2023 Projects
January
Originals By Deonne Larsen
At the beginning of the year my sister and I moved our 93-old-mother into assisted living. This was very hard on her to go from a two bedroom, two bath condo to one much smaller. What was especially hard was that she had no room for all of her wonderful paintings. While I was there, I photographed every painting and every craft item she created. I then made this book for her, which made her very happy!
Mom's Art Wall
I loved the project to the left so much that I decided to have canvas prints of my favorite paintings created by my mom. I framed them and hung them on our wall. Every time I walk by the display,it Imakes me very happy!
March
Storyworth
In March 2022, I signed up for Storyworth, an online service that sends you a question every week about your life, you write about it, and upload it to your book. At the end of the year, the company prints your book for you. It was so much fun to create.
May
From Farm to Ranch
In September 2020, I began to transcribe my mom's life into a book. I can’t begin to say what an honor it was to learn so much about her life. There were numerous times that I laughed out loud at something she’d written. There were also some stories that made me cry. I gave her the book on Mother's Day 2023. She was speechless!
June
Waimea Valley
In January 2023, I was recruited to chair a fundraiser for Waimea Valley - a place near and dear to my heart. I helped organize the Live Auction, wrote the program, made posters, ordered table favors, etc. The event was fun and a success!!
July
On July 12th I turned 70! Here are a sampling of the things I created for my party! I started in January and ended in June.
Save The Date
It's never too early to send a save the date, haha. The one shown above went out at the end of January, for a July event. ha,ha.
The Invitation
I found a llama card on Paperless Post and decided that was a perfect invitation.
Favors
The Invitation led to 120 party favors. Every guest received a matted photograph and personal message from a different llama!
The Photo Booth
I found this llama on Amazon. I decorated him with pom poms and sewed him a blanket.
Table Decor
Table favors led to table decor which included a llama complete with miniature balloons and a framed llama that helped guests find their table.
August
OLIO turns 10!
On August 1, 2023, my monthly newsletter OLIO turned 10! I celebrated this fete with an anniversary issue, which included a brief history of OLIO and 10 of my favorite things from the past 10 years,
The DJ/Emcee
I initially considered getting a DJ, but then I realized my son Riley could do the job. We met every Saturday before the event to plan the entertainment. Sadly, he sprained both of his ankles three days before the party, but the show went on. Here he is in his Emcee and DJ shirts.
The Shout Outs
Besides playing my favorite music from the 50s to the 80s, we had a number of shout outs. Here are two. The YMCA song (Village People) complete with hats for all the guys from the gym, a jug of Dirty Water (the Standels) for my nephew who lives in Boston.
The Program
I created a program with the guests last name, which table they would be seating at and an agenda, which, was somewhat followed!
The Book
After the party, I put together a photo book of all that happened on that incredible wonderful, and fun filled day!!
September
September
Erin Go Bragh - Oui Oui
In September, we took a trip to Ireland,that was postponed due to COVID. We stayed in cozy hotels and consumed a lot of Irish butter. We also went to St. Paul De Vence, a place I visited in 1985 and always wanted to go back. When we returned I immedialtey created another photo book.
December
Lucy & Daisy 2023
I put together a 60 page book of my granddaughters and gave them as a Christmas present to my 94-year-old mom, who became choked up when she received the book. The girls nanny Elsa, and my daughter also received a book!. I need to order one for myself!
The Smile Box
When I was young, I often walked around with a frown. My mother encouraged me to smile, to no avail. One day, gave she me a little box. I asked her what it was, she said, "It's your Smile Box." When I opened it, there was nothing inside which should have made me mad, but instead it made me smile.
I gave Lucy a Smile Box for Christmas and filled it with smiley face red stickers, which she immediately attached to her arms, legs, face, etc. When I told her if she took too many smiles from the box, the smiles would lose their magic. She quickly put the extra stickers back in the box and walked away with a big smile on her face.
Help Maui Rise
On December 14th, a good friend called me and asked me if I had any ornaments on hand to donate to her daughter's fundraiser - Help Maui Rise. The next day, I made 25 gingerbread boys and girls and sent them on their way. Each ornament raised $100. Within 5 days 500 ornaments arrived with over a hundred more on the way. The goal was to have 1,500, one ornament for every family on the @helpmauirise list.
Christmas Houses
Last Christmas, I decorated the house with 15 different miniature trees. This year, I decided that they needed houses. So I ordered 16 Basswood Carving Blocks. (1.5x1.5x6 Inch) A friend cut the roofs for me. I covered the blocks with Christmas papers and added 'windows.' They were a big hit with Lucy & Daisy!