Remembering Dad

My sweet Dad passed away yesterday.  

It's hard to put into a few words all I could say about Dad and what he taught me. 

Through his actions I learned the importance of family, of being there for each other, of hard work and unconditional love.

A message a family friend wrote today was a perfect description of Dad:

Shorty will always be remembered as the perfect gentleman. He was always kind and so very happy to tell you about his wife, children and especially his grandchildren. One of our fondest memories of Shorty was stopping by the house to say hello and asking him how the family was. He would ask if you had an extra minute and would open the closet door in the living room and so proudly pull out his most recent photo album that he had just finished. Shorty was a quiet gentleman with a very sweet and sincere smile and a unique Shorty laugh. He taught our family how to appreciate the little things in life. 

These are just a few of my favorite pictures of Dad and his family that he loved so much.

1931 

1932

First Communion (1937)

8th Grade Graduation (1943)

With his father (1943)

High School Football (1946)

High School Graduation (1947)

Summer baseball (1947)

Military Service (1951-1953)

Wedding (1953)

Newlyweds

On the job (1954)

Family thru the years

1956

1959

Easter - 1961

Easter - 1965

Easter - 1967 (his expression in this one always makes me laugh)

Summer - 1971 (My brothers and sisters will hate me for putting this one in - just remember, it was the 70's!)

1997

 1999

50th Wedding Anniversary - 2003

Christmas - 2007

Father's Day - 2008

Summer 2009 - Joint 80th Birthday party for Mom and Dad

With the grandkids

With Bruce at the ALS Walk - October 2010

Thank you Dad for everything.

You will be missed.

September 26, 1929 - June 27, 2012

Drapery Hook Jewelry Display

I've had a big bag of these drapery hooks sitting in my studio for quite some time.

I see these hooks at thrift stores all the time and they are very inexpensive.

After looking at them for awhile I decided they would make great hooks for a jewelry display.

I dug out this unfinished board I had in the basement......

 painted it white and then glued on a strip of this blueprint I picked up at a small antique store in my hometown.

 Now the board was ready for some hooks.

 To attach the hooks I simply drilled some pilot holes where I wanted the hooks and screwed them in place.

As you can see, the top two hooks support a dowel rod that makes a perfect spot for earrings.

While the other hooks help organize necklaces and/or bracelets.

 This display could still use a couple more hooks but I ran out of screws.  

I guess it's time to hit the hardware store.

I have an idea on a fun way to hang the display......I'll post about that later this week. 

 I will be away from my blog the first part of the week to attend an out of town business meeting.

Hope you have a wonderful week.

Jane

Potato Masher Tote Project

Good Morning.

I'm back in the kitchen again, not to cook, but to repurpose another vintage kitchen tool.

This project was very easy to make.  It took me longer to take the pictures and write this post than it did to make the tote.

For this project you will need a potato masher, two bread loaf pans and three nuts and bolts.

 I found my bread loaf pans at a garage sale last week for 25 cents.  They are lightweight aluminum and measure approximately 9.5" x 5.5".

 I first drilled three matching holes along the top edge of both bread pans.  I sandwiched the potato masher in between the pans and then added the nuts/bolts to secure them together.  These bolts are a little too long but it's all I had at the moment.

The bottom of the potato masher makes a nice base for the pans.

And the handle at the top makes it easy to carry.

 I added a few old bottles to mine (basically because they were close by).

 But I could see this used in the kitchen to hold spices, oven mitts, tea towels.....or used outside for paper plates and napkins.

Looks like we might be getting rain this morning so no picnic for me today.

Have a great weekend.

Jane

Tiered Pie Plate Stand - Part II

I celebrated a birthday earlier this month and never showed you the fabulous gift I received from my son.  

My very own compound miter saw!

And yes.....it is exactly what I asked for!  

My son may not always understand me but he is very supportive of all my crazy ideas.

I wanted to start with an easy project and it didn't take long to figure out what to cut first.

 Ever since I made the tiered pie plate stand pictured below (posted here), I have wanted to make another one using a wood rolling pin as the center support.  A good idea in my head, but I didn't have the right equipment to cut the rolling pin.

No problem now.  

The miter saw cut effortlessly through the wood to give me the pieces I needed for my tiered pie plate stand.

 Once the pieces were cut it was easy assembly.  Some E-6000 glue did the trick to hold the rolling pin and pie plates together.

 Initially I did not plan to have the red base piece on the stand.  The stand was wobbly so I glued a small plate, that I spray painted red, to the bottom of the stand to stabilize it.

I'm thinking this would be a cute piece in the kitchen to hold spices.

Or maybe an overripe banana or two.

 I'm declaring my first miter saw project a success.  

I think I'm going to have fun with this thing.

Have a wonderful evening.

Jane