Fairy Light Memento

After Mom's Funeral in April and the internment of both Mom and Dad I felt a need to have a memento to remind me of their love, commitment and my gratitude for having them in my life for over 60 years.

I love glass and have enjoyed looking at vintage, crystal and depression glass on several You Tube channels. 

I decided that I wanted a Fairy Light as my memento.  I could light it when I wanted comfort and a tangible reminder of them.  The vintage ones are hard to find and very expensive. Contemporary examples are more reasonably price.  One of them is by Fifth Avenue Crystal and those still were running about $100 on line which I was not prepared to do the online thing. I could not find anything in my area on Kijiji so I put out the word what I was looking for as most folks did not know.

About mid May I got a call from one of my sisters that she had found a Fifth Avenue one for $30.00 on Facebook. I said YES!  She was kind enough to pick it for me.  Towards the end of May I was able to collect it from her house but with the craziness going at my house it stayed in the box for a while longer.

I did start my plans for how I wanted to decorate it and light it.

This some pictures from on line because I did not take pics of mine before I started.

As you can see the base where the tealight would sit is not flat so I needed something to fill in that space and allow my tealight to sit nicely and safely.  I looked at several ideas for something small and clear like vase filler or seed beads.  Vase filler was going to be way more than I needed and clear sead beads with out silver lining were not available.  Durign the few days I spent with my sister in late June we visited a Dollarama and I found these.

These clear plastic diamonds were small enough to fill in the space, they were clear and the price was right.

Once I was home, I poured the bag of the smallest diamonds in the base and then set the clear plastic tealight holder on top.

It was perfect. They filled the cavity below the tealight exactly the way I needed.

The bottom right hand photo is seeing the candle wax completely melted in the clear plastic tealight holder and you can see the diamonds below.

There is the risk of spilling the diamonds out of the base as they are just sitting there but that is okay.

I knew I wanted green and blue glass beads so the light would go through them.  Dad's favorite shirts which Mom made for him were forest green and Mom's favorite color was blue.  Not cobalt but a true blue.

The Fairy Light offered 2 places to put some sort of decoration.  The indent on the shade and the one just above the base.

Here's my first attempt with EBeads on the base.  It's hard to tell in this photo but we received a small locket at the funeral.  We cleared Mom's stuff at Easter and we had slated her clothes to be donated. When the time came my sister could not send Mom's favorite dress to the thrift store and she decided to make it into mememtos for the kids and grandkids.  She put a small piece in the lockets for the boys and the girls received a scarf from the fabric.

The locket is still a memento from both Mom and Dad.

During this time my mind was working on what to buy for beads.  I did enjoy the Fairy Light a few times lit late at night.  

As you can see in the above photo only the shade is lit with the tealight at the top of the base.  I made the decision a few years ago to limit my use of real candles and switched to wax for scent.  I do have a few real tealight candles because sometimes in photography nothing but a real flame will do.

The thought crossed my mind that if I could find a light which the Fairy Light could be placed on then it would not be fire and the base would be lit as well.  

The brainstorming began.  I have an etched crystal block which has a LED light in the base which lights it up. Okay, that one has several colors of lights that rotate through - red, green, yellow and blue I think.  Well I knew I did not want colored lights. Now, I want a white LED light round base.  I put that into Google and stuff came up. They do sell LED light bases for crystal and glass figurines, etched glass items, and gemstones etc.  Again, none easily available in retail stores in my area. But I persisted!  Eventually, I found round puck light which can be placed under your upper cabinets.  They are battery operated and light when you press the center of the puck. I brought a tracing of the Fairy Light base with me to make sure that it would stand safely on this puck. I was a the big orange store which on line indicated there was 16 in stock.  After asking several customer service reps for assistance I received what I needed. A couple of guys checked the inventory and sure enough there was supposed to be some in stock.  A sharped eyed young man said there the right number on that box way up there! Up they went and brought down the box, I check the diameter against my tracing and walked out of there with 3 for less that $20 and the AAA batteries were included.

This is starting to fall into place.  Beads are next.

I decided that Michaels would by my starting place for beads.  The day I was there the shelves were mostly empty.  Supply chain issues? I don't know. I found some green faceted beads in the size that would work but no blue ones.  Another girl in the aisle said she was going to visit a Michaels in a city south of ours as there were fewer customers there and hoped the selection would be better.  After giving that some thought I decided to follow here lead.  Into the car and headed south on the big highway.

