Recently I was looking for a place to keep some of my crafting supplies, and I went to a couple of stores that specialize in crafts. The stores had a lot of storage boxes that looked exactly like the tackle boxes that are used by fishermen (and fisherwomen – I don’t want to be sexist!) Although I did not end up buying a storage box for my craft supplies, I did end up buying a pink tackle-box and brought it home and transferred my personal tools (hammer, screwdriver, drill, etc) into that. I’m hoping that keeping my tools in a pink storage box might help to slow down the evaporative loss of my tools! And I think that I just might paint the handles of my tools pink, or wrap them with pink duct tape too! After all, REAL men don’t use pink tools, do they?
Flower boxes
by Mary AnneThis is the time of year when I enjoy going to different nurseries in the area and see what beautiful window boxes they have on display and for sale. One of my favorite ways to make my own house more attractive is by lining the sides of the porch with flower boxes that are filled with blooming annuals.
My favorite way to do that is to take an empty windowbox and put some peastone or gravel in the bottom of it, then take the purchased annuals (still in their flower pots) and set them inside the window box. Pack them as tightly as possible, and then fill in around the pots with cedar mulch. My grandmother taught me this method when I went up to the farm to visit her in the summertime, and every time I prepare the window boxes I am reminded of the good times I had with my grandparents on the farm. This method is quick and easy to do, and by swapping out the annuals as they fade I can keep the porch looking pretty for a very long time.
Why do fashion designers hate women?
by Mary AnneMore and more I have been wondering why is it that many fashion designers appear to hate women? I’m not referring to sexual preference in the romance department, I am talking about how ugly so many of the “new” fashions are. By now it should be fairly obvious and well known that horizontal stripes make a person look fatter than they really are. So why, then, are so many clothes that ar
e for extra-large people available only in horizontal stripe patterns? For example, I enjoy going to different discount websites and take advantage of some of the savings that are offered there. Some of the products are great, and I’m glad that I have bought them. But some of them are mind-boggling ugly as – well I can’t really think of a good description of ugly that I can type on my blog and keep it family oriented!
For example, this morning I saw a “fantastic deal” on this jumpsuit. Hopefully the photograph that I’m including will show up. I just can’t imagine how anyone in their right mind would find this jumpsuit appealing, and yet according to the website, the jumpsuit is sold out. I’m wondering if it was sold out because a lot of men that have no taste whatsoever thought that they would buy this as a Mother’s Day gift for their wife, hoping that the wife would be thrilled to pieces. I pray that my hubby has enough sense to never buy anything like this for me! The horizontal stripes on this would make my legs look so fat, and the entire rest of my body too! What do you think about this? Would YOU like to wear something like this?
Dressing up the cluster mailboxes
by Mary AnneI don’t know about you, but I’ve never really paid a lot of attention to cluster mailboxes up until now. Seems to me that they have simply been very Spartan and utilitarian in design. After all, how can you really make a group of cluster mailboxes visually appealing? Well, today I saw some photographs of some cluster mailboxes that had been accessorized with finial tops and decorative pedestal wraps and they looked like they were part of a Victorian themed amusement park.
You may think that I’m being a little bit crazy here, and to be honest I would normally have to agree with you. But when I saw these mailboxes all gussied up like that my mind wandered to memories of wonderful vacations that I had spent in luxurious surroundings. Thoughts of Norman Rockwell settings of a time and a place when life was less frenzied, and more serene. Odd, I know, but there it is!
Silly little toy
by Mary AnneHave you every played with one of those silly little toys that looks like hundreds of dull nails in a perforated board of some kind, with a clear piece of glass or plastic on one side so you can make the nails go up and down in different shapes? I can’t remember when I bought this little toy for my now-adult son; I’m thinking it was probably when he was around ten or so. The toy is one of those things that people will play with for a short period of time and then pack it away forever. Well, yesterday I was sorting through the boxes of “junk” that my son cleaned out from his room. I wanted to see how much was actual “trash” and throw it away before moving the rest of the stuff down into the dark bowels of the house that we call “the basement.”
Well, I came across this silly little toy and for some crazy reason I pulled it aside and put it beside my computer keyboard. Every now and then it catches my attention (it is bright yellow) and I stop and play with it for a couple of minutes. Then I think to myself “what a complete waste of time this is” and put it back down. I can’t decide whether to give it to a thrift store like Goodwill, put it in “the basement” or throw it away. Somehow the pack rat in me keeps whispering in my ear that I should create a toy chest of odds and ends like this so that if and when company comes over with some kids that get bored I can pull it out and let them play with it. I wonder if they would think it was totally lame or if they would like it. What do you think?