Tea Time With Ken and Barbie...

This week with my Amazon order I decided that naked Ken should get some clothes. I bought him a few years back for my nieces to play at my place while I was babysitting them and the Ken I bought at the dollar store came only in his swim trunks. So he was long over due for an outfit, somehow though I found a fun set of Ken sized clothes from Amazon which were a bit like a surprise pack and I am really excited with what was sent.

Now I can sew but honestly for what I paid for these Ken sized clothes I could not replicate the quality nor make the shoes they included! Such a deal!

I love how the clothing fits and how modern my Ken Doll looks, perfectly dressed for Barbie Play Time Tea.
Thanks for joining me here for a cup of tea with Ken and a look at his new wardrobe. I am truly having fun with these posts and am glad you have indulged my inner child by joining us here today.
I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com 

A Couple of Cheerful Door Wreaths I Made This Weekend...

“In a time of destruction , create something”-Maxine Hong Kingston

This weekend I kept my hands busy creating a couple of wreaths one for myself and one for my friends door. I got this idea from a blog photo I saw on Facebook called www.createcraftlove.com 

I used only items I found at the dollar store and created something I am pretty proud of. A huge thank you to createcraftlove, for this inspiring wreath craft.

I should not go to the dollar store inspired and unsupervised. I do only go out once a week for supplies and practice social distancing. So the cart gets pretty full. 

Each wreath was created for under $10 and is bright and cheerful. I can't wait to give my friend hers. 

I would love to hear what you are doing to keep busy during these crazy times and if you are a front line worker, long haul truck driver, retail associate please know how very much I appreciate all you are doing for us all.  Thank you for taking time to stop by for a cup of tea and a cheerful quarantine craft, please feel free to leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com 

A Tiny Seat in A Cozy Corner

Last week an author I love Ellery Adams shared a tiny cozy reading spot she created for herself during these difficult times of self isolation. I was quite inspired by it. I don't have a lot of space but I wanted to create a cozy spot just to sit and sip and read. Making the most of this time of solitude.

I utilized the order on line and curbside pick up at my local hardware store, these were each $10. I used some black and brown paint, added water and stained the wood. I also used an old chopping board as the seat.

I sewed some $2 bold ends of fabric, into a pillow case and placed a Walmart inexpensive pillow inside for my seat cushion. I ordered the pillow case that says Drink Good Tea, read good books on ebay a few months pack for under $5.

It was dusk when I finished and made myself a nice cup of tea. I thought I might share the view from my seat as well...

I hope you can find a cozy spot to read and reflect in these trying times.
I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Happy Easter From My Table To Yours...

Happy Easter, if today is a day your family celebrates I hope you are able to find comfort and distant connection today. On Friday I had a fun idea to set up a tea party I thought my boys might enjoy, no tea just cups of chocolate and I put it all around this white charger I made for my table center piece. I used my new cricut joy and made one for myself and one for my sister, which I later delivered safely to my sister and nieces.

It took seconds to print the decal and a few more minutes for me to weed the vinyl and then transfer to the clear plastic, and then apply to the charger.

I have found it very helpful to keep my mind and hands busy creating and crafting. I hope that you also find pockets of joy this Sunday.
Thank you for joining me, I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Self-Care Saturday...under eye mask?

For today's Self-care Saturday I thought I would share my first impressions of an under eye mask I thought would help me with the under eye dark circle and puffiness. I chose pixi skin treats,  DetoxifEye, you see I have been watching a lot of Queer Eye on Netflix and noticed that the lovely Johnathan Van Ness seems to get some of the participants to try these under the eye masks, so I picked up some to try. I initially went to Shoppers Drug Mart here in Canada looking for toilet paper, which they did not have, so I decided not to waste the trip and asked their beauticians for a recommendation. 

I have one side of my eyes that is always puffier than the other me trying to show you which one, LOL.

First impressions...I did not think that cucumber and caffeine would sting, okay more like strongly tingle. I left them on for the recommended ten minutes...

