Thursday, December 24, 2009

shopping for men

Rule #1:
When in doubt - buy him a cordless drill. It does not matter if he already has one. I have a friend who owns 17 and he has yet to complain. As a man, you can never have too many cordless drills. No one knows why.

Rule #2:
If you cannot afford a cordless drill, buy him anything with the word ratchet or socket in it. Men love saying those two words. "Hey George, can I borrow your ratchet?" "OK. By-the-way, are you through with my 3/8-inch socket yet?" Again, no one knows why.

Rule #3:
If you are really, really broke, buy him anything for his car. A 99-cent ice scraper, a small bottle of deicer or something to hang from his rear view mirror. Men love gifts for their cars. No one knows why.

Rule #4:
Do not buy men socks. Do not buy men ties. And never buy men bathrobes. I was told that if God had wanted men to wear bathrobes, he wouldn't have invented Jockey shorts.

Rule #5:
You can buy men new remote controls to replace the ones they have worn out. If you have a lot of money, buy your man a big-screen TV with the little picture in the corner. Watch him go wild as he flips, and flips, and flips.

Rule #7:
Do not buy any man industrial-sized canisters of after shave or deodorant. I'm told they do not stink - they are earthy.

Rule #8:
Buy men label makers. Almost as good as cordless drills. Within a couple of weeks there will be labels absolutely everywhere. "Socks. Shorts. Cups. Saucers. Door. Lock. Sink." You get the idea. No one knows why.

Rule #9:
Never buy a man anything that says "some assembly required" on the box. It will ruin his day and he will always have parts left over.

Rule #10:
Good places to shop for men include Northwest Iron Works, Parr Lumber, Home Depot, John Deere, Valley RV Center, and Les Schwab Tire. NAPA Auto Parts and Sear's Clearance Centers are also excellent men's stores. It doesn't matter if he doesn't know what it is. "From NAPA Auto, eh? Must be something I need. Hey! Isn't this a starter for a '68 Ford Fairlane? Wow! Thanks."

Rule #11:
Men enjoy danger. That's why they never cook - but they will barbecue. Get him a monster barbecue with a 100-pound propane tank. Tell him the gas line leaks. "Oh the thrill! The challenge! Who wants a hamburger?"

Rule #12:
Tickets to a football game are a smart gift. However, he will not appreciate tickets to "A Retrospective of 19th Century Quilts." Everyone knows why.

Rule #13:
Men love chainsaws. Never, ever, buy a man you love a chainsaw. If you don't know why - please refer to Rule #8 and what happens when he gets a label-maker.

Rule #14:
It's hard to beat a really good wheelbarrow or an aluminum extension ladder. Never buy a real man a step ladder. It must be an extension ladder. No one knows why.

Rule #15:
Rope. Men love rope. It takes them back to our cowboy origins, or at least The Boy Scouts. Nothing says love like a hundred feet of 3/8" manila rope.

Thanks to AllegroArts AllegroArts for lots of laughs with this :)

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Santa


We took the girls to the mall to see Santa. Willow was too scared, but Violet got to sit on his lap!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Fiber Art


So I thought I'd try my hand at fiber art. What do you think? Is there a market for it? I think it's beautiful but I want to know what you think. I thought I'd try and have a whole line ready for Mother's day

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Craft Show Fun!

This weekend I took the girls to the biggest, most amazing craft show I've ever seen!

Here's the girls with their new handmade barrettes.

We met up with Kate from etsy. I had bought one of her birdhouse ornaments on her shop and then I found out she was having a booth at this craft show, which I had intended to go to anyway! So I just picked up my order there.

Isn't she cute?
Her bird houses are just beautiful! This is art. Look at the detail!

We also met up with Mari. Here she is telling the girls about fused glass. I was sure I had taken a better picture of her, but I guess not. Sorry Mari!
We got to spend quite a bit of time with her and Violet says that "That lady that's Mom's friend" is her new best friend.

Kate and Mari both belong to our etsy Createability team.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

3

Has it really been 3 months? Has it only been 3 months?
So much has happened.
For starters, we sold our house and moved to Oregon. I figured, since we're a few hundred miles from any of my family, maybe it's time to dust off the ol' blog.
We're really liking it here. My sweetie got a really good job. We're REALLY enjoying the weather. We like our new ward. Willow is doing well in her new school. It's all good.
I'm getting a new camera soon, so I'll post pictures then.