Curb Appeal

I've had this wooden house purse for quite a while. It "houses" my collection of watches. I've always thought it needed some dressing up. All the windows have a slot at the top to slide pictures down into; when I got the purse it had someone's children's school pix in all the windows. I decided that giving this little cottage some curb appeal, using only things I have at home in my craft supplies, would be a fun project. It was perfect for this week when, coming home exhausted but still having some energy, I could tinker for a half hour or so before getting ready for bed.

The roses climbing up and over the front door, as is the ladybug, are not proportionate, but who cares. The little cat on the roof was a find from a while back. Reindeer moss is something I keep handy all the time; it's great filler in all kinds of craft projects and here it works well as shrubs. I decided to focus on just the front of the house and leave the other sides as is. Here are the before and after.

I've Been There

I feel sorry for Erik Zabel. At sixty five years old, not only is he the oldest man in the peleton, he's still a damn good sprinter. Unfortunately these days, he's only good for a 2nd-7th place finish...but he does get to be in the background of pretty much all sprint finish photos...and his huge head is easily recognizable.

Mark Cavendish, from the Isle of Man (Where, as a kid, Mongo visited via Hovercraft from Great Britain) won his second stage of the Tour. This dude is super-fast in the final meters, and with Team "Eightball", he may have the best lead out team in the TDF.

Craft Table

I was going to include this vintage mug holder in my Goodwill drop-off stash, but decided that it would be perfect on my craft table as a place to hang scissors and clamps. Wrapped around the can I use to hold pens, exacto knives and such is a rubber band . . . an ideal place to tuck an eraser and tweezers. The tole cachepot holds glues and rulers. And everything sets on a piece of linen embroidered with birds. My Nana had done it and never finished the edges. It still has masking tape under it, holding the frayed edges in place. I rather like it in this state.