more than one color. Apply the decorative elements first, angel and words in my case, face down. Apply the Mod Podge to the plate and then the elements. (I use a foam brush.) After you have your design elements adhered to the plate with no ripples or wrinkles, you may apply the tissue paper squares. I did the brush in the Mod Podge and pick up the tissue squares with the wet brush. Randomly place the squares on the plate to cover all the surfaces. It's ok the allow the square to stick out over the edge of the plate. You can use a utility knife to trim the excess. If the plate still has rough edges from the paper, sand it with fine grit paper. Apply fixative if you wish. The front can be washed, but I would not soak the plate. I make them for decorations.

Have fun and let me know if you make one. I'd love to see pictures. Here's a close-up picture:

Trudi

Oh, I need all of this!

I joined Creative Home Arts and they featured a product called Word Stamp Kit. Well, I want it for collage work... And then I went to the site and want tons of things. Yikes. Look at the cute kits for your garden:

Or here's the kit I want for stamping for collage:
Check out the site, it's loads of fun and I'm sure you'll find something creative for your home. Here's the link:

Magnetic Poetry

Thoughtful Thursday

Here's my plan: I'm going to offer a new idea every Thursday, similar to "Inspiration Friday" pictures you see on other blogs. Here's my twist... I hope to give an idea that I have done or will try in the future along with photos or scans of other ideas. I participate in Show and Tell Friday at There's No Place Like Home, so I thought I'd give this a go for Thursdays. Hint, Hint, Christmas is almost five months away. Will there be Christmas posts? Stay tuned. LOLThe shower curtain in the picture was too short. So the owner added ribbon ties to lengthen the curtain to fit the shower area. I loved the look of the ribbon, but did not need to add length. I tied ribbon on the shower curtain hooks and think it added a nice detail. I also used the same ribbon on my hand towels for a decorative touch. (No... don't use the hand towels, they are for looks.)

You could also use ribbons tacked to curtain panels to hang them on a rod. What other ideas can you come up with?
If you do something with ribbons, please let me know in this post.

Show A Tell Friday, My classroom Graduation

I teach special education. I opened a classroom for students with moderate needs in a middle school five years ago. I have had a large number of students for the last three years. We, myself and my two paras, are with them five out of six class hours per day so you become very attached. We are one big "happy" family. LOL. Seriously, I love them dearly. When you work with students with high needs for 3 years, you get to know not only them really well, but their families also. Five students exiting all at once is a large number for this type of classroom. Needless to say it was an emotional farewell. I always have a graduation party for the students. We have an open house, with cake, past teachers, awards, and parents. It's a nice closure for the students and the staff. Not to mention it is a form of "right of passage" for the students who are staying. We really play that up too. We remind them that they are growing up and will be leaders next year.

Here are some photos of the the party. We bought them autograph dogs this year for their gift and they loved them! It's something we will do every year from now on. Everyone that came to the party signed the dogs for them, classmates, teachers, parents, principals and school staff. I stitched their initials and the initials of the school on the ears. I think it was a nice touch. Please check out show and tell Friday at Kelli's blog. Link on the sidebar. It's great fun.

I'd love to share pics. of all the kiddos, but I don't think some parents would like it. So that's all folks. Hope you enjoyed. Trudi M.

We Have A Farmer's Market!

Our town just opened it's first Farmers Market in years. We have all been looking forward to this for about 5 years and the time finally arrived. My hubby and I went on Saturday and boy was it crowed. Mind you it was it's first weekend to be opened. We live near Amish country and all the surrounding towns have tourist attractions, and our town finally decided to join in. That said, it will be nice for out of town visitors, but the locals are all thrilled too. The prices were good, the food was good, they had nice plants, and crafts. I can't wait to see how it evolves. They are also adding all sorts of attractions around it. It's going to be quite large when it all said and done. We spent three hours there and really had a good time on Saturday. Believe it or not we had Mexican food for lunch and it was great. We bought meat, pie, cookies, rolls, and some signs for our yard. I'll have to so pics. of those later. There's a link to the site about the American Countryside Farmers Market on my sidebar. It's quite interesting because it's now the biggest peg built building in America.

Give Away on the 26th...Hurry and Sign Up

I am taking part in One Woman's Cottage Give Away. There are at least 30 blogs giving away things on the 26 th after 12 noon. I'm going to draw my name after 8 pm on May 26th. Please sign up to win my cute little vignette of picnic decorations. The jar is hand deorated and holds a tea light, vintage doily, candles, flags, and patriotic paper products. Please leave a comment to the following link and you're in the drawing. Goodluck!

Pretty Invitations

I don't talk much about work, but I am a special education teacher in a middle school for students with intense needs. I work with two fantastic ladies that make my job much more pleasant and manageable. My one assistant has asked me to stand up with her when she gets married this summer. We have made many of the wedding decorations, including the invitations. I really pleased with them, and wanted to share them with you. If the colors don't scan well or show up well on your monitor, the colors are pink and brown. Love that combination. We like the darker brown combination the best, but think both turned out pretty.