Baby Bailey/Pan ornament

Hi everyone!

Can you believe how fast this month has gone?

I have a last minute gift idea for you...

Here's a Lisa Kettell Design Team project.

It's an ornament but it doesn't have to be for Christmas only.

Supplies

Baby Bailey unfinished doll

moss

mushrooms

toothpicks

artificial flowers

dark brown acrylic paint

light brown acrylic paint

peach acrylic paint

acorn tops

glitter

Clear plastic ornament

hot glue gun and glue sticks

Directions

paint baby Bailey peach and brown, let dry

cut toothpicks into fourths and glue on top of head for horns.

glue moss, mushrooms, acorn and artificial flowers to the inside

of ornament half.

make a pan pipe out of toothpicks by gluing

 five toothpicks together then cutting them at an angle.

attach them to baby bailey.

glue baby bailey inside ornament.

I'll be back in a few days with another project.

You can find other Lisa Kettell Design team projects here 

The winner of the birthday giveaway is Nadine.

Congratulations! I need your details.

see you all soon.

 

Birthday

Hello!

I can't even begin to tell you

how amazing my birthday was!

My wish was for a happy day without

sadness or drama...

I act like such a child 

on my birthday...I want it to be just so,

glittery, magical and sweet...lot's of sweet:)

It started promptly at midnight with a gift of 

a cake pop and a hot vanilla steamer drink.

Then I was off to bed, happily anticipating the day to arrive.

First my daughter took me to have lunch,

 then we went to hobby lobby

where she bought me a whole bunch of goodies..then we came home and 

I opened a huge load of presents!!

It was great..I even received birthday fun in the mail from 

Frosted Petunias!

I got incredible gifts..

from giant cupcake cookie jars to

mini mushroom measuring spoons.

There were two cakes!

 And of course beautiful birthday wishes from some wonderful

bloggy friends...Thank you!!!

One of the most magical items I opened is this bottle of origami stars

my daughter made me.

If you have a bottle filled with these, it's supposed to be good luck.

I have created a little un-birthday giveaway for you.

 just leave a comment on this post for a chance to win!!

I'll chose a winner next Saturday.

p.s.

 I mailed out all the giveaway wins from the past few weeks

and guess what?

lot's of them came back to me because of insufficient postage!

How does a postal worker get it wrong??

 Too many Christmas packages to deal with maybe?

So it's back to the post office for me on monday.

I should try a different one this time.

See you soon!

This & That

I sincerely apologize to those of you that I've not visited lately...
things are a little hectic around here...
It's been so cold!

right now as I write this, it's 34 degrees..

the rain has been off and on and it really feels like December.

.................................................................

My dad continues to improve
but if you've ever been in this situation
you know that once they become ill, their baseline
gets lower and lower...
he has an appetite, but it's nothing like it was,
he's always been a man of few words and he's become even quieter lately.
He's winding down...
but I'm so grateful for this time he's giving us.

 and guess what?
my birthday is coming up on the 10th

There's going to be a little giveaway for it too!
I'll put a birthday post up with more details.

I'm also adding a couple of goodies to my etsy shop soon:)

I'm trying to keep positive..
it would be so easy to crawl into bed and sleep for a few days!
Oh!we just found out one of our cats has asthma...
and lucky him, he gets to share
my emergency inhaler with me!!


 The winner of the book and a blanket for last week
is Linda from moments in an eye.
I'd also like for everyone that commented on that post
to send me their address (if you haven't already)
you are all winners of a little surprise!

it's 3 am so I'm going to go to bed now..
have you started decorating yet?

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Book and a Blanket

I've saved the best book for last.

It's my favorite so far...

I like how right now, as I type, there's thousands

of books I've not read that have the potential to become

one of my favorites.

(sigh)

Anyhow...

this week's book is called

I've included a brief synopsis from Amazon:

"1987. There’s only one person who has ever truly understood fourteen-year-old June Elbus, and that’s her uncle, the renowned painter Finn Weiss. Shy at school and distant from her older sister, June can only be herself in Finn’s company; he is her godfather, confidant, and best friend. So when he dies, far too young, of a mysterious illness her mother can barely speak about, June’s world is turned upside down. But Finn’s death brings a surprise acquaintance into June’s life—someone who will help her to heal, and to question what she thinks she knows about Finn, her family, and even her own heart.

At Finn’s funeral, June notices a strange man lingering just beyond the crowd. A few days later, she receives a package in the mail. Inside is a beautiful teapot she recognizes from Finn’s apartment, and a note from Toby, the stranger, asking for an opportunity to meet. As the two begin to spend time together, June realizes she’s not the only one who misses Finn, and if she can bring herself to trust this unexpected friend, he just might be the one she needs the most.

An emotionally charged coming-of-age novel, Tell the Wolves I’m Home is a tender story of love lost and found, an unforgettable portrait of the way compassion can make us whole again." 

This book is very moving and emotional.

I finished it..set it down..put my hands over my face and sobbed.

