The Great and Random Ramblings of Cannwin

My little girl made a her first tutorial (with my help) for her own blog--to show her cousins-- and it was so great I thought I'd share. Here's how you make rope... step one take three pieces of thread, string, yarn or twine and cut them to equal lengths. Step two tie a pencil to each end of the 3 strings (it can be a stick also) Step three pull string taught between two people (one can improvise) Step four spin pencils in opposite directions Step five balling string is bad Step six after you are done spinning the three strings together you are going to fold it into thirds. do this by putting both pencils together. the string should loop around pencil #1 and go back to person #2 then pull the folded string onto pencil #2 making three strings again. Like this Step seven spin string in the OPPOSITE way from last time. (remember balling is bad, but if it balls just pull away from each other as hard as you can... it will eventually work) step eight pull off of penci

My little girl has had this big closet door she's been trying to deal with for several months now. It's one of those annoying ones that's always falling off the hinges and since she's only seven it makes it difficult to keep that area of her room looking kept up. Finally the other day I had an idea, I decided to put up a curtain instead. So I rummaged around a little and found an old shower curtain we weren't using, and the an old shower rod and went to put it up... except the curtain wasn't long enough. Easy enough to fix, I thought, I've got enough fabric lying around. So I put the baby down for his nap and hauled my find down to my sewing machine. I didn't really measure anything, just eyeballed it, but it was all straight line stitching so it wasn't difficult. This is what the bottom turned out like: This is where the dollar comes in, I didn't have any rings for the shower curtain to hang from. So.... on my way to pick the kids up from scho

So, first the story: The university in these here parts had their homecoming this weekend. It's a very big deal, full of celebration, candy and alcohol. Most of us family folk hole up and come out only for the parade. As we did today. We were walking down to our usual parade spot when my 6 year old caught sight of a box that had one of the few words he can read in big letters on the front. FREE Ah, yes, free t-shirts. I picked one up and read the front. "Bomb Disposal Unit." Well, that's nice I thought. Except later--to my dismay--I realized that the shirts were not a salute to our bravest and fines but to the fine art of binge drinking. I had grabbed 5 shirts. So..... I remembered a tutorial over at  Make It and Love It.  And I went to work. I turned this: (please ignore the floor... and the toothbrush was tossed from a float at the parade. No one has used it yet.) Into this: Tweaks: I cut the chest piece from the bottom so I could gather the skirt. Then

You know those  necklace holder's  everyone seems to be in to? Well I wanted one, but I didn't want something that just had pretty paper on it. I wanted a little more personal appeal. So I decided to go with something that pulled in a bunch of different idea's. This is what I came up with: I didn't think until after that I should have taken pictures. But I plan on making another one so maybe I will then. Here's what I used- Items: Plywood, Black spray-paint, old frame I had around the house, a photo, hook and screws, ribbon and buttons, and a wall hanging hook thing for the back (what are those called?). Tools needed: Hot glue gun, mod podge, drill or screw driver, a saw, and your imagination (or in my case the combination of mine and my 8 year old's). All in all it cost .96 cents for the spray paint, everything else I had around the house. I did have to use a hand saw to cut the wood to size but that wasn't to bad. Hope this gets your creative juices

So my girl had her baptism today. And with the help of Jill and her wonderful  Bayberry Announcements  I was able to send out some dang cute cards for all that family who couldn't make it out for the event. But I had a few left over and I wanted to do something to help my little one remember her great day. *light bulb turns on above head* You know how you go to weddings and people have you sign the matting around their photo instead of a guest book? Well, I took that idea and twisted it just a bit. Instead of having people just sign their names, I asked if they would please leave some words of advice or encouragement for her on this important day in her life. We live in a small branch so there wasn't very many people to sign it, but I think it turned out nicely don't you? Now she will have a beautiful momento to keep for years to come and perhaps when things get a little tough she can look on her wall and see that others love her and understand. Feel free to use my

