Stampin 'n Stuff: Birdhouse Tutorial and Template

Stampin 'n Stuff: Birdhouse Tutorial and Template: Hope you're all having a lovely Easter! I've had a wonderful day and even managed to spare an hour to do a tutorial and template for this li…
Check out Jo Dumbleton's excellent photos and instructions! What an adorable project!

Holly Hobbie Children's Oven

Did anyone have an easy bake oven as a child? Mine was a Holly Hobbie one as pictured here! I was VERY excited to receive such a gift. Little did I know it was powered by a light bulb! I was under strict instructions to only use it when supervised by an adult. I do not remember using it the first time. I do know that my mother did not approve of the mixes made for it since they were full of unnatural ingredients, chemicals and sugar. I cannot for the life of me remember who gave it to me but I'm sure they got into some trouble. My mom didn't have the energy to help me use it as much as I liked. I think I wanted to have all my meals made with it. The packaged mixes were also too expensive for us to get. As a single parent my mother didn't have a lot of time to be hunting around for those or do much baking anyway. Thus, it was soon turned into a Holly Hobbie Food Dryer, great for making beet chips, dried apples, carrot chips, banana chips and the like. It took days to dry fruits and vegetable.  I had a Holly Hobbie doll similar to the one pictured above. My mom doesn't recall much but she thinks she may have gotten it for me and that I saw it on a television commercial and she finally broke down and relented to get it for me. Did you have anything similar to this when you were a child? Memory is a strange thing. I completely forgot all about this until someone gave my daughter an Easy Bake oven.

Maman

What cute friends at the Aldergrove Zoo! That is my daughter and one BFF/classmate on a recent field trip. I love parents who take pictures when you cannot be there and actually print them out and distribute! 




Mother's Day was quite an adventure. Let me tell you about my mom. She took these photos of her house with her mobile phone.
This beige house with some brown trim is the house I grew up in from 10 years old in New Westminster. My mother also lived there as a child and is still living there. She just purged her front yard of all those juniper bushes and it was a BIG job. They were only put there so the front yard hills wouldn't have to constantly mowed. It was brutal mowing grass up and down or side to side! I suggested a goat but she didn't go for it. I sure wish I could help out more with her home maintenance. The concrete steps out front are needing some repair. Who knew cement doesn't last forever? Me. 
I think I have gotten side tracked. All summer long my mom tries to be in the yard working on it and the garden every chance she gets, weather permitting. She doesn't have the energy to do it as quickly and efficiently as she would like. Here's a photo of her with two of her grandchildren. I made them myself. My mom keeps herself VeRy busy most of the time. She's the kind of grandma who takes you places. She doesn't knit or make cookies but she will bring you to circus school and participate with you! She will not read you stories for hours on end but she will take you for a walk or play with animals with you. She can give you a ride but she isn't too interested in babysitting you. She will not cook your dinner but she will take you out for ice cream or pizza. Her health makes things a bit tricky since her immune system doesn't work too well and neither do her thumbs. Be careful with child proofing because you may inadvertently Amma proof as well. She will put you on her lap in church but don't hold your breath for having a nap together. She doesn't keep kleenex in her sleeve but she does wear glasses around her neck. It's alright if you accidentally break them. She will go to the dollar store for new ones. She likes to sign you up for things for your birthday so watch out. You may be surprised to find yourself going to train camp or lego robotics classes, flowers and clowns training, soccer, baseball, writing courses, ham radio for children, participating in emergency service projects, learning genealogy and those kinds of things. Amma won't let you wear boots on a sunny day or use dangerously sharp scissors at night. Don't climb on things because she is always worrying about what could happen to you. Safety first! If you visit her in her home be careful not to touch or use anything unless it is a toy! Many items are jerry rigged or repaired or customized. Anything at anytime could get broken and you will be blamed! Especially if you are taking said items apart or trying to see how they work. Stick to the toys and you will be fine. If you are one of her four grandchildren there will be a of 8x10" photos of you on the walls through out the house and perhaps even some poster size pictures!