More Masks

I send activity care packages, weekly, to my seniors in my club. (COVID has shut down the club I work in). This week, I decided to get them ready for the second wave. (Our first wave has been easy breezy…I think our luck will run out soon).

It is a nice place to sew! HUGE table. Lots of natural light. I wish it was my sewing room at home!

I hauled my machine to work and emptied out my stash a bit and got sewing.

Once they were all sewed up I got them ready for mailing.

I think they turned pretty well. There was some fun fabric that I hope will encourage them to use them when they are out on the town.

Stay safe folks.

Sun catchers

I mail little gifts and puzzles and reading materials to the seniors I work with as they isolate at home. These were fun but a bit stinky (toxic?)

I preheated my oven to 350°. Then I lined muffin tins with parchment paper. I assembled plastic faceted beads in each cup and heated for 18 minutes. I settled on 18 minutes because at 20 minutes they were melted to the point I need to drill holes. At 18 minutes there are the odd holes for strings.

I took them out of the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. They popped out of the pan easily. Then I pealed the parchment paper off.

I gathered the info for this project over several easy to find sites and YouTube videos. Some did the same procedure with pony beads, some used cake pans, some used higher heat.

I’d recommend 350°, lots of ventilation and checking the project in the oven every 5-10 minutes as different ovens, project sizes, bead brands and desired effect will effect the results.

Gifts for my socially isolating seniors

Bead animals

Swans and turtle

Horses

Supposed to be sheep but look more like dogs

Mice

Cats

Pigs

Frogs

Dogs

Nemo

Dory

Went a bit crazy with these.

Completed project:why?

Meet Humphrey the Humungus Hummingbird.

I found a pattern meant for seed beads and decided to use massive beads…the massive size made it easier to work with while I figured out the pattern.

I will hang it in the windows at work. Now that I see how it goes together, I will make it in the correct size. I also want to see if I can adapt it to different types of birds. The beads used for Humphrey would make an awesome Macaw for example.

CHA: Craft hoarders annonimous

Hello. My name is Wanda and I am a craft hoarder. After 2 months of abstinence, I succumbed to the wiles of my favorite dealer (Michaels) and fell of the wagon. I went into that den of temptation with out my sponsor and best friend.

I was able to abstain because of COVID 19. But after 2 months of Netflix and playing every game we own, I was set free in an open store! oh the ephoria!

As an aside… I made these for my seniors. I can’t take credit for the idea. That was Pinterest.

Life hack: ear saver

I’ve seen a few ideas for saving your ears from the masks we are wearing in health care and else where.

There are surgical caps with buttons next to the ears (the mask elastic is hooked over the buttons).

There was a mass of headbands at work and I thought it was folks trying to hide weaves and hair dye that had grown out. Nope they have buttons on them just like the surgical caps.

There are these plastic strips with hooks on them. They are worn at the back of the head and the bands are hooked on them. I can’t use those. My hair would get caught and I’d need to cut them out!

Some women are making two little buns near their ears with their hair and hooking the elastic bands over those. I feel too old for that look.

Here is my hack….I wear my hair in a pony tail at work and now I add two small barettes behind my ears. When not wearing mask they are not very noticeable. They stay in my hair so I’m not hunting for them like I think people might be with the plastic strips.

The bands hook nicely over them.

The easiest way to remove the mask, is to pull the elastic off of the mask. It will then slide off without getting hooked.

Hope this helps someone else!

Donation at work

I work in a nursing home that at one time was a Veteran’s hospital. There are many memorial style donations and last week I noticed a new one.

It is a quite large replica of a Swedish war ship.

The detail is impressive!

Until next time, keep virus-free.

It makes me laugh

Just a couple of random stories that show my warped sense of humor.

As you know, I work with seniors who have dementia.  This week we played a game I call “Gone Hunting”.  I drew a bear on a white board and had my peeps shoot him with a Nerf gun.

Right over the bear we have a clock hanging.

Every time they hit it, I said they were killing time.  And since they have dementia, it was hilariously funny EVERY TIME!

My other funny story is I’ve been to the dentist today.  I’m not a fan.  I’ve had some bad ones that really should have been working in a dungeon under a medieval castle.  That is saying a lot for me.  As a migraine sufferer, I have a very high tolerance for pain…but not in the mouth.

This has lead to years of avoiding the bastards  profession all together.  Anyway, I sucked it up because I know that avoiding them is yet another bad health decision on my part.  This new dentist doesn’t want me avoiding her for years so for my cleaning she took pity on me and froze me up.  I now can’t smile properly…

And my kissy face has lost its sexual appeal…

So if this were the Victorian era I’d probably NEVER see a dentist unless I absolutely had too.  If I can be a baby with dentistry with the liberal use of freezing, imagine what I’d be like if dentistry consisted of a blacksmith/farrier with a pair of pliers and a strong set of biceps.

 

We are just crazy like that

In my work network, I find there are a lot of us Recreation for Senior folks who will do projects on our time. We will also use our own stuff or our own money too.

I am no different. I don’t always have enough time or resources to do what I want at work so I donate to the cause. I am not a saint. I only do things on my own time if I enjoy it. And I only give away things that I have lots to spare or have no need of.

This time round it is an Easter tea. A plain ol’ tea time can be on plain ol’ tables. Not Easter. So on my day off, I turned these…

…into these.

I loved making these. They were inexpensive, easy to make and it can all be taken apart and rearranged to suit different events.

The little chicks are so cute!

Turn the page: Victoria’s doppelganger

I realize my posting has been a bit spotty of late. Drama at work (potential department cuts) has left me uninspired for posts and for completed things to post about.  Pretty sure you are not interested in seeing my completed coloring pages and jigsaw puzzles! My group and I are also not getting out in costume lately…partially due to busy schedules and partially due to my energy slump.

But in the interest of letting you know that I have not died, here is a quick post about my carte de visite album.

Next page:

Queen Victoria’s doppelganger or what! I find the profile sitting interesting.  Was there a reason for that?  Something on the right side of her face she is trying to hide? Trying to draw attention to the head wear?  What is the thing she is wearing on her head?  Is it purely a fashion statement or does it mean something?  Not a nun, but a nurse perhaps?  If anyone knows, be sure to share.

Out of the sleeve, we get no further information. There is no photographer’s stamp on the front or the back.

Now for the gent…

Taking him out of the sleeve reveals one thing…these two photos were likely not taken at the same place so it is harder to speculate that there is some sort of tie between the two.

The style of card stock is different and the gent has a photographers stamp.

We seem to have his birth and death written on the back.  (A good 84 years of life!) So possibly these were reprinted after death or the dates were added later?  I read the word on the bottom as Rebecca’s.  Perhaps the person handing out the photographs, wrote the name of the person who was to receive each one?  I know I have done that with my kids’ school photos.

That’s it for me today.  I can’t say there will be effort on my part to post again this week.  I’m expecting some major developments this week in regards to the work drama so depending how the chips fall, my motivation will either rise or fall…we shall see.