Ultimate Upcycle - That old mattress saves a tree!

Here in the great state of Alaska we have many opportunities to view wildlife - which is a great thing - unless that wildlife is eating your apple and cherry trees down to the nubbins and killing them!  You know from some of my previous posts that we grow great apple trees here and that they will produce, but only if you can keep the moose from eating them!  Remember in one of my previous blogs I also promised you an upcycled mattress plan?  Well here comes a mattress saving some apple trees!

My folks have a large animal fence that they use to keep out the moose - I cant afford that right now so the best I can do is turn some old worn out mattresses into some protective fencing!

This is only part of the mattress - there will be other blogs with the rest of the mattress later.  Start by breaking down the box spring portion of the mattress.  Keep the fabric and other parts for other projects.

 Take the metal coil or spring portion of the mattress and four long pieces of the wood frame and begin to wrap it around the apple/cherry tree.  Drive a stake of the wood frame into the ground to anchor the metal portion to the ground as wide around the tree as you can.  Try not to touch the tree - Im afraid that the metal touching the tree all winter will freeze burn  the tree ( I havent had to worry much about that since we haven't had much cold this winter).  Continue staking the metal around the tree at intervals that keep it going and keep it seeming sturdy - it may have to hold off up to 1500 pounds of hungry moose!

This particular mattress was a double bed size so the metal portion is about 4' high.  I put bird netting over the top of the metal circle just in case the moose should feel the need to stick a neck inside the circle.  So far they have not liked bumping their noses into the metal parts of the mattress and have left this alone.

This is a relatively free upcycle.  You did buy the mattress at some point in time probably (unless you can get one from a friend for free-for-real), and there will be many uses for the rest of the mattress as well.  The top mattress will also have this metal coil or spring inside it so you can get two tree wraps out of a mattress set.  Be sure to keep that fabric from the top of the mattress and the bottom - they have great uses.  Stay tuned and we will talk about some things to do with those in another blog!

Happy New Year - I hope it is a great one and that you start to dream big for your next growing season today!

High Tea in a small town!

I posted recently about my mother giving the gift of tea party and how having that is so important.  Yesterday my mother once again gave me a gift of tea party!  We have a new tea shop in town  - Clumzy Clover Tea and Treasures ( find them on Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Clumzy-Clover-Teas-Treasures/ ) and they serve High Tea!  It was a rare kid free, time available for shopping day for me and when I asked mom what was on her Christmas list, she asked me what my day looked like - and invited me for tea!

We had so much fun and really it was the first time in a long time that we got to have a real visit, just the two of us.  The food was divine!  Can you see the little green glass on the bottom tier?  That is Dill Pickle Soup!  I never would have thought about even trying it but mom tried it first and said it was good - she doesn't usually fib to me about food - so I gave it a go.  There were other delights on the tray as well - Egg Nog Scone, a savory puff pastry something with feta and spinach and a tomato stuffed with a quinoa salad that made me want to lick the bowl!

One of our conversations was about how "we" - as in our family - are good at trying to teach self care as well as care taking, and that as a society "we" might not be very good at teaching that.  "We" have to do better!  I have talked to people who would love to have a tea party but they worry that people will think they are "silly" for doing that.  Be Silly!  Host a tea party - or invite your friends to a tea house, or even a tea shop near you!  Make sure you let your kids know that it is OK to do that with friends and family- even if they like coffee better!  My boys like a tea party - even though I secretly think they are coming for the food - it still gives them the sense of comfort and joy, after all  - 'Tis the season!

Water Bottle Upcycle

I have some of the most creative family members on the planet I am sure!  Recently, there was a gathering of family quilters - we call it quilt retreat - and these lovely bouquets were on all of the tables.  They are simply an up-cycled water bottle with a scrap of fabric tied into a lovely bow around the middle!

It makes a lovely centerpiece, and is especially useful where a glass vase is not an option - at the cabin, or in a room that has a high traffic area of small children!

It uses that water bottle that you hate to throw out or send to recycle if it hasn't outlived it's usefulness, and you can use different sized bottles to make an arrangement or put Christmas, Thanksgiving, or even Halloween fabric around it to fit it to a theme!  Simply beautiful!

Thank you Cranberry Cottage girls for the awesome idea!

A little tea and some great company!

My mother has given me many things; life itself, good parenting and home making skills, the freedom and the confidence to pursue my own religious beliefs, and the ability to see beauty in others, even other women, without feeling self-conscious, to name a few.  She has walked 60 miles to raise money for cancer, she raised three healthy children, and one husband, gave me knowledge and a love of learning, reading, writing, gardening and nature.  She hosted a tea party for 250 people in her yard and did NOT use paper dishes.  One of the crown jewel of gifts from my mother is this – TEA PARTY!

She loaned me a tea set, so I might host a tea party for my 3 best girl friends.  How could a tea party even be in the top ten items that my mother gave me?  My mother, by simply loaning some dishes, opened up my eyes to the friendship and sisterhood of other women, and the importance of being and allowing ourselves to be with those women.  She supported and encouraged those friendships.  Silly?  No.  Those dishes, antiques by the way, gave me “permission” in a way to take the time out, to do something frivolous maybe, something for myself, while at the same time doing something for others.  Tea party is not just for the hostess; it is also for the guests.

Now, once a month, (lately we haven't made time - but we need to) those friends and I, take turns hosting tea party.  The hostess makes lunch, be it simple or fancy.  We exchange small gifts; a candle, a pen, a book, a bookmark, but mostly we nurture our friendship.  We mother one another.  Sometimes tea party is our place to vent our frustration with the rest of the world, our home life, our job, or even our husbands.  It lasts only about four hours, but it is some of the most important time we spend during that month.  It is just for us, women.  We share sorrows, hopes, dreams, and good fortunes.  We are able to give one another the kind of support that one does not get from a spouse, or even our children’s hearts.  We are better wives, sisters, friends, and mothers for it.  My incredible mother gave me this, tea party.

Recently, the daughters in our family hosted a Mothers Day Tea for all of us, including my mother in law, and other Mothers who were somehow family to our group!  We dressed up, and the youngest of the girls helped to cook the treats, and made menu's, and dressed the tables, and hosted a beautiful party!  It was wonderful!  And even the youngest of us learned the value of a tea party!

I met a woman during school registration recently, and while we worked one of the registration booths, we chatted about family.  This woman, this beautiful soul, had fostered 15 (I think she said) children throughout her life and currently has two boys of her own at home.  She was having a hard time because her youngest child (an eight year old Aries) is very difficult for her.  She is in her forties, and she is tired.  Tired to her soul.  Her spirit was tired that day as well.  She was remembering some of the kids she had fostered, and one of her comments was “I don’t think it made a difference”!  I let her know that it had to have made a difference because she had already told me that some of her kids had come back and told her so.  But…some were lost, she told me.  Lost to drugs, alcohol, or abuse from other families, or returned to an abuse situation in their home.  Things completely outside of her control. This woman needed a tea party.  She needed to relax, have a sip, and be a friend.  She had been only a mother for too long.  She needed the support and mothering of other women to see all the great things she has done, and the things still within her yet to do.  The things that had been feeding her soul, but had stopped doing so now, because she has had no time with other supportive women.  Women who can say to her, “Even if you made a difference in one of those children, you have made a big difference.”  Other mothers who can give advice on raising an Aries (I have one – it is difficult).  That’s what tea party does.

My mother might be sad that I think one of her top ten gifts to me is tea party, but I hope not!  I hope that she recognizes that she made a difference – not just in one life but in many lives- by teaching the joy and grace of a tea party!   Party on Ladies!