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‘Vacation days’ pay off in creative binge



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By: JEANNE BRAGG, Post Columnist
Posted: Sunday, January 10, 2010 7:58 am
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I’ve been on a creative binge lately; probably because we’ve had so many “vacation days.”

It’s also probably due to the fact that the “take-down-the-tree-fairy” worked overtime this year. On New Years Eve we awakened at 8 a.m., and I told the “fairy” (Tommy) that I was going to take down the living room decorations right away, since I had been doing it in my semi-sleep for the previous hour. The night before he had taken down the ones in the study. We were a jump ahead. We both worked liked crazy, from 8:15 until 10 a.m. with him doing the hardest work ... carrying boxes to the attic. And, voila, the whole house was emptied of everything Christmas within two hours!

I even organized the boxes sent to the attic and labeled them with instructions for next year. Some notes were:

1) Timer and extension cords (in the box with the tree) worked great in 2009; use again in 2010.

2) Tree needs one extra strand of lights. Check fuses (I included a photocopy of how to check fuses). Consider more pink balls in 2010.

3) Fireplace garland removed in one piece. Hang on nails at back of fireplace using extra glass balls in bottom of box. Hang garland with light fixture on right side of fireplace. Use remote control unit attached.

You get the picture.

I also had time to play with a new “toy,” a Xyron machine. I enjoy computing and playing with all things paper (though I don’t consider myself a “scrapbooker”) and had read about the Xyron machine but didn’t know what it did. Well, here’s what it does: it makes a sticker out of anything.

I have many needs for “stickers.” I like to label food I give away (used to give away--I hardly cooked in 2009) and especially like to label my homemade pickles and relish. This “toy” was just the ticket. Thanks to all the classes I have taken at the Apple store and my beloved Macintosh, I have turned into a text-box queen, making stickers for everything in sight. I have an inkling of how Guttenberg must have felt when he saw those printed words roll off his press. It’s quite fulfilling.

I next plan to make “From the Kitchen of” and “ex-libris” (from the library of) labels to give as gifts and even plan to buy a smaller Xyron ($9.99 at Hobby Lobby). An online video (www.xyron.com) shows how to use it. I plan to run buttons through it to stick to fabric before sewing them on my machine. Those buttons slip around so much that I break at least one for each garment. Not any more!

Last year my siblings gave me calling cards for my birthday from www.felixdoolittle.com, a favorite website.

They were beautiful, but man, were they expensive. With the dollars I had left over, I bought some “personalized message stickers” that said, “Made with Love by....” I use them for knit dishtowels, baby gifts, etc. The labels looked great online – looked great when they came, too. However, I had failed to note the size. They were miniscule, basically 1.5-inch square. I wouldn’t have ordered them if I had realized they were that small. I thought I had learned to check sizes from catalog items years ago, but I obviously hadn’t. Live and learn.

This year I’ll keep the ruler closer, but I’m sure I’ll be “sticking.”

Give me six more months and I’ll be expecting a call from Carol Duvall.

‘Til next week.
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Tags: Jeanne Bragg, Mrs. Murfreesboro, Voices
Member Opinions:
By: elguapo on 1/10/10
Mrs. Murfreesboro- I'm not too sure that Tommy would want to be refered to as a "fairy". Just a friendly sugestion.


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