Gifts to Make!

I started working on the gift for the winner of my 350+ Followers Give-A-Way. There is still a lot to do. I want to thank Casey for the beautiful blue 1:144 scale wallpapers. :D

I've also been planning the five gifts I'll be making for the Pay It Forward swap. I need to go get some E-Z Water for those. . .

Thank you for all of your sweet comments and prayers for those who have lost so much in the recent tornadoes. My patients at work have been telling me about what happened to them, their families and friends. It is all just so sad.

I'm hoping a little mini-making will help me keep my mind busy. Hope you have a good weekend.

Sweet Home Alabama

My life has been on pause these past three days. As you probably know, the State of Alabama, including the city where I live, was hit by numerous tornadoes on Tuesday evening.



The lost of life and devastation here is heartbreaking. Here is one photo from Dr. Jeff Masters' Wunder Blog.

All of this happened about five miles from my home. It was very frightening to sit huddled in my hallway with my two dogs and cats while listening to the news on the television.

Thankfully, my family is okay and there was no storm damage where I live. Others were not so blessed. Two ladies from work had trees fall on their homes. Three others have not been able to return to work because the streets are blocked with debris. They are without power, telephone and internet service too.

Help is on the way for Alabama. The Red Cross has set up shelters for people who have lost everything. The National Guard is here. Many people have reached out to help their neighbors. The death toll in Alabama is 294 so far. Many people are still unaccounted for.

Please pray for Alabama and for all of the other states that have experienced the worst tornado outbreak in over 40 years. God is able to comfort those who mourn and those who's lives have been changed forever.

Thank God for sparing me and my family. I have been looking around my home and thinking about what it would be like if He had not been watching over me.


I am truly blessed.

350 Followers! Time for a Give-A- Way!

I woke up this morning and noticed that I now have 350 followers! I am thrilled to see so many people interested in my blog!

In honor of this special occassion I am having a give-a-way! Grandpa will be building and decorating this little 1:144 house just for you. :D


All you need to do to enter is be a follower, have a blog and leave a comment on THIS post! The winner will be chosen in two weeks, on May 9th.

Thank you so much for following Beautiful Mini Blessings! I can't wait to see who wins!

Pay It Forward Update

I am so excited to announce that I now have five friends who will be participating in the Pay It Forward swap!

This has become an international swap for me. My gifts will be going to the Ukraine, Israel, Mexico and the US!


I will be sending a gift to Ludmilla, Mary, Lainie, Drora and Rosamargarita! They, in turn, will send gifts to five of their friends.



Please visit these blogs and see all of the wonderful miniatures they create! You can also sign up there if you would like to join in the fun.

Thanks to each of you for joining in the swap! Please email me with your address so I can mail my gifts to you.

As you know, there is no time limit for sending your gifts. I hope to have mine mailed to you in a couple of weeks?

Weekend Projects

Click on photo to enlarge

These are some little projects I finished this weekend. They will go in Grandma's sewing room.

Hope you had a lovely Easter Day!

Saturday Evening Post

Sometimes I post every day. Sometimes twice a day. This week I looked and I hadn't posted since Tuesday! So here is a quick Saturday evening post. :D

I have been busy with the garage. Mostly things that just have to be done and aren't very exciting to see. I did install the wallpaper in the attic.


I don't think I will be able to use the cute border that came with the paper. It's just too big for this space. Maybe I can find a way to use some of it?

I still need to glue the garage together. Today I was reading the instructions (again) and realized that I need to paint and install the garage door first. I've been putting that off because it looks rather difficult.

Since I'm procrastinating, I decided to try to make a mirror for Grandma. I found one I was going to purchase but it was $8.98 plus $2.95 shipping. Better do it myself!


Someone sent me some mirrored tape a while ago. I think it was De from De-Lightful Minis?

I'm finally going to use some of it for the mirror. I opened the kit of teeny tiny thread spools and quickly set that aside! Too tiny for today.

Here is what my stove looks like right now. Guess I'll be going out for dinner tonite unless I clean up this mess?


I want to welcome to all of my new followers! I really appreciate your visits and thank you for your comments also.

There are still three people needed for my Pay It Forward Swap. Is anyone interested?

Hope everyone has a Joyous Easter!

Grandma's New Hat

Kat the Hat Lady made a beautiful new hat just for Grandma!

Isn't it lovely!?

Grandma LOVES her new hat! She just can't stop admiring it! I couldn't even get her to give her opinion as to how to arrange the furniture in her sewing room.


She refuses to budge until I find a mirror.

I'm SURE she will like what she sees!

Thank you SO much Kat! You have made the perfect hat for Grandma! :D

Flowers for Squirrel's Garden

Mr. Squirrel woke up this morning and noticed some flowers in his garden.

The pond had disappeared. He asked me where it went? I told him that it will return. It just needed some repair.

Right now the gardener is painting paper. When that is dry, she will try to make some morning glory vines?

Hope you have a beautiful Palm Sunday!

So, Where Will I Sleep?

Squirrel took a look around his new garden and started chattering. "Where will I sleep?" "Where will I sleep?" "Where will I sleep?"

Seems the chair in the corner was not what he had in mind. He wanted a little nest.

Sweet dreams little squirrel.

