From a fish camp kitchen to a margarita bar!

I told you a while back that my friend Lisa and were starting a new blogsite - The Smiling LiMe. Both our families had a few glitches that changed our momentum. That happens, but I'm back at Studio 33, and we are back on track as best as we can be. And yippee yay, The Smiling LiMe is up and running! Mixed in with all the hard work, has been tons of fun and laughter! That's what it's all about folks: having as much fun as we can while we go through this journey of life.

Remember those before pictures of my husband's once "fish camp" style outdoor kitchen that had been neglected by our renters? 

Here are a few reminder 'before' pictures of the neglected and torn apart space.

YUCK!

YUCK!

And, YUCK!

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**You can go to The Smiling LiMe  blog and check out the revamped space! **

- May your blessings be many, and your troubles be few!

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Pinecones and Pine Needles

Our family had a little glitch in our... momentum.  I have been at the house on the coast with my Mister and our two youngest sons. All my crafting supplies are at Studio 33 in the forest, but I really needed to stay busy and productive. (Because cleaning up after three grown men just doesn't keep me busy enough. Lol)

I really need to be working on my next book but I have had a serious case of writer's block lately, so I was perusing Pinterest one evening about 4 weeks ago, and came across some beautiful pine needle baskets. After many clicks of my mouse, I inadvertently ended up on a site selling basket supplies. I was overcome with joy when I seen that pine needles are a sellable commodity. I am surrounded by some of the most amazing Longleaf Pines, so long story short, I went to collecting pine needles. I collected, photographed, and listed my pine needles on EBay and voila! The pine needles sold!

It didn't stop with the pine needles: I began to see Mother Nature in a completely new light. Her beauty is simply mesmerizing! My creative juices just went into overdrive! I have been harvesting, cleaning, decorating, and painting: pine needles, pinecones, twigs, sticks, seed pods, vines; the possibilities are limitless!

Some of the raw and natural elements I've rounded up so far. I made the wreaths myself and they are drying nicely. I haven't decided yet if I will paint them or leave them natural, but I like the way they turned out. I washed the vines in hot water with a few drops of Dawn Dish Soap, and I made the wreaths while the vines were still green and wet. 

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I painted some of the pinecones metallic gold. I like these and will be trying a mirrored silver next!

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These are my bleached pinecones, Mister really loves the way these turned out! So do I! And I love the way the poly-urethane treatment brings out the grains, and the brown places where the bleach didn't yet penetrate. Beautiful!

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I will be bleaching more! I will be trying them with pure bleach for different periods of time, and then with diluted bleach for different periods of time. I can't wait to see the outcome, but if they turn out anything like these - I will be one happy gal!

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I also treated some natural colored pinecones with polyurethane. Just when I think I can't love these things any more, voila! Another stunning outcome!

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Preserving Pine Needles for Basketry!

Until next time!
May your blessings be many and your troubles be few!

(Don't forget to G+ and follow me!)

New Year, New Chapters!

About three years ago, my husband and I made a move to Florida's Gulf Coast. We own our little trailer at the edge of the national forest located more centrally in the state. We tried to rent it and found out the hard way, landlords we are not! We live too far away from the rental to keep an eye on things, and it's an understatement that our little place was being abused! It didn't help matters that the renters were constantly struggling to pay their rent.

So I came up with this really wild idea to take back possession of our property and turn the place into a studio. I've recently published my first book, The Rhythm of Woven Dreams. I wanted to work on my next two books, start a blogsite with my dear friend Lisa, and in my spare time, I could fix the place up! Win win! 

The only catch was that I had to make the pitch to my hubby. For the past 28 years, we've had a pretty "traditional" marriage. I had to convince my man that it was in his best interest to live at separate addresses while I pursue my dreams. I prepared my presentation, took a deep breath and went for it. It was easier than I thought it would be. He was only a little hesitant, but he was in! I have the most supportive husband in the world!

I didn't hesitate; I jumped right in: gave the renters notice, and made my lists of to-dos. My list was long, but not to worry, I had this in the bag! I've got big plans folks and I can't wait to share them with you! 

Plant Stand From Repurposed Glass

Remember the bird-feeder that I showed you a while back?

Well when my bff Lisa and I were making those from repurposed glass, we also made these plantstands.

This one has been painted black. I painted mine using a Krylon glass paint, but my neighbor painted this one with some inexpensive black spray paint and it came out really nice. And it looks really pretty on her patio.

If you're thinking of painting glass, I learned that several light coats painted over clean, dry glass gets the best results.



A cute little song by Me and Jayden!

The past couple of weeks have been a bit busy for me: Our youngest son is working long hours almost daily so I am picking up chores that he normally does for me; also my hubby has been pretty ill with a severe case of strep throat. So with my own household chores, my son's chores and lately my husband's chores, I am running around like the proverbial "chicken with it's head cut off."

But I am certainly not complaining because I'll tell you, I feel great! I have been doing my physical therapy to keep my back from getting me down and I have been eating right, drinking plenty of water, and I've managed to ward off any germs that my poor sick hubby has. With the added responsibilities I have managed to also lose a few pounds! Yay me!

One of the things I did this past week was to pressure clean the used play set that we bought for our grandson's birthday. Since he spends a lot of time here at Mamaw and Papaw's house, we decided to keep the play set here.

I learned that I really do love using the pressure washer. I find it to be therapeutic in nature! The results are amazing too. I decided that since I had the pressure washer at my disposal, I would wash everything that was in my path: the sidewalks, stepping stones, patio and driveway all got a thorough cleaning too and it feels so good when things are crisp and clean!  I cut the grass, pulled weeds and raked so now I know one 5 year old little boy who is going to be really happy!

I also want to share with you a cute little song that Jayden and I wrote. He was spending the weekend with us and Jayden said "I'm going cuckoo cachoo." I asked him where he had heard that before (I didn't think he'd heard any "Mrs. Robinson" lately and he said that the turtle on Finding Nemo says it. I thought it was cute and we came up with this cute little ditty:

Cuckoo Cachoo

Let’s all go Cuckoo Cachoo

Sounds like a really fun thing to do.

Let’s let our feet go Kooky wild;

Like a willy-nilly silly child!

Let’s throw our hands up in the air,

Like we truly have no cares.

Let’s all dance around the room.

And let’s all go cuckoo cachoo!

Shake yourself like a bowl of jelly,

Tap your nose and rub your belly.

It’s a great day when me and you,

Get on our feet and do the cuckoo cachoo!

Lyrics written by:

Jayden LaDuke

Michelle Laduke aka Mamaw

©2013

Crafty Storage

My son found a spice rack in his new place as they were cleaning and he brought it to me, knowing how much I loved to "repurpose!" So I scrubbed what seemed like years worth of grease and dirt from each piece and now I have awesome storage for my buttons and notions!

I love that it spins!

It looks good with my little vignette too!

Remember my "ribbon board" project? I like it on my wall!

Close up of my lid I covered. I store my paint chips in here that I use for scrapbooking!

I have been extremely busy lately so I'll have lots of great pictures and a couple of tutorials coming soon!

Until then,

May your troubles be few and your blessings be many!

Mel