Music Bucket List ✔️

 I don't know about most people, but I have a Music Bucket List. This is a short list of 5 Songs and 4 Artists. My list was started as a teenager and included the first 4 songs/artists, and the last 1 was added as a newly married woman in my twenties. The last one on my list was the first one checked off.

My husband and I met in 1981 and married in 1983. In 1983/84 a Bryan Adams song came out that became our song, "Heaven". I fell in love with the lyrics and it became our song immediately. After we were married in Ohio in 1983, we moved to California and went to see Bryan Adams' "Reckless" tour. We are on the lawn at an amphitheater at the Orange County fairgrounds and heard Bryan sing "Heaven" live. I still remember that night so clearly, sitting on a blanket up on the grass hill, with my wonderful husband, I think I was over 5 months pregnant, listening to one of my favorite singers singing our song. How could I ever forget that experience? We heard him sing "Heaven two more times in  on his "Bare Bones" tour. The first with just me and my husband, and the second time was in 2013  with the daughter I was pregnant with in 1984, and she was pregnant with our first grandchild. How cool is that? Music Bucket List #5 ✔️.

In 1973 Billy Joel released "Piano Man" and it instantly became one of my favorite songs. I loved Billy Joel's music then and still love it today, but "Piano Man" could not be topped. Is there a human on this planet that does not know, and love that song? I think not! Just less than a year later in 1974 Elton John came out with "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me."  I would be hard pressed to pick which one of those songs was my favorite. They are songs that you turn up loud and sing even louder no matter where you are. I was singing one of them the other day in a store and did not care who heard me. As a matter of fact I am sure there were other people in that store singing with me. You just can't stop yourself. In 2009 Elton and Billy were touring together and my husband and I went to the concert in Indianapolis, IN. Elton sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" the 3rd song in the set and Billy sang "Piano Man" the 36th song in the set. They did not disappoint. To go to a concert with two of the best Music Artists of all time, at the same time, and who entertained us for 3 hours was truly one of the best concerts I have ever attended. Music Bucket List #3 and #4 ✔️

Elton John

Billy Joel 

Now for numbers #1 and #2. I was born in 1960 and have 5 siblings that were older by 7 to 15 years. So you better believe I was raised on Beatles music. I had two brothers that were in bands in their teens, and for every teenage band in the 60s and 70s  Beatles songs were standards on their set list. My husband loves the Beatles, and so do my kids. I even think my grandkids love Beatles music. I watched the "Get Back" documentary a few months ago and it revived my love of their music. Last week my Husband and I went to see Paul McCartney in Fort Worth. First, I never in all of my life thought I would ever be able to see any of the Beatles in person. Let alone Paul, who in my opinion was the most talented of the group. Then to see him at the age of 79 and 11 months still rocking was AMAZING. This man played/sang 36 songs, and played the acoustic guitar, bass, ukulele, mandolin and piano without missing a note or forgetting a word. He told the best stories of his music experiences, paid tributes to John and George his departed friends and shared his music from the Beatles, Wings and his newest work. Then it happened, song #28 on the play list, "Let it Be". I was in tears! My favorite song of all time was being sung by Paul McCartney. At first I couldn't even sing with him because I was so awe struck. I did video him and about a verse into it I got a grip and started singing along. Best music moment ever!

Paul playing "Let It Be"

After "Let it Be", and the crowd calmed a bit, Paul started to play "Live and Let Die", great song, but not a bucket list song. What we didn't plan on, being scared out of our wits, lol. Just after he sang, "Live and Let Die" there was an explosion and fire balls shot up from the front of the stage and then the back of the stage and then indoor fireworks went off. Holy Mother of Pearl it was loud and Awesome! My husband turned to me and said, I have never been scared at a concert before. 🤣

First loud explosion and fire after he sang "Live and Let Die"

Fire and fireworks during the music

After that great music spectacle was over Paul went to the piano and started to play "Hey Jude". This song lasted over 7 minutes and we all got to sing with Paul McCartney! It was so much fun that everyone in that arena was singing the  na na na na's. So, I not only got to see Sir, soon to be Lord, Paul McCartney, but I got to sing with him. Music Bucket List #1 and #2 ✔️

Although there are other songs that I love and Artist I would love to see, these have always been the must see for me. Music is such a huge part of my families lives, and I always have a song in my head. Even though my Music Bucket List is complete, I will never be done listening for that next great song.

