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Welcome! I invite you to join me on this journey we call Life. It's crazy, fun, silly, sad, happy, loony, dull, exciting and everything in between

Friday, November 29, 2013

Large Light Bulb Snowman Ornament

Another burned out bulb ornament! I just finished this one and I love it!

I painted this huge light bulb white some time back, but then couldn't decide what to do about the top of the bulb.... I got side-tracked and distracted into other crafts and chores and it got set aside. I picked it up again the other day and things just started clicking. This is what I started with:

First, I knit him a hat.
Then I started playing with materials for a face.... I have some real pieces of coal, but they didn't look right.. I have some clear decorative stones with the flat backs. I painted some for eyes and a mouth, but once they were dry and I tried them out, my snowman looked very creepy! 
I went hunting in my craft baskets for something else and found a tube of buttons. Perfect!
I had a wooden bead with a flat back that look great for a nose. I used some acrylic paint to paint it orange. I had an idea to use wire to make a coiled hanger for this ornament, but it looked a little strange.... I braided three strands of the same color burgundy yarn that I used in the hat, knotted it at each end, leaving about two inches of yarn below the knots. I threaded the ends through the holes in the hat and used my trusty E6000 to glue those 6 strands to the silver part of my bulb.
Once I had the hat in place and could see how far down in the bulb it would sit, I used the E6000 to attach the bead and buttons buttons and let those dry. At the last minute, I brushed on some iridescent glitter paint to give him some sparkle.






My Elfster Gift Exchange Gift

This is the gift I made for a gift exchange:


Thursday, November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving!

May you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, surrounded by the ones you love and hold dear!


I'm thankful for YOU! Thanks for being a visitor, a reader, a fan!
Sincerely,
The Happy Clown With A Frown

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Piczzle Photo Puzzle Review and Giveaway


I was able to review a photo puzzle from piczzle.com and I have to say, this is a great, unique gift to give for any occasion or just to commemorate a memory. 
I selected a photo I took during an outing to the park. We watched this young crane trying to catch fish for quite some time. He finally managed to start spearing them with his beak. I love watching these birds. They are so pretty! 
Ordering from Piczzle is super duper easy! They offer a selection of cardboard, wooden or even magnetic puzzles in various sizes and shapes. You can get smaller ones that are simple to put together or order a larger one with lots and lots pieces for a challenge. They also have some frame effects you can add too, such a holiday frame that looks great with your family Christmas photo. 
Vibrant Red Holiday Design for your personalized picture puzzle       Elegant Gold Holiday Design for your personalized photo puzzle
Photos from the piczzle.com website

You simply choose the size, shapes, and type of puzzle you want, upload your photo and wha - la! Within a few days, your photo puzzle arrives! These would be fabulous to send out as Christmas cards or party invitations!



Your puzzle arrives in about 5-7 business days, in a sturdy box. There is a great reference photo on the top of the box. The pieces are safely contained in a reusable zip close bag. If you choose to take the puzzle apart, you have the bag to keep your pieces safe and you have the box to store them in!
These would make great gifts for any occasion. Birthdays, Christmas, Mother's Day, Father's Day, anniversaries and even weddings. There are so many ways you could use these to make occasions unique and fun! You can see my video review on Youtube. Visit piczzle.com to see the various designs and order your custom photo puzzle! You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.
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Now for a the great part! A giveaway! One reader will win a small cardboard photo puzzle from piczzle.com!
US only.
Ages 18 and older
 Use the giveaway widget below to gain your entries. 
Please note winner can not win from more than one blog and not more than once within a 12 month period.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclosure: I received one or more of the products mentioned above free for review purposes using Tomoson.com. Regardless,  the opinions are all mine and I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Review: Bandelettes Anti-Chafing Thigh Bands


I received a pair of Bandelettes to review. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they do indeed work!

Black 1004
Photo from the Bandelettes website

I once had some stockings that had tops like the Bandelettes, so I was familiar with the concept of the "stay-put" silicone backing inside the bands. I must admit though that for just a little while it felt strange to have the bands on without there being any stocking or hose on my legs. I wore them around a couple of different ways. First I wore them bare legged to see if they would stay up and be comfortable under say a long dress or skirt where I might not wear pantyhose. They did great! I next wore them under a pair of cotton capri pants. They again did great! Initially it felt a little strange, but very quickly I forgot they were there. The silicone backing holds them in place and even in the pants, they felt very comfortable. Being functional was terrific. Being very pretty is an added bonus! 

