Project Day

I apologize to those of you who look for a new blog post every morning.  I have been negligent in keeping up with my promise of daily blogs.  Life has gotten in the way and with our busy schedules.  I am going to continue to blog but it may be every day or it may be every other day or it may be once every few days.  I hope you continue to visit my blog and I appreciate all of you who have been so supportive.  If I could blog full-time.....it would be the best job ever!!!

Today was a day of travel and of projects.  I left home this morning, bound for Paynesville, MN to pick up my daughter who had spent the weekend with my sister and her family for the weekend.  I had to make a stop in St. Cloud, MN at Crafts Direct.

I had started my bowling ball gazing ball project a couple of weeks ago.  You might remember that this time last year, my children helped my mom create a wonderful gazing ball out of a bowling ball she had purchased at a garage sale.

I started my gazing ball project the same way she did.  I cleaned the ball with alcohol.

 I gathered all of my flat glass stones.  I chose kind of a gold color with a few red stones scattered about.  I asked my husband if he thought I'd have enough to cover a bowling ball the size of mine.  He said, "maybe".  I took that as a "yes" and started adding one stone at a time.

I used clear silicone and added a generous amount in small squares.....pushing the flat glass stones in as I went.

I got about 3/4 of the way finished and then ran out of stones.  I thought a quick trip to my local Michael's or JoAnn Fabrics would solve my supply problem.  WRONG!  Neither place had the color or size I need.  This is where my pit stop to Crafts Direct comes in.

I thought if anywhere would have the color I need, Crafts Direct would.  Boy, was I right.  Not only did they have the color I needed.....I had to sort through a couple of bags when I got home.

They also had every color under the sun of my favorite dishcloth yarn.....I limited myself to two skeins.

AND....I just couldn't pass up the material to make another tie blanket.  Here is where the projects part of my day kick in.  When we got home from Paynesville today, after a brief stop to see friends in Cold Spring, it was project completion day.  My daughter made me a great blanket to keep in the car for these cold spring baseball games.

 I finished my bowling ball gazing ball.

 You may notice the difference in color but when the silicone dries, it will all look the same.  One thing I'm going to do that my mom didn't do is I'm going to coat my stones with varnish.  This will keep the dirt from sticking to the silicone in between the stones.

So......what started out as just a day of travel, ended up as a day of finished projects.

"A smile is a light in your window that tells others that there is a caring, sharing person inside."  -Denis Waitley