Sending a Thank You Card

 

We can say ‘Thank You’ in person, on the phone, or through a text or e-mail. I believe we should also send a Thank You card. It will show that you took the time to write a little note of thanks and put it in the mail. The person will appreciate the thoughtful way you remembered them!

We all have reasons to thank many people in our lives. If you enjoyed a meal with someone special, then a thank you card is certainly a must! Tell them how much you appreciate their time and efforts.

A special card to your hostess will be appreciated!

Perhaps a neighbor watched your pets while you were out of town. Surprising them with a thank you card will let them know how much you appreciated that they took special care of your little furry friends while you were gone!

Send a card to your friend to thank them for watching your pets while you were gone.

When you receive a gift from someone, they sure do deserve a special thank you card from you!

When someone gives you a gift, a Thank You card is a way to show your appreciation!

We all know someone who deserves a Thank You card!

We all know a guy who deserves a Thank You card!

We are all so busy with our lives, but sometimes we need to remember the old fashioned way to show our appreciation; an actual thank you note! People love to receive something in their home mailboxes besides junk mail and bills. Admit it, you know you would be excited to receive a special card in the mail from a friend! Let’s all remember to take a little time to show how much we appreciate the special people in our lives.

I wish I could send all my blogging friends actual thank you cards! Please know how much I appreciate your encouragement and online friendship!

Enjoy your creative day! ~~~Vickie

Good to the Last Drop!

 

I know this post is a far cry from showing techniques for making handmade greeting cards or other creative projects, but sometimes our creativity can take us in a different direction!

When you look at the labels of products, the amount listed is not always what you get to use. There is always a certain amount of product that stays in the bottle or tube that we can’t use. I don’t know about you, but since I paid for all of it, I want to use all of it! Most of us like to use all of the products we purchase.

I like buying lotions tubes as I can use all of the product!

I like to purchase lotions that are packaged in tubes. They are usually ‘richer’ and very moisturizing. (Dry skin is not my friend!) ‘Tubed’ products are also easier to pack when traveling…how many times have you tried to push the pump down on bottled products so it would not leak? Anyway, I have found a simple way to use all of the lotion that comes in the tubes. No matter how many times you ‘squeeze’ the tube, there is so much product that sticks to the sides of the tube. I can use that on my elbows!

Cut tube in half, use fingers to get product from top half of tube

When the tube of lotion is almost empty, with the lid off, carefully squeeze as much of the lotion to the bottom of the tube. Put the lid back on the tube. Take a pair of scissors and cut the tube in half.

There is still so much lotion left in the tube.

You will be amazed at how much lotion is still in the top half of the tube! I usually take my fingers and get this lotion from the top of the tube and either use it or put it in the bottom half of the tube to use later.

Put top half of tube over bottom half to keep it from drying out.

Once I have the top half free of lotion, I simply slip the top tube over the bottom tube. It will not dry out and I will be able to use the rest of the lotion that is still in the bottom of the tube. Of course, you can use this idea on most products that are packaged in tubes. (I would not recommend using this for glue, for obvious reasons!)

Would you use this technique for using every last drop of lotions you buy?

Enjoy your creative day!

~Vickie

Thank You for visiting my blog!

 
HorseMark HandMade Cards

Quilt Made from Toddler Clothes

My eldest son, Ryan, was home for a few days for a wonderful visit. Since he lives in San Francisco and doesn’t have a washer or dryer in his apartment, he makes trips to his nearby laundromat. Every now and then, I ask him to bring his quilt I made him about 10 years ago, so I can launder it. (I can’t imagine how many quarters it would take for him to dry it at the laundromat!)

I used my son’s jeans and added in a bit of red to match the red stripes in his little pajamas!

I thought I would share photos of his quilt, which was my very first handmade quilt. I had seen quilts made from baby clothes, and even though they are so cute, I wanted to use clothes that would make a quilt my son would actually use. I decided to use his little jeans, shirts, and pajamas he wore as a toddler. Since red was his color growing up, I chose his little blue jeans, and matched them with a pair of pajamas that were blue with stripes of red in them. I added a couple of his little flannel shirts he wore. I think my favorite part of the quilt are the two little jean pockets I put on two of the corners! I can’t believe he was ever that small. (He is 6’1′ now!) I wanted the backing to be soft, so I used red flannel to tie it all together. (The more it is laundered the softer it becomes and it has held up very well.)

