Memorial Day

For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today

by Ruth T. George

This was Veterans' Day, Nineteen Hundred Ninety-six,

As I watched the ceremonies, my thoughts were a mix

Of doubts and fears, of sadness and tears,

For all the things that have happened in the last few years.

I thought of our young men who have gone to fight,

Wondering, if what they were doing, was right.

Would they return home to their loved ones some day,

Or would their names be carved on that wall, forever to stay.

I thought of how I stood before the Vietnam Wall,

And saw all the names that heeded their Country's call.

One was Virgil Griffy, our friend so dear,

It was impossible for me to hold back a tear.

I heard the bugle, the hills echoing its tone,

Paying tribute to each soldier, no one was alone.

It seemed as if I heard each one of them say,

"For your Tomorrow, we gave our Today."

Eleven years ago tonight, another soldier passed away,

I stood by his grave as I do every day,

I touched his flag as I bowed my head to pray,

I thanked God he didn't have to die that way.

Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

The Summer Class Schedule at Bead It!

In case you missed it, the summer schedule at Bead It! is out!!!  And they have some great additions in the metalworking/smithing categories.  Looks like you know where I'm gonna be! 

I love these classes.  I bead a lot and still learn some great pointers, especially when it comes to using new tools and stuff.


Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

It's Deja Vu All Over Again!

This past week, I've been sucked back into my old office to work my "regular" (not reservist) job.  Although I enjoy the work and have some great friends there, it feels a lot like Groundhog Day.  They are still working through the same issues over and over.  After my 4th 12 hour shift dragged into its 14th hour, this is about where I was at: (ready to say "to heck with it" and drive my stolen truck off the canyon.)

I don't want to apend a lot of time venting, but need a break from the office politics.  Up until now, I've been playing nice, keeping the "regular" job as my backup plan.  It is clear to me that I will always be overworked, underpaid, and micromanaged.  I am not happy with my job, overall.  I like the actual work and REALLY LIKE the people... but this job is starting to take away more time from my kids and not getting us any closer to where we want to go as a family.  It is increasingly clear that I have to leave my "comfort zone" again.  *sigh* 

The answer is out there and it's looking for you, and it will find you if you want it to.

Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

How to make your own light box...

If I had an extra $100 laying around, I'd buy this light tent kit from OBN.com:

http://obnphoto.com/item/17in_black_photo_cube_light_tent_product_photography_lightbox_lamp.html

Ok, so I'd probably need more like $150 with shipping and all, but you get the idea...

Anyway, I'd rather use that money to buy beading supplies, so I'm relegated to the milk jug light box.  Here's an example of how to set one up.  You can also create an infinity background by placing a piece of card stock inside the milk jug.  (Create a slope like a skateboard ramp.)

If you don't drink milk, you can make your own light box out of cardboard, tissue paper, and card stock.  This is also great for items that are a little bigger than most jewelry pieces.  Here's a great how to that I found on a blog.  LOL, my brother had one of these set up at home, I just didn't feel like writing the how-to since this was such a nice example...

Anyway, there you go, another inexpensive way to improve the photos you take for your Etsy listings.  Hope that helps.

Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

Pink and chocolate Kumihimo Bracelet

I really love these Kumihimo Swarovski bracelets...

Here's the latest addition to the shop:

Be sure to grab it before someone else does!

This technique really reminds me of "lei hulu" or feather leis. But the bracelet is much less expensive! The lei hulu was the most valuable possession of the women of the ali'i class. These leis were worn proudly to denote her rank.


Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

Counting Down the Days

I swore I'd never use this phrase, but... back when I was a Midshipman, one of the things we had to memorize was called "The Days."  When asked for "The Days," you were supposed to automatically recite the number of days left until certain events.

For example:
There are 14 days until Thanksgiving Leave
There are 22 days until Navy beats Army
There are 47 days until Christmas Leave
There are 152 days until Spring Break

And so on.

This was supposedly a coping mechanism to get through the year, so we wouldn't crack under the stress of deployments and other things once we hit The Fleet.  But these days, deployments aren't set in stone.  Even if you have orders, you know they're subject to changed based on a lot of different variables.  Ever wonder why there are so many "deployed dad suprises kids" videos?  Because the first time you tell your kid, "Mommy or Daddy will be home in 184 days" and it turns into "185," it's not so bad... but then it becomes "188,"  and then "186," and then "192."  And not only are you going nuts, but your kid is falling apart. 

