My Father-in-Law Left a Wonderful Legacy

As some of you know, my Father-in-Law has been very ill for the last four months. He lost his battle to many problems including complications after double bypass last month and passed away very peacefully on Sunday. He may have lost the battle - but he won the fight as we know he has finally met our Savior that he has modeled his own life after.

This is the type of man that left a wonderful legacy without even trying. Always kind and gentle, he ALWAYS put everyone before himself - especially his wife of 53 years and his three sons.

I'm not able to put down in words everything that I'd like to as the pain is too fresh, but I did want to pay tribute to Bert Randall, 80 years old, husband to Hazel and father to Danny, Terry, and Gary. May he enjoy his new life in Heaven and may he rest in peace.

Yankee Candle Wood Lid Tutorial - Recycle is Good

I've been on a quest recently to find out something to do with candle jar lids without dumping them into my recycle bins. So, I managed to come up with one thing for the Yankee Soy Candle wood lids.

I discovered that the wood lids can be separated from the plastic seal and used for crafts. Just use care when cutting the plastic rim.

I tossed the plastic rim into recycle and used the wood disc as the base of a wood candle holder for more stability for a future project. Using E600, I glued the wood disc to the base of the candle holder and I'll use the metal circle for another project. I had just bought a wooden disc at Hobby Lobby for $.99 but with this quick project, I got three wood discs for free just by recycling!

My First Craft Mall Teeny Tiny Booth

Newsflash:

In the midst of the rat race I'm running, I finally took the plunge and signed a six month lease for a very small space at a relatively new (but very busy) craft mall near me. The Calico Rabbit in Plainwell, MI has a great corner storefront in the middle of their quaint little town. Small

is good for just starting out I think, but I filled it as well as I could. The good news is that the owner invited me to bring in more goodies to overflow in the empty booth next to me. In fact, she said that I could bring in lots more junk and scatter them here and there in a couple more semi-empty booths. She'd rather have things in the spaces and then clear them when the spaces are rented. Sounds grand to me - extra space for me rent free!

Here's a few pictures of my space. The mini lights are pink, great to help highlight Chic Cottage Junk!

It's not very big but I loaded it up! The previous tenant had painted the pegboard brown and I thought it went just fine with the Shabby colors I use.

Life Has Gotten in the Way ...

As many of you find, Life has a way of - well - of getting in the way. I have been away from home a lot staying with my Mother-in-Law a couple of hours away. After two months of health issues for my Father-in-Law and in-and-out of the hospital, he suffered a heart attack a month ago. After double bypass a month ago today, he has had many set-backs and complications.

Last Wednesday, while going through minor surgery for the insertion of a feeding tube into his stomach, they lost him after his heart and breathing stopped. After 10 minutes of full recessitation including chest compressions on a chest that three weeks earlier endured open heart surgery, the doctors were able to revive him. He has improved over the last week and the decision was made yesterday to transport him to an acute cardiac care rehabilitation facility. At this point he is still stable but is in for a long road of rehab. He is very weak and cannot even feed himself at this point.

I was gone for a week and it feels good to be back home ... for now.