A frog went a-courtin' and he did ride

A frog went a-courtin' and he did ride, M-hm, M-hm.
A frog went a-courtin' and he did ride.
I don't know about the courtin' thing but he surely did take a ride.

One day last week after a rainy couple of days I went to the supermarket and when I returned home to empty out my van, this is the little surprise I found lurking inside my van door. I'm not sure what you call that part of the van, but it is the part of the van that the rear of the sliding door slams onto when you close it. Poor froggy, I don' know how it survived there without being "squished". It was just clinging on looking pretty scared. I quickly made a b-line to my camera and snapped this picture.
With the help of a rolled up newspaper, I urged the little fellow down and onto the ground. It quickly hopped away and I knew it would be OK.

That brought back the memory of that folksy song I heard so long ago. I couldn't remember the words so I did a search and came up with many versions of the song. The version I remember is the one I've listed below. I do not know who the author is.
One web site I found that has researched the courtin' froggie tune is here at this link.

©jp2008 _________Click photos to enlarge.




A frog went a-courtin' and he did ride, M-hm, M-hm.
A frog went a-courtin' and he did ride,
Sword and pistol by his side, M-hm, M-hm.

He rode up to Miss Mousie's door, M-hm, M-hm,
He rode up to Miss Mousie's door,
Where he'd often been before, M-hm, M-hm.

He said, "Miss Mouse, are you within?" M-hm, M-hm,
He said, "Miss Mouse, are you within?"
"Yes, kind sir, I sit and spin." M-hm, M-hm.

He took Miss Mouse upon his knee, M-hm, M-hm,
He took Miss Mouse upon his knee
Said "Miss Mouse, will you marry me?" M-hm, M-hm.

"Without my Uncle Rat's consent, M-hm, M-hm,
Without my Uncle Rat's consent
I wouldn't marry the President." M-hm, M-hm.

Uncle Rat, he laughed and shook his fat sides, M-hm, M-hm,
Uncle Rat, he laughed and shook his fat sides
To think his niece would be a bride, M-hm, M-hm.

Then Uncle Rat rode off to town, M-hm, M-hm,
Then Uncle Rat rode off to town
To buy his niece a wedding gown, M-hm, M-hm.

"Oh, where will the wedding supper be?" M-hm, M-hm,
"Oh where will the wedding supper be?"
"Way down yonder in the hollow tree." M-hm, M-hm.

The first to come was the little white moth, M-hm, M-hm,
The first to come was the little white moth
She spread out the tablecloth, M-hm, M-hm.

The next to come was the bumblebee, M-hm, M-hm,
The next to come was the bumblebee
Played the fiddle upon his knee, M-hm, M-hm.

The next to come was a little flea, M-hm, M-hm,
The next to come was a little flea
Danced a jig with the bumblebee, M-hm, M-hm.

The next to come was Missus Cow, M-hm, M-hm,
The next to come was Missus Cow
Tried to dance but didn't know how, M-hm, M-hm.

Now Mister Frog was dressed in green, M-hm, M-hm,
Now Mister Frog was dressed in green
Sweet Miss Mouse looked like a queen, M-hm, M-hm.

In slowly walked the Parson Rook, M-hm, M-hm,
In slowly walked the Parson Rook
Under his arm he carried a book, M-hm, M-hm.

They all gathered round the lucky pair, M-hm, M-hm,
They all gathered round the lucky pair
Singing, dancing everywhere, M-hm, M-hm.

Then Frog and Mouse went off to France, M-hm, M-hm,
Then Frog and Mouse went off to France
That's the end of my romance, M-hm, M-hm.

Ghost Pin

This is a crafty idea that I had and it turned into a cute little pin. I though I would share how I made these because they would be an easy and fun craft for the kiddies to make with a little adult help.
To make these, you need a white flat marble (found in craft stores), a black permanent felt tip marker, 2 tiny googly eyes, a 2 inch square of white cloth, glue (I use E6000), and a pin for the back.
I pulled a few strands of thread from the edges of the cloth to fringe it a bit. Fold it over from corner to corner to form a triangle. Add a small dot of glue between the inside of the triangle to hold it together.
To make the face, I use an emery board to scuff up the spot where the mouth and eyes will be so the ink and the glue will stick better. I just drew a round or oval shape for the mouth and glued on tiny googly eyes. You could just as well use the ink marker to make the eyes. Let the ink and glue dry. If you have a problem with the ink not sticking, you can spray a light coat of Krylon Fixative on to seal the ink.
Next, glue the head onto the cloth body and glue the pin to the back. That's it.
Instead of making the cloth triangle body, you can cut the body from white felt or white fun foam. Just cut it into a ghostly shape, as I did in the second picture below.

