Perhaps you remember that at the beginning of 2010, I told how Davonne, Anita, and I were making an Advice Book. We have completed it and I want to share it with you. It has been both fun and challenging. Anita and Davonne have busier lives that I do and it requires time. I did learn that a page seldom turned out as I had thought it would. While working on the page, ideas lead from one direction to another and sometimes even the advice I was planning on using is not the one I end up using. When we exchange our pages, it is always an exciting time for me. I love getting a package with the new page. It is not as fun as it would be to do a project together, but it is a great way to stay connected and creative. This year we are doing quotes. Again, we share laughter and ideas. I will always love these two special friends and I love having a book that contains their creativity and their advice. The Slideshow of GOOD ADVICE is below.

Those Old Rotary Phones

Remember those old rotary dial phones? We had the pleasure of renting two of them years ago in Edgerton. When the NEW push-button type came out, we replaced them, never thinking about the fact that we were renting those rotary phones. Garage sales came and went and I never was able to sell those phones. Nobody wanted them! Years later, and I mean YEARS, Lyle asked me about an expense listed on our phone bill. It was for around $4.00 each month. Neither of us knew so I called the phone company. The conversation went something like this:
Me: What does the line blah blah blah mean?
She: That is for the two rotary phones you are renting.
Me: WHAT? I am renting those? You are kidding!! Nobody uses those anymore! Why didn't someone contact me about it?
She: (Thinking: Why would we do that? It's money for us!) Says: It is not a policy.
Me: I have tried to sell them on garage sales but no one wants them. I don't even know if I have them anymore!
She: You can purchase them for $16 each.
Me: WWWWHHHAT? After all the rent I have paid. (By this time I am calculating into hundreds of dollars, maybe even a thousand! Seriously!)
She: If you find them, you can return them to DeBoer Cheverolet. (For those of you outside of Edgerton, you will not understand this but we could pay our bill there etc. Never know--your husband could go in to pay the phone bill and walk out with a car!)
Me: Sigh! (and hang up, very frustrated!)
You better believe I drove my chevy home and looked for the phones. Fortunately, those were in my save everything daze so I still had them in the storage room! I marched them straight over to DeBoer Chevrolet and started saving $4 a month!
Moral of Story: Check your bills and call if you have any doubts or you may end up with a couple of sheep to decorate your yard or home.

HI! As you will see below, I have been busy! When I showed off my wares to a friend, she said, "Well, haven't you been just Miss Martha Stewart?" I will admit she has been an inspiration to me. :-) I have also completed my January/February Quote pages. I will wait to show you those until I have sent them to Anita and Davonne. I'll bet you can't wait, right? I also want to make more bracelets. I went to a garage sale and got some short jean overalls that were the rage awhile back. I can see bracelets in it just waiting to be born! Gotta go!

One Way an Old T-shirt Can Look Good on an Old, Well, Somewhat Old Lady.

Don't throw away old T-Shirts! Make a scarf! Fun and super easy but you will need to contact me for the directions. Sneaky way to get a conversation, right?

Easy Bookmarks

Now these are really easy!

This only took a little time and used stuff I already have. I looked through my stash of old jewelry and added a few pieces to my antique bottles. I cut a few pages of old music and put it in the bottles. I used newspapers for the flowers. I cut a strip, folded it, and snipped. Then I rolled it and glued as I went. Got a stick off a tree and wala-wala!

New decor!

I think I should try it with the comic section next since that is my favorite section of the newspaper. Well, right after the sale inserts.

One of my dad's ties.....