Over Christmas break we drove to Utah to visit Ralexwin's family. When we were there I saw this little rock sitting outside my sister-in-laws front door. On one side it had a smiley face and the other there was a frown. Obviously I had to ask her why on earth she had a frowning rock on her doorstep. She explained to me that it told the neighborhood kids that her kids couldn't play. If the smile was facing up they could. This saved on excessive knocking. I loved the idea! So I made my own... of course. :) This was super easy. It took paper, mod-podge, spray paint, a piece of wood, and some ribbon. The hardest part was drilling the little holes for the ribbon to go through... and that was easy! I have yet to really try it out. Summer will be the true tester of it and I imagine there will be a transitioning stage for all of the neighborhood kids, but hopefully I won't have kids knocking on my door at 8:30 at night anymore! PS I moved it the day after I took this pictu

I have a friend who says that it's funny how whenever I want to make something I seem to produce the most random objects out of nowhere--all of which fit exactly what I need. This would be one of those projects. What is needed? -Blocks from your childs toy box. -Scrapbooking letters. The big kind. (I got mine in this big book of paper letters at Wal-Mart... I use them for everything, totally worth buying) -Some thick wire I had lying around... okay, Ralexwin had in his tool box, but still. -Some ribbon, it can be the ugliest ribbon on earth, no one's going to see it. -Oh, and Mod-Podge. ----- 1.Mod-podge the letters to the blocks. Then sand edges if you want to have that rougher look. 2. Take the drill and put some holes into the tops of some of the blocks... use the size just smaller than the size of you wire. 3. Twist the wire around, making sure the end is sort of a flat spiral (like you would draw on paper). The spiral is what will hold the photo, so

I figured I'd end the month with a week long celebration of crafts (minus Monday), which really just means I have more crafts I've made that I want to brag about. Like this one. About two weeks ago my friend and I heard that the next town over was having a city wide clean up. We got very excited because this was code for free stuff laying out on the curbs. So we took my truck over and loaded up on doors, windows, old chairs and what not. This little creation came out of that. It's a medicine cabinet door that I liked. The problem was, as I thought about it and stared at it I couldn't come up with anything to do with it. Then, as these things tend to happen for me, I was laying in bed one night and it came to me. I started working immediately the next morning and between motherly duties for the next two days I managed to put this little gem together. The hardest part was the stenciling because I literally printed out large words and pen knifed them out of the pa

Now that you've seen the quantity of scrap wood I have around my place. It's not surprising that I have little pieces floating around as well. What better way to use them than on little projects. We do a family-home evening every week. This is a day we spend studying scriptures and talking about our beliefs with our children, as well as just being together, having fun and playing. We have a chart to keep track of whose in charge of what. This helps the kids get excited, and helps Ralexwin and I better share the load. The chart has always been made out of paper. Until recently when Vicbowin and I made this one. We took blocks from the toy box (one for each family member's name--or middle name) and drilled hooks into the tops. We did the same thing with the wood base. Vicbowin wrote the words and I did the drilling. It was a fun project to do together and now sits proudly in our living room waiting for each week to come so the kids can move their block to the next

Today after I was done dressing Remewin I stood back and looked at how cute she was in her little outfit. Then I sighed and thought to myself 'To bad I'll be changing her in a few hours.' Today Albowin discovered that he doesn't have to go to school at all during the summer. Since this is his second year of organized education (actually more like his third since he did preschool) I was a little dismayed that he hadn't picked up on that one. Nonetheless he went around shouting with glee and explaining to Vicbowin how they didn't have school ALL summer (she condescended to listen to him). And today Vicbowin threw a fit about having to go to school sick... she has a stuffy nose. The Mischievite and Albowin got in a fight over a pirate eye-patch (which ended in me using the 'don't push it' voice), and finally after much wrangling, chivvying, and all out threatening the two older children were off to their daily duties. A little after they left I l

10. I am allergic to bee's. 9. My hair is starting to gray. 8. I once dropped out of high school. (I don't ever tell anyone that... and now you all know!)             -My junior year I stopped going. Then I moved in with my brother in another state and did my junior and senior credits in one year and graduated on time... in the honor roll.--yes, I'm that cool. 7. I got married a week after I turned twenty. 6. I have gained nearly 30 pounds since having Remewin. 5. Ralexwin and I swing dance... or used to. :) 4. I didn't get my driver's license until I was eighteen. 3. I have punched Ralexwin in my sleep before... twice. 2. I can't feel the tip of my left index finger because I cut through it when I was seventeen. (I was trying to cut a turkey) 1. I find Vladimir Putin strangely attractive.

