A Spring Afternoon in Oshkosh

I had hurried and dressed early this morning to take pictures in the yard before the ice had time to melt.  At about 1:30 this afternoon the trees and yard looked even more beautiful than they had this morning.  It was a beautiful day!  Unfortunately, there were lots of broken branches and power outages for some people to deal with.

         

 I was fascinated by the tiny branches encased in ice.                                                                                          My photos just don't capture the glistening world I saw.

Spring Morning in Oshkosh

  I heard pouring rain last night but I was surprised when I woke up and looked outside.  These photos don't begin to capture the beauty I saw.

Fun Flower Power Craft

I have been having way too much fun this year to spend time blogging.  I am now helping with two craft groups for seniors and leading two other craft groups.  In my spare time I have been busy thinking up new ideas for my groups, sewing, drawing zentangles®, going to water aerobics, starting flower and vegetable seeds under lights and occasionally cleaning.  But --- just in case anyone ever looks at my blog I thought you might like to see this fun and simple craft we did in the two groups I lead; the seniors with dementia and the seniors in regular assisted living.  We had lots of painted wooden flower shapes in our store room at the retirement community and I spent some time thinking about what the folks could make out of them.  After a while I decided to spray paint the flowers white and have my friends decorate them.  I drilled small holes in the flowers for attaching hanging wires. 

 The crafters glued paper shapes and faux gems to their flowers using tacky glue.  They attached a colored hanging wire.  Some curled the wire and/or added some beads.  It seems as though almost everyone enjoys sorting through the embellishments and creating a special look for their unique craft.  Nobody said that this craft was for kids either; although I think kids would love doing this project.  I just love working with these groups because there is always lots of fun conversation and laughter.  The social aspect of this group activity and the process of making something seems much more valuable than the finished products.  I would like to think the partcipants enjoy their time in the craft groups as much as I enjoy leading the groups.

 

Animals and Art

Yesterday I enjoyed showing my craft items at an event called Animals and Art at the Oshkosh Area Humane Society.  I sold some monsters, mittens and pins.  Spent a little money and donated some to the humane society.  I had a great time.  I met lots of friendly people and saw lots of beautiful cats and kittens.  I bought a doxie necklace from Blue Moon Emporium www.etsy.com/shop/cathystratton.  She has lots of cute fused glass items.  My table was next to fine art photographer Gary Meulemans www.flickr.com/photos/anakin1814/.  He is a talented artist; in a league most of us can only dream of joining.  I had a delicious sandwich from the Kangaroostaurant truck http://kangaroostaurant.com/.  Everything about the event was fun.  Thanks to the OAHS for having this event and to coordinator Cari for doing such a great job.          SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL HUMANE SOCIETY.
 IF YOU WANT A PET ADOPT ONE.

A Winter Wonderland

I love seeing the sunshine,



the birds,




the soft snow blanket,



all the beauty in my own backyard.

Grinch Inspired Sweater

I embellished this "Grinch" sweater for my beautiful niece.  It's based on the one Jim Carrey wore in the movie.  I bought the sweater at a thrift shop and used scraps and stuff I had around the house to fancy it up.  For the appliques I drew the shapes on freezer paper and ironed the paper to some felted wool and fabric scraps.  I hand stitched the tree appliques using embroidery floss and a simple blanket stitch.  The heart and star are needle turned applique.  I embroidered HO HO HO with yarn.  After that I added some bells and buttons to give the sweater some extra pizazz.  I sure hope my niece wins the "Ugly Christmas Sweater" competition.   MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!

Little felt and button decorative frame - a fun group craft

  I got this idea from my friend LeeAnn who did the project for Thanksgiving with her craft group for seniors.  She used gold plastic luncheon plates and felt squares in lots of colors along with vintage Thanksgiving clip art and buttons.  The results were beautiful.  Yesterday we did a Christmas version in my craft group for seniors in assisted living.

 We used paper plates in white and red.  I cut up scraps of felted wool in Christmas colors and printed out some vintage Christmas clip art.  I brought out a big jar of buttons and the crafters had a wonderful time picking through them to find just the right ones.  The hanging string is simply taped to the front of the paper plate before gluing on the felted wool squares.  We used tacky glue to attach the wool squares and buttons.  After the frames were complete we attached a picture in the center with double stick tape.  This is a nice simple group craft suitable for all ages except very young children.  The crafters in my group really enjoyed it.   This project costs very little if you use recycled wool and buttons you have saved. 

Glittery holiday ornaments - a simple craft

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We had lots of fun today in my craft group for folks with dementia.  We made sparkly decorations out of gold ornaments I got at a thrift shop and self adhesive fun foam.  I cut strips and small shapes out of the foam at home and brought them to the group.

 I set the supplies on the table and everyone went to work.  I thought some might have trouble removing the backing from the fun foam but nobody did.  Even though some in this group have significant dementia they all have good eyesight and dexterity.   Here they are in action!  I love volunteering with seniors!!!

 

 

Football Banners - a fun and easy fall craft

 We made Packer's Banners in two of my senior craft groups last week.  I did this with the folks with dementia and my other group of mentally alert seniors in assisted living.  Both groups enjoyed the project.  It was a little challenging for some of the seniors with dementia.  They needed help from me and some staff people.

  I cut out little green and gold triangles from craft felt and punched holes in two corners.  I also cut lengths of soft wire about 18" long and curled one end around a piece of PVC pipe.

The crafters decorated their triangle pennants with little felt shapes and pompoms.  The felt footballs are peel and stick.  We used tacky glue to attach the little green and gold shapes and pompoms.  After the pennants were decorated we strung them on the wire along with beads and bells.  When the wire was full we twisted the open end  around the PVC pipe to make a loop.  We attached suede cord to the wire for hanging the banner.  Some folks added beads to the hanging cord.  We added ribbon to some of the banners too.  Go Pack!  I think crafters of any age would enjoy making banners for their favorite team. 

 

 

I love Zinnias

 

Zinnias are so beautiful just looking at them makes me happy.  The best thing about zinnias is that they are so easy to grow.  Just plant the seeds directly in the ground in a sunny spot.  Keep the soil moist until the seeds sprout.  Once the plants are full grown they are pretty drought tolerant.  The more you cut the flowers the more flowers the plant will produce.  Zinnias are great for kids to grow.