You know how it is when you fall helplessly in love with a character?

yeah, that was me.

I absolutely loved it!

Ok this week I'm giving away a box of tea, a blanket and this book.

last week's winner is Ricki Jill.

I'm behind on mailing out the prizes but everything is going out

ASAP.

I want to thank you all for your kind comments

and wonderful prayers & wishes for my dad.

He was extremely dehydrated with a UTI

so there was a reason he was on a downward spiral.

He's on antibiotics and his appetite is growing now.

He recognizes me and his speech is clearing up.

Thank you so so much.

This may be the last book and a blanket 

but December is MY birthday month

so there's going to be some fun stuff going on then.

stay tuned!!

big hugs to you all!!

Postponed

Hello.

I wanted to post and let everyone know that

I'm going to postpone A Book and a Blanket

until Saturday night.

My Dad has been in a care home since March

 and lately he's been a bit off .

He doesn't want to eat or drink anymore and he's become very

dehydrated...

his blood work came back and he seems to have a

touch of an infection..which could be the reason why he's

not well.

At 92 anything can be really bad.

He's on an IV and actually seems to be improving with the fluids.

Hopefully he will bounce back from this.

If I don't see you before then,

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Puppies, Stars, Gingerbread and Angels

How was your Friday?

Ours was beautiful!

It rained all day long and it was actually cold.

Cold for us..it was 55 degrees!

We've had to wrap up all toasty.

I stood out in my little garden and marveled at the weather.
(notice the kitty all snuggled up on a little bed?)

 When it's like this, I'm very inspired to make
Christmas decorations.

I created two different projects 

using Lisa Kettell Designs  products.

I bought a paper mache house shaped box at a craft store.

After I painted it gingerbread and ivory

I added glittered candies, stickers, lace trim and a cupcake.

 After I painted the Tristan style doll heads brown and glittery

I added them to the gingerbread 'cookies'

 

The next project is an ornament

using my favorite dolly, carnival Lulu!

 You need a wooden circle about 5 inches in diameter.

Hot glue glitter tinsel around the circle.

glue a Styrofoam snowflake to the front of the circle.

Paint Carnival Lulu, add wings, skirt and tiny Christmas tree.

Glue her to the snowflake.

add a pipe cleaner to the back of the circle to make a hanger.

 

 

I hope you get a chance to try out these projects..they're super fun to make.

Don't forget you can purchase these doll parts 

in Lisa's shop.

Thank you to everyone that emailed and posted

suggestions on getting rid of those nasty cramps..

you're all awesome!

 

Have a great weekend.

A Book and a Blanket...and a Mermaid

 Welcome back!

How has everyone's week been?

I swear I meant to get back on here at least

three more times, but I've been

so sleep deprived lately!!

You remember how I hurt my back in July?

Well, it's acting up again...in the form of

excruciating leg and foot cramps every single morning.

It's to the point where I'm actually afraid to go to bed

because I know how I'm going to be woken up:(

So I apologize for not visiting with you sooner.

I always get anxious when it's time for
Random number generator to pick a winner...

you know how I feel about you all!

But I'm going to be having giveaways until the new year

(December is my birthday month!!!)

so everyone will get a chance to win something for sure.

This week's winner is 

Tessa

send me your details please!

I'm a huge fan of fairy tales...

I can't get enough of them,

 I love Hansel and Gretel,

Snow White and Rose Red...

The little mermaid!

The book I want to share this week is called

Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon.

I actually suggested this one about two years ago...

But it's so incredible, I wanted to talk about it again!!

 

 

It's a modern fairy tale and it's absolutely mesmerizing,

beautiful and magical.

Totally loved it!

This author has written a few books that have the fairy tale spin

to them..I enjoyed them all.

She writes in a way that just takes you there..

you feel the cold wind

and smell the sea.

I hope you get a chance to read them all.

I'll be giving away a copy of this

treasure next week..

with a blanket of course.

and extra goodies!

 

Yummy marshmallows 

 

 

and a box of cocoa.

Leave a comment and you get a chance to win.

 

Hope everyone is doing great and keeping toasty.

 I'll see you soon.

 

Marfi

Book and a Blanket

Hello!

I hope you are doing great today!

Welcome to the first Book and a Blanket gathering.

I'll be doing this until the last Tuesday of November .

Mainly because I love the thought of 

reading, being toasty and sharing some of

my favorite books.

I'll also be giving away cozy gifties throughout,

Tea, book markers, fuzzy socks, throw blankets, 

and of course books!

Have you heard the story of Tam Lin?

It's about a knight in the elfin queen's company

that is saved by a woman named Janet.

The woman is told that if she truly wants to 

rescue Tam Lin from being sacrificed to Hell,

 then she will have to 

knock him off his horse when he rides by &

hold on to him no matter what happens.

 The Elf Queen is furious when she finds out

that he is trying to escape.

She turns Tam Lin into all manner of 

beast and bird, but Janet refuses to let go.

