So.Korean Vacation 2011

Wow!!!  What a vacation that was!  My husband and I took a trip to So.Korea to visit with our daughter, she is 23 and just moved there 6 months ago to teach English in a public Elementary School.  After being there for over a week, we really do understand why she loves both the country and the people so much!   I think the best way to share from the trip will be to post some pictures and write a bit, I took over 500 pictures and there is just no way that I am going to post all that!  I had over 200 printed out for my scrapbook, and that should tell you how much fun we had.  You will also meet Nicky in these pictures, she and Sarah went to school together here in Garland.  Nicky is at another Elementary School there within walking distance.  At least they both knew someone else there from the start, and it made it a bit easier on us knowing that they would have each other to rely on.  So...here we go.

This first plane was a little bitty thing, and we were right over the tires.  

After we all were boarded and had sat for a while, the captain came on and announce that everything was fine, but that there were gonna change out all the tires on the plane.  Really?  There goes our time window for the next flight!!!

You can tell this is Texas, not a cloud in the sky.

This cloud looks either like an elephant or a dinosaur, depending on which end is front!

Ummm.  We were on Delta, and the more planes we took, the cheaper the tickets seemed to be.

One should never tell one's husband (who is not fond of flying), "honey, that was the wheels going down (it was the doors for the wheels opening), and that was your luggage! (it was the wheels lowering)".  Oh the looks I got from him.  lolThis little plane, my hubby nicknamed a "puddle jumper".

I snapped this picture really quick as we ran through the airport in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.  Because of the delay at Dallas, our two hour layover was gone and we had to hurry!

This is our next plane, see all the little bitty windows across the top?  It was a double decker, the entire upper section was first class seating with recliners!  I know what our little cramped seats cost, I can only imagine what those things go for!

For anyone who has never flown, this cabin in the plane was larger than my living room and you really did forget that you were even on a plane.

Looking out over Japan.  

The mountains were just beautiful!

The airport in Japan had lots of murals and over 50 shops!

Good thing that stuff there was Duty Free, cause it sure was expensive in Japan!

Our last plane was another "puddle jumper".  You can see how cramped it is.

The last thing that I saw on the tv monitor before Darrell got sick was American Pickers with subtitles!  Love that show!!!  

Well, Darrell and I got there, finally!!!  Poor thing, he feels worse than the picture looks.  With just 45 minutes of the trip left, he got sick!  Hugging the toilet sick!  It did get us moved up to first class, but was kinda late in the trip to get to enjoy it.  When traveling internationally there are things to remember...don't drink a lot of cokes, request water and lots of it.  Another thing, get some sleep!!!!

The streets have lettering on them just like ours, and there is literally no room to park anywhere.  They double park all the time and just leave their cell numbers in the window so that folks can call them to come move their cars.  We mainly took to walking, street bus or a taxi.

Stores and shops everywhere in Daejeon.

This little fast food place at the store has a conveyor belt that goes around, you just grab whatever plate you want when you want it.  At the end of the meal, you take all your empty plates to the checkout to pay for your meal.  Stuff is fairly cheap there, but I am thinking that could get expensive quick.

This is Darrell on day two.  He is feeling much better.

Nicky, Sarah's best friend, in front of her school.

Sarah, our daughter, in front of her school.

The steps inside amused me.  There are sayings in English and Korean on all the stairways.  They say stuff like..."Good medicine tastes bad".

The cubbies down on the left are where the students put their outside shoes when they come into the building.  They bring indoor sandals from home to change into each day.  The floors stay spotless and clean!

Monet to Warhol Exhibit in Daejeon, So.Korea.

                            This display moved too!

Sarah and Darrell, her dad, stop for a picture.

Random pictures of us eating and shopping.

I have never seen a "night life" like this before.   There are no need for street lights.  Everything is as bright or brighter at night, there are so many neon signs everywhere.  Folks stay out late and shop or party any and all nights! 

Daytime at the outdoor market, some of it looks really nasty!

Sardines by the cases!

They love the new Polaroids there and hang them everywhere inside anywhere that serves food.