 It is hard to tell in this photo but I do see a difference, feel a difference too it feels a bit tighter around my eyes, the jar comes with 30 pairs so I will see how things go and if there is a cumulative effect.
Have you ever tried these under the eye masks? I would love to hear your results and tips. Remember to try new things and have a bit of fun while you are staying safe at home.
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a Self-Care Saturday indulgence. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com 

Getting Outside?

I don't know about you but I am taking the whole please shelter in place thing quite seriously and do my best to not go out more than once per week in the public. Taking late evening walks and lots of naps but I really have not spent anytime just outside.

 At first it was the rainy weather and the last few days here have been sunny and warm, true spring like weather. I live in a dark by choice, cozy suite, and I will be honest, I did not make getting the vitamin D a priority. Part of it is guilt. I feel terrible I can't do more to help, I am not working and well the news is terrifying. But a friend texted me and reminded me I needed to get out side even if it was for a few minutes.

I took her advice and spent several hours outside, gardening and sprucing up my little area.
I don't really have a green thumb, or at least I did not think I did and yet I could not be more proud to announce that my beans and peas are growing, measurably! I think my largest excitement came this week when I noticed my tomato seeds sprouted!!!

On a tight budget and with a bit of reluctance, I picked up supplies at the dollar store a few weeks ago and my seeds and soil at Canadian Tire. Today I spent time re-potting and reorganizing my stairs. I even built a tea themed gnome garden by my front door, something I have always wanted to do.

As much fun and hard work as that was it was nice to be outside in the sun and not think about anything but what I was doing. When I was almost done, I remembered one item I picked up for $1.25, side walk chalk.  I saw on Facebook people were talking about "Chalking their walks" and I have seen a few fun drive ways in my area that have done just that, one said please send wine, one was done up like candy land and one was a snakes and ladders game.  I don't have a ton of "walk to chalk", and almost no one is going to see my area, so it made it easy to just have fun and go with it.

I am glad I took my friends advice and spent a few hours outside, I am thrilled with how it all came out and got some ideas about gardening I want to follow up on. I hope you can get out where you are or at least plan for when you can. Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a tour of my outdoor area. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

The Cricut Joy...my favorite impulse buy.

I am having a great deal of fun, "joy in pockets" they call it, between the bouts of over and under reacting to what is going on in the world. I recently impulse bought the cricut joy when I was at Michael's getting much needed sanity supplies (I was masked and it was in and out) when I was standing in line  (6-8 feet social distancing from others sanity shopping as well,) I thought oh I hope they have a kit kat.  Where they normally have the kit kats they had the cricut machine and it was a split second decision that I am thrilled I made. Tuesday I personalized my machine with this adorable tea decal I made from a free image on the easy to use site. I am not being paid or sponsored by cricut, I just honestly bought it on a whim and am crash coursing my way through the process.

 There are a few really easy steps to making these personal stickers and labels.

I honestly have been very impressed, only slightly frustrated as I did not know about the weeding tools and the scraper so I ended up ordering them and a few other supplies on Michael's website and they got delivered in just a few days. 

I made a new sign for my gate as the first beautiful one I decoupaged got wrecked in the rain. It is not as colorful but it made me smile and it looks cute on the gate, while I figure out how to make the old one look new again.

 Using a dollar store chalk board sign and the white vinyl I am thinking this will hold up better. 

I have even started to make over my door, though I need to order more purple to go over the rectangles. This is removable so I am not wrecking the door!

I am really enjoying this fun new tool. If you have experience with cricut or you have a cricut joy as well please let me know, I would love some tips and tricks. 

Please know that I am taking the situation of being  temporarily laid off and helping my boys with their home learning, that there are moments in the day where I am full of anxiety and stress, but I am also making sure that I have time for joy, that I make time to turn off the social media, turn off the news and focus on being creative, getting out of my own head. 

I hope you can make time too. Oh and if you have a spare kit kat send it my way I still have not gotten one. 

I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com