forge.

Meet our newest addition; the coal forge. Now technically, I shouldn't be posting this here, but I just couldn't help it.  It's really my husbands toy; I've never forged anything in my life, (though I'm hoping to learn now...) but it's such a neat thing, and it's a part of my family history.  

Since we moved in October, my husband has been talking about the forge.  It was sitting among my grandpa's clutter, that my grandma just adores, might I add, and I'm sure it was just calling out to him "please, please, take me home!" A couple of weeks ago he finally got his wish.  We now have added to the rest of our creative endeavors a Champion Blower & Forge Co. Model # 400 coal forge. It's pretty old... what I'm assuming are the patent dates read "April 15, 1902 and July 30, 1901." I believe it was probably my great-grandfathers, if not my great-great-grandfathers. Neat, right?!  But despite it's age, it still works like a dream.  When he really got it cranking, I got some pretty great pictures of the sparks flying.  So far, he's been experimenting with flattening a railroad spike, to get the feel of things, and hammering on an old piece of i-beam.  If you've got an anvil just lying around, or know someone who does, we'd be happy to take it off their hands! 

spin.

After about a week of rain, I couldn't take it anymore... I had to find something to do!  While wandering around the house after about 3 cups of coffee, I decided that we needed a "real" dining area.  Before yesterday, our table was a catch-all for junk. I only have 2 of the 4 chairs that match (the other 2 are half-sanded and stashed in my parent's attic somewhere...) and the cats just can't keep their lazy butts off the table.  We received place mats and napkins for our wedding that hadn't even been de-tagged.  So. Goal: Phase one, clear off the table, wash and iron everything, and find some sort of "scheme" for a centerpiece and maybe some napkin rings (which I am not really a fan of... hence the challenge.) Phase two, find the other two chairs, re-glue, and paint all four... 

Now, I already had a good centerpiece.  A small tray with glass votive holders and a few red candles to pop into it.  Napkin rings on the other hand were the challenge.  After a little internet research on "non-ugly" rings I decided I wanted to try and make some.  I decided on twisted wire and beads because they wouldn't be overpowering (not to mention silly looking) and they would be a quick project.... little did I know.

Now, side note: my husband is a bona-fide artist.  Degree and all. We have the supplies to make any 3D form of art imaginable.   While digging through our "supply wall," I stumbled on a handful of glass beads left over from some endeavor of his.  Perfect!  When I left them out on the table though, I began a revolution... He was inspired. Instead of using found beads, I was going to learn to make my own! Yay! 

Below are pictures and a little further explanation of the process, but in short, it involves fire, molten glass, and a lot of patience.  And the end product of "phase one" is pretty nice, if I'm allowed to say that... See for yourself:

And a little more about the process here.