See that bus cutting off the van?  That is the norm!  And it obviously isn't a sin to speed or break any driving laws...it is just a way of life.  You also don't walk across the street when the little sign is flashing that it is clear.  YOU RUN!!!!!

We went out to an authentic Korean place to eat, with our own private room and everything.  All this food is just the first course, and for only four people.  We never did find out what everything was.  I loved the green stuff on the plate that is on the top row, second from the left.

Course two, fish coated with egg (very good), some sort of soup stuff, and beef.

Course three, was all this stuff!  Yes, the fish is still whole, with skin and all.

Dessert was a sweet rice, freezing cold drink.  Too sweet for me!

The two girls are quite good at de-boning a fish with their chopsticks.

A friend from Sarah's church, Yumi, took us out sightseeing one day.  This is the area where they teach about the tombs and all the great past leaders.

Inside an old recreated tomb.

Showing how the tombs were first made.

Replica of the everyday close of a king and his queen.

Making prints.

Some of the other buildings in the area.

Really was a lot of walking and a ton of fun!

Sarah loves her squid!!!

If they can tunnel through a mountain instead going around or over it, they do.

This is at a place where there are statues for all the major families that have ever been in the So.Korean lineage.  Most everyone knows what their ancestors base name was back in the beginning.

Here is Yumi with her family statue.

Random stuff at the same park...Dynamic Korea!  And the end of our day trip with Yumi.

At the pizza place with a couple of So.Korean guys that Sarah goes to church with.  These people are so nice!

Sunday was also our 29th Wedding Anniv.  What a great place to celebrate!

This is how most folks sleep when they somewhere to spend the night.  The church decided to do a two day retreat and took us along, very nice folks!  They gave Darrell and I the room with a bed, the "young adults" were in the connected part of the suite.  The church rented out almost the entire third floor, it was a nice place with a great view!

Nicky and Sarah goofing off, again!  Love these girls!

Definitely a room with a view! 

A few hours at the beach and no sunburn.  Nicky's sunscreen was good stuff.

Then, the group all went to the fish market to get some dinner.

Back at the motel, out on the lawn fixing dinner.

These scallops were so big, they cut them into fourths to make them bite sized.  Come to think of it, they used scissors with a lot of their foods.  But then, they all eat from the same plate or bowl too.  And yes, that can get kinda nasty sometimes.

Sarah decided that she could eat one in all one bite. 

She was very pleased with herself!  Me?  I was just glad that there was also a bowl with rice and a plate for me to put a bunch of it on.

Next, we were back to the beach for fireworks.  

As you can see in these two pictures, they are not afraid of their fireworks.  We would have buried these in the sand to light them.  

This group of fireworks were the ones that zipped all over the place, we told them that had to stick these in the sand.  After they started lighting them, they understood why!

Sparklers.

Sarah and Nicky take out time to pose.

The preacher, with some of his younger flock...oh, and me. lol  Darrell and the others were already asleep.

Time to get packed up.

What fun we had at this place!!!!

Then, they decided that because I carried a camera everywhere, we should go up and around a mountain so that I could get some shots of the famous mountain there.

It really is a beautiful country, and again I see why Sarah loves it so much!

Another stop along the way.

A 500 year old tree and the write up about it.

More of the mountains.

Last shot of the group before we head for Sarah's place.

Lunch that day.  Where do they put all this food?  I wasn't really hungry til much later.  But, like Sarah said, they do eat very healthy and grow a lot of their own stuff.  And, they do walk it off!

Back in Daejeon, out the window of a building.  This used to be a landing strip back in the day.

A display down in the underground shopping/subway area.

On the bus, headed for a motel before we take off for America.

A store along the way.  That would have been fun to go through.  

A display of old phones that were in the window of our motel by the front desk area.

Every wall was hand painted, very nice place.  We had two beds, a shower, steam room, jacuzzi, tv, window that had a nice view, our own a/c, hot and cold water dispenser, and a mini fridge with water and tea.

This is their idea of a continental breakfast at the motel.

The plane from Korea to Japan.

Was another fairly small one and seemed a bit bumpy.

Goodbye So.Korea!

There was a really cool Origami display in one of the shops in Japan.  Knowing how my nephew loves his paper folding, I had to get pictures of it all!

