In which Aunt Fabulous pretends to be Martha Stewart

I have always wanted to work on a Martha Stewart Living photo shoot. Every recipe, every craft project, every story about organizing your closet contains pictures that are true works of art. The lighting, the color palette, the props- its all gorgeous.

So the other day I decided to make clay and document it "Martha Stewart Style"! Here's my attempt......

Ingredients:
2 cups of flour
1 cup of water
1.5 cups of salt
1 T of veggie oil
1 egg

Pour the flour, water, salt and oil in a bowl and mix it up!

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface

Start creating your shapes. If you want to make ornaments now is the time to punch your holes... Oh, and now is the time to preheat the oven to about 300

Lay out your creations on a greased cookie tin. Brush each with a little egg wash... I don't really know why, I think its something about being shiny or harder.... (I'm not Martha) Bake for about 30mins or until the are hard and very light brown.

Now you can decorate them any way you choose! I chose to paint mine, and to be perfectly honest, I had more fun setting up my photo shoot than actually painting the shapes. I wasn't terribly impressed with my final product- but I think the pictures look awesome!

So. There you have it- My first attempt at telling a story through photos.

Being unemployed has its perks.

FUNemployed

Aunt Fabulous has been laid off. That's right, world wide interweb, I am unemployed. Those two of you who read this blog regularly may be preparing yourselves for another tense and terrified post full of hand wringing and nail biting. Sorry to dissapoint, but thats not what I'm handing out today! Because I am not worried.......(does a double take).......huh? That's right and I'll say it again- I'M NOT WORRIED.

Wanna know why?

Me too.

I have no idea why I'm so comfortable right now. Yes, it was a let down to be laid off. Yes, it was a bad day to be Aunt Fabulous. But today? Today I feel good. Clarke says it's because I'm in the "honeymoon" stage of unemployment. That stage in which one rises with the sun, pens a healthy To-Do list, and prepares breakfast for the spouse. "Have a lovely day at work dear", she sings and, drawing her bathrobe snugly 'round her waist, pads back to the kitchen for another cup of coffee. Its all true- I'm am currently sipping coffee, watching the Today show, and deciding what needs doing and in what order.

A fabulous fact about Aunt Fabulous: I LOVE "to do" lists. I love doing things and checking them off- its SO satisfying! Today, for example, its only 8:00am and I have already crossed 3 things off my list (walk the dog, bathe the dog, blog).... only 5 more things to do and my list is complete!

But one can only bask so long in the after-glow of a completed To-Do list....why am I not concerned about being out of work? How we are going to pay our bills this month? I haven't a clue. We already have a little debt to deal with due to a hard winter and a ridiculous gas bill. (Thank you, Global Climate Change, for 55 nights of below freezing temps in ALABAMA. You owe me nine hundred dollars.) And the bills just keep rolling in! I open each one, look at the total and say, "Hi there, Birmingham Sewer and Water Bill! How badly do you want that $35.47?" But as I file the bill away in the "to pay pile" with all his other friends, there's no noticeable rise in my blood pressure, no sweaty palms, no sick feelings wash over me. What is wrong with me?

Well friends, I think I figured it out. I have faith. A calm certainty is settling around me. This is the right place and now is the right time. I am open to whatever God is preparing for me. I have faith. I have learned from past crises that worrying gets you nowhere, that what first appears to be a curse is usually a blessing, and that nothing is insurmountable when confronted with Faith, Hope, and LOVE.

So....... Today is a great day to be Aunt Fabulous. I'm gonna finish my breakfast now and then get crackin' on that To-Do list. Have a lovely day, Dears!!

I made this.

I made it for my sweet God-daughter Wynne. I think she really liked it.

Good Things to come.....

Just a little "post-lett" to say that soon and very soon I will post fabulous things on my blog.... My life is in fast forward right now but I'm hanging on and having fun! Here's a quick and dirty rundown of the fabulous-ness headed my way:
1. Weekend Retreat at my church
2. craft project for G-mama's Bday
3. Crafting with Carrie
4. St. Pattie's day/weekend with Hannah
5. Gmama's Bday celebration
6. My husband :)... not that he is "headed my way"... he's here already... but he is fabulous.

Hope whatever you are doing makes you happy!!

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.

True Love Knows no Bounds

WARNING: if you are grossed out by rats or snakes, you will not want to click on this link.....

Carla and her Friend

However.

Don't make your mind up just yet- hear me out. The link takes you to Nina Katchadourian's website. She is an artist. She is quirky, intelligent, clever, likes maps, and- as many artists do- she sees the world differently than the average man and is generous enough to share her visions. I encourage you to visit her website. The story of Carla and her Friend is what first drew me in- its facinating and challenges the way I think about love, friendship, right and wrong.... and I also think its super cute. But then I also like rats and snakes. My other favorites are Renovated Mushroom and Sorted Books.

Enjoy! Happy Tuesday!

Celebrate your Family

I'm working on a gift for my grandmother- its kinda like a family tree, but not. I don't want to give away the surprise, so I'm not gonna talk about it anymore..... but..... in the course of researching this gift, I ran across some truly fabulous family trees!

Take a look.......

First is my all-time-favorite family tree from my Norman Rockwell book- remember the one I talked about during Thanksgiving? As a child I stared at this picture for hours. I used my finger to trace each branch of the tree, stopping at every couple, imagining their lives together, how they met, where they lived, how they died.... And it tickled me pink every time I made it all the way from the grubby pirate and his dark and mysterious Spanish lady up to the scrubbed and shiny red headed boy.

The next three are all from My Tree and me. Love the colors, love the lines, love the fresh take on the family tree idea..... love it all.

The next two are fabulous because they include pictures!
You can find this one here.

And you can find this one here. By the way, EVERYTHING in this gal's etsy shop is FABULOUS!!! (edit: oh man! I just found out that this print is sold out.... what a bummer. Well, it's still awesome and so is the artist.)

Now, this next piece is a non-traditional family tree. Here you just print the names of all the people in your life, or your child's life, or whoever this little creation is for- and attach those names to the balloons. What a creative way to tell someone," these are the people who lift you up, who make your life bright and cheery, who float around above your head and occasionally loose their helium and start to sink......" well, lets don't take it too literally. Isn't it SOOOOO CUTE? Find it here

Now for a little DIY.... I found these wall decals here , but you can find them all over your world wide interweb. I thought it might be fun to create your own wall art/family tree combo. You could purchase one of these trees (or paint one if you are so inclined) and then add the names of your family members by hand- you could paint them, or find a cool font and print them out.... ooh ooh! and then you could collect small frames and frame each name and "hang" them on the branches of the tree...... I love that idea. Feel free to steal it.

And finally..... click here for a super cute DIY family tree, directions and all. When you finish it should look a little something like this.....

Bye y'all!