I love the little jean pockets my son used to wear!

The backing of the quilt was made with red flannel as I wanted it to be soft.

Since this was my first quilting experience, I decided to keep it simple by using squares. Once I cut them, I knew I wanted Ryan involved in the process, so I had him put the squares in a pattern he liked.

Looking back, I can’t believe I used denim for my first quilt. I cut the quilting pattern from a piece of cardboard, traced it on the quilt and proceeded to sew it on my old J C Penney sewing machine. Can you imagine my surprise when I got to the middle of the quilt? It was very difficult to fit it in my sewing machine! But, I did it! (The finished quilt is 69″ x 50″. That is a lot of fabric!)

Toddler pajamas, jeans and shirts made into a quilt!

It made me feel so wonderful that he wanted take it to his dorm when he left for college in 2007. Now that he is out of college, he uses it all the time to keep him warm in his apartment. I am so glad I made it, and even happier that he loves it.

(When I finished Ryan’s quilt, my youngest son wanted his own special quilt! You can see James’ quilt here.

Thank you for stopping by my blog. I hope you have a wonderful, creative day! ~~Vickie

Cross Stitching a Little House

I thought I would share a little cross stitching project I have been working on the past few weeks. I started this cute Victorian house a few years ago, and for some reason I put it away. (I know I am not the only one that has put away unfinished projects!)

This Victorian house cross stitch is almost finished.

Since I have been on a medical leave, I found that my recliner was the most comfortable position for me to be in. Since I couldn’t make cards or work on my computer from that position, I decided that cross stitching was the best thing I could do. I forgot how much I enjoy it, even though it is more of a challenge these days with my ‘older’ eyes. I found that I could keep better track of where I was on the pattern if I used a colored pencil to mark off the stitches I had completed.

I use a colored pencil to mark the completed stitches on my cross stitch pattern

Since I was climbing the walls, I switched from our family room recliner to a recliner we have in the living room for a change of scenery. Using a tray for my supplies was very convenient.

I used a tray to keep my cross stitching supplies together

I still have a bit of recuperating to do, so I hope to have this finished soon and it will look like this picture.

Victorian House Cross Stitch

I am not sure if I will frame it or make a pillow. I would love to hear any other ideas on what I could do with this after I complete it!

I hope you have a wonderful, creative day!

~~Vickie

Creative Knitted Item!

 

A dear friend of mine, Juanita, has been knitting these cute dish cloths for a long time. She makes them from 100% cotton, so they are just perfect for absorbing water and using in the kitchen. I had her make me some in red to match my kitchen.

The solid red and red/cream
dish cloths are perfect for my kitchen.

 
She has given me several others, but in colors that don’t match my kitchen. I have discovered other uses for these! I put one on top of small plates that I put a stack of bowls on in my cupboard….no scratches on my plates!

I put one on a stack of small plates that I put a stack of bowls on in my cupboard.

….no scratches on my plates!

I nest them between my skillets to keep them from scratching too!

These cute dish cloths work great to prevent scratches on stacked skillets!

They have been reincarnated into ‘doilies’ to set under a vase of flowers. I have also used them under frozen containers when they are thawing, they absorb the water and I don’t have a little puddle of water on my counter or refrigerator shelf.

This adds a splash of color when placed under a vase.

I use one of these knitted dish cloths as a ‘mat’ for my soap dispenser in kitchen.

I need to have her make a few more in colors to match my bathrooms so I can put them under my soap dispensers, it will keep the area a bit dryer. (We have very hard water, so water spots are very annoying!)

I just purchased more yarn so my dear friend can make a few that are a bit smaller so I can use them as coasters!

This yarn will be used to make coasters for my family room.

I am sure that after I publish this post I will think of another way to use these! What are your thoughts? Can you think of other ways to use these?

Enjoy your Creative Day! ~~Vickie

Thank You for visiting my blog. Enjoy your Creative Day!

P.S. The popcorn planter in the picture has tiny sprouts of flowers that I hope will grow into real flowers! My thumbs are not very green!