Saturday, July 14, 2012

Thunderstorms, Crafts and a Sweet Friend

We've been having severe thunderstorms here (severe for us; probably not severe by midwestern standards). Last Sunday night, the thunderclaps were so loud that they woke alot of people out of a sound sleep, including me and David and my mother. The lightning was so bright that it lit up the sky - as well as our bedroom and bathroom - and it went on for what seemed like a long time. Mother Nature is very impressive!

It has happened on a couple of other days, and I don't like to go out and walk when I think lightning might strike. I know the odds aren't great that I'll get hit, but I prefer to wait it out indoors, so my exercise schedule has been a little bit "off." What to do while waiting out a storm? How about a craft project?

My parents' 60th wedding anniversary is coming up in August, and I am creating the table centerpieces for a celebration. I've ordered the invitations, the cake, the flowers - it's been great fun. The cake has a beach-theme (my mother's request), so the centerpieces have, as well. I've been designing these in my head for a couple of months, and while stuck indoors this week, I went to my "workshop" (a corner of the garage that I have filled with driftwood, shells and sea glass), fired up the hot glue gun, and got creative.
This is the result:
It's a wreath, covered with shells and sea glass. 
I learned how to do this years ago - a friend taught me - but back then, I made large wreaths with driftwood, which required a drill and wire. I don't want to do that any more - now, it's just me and my hot glue gun.
The next step is to put a candle in the middle of the wreath, and set both of them on a glass plate, with a little bed of sand in the plate, and a homemade "placemat" underneath (I'll do that the day of the party). 
It will look something like this (without the backdrop).
I was having so much fun that I lost track of time, and worked for three hours, skipping breakfast and lunch (by accident)! David finally came downstairs to find me, and I was shocked to learn that it was 2:30 P.M.

 Since there was more thunder today, I finished all four of them. Working with a hot glue gun and beach glass is great fun, and can be very therapeutic (and addictive).

On another topic, today I received a package; it had birthday gifts and a card in it. I don't normally review my gifts online, but these are so special that I had to show you.
This is a mobius bracelet, with a verse inscribed on it (Matthew 22: 37). The verse is taken from the Old Testament, and is known as the Shema. According to Wikipedia, "Jesus of Nazereth [s/b spelled Nazareth] considered the beginning exhortation of the Shema to be the first of his two greatest commandments: 'The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.' (KJV)." The bracelet has the last part of the quote on it; I love it!

The second gift in the box was this:
The photo doesn't quite do it justice. I think there is a lot of symbolism in all of the ornaments on the cross; it would be wonderful to meet this artist and ask her about it. I hung it up right away, near where I work.

Thank you so much, MB! I love you, dear friend.

6 comments:

ChiTown Girl said...

That centerpiece is gorgeous!! Your talents never cease to amaze me.

Did we miss your birthday, or is it coming up? Either way, Happy Birhtday! :)

That bracelet is beautiful. What a thoughtful gift. And, the cross is so interesting. I clicked on it to enlarge it, hoping to see all the little details, but I think I'm still missing a few.

Pam said...

So fun to receive meaningful gifts..I love them! : ) And you go with that glue gun, girl...very pretty centerpiece! : )

Janna said...

I LOVE the centerpieces!!! They totally have a piece of you in them as I immediately thought of you and your walks and beach finds!

Gberger said...

I'm so glad you like these! (My birthday was in June - thank you for the wishes. I didn't mean to make a big deal of it, but wanted to share these wonderful gifts with you.)

Busy Bee Suz said...

Lovely birthday gifts!
I LOVE your wreath centerpieces....you did a wonderful job. Your parents will enjoy your hard {therapeutic} work. :) I would have had issues gluing the sea glass though....it is so precious to me.
I can't wait for the party! And no, I promise I won't crash it.

Oh, with the lightening, it is quite common here for people to be struck. Scares the beejeesus out of me. We have been having storms daily, sometimes we have up to four different storm cells move through.

xoxo

pysanki.blogspot.com said...

The wreaths are beautiful. Glad to hear I'm not the only one who sees time fly when the creative juices get going.