Bandelettes are available is 6 different sizes based on thigh measurements and there is a nice color selection from black, white, beige and red, so you can mix and match with your wardrobe if you choose. For the best fit, you will need to use a sewing (flexible) tape measure to measure the upper part of your thigh, while standing (or have someone measure for you while you stand upright). 

From the Bandelettes website:
We are the home of the unique and one-of-a-kind Bandelettes. Gone are the days when wearing a gorgeous skirt or a summer dress seemed impossible. As women, many of us have to deal with painful chafing and irritation of the skin in the inner thighs due to frequent rubbing. The exclusively trademarked and patented Bandelettes are designed to address a common problem that many women encounter on a day-to-day basis.


Bandelettes ship World-wide and while they take a little longer to receive internationally, they ship very quickly in the U.S., usually only taking 3-4 business days to arrive. Mine arrived very quickly!

I am quite pleased with what Bandelettes do and the performance of the product!

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If you'd like to connect with them, see the color choices or order, be sure to visit: 




Disclosure: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Shop From Your Seat, Save your Feet!

Shop from your seat, instead of on your feet! Get Christmas all wrapped up and sit back and enjoy your time with family and friends!


Check out all the deals going on! Save on tablets, tools, toys and everything else!

Apply for the Amazon.com Rewards Visa today and get 3X points on Amazon.com, 2X points on gas dining and drugstores and 1X points on all other purchases AND get a $30 gift card immediately upon approval!

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Wal-Mart.com USA, LLC





Wal-Mart.com USA, LLC




Wal-Mart.com USA, LLC





Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive compensation if you make a purchase via the links. 

Friday, November 22, 2013

This Day In History: The JFK Assassination

The sales have started and the frenzy is on to find the best deals, but I wanted to take a moment and remember the significance of today. 
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F Kennedy. 


I wasn't even born when President Kennedy was in office or when he was killed, but it is an event that has always intrigued me. Like many others, I have wondered how things might be different today if he had lived. What if the shots had missed and the car had escaped safely under the overpass? What if his blood had never stained Jackie's lovely pink suit? What if no shots had had ever been fired at all? 

How different would our country be today? How would history have been altered had Kennedy lived? Where would we as a nation be?

John F Kennedy's inauguration brought a fresh energy, bright-eyed optimism and genuine hope and excitement for the future. He helped encourage people to do more and be more.  To excel and make things better. 

I don't necessarily think JFK was our greatest president. He was merely a human with human faults and failings, but it was certainly a magic time, a time when there was still innocence and hope. People still believed in so much. The Country, the President, each other. There was respect for one another. There was a certain unity and a desire to solve problems, not cause them.

*****
I feel a sadness not just because a President was cut down in what should have been a prime moment, but because a wife lost a husband and was a forced witness to that horrible moment, innocent children lost their father, a family lost a beloved member. Even though I wasn't alive then, watching the footage, seeing the photos, the sense that a certain magic ended that day, lingers and sticks.

*****
I don't think we have been told the truth about his assassination and I'm not sure we'll ever know. All I know was it was definitely a moment that altered the course and history of this nation. We are left to wonder why and speculate. We are left to gaze upon those haunting images. 





Then again, maybe there are still lessons to be learned from John F Kennedy's story..... 

Walmart Pre Black Friday

Walmart's Pre Black Friday sale is ON! Lots of deal ongoing!Shop early and avoid the Black Friday madness! :)

Shop Pre-Black Friday Week Specials + Free Shipping on Orders of $50 or More at Walmart.com!

Wal-Mart.com USA, LLC



Wal-Mart.com USA, LLC

Friday, November 15, 2013

Thankful Post Day 15

I haven't posted my daily thankful posts because I got busy this week cleaning around our house. Man we have a lot of stuff! I have been going through stored stuff, stacked stuff, stuff we haven't really taken the time to sort in quite some time. Life got in the way. As I was sorting, deciding what I wanted to keep, and what was... well junk, I found some things I knew I wanted to keep and started filling garbage bags with the rest. As I have worked my way from one space to the next, I thought about how blessed I am. I am blessed to have a house to get messy. I have things that I treasure not because of what they are or for their monetary value, but because we have people in our lives that have given or made us these things and they were given as gifts out of love. More and more I feel the need to simplify our surroundings. Going through our spaces I have had the time to think about what we have in those spaces and whether we truly need or want it there. As I have done this sorting I have thought about how because I am blessed I have the opportunity to pass some of the blessing along in the form of our outgrown clothing and shoes, toys no longer played with and possibly even some furniture. So out of this pretty industrious week I am thankful because I am going to be able to spread some blessings around during what is a pretty rough time of year for some people and through that maybe give a little hope and joy too. And just maybe, they'll be inspired to do the same for someone else. 
Now I just have to retrain my guys that the chairs and floors are not places to dump everything when they come home and to put things away where they belong.... that's totally possible right?

