Foamcore Letters for Signs in 2 different ways

COMPUTER LETTERS or HAND CUT LETTERS?

(Here's some answers to the question I often need to answer.)

Both use foamcore.

One uses the computer.

One uses paint and glitter.

The computer letters work well for
smaller letters or more intricate fonts like 
these curly letters and can be simpler to work with.

Here's a sign done all in computer letters.

Here's a close-up.

 These letters were printed on the computer and

then mounted on foamcore.

Then they were cut out around the shape of

the outline around the letter. 

Another way to do it is to cut out each letter.

Then paint and glitter those letters.

Then mount those letters on 2 or 3 more layers.

Like this one here.

Here's a close-up of the Joshua letters.

Both require a sharp knife to 
cut around the foamcore.


We like both styles.


We can suggest which is the best option to 
fit the sign situation for both the budget and 
to get the best look.

CANDY Centerpieces for Parties

 Making candy centerpieces for parties is hazardous to my health. We have to buy too many sample boxes and then I just eat too much candy. Yum Yum.....I like my job....hazards or not.

Big boxes elevated up on poles or low centerpieces sitting under eye level...both work.

I can't think of any flavor of candy that won't work for this theme. 

We've done all chocolate. That's good.

We've done assorted. That's good.

My personal favorite candy is Good 'n Plenty. 

I love black licorice.

I also like Sweet Tarts.

Don't let me near those. I'll eat the whole box.

I think these boxes of candy look cute all by

themselves but when there is other candy added, 

I think it just goes over the top.

I think other centerpiece themes are healthier but

who wants to do a broccoli party? I've never heard of one.

Maybe we should stick to foamcore lollipops like these?

We also make many Sweet Shoppe signs that
look great sitting on your candy table or sweet table.
Click on this picture if you'd like to read that
Blog Post.

Or, send us an email if you'd like
some of our designs for
YOUR PARTY or other
big party signs with sweet ideas.

marlyss@mac.com

Artsy Gazebo

When Jacob and I were in Arizona we went to the Desert Museum.

They had the most wonderfully artistic gazebo with a beautiful view.

As someone who really likes twisted wood and things built with them, I

had a hard time moving on from this spot. 

I would have like to take it home and put it in my yard. 

I'd hang some plants and put some natural wood 

furniture underneath it. 

You know... the kind you'd find at an art fair.

Maybe hang a swing....although I'm not sure where.

It's wild and crazy looking, isn't it? Maybe the swing isn't

such a good idea.

Airplane trip to Arizona

Assorted random thoughts on our trip:

AIRPLANE:
1. I love flying on an airplane. The flight attendants are old. I always thought they were young and pretty but I haven't seen one of those. They all look around 40-60 years old and tired. That surprised me.

2. Food in the airport is pretty good. Good coffee and good variety. I had some taco thing with great re-fried beans..not those mushy dog food like kind.

3. Nobody checked Jacob's I.D. either coming or going. But they patted my body down once on the way home and scanned my water bottle for "vapors" and emptied my backpack to look around it. I was fine with it all. Neither was an intrusion or anything that offended me. In fact, I like the diligence. Go for it.

FORGETTING THINGS:
I didn't forget one thing. Of course, as I said before, I pack like Monk. My suitcase weighed 44 pounds on the way home. I checked it, of course. I loved the fact that I didn't have to lug it around the airport or try and squeeze it into some overhead compartment because I had packed lighter so I wouldn't have to pay the $25. For me, it was worth it.

TUCSON AIRPORT:
Wow! Great signs everywhere. It was so easy to navigate thru. You'd have to be brain dead not to figure out how to get anywhere.

Great electronic charging station counters. I loved them and received wonderful WiFi reception.

JACOB...My TRAVELING COMPANION:
What can I say. He's the best person I've ever traveled with.

OUR TARANTULA CONFERENCE:
That's for another blog but it was unusual, interesting, informative and a well planned event. I got a kick out of it.

THE ONLY GOOD THING ABOUT HAVING TO GO HOME:
1'm going to get to install Lion on my computer.