When I was the deployed parent, I used to count paydays.  The number was smaller, which I found less depressing and easier to count.  This worked well for me, but the kids really don't see that.   So now that I'm the one home with the kids, here's what we count:

That's right, we count down bags of dog food.   In our house, one 35 pound bag of dog food lasts roughly 2 weeks, depending on how much we run the dogs.  Feeding the dogs is my 12 year old's job.  So each day, he scoops out two bowls closer to having his step-father back.  My 2 year old can see the food going down in the container, so it works pretty well for her, too.   And rather than focusing on a fixed number of days, this helps them visualize the "guesstimate" aspect that always comes with the end of deployment.

We are down to two bags of dog food left in this deployment. 

Thank goodness!


Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

What's new is old

Sometimes when you sell crafts, you end up having to deactivate listings on Etsy that sell in other venues.   I had a bunch of things sold during the Cute Stuff Sale and also a couple other things that folks wanted to either send a check for, or by off of me in person.  So anyway, rather than let the fees disappear into the Etsy abyss, I edited the listings so I could reactivate them as recently made items:

Hello Kitty in Rain Gear

Japanese Washi Resin Sakura

They won't show up in the "just listed" feed, but I didn't have to pay .20 like you do for renewals.  I'll just renew them when they expire... unless they sell by then.

 Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

Hello There, Polar Bear!

Since I just noticed the nifty little movie button on the Blogger "new post" window, I figured I have to try uploading a short video clip.  This is a polar bear we saw at Sea World on our trip to San Diego.  He was "waving" at us for quite some time, but as luck would have it, this was the end of the day and the batteries in my camera died.

In other news, my souvenir bottle cap magnet tutorial is being featured on the Homefront Artistry Team blog!  Yay!

Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

Quick & Easy Souvenir Magnets

You'll recall, a few months back, the Navy Reserves sent me to San Diego. I brought the kids along with and we had a grand old time. :) Here's a quick rainy day project to keep the kids busy using a paper bag, glue, and bottle caps.  So here we have a bag from the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park. You could also recycle theme park ticket stubs, postcards, wrapping paper, photos from all those Christmas cards, or anything else you happen to have laying around the house.

If you are using standard bottle caps, then you should cut out 1 inch circles from the bag to fit into the bottle caps. I happen to have a 1 inch circle punch, so that's what we used. You can also trace circles lightly with a pencil and cut with scissors.  If you are using light or thin paper, you might want to cut out some circles out of plain white paper as a backing, just to be sure you don't end up with something translucent that shows the bottle cap liner.   Since this bag was printed on "kraft paper," I didn't need it for this particular project.

Now, for the fun part. Mod Podge! Mod Podge is the bomb.  It's an adhesive AND seals your paper without that permanent "wet" look.  Get a stick or use your fingers and smear it on the front and back of your circles. Then stick it in the bottle cap and voila!  Well,  you're not quite done, but almost.  Let them dry and go eat lunch or take a nap or something.

Now, you have a choice.  You can leave them the bottle caps the way they are, slap some magnets on the back and call it a day, or you can put something over the paper to help preserve your souvenir.  Typically, folks choose either poured resin (usually found by the jewelry making supplies) or using clear resin stickers (normally found with scrap booking/paper craft supplies).  Since my 2 year old was helping me, I went with the stickers.  (If my 12 year old was the only one around, I would've mixed up some Ice Resin to pour into the bottle caps since that lasts a LOT longer.)

After the kids finish putting the stickers over the paper, I used E6000 and glued rare earth magnets onto the back.  You can pick up E6000 and the magnets at just about any craft store.

You could also use regular magnets and Tacky Glue, but the magnets aren't as strong and Tacky Glue takes longer to set.  Don't use Tacky Glue with the rare earth magnets- if you do, I guarantee that the first time you try to pull the magnet off of the refrigerator door, the bottle cap will come off in your hand and the magnet will be stuck to the fridge. 

There you go!  Ready for the fridge.  Or get an old baking pan and let the kids play with the magnets in the car.  Ta da!


Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

For Love of AT

It's ironic. My civilian job doesn't pay me enough to be able to afford Ann Taylor. I could shop with the best of them when I was on active duty and so my work wardrobe was built about 4-5 years ago and has only been updated with Ross Dress for Less and similar types of purchases.

