Lost and Found....

I found five working watches in the last jar of jewelry that I bought Tuesday at Goodwill... It cost me a whole eight bucks. Then I went to Dollar Tree and got Eveready watch batteries... Four for a dollar, this time of year!

These will keep me busy for quite a while.  When I have nothing else to do.... Later....








 I thought that you might like to see a couple of Christmas presents I received.  Walter got me a new toilet paper holder for the real sized bathroom... I probably have a lot of friends that will use the other bathroom... Oh well... I like him!

I got a whole garden in a Christmas ornament.  Now all I have to do is find somewhere to hang it.

I am thinking that it might go well on the end of one of the chains that hang from the fans.

Maybe the one over the dining room table...

Last but not least, I found a new 2" tall Spiderman at Walmart yesterday.  I think that it might find it's way into Amare's room box. We shall see...

We went to see the new Jumanji this morning.  It was way better than the first version.

Then I came home and cleaned out my half of the closet... Not done yet, but better than it was.

Back to work now. I am going to try to get some old stuff cleaned out this month.  Then I can fill the holes with new stuff...At least that's the theory.

See you tomorrow.

Merry Christmas Eve...

I did solve one problem today.  We didn't like the old fashioned Santa that was starting to fall apart.

I didn't want to dig through three boxes of ornaments and other junk to see if I could find the star that I got a few years ago... It didn't work then , so it probably still wouldn't work.

I grabbed the leftover bows from the packages and started building.  I put four of them in a circle and then stuffed another one on top.  Between the sticky backing and some scotch tape, I formed them into an inverted cup shape.

Hey! Whatever works.  I like this much better than the faded Santa.

We decided that just letting Amare have this one to begin with would be easier than trying to wrap it... Problem solved without doing anything at all!

I guess that I am going to have to go with the "Aliens living in the workroom" excuse. 

I will just let people visit in there if they want to.

I will tell them that the aliens made the mess.

It works for me.

Back to the drawing board.  See you tomorrow.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Little Things Left to Do...

I put a tray along the railing that Amare has in his real room.  It has a microscope on it in his real room... Which probably means that I should make one in mini for it... Here we go again...

This is the edging that came wit the kit.  I am not impressed. It is big, clunky and just plain ugly.

I think that I am going to go with some chair rail.  It is the same thickness as the wood and I think that it will look much more in scale than the clunky stuff.

After I finish the frame and paint it, The room will be done... Maybe a couple of little items here and there, but otherwise it is done.

And where was Tessie all afternoon? I was making two kinds of fudge.  She was not helping.  She was scouting out places to hide in the Christmas tree.

I imagine that we will have to put up with the little people hiding here and there, having their own celebration.  I always think that it isn't going to happen. 

Then I wake up on Christmas morning and there they are... Here and there all over the house. Partying in their own way.

I am just going to ignore them and keep working on making Christmas happen... See you tomorrow.

A Little More Like Christmas....

The presents are piling up.  And on Christmas they will about double, because the kids will bring more over to open...

I am looking forward to it.                                                        

Santa is once more getting golf tips from the gopher from Caddy Shack.  I doubt that they will help his game...

The time machine is looking better than it did a few days ago.

And all's right with the world.

Tomorrow, there is one last Wednesday Witches' meeting... Then we wait until after the first of the year.

I am sitting around doing nothing.... Kind of.

Thursday, I start cooking... Fudge, cookies and other goodies still have to be made.

See you tomorrow.

Minis? What Minis...

OK.  I found two books and a jar of very tiny sea shells...

That's It...

 I spent most of the day decorating for Christmas.

This is the centerpiece for the table... Simple.

A small punch bowl with greenery around the bottom and bells and small ornaments inside.

Hey! It's fast and easy.

This is what took most of the day.  That silly tree is about seven feet tall.  It is pre-lit.  That's not enough.  We have a string of colored bulbs that flash.  Those have to be strung on too. 

By the time I was finished, I think that it took about three hours, all by itself.

Now all it needs is LOTS of presents.