 

Hot Chocolate Gift Mugs

For Christmas last year one of the gifts I gave friends and family was my homemade hot chocolate mix. I have shared the basic recipe, which I received over 20 years ago from a friend in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The mix was outstanding as is, but I add a special ingredient to mine that I do not share. The original recipe is listed below.

I made a huge bowl of mix and filled some Christmas printed baggies with the mix enough for about 4 to 6 cups of hot chocolate. Next, I went to my Cricut cutting machine to make cute cardstock mugs. There is a great pattern from Cricut I used and it was so easy to make.

The Cricut pattern 

I had some Christmas paper I have had for over ten years from Stamping Up. The paper was printed on both sides with coordinating prints. This was perfect paper for these mugs because they will have different patterns on the inside of the mug and the handle.

Stamping Up paper I used for my mugs. Double sided with coordinating patterns.

I loaded the pattern in the Cricut machine and sat at the machine for a while cutting about a dozen mugs. Then gluing all the pieces together, matching coordinating handles with the correct mug. The pattern comes with a tag, so I cut them out of solid white, green and red paper.

Cut pieces. I did not use the snow flake for most of the mugs.

 

Outside

Inside

After adding some mini marshmallows onto the top of the mix, I tied the bag closed with a twist tie,  tied it with a ribbon, and then I dropped the bag of hot chocolate into the paper mug. Then I filled out the gift tag and tied it to the handle of the paper mug. Now they were ready for delivery.

These turned out so cute and just may turn into a new Christmas tradition. But with the right paper, it can be a gift for any occasion.

Hot Chocolate Mix

8 cups of dried milk

1 1/2 cups of sugar

15 ozs of Nestle's Quik mix

8 ozs coffee creamer

Mix all ingredients together

To make a cup of hot chocolate, add 1/4 to 1/3 cup of mix to 8 oz of hot water!

Texas Longhorns

 Growing up in the Midwest I have seen many cows.  I know the common types of dairy and beef cows like, Holstein, Jersey, Guernsey, Angus, Beef Master, and Herefordshire. They were boring cows in many shades of brown and black. As a kid we would drive by fields and I would hardly give then a glance. Then I went to Texas and saw a Longhorn for the first time.

It is a jaw dropping moment when you are driving along a Texas road and you come across a field full of Longhorn cows. They defy reason. They make absolutely no sense. There stands a normal looking cow with the most outrageous horns that can extend to over 8 feet from end to end. You stand there and look at them just trying to figure out what life with those horns is like. How do they keep from wounding each other as they walk by? Do they have an awareness of the width and naturally compensate for them? Is it hard to keep your balance when you move your head around? Is it hard to laydown and get up? So many questions.

The longhorn came from the Iberian Peninsula by Spanish conquistadores during the voyages of Christopher Columbus to Hispaniola. The cattle was used for food for the colonists. The cattle was taken to Mexico and over time they wondered North. They arrived in what is now Texas in the 17th century. The cows became feral and were mated with cows from Europe. The end result was the longhorn. The longhorns could live in the heat of the South and the cold of Montana. They would eat weeds, brush and cactus and could go days without water. Longhorn meat is very lean and back in the early days animal fat was more desired, so the Longhorn population slowly dwindled and was headed towards extinction.

There were Longhorn enthusiasts like a man named J. Frank Dobie who started gathering small herds that they kept in Texas State Parks. This was after someone in the United States Forest Service put steers in a refuge in Oklahoma. Because the Longhorn is so hardy, and can breed for many years the longhorn became more desirable. Nowadays their lean meat that is lower in cholesterol and calories is also more desirable.

At the stockyards in Fort Worth they have a cattle drive with Longhorns twice a day about 363 days a year. We took a trip to the stockyards a few weeks ago with family that were here for a visit. The cattle drive runs down the main street in the Stockyard District, and in between the drives the cattle are put in a corral near by. When you walk up to the corral to see the Longhorns, there goes the jaw drop! They all look different. I think the tour guide said no two are alike and their horns are all different too. Some horns curl up, curl down, twist or just go straight out forever. They are just so amazing to look at. Nothing says Texas like a Longhorn.

Old, New, Borrowed and Blue

 When my daughter was married 10 years ago I sewed a piece of my wedding dress into the seam of her dress. I also took a cuff off my dress and we put it around the stems of her bouquet. She also wore the pearl earrings I was married in and wore a string of the pearls her father bought me in Spain.  It was fun to find ways to incorporate my wedding into hers.

My wedding dress cuff on my daughters bouquet.

Applique from my dress sewn in the seam of my daughters dress. 

