Appleton Dance

I made this traditional Swedish Heart to hold a tiny Christmas present. It measures almost 4.5-inches square and was made using two 2.5 x 8 inch pieces of felt -- one white, one red. I refreshed my memory of how to make the Swedish heart using the book Christmas Customs: Handcrafted Ornaments published by Creative Publishing International of Minnetonka, MN in 2001. The book appears to be out of print, but it is available for the cost of shipping from sellers on Amazon. There are also directions online as Woven Heart Basket on First Palette: Your step-by-step guide to kids' crafts. This site gives a good guide on the actual weaving process, which is a little tricky until you have practiced a few times. To create your heart, you may use: paper; or fabric stiffened with iron-on interfacing, or two pieces of fabric adhered with a bonding medium like Stitch Witchery; or any kind of felt, as I did. Basically, you cut two rectangles in a three to one proportion, fold the rectangl...

Newly painted family room in Behr's Mojave Gold I LOVE my new family room! I had been using my family room as a working office for fifteen years and it was full of office equipment and files. After I retired, Alisa helped me get rid of a lot of the clutter and office equipment, but the room was still full of personal files, bills, junk, and one huge chaise longe. And lately, the chili pepper red walls had begun to wear on me. So, on Thanksgiving Day when Ben said they were getting rid of a couch, I asked for it to use in my family room and I asked Alisa to help me paint. They both said yes, and the transformation of my family room began. I took everything out of the room, and Sandy and Alisa and I painted with two coats of Behr's Primium Plus Ultra Interior Matte  paint in the Mojave Gold color  that weekend. We only needed one gallon.  To try out colors, the sales lady at Home Depot suggested  Sure Swatch  tacky film that you paint and stick...