Sure enough, there was the same green ones in the the 4 different sizes and cobalt blue ones in the 8mm size which were on sale! One of the green strings was 8mm. Perfect.  They were faceted.

I used strong beading cord left over from my Christmas tree project. 

I placed the green and blue glass faceted beads alternating the colors until I had enough to go around the shoulder of the shade.  I tied my knot then added a few more for dangles.  I added an EBead and a silver crimp bead at the end to keep the beads in place.

 

I chose to use silver lined EBeads for the string of beads on the base of the Fairy Light. Again, I chose deep green and cobalt blue for color. I tied the cord tight with 3 knots.

I added the hinged locket on the string and let it sit over the knots.  That worked out really nice.

One of my sisters had the lockets in her stash of craft stuff and brought them with her.  It was great to be able to have something from that day.

As you can see it is hinged so I may put a bit of Mom's dress in it.

I

I am so happy with how this project turned out. It took almost 3 months for all the pieces to come together but it is so gorgeous.  I will enjoy it for years to come.

I love you Mom and Dad!

Small Gifts - Oil Diffusers - One of a Kind - Set 2

I have started another set of bespoke oil diffusers.

Ice Cream Cone - This is a ceramic Easy Tiger Matte Ceramic Ice Cream Cone mini planter.

I paired it with a warm and fuzzy yarn in peaches, creams and aqua color.  I created one ball for the ice cream you can see then a small one to anchor this one in the cone.  I stitched them together.

I used a silicone bead with a piece of yarn which I wired to keep it up in position as an accent on top of the cone. The tones all work together in this piece of art.

The oil can be dropped on the cherry on top or the ice cream.  

The ceramic cone will contain the oil. 

Red & White Bouquet - A clear glass bud vase holds a red and white bouquet of pom pom flowers.

I have used another wooden spiral to hide the wire armature of the bouquet.

The bouquet is weighed with a wood bead on the inside of the spiral.

The red pom pom flowers can be used to hold the essential oil with little concern of discoloration.

Again, the glass vase will protect your surface from any drops of oil.  

Just 2-5 drops of oil will be enough to give you scent for 20 minutes to 40 minutes.

Key to my Heart - A crystal glass candy dish holds a set of 3 felt hearts.  This were hand cut to match the shape of the glass dish.

I chose red, pink and white in graduated sizes. I added a small gold tone metal key held in place with 3 tiny stitches of cotton thread.

The stitches also hold the 3 felt hearts together.  A Zot on the glass holds the hearts in the proper place in the dish.

The oil should likely be applied to the red heart to avoid any discoloration to the white heart.

Again, the glass dish keeps your surface free from damage from any oil drops.

Sunflower - A handmade felt sunflower in a clear shallow glass vase.  If I had to guess it's original purpose may have been has a terrarium.

Well, it still holds a flower but now it has bright colors of orange, golden yellow and sunshine yellow with a brown center.

I made the flower following this tutorial. Check out the following link for the details. DIY Felt Flowers - No Sew Fabric Flower Tutorial   It fits in the vase perfectly.  

The dark center will be ideal for the drops of essential oil as discoloration will not show.

Glass will protect your surface from stay oil drops.  Love it!

A Glass of Sherry - I wanted this small vintage glass to look like it was filled with sherry.

I chose a loose burgundy yarn with a hint of gold among the threads to fill the bowl of the glass.   I wrapped it around a felt wool ball to give me a stable core and for it to assemble easier.

I chose a gold metal filigree at the top to cap the loosely wound yarn.  I topped it with a glass & gold bead which is held in place with a tiny gold ebead.  It was strung together with gold metallic thread which holds the accent, the loose yarn and the wool ball core as one piece.

Zots hold the nest of yarn to the glass which will protect the surface from oil drops.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I think of June as lilac month. 

I brought some into my place for the beautiful scent and wonderful color.

This hand painted vase works well with these blooms with similar coloring.

I finished this book this week. It holds 4 modern romance stories.

Gift of Love by 4 different authors. 

The short stories vary from young love to romance with older folks.  City and country settings are featured.  I enjoyed the stories despite that they were pretty predictable.  They were tastefully written with Christian values which I appreciated.

I came across this cool idea this week.

To add a nice scent to your bathroom by just placing a few drops of your favorite essential oil on the inside of the roll.  Every time you pull the roll the scent will be released.

