Patina General

Mandisa Concert

Last night we had the pleasure of seeing the Brandisa Concert at our Church.  Brandon Heath and Mandisa.  What a day!  It was a family affair, the moment church ended the guys were unloading the equipment and starting stage set up and us girls were helping with the merchandise tables.

Once the parking and greeting were done, the concert was in full swing. I was so excited to hear her in person as we play many of her songs at the store.  We love the energy that she brings to the atmosphere of the store. She is even more energetic in person and puts on a fabulous concert.  The music and lights are wonderful, but her message is even greater. She has a heart over flowing to share God's word with others and does it warmly and truely from her own heart.

Her "Good Morning" song is so fun.  I leaned over to my husband and told him I wanted to put that song on his phone to waken him every morning to help him get out of bed.

Mandisa sang that same song on Good Morning America last year just before Robin Roberts left for her cancer treatments.  Upon Robin's return to the show, she invited Mandisa back to sing her song "Stronger" because it was such a moving song for her during her own recovery. 

Our daughter's ticket stub, she guarded it all day, not wanting to bend it so Mandisa could sign it for her.

Christmas Music

All weekend at the store, we were asked, "What CD is playing?"  Well, thought we should make it public, in case you needed something new and fun to listen to this Christmas season!

Go Fish was a Minnesota group of 3 guys that have great harmony, and a fun beat-boxing jive.  They write all their own music, combining old favorites with new sounds.  Their "Snow" CD has a 2006 date on it, and their other CD's were probably before that.  

 

I loved "Superstar", and "Splash" for the biblical concepts they wove into their lyrics, along with great kid-friendly style.  The 10 Commandment Boogie and the Ladybug fryin' on the Sidewalk, were two of our favorites!

Years ago, we went and saw them in concert at Northwestern College in Roseville, MN, but I honestly don't know if they even exist anymore!  

The Veggie Tales videos and the Go Fish CD's were a highlight for me as a mom, when my kids were in gradeschool! 

Glad you all enjoyed their Christmas CD!  If anyone knows more about them...let us know!

 

 

Music Lampshade

Mod Podge, Music and a basic 'ole lampshade, they don't share much in common, but they make for a fun project.

Sheet music lovers cover your eyes...

Find a stack of sheet music at a garage sale or a thrift store for mere pennies.  Don't use the family heirloom church hymnal or the Christmas carols you sing around the piano.

Begin by tearing the music if you like a more casual look or for a more precise look use a scissors or paper cutter.  Using a foam brush, put on a thin layer of mod podge onto the lampshade the size of the area of your first sheet.  Place the music onto the lampshade and smooth out any wrinkles.  Continue this process by over lapping the music sheets until the lampshade is completely covered.  Let dry and brush another layer of mod podge over the entire lampshade.

After reading this post and my piano dismantling, you might think I have a complete dislike for music.  Not exactly, I just love re-purposing things of beauty.  

Another idea for sheet music is to mod podge it into the bottom of drawers in desks, cupboards or dressers.

Piano Re-Purposed

Earlier this year Hubby and I dismantled our beautiful piano one screw at a time.  See http://patinageneral.typepad.com/patina-general/2012/01/piano-dismantling-101.html for the complete story.

Some of you have asked how I have re-used the piano parts.

A foot board from a bed and a portion of the piano.

Finished project, a jewelry organizer.  Imagine how many necklaces you could hang on all those pegs.  It's not exactly a work of art or beauty, but a nice functioning piece in your closet for organizing. 

Many of the parts remain in our garage waiting for their turn to be re-created into something of beauty and function.

Piano Dismantling 101

Guess what I did last weekend?  Hubby and I finally got up the courage to take apart our piano.  Reason being, we have a formal living room that is waaaay under utilized, unless you count the dog in his chair keeping watch over the neighborhood.  We've been wanting to convert our living room into an office for awhile.  The hold up... the piano.  Our daughter ceased piano lessons a few years back and we since purchased an electric version for her room, hence, no longer needing our piano.  After seeing many pianos listed on craigslist with no takers, we decided to take ours apart and use its parts for projects for our home and Patina General.