Now that I am on orders, I am taking advantage of having a little extra jingle in my pocket and revamping my work wardrobe. Happily, Ann Taylor is having a great sale online and in stores this weekend... 25% everything!

How awesome is that? Happy Mothers' Day to me!!!

Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

Other Crafty Goings On

Don't get me wrong, I love beading. (I'm sure that's no surprise to anyone who knows me.) But sometimes it's fun to make up some things that are quick and easy. So here are some cardstock "matchbook" style tea bag holders. They're really simple- I got a "stack" a little larger than 4x6" at Ben Franklin, cut the cards in half the long way, poked a mini-brad in one end, then folded so I can tuck one end in under the brad. I'll be buying some local teas to include as freebie thank you's for customers. This would also be a great way to dress up small things like handy wipes or insect repellent/sunscreen wipes for summer outings.

And because it's the end of the school year and time to make teacher appreciation gifts, I "cooked up" a bunch of ice resin for pendants. The trays are silver plated, and filled with a variety of different things. I really like the starfish story. (Here's a version if you aren't familiar.)  I think a lot of times, we don't see the difference a teacher makes right away and it seems like your kid could be lost in the crowd.  But it's the little things that can make the biggest difference.

Well, we'll see how these turn out.  As much as I love chemistry, I gotta give props to people who specialize in resin.  You have to be patient- there's no frogging mistakes!

Teacher Appreciation Gifts?

This week is Teacher Appreciation week at the boy's school. 

My son never brings flyers announcing these things home and I always get caught by surprise.  So two weeks ago, I made bottle cap magnets using Japanese washi paper, real starfish, and resin, and planned to put it in a handmade card with the "Starfish Story" in it, plus a mug and wrapped tea bag.

They sent a flyer home last week with themes for gifts on each day of the week.  Now, don't get me wrong, teaching is an important job... but my son goes to a rather pricey private school that I couldn't afford if not for financial aid and two jobs.  I am pretty sure these teachers get compensated fairly well and I know all of the classrooms are very well equipped.  It bothers me that the school not only requests three different gifts for all teachers, assistants, and special aides (in my son's case, this means 8 items per day for a total of 24 "tokens of appreciation"), but that each day has a specific theme - none of which includes classroom supplies or other practical items.  I think we will pick one or two days to participate and leave it at that.

So here are the questions:
Teachers, what kind of appreciation gifts are actually appreciated? 

Parents, how much time, money, and/or effort do you think is appropriate?

And am I crazy/cheap/ungrateful for not wanting to participate in the PTA's themed program?

Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!

Where Were You: The Bin Laden Edition

This morning, I poisoned the weeds in the yard before the kids got up. Then I took some photos for listings and Skyped with the hubster.  Nothing all that spectacular.  The Boy finally got his butt out of bed to talk and I can tell he felt better.  The Princess misses her Daddy and changed into her Georgia Tech t-shirt after we were done.  It was a pretty normal day.  We were trying to watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, when I saw the news.  The bottom of the screen read:

BIN LADEN KILLED
BODY IN US CUSTODY

And I thought, "What the heck does THAT mean?   How do you kill a body?  Did he detonate a suicide bomb on someone in US custody? How does that even happen and since when does Bin Laden push the button? And why does THAT preempt Extreme Makeovers: Home Edition?" 

The news people kept blathering on and on, but none of it made sense until someone said President Obama was about to make an announcement.  

And then I finally figured it out.  They meant, "Bin Ladin killed, COMMA, body in U.S. custody."  I promise, I'm not a moron.  I just haven't evolved into the whole intentionally-misspelled-speak-in-cool-acronym-no-punctuation English yet.  I was so excited, I nearly started crying.  I chased my son out of the shower to watch President Obama make the announcement, and then I called my parents. 

Changing the topic slightly, my "normal" day today is VERY different than my "normal" day on the morning of 9/11, that's for sure, although my kids are 9 years apart so my son was about the same age my daughter is now.  I think I've told that story on this blog before, so I won't go into a whole bunch of details now.  But I do wonder whatever became of my old upstairs neighbor who played this song way too darned loud, non-stop, in the weeks that followed:

 Um, yeah... not so much.The guy also watched internet porn a little too loud.I think maybe he was deaf.