I used my Bergamot & Grapefruit oil which I am enjoying everyday instead of having it sit on a shelf.

Great idea.

I found these Mikasa Crystal Tea Bag Holders this week at the thrift store.  I could not resist as they were on half price. 

I have several tea bag holders so I will have to do some culling. I have too much tea related stuff such as cups, mugs, tea pots, etc. There will be a culling soon.  

I got my 2nd COVID Vaccine shot this week!  Feeling better about this whole thing.
 

I went for a photo shoot with my aunt this week.  We tried a new wetland in hopes of it being a little less busy than the big ones.

We met at 8:00 am which was late for me and early for her. 

It took us about 45 minutes to walk around the 2 ponds.  There were many types of ducks and water fowl.  There are places where it was difficult to get close to the water.  Also, the early morning light was not great because it was in our faces when we were close to the water so an early evening visit may be better.

The number of people was low but I'm not sure that would be the case later in the day. 

This is a female Redhead Duck.  It was a very pleasant hour with social distancing and masks. 

I found a few pink flowers this week for my mosaic.  Gerber daisies and geraniums.  I am so grateful to those who plant flowers in their from gardens for others to enjoy!
 

 

The challenge at Flickr Macro Monday this week was Board Game Pieces.  Of course that leads to a great variety of options.  I was surprised at how many themed Monopoly Games have been produced. 

One of the shots I took for this challenge is chess pieces - you can check my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics) for the shot I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #134 and

Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #292

Recent Photos

I have started using my slow cooker more.  It gives me the freedom to craft or sew uninterrupted by food prep for supper.

This is 1.5 quart size which is perfect for me.  I have made a veggie curry, barley vegetable soup and just root vegetables in broth as a side dish. 

I was at the ReUse Center this week and found this slow cooker recipe book.  It is a great idea to cook once eat twice.  Mostly it proposes cooking the meat the firs time and then making that into another dish the next meal.

I have browsed it and marked several recipes I want to try.  I have added a few ingredients to my grocery list.

Looking forward to enjoying the free time.

I finished this book last week - Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.  It was a different kind of book from what I have read in the last few years. I thought I should check out the Canadian author.

It focuses on a lone character called Snowman, who finds himself in a bleak situation with only creatures called Crakers to keep him company. The reader learns of his past, as a boy called Jimmy, and of genetic experimentation and pharmaceutical engineering that occurred under the purview of Jimmy's peer, Glenn "Crake".

Mankind has been overwhelmed by a plague, Snowman is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved.

I am quite okay with following the author into another world.  I was left with questions so I may have to reread it.  Based on review online the story is deeper than I got the first time.  

I was gifted these small Swarovski Crystal candle holders with blue candles.  Well that works for me in the sense of color and size.

They were sold in the 80s.  The logo is right for the time.  The swan logo has been used since 1989.

They go so well with my Blue Nordic dishes.  Of course the light they reflect is wonderful and brilliant.

I have included several images in this mosaic.

You can check out Flickr Macro Monday whose theme this week is Odd One.  This is one of the compositions I took for the challenge this week.  I really enjoy the challenges on Flickr and participate in this one every week.  The group is well moderated and we have many regular contributors which I look forward to seeing each week.

If you check out my photo stream you can see the one I submitted.

I have decided to do a Blog Give Away so check out the question I am asking.  It will run the full month of February and the winners will be selected on Leap Day - February 29th.

I am linking up with Mosaic Monday #65 hosted by Angie at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf.

Mosaic Monday - This Week

I received this wonderful fused glass tea bag catcher from my sister who attended a youth event this summer and needed a couple of emergency contacts.  I served as number 2.

Does she know me well?  Glass, yellow and tea related.  Does not get better than that.  These were being sold at the event and was produced by Mad About Glass.  I love it!!

Thanks so much.


This photo was one of the several I took for the challenge on Flickr this week which was In The Mirror.  We needed to take a macro close up shot of an object.  It would be best if we did not see the edges of the mirror.  I took a shot of a dried rose in a small crystal vase.  I placed a few glass marbles in the vase to hide the stem.  I love how it turned out.
You can see my shots by following this link. SMDPics

A visit to my aunt's house on Saturday showed this type of industriousness going on.  Dill pickles and peaches were on the agenda for preserves that day.  Her daughter and husband were up and the kitchen was a hopping place.