Warning Piano Lovers, the following pics may be disturbing.

Saturday was the day, with tools in hand, hubby and I began removing screws and pieces of the piano.  It was like one giant puzzle, one screw led to another and on and on.  Once I got over the horror that we were killing our piano, it was actually quite fun.  The ideas were flowing and my wheels were turning of what each piece would soon become.

 

 

 

 

When it came time to remove all the piano strings, it was a team effort.  Our system, I held the string with a pliers in one hand, and the other hand gloved holding down the string while hubby cut the string with a bolt cutters.  Also note, we were both wearing safety glasses.  Our system worked great.  Proof of the danger of this operation.  While I was detangling a few strings, hubby decided to cut one of the small strings by himself.  Well... the string flew across the room and both ends stuck into the wall.

It all came down to this, the heaviest parts of the piano.  Six screws left and they weren't budging.  WD-40 helped with a few and then there were 4, Hubby drilled a few, hack sawed one and the last was downright stubborn.  He wedged a crow bar and some other thing-a-ma-jig, lifted the large harp til it broke at the screw and it was finished.

If someday you decide to dismantle your piano, allow for several hours of fun, really it was fun.

Stay tuned to see the projects from the piano parts in the coming months.

Summer Play(ing)

I just love the different tempo of summer. Different activities, slower schedules, later mornings!  Cheryl has been busy at the soccer field and the swimming pool, along with keeping PG stocked with new stuff, but I decided I needed something new and fresh on the agenda this summer.  As you may have learned in the last blog, I am a ...

 
Growing up, my home was full of music.  My mom and dad sang in small and large choirs at church, my mom played piano, and we always had beautiful music on.  I first took piano lessons, then switched to flute, and then later took voice.  I participated in choirs at church, band at school, and then choir later at Bethel college. I always loved going to musicals, and then singing along with the records when I got home.  Four years ago, our local community theatre was putting on Sound of Music.  Happy Girl decided to try out, so I took her.  I ended up trying out also and getting the part of Sister Bertha-one of the nuns that gets to sing, "how do you solve a problem like Maria?" We had so much fun, and it was such a great experience to do together!  It was a huge committment, but we met so many wonderful people in our community that we never knew before!

 

This year 4CT, which is the community theatre that represents Rockford, Delano, and Orono, decided to do Oklahoma! Oklahoma was one of my favorite records to sing to when I was a kid. Happy Girl and I decided to try out and make the 2+month committment. I'm playing the part of Gertie Cummings, the debutant with the loud, obnoxious, musical laughter trying to catch Curly's eye.  Happy Girl gets to dance a lot and imitate my laughter, and even put the veil on Laury in the dream scene.  We are both having a blast!

 

Community theatre is a great opportunity to have fun with family and friends.  Lois and her daughter, Laura, have been in the last 11 summer performances together!  Other family members have also participated over the years.

 
Practices are full of learning lines, blocking, singing, and dancing-with a lot of fun mixed in!

 
 
 
 

The director's are usually teachers from the local communities that bring a lot of experience, but also realize people are doing this for fun-and have real lives during the daytime!

 
If being on the stage is not your thing, there are many other opportunites to get involved with music, costumes, props, and set building.

 
 
 
If you're in the area, come enjoy a 4th of July family outing (although Judd is a little scary).  Performances are at Orono High School, 795 Old Crystal Bay Rd. Long Lake, MN.

June 29, 30 -7 PM

July 7,8,9 - 7 PM

July 10 - 1 PM

Call 952-449-8302 for tickets. Reserved seating, but tickets also available at the door.

www.4Communitytheatre.org

"We know we belong to the land, and the land we belong to is grand."