If you wanted to gift these, you could package them in a small zip bag and staple a topper such as the one I made below.

Pasta Salad

Today I made my daughter's favorite pasta salad and I thought I would share my recipe. Actually I don't have a written recipe. I always just make it by tossing in a little of this and a little of that. I've made it so many times it is like I just know what to put into it.

Cook one 16 oz box of Muellers Rotini Twists. Drain and let cool
Hard Boil 6 eggs, peel and chop
1 cup of chopped celery
1/2 of a large bell pepper, chopped (you can use yellow, red or green, whichever you pefer)
1 large peeled cucumber, chopped
1 cup sweet pickle salad cubes
About one cup of mayonnaise
Salt to taste

First stir the mayonnaise and pasta together, mixing in the mayo evenly.
Then mix in all the other ingredients.
You can add more or less of each ingredient, depending what you like.
This makes a large portion and of course, should be refrigerated. It can be kept well for about 3 or 4 days.
And here it is in my gallon size Glad Ware, ready to be sealed and refrigerated until mealtime!

More Country Angel Pins

I found these angels that I made and had forgotten about. This is another version of the country angel pins that I posted here earlier this month. The instructions are there on that previous post. The difference is that I gave these angels little arms by picking up a few strands of yarn on each side and braiding them and tying off the ends. The one on the bottom left has a piece of yarn for the halo instead of the wire. The bottom right angel's arms are brought together in front and a little ribbon flower with a bead center is glued on.

Password -URL Keeper

It is difficult to keep up with all the websites, blogs, email servers, and other places I have to sign into with passwords so I made these little cards that will fit into a file box. If I don't use a file box, they are a good size to slide beneath a mouse pad to keep them handy and close by.
Since the most used file boxes are made for 3x5 inch or 4x6 cards, I made 2 sizes. Both sizes are png format so they are transparent. If I decide to I can add my choice of graphics. 110 lb cardstock works very well for these cards. Another idea is to print them on light colored cardstock. Either way, they should come in very handy.
I have stored these cards in my photobucket album so I can share them with anyone who would like a copy. If you do want a copy or copies, click on the links below and when the page opens up, you will see the preview. You then have to click on it again to go to the full size. When it goes to the full size, all you do is right click on the template and save a copy to your computer!
Be sure to save the template as a png or you will not be able to add a graphic behind the lines. Saving as a jpg is fine if you do not want to add graphics. They look very large because I set the resolution (pixels per inch) to be at 300%, but they will print out at 100%.

Click here to find the 3x5 inch password card.
Click here to find the 4x6 inch password card.

Here is a jpg sample of what they look like:
2008©craftythisandthat

Tic Tac Toe CD Case

I made this Tic Tac Toe game a couple of years ago. It is made in a regular (not slim) jewel cd case.The first step in making this is to carefully remove the inside piece that holds the cd. It can be snapped out easily by sliding something thin like a nail file between it and the box, but be careful not to break the cd box itself. After that is removed, it will leave an open space in the side end that will easily hold a mini pen or pencil. The pen I used came with the chain attached. It is one of those with 4 to a card for 99 cents. I heated an awl to melt a small hole in the end of the cd to insert the chain. I made a little barrell to slide the pen into by rolling up a small piece of card stock and used a strong glue to hold it in place. That makes a place for the pen to stay put and not just dangle. After that all you need to do is choose your graphics and print them into the template parts, cut them out and place them into the cd case. I used small dot of glue on the corners to hold the papers in place. I added a small 2x2 stick it note pad inside the front cover to keep scores and I made a small envelope to hold the playing pieces. Tip: I used a printable magnet sheet for the game card on the back inside and also for the game pieces. That way you have a magnetic game and the pieces will not be sliding everywhere. The other graphics were printed on card stock. That's about it. You can download all the templates to make the tic tac toe cd game here. I included all pieces necessary, including the envelope and game piece template, to make this tic tac toe game kit

graphicsLaurieFurnell©pcCrafter.com
Front

Inside Left

Inside Right (game and game pieces)

Back

Craft Sticks

Craft sticks can entertain children for hours. There are so many easy and fun crafty ways to use these sticks. Have your kiddies recycle those popsicle sticks by saving them instead of dropping them in the trash can. It is also a good way to teach the little ones to recycle and reuse as well as the art of crafting. If you don't have enough popsicle sticks, you can buy the craft sticks in any craft department. They are very inexpensive and usually have many in a package.

I searched for some interesting craft stick projects and there are so many it is hard to choose the best. I'm listing just a few that I like but if this is not enough just type popsicle stick crafts or craft stick into google search and you will find many.