When my Son and Daughter in-law (Allison, her middle name) got married last year. We decided to do the same tradition in their wedding. We had Allison's Mom give her a piece of fabric and a cuff from her wedding dress. We used the cuff for her bouquet like my daughters.

For Allison's gown I took the piece of the fabric from her Mom's dress, folded it in half and basted the open side across from the fold, pulled the thread to make the fabric form into a circle. Then I sewed the ends together to close the circle.

Heart jewelry piece I used in the memento.

I had a silver cut open heart jewel that I found in some jewelry beads. I took a blue piece of silk ribbon and filled the heart bead with the blue ribbon. Next, I sewed the blue filled silver bead onto the middle of Allison's Mom's wedding dress fabric circle.

Allison's Mom's wedding dress fabric. Old and blue all in one.

I cut an applique flower from my wedding dress and then sewed my flower and her Mom's heart piece into the inner layer of the skirt lining of Allison's dress. Even though the bead was a tiny bit bulky, where the pieces were sewn on the dress made it so Allison couldn't tell they were even there.

Both pieces sewn in place, ready to be a part of Allison's big day.

It was so special knowing that a piece of my dress and Alison's Mom's dress were a part of her dress when she walked down the isle to marry my Son.  It is also a tradition that can be carried on to the next generation. 

 

Plate flowers

 

Many years ago my sister Lynn, not her first name, bought a few plate flowers at a craft bazaar. She has them by her back patio at her home in Ohio. I have always been crazy about them, and have never seen them in Texas to purchase. So, I decided to make my own. The flower above was made using some of my most expensive dishes. A large ceramic dinner plate, an ivy covered salad plate, a cabbage bowl and a flower topped ceramic salt shaker. I have this flower in a potted plant in my craft room currently.

Picture disclaimer: I have to apologize on the quality of my pictures, especially placement and background. These pictures were originally taken to send to my sisters and I had not planned on posting them. Then years and months later when I decided to blog about them, I had given the flowers away and these were the only pictures I had of them. Lesson learned: Always take a picture like you are going to publish it.

Lynn's plate flowers

Lynn sent me some pictures of the plate flowers in her yard, and pictures of the plate flower's front and back sides. I looked them over and made a list of the supplies I would need to make my own flowers.

The fronts of Lynn's flowers. 

The back of Lynn's Flowers.

 First I needed to do some antique shopping for tableware and other glass items. I put price limits on my purchases, based on the size of the item. It takes a good eye and a lot of shopping to find the items that will work well and not cost a lot of money. Items I looked for were dinner plates, salad plates, small bowls, cups and saucers, punch cups, glass coasters, candy dishes, candle holders and salt & pepper shakers, to name a few😉. 

My currant stock pile in my craft room hording closet.

My next stop was Lowes. I needed PVC pipe & caps and clear silicone caulking. Then, I went online and bought tomato plant stakes that were metal and coated with green plastic. The diameter of the pipe is determined by the diameter of the stake.  You want the pipe to fit snuggly onto the plant stake. My sister's plate flowers are hanging on a piece of rebar. I tried to find rebar that I could use, but between the rust and there being no easy way to cut them, I went the plant stake route.

The plant stakes I use for the stems of my flowers.

This is the original size of pipe and cap I used. 

This is a picture of the original pipe size on the left and the new pipe on the right. The original pipe's opening was 3/4 inch in diameter, and the new pipe's opening is 1/2 inch. 

The new size pipe with the cap.

This is one of the brands of Silicone I use for the plate flowers. 

This is what the plate looks like on the stake. The silicone is a bit messy on this one.

Over the last few years I have collected a stock pile of tableware. I have made plate flowers for friends, family and I have also sold a few, so the stockpile has been refurbished a few times. The best part of the process is picking the tableware combinations to put the flowers together. I put all the items on my dinning room table, and then I start matching colors, sizes, shapes and textures to build some pretty cool flowers. I found some plates that were shaped like sunflowers and pansies on sale and I think they are some of my favorite plates.

To put the flowers together, I start at the bottom, put a large amount of silicone on the bottom of the second plate and put in down in the middle of the bottom plate. Then you continue on until you get to the center piece. I let the plate sit for 24 to 36 hours to dry. I cut the pipe into 3 to 4 inch pieces, put the cap on it, and using a large amount of silicone on the back of the largest plate, I push the pipe and cap onto the silicone. I sit the flower on its face, pipe side up, to dry for another 24 to 36 hours. The plant stakes can be cut to what ever height you want. I use a pipe cutter and score the stake then just snap it at the score mark.

If you want to add some color in the middle of you flower you can add a broach, button, stone or mosaic glass gems in the center. Just be creative.

