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Tuesday, April 19, 2011

With a Little Bit of Help From My Friends....

By mutual consent, there are three of us in the workroom this morning. Zar and Tessie gleefully agreed to help clean, on the condition that they could keep some of the things that they found...We all know how that works.

The first thing that I did was clear off the desk, so that the two of them would have a safe place to work. If they tried running around on the floor, they weren't going to make it through the morning. Someone would be stepped upon.(not me)

I started with a large laundry basket full of stuff...I opened a box of unfinished bead work and sat it on the desk, knowing full well that it would keep them busy. Zar grabbed a finished pen. I forgot that the box was where I put the beaded "mat" that I took away from Tessie a while ago. She grabbed that and demanded that it be a finished project soon. There was a finished pair of earrings...Who knows why I put those in there? And a couple of other unfinished pieces. That kept them busy all of 3 minutes.

Then Tessie turned around and found something to keep her occupied the rest of the day. This was probably originally the lid to a little vanity jar. I found it in a thrift shop for a dollar. Tessie has been talking and cooing at the dog. She seems to think that she can spell it into life. Hey! Let her try. I am cheering her on. I want to see this one if she succeeds....And besides, it could take a while...

Zar made the best find of the day. I bought a sack of corn husks a while ago, with the intention of making some mini corn husk dolls. I used to make them to sell and I only have one left. They are fun to make.

Zar, it seems, had other plans. I don't know if anybody else has tried this, but we want to try making thatched roofs with them. I took about a 1" section of them and shredded them along one side with the points of my small scissors. Then I took the deckle edge scissors and cut along the shredded edge. I need to do a lot more experimenting, but I do believe that the idea has possibilities.

I made baskets from them years ago and I know that they will bend and curl with the help of a little water and manipulation. If push comes to shove and the experiment doesn't work, I will have enough left to make a lot of tamales. They won't go to waste.

I am going back into exile now to play with any fun things that I find.

See you tomorrow....Maybe with a roof or some tamales....

4 comments:

Katie said...

Oh, I love the little dog Tessie is playing with! And I LOVE shopping at the thrift store! Actually just came home from ours... when I walked in the house, the kids asked me what I had bought.... and I said Junk! LOL They just look at me and shake their heads!

Kim said...

what a smart idea with the corn husks Casey! I can't wait to see how it goes!

Claudia said...

Sounds like a good idea for a roof, Casey. And it will keep Zar busy. Let me know if Tessie succeeds in animating that little dog!

xo
Claudia

Minka said...

Corn husks to thatch -- what a great idea! The scale is perfect.