I still have the feeling that, If I don't hide this or wrap it up soon, Kota is going to steal it and keep it for his own sleeping pleasure.

I am within a couple of rows of being done...

Then I have to get really serious about finishing the room box.

See you tomorrow.

If At First You Don't Succeed...

Try, Try again...The bench that I made yesterday turned out too tall.  Back to the drawing board...

This time it will at least be the right height.

 I found a bag of dinosaurs at Walmart yesterday.

They will have to be painted, but the smaller ones are about the right size to put on shelves in the room box. 

Another shelf or two filled.

I found this Star Wars Ornament at Walmart also.

I think that it is a little big for 1/12 scale, but I suspect that it will be passable after Christmas.

Amare is probably not going to want to put it away with the other Christmas ornaments.

We shall see.

I am still working on the rainbow shawl.  I think that it will be wearable by Christmas...

That ball of yarn that you see in the photo is going to be how big it's going to be.  When I run out of thread, I am finished.

I am going  back to work now. I have a lot to finish before Christmas.

See you tomorrow.

Not Many Minis...

We had an adventure this morning! We took Amare to see Moana this morning.  April had a meeting to go to and we volunteered.

It was great fun, but that preempted any minis that I might have done.

Have you ever taken a five year old to a movie? He laughed at everything and had a great time.

We were just laughing at him laughing.  Really fun!

Tessie and Zar tried out their usual hiding and spying in the Christmas tree this morning.  It turned out better than they hoped.

Usually they set up a blanket, chairs and things to snack on.  This time they just jumped in and settled down... They like this plan better.

If you stand back about five feet, they are pretty much invisible.

Good luck on trying to find them in the five foot away photo!

I got the Charley Brown Christmas characters set up in front of the golf shop. 

That's about it for minis.

I did a bit more jewelry making yesterday afternoon.  Not much else.

I did set up Walter's golfing Santa the other day, but then he is always out at Christmas.

So much for minis.

I promise to do something mini tomorrow. Maybe, even something for you to make! Promise and cross my heart.

See you then!

Amazing What a Tree Can Do!

The photos aren't fantastic, but I was cleaning out today and realized that the trees that I got at the Dollar Tree a few years ago make anything look like it is ready for Christmas!

I bought a bunch of these color changing trees and I stick them in various houses every year.

The first one is the sewing cottage.

This second one is of the Forest Fantasy Cottage.

These trees change colors every few seconds.  They go from yellow to green to purple to red.  On and on...

They run on one triple A battery and I don't think that I have changed them but once since I purchased them.

They are going strong on batteries that I put in a couple of years ago.

In case you can't tell, I had a doctor's appointment today and forgot to do the blog until I returned home.

I especially like the way the trees look in front of Daisy's Cottage. 

They are kind of like the energizer bunny... They just keep on going and going.

Tomorrow, I will probably start painting a dragon... Wish me luck.

See you then!

A Christmas Tree, a Dragon and a Hippopotamus

 I decorated our new tree this morning.  It turned out pretty good.

Now all we have to do is wait for Santa to come down the chimney... Or in our case through the front door or an open window...

While I am waiting, I am working on a dragon to perch on one end of the conservatory.  I am not sure what is going on the other end. 

He doesn't have any arms or wings or even ears yet... Oh and no tail!

 I am having to sculpt him over one of my glue syringes.  It is about the same shape and size of the end post that he is going to have to cover.

At least that lets me sit in a comfortable position and sculpt. 

I got this part done yesterday.  The hind feet need a lot more work. 

Actually, he needs a lot of work all over.  It will take some time.  After sculpting is done, he will need painting. I am liking him so far.

The last thing for today is the Hallmark ornament that Walter got me for an early Christmas present. 

I have been seeing the post office add on TV that is using my favorite Christmas song this year.

I looked it up on line and if you go to You Tube and put in "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas." you can hear and see it.  It first came out in 1953 and I guess it was quite a hit that year.  The girl that sang it made it to the Ed Sullivan show.

I drove my parents mad with it when I was little.