My kitchen saw some activity as well Friday night when I cored and quarters the rest of the apples from my Mom's.  The flies were starting to flit about and it as time the apples were processed.  I managed 4 containers of apple sauce for chocolate bran muffins which get made at my house every week.  So I use about 50 containers of apple sauce a year and at this time of year apples are being offered for free by several folks with trees.

I found this set of dinnerware at the thrift store last week for $3.  I could not leave it there.
It is Country Side by Wedgewood in blue.  The tea cup saucer is missing so I have substituted another for this photo.  I'm sure with a bit of attention on-line I may be able to acquire a replacement.


Submitting to Mosaic Monday #5 hosted by Maggie at Normandy Life.

Share Your Cup - Pretty Things

Isn't life time replacement guarantee pretty rare these days. Well Tupperware still has one!
I had to get some replacement pieces as some of my Tupperware containers had cracked and broken.  Several pieces could not be replaced so I got credit.  What to buy?  After a browse through the catalog I saw several pieces in Salt Water Taffy which reminded me very much of my blue dishes.  I still have my original yellow set of measuring cups from several decades ago but I thought why not a new set in this gorgeous color! I got the snack set in the same color. They will fit into my tablescaping very nicely. Done!

I got 10 clear napkin rings in with some crystal glass pieces I will show you in later post.  I thought they may have been glass but alas no!
Oh well you win some you lose some.  They are very pretty and go with any decor.  I guess you do need to have cloth napkins to really make them work. 

I have been on the hunt for some Masala Chai Tea.  I have visited most tea shoppes in my area.  With a walk to The Tea Girl I picked up some Masala & Himalayan Chai.  The price was reasonable so I will have a try with these two in hopes of being able to buy some locally.  My favorite I have to buy from central Alberta which is not always convenient and quite pricey but it is the best so far.  They refill the tins when you bring them back and offer a discount.

I purchased this long black velvet skirt at the Rummage Sale last weekend.  I have been looking for a piece to help me in my photography.  It absorbs the light so really helps with reflections.  The skirt 37" long and opened up the piece of fabric is 70 inches wide.  That will do really well for my purpose. 

A blue tea bag holder in a leaf shape with a round matching saucer.  It has silver gilding along the outside edge.  Several holes in the centre to allow the tea to drain.  Goes well with my navy mugs. Love it!!




Sharing at Share Your Cup hosted my Carol at Art & Sand.

Art - Desk Dish

This crystal dish was given to me and I`ve been thinking about about how to fill it.  I found this vase filler in the great colors of turquoise, red and white. There were pods, balls, and nuts along with this great butterfly.  I place a candle insert on the top of the big stuff I placed on the bottom.  I filled the surrounding area with some glass beads in similar colors. I placed a red electric tea light candle in the holder. I can still put the lid on and take it off when I want the light on. I`m really happy with how it turned out.

Card - Invitation Samples

I had a couple approach me to design some invitations for their 60th wedding anniversary which is the diamond anniversary.
Here's the samples they did not select. Check back later for their selection.
I selected a black card.  I embossed a white layer with the SU Elegant Bouquet folder.  I printed a 60 on to bottom right hand corner.  I glued the white layer to the card front then applied several crystal rhinestones.

This card was a white on white concept.  I started with a white card and added a layer embossed with the Cuttlebug Devine Swirl folder. The next layer was cut with one of the SU Apothecary Framelits onto which I layered 2 die cut hearts which were embossed with Cuttlebug Swiss Dots on left and Craft Concepts In Bloom on the right.  I added a crystal rhinestone on the left heart.  The framelit die cut and the hearts were raised with 3D foam tape.

I chose ivory card stock for this one.  I printed some SU! Designer Paper from the Beau Chateau series. I slipped a Cuttlebug ribbon slider in Marina Mist onto the ivory organza ribbon and wrapped it around this layer and taped the ends to the back. I added a crystal rhinestone heart onto the centre of the ribbon slider.  I color printed the "invitation" on ivory card stock and cut it with another SU! Apothecary Framelit.  It was mounted to the card front with 3D foam tape.

Here's the one they selected.

I started with a dusty lavender card.  I embossed a white layer with the Cuttlebug Rebecca embossing folder and trimmed it to leave a tiny border.  I cut a lavendar scalloped oval with a Spellbinder nestabilities.  I color printed the information in lavendar onto white card stock then cut it with the corresponding smooth ovals in the SB nestabilities. These were adhered to each other then the element was mounted to the card front with 3D foam tape.