Neat stuff hu?  They are very good at this!

The "western" toilets have an added side bar.

Yeppers, it will wash and dry you as well as give you music.  Wonder how long the kids stay in the bathroom playing with all the buttons?

And this is the toilet found in both Korea and Japan.  The American's have nicknamed it a "squatter", and they are a bit difficult to use as they are sunk in the ground and you must squat to use it.

Flying into Salt Lake City, Utah.

We got off the plane and zipped right through customs.

The mountains were pretty.  We just don't see that in the Dallas area.

Last plane ride, and I do think they were getting smaller and smaller.

When we landed, I told Darrell that it wasn't that bad for a bucket of bolts.  Notice that I said I waited until after we landed!  lol

Souvenirs, you wanna see some of the stuff we bought??  Ok, but I am not going to go through each little thing.

  

Alright now, do you feel like you went to So.Korea with us?  I do hope that you enjoyed the trip.  Please feel free to post comments or questions at the end of the blog.  I will post again in another couple of weeks.  Till then, try to make someone happy and live life to the fullest!  - Pam

Busy Little Hands... Making Memories

Wondering how to get the kids involved in the kitchen with food prep?  I love to have my great niece over each summer for a few days and she always asks if we are gonna make those white things with the mushy center.  I know that she means deviled eggs and she actually remembered the name this year.  So...without further ado, I am going to show you just a few things that your kiddos, grandchildren, or in my case...great niece can help out with in the kitchen.

I take the boiled eggs and peel them, then slice in half and dump all the insides into a large zip style bag.  While I am doing this, the child gets out the mustard, mayo, salt and pepper.  I zip all the fixing in the bag and hand it over to the child.

After everything is all mushed up really good and creamy, I get the bag back.  (And in this case the child got the camera to take my picture.  She gets this talent from her gram!)  I show her how to push everything to one bottom corner of the bag, push back from the corner just a bit and snip it off with kitchen scissors, and then I am ready to fill the eggs.  No messy cleanup, toss the bag into the trash!

Then, we enjoyed our eggs!!!  I thought that she did rather well with the camera!

Next on the list are some hot dogs and pasta.  I saw a picture of this online somewhere and thought, Oh My Gosh!!!  Kids would love to make these!  And she did.  

Take your hot dogs out of the package and cut them into thirds, take your long spaghetti out of the bag and break some in half.  Then proceed to let the child poke the spaghetti through the hot dogs, if they break...no big deal.  There is no particular angle or count to do, just get'em done.

Then, drop them into boiling water until both are cooked completely.  You can serve with a sauce or ketchup or whatever.  She ate hers just as you see them below, I think she had a lot of fun with this one.

The last thing that we did were our microwaveable S'mores.  Take your 1/2 of graham cracker and lay the chocolate on top and then top with one marshmallow.  The one in the picture has two marshmallows, cause I was not using the jumbo ones.  I should have still just used one, she loved it anyway.  Oh, on a side note, they do make marshmallows in small flat squares just for this purpose now, found them at WalMart this week.  Only cook it in the microwave for about 10 seconds, the chocolate will keep melting after you take it out and put the top cracker on.

Took her a few minutes to figure out how to pick it up.  But, as you can tell in the next photo, she loved it!

We enjoyed these so much that we made little kits.  These are great for teachers, friends, community helpers, or whoever.  Cause we all need "Smore friends like you"...

I am headed out on Monday to So.Korea with my husband.  Our daughter moved there six months ago to teach English in one of their schools for a year.  So, when I get back, the blog might just be full of our experiences abroad for a post or two.  Take care, stay cool in this heat (110 here!), and I will be back in a couple weeks or so.

Classes are listed on my website now...www.picturetrail.com/tinkartist   Email me if you are interested in taking a class.   giftofgabsave@hotmail.com     

   

Shabby Wall Mirror Re-do

I am sure that you all have seen those large mirrors that look time worn, and they cost like $30 or so.  Not mine, but you already new that!!!  lol.  I pulled out this old mirror that I had painted from brown to gold ages ago and was no longer using.

Here you will see me putting on the white paint, just your bottled craft paints work fine.  Instead of using painters tape, this time I just stuck an old sheet of paper up next to the frame and went for it.