TUCSON, ARIZONA:
Beautiful...absolutely breathtaking beautiful. If I couldn't live on water...which I do...I would want to live by mountains. They do what water does...change with the clouds in the sky and where your body is viewing them and every view is a good one. There is no bad view of a mountain or no bad view of a body of water.

The Raffle

We sat at the pizza dinner/raffle at the same table as the lady who started The American Tarantula Society in 1991. She is an 8th grade science teacher right now.
She had 2 sons that shared her tarantula hobby as they were growing up.

She had 1,000 (yes, that's not a typo) tarantulas when her oldest son got meningitis at 18 years old and died in 1998.

Since it was a shared hobby with her boys she couldn't even go into her tarantula room any more and they started dying. She lost over half of them before her youngest son helped pull her out of her well of despair and they could start caring for them again.

This was the 13th annual Tarantula Society Conference and the first one she was able to come to even though she was the original founder of the idea and others had to take over when her heart breaking tragedy occurred.

She's on the other side of the pain...as they say....but her story stabbed my heart.

You sure can't just look at a person and see what scars they may be carrying inside.

Tarantula burrows

Are you interested in knowing about tarantula burrows in the Arizona desert? If so, read on. If not, then run away to something else on the web. Hey...speaking of "web".....that's what this is about.

That's how you identify a tarantula hole from a hole that is not as much fun to explore. You look for the soft webbing across the hole. It's a very subtle thing and hard to spot...at least for me....not so much for Jacob.

Then you insert a tiny soft stick inside and "tickle" it out. It thinks it food and is intrigued and either comes out fast and quick or more tenuous and slowly. You never know.

You can also pour a little water into the hole and that encourages them to come out.

Jacob will sometimes start digging to discover the tunnel of the burrow if he thinks it went way down into it's hole. He gets in that hunter mode.

Now wasn't that interesting?

Night hike and Arizona scenery

Jake and I took a long night walk in the dark of night (with a guide) into the mountains looking for tarantulas in their burrows and scorpions under a black light. It was an incredible adventure. Knowing that there were rattlesnakes around us, we treaded carefully.

It was a lovely 85 degrees with a slight breeze. Nonetheless, walking up the gradual incline made me sweaty. Or, maybe it was the thought of the snakes, I'm not sure.

I really liked walking in the dark. I'm not sure why. Usually I don't like the dark. I leave lots of lights on in my house. But this was a beautiful adventure.

I even took one of those scenery pictures that probably a million people have taken just before we set out. I think I'll make it my new computer desktop picture.

Ken The Bug Guy

Jacob got to meet Ken The Bug Guy. The celebrity of the tarantula world who had the tv show.

Weird pointed kid-friendly plant?

Not touching tarantulas or sharp prickly things. Nope....he's definitely not. I won't let him and definitely wouldn't take picture.

Tarantula holes in the ground

Jacob has had amazing success in finding live 

tarantulas in the wild on our visit to Arizona.

Jake looks for small round holes with webs over them and then goes for it.

Sometimes putting some water in the hole helps the spider come to the surface.

Here's a video of Jake in action.

Tarantula coming out of it's hole from Marlyss Hollyer on Vimeo.

Type in the word 'tarantula' in the search bar if you want to
read more about Jake's adventurous hobby.

Tarantula in hand....straight from the ground

Packing and Flying

I packed like "Monk" I was told. If you've watched Monk you know what I mean. If you haven't, it's...well, a little obsessive compulsive. I packed like I was going into the wilderness and not a big city like Tucson, Arizona where I could BUY something if I forgot to pack it. I even contemplated looking on the internet to see if there was an Apple Store nearby in case I forgot some important cord for my ipad, iphone or camera. But I think I've got it all...and then some.

We left the house at 5 a.m. and headed to the airport. Everything went so smoothly it was almost like gliding on air. We had pre-printed boarding passes so we just dropped off our luggage and then went to the security line. It was a long line but clipped right along on the same smooth air we were sailing on. (Didn't have to show any I.D. for Jacob) Jacob just took off his vest and shoes and put his phone in the box and I did the same except I also had a backpack. I think this is the first time ever that I didn't beep when I went thru the scanner. I usually forget something in my pocket.

