Fun With Oyster Shells

I've been terribly neglectful of this blog lately. Life has just gotten in the way and some things had to give here and there.

I find writing here therapeutic and, boy, have I missed being here. Tomorrow starts a new month and a fast countdown to Christmas. The "Busy Season" for most of us. I'll need therapy to get through the next 25 days, believe me! So, I'm pledging, here and now, to post each and every day until Christmas. Please hold me to it. Push me, pull me, cajole me into posting. Send me notes, etc., whatever it takes. I need you, all of you!!


Well, we've now worked through most of the Thanksgiving leftovers. (Which in our case is pretty good as we didn't do our turkey dinner here until Monday! We go to another family member's home on the true holiday.) One of the "leftovers" I had from Thursday was a box of empty oyster shells. (It's a Maryland thing - raw oysters for appetizers!) So, what's a creative painting gal to do?!?

Start painting!! The shells have a natural flow with ridges and lumps and natural lines to follow. Each is different of course. I kind of let each one speak to me and tell me what it is. (Okay, a few glasses of wine helped that creative flow along a bit. I'll admit it.) Suddenly, I was surrounded by Santa faces and more.


Some shells wanted to be so much more than just the Jolly Guy's face, some wanted to include his body, some wanted to stick him in the center of a wreath, or be his sleigh. One shell aspired to be a tree and one, I think it was female, wanted to be an angel. I gave each one some leeway to become what they wanted to be.


I think the results were quite rewarding. I added some ribbon loops and am working at giving each a listing of their own in my shop tonight. Well, sort of. some are going there in pairs - you know, the old two-by-two thing!

I'm thinking of playing with some sand dollars tomorrow!

Santa's in Court ?!?!?

Santa was in court today! The People’s Court that is. Seems he sent his best red suit out to the cleaner’s and the fur came back pink!!!! It was new for this past holiday season and cost him $800. It was ruined!

That particular cleaner claimed to have experience cleaning Santa suits (They say they do about 10 a year.) and were concerned that his suit did not contain a care label. The receptionist claims to have warned him the color may bleed. When he went back to pick it up, all of the fur was bright pink!! The cleaner said he’d fix it. After a run around of several weeks, Santa returned to get his “fixed” suit and found it in pieces. The red parts in one pile, the fur in another. The cleaner had tried to bleach the fur. That didn’t work.

The cleaner tried to claim this was a manufacturer’s defect. He claimed the back of the receipt denies liability for color loss. BUT, don’t mess with Santa. Santa pointed out the suit didn’t lose color but, instead, gained color!! (He had a point there!) Santa believed the bleached fur had lost its luster and just wouldn’t do. And paid $500 to have all of the fur replaced with new fur.

Judge Milian listened patiently to both parties. She agreed the cleaner had not truly stated they might not be able to satisfactorily do the job in light of the garment not having any specific care instructions and should have had Santa sign some sort of waiver. They didn’t. She felt the cleaner could have done more to make the claim right when the problem occurred.

On the other hand, she also felt Santa went overboard. The bleached fur was bright white but may well have lost some of its glow but she questioned whether that glow would have faded anyway with a cleaning even if it had stayed white. She believed the fur would have been just fine if reattached in its bleached state. In her opinion, Santa should have taken the bleached fur pieces to his seamstress and allowed her to reattach them to the suit to his satisfaction. Such action would have cost considerably less as he would have only paid for the labor not for all new fur.

Santa won his case but only to the tune of $150!!! So, if the pile under the tree is just a little smaller this year, blame the cleaner. If Santa had gotten a larger award maybe he could have spent a little more on you!

As for the cleaner, he shouldn’t expect too much. Santa’s definitely assigned him to the naughty list.

Moral: Don’t mess with Santa!

44 Days and Counting - Santa Clause is coming to town!!

He is. He really is. The jolly old soul will arrive at two of our local malls this Saturday !!

I don't know about you, but I'm not ready!!! I need to get in the groove and get there soon.

----------

The Big Guy and I had a little push in the right direction on our drive home from Nebraska over the weekend. As we drove through Eastern Indiana Friday night, we tuned in a radio station featuring an All-Holiday Music Weekend! We were a bit surprised since it was so early in November but soon got into the spirit singing along with Andy Williams, Burl Ives and Karen Carpenter, among others. It felt good and put us in a happy mood (not easy after 13 hours on the road!)

-----
Want to jump start your holiday spirit ?

Start now to make your home smell Christmasy!

Make some fragrance balls.

Coat styrofoam balls of all sizes with glue (Elmers or any craft glue will work.) and roll in cinnamon powder. (You can buy large inexpensive containers of cinnamon in any of the big box stores, Big Lots, Walmart and even the Dollar Store.) Tie and glue a ribbon around the ball, adding a hanging loop.

You can also add some flowers, shells, tiny pine cones, beads, etc. for trim.

You might also try rolling the glue ball in pine needles and then decorating with fancy bows and such.

(I apologize for the quality of some of these pictures. They are old photos that I have scanned in as opposed to nice crisp digital shots.)

Remember pomander balls?

If you're like me, you made them in Girl Scouts!

They're still a great inexpensive way to make your home smell sweet. They also make a great project for the kids to help you with. Quick and easy, and with minimal mess, you can whip some up in an evening (after homework!)

Choose firm citrus fruits like oranges, lemons and limes. Simply poke whole cloves into the rinds to create various designs and patterns or just let the kids try a random approach. One box of cloves should be plenty for three or four fruits.

Attach a ribbon and hanging loop or just display them in a shallow dish or basket.

They'll retain their scent for weeks!

Cinnamon Wreath

With a little more effort, you can create this interesting, woodsy looking wreath with cinnamon sticks.

Cut a donut-shaped ring from heavy cardboard (I used a dinner plate for a pattern.) Tie a hanging loop around the cardboard frame before beginning to glue cinnamon sticks side by side until you have completely covered the wreath form. (I used a glue gun for this.) Add some dried flowers or dried herbs and a bow.

This also makes an interesting centerpiece when laid flat on the table with a vase of holly or a pot of pointsettias sitting in the middle.

To encourage that holiday spirit, play some Christmas CDs while you're creating!!