Tapioca....

What is it?

This is almost a word for Wednesday.

We've probably all eaten tapioca pudding but do you know what it is? Where it comes from...?

My hubby thought it might just be gelatin, like a jello mixture. But no, that's not what it is.

Tapioca comes from the root of a plant. It makes a starchy substance that can be used in different formats and one of those formats in round little balls of the starchy substance, or Tapioca balls.

And it makes wonderful pudding.

So there you have it. That's what tapioca is.

Technology Smooze

Don't forget - Saturday from 10 to noon is a technology smooze at TaborSpace on 54th and Belmont.

It's free and you'll learn a thing or two about blogs, websites, and maybe even a little bit about Twitter.

So, if you're thinking about starting a blog or a website, come join us at TaborSpace.

OSU Mother's Weekend

It was a busy weekend of yoga,

fun runs,

art festivals with jewelry-making classes, animal exhibitions

and lots of food.

What a way to spend a few days...

Working with Lace

I have lots of scraps of old lace that I'm saving for . . . a rainy day...I guess.

So I pulled out a tea bag...

Nope not for that rainy day but for today.

I brewed up a batch of tea. . . and soaked the lace inside.

This a work still in progress. So I will have to post another progress report...

After tea dying the lace, I stuck it in a bowl of Stiffy...tomorrow I'll have the next installment.

Baby Blanket Wrapped Up in a Bow

This is already to go. It's a present I made for a friend who just had a little baby boy. I'd made one for her first son and I have to be fair and make one for the second child too.

I love the plush fabrics for babies too. I'd almost like one of these quilts just for me.

The most fun for me is picking out the fabric.

My daughter went with me to help me pick it out. We looked at monkey material, super hero fabrics and finally settled on elephants...don't ask me why. It just looked so cute and cuddly that we both agreed.

And for the flip side, we went with polka dots and believe me, we looked at all sorts of polka dots, big ones, small ones, green ones, brown ones but we finally settled on little brown and green polka dots.

Then I needed the binding...

I went with green.

These are "sew" fun to make and I'm hoping that the little boy will love it for a looooong time. I know my kids sure loved the "blankies" I made for them.

Bead Work

I bought some beautiful crystal beads because I wear glasses. Yes those two things are related. You see I wear reading glasses. And, I'm always taking them off and putting them back on because as a writer, I read . . . a LOT. And it's easy to misplace glasses but with this handy-dandy bead-work gadget I never misplace my glasses...well, almost never.

My hubby thinks it looks like an old granny contraption but I don't care. I think it looks like a piece of jewelry and it's not just about adornment...it's practical.

So, I love to find unusual beads for my glasses. How bout you? Do you wear a chain around your neck that holds your glasses in place? If you do, this is one idea that might help you never misplace your glasses again.

Blinging out the Beams

When we were redoing the upstairs room, we thought about using pretty hemlock beams but they were soooo expensive that we opted for 2X4s instead.

You can see the 2X4 at the back of this picture...Not so pretty.

But that didn't mean I was ready to give up the beauty of a hemlock beam. So, my hubby and his brother went to work making the 2X4s appear to be beautiful beams.

First they bought some beautiful hemlock strips of wood that were 1X5s. Then he built them into little boxes.

That he could slip right over the 2X4s for a fake facade. They still have to be varnished but I think they turned out beautiful.