Then we sailed over to our boarding area with a quick stop for some bottled water to insert into the special pocket in our matching ScottE vests that both Jake and I are wearing.

We hardly had to wait any time before boarding and we liked the seats Susie picked out for us in row #10. Although we sat in row 11 instead. They all look the same. The couple whose seats we were in didn't care and just moved up to row 10. Jacob got the window seat and set up his homework right away and I got on my ipad.

We're having a perfect trip so far.

Falling asleep on the plane.

We are almost in Tuck-son (Tucson) so we have to keep saying the name right soon. Pilot said it's 83 degrees there and some clouds. Jake has been enjoying the window seat on both flights. He just saw another plane fly by us and spotted a low flying blimp.

The Big Adventure Begins

I packed like "Monk" I was told. If you've watched Monk you know what I mean. If you haven't, it's...well, a little obsessive compulsive. I packed like I was going into the wilderness and not a big city like Tucson, Arizona where I could BUY something if I forgot to pack it. I even contemplated looking on the internet to see if there was an Apple Store nearby in case I forgot some important cord for my ipad, iphone or camera. But I think I've got it all...and then some.

We left the house at 5 a.m. and headed to the airport. Everything went so smoothly it was almost like gliding on air. We had pre-printed boarding passes so we just dropped off our luggage and then went to the security line. It was a long line but clipped right along on the same smooth air we were sailing on. (Didn't have to show any I.D. for Jacob) Jacob just took off his vest and shoes and put his phone in the box and I did the same except I also had a backpack. I think this is the first time ever that I didn't beep when I went thru the scanner. I usually forget something in my pocket.

Then we sailed over to our boarding area with a quick stop for some bottled water to insert into the special pocket in our matching ScottE vests that both Jake and I are wearing.

We hardly had to wait any time before boarding and we liked the seats Susie picked out for us in row #10. Although we sat in row 11 instead. They all look the same. The couple whose seats we were in didn't care and just moved up to row 10. Jacob got the window seat and set up his homework right away and I got on my ipad.

We're having a perfect trip so far.

The Big Adventure: Part 1

Jacob The Adventurer from Marlyss Hollyer on Vimeo.

Our adventure is about to begin. Jacob and I are chomping

on the bit...as they say.

I wonder what we will be coming home with?

Watermelon palm tree

Hey.....how about this flower or maybe you would describe it as a palm tree.

I wish I could say that I did this. Not so.

Maybe if it was foam core but this was made from a small watermelon and a honeydew for the leaves. It was at our party this weekend.

Pretty creative I do believe. Underneath was a pineapple for the trunk.

New Suitcase....New Adventure

Jacob and I are going on our adventure soon.

 

So, therefore, I bought a new and

improved way of carrying my stuff.

 

It's like a big duffle bag on wheels.

Seems to be just the right size and has

lots of pockets and zippers. Pockets and especially 

zippered pockets are something I absolutely can't resist.

But...wait...I bought it from Costco.

How many millions of other people will

have one just like it?? I can just see all these

black duffle bags spinning around on the

baggage carousel all looking alike.

 

So I painted daisies on mine...subtle daisies.

And then I painted my name on it...not so subtly...but

near the bottom.

 

After all...I'm going to have important stuff in there.

Well, maybe not so important but MY stuff.

The popcorn issue.

I love popcorn. It's one of my favorite snacks.

I use to buy my popcorn in bulk from Costco.

They had a big 12 lb. container that lasted forever.

But like all things at Costco....things come and go and

you can't count on products staying around there.

So one day when I was almost out of popcorn 

I bought the one on the right in the picture at

Meijer. I just grabbed it and put it in my cart.

I have to say I didn't even look at the price.

Some things I just need in my life...popcorn is one of them.

Boy did I get ripped off. It was $5.99.

The much larger one on the left 

was only $3.98 at Walmart.