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Review: UGLee Ergonomic Pen


I received a set of UGLee ergonomic pens for review. I pulled them from the envelope and my first thought was "these look a little funny." Then I opened one. WOW. It didn't feel funny at all. It felt wonderful! These pens are light, the full size grip is soft and works together with the finger tip grooves to cradle your hand in comfort. 

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Dr James Lee designed the UGLEE (short for Ultimate Grip and Dr. Lee's name) after searching for a pen that would relieve his own hand fatigue. When none could be found, he designed one himself. 
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I sat down to write out my grocery list and I could not believe how easily it flowed over the paper! Three seconds. That's all it took for the UGLee to become my favorite pen! The UGLee writes smoothly, is light weight, and incredibly comfortable to hold and use. I have been using mine to write my notes, my to-do lists, everything. I love it!
 Have you ever had a pen you like so much you won't let others use it? Well, this is officially THE pen that I will hesitate to loan to anyone. This is THE pen that I will be tempted to tie a string to so that IF I do loan it to someone, I can yank it back should they "forget" to return it. It is THE pen that will have a special "hidden" place in my purse. It is THE pen I will even hesitate to let my husband use! He has to have his own! I seriously wish these had been around when I was in school and we had to write reports and papers until our hands felt like they were going to fall off! Anyone that writes a lot whether for work or not, would benefit from an UGLee. With Christmas coming, I plan to stuff some stockings with UGLee pens this year! The more people that have their own, the less they'll want mine! :)
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You can visit the website, if you'd like to learn more about Dr. Lee's wonderful UGLee pen. You can also "like" them on Facebook or follow on Twitter

Disclosure: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Light Bulb Snowman Craft

I can not deny, I am one of those crazy people that saves blown light bulbs so when inspiration strikes, I'll have them to work with. I had to change a bulb one evening a few weeks back and still had the bulb in my hand when I walked back into my living room and saw my twining project I have been working on. I have painted on light bulbs before and the thought occurred to me to use yarn, so I began playing with it. Here's the ornament I made


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Here's a few of the materials I used:
- Blown lightbulb
- White glue
- E6000
- White and Black Yarn
- Cardboard or left over packaging
You can use whatever works for you. I had yarn so that what I used for my snowman and to cover the cardboard hat I fashioned, but you can use felt, construction paper or paint. You can also use whatever you like to make the face. Buttons, beads, colored paper, rocks, almost anything you like. (In the photo above)I had a little pre-made hat from my stash , but it  ended up being too small for this project. I also had some ideas about using the scrap pieces of yarn, but ended up not using them this time.



I put one line of E6000 at the edge where the silver meets the glass of the bulb. It begins curing pretty quickly and gave me a little strength to keep the yarn a little taut. I then put white glue on the lightbulb and wrapped the lightbulb with yarn. I worked in sections so I could keep the rows close together and not have glue dripping off. I let it dry just a few minutes before applying more glue. Be careful not to pull the yarn too tightly once you get to the larger part of the bulb or it will slide around and bunch up. I was pulling my yarn from the skein so it is a single long piece that covers the whole bulb.



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I made the hat out of the packaging from some Avery labels. It is thin cardboard material. You could also use a larger diameter cardboard tube. I again worked in sections and used a wooden stick from an ice cream bar to put the rows of yard together to close gaps. I did the flat part of the top with one piece of yarn, then used one piece for the round part and top of the brim. I used one last piece to do the underside of the brim since it will show once it's on my snowman. 










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For the face, I used little black balls that come from my Canna Lily plants after they flower. I had some pieces of coal, but ended up not using them.The nose is a foam carrot I had in my craft stash. I cut it down to fit the size of the face.



Once I had the face glued on, I used an X-acto knife to cut two small slits in the top of the hat and slipped the ribbon through the slits.

I adjusted the ribbon to the length I wanted and cut some off the ends. I then used the E-6000 to glue the ends to the sides of the silver top of the light bulb. Once that dried, I covered the tip of the bulb with E-6000 and slid the hat down onto the bulb, pulling the ribbon through. Now the ribbon and the hat are both glued to the bulb to give strength for hanging on the Christmas tree.

Ta Da!