Packing Assembled Lego Sets

Since we are moving in three months, I decided to continue the process in my son's room.  He is 23 but currently deployed so he is not in any need of these items, just yet!

He loves putting together the Lego sets. They have been sitting around collecting dust but since I have the time I took special care with them.

After Christmas I purchased 30  10-sheet packs of tissue paper for ten cents each. I scrunched up sheets to pad between any spaces between sections. On Mater I placed a scrunched sheet between the cab and bed of the piece, wrapped the tow hitch area and smooshed a piece between the tires underneath.  Then I completely wrapped up the entire piece in three or four sheets.

The Millenium Falcon took even more special care.  I first removed its four tiny, little, spindly feet. They would have snapped off or broken.

I then nestled it down into a box filled with packing material left from a gift.  I removed the lid as the box wasn't tall enough to close its lid safely.

This box went down inside a toter type box. More packing material was placed over the top.

I then cut cardboard and created a shelf over this. The rest of the Legos were also padded and wrapped in the tissue paper. They were placed on top. Lots of tissue paper was used.

This ship (Rebel Blockade Runner?) had to have a lot of extra tissue paper throughout.  It also went into its very own box.  The large box from large dog size Milkbone Dog Biscuits worked perfectly.  And more tissue was stuffed down inside that as well.

I hope this helps in guiding you through your own Lego packing logistics.  I'll let you know in several months if I was completely successful.

May the Force be with You,

Jeannine

Published Aprons!

I am published again in Stampington's Apron*ology Magazine!  It comes out February First and should be available the whole year. I find copies at Joann's and at Barnes & Noble. It should be at craft stores as well.

My son is deployed with the Army as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. We were going to a "Yellow Ribbon" event before he deployed and they gave us all little flag pins and yellow ribbons.  It reminded me of all the yellow ribbons we sold at Fabricland-way back in 1991 for Operation Desert Storm.

At that time my son was three.  I had no idea he would be involved in an ongoing version of the same war.

However, he has chosen this as his career.

And because of it, he has had several pairs of trousers completely wear out.  I couldn't sew up the crotch again! So I took them and made aprons.

This one with the two layers is called "Duty". That is one of the US Army values.  I used cotton for the yellow and the lower part of the trousers.

This half apron is the upper part of the same leg. I call it "Loyalty."  I like to use the pieces just as they are to preserve the entire look. I used the yellow to completely bind the three edges. The waist tie is threaded through the belt loops and I re-purposed the buttons at the edges.

Do you remember the John Wayne Movie She Wore a Yellow Ribbon? Love the cavalry!  Anyway, this apron is "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon." I used the upper and lower part of the second leg. 

These aprons do have some stains as they have been in use for five years. Authentic! But they will last through many washings.

Check these out in the magazine and in my etsy shop.

Ombre Pink Dresser

This adorable little dresser is one we found at a citywide garage sale.  I wrote about it here.

Husband finished it about two weeks ago but I haven't had the chance to post about it yet.

It is only 25 inches tall.  It has three drawers in the middle and two on each side.  He wanted to paint the dresser because it was a blah color.

It is solid wood and very heavy.  It only cost us $15.

He did some stripping but ultimately just used the deglosser.

 We bought two sample size paints and one quart.  We had white on hand.  The pinks are, from lightest to darkest, Primrose Garden, Bridesmaid, and Dragon Fruit. They are Behr is eggshell finish.

The white is Marshmallow.

He tried the original handles but didn't like them, too old fashioned.  These were $3.49 each and look much brighter and cheerier!

This little dresser is for sale! As are these two.  I have gotten tons of repins of these on Pinterest!

I still have both of these dressers and they are for sale.

Blessings, 

Jeannine

Packing and Moving

Big News!  

Husband and I have decided to move! We are tired of the two story tract house we have been in for the past 8 years.  It is time to move on. We have even lived in the same town for 21 years (I include the 3 years we lived in the Middle East, as we had our "roots" here.)

We will be moving to a one story house in the next town over, about a ten mile drive East.

So in the meantime, I have started packing.  We started with the china cabinet and the close to 100 tea cup sets as we want to paint the china cabinet before we move in March or April.

This is one of my favorites.  I will be posting pics of tea cups randomly because I photographed all of them!

Wish me luck!

Blessings,

Jeannine

Kindle Cover in a Book

This Christmas I made Kindle covers for my sister and mother.  They splurged on themselves and it gave me the perfect idea for a gift.

I looked at several tutorials on You tube and then tweaked them for my own.

This is the one for my mom.  

I visited our local used bookstore and got this copy of a Sherlock Holmes book for $4.

Then I carefully removed the pages with my craft knife.

I cut a piece of cardboard an 1/8" smaller than the inside of the front and back covers.  I get these super straight lines by using my rotary cutter and quilt mats.

I cut a piece of fabric one inch larger all the way around to cover the cardboard.

Here is the one I did for my sister, a Nancy Drew Mystery.

I glued the fabric around the cardboard and then using my Kindle (thank you Husband for the Mother's Day gift) to measure the length of the elastic to hold the Kindle in. I then sewed them in by hand. I used quilting thread.

Here is the empty cover.  I glued the covered cardboard inside and weighted it down with the 2009 California Penal Code book; it weighs a ton!  (My son has the penal code form police academy.)

Here it is all together with a Kindle.

So there it is. A Kindle cover in a book.  And you can pretend you are still reading from a paper and ink book!

Blessings,

Jeannine

I'm linking to Met Monday on Between Naps on the Porch.  Make sure you see what others have been up to by going here.

Retro Pyrex Mixing Bowls

I don't know if you are like me, but there are certain things that bring back memories from childhood.  These Pyrex mixing bowls do just that.  My mom had only the yellow and green ones left from her original set, but they were in constant use.  My sister and I learned to mix cookies and bread in these bowls.  They were just always in the kitchen.

This past year Husband and I found several sets of these at estate sales.  Well, not sets.  We picked up pieces over the past year to put together three complete sets, with an extra yellow bowl left over. All of them are in good to excellent condition.  I don't think any of these ever were washed in a dishwasher, unlike Mom's!

However, I do not have a retro kitchen, so these sets are for sale.

They are just so classic and fun to collect.  We can't help ourselves.

Hope you enjoyed this little walk down memory lane.

Blessings,

Jeannine

Russian Christmas Ornaments

I realized I have never shared a special little Christmas tree that I put up each year.  It is only a little over one foot tall and I never remove the lights.  I just carefully replace the tree in a plastic bin.

What makes the tree so special to me is the ornaments. Husband and I purchased them in October of 1999 when we took our very first mission trip to Russia.  We worked in St. Petersburg but did all our shopping in Moscow.

We bought a small box with six handpainted Russian soldiers and three individual ornaments depicting traditional Russian costumes.  I adore these.  Each ornament is about four inches long.

These ornaments both remind me of our trip to Russia and of a classic Christmas tree.  They always have a place of honor.

Blessings,

Jeannine