 I didn't even notice until I had

them both in my cupboard at the same time and 

then I was appalled....and annoyed.

Even if they were the same size and the

Walmart one was cheaper that would have

been bad enough. But the smaller one from

Meijer was $2 more??

What a big difference on a small item.

My trips to Meijer have been almost

non-existant since the popcorn issue.

Sorry Meijer...you lost a customer

over popcorn.

Sweet Shoppe Ideas ...Large & Small.

UPDATE: November 2024

We can make table top signs 18" x 24" or larger.

We can do REALLY LARGE.

I like the words "Sweet Escape" but 

"Sweet Shoppe" or "Sweet Shop" works for me too.

If you'd like to see even MORE variations,

click on another blog post I did on Sweet Shop Ideas.

 We make a bunch of different styles of 

Sweet Shoppe signs for candy buffets.

Candy Buffets 

 are so popular these days.

And no wonder. 

Who doesn't love candy...both

to eat right there at the party and

to take home too.

No gooey cakes to take home that

you might drop and have an

gooey mess.

As with everything though:

There are rules.

Can't always dig right into

the candy buffet before you

eat your veggies...hence we

had someone order this

"Candy Buffet Closed"

sign from us. 

What sort of candy signs may we ship to you?

Email us at:

marlyss@mac.com

Party Decorations: DRUM SETS and BASS DRUMS

We've had fun this year making some new drum

related party decor. Here's one we especially loved 

with this cool logo that the family sent us to use

in the center of the bass drum. It was from their invitation.

On the same track, here's a bass drum that sat on a 

Placecard Table with one of our amp boxes and

a guitar for a musical collage of three. 

We love that rule of 3.  

Now this drum might look 3D but it is actually one dimensional foamcore.

It's very similar to our guitar centerpieces.

Here's a side view.

We've also made centerpieces with

 a different drum look.

These were on a 12" square base and

the banners were the table designations.

We also can make a drum set

Sign In Board featuring your

favorite photo of your hot drummer.

Or....maybe just a fun Welcome Sign to

sit on the table with your place cards?

Or a Memory Book? We do those also and

they cost about 1/2 of what a Sign In Board costs.

It does seem like we've done a lot in blue, black

and silver. But we're open to using other 

colors. It just hasn't happened yet.

Maybe we'll find a girl drummer who

has a set of purple or pink drums.

Wow....that would be wild. 

I'd like that. I'll post an update here

if that happens.

Survivor Redemption Island BUFF I WON!

I don't win many contests. But then I don't enter many. 

But I do watch Survivor and it's one of my most favorite shows. I watch it upstairs in my bedroom.

I followed Jeff Probst's live tweets while the show was playing.

 Except for the week my granddaughter Haley had the 24 hour flu and threw up on my bed just as it was starting. That week I was glad I was taping it so I could watch the rerun but I missed the live tweets because I was...well...you can imagine what I doing instead.

They had a contest to show your "living room" and how you watched Survivor and send over a tweet.

I snapped this picture and sent this Tweet.

I had my ipad set up and my tv on.

Now this isn't the best picture ever and certainly not award winning. But I won a Survivor Buff autographed by Jeff Probst for it. I think I won because it was different than the kind that most people posted. Most people showed a brightly lit living room with kids eating popcorn on the floor. That type of picture. Mine was just different. Maybe it stuck out for that. Whatever the reason, I won a buff!

I had to wait 6 weeks for it but it came just the very next day after I had wondered out loud if I really had won a buff and I wondered where it was. I was an impatient winner.

It's a long stretchy tube of a thing. 

You can wear it around your head like a headband...which is

how I'll probably wear it....or as a neck scarf. I'll probably do that too when the weather here in Michigan isn't hot and humid.

But here's my survivor Haley who survived the flu 

and got to wear it first to our Memorial Day parade 

where it was hot and humid and she was giving away lemonade.

She could wear it as a top. That would never fly with me. 

No way is it THAT stretchy.

 

But I got a major kick out of WINNING!

Spiders...metal and otherwise. I just don't understand.

Some things I don't understand.

