Ahhhh Spring

I just can't believe the weather we are having!!  Normally at this time of year, we are still buried in snow!  I remember last year how envious I was as others were talking about their gardens and flowers and I looked out at a blanket of white snow.  Yesterday we took Brandy for a walk in the conservation area and enjoyed the warmth.

Today I took a trip around the garden and found crocus blooming, buds on the clematis plant, the lilac bush is all out in buds, the rhubarb is coming out, the birds are singing......  all this two months earlier than normal.  I love it!!!!!

 

 

 

So we took a trip to the local nursery and bought some soil and I put it in the flower gardens at the back to prepare for my flower gardens.  Brandy also loved running around with us and it was such a beautiful day.

Completed T2T challenge

Samantha is just returning from her neighbour’s garage sale. She bought a panda bear for herself and some items for her mother. She stopped at the mailbox for the mail but she had to adjust her snowman first. She was very proud of this snowman!

This is the list of items we had to use to complete this T2T challenge.

1. 4 feathers - around the birdhouse and tree
2. 10 Beads - 6 beads used for the snowman face
3. 3 cotton balls - used for snow
4. 10" sq wrapping paper - small rolls of wrapping paper
5. Eraser - support for mailbox
6. 5 stir sticks - 2 ½ used for sleigh - 2 ½ used for mailbox post
7. small box (no side longer than 3") - used on sleigh to carry items
8. 2 stickers - back to back to make a toy teddy bear
9. 1 full sheet of cardstock (any colour) - mailbox and bird house
10. 4 bottle caps (any size) - snowman
11. Greeting card - used to make the tree
12. 6" Foam sheet - used to make a vanity mirror which I did not use in the scene
13. 6" Felt square - potted plant
14. 6 Toothpicks - sleigh
15. 2 sheets of Paper (8.5 x 11) - one for background scene and one for mail printies and newspaper
16. 4 Q Tips - 2 for sleigh and two for snowman
17. 3 Thumb Tacks or Push Pins (any type) - parfait glasses in box on sleigh
18. 6" length of ribbon - sleigh pull
19. 2 Toothpaste caps (or any toiletry lid) - one on snowman and one for potted plant
20. Small mirror (under 2") - used to make a vanity mirror which I did not use in the scene
21. TeaBag - soil around base of tree and mailbox
22. 6" Sq Green fabric (any print or solid) - snowman scarf and hat trim
23. 2 Paper Clips - hangers in box on sleigh
24. 6 Straight Pins- used to make a vanity mirror which I did not use in the scene
25. A Napkin - base for snow on ground

 

We had to use at least twenty of the twenty-five items.  And we could add one item of our own choosing. I added the doll as I felt she was needed to make the scene complete. (Also she was in my stash as she was out of scale and did not fit into my dollhouse but she looks great here.) I tried to use all twenty five but the vanity mirror just wouldn’t fit in the scene.  Although it could have been bought at the garage sale, it just didn’t fit on the sleigh.

The inspiration for the project

The Joann  Swanson project

Greeting card tree

Tree, birdhouse, and mailbox

mail from sheet of paper, feathers in tree

Made from caps, beads and material

Stir sticks, toothpicks, q tips, and ribbon

stickers, push pins, paper clips, wrapping paper, felt

garage sale purchases

the final items

vanity mirror

Next steps in the T2T scene

 The tree, mailbox and snowman are glued in place and I spread the tea leaves around the base of the tree and mailbox.

 There are tiny feathers on the tree and birdhouse if you can see them.  The soil needs to be spread a bit around the mailbox.

 I had to make something with a felt square so I cut it up and made a potted plant and planted it in the last of the lids.

The final items I had to use were stickers, push pins, paper clips, and wrapping paper as well as a small box.    So I used the stickers to make a Teddy Bear, the push pins made parfait glasses, the paper clips made hangers, and the wrapping paper made miniature wrapping paper.

Mailbox and Birdhouse

 

 One of the items in the list of T2T was a sheet of cardstock and you can print anything on it that you want.  I chose the mailbox and birdhouse from Joann Swanson's project "Winter Chores".  I has some leftover stir sticks that I glued together for the pole and I cut up the eraser for the support pieces at the top and bottom of the pole.  I used a small pin as a perch on the birdhouse but it is hard to see in the final picture.

The completed mailbox and the birdhouse placed in the tree.  I have now used eleven of the 25 items and I am still not sure of what I am going to do with the other 14.  I only have to use 20 out of the 25 but that still leaves me nine more to go.  Stay tuned....     

Gift Bag Container

This is the gift bag that gave me the idea for my T2T project.  And then I remembered the project "Winter Chores" that Joann Swanson did last year and I looked it up to get some ideas.  So I prepared the bag to get it ready for my project.  I put in cardboard walls and floor and cut the opening in the front and used white electrical tape to finish off the edges.

I needed something more for lining the inside though and one of the items on the T2T list was sheets of paper.  So I got the idea to use a picture of my own front yard to use as a background.  

T2T 2012 Sleigh

I had a computer crash and lost some of the pictures that I had taken on the next steps of this project.  I was working on a sleigh and I made it with stir sticks, square toothpicks, two cuetips and a piece of gold ribbon.  Here is the finished sleigh.

The next thing I am going to work on is a bird house and a mail box.

Trash to Treasure Project 2012

One of the groups that I am in issued a Trash to Treasure challenge.  We were given a list of items and we have to make something from them.  Well the first thing I did was go on a scavenger hunt to find all the items. I have absolutely no idea on what I am going to do with them.

Then I needed to find a container to put the scene in.  So again I searched for something suitable. Then I looked through my gift bags as I had seen several people do gift bags scenes and I always wanted to try one.  One bag came to my attention and an idea started to form. (I'm not showing the bag yet as I want it to be  in the final picture as a surprise.)

These are the objects I am going to use first. Do you have any idea on what they will make?   

 Because one of the lids is a creamy colour, I decided to cover them all with gesso and then they will all be the same colour.  Also glue will adhere better to gesso than to the plastic lids.  At this point I made a change and decided not to use the cotton balls as I might need them later.  So instead of painting my objects, I covered them with spackle.

Here is the finished product.  The first item for my scene.  I am pleased with my little snowman and now I have to think of what to make from the other items.