2025: Day 47....."What can I do?"

Zekelman Holocaust Museum in Michigan.

Wall of messages.

For then and now.

2025: Day 46....."Fire that won't melt snow"

Fake fire that gives me a warm feeling.

It doesn't throw off a bit of heat.

Not even a tiny bit.

But I look at it and feel warmth.

That's why it's out there all winter and

not melting one bit of snow. 

I see the glow from my bedroom doorwall

 (that's what us folks in Michigan call it)

 and I LOVE it.

It turns on when the sun goes down.

It lasts a few hours.

Enough to give me a bonus 

warm feeling every day.

Small joys in a Michigan winter.

 

2025: Day 45....."Art By Others"

This paper mache sculpture is by

Lori Hlavs in Florida who came

to Michigan to an art show in the 90's.

I'm very selective on the 

"Art By Others" that I purchase 

but this I could not resist.

The live edge wood corner shelf she is

currently seated on is from another

artist who works in natural wood...another

weakness I have. I love pieces of wood.

I think I related to this figure & wood because I

am that funky creature who would like to dress

like that and also own every woodsy thing I could find.

I do own a jacket like this..with a pointy hat... so 

that tells you something.

If I allowed her to live outside (but I never would!)

this is the type house we both would like.

2025: Day 44....."Throwback to 2014 Valentine's Day"

 Throwback all the way to 2014.

Custom little Valentine's for

2 sisters to take to school.

Personalized and cute.

A fun endeavor.

2025: Day 43…..“Snowy Head”

 

Don’t ask how much fun 

it was cleaning off my car today, 

but at least it wasn’t on my head.

2025: Day 42....."Shift Changing Colors"

Rustoleum has come out with some 

Color Shift Spray Paint.

But Stacey has already created

this look with glitter on her

foamcore cutout letters and names

for party decorations.

The spray comes in several combinations.

Cars have had it for awhile and I've

seen this look at car shows.

But now it can advance into the

PARTY WORLD for us

and all the DIY folks out there.

 

2025: Day 41....."Layers & Layers of Foamcore in our workroom"

This picture from the past of a shipping day shows

layers  & layers of foamcore.

Some stacked foamcore diy guitars and

some foamcore letters layered

onto foamcore Gift Card Boxes.

Layers and pieces of foamcore

used in different ways.

 Stacked in piles.

Here's the reality of it in our workroom.

The first picture is a sweeter view

because the end result always is!

 

2025: Day 40....."Dog Themed Parties from the past"

 

So many folks have dogs yet

we only have a handful of 

things we've done with this theme.

Surprises me.

Yet I still remember this pooch fondly.

This pup wasn't allowed at the

party so we made her replica to be

represented in a bridal form because

the bride really wanted her there.

I'm betting this cute doggie would 

not have been too happy in this get up

and wouldn't have behaved well.

That's why she didn't get an invite.

This is one of those centerpieces that

I wanted to keep though.

And then there were these......

Cute cutout and layered party props 

that got a stick up their bottom for 

party centerpieces.

2025: Day 39....."New Handwriting Font with Ai caricatures”

"Jackson Signature"

That's the name of this cool font.

So graceful.

Looks like you took a pen and wrote it

out and got it right on the first try.

I can see so many applications for this.

A monogram.

A letterhead.

For crafts like embroidery.

For diy branding your party or business style.

Adding to the end of your email.

T-shirt designs.

Foamcore signs for a party.

(We can do that.)

Or create a funky logo with 

Ai caricatures like this one of 

Me and Stacey.

Stacey is the one with fluffy curly red hair

and a paint brush in her hand and a

black belt karate Gi.

I’m in my bathrobe.

2025: Day 38....."Plant that grows Confetti"

Yes. I needed another plant.

It's Michigan. It's cold. 

I can't wander around outside

looking at my yard or the garden.

Self care = nature.

I'm on it.

A plant that grows confetti.

A party thing.

It checks 2 boxes.

Self care/a party decoration I get to keep.

Beside I love plants with pink.

3 boxes checked.

(Instructions in case you get one too or 

I give you a cutting.)

 

2025: Day 37....."Warm Self-Care I deserve"

 

I'm telling 'ya...this is yummy.

I bought this 50" x 60" heated 

throw back in October when we 

started heading into Michigan's winter joy.

Every night I re-experience anew the great

decision I made in October all 

over again when I crawl under it.

It's really as soft & fluffy as it looks.

It heats up fast. I use level 2

most all the time even though

it has 5 levels.

It's on the top of the bed with 2 blankets

underneath it and in a couple of

minutes they are all warm just 

from the heat of this throw.

(Literally the time it takes to brush your teeth.)

I like that it doesn't cover

the entire bed because I'm the only

one that loves this level of self care.

My first reaction to it out of the box was

that it was very light weight and the wires

seemed almost non-existent. I felt some

disappointment because it was not like my

Costco one with thicker wires and felt 

more stiff and was not fluffy at all.

But the Costco one broke and that was

ok because the fabric was looking ratty.

I'm not sure if it broke because the 

controller went bad or the wires broke. 

(I'm careful not to sit on it for that reason.)

I can say for sure that this throw was

definitely the right choice for me and will be used 

tonight because it's damn cold here in Michigan

and even though I sleep inside I keep

the heat in my bedroom in the 60's.

2025: Day36....."Till the Cows Come Home"

Clipart.

Make your own Valentine's Card.

There's still time if you start now.

Or add words

Click it or

email me if you want me to send this

over to you directly:

marlyss@mac.com

2025: Day 35....."Reflections"

 My garage sale flower light I got for $5

because it needed a small repair 

and my new plant glowing under

the grow light I installed in the light 

for some winter help.

Both reflecting in the window with 

the outdoor solar faux fire lights that I

enjoy so much all summer and still

like looking at even in the snow.

2025: Day 34....."Lickety Split Split Leaf Philodenron photo fun”

 

Glorious Leaves!!!!

I mean..... did you ever!

It's called Lickety Split or

more ordinarily known as

Split Leaf Philodendron.

They say it's easy to care for.

I so hope so cuz I'm in love with it.

If I was going to design a leaf this

would be it.

But everyone would say..no...

that's not a leaf.

Yeah. It is and I get to look at it

every day and I just order another plant

light bulb just for it to keep it

happy until Michigan returns to the

land of sun and shine.

I put a piece of foamcore behind

one of the leaves to get this 

photo to play around with on my

Live Collage app.

2025: Day 33....."ZZ Plant Story"

Our Commerce Library has a plant swapping area.

I picked up this little guy.

A lonely little stem.

I put it in some perlite and waited forever.

After months this is what I had.

A few roots on a few leaves.

On another trip to the library 

I got another lonely sibling.

Waited again and stuck it in the pot with

it's sibling who was just standing there

 doing exactly nothing. Or so I thought.

More waiting.

What's going on.

Just doing nothing but not dying. 

So there's that.

Then a baby popped straight up!

Then another one popped up a few days later like

they were twins or something.

They showed me.

The twins grew like crazy.

Within days I had a family.

These kids were almost as big

as the parents.

Now I have 4 stalks in the pot.

Do I care that my little family 

doesn't look like the big families

I saw at Carlson's Greenhouse

this weekend?

Nope. 

Those rich college kids got a lot of greenhouse treatment.

They'll probably go to someones house and

get into a big fancy pot.

I love my little guys.

They have high potential and they 

are just graduating from kindergarten

and I get to watch them grow.