Another Glue Gun Review

 I bought this glue gun (made by Adtech) at the same time I purchased the mini I have been using.  I did a review of the mini glue gun on December 23, 2017.  The mini glue gun is also made by Adtech. Link to that review is here..  That glue gun is still working very well.  I used it just tonight to replace the regular size glue gun that is not working right.

  The regular size glue gun worked great until last night when it stopped feeding my glue through.  I had to push a stick of glue from the back to get the glue to flow.  It's junk.  I bought it as a supplement to the mini glue gun because it had 2 temperature settings and that seemed like a great feature.  I didn't pay a lot for this item, but I barely used it and it stopped working.  The model no. is 0453.  I need to replace it because I have lots of full size glue sticks I want to use.  I did some shopping on Amazon today but I'm not ready to buy another glue gun just now.  I think I'll wait until after Christmas. 

  I'd like to buy my glue gun locally but I noticed that Michaels doesn't have a big selection of glue guns and JoAnn's sells a lot of AdTech glue guns and supplies.  I will probably end up ordering it from Amazon, but I will wait until the first of the year.  

Pictures of a poor excuse for a glue gun.  

Sticks to Star Decorations

 I made some stars with some coffee stirrer sticks I bought at Michaels.  So quick and so cute.  I hot glue the sticks together, tied the twine on each end then I hot glued the back of the twine parts to secure it.  I can get 10 stars from one package of 50 stirrer sticks.  The cost is $1.99 for the package.  You could paint the sticks, or add glitter to make them different.  You can make these for any season with a color change.  I used crochet thread instead of twine for mine.

A Couple of Projects That I Finished In November

 I have two other projects in the process, but I wanted to post these two projects since November is almost over.

  I bought this little dachshund cookie jar at the Goodwill store.  it did not have a lid but I have a fondness for dachshunds so I picked it up so I could paint it navy blue and put it in my dining room.

Here is what he looked like before paint.  I stole this picture off the web.

Here is what he looks like as a navy blue doggie.  I put a fall bow on him.  It's almost time to make a Christmas bow for him.  My daughter named him Peppermill.

I also found a use for the leftover hymnal pages that I did not use on my hymnal garland that I made at Christmas last year.  I haven't shared the hymnal garland I made yet because I made it right as I was putting the Christmas decorations up.  I will post a picture after I get it out in a few days.

I made a garland for dear daughter with hearts sewn together and sewn to jute twine to hang.  It's six feet long.  I sewed three hearts together and then sewed them to the jute twine.  It was fun to make.

I'm working on some small embroidered Christmas pillows for decorating.  I made up some little names and used some regular sayings and embroidered them onto fabric to make into little pillows, like the Halloween pillows I made.  I'll share them when I get them put together.  I still have to make a few more and then I'll start putting them together.  I'm also working on a decoupage of a napkin that I started but I messed it up and I have to re-do it.  It was for Thanksgiving but I missed that boat for this year.

 

DIY Tailor's Clapper

      I found this video on Youtube, link here and I had to make one.  I haven't purchased a tailor's clapper because it was too cost prohibitive.  I was going to make myself one from a chunk of wood but I thought this was so cute.

     I bought this heart shaped piece of wood at Michael's the other day for about $2.49.  I wanted to do something different with a handle so I bought some vinyl at JoAnn's.  The vinyl was $2.22 for a nice piece (I have leftovers).  I already had the screw.  I like the idea of a soft handle.  

Shopping Bags and Birthday Party

         I finally finished all the shopping bags I had to make from the old curtain fabric.  I got 9 big shopping totes and 2 small totes from those curtain panels.  I gave 4 large and 1 small bag to dear daughter and I kept 5 large and 1 small bag for me.  I use Crafty Gemini's Must Have Tote Bag Pattern as my basic instructions.  The .pdf pattern is on her website and it comes with an instruction video for $7.00.  I've made the tote so many times, I don't even use the instructions any more and you can make the bag in any size.  I did make one change to her pattern, I  eliminated the pocket.  I never used the pocket on the bags I put it on and it's just extra fabric that I could use for the bag.  So I don't even put it on anymore.

         Here is a picture of the bags that I kept.

            Yesterday we celebrated my dear daughter's 45th birthday.  I went to her house to do our usual Saturday meet up.  We walked her dog in her neighborhood, did a run to the grocery store, did some yard work, had lunch and started a movie.  Two friends showed up just about 1:30 p.m. to surprise her.  We shut the movie off and we had a nice visit.  I made her a vegan rum cake.  I used the recipe from Crumbs and Caramel.com.  Here is a link to the recipe:  Vegan Rum Cake.  It was not as easy to make as my regular recipe which uses eggs, instant pudding and cake mix, but it turned out very nicely and dear daughter was very happy with the results.  We pronounced the recipe a keeper.  I bought her the following gifts:

         A manual drill.  (picture borrowed from Amazon)

            In keeping with the tool theme I also bought her a pair of tin snips. (picture borrowed from Amazon)

               I also bought her this fancy tea/coffee mug. (picture borrowed from Amazon)

             I made her more tote bags with this pretty print fabric.  The magnolia flowers were perfect.  She's quite the southern girl.  (This was my secret sewing this year)

         I also gave her some bird and butterfly stickers and a cheap styrofoam toy airplane I found at Five Below because everybody needs a couple of toys on their birthday.

         All in all it was a successful birthday celebration.  There is nothing like a lot of love and a little cake and coffee on your birthday.  

         My next project will be making some embroidered Christmas saying pillows for me and dear daughter to decorate with like I made the Halloween pillows.  I will get my embroidery machine out today and set it up for sewing in the kitchen.  I love having the machine in the kitchen.  I can get to all the working parts easily with it on the counter and I run it while I'm doing other things around the house.   I have to raid my Christmas fabric stash as well.  I have about 9 things on my list to embroider.  I don't know how many I will get done before Christmas, but at least I'll get them started.