 First off, taking a picture of a mirror is not an easy thing. I'm amazed that people succeed in this at all, but I've never claimed to be the best photographer in the world so you'll have to deal with these pictures. This is a half done project. I wan to add a 'frame' around the mirror to make it a floor mirror, but that means going to the lumber yard and, well as you may know... I avoid the lumber yard . So my mirror remains undone. I thought I'd share the 'so far' of it anyway. Background: You might be wondering how this project cost me nothing. Well, it's because this is an 'extra' mirror. I replaced it with a new one in the bathroom and Ralexwin refused to get rid of this one. So for months it sat in our bedroom until I ran across a mirror redo post on another blog. (The mirror was pretty beat up). So here's what I did: First get ready to get dirty... Then follow these steps-- 1) Lay the mirror on it's face and pu

Text message from me to Ralexwin: "I'm going to go to Barnes & Noble, speak now or forever hold your peace." * * * When I walked in my heart nearly skipped a beat. A smile crept across my face and I felt slightly giddy. It had been nearly two years since I'd been inside a BIG book-store . Two years! There were books everywhere on wall to wall shelves. The crisp smell of new paper invaded my nose, and the slow hum of whispered voices and muted music rang through my ears. I wanted to spend the rest of my life wandering down aisle's and through worlds, but there were people waiting on me. I sighed, I had come here for a specific purpose. It's really the only way I can go into a bookstore of that size. With a purpose. It's dangerous not to. It's expensive not to. I walked with determination, making a bee-line for the section I wanted. Something caught my eye. 'Ooh, what's that?' I veered off course... just for a second...and

Note: I've decided to re-post some of my more favorite blogging memories. This is actually going to be my theme for May but I had a long night last night so I thought I'd get started early. Since tomorrow will mark the 9th month of Remewin's life (she'll have been in the world as long as she was in my belly... always a sad day for me) I thought I'd give you a reminder of what my first few months were like during her pregnancy. A friend of mine--who had been out of town at that time--noted to me that my blog posts during this period 'sounded like WW3 in my house.' It was bad. I was SOOO sick and the kids kept getting sick, and the Mischievite ended up in the hospital and my anti-nausea medicine wasn't working and Christmas was soon approaching. Hindsight being what it is I find it amusing to look back and see where it all began. I hope you do too. Originally posted December 11, 2008: List of things that happened yesterday: * Kept Vicbowin home from s

I saw this really cute idea online the other day that, of course, came with a price tag. I spent a few minutes toying with the idea of buying it before I realized--'Hey! I sooo can make that.' Ah, freedom.   (it keeps coming out blurry... sorry)   Say goodbye to the repetitive "Mom,what's my phone number?" or "I need you to call Jane's mom so she can come over!" Say hello to the child calling card. I love this idea. It is so convenient, especially now, at the end of the school year. It would be great for when you are moving to a new area as well (to give to friends the kids will be leaving behind). All I need now is some sheets of business cards (or old school you could just print a sheet of them on card stock and cut out). You can have this one and tweak it for you or you can make your own! I used Paint.net (my photo-shopping tool of choice) as well as some extra fonts I found over at fonts for peas (the gum ball machine came from one

I ran across another I♥Faces challenge that I thought I had the perfect photo for. Only this week the theme is collages. ::knuckle cracking:: I have the PERFECT Collage.