Tomorrow we'll see about finding you something to eat.

My First Roombox - A Squirrel's Garden

I collected some natural materials on my trip to Florida last year. Things from the garden at the beach house where we stayed, and things I found on the beach.

I've been saving them in a box not really knowing what to do with them?

This morning I decided to finally do something with my collection. I made my very first roombox!

I found a box that was the right size and just kept going. I decided to make a beachside home and garden for my little squirrel.

I purchased him from Kelley at Little Elf's Toyshop. Isn't he cute?!

Here is what I came up with for my squirrel. Maybe not quite what you would expect for a woodland creature? This little guy likes the beach! :D

The only things purchased were the squirrel and the beach glass. Everything else came out of that box above.

I made the palm tree out of sea oats. No, I didn't pick them, that's illegal! I found them on the beach.

I may be adding a few more things later?

I just might have to try making another roombox someday. This was so much fun!

Hope you have a happy day!

Let's Pay it Forward!

I just signed up at Kim's blog, Flowers & Art to participate in her "Pay it Forward 2011" swap. I think it will be loads of fun!

The first five people who leave a comment on this post, and decide to participate, will receive a handmade gift from me. :D

First, you will need to comment on this post. Then create a post on your blog explaining how the Pay it Forward 2011 swap works.

You must be willing to send a gift to the first five participants on your own blog. There is no time limit for this. You can take your time to make something special for each person.

This is a swap about friendship and giving. You may meet someone new or find that your closest friends will join.

I can't wait to see who comments here! Let's have fun and pay it forward!

http://florff.blogspot.com/

The Daisy Experiment

My first experiment with making daisies started with a 3/8 inch flower punch. I whipped these up in no time. (Two hours)

They didn't look like daisies to me. So I decided to take a different approach. I hand cut some petals and glued them one by one to the center. The outcome is a really strange looking "flower" that is too big to be a daisy.

This morning I remembered the "leftovers" that Casey sent to me a long time ago. She sent me lots of little flower parts. Some of them are daisy petals! :D

If you poke the photo you can see the lovely little quilled zinnias that Casey made.

I tried again to make a daisy using Casey's petals. I didn't use my magnifier lamp and wasn't wearing my contacts, just my reading glasses. When I finished my flower I realized that the petals were pink and not white! Well, most of them are pink. Somehow some white ones got in there too. LOL

I definitely need more practice! So, the daisy experiment will continue. Thanks Casey for sending me all the right parts. I hope I can make some proper daisies with them!?

Hope you have a beautiful day!

Weathervanes and Daisies?

I didn't like the way the cupola looked so I painted it all white. The roof is done with Folk Art metallic copper paint. Looks much better now?

The final touch will be a copper weathervane. I found these photos at Weathervanes of Maine. Aren't they beautiful!?

Here they are close up. I'm going to try to make one. I'm on a quest for the perfect bead. :D

I have lots of other things to do first. Plus, I've been inspired by all of the beautiful flowers I've seen on your blogs! I'd like to try to make some daisies.

April showers may bring May flowers?

Hope you have a beautiful day!

More on the Roof

I'm still working on the roof, cupola and dormer. Not quite happy with it all yet, but it's a start.

Hope you have a nice day!

Decisions

In order to get this project back underway, I decided to do a red "tin" roof on the garage. I'm saving the embossed tin idea for my 1/2 scale Fairfield dollhouse that is still in the box. (!)

I used bamboo blind sticks to make the ridges. What you see here is one coat of red paint. I'll add another coat of paint, maybe age it a bit, and then spray it with clear gloss spray.

I did a little work on the dormer too. I added some siding that I'll dry brush with blue like the garage walls.

Now I have to decide what kind of roof to put on the dormer. I have some crushed shells that might work?

I'm happy to have made some progress this weekend. I think I'm almost ready to start on the lights. (She says with great fear and trembling!)

Happy Monday! I can't wait until 5 o'clock so I can get back to work.

Tin Roof?

I found a blog this morning by Miriam Cunningham, called the Tin Roofing Blog. If you like tin roofing then you will love this blog! I found lots of inspiration there.

I decided to try to make embossed tin shingles for the garage. I cut strips from a brownie pan cover. I put a piece of felt under the strip, then used my potato peeler and hammer to emboss it.

I found it difficult to see the embossing as I was doing it. Here is my first attempt. I think with some practice I can do it more evenly?

If this doesn't work, I can always make the same kind of roof that I did on the beach house. That was really easy. I just glued thin bamboo strips onto the roof and sprayed it with silver spray paint.

So, should I continue with the embossed shingles or take the easy way out?

Hope you have a beautiful day!

Screen Door

Building this screen door for the attic has been my most challenging project ever!

I'll be installing it with pin hinges, adding trim and making a little step. I just wanted to show you what I've done so far. :D

Hope you have a good Friday!

Thrift Store Earrings

I found these metal earrings at my favorite thrift store yesterday. I don't like the wooden cross piece that came with the garage kit. I want to make something new to replace it.

I'm saving the palm tree idea for the "modern" house. I may use it to make a new front door?

I'm still working on the screen door for the attic of the garage. Hopefully, I'll have it finished and installed in a day or so.

Hope you have a wonderful day!