Letting go..

..of the youngest child....

Dallas turned 18 in January and the reality of having the youngest child ready to
 leave home and start her life apart from her parents is somehow sobering.

I know, your saying; "you have really been waiting for this time to FINALLY come"

in a sense, I must admit, during her crazy hormonal teenage years,

I have wished her out..on her own.. to face the world and figure out life on her own. 

But now, we celebrate her 18 years of life with our family

Dallas and Girlfriends

Photo booth silliness

Aunt Kim & Uncle Dallas

The Cardon Family (cousin Ryne)

Chelsey & Blake and Kids

Uncle Kevin & Aunt Jeana

Cousin Hannah

Cousin's Ethan & Hunter

Cousin Eric and Grammy Swenson

Dallas with Grandpa Terry

Pre Party Prep

Here are some banners, a festoon and
chalboard humor I made for
Dallas' Birthday Party.

My newly installed chalk board.
(thanks to the swede whom added a nice frame around it!)

Thee colors of tissue paper festoon

Thank you Katlin, for breaking your back to hang these decorations!

Hand made Dallas Banner

I Hoard

Or,  I like to say that I collect...

MARTHA STEWART LIVING Magazines.

I think I started this magazine collection in the early 1990's.

I have boxes of magazines.

I have been an "observer" of Martha since the mid 1980's when

 she had a program on PBS.

I am now trying to "de-clutter" my project room and by doing this,

 I am throwing away the

  "crap" I  have either bought, collected or inherited and so on...

I went through in this batch about 50+ magazines.

I tore out ideas and recipes that I thought
I would still be interested in.

Here is my my "buddy" in crime.

My next post will be.. what I did with the new"crap" I organized.
Love
leftyfifty

DYI- Making a paper festooning tutorial

Disclaimer

This  is my very first attempt of making a photo tutorial:

How to Make A

Tissue Paper Festooning

materials needed

Two colors of tissue paper
unfold and hand press flat.

Fold in half

Fold in half again

Take string (I used kite string) 

Staple the side of tissue to enclose the string.

Cut all edges of folded paper.

Fold in half (this will make cutting take less time.)

cut the length of folded paper plus 2 inches more. 

Begin to cut up to your staple fold line. 

Here is the your festooning ready to fluff.
To fluff, separate and roll and fluff in your hands.

Pictured here is four lengths fluffed.

I tied all four lengths and made one long garland.

Here is the finished garland.

I am excited to add this decoration to my Academy Award Party on
Sunday, February 24
(more on that later)

Saying goodbye to....

..the old 2012.

I sit here thinking about the 2012 and the many memories that were made.

I loved 2012. 

It was a year that was good to me and my family.

 2012 Christmas with the Fielding Family
Post Christmas with the Swenson family

2013 New Years with the Van Tassell Family

This Year-2103

To become more of an activist for women's right in developing countries.
This is how I participate:
1. Join groups that re involved with this activism.
2.  Read and be involved in Blogs and Facebook post's
 that deal with this subject matter.
3. Sign petitions and communicate to government that
are involved in making laws.
4. Listening to web-cast
5. Reading books that deal with the subject.
6. Talking to Friends and family about these issues.
 7. Emailing friends and family to give them
resources on how they can make a difference.

On the right side of my blog you can see what
 foundations and organizations I put my most effort into.

Wishing you the very best
in

Winter sweaters

 If I could afford to buy my winter sweaters, it would be from 

(click here...Dale of Norway. 

Can you believe the beauty and artistry of these wool sweaters?

I love them all.

Winter Sweater

Wool to warm me
Comfort it gives me
Protection from the white winter.

January 2013

Here we GO!

A full year ahead of: 

????

It's good to have something to blog about.

I am going to use this How Many Days in a Year calculator.

I am doing self help therapy when I blog.

on to my next post......