I do suggest, especially in Texas, that you take the flowers in during high winds, ice or hail. Oh, and maybe anyone with a weedwhacker, speaking from experience.  

Happy flower making!

Wreaths Across America

 My Father In-law was buried in the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery in 2020. We had just moved into our new house a few month earlier, and when talking to one of our new neighbors, a Veteran, he told us about Wreaths Across America. He told us that we could volunteer to help lay wreaths on the graves in the National Cemetery. I was too late for 2020, but we volunteered for 2021.

Waiting during the ceremony.

My husband and I, along with our daughter and grandkids, were going to go out to the cemetery on December 18, 2021 to volunteer for the event. As with everything in our lives, it just wasn't going to be that simple. I broke my foot and was in a boot, so I was not able to attend and my granddaughter could not attend. So, my husband, daughter and grandson ventured off early on a cold, windy Texas day to volunteer.

Having never attended this special day, a lot was learned on this first visit. First, thousands of people volunteer for this event to lay 48,000 plus wreaths. Parking was crazy. My family had to park in the median of the 4 lane road outside of the cemetery and walk a few miles to just get into the property. Then there was a lot of waiting. Waiting in high cold winds without shelter several miles from the car.

The street where the car was parked and everyone walking to the entrance.

The organizers hold a ceremony first full of pomp and circumstance including a military fly over. Then boxes with the wreaths were positioned on the roads around the property for each section of this very large cemetery. The volunteers are given the wreaths and instruction. When they lay the wreath on the grave, they say the name of the Veteran on the headstone. They can also say a thank you for their service if they want. My Grandson asked his Papa if he could lay the wreath on his Great Grandfather's grave. Obviously the answer was yes, and my husband said it was very emotional and special. Our grandson laid the wreath, kneeled down in front of the headstone, and fluffed and straightened the bow. Our Grandson was very proud of his Great Grandfather's Service and even wrote about him during last years Veterans Day celebration at school.

My family continued laying wreaths, saying the names of the Veterans and thanking them for their service. Although it was a long wait to get started, and because there were so many people participating, each person only had to lay about a dozen wreaths a piece. This event left a huge impact on our family.

My Father In-law's section was complete.

The definition of a wreath is a band of intertwined flowers or leaves worn as a mark of honor or victory. As a country our leaders lay wreaths on many military tombs, and this event is no different. This is not a religious or a holiday event, it is a Patriotic event to honor the service of our Veterans. 

Our visit on January 12, 2022

My husband and I went back to the Cemetery before the wreaths were removed. Even after a month of unseasonably warm weather and no rain, the wreaths were a bit brown and worn, but still gave us such a feeling of pride. It is a wonderful way to recognize the service of these Patriots during a time of year when people are so self absorbed. What better time of the year than December, the end of the year, to thank these selfless Men and Women who risked their lives for another year of our freedom.

Easy Indoor Christmas Decorations

2020 Christmas wall.

Two small paintings I covered.

I have a wall in my dinning room full of family pictures. When I was decorating for Christmas last year I had a great idea to decorate my picture wall. Instead of replacing the current pictures with Christmas pictures, I decided to just wrap the current pictures like presents.

Pictures in 2021

I had some metal star ornaments, bows, wood snowflake ornaments, small pinecones and ice cycle ornaments to decorate the picture presents.  In 2020 I picked a color scheme of red, green, blue and silver. I had Merry Christmas, red and green cloth ribbon to use on the project. I kept all of the ribbon and ornaments after I used them in 2020 and used them again on my new color scheme in 2021. The new color scheme was red, black, silver and gold.

I made sure I bought quality wrapping paper so it would hold up to the sharp corners of the frames. I also used hot glue to hold the ornaments to the front of the picture presents. The ribbon is held in place on the back of the frame with blue painter's tape.

The pictures above were taken at an angle which made the pictures look like they were crooked, they are not. I hate crooked pictures, so I am barely stopping myself from deleting the pictures, lol.

When Christmas is over, you get to unwrap extra presents off the wall and enjoy the pictures that had been hiding behind the Christmas wrap all month.

I love the look of the decorated wall in front of my decorated table. It was very festive.

My large poinsettia is missing from this picture. They were very hard to find here last Christmas. I received one as a gift  (Thanks Lynn) and put it in the snowman hat. 

If you don't have a picture wall, you can wrap all the pictures in a room or even the whole house. It is an inexpensive and pretty way to decorate for the Holiday. It is also a great way to decorate at a business or office. Happy wrapping!