I bought this copper spider and spider web years...and I mean

MANY years....before Jacob showed his interest in collecting

tarantulas. It appealed to me and I'm not sure why. 

Actually, I have two.

The other one isn't as coppery cool as this one but, nonetheless,

I willing and gladly purchased it at some art fair.

This one has been hanging in a window on my back porch

for more years than I can remember.

You know how things hang around so long that you don't really

see them anymore?  Well, today I really looked at it. And 

admired it. And was surprised in a way that I hadn't notice

this phenomenon before.   Who started collecting spiders first?

Me or Jacob?

I've never had an urge to own a live spider. I admire the

beauty of some of Jacob's tarantulas. I really do. But I don't

want to hold them and feed them like he does.

But I was surprised at myself. Why had I purchased these so

many years before my Jacob started on his hobby of

tarantula collecting? I wonder if they had some subtle influence

on him as he grew up? 

Or had I myself tapped into something that I unconsciously 

knew I would respond favorably to in my future and share

with my grandson Jacob?

I stared at his sculpture and tried to understand it.

I tried to analyze why I was drawn enough to it to

pay someone for it and hang it in my window.

I couldn't really pinpoint it exactly. 

Why not a frog or a bird?

If I figure it out, I'll let you know.

Until then....well, I guess there are just

some things I don't understand.

Friendly Tarantulas

This summer my grandson Jacob and I are

going on an out of state adventure involving

his tarantula-loving hobby.

I plan on blogging about our adventure here.

We both are looking forward to it.

I find his hobby unique and cool and I've learned

so much about these beautiful creatures. 

But no....I haven't touched one yet.

Even though this one pictured is extremely docile and

easy to handle, I'd really rather just take pictures of it.

And be a cheerleader and enthusiastic person who

enjoys watching someone like Jacob learn and grow and 

have fun with his very unique hobby.

But I really and truly do find them 

to be beautiful creatures and uniquely individual

as we are.

World War II Memory. A very personal story.

My Dad was in the Army in World War II.

He was in the infantry and combat and had some stories to tell. Many of them involved weapons and mortar shells and fox holes and death and harsh living conditions. I'm positive that the things he saw stayed with him until the very end of his life in December 2010 at age 89. I could tell by some of the things he was talking about that those memories were alive and well and never too far from the surface of his mind. 

But in 1944 my Dad received this telegram from the Red Cross.

It's old and crumpled as you can see. 

I'm sure it was wadded up and thrown across the room. 

 I can also see him punching the guy that had the unfortunate 

task of handing it to him.

 I know he did that. What else can you do with 

that anguish when it's handed to you.

I'm sure he then picked up the telegram, smoothed it out and 

carried it home with him and cried over it. I'm sure a DNA test would
find salty tears imbedded in the fibers.

In case you can't read it, here's what it said:

Dr states wifes diagnosis eclampsia.

Caesarean section Dec. 19

Twins. One Dead.

Wife oxygen tent. Prognosis guarded.

Urges presence.

No other problem.

Well....both twins died. 

I'd say there WAS another problem. 

Two boys that would have been my older brothers died.

Boys that already had names picked out. 

My Mother came close to death as well. 

(But I'm happy to report that she is still alive and although grieving heavily for the loss of my Dad this last December, she is surviving and continuing the journey.)

My Dad got to come home from the vicious war and 

was allowed to stay for just a brief time. 

Then he had to go back to the war.

As the years passed and they both reflected on this terribly sad time in their lives, they looked at it as an event that very possibly spared my Dad's life. Where he was at that particular time when he received this telegram was a very dangerous place. 

There were many lives lost.

It may very well be so. 

I personally believe that our lives are more 

planned out than we are aware of. 

We are just living our story. 

That's how I look at it.

Maybe one of those twins finally made it down here. I know I finally got a brother 3 years after I was "baby boomed" into this world after the war was over.

I think it's special that my Dad saved this piece of our family history. He put it in a frame with a V-mail love letter that he wrote to my Mom and that she had saved. 

 (This photo was taken shortly after

my Dad and Mom married in the early 1940's.)