I find it interesting that when we are children we are so idealistic about life. Even as a teenager trial and tribulation seem to be something other people deal with. And if we find the time to imagine ourselves dealing with such things we are convinced it will play out something like a movie--music included. Then we age a little. We get married. We have children. And we start to fear trials, but that fear is still embedded within the unrealistic certainty that we can handle it all with graceful Audrey Hepburn-esque dignity. After Ralexwin and I got married, and I was faced with the possibility of him going to war, I told myself that if he ever died I would never remarry. I would live my life completely devoted to just him and people would stand in awe of my enduring love. I've since learned that each of us, in our own way, is painfully disabused of such fantasies. I have had friends who have struggled through a myriad of trials --the death of a child, a messy divorce, canc

Dear Lexapro, Is it possible for you to pop yourself into my mouth at the appointed time everyday? I mean I understand the whole self-responsibility thing and all, but I've got four kids and a house that WAY to big for me to keep up with. A lot of times I forget about you and these emotional roller-coasters are starting to wear me down. I don't do so well on roller-coaster's you see. I used to, back when I was young and had no sense of self-preservation, but I've  gotten older now and I can tell you, I don't do roller-coasters well. So, if it's at all possible to like get the regimented injection form of you I'd love to sign up.                                                                                    Cannwin

I had so many things that the kids said this last week that I decided to do another post... It hasn't been to long since the last but I'm sure you'll enjoy them anyway. Accurate Statements -Albowin: "This is the horriblest day I never had!" -Albowin: "It'll be like 10,000 years before I grow up." ------ Future Careers -5 year old at the school while I was picking up Albowin: "Excuse me, you're in a no parking zone." - Albowin: "If I was a bear or tiger I would still love you and I wouldn't eat you. But I would give you lots of licks." -Mischievite to Remewin: "Hey Hagrid." ------- Head, Shoulders, Knee's and Nose - Mischievite: "Mommy, my tummy is full." *BURP* "Hey! My tummy no full no more!" -Mischievite after tussling with me over the snot he'd just pulled out of his nose: "HEY! I was going to eat that."

When we moved in to our current location Albowin was a devoted fan of The Hulk. His life revolved around the green man with the anger issues and all he wanted in life was to 'be green.' So when it came time to paint the bedrooms he was adamant about the color. . . even the hue. Then he grew disillusioned with The Hulk and decided he was scary. Down came the poster's and out went the toys. All that remained was the painted walls. I didn't mind the color, but it really needed something else. In comes my favorite past time... the blogging world... and I found the greatest idea . Circles of paper mod podged to ply wood and hung on the wall. So I did it! I actually had to print off the papers (which I'd accumulated on my computer from digifree ) that arguably cost some money in ink, but since I didn't have to buy ink any time soon after, I don't count it. The 'how to': Find the papers that you want. Well, I guess first figure out how big yo

Off to jury duty once again. I wonder if I'll get chosen for trial this time? More crafts and ramblings tomorrow. To see more about why my background changed go to the post below. (For all of you facebooker's either disregard the background post or hop on over to blogspot and see what I'm talking about!) ♥ Cannwin

Alright, alright, now you've all seen it. You've all gasped and wondered what one Earth I've been doing all weekend. Sorry, I was goofing around with my background and pushed the wrong button. All of a sudden everything was reset and there I was staring at a loss of all my beautiful HTML work. I, of course, was smart enough to back up my template on my computer.... but not smart enough to remember WHERE on my computer I backed it up to. So until I find that, or find the energy to re-input my specific html love, you'll have to deal with this sterile thing. Sorry. I still love you all. ♥ Cannwin

All the kids are outside playing (excepting Remewin of course) and I thought I'd post an extra craft I came up with this last week. I'm totally excited about this one because it is ALL mine. No links to other cute crafters who made the same thing, nope I made this one up. They say 'Necessity is the mother of all invention' well, this is it for me. After Easter came and went I ended up with these little tins floating around the house (each one the size of a CD) they had originally held a cookie each but within a day all that was left was the tins. I hated the idea of just throwing them away so I started mulling over what I could do with them. This is what I came up with: (really bad picture) The cost was for the spray paint. I put it over my dresser in my bedroom. The best part of it is that it's magnetic! Which makes it great for leaving little notes on. I don't know what to call it, maybe magnetic wall art or circle-magnetic dresser topper :). Firs