Tis The Season To Feel Guilty

Yes, it's that time of year again.  The smell of cinnamon and pine and cookies baking is in the air.....AND the time to bring on the guilt.  Don't deny it!  You have felt guilty one time or another during the Holidays.  Guilt that you can't visit every family member, guilt about not being able to afford gifts; but buying them anyway because it's what's everyone else does.  Guilt because you can't buy your child every toy he/she wants.  Guilt because you have to work that day to put food on the table.  Guilt for not putting change in every time you pass a Salvation Army bell ringer. (BTW some of those bell ringers are the happiest people I've ever seen standing in sub zero temperatures.)  Then there is  the stress of all of the planning and shopping. 

What a bunch of crap we have gotten ourselves into over one day a year.  Not to mention  the guilt and the stress have nothing to do with the reason for the season.  I hate hate hate the guilt.

That is how I feel about a month before Christmas.  Then as it approaches I find myself getting caught up in all of the festivities.  I actually get a little excited about the planning.  Not the shopping though; I'm never excited about the shopping.  Online shopping is the best thing that has ever happened to the commercial side of Christmas.

I will do my Christmas shopping under the guise of helping to stimulate the economy.  That makes me feel a little better.  I will try to do what I can and not feel guilty about what I can't get done in time.   I will keep in mind the reason for the season and maybe I will get through this Christmas season fairly sane.

Photo Collage Decoupage

Creating a Photo Collage on Paper Mache Letters

1.  Select the photos you want to use and either scan them or upload them to your computer.  I use Picasa 3 to lay the pictures out in a collage form so that when I print them I can get different sized photos plus I can print more pictures on less paper.  You can download Picasa 3 for free.  It's a really nice photo organizer and editor.

2.  Once the photos are selected and ready to print, have them printed on a laser printer (a toner printer).  If you don't have one, places like Office Depot and Kinkos have them.  If you use an ink jet printer, the colors will bleed and fade.  I just download my photos to a flash drive and take it to Office Depot and they will print them out for you.  It cost me $1.81 to print these photos. ( I had them laid out in collage format on three 8.5 x 11 sheets.)

3.  Purchase a pre-made paper mache letter or design object.  I got mine at JoAnn Fabrics. 

4.  Begin to tear or cut apart your photos.  You can be more contemporary and straight cut all of your pictures or do like I did and tear them out for a more vintage look.  If you tear them, tear the paper toward you.  This will create a subtle white frayed edge.  One of the photos I tore out, then crumpled the paper into a ball and then straightened it back out.  That creates a vintage look to the photo like it was a treasured photo that had been carried around and looked at a lot. 

5.  You can dry arrange your photos on your letter to make sure everything will fit.  I don't usually do that because I am impatient and what to start gluing.  I am kind of a random and impulsive crafter, but if you want to do it right and don't want to have to run out and print more photos you probably should do this.  Or....print extra photos and just wing it like I did!

6.  You may want to paint the letter with acrylic paint first in a color of your choice.  That way if you want to leave spaces between the photos, the color will show through.  Again I was impatient and I painted in a few places after I glued the photos.  It worked, but not the best way to do it.

7.  I use Mod Podge as the glue and sealer.  You can use white glue I guess, but I have never tried it.  I like the Mod Podge because it dries fast and it comes in matte and gloss finishes.  There are a bunch of different formulas of Mod Podge but I just use the basic cheapest one.

8.  Brush the glue onto the letter where you want to put the picture and then place the photo and rub out the air bubbles.  You have limited time to reposition the photo because the Mod Podge dries pretty fast.  I use a bone folder  to smooth out the air bubbles, but you can use your finger or even the side of a smooth pen.  If you need to you can add a little Mod Podge here and there to get it to stick.

9.  When all of your photos are on, let it dry completely (about 15 mins.).  If you want an antique look, you can brush on an antiquing medium and wipe it off, or even use a little brown acrylic paint diluted with water and brush that on an wipe it off.  First test you antiquing technique on a place that may not show to make sure you will like the results.

10.  After all of your photos are on and it is how you want it to be when it's finished, it's time to layer on the Mod Podge.  3 layers would be the minimum.  I usually use 5 or more.  The picture of the "V" that I did doesn't have any layers added to it yet.  You could just do 1 layer if you like that look.  Just make sure it dries completely before adding the next layer.  The Mod Podge goes on white and then turns clear when dry.  If you don't let it dry between layers it may have a milky appearance.

The instructions sound like a lot of work, but it really isn't.  I just tried to be detailed so you wouldn't make the mistakes that I already have.

Have fun!  This would make a great last minute Christmas gift.

Eggs, Is There A Difference? You Bet Your Sweet Ass There Is!

Haven't been here lately.  Not that I don't have plenty to say, I just don't have the time.  I have been spending a lot of time tending to my chickens.  Now that I have 30, there is a little more to do (a lot more poop).  They obviously drink more water and eat more grain.  Plus my chickens are pretty spoiled.  I make sure they have lots to do so they don't get bored and start attacking each other.  I really like taking care of the chickens and all that it entails.  I don't even mind shoveling the shit!  I can see however, why mass production and factory farms came about.  The more chickens you have, the more time consuming and expensive they become.  If I was raising my chickens just for income from the eggs I would be broke by now.  $2.00 a dozen does not even begin to pay for the feed and supplies I need to properly take care of them.  If I wanted to make money, I would make my operation more efficient; leave out a lot of the amenities that my chickens enjoy and charge more for my eggs.  If I do that, I decrease the quality and value of the egg.  Factory farms are around for the simple fact of supply and demand.  A low income family is not going to pay $2.00 a dozen for eggs from me.  They will buy them at the grocery store for $.85 a dozen on sale.  This is one time however that you get what you pay for.    You can buy "organic" "cage free" "free range" eggs in the grocery store and pay over $3.00 a dozen.  Most of the times in that case you are not getting what you paid for.  All of those terms are very ambiguous.  There are definitions of all of those by the USDA.  The producers can get around those definitions by interpreting there own version.  For instance, "free range" requires the chickens to have access to the outdoors.  My chickens definitely do.  They run all over my yard.  Mass producers can get away with calling their eggs free range if they have an open door that in theory the chickens can get outside.  That door may be on one end of a chicken house that houses 1000 chickens.  Yeah, the door is there and they have access to it, but the chickens at the other end of the chicken house are never going to make there way to the door to get out.  Even if they do get out, there isn't room for them to do anything and there is no vegetation for them to forage in.  It's kind of like interpreting the Bible.  People will skew the facts to how it will best serve them (that is whole other story I won't get into).  Product labeling is really a joke.  It's all about marketing and making money.  The only way to decipher the labeling is to read the ingredients list and know what you are looking for.  In the case of eggs you have no real way of knowing if the labeling is correct short of visiting the facility that produced them.

Am I promoting my eggs?  Not really, I can only serve a dozen or so people because my farm is very small.  What I am promoting is education regarding the food we buy.  Everyone (including me) runs to the grocery to get a few things with little regard to how it was made or produced.  We are letting these big corporations take over our lives and control our basic needs of nourishment.  We don't concern ourselves with how the cow was raised and processed for the hamburger we are buying.  We just know we need hamburger to make our chili.  I don't propose becoming fanatic and boycotting everything.  I just think people should be making more conscious choices about the food they eat.  If you have a choice to buy your food from local farmers do that instead of getting it from Walmart.  Changes don't have to be big to make a difference.  I probably won't become a vegetarian anytime soon.  I love meat too much.  I have however started to buy from a local farm that has grass fed beef.  It makes me feel better when I can say I made my own decision about what is good for me to eat, not what big factory says is good for me.