Angel Craft

http://www.theartfulcrafter.com/kids_crafts.html

Halloween Crafts

http://www.familycorner.com/family/kids/crafts/ghoulish_stick_figures.shtml

A Frog Door Hanger

http://www.makingfriends.com/Hoponindoorhanger.htm

Christmas Star Ornaments

http://www.daniellesplace.com/html/christmas.html#

Waste Not Picture Frame

http://www.seedsofknowledge.com/puzzleframe.html

A Wishing Well

http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/forpreschoolers/l/blwishwll.htm

American Flag

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/july4/craftstickflag/

I like to play with craft sticks too. A few months ago I entered a challenge on a craft message board. The challenge was to make something from craft sticks. I made these two little projects and entered them. Neither of them was a winner but they were so much fun and easy to make.

The snowman was made simply by cutting a piece of card stock for the backing. Paint the popsicle sticks white and glue them side by side to the card stock.The card stock should be cut just a bit smaller than the sticks. Draw a hat shaped pattern and cut it from black foam or felt or card stock, whatever you have that will work. I used sparkly felt and glued a small piece of red ric-rac for the hat band and glued on the plastic snowflake. Cut a piece of wire about twice the size you want the hanger to be. Twirl it around a pencil to form the loops. Slide it off the pencil and bend it to the shape you want. The wire hanger is attached to the sticks or you could make the backing a little taller than the sticks, but below the top of the hat, and run the wire through that. You can add a bead or a little jingle bell to the wire. I used fun foam for the cheeks and nose, added googley eyes and a mouth cut from the same felt as the hat.

The mini message board was made using a 6x6 inch square cork board and 6 inch craft sticks attached to the cork. I embellished it with a few things I already had in my craft room.

Click on each photo for an enlarged view.

One Page Calendars

I made more calendars! This time they are again all twelve months on one page, but they are a full page size. I think they could be made a little smaller by resizing them but I like this size. I'm showing a sample of two of them here and giving away my template again! I've included two templates in the download, one with the 2009 date added and one without it. The date can be added in your graphic program and matched to your graphics. You can add graphics on the top part and also behind the numbers, because I've made the template transparent.
So go ahead and click on my 4 Shared link here and have fun with them. I did!
graphics used are by Tina Wenke and Susan Seals ©pcCrafter

(click sample photo for a larger view)

Eastern Swallowtail Butterfly

I have flowers planted on the east side of my house and by the garage. I once knew the name of the flowers but today I can't remember what they are. They are perennials and have multiplied so there is enough nectar for the butterflies, the hummingbirds and the bees. I see the honey bees and bumble bee's visiting often, but this weekend the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterflies were gathering all over them. That was a beautiful site, especially because last year the area had so much dry weather, the butterflies did not appear.
Does your state/province/country have an official insect? If you live in the USA you can check HERE for the list of states that have an official state insect. Forty-one of the states do have at least one official state insect listed. My state, Georgia has 2 state insects listed. The Honey Bee and the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. My "real" home state, Virginia, where I was born and lived there many years, also lists the Tiger Swallowtail as its state insect.
I grabbed my camera and snapped several photos but with all the fluttering and quickly moving about, I was able to get one good snapshot of this beauty, and I must say, it is a pretty good shot. I also snapped a close up of one of the flowers. I am happy with my little Olympus FE340 8.0 5x camera.
(click photo for a better view)

Magnetic Calendars

I hope I do not seem to be rushing the next year in but I have been playing around with a calendar template and made it transparent and I also made it with the blank center so that graphics or a background can be added behind it and/or in the center of the calendar. I think it came out nice and today I printed out some calendars on magnet sheets. These can be use on a refrigerator, school locker, office cabinet or other metal surfaces.
I originally made a 6x6 inch template but then decided that If I made it 5x5 inches I could easily print 2 of them on a full size magnet sheet. I used the Avery Magnet sheets which have a matte surface and they print out nicely. I printed 2 sheets then put them back to back, slid them between laminating sheets and run them through my Scotch brand heat laminator. By doing them back to back, I can laminate both sheets in one run. Then I cut them out and separate them, ending up with 4 magnets with a laminated front.
I've decide to share my blank calendar template with anyone who would like to make some of these fun little calendars and I've include the two sizes in the download. The templates are PNG format and transparent. You can get my blank calendar templates HERE at my 4shared account.
graphics used are ©pcCrafter



This is a close up of one but I had to tilt my camera so that I didn't get a flash back from the shiny lamination. It looks a little distored but it really isn't. :-)
Click on the photo to enlarge.