It could well take more than one coat of paint!  

Now, you can wait for it to dry, OR get impatient like me and take a damp paper towel to it.  Amazing, didn't know if it would work until I did it.  That is all part of crafting, just getting in there and trying things out!!!

Trust me, it looks much nicer in person.  And then I went to the hardware store and bought some chain and some little decorative wood pieces.  

The wood pieces had to be painted and distressed so that they would match, and then I glued them on.  After adding chain to the back, it was ready to hang!  I did not hang it by the chain!  I was so sure of the strength, but just made it look like it was hung that way.  

I did measure it out, so even though it might look crooked here, it was fine.  After the chain is up, the mirror went on a separate nail.  I thought that it turned out nice.

Well, that is it for the mirror redo.  I hope that this will encourage you to go out there and re-purpose some stuff you have laying around.  A bit of paint goes a  long way, and it is easily changed again later...it is only paint.

We are leaving on August 8 to head to So.Korea to see our daughter for a few days. (Our adult son will be holding the fort down here.  Should I be frightened???)  She is teaching English there for a year or two, in one of their elementary schools.  So...the blog is gonna be a bit sporadic til we get back and then a lot of it might be pictures from the trip.  Stick with me, we will get back to crafting!!!

Garage / Estate Sale Prep and Shopping

This is gonna be a different kind of blog.  No pictures.  Well, at least I am not planning for any right now.  I want to talk to you about garage sale and Estate sale shopping.  How many times have you come home with nothing, spent way too much gas, and were exhausted!  There are steps that can be taken to keep some of that from happening.  Be prepared, this will not be in any particular order, and I am known to ramble.  You have been warned!

First of all, get on the computer and google or bing “estate sales”, be sure to add in your town.  Now, I like to go to more than just one, so if enough don’t come up…do another search and put in “garage sales”.  That should bring you more hits.  Oh, and it might be helpful if you put in the date that you are gonna be out and about. 

I have an inexpensive MIO GPS that is hand held that I keep in my purse.  Take it and click that you wanna plan a trip.  Start putting in the addresses by which are closer to each other and work from there.  Yes, you might have to go to mapquest to find out how to group them, but it is sure to save on the gas.  You might also wanna start on the furthest ones out and work your way towards home.  I like to get to all of them on my list and if I tire, I won’t get to all them if I didn’t start the furthest out first.  I do all this planning the night before!  There is also a listing of sales on craigslist that you can scour.  When you go to an estate sale that is run by an organized group, ask them to put you on their mailing list. 

Other things to do the night before…shave your legs.  Let’s face it, Summers in Texas are hot and if we wear our shorts and are more comfy we shop much better.  IF you are planning an all day shopathon with friends, take an ice chest with cold water.  If you are going by yourself, throw in some quarters for drinks sold by kids at some of the yard sales.  When I go by myself, I plan to be out shopping by 9am and home for my lunch.  Going with friends is a LOT more fun and sometimes we will stay out for lunch.   For an all day trip, eat a salad or sandwich for lunch.  The worst thing you can do to your body during the hot weather is to put hot food into it and get overheated and miss the rest of your shopping experience!  When a friend is driving be sure to offer to get drinks or a snack at Sonic during the ½ price happy hour. 

Another thing that needs to be done ahead of time is to lay out your shopping bags or crates.  Whether shopping alone or with a friend, it is much easier to gather up everything at the end of the trip if it is in bags or crates.  When you get home, you will be tired and not want to have to sort through everything that has been just junked into the car.

Make sure that you have sizes, color swatches, wall colors on paper and labeled, and a list of anything else you might be looking for tucked into your wallet.  There is another good thing to remember…your wallet.  Why carry the big purse if you can get by with just a wallet.  When I go out on my own, I take a tote bag to hold a drink, GPS, notes, receipts, baggies for small stuff I get, my wallet, bandaids, hand sanitizer,… but then I MAKE SURE that my shorts have deep pockets for my phone and my wallet!  

How about those stacked plates that are used at parties for cookies, cup cakes, and cake balls!  They are so pretty and make up of the old plates that are out there.  First set of pictures are the supplies.