Now I am driving Walter mad with it.  I keep pushing the button on his tummy and singing along. Best ornament that I have had for Christmas in a long time!

Back to sculpting.

See you tomorrow.

Ho Ho HO!

Here we go again... I found a bottle brush tree at Walmart this morning.

I remembered that I have enough Lycopodium to make one last Christmas Tree.

I purchased  a large bag a few years ago from HBS.  I ran across what was left when I was cleaning out.

This particular bottle brush tree has white paint stuck to the ends of the bristles.  I cut those off.

Then, starting at the bottom, I cut down branches of the Lycopodium to two or three stalks and started gluing them into the tree.  At the bottom, I had the branches pointing downward a bit.  Then I started raising them as I went towards the top.

Here you see that the branches are starting, gradually, to point upwards.

 By the time that I got to the top, the branches were pointing more or less upward.

At this point, it looks like a pine tree with a bad haircut!

I am now starting to trim the branches into a Christmas tree shape.

I am letting it dry now.  After it is a little dryer, I will start putting the pieces that I cur off, in the trimming, into the holes here and there that need more pieces.

After I like the shape, I will put it away until it is time for Christmas decorations.  Then Tessie and Zar will have at it.  I have all kinds of Christmas decorations.

For now, I am going back to Halloween planning.

See you tomorrow.

If At First You Don't Succeed....

Start doing the frog stitch.... Rippit, Rippit Rippit.....That's what I get for jumping around...

I am off by one stitch somewhere in that long line of zig-zags running down the rug... I didn't discover it until I got to the end of the line... GRRRRR.

Kota just sat there and let me do it... No help at all!  He actually slept through the whole thing.

I have to tell you that he had an excuse. This afternoon, we took down the Christmas Tree.  He helped... In his own way... Very tired after all of that... All boxes had to be inspected and the greenery had to be tasted to see if it was still fresh... It wasn't.

Anyway, his tree is back where it belongs... And where does he sleep?  With me on the bed... I have a feeling that he is my reason for loosing count.  At least that is my excuse and I am sticking with it.

Tomorrow we find out if the surgery is a go for Tuesday... Fingers crossed.  I just want to get this whole mess over with. 

Back to the fun of ripping stitches now.

See you tomorrow.

Just Stick a Tree in the Scene...

Or anything green and red.  And you have Christmas...

This one really is a Christmas scene.  I just threw in the holly vine around it for good measure...

 Buffy and Spike are renting out Cordelia's house for the holidays...

Snow and three trees!  Extra Christmas-y.

Daisy and the dogs decorated the bedroom... Red suitcases and a green tree... Part of the time... It is also red, blue and purple, in turn.

The embroideress can't possibly have a tree in her house.  They weren't used until much later.  She simply moved to the attic of the book store.  That's easier than waiting three hundred years to decorate!

And me?  I hung Amare's stocking with care.  It is already mostly full.  I left a little room at the top for Santa to add a few things.

Now. All I have to do is make the rest of the house livable!  I guess I will go mop the kitchen floor for a start.

See you tomorrow!

A Quiet Christmas at Home...

I decided that the mini people were on their own this year.  Some may end up in the Cat tree theater room.  Some may opt to relax at home.

Therefore, I started decorating a bit.

Tessie got the first new Christmas tree in the townhouse... I doubt that she will even see it.  She is still dividing all of her time between the Forest Fantasy Cottage and the Cat Tree Theater...

Of course the witches have their place decorated already.  They leave the Halloween decor up, year round.  It's a bit sparse, but it's the way that they like it. Sculls and all!

 I gave one of the trees to Eskiaga.  He kind of turned his nose up at it, but I forced it on him anyway...

It lights up the place.

I don't have any way to get into this box, but it looks like a Christmas morning in the country.  Maybe I can put some trim around the frame or something.

I have to make a run to Walmart or Dollar Tree tomorrow. 

I am not looking forward to that.  It has rained, off and on all day today.  And... It is supposed to get cold tonight.

I have to go outside and cover plants now.

Not a fun way to spend the afternoon, but it has to be done.

See you tomorrow.