These old plates are not just for mosaic projects!!  The plates cost me around $8 for all of them.  I got the candle stick holders at my local Dollar Tree, can I say that I really love that place!  Lastly, there is a round bowl with a curvy top that I picked up at another flee market for $1.

This glue is found at your local craft store, WalMart, and at some hardware stores.  It is great for Glass and many other surfaces, and it dries clear!!

I use the most inexpensive rubbing alcohol that I can find and some paper towels to take stickers and tags off all the glassware.  Works great!! 

In the two pictures above, I want you to try and see where I put the glue on around top of the candle holder and the base of the bowl.  It doesn't have to be perfect, but it is a good idea to not let it drip down the sides and make a mess of your project.  After it is dry, this glue is there!

Glue all the holders to the bottom of each plate. Be SURE that you leave it set on a very level surface to dry.  Take a look at the next picture.  Do you see it...

See that shiny are to the left of the candle holder?  That is where the holder slid over because my table wasn't level.  Oh my, just grabbed it and slid it back over and put on a level surface.  It has that little shine on it now, but it is on the bottom, so I am not worried about it.

Here are all the plates drying.  Walk away.  Let me clarify this...WALK AWAY!!!!  It is so tempting to go ahead and put glue on the other ends of the candle holders and set them all together, DON'T!!!  You are just asking for something to slide or break!  Also, double check to make sure that your pieces are centered.  You can measure and mark with a dot before gluing, it is on the bottom and won't show.

We are almost finished.  This is a side view, and just make sure you are level.  Then look at it from the top down and make sure it looks like it is all centered.

Notice in the picture above, the bottom large plater plate is not even showing.  I think that is because of the distance between the bottom two plates.  And now, in the photo below is our finished project!

This is my first one, and I really like the way that it turned out.  I am now looking at Thrift Stores and Flee Markets for more plates that coordinate with each other to make some for gifts or to sell.  I want to do one in roses for my bedroom or powder room.  I will tell you that it is much easier to purchase all your plates at one time, they are much easier to match and not have to guess at the coloring.  I paid $1 for the smallest plate, and $2 for the larger platter plate, and then went ahead and paid $6 for the medium one just to know that it matched.  You have to decide if it is worth the extra or if you want to tote around glassware for the next few weeks.  

Well, that is all I have for you this week.  As it starts warming up outside, be sure to grab a friend and do some flee market shopping.  Be sure to take a lot of cash with you, as it is very addicting!!!  See you back here later, and please post under comments the deals that you are finding and what you are making!!!!

Chandelier turned Bird Feeder

This has got to be one of my all time favorites!!!  Somewhere out there, I saw a white chandelier that had been made into a bird feeder.  Wish I could remember where, it was very pretty and looked quite elegant!!

You all know how I love a great deal and am very frugal.  Well, I am training the husband on what to look for also!  He is the BEST!!!  We drove into our neighborhood and he comments that there is a new garage sale sign up and that it is just down the street.  He knows better than to ask me if I want to go, he just takes me there!  lol.  He parks out front and gets out his reader while I walk around back, I don't feel rushed cause he is reading.  After about 15 minutes...I return with a huge black iron chandelier $3, a wire rack for a friend $1, and a floor globe that stands about 3 feet tall $2.  Lets just talk about the iron chandelier this time.  I should have taken a before picture, SHAME ON ME!!!  Now, I take pictures as soon as I bring something home!

I took it to my carpenter and he cut off all the top thingies (yes that is a word) where the lights were supposed to be screwed in.  After that, all the electrical stuff was removed.  I went to my thrifty places to find some custard bowl...I needed six.  Dollar General...strike one.  Dollar Tree...strike two.  Target is right there and usually higher, but what the heck...99cents each!!!!

Next, I go home and use E-6000 glue (from WalMart or craft store)  to glue the bowls into the cup area that is at the end of each arm.  Then, I went out back and hug it off the side of the porch and put in the birdseed.

My birds are used to the feeders out by the smaller trees, the question was would they come up to the house and use this one.  This thing is large and heavy, and it had to hang off the side of the porch.

There is a saying that "If you build it, they will come."  So, be sure to post a comment and let me know what you think.  See ya later!