Finally, he is transformed into an incandescently hot

iron bar, which Janet knows to throw into a well..

the spell is broken and Tam Lin is once again

restored to his regular self.

 ( JILL KARLA SCHWARZ)

The reason I mention this story is because

there's a major connection to this week's book...

This book came out in 2003.

I'm going to show you the synopsis that's on 

Carolyn Parkhurst's site.

"When his wife dies in a fall from a tree in their backyard, linguist Paul Iverson is wild with despair. In the days that follow, Paul becomes certain that Lexy's death was no accident. Strange clues have been left behind: unique, personal messages that only she could have left and that he is determined to decipher. So begins Paul's fantastic and perilous search for the truth, as he abandons his every-day life to embark on a series of experiments designed to teach his dog Lorelei to communicate. Is this the project of a madman? Or does Lorelei really have something to tell him about the last afternoon of a woman he only thought he knew? At the same time, Paul obsessively recalls the early days of his love for Lexy and the ups and downs of life with the brilliant, sometimes unsettling woman who became his wife."

Written with a quiet elegance and a profound knowledge of love’s hidden places, The Dogs of Babel is a novel of astonishing and lasting power—a story of marriage, survival, and devotion that lies too deep for words.

 I loved this book!!!
It's one of those you can't put down.
Beautiful, sad and suspenseful.
Hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I did.
I won't tell you what the connection is to the Tam Lin
story is...
(you'll have to read the book to find out:)

I have a copy of this book and a warm fleece throw to give away.

 Like I said before, no pressure, just let me know
you stopped by
and you're automatically
entered to win.

Have a great week!
M.

November is here!

Happy November!

Hope you have all been well.

I took a little break...

Vertigo forced me too you see:(

But I feel better now

and I'm ready to catch up with you and share 

what's been happening around here.

Don't you love how the sky looks this month?

It's such a nice rich blue...

makes all the leaves look extra gorgeous.

There was a storm last week,

nothing too dramatic, just lots of (welcome) rain.

Once that passed the leaves that do change here,  began their

amazing transformation....

We had our Dia De Los Muertos celebration.

There were candy skulls

I made pan de muerto..

Then I cleaned up our altar. 

It's been fifteen years that my mom has passed

and it seems like it just happened.

Okay..random number generator chose comment #10

for the last Haunted Humpday prize, which is Tee

Congrats to you!

 

I participated in Vintage Dragonfly's matchbox swap

and my awesome partner Mina sent me 

such an amazing matchbox!!!

And look at all the incredible goodies she included!

I love it, thank you Mina!

Can't show you the matchbook I sent her

because I failed to take photos, lol!

Today, out of the blue, I received a lovely thank you gift

from Nancy James at  Sugar Lump studios  .

It's a beautiful little journal.

Thank you so much Nancy!

Last but not least

I'd like to talk about a little challenge I'm going to have this month..

it's not going to be as huge as Haunted Humpday..

but I'm hoping it will be fun.

It's called A Book & A Blanket.

Once November comes around and the temperatures actually drop,

I want to crawl in bed and cozy up with a  good book.

Every week I'm going to post a book suggestion and review.

All you need to do is leave a comment.

You can even post a book /review suggestion on your blog if you want.

I'm going to have a few giveaways..

book markers, warm throw blankets, art!

Maybe even a book or two!

this is very laid back, no pressure.

I'll put the first post up 

on Tuesday.

Until then take care & keep warm

I hope to see you soon!

Marfi

Halloween

Happy Halloween!!

We got a visit from the Great Pumpkin this morning!

It was awesome...loads of candy and toys...

I even got a mooshka doll!

I took Helena to a Halloween carnival and she also

got to visit the zoo to trick-or-treat and see all the 'spooky'

decorations and characters.

Unfortunately she's come down with a cold now..but

at least she had some fun! 

I remember some of my Halloweens being a bit crappy.

with either a cold or some other mishap occuring

just in time to ruin trick or treating.

One time though...I was dressed as a gypsy witch

and we went to a neighborhood that was giving

 great gobs of candy and BOOKS!

one of the books was called 'The Game'

and boy was it scary!!

I eventually read all the books in that series...

I wish I still had them!!!

So what are your plans for tonight?

I've always wanted to go to the 

Winchester Mystery house for Halloween.

There's a website with a list of some super scary attractions here.

Okay, Ive been awake all night

buzzing with sweets and spooky stories.

I'm going to nap

then get ready for tonight.

It's time to get out the old umbrella and jump

 into

 

a new year!

   

 

 

 

Happy Halloween!

Haunted Humpday #10

Hello!

Welcome to our last 

 

I have had so much fun.

Each and every one of you has

inspired me tremendously!

I'd like to share some goodies I received this week

from Ms.Lilypads

She made this beautiful magnet!

 She also sent me some white sage.

Thank you so much!!

I have a few things to
announce now, and by things, I mean 

winners, lol

last week's winner is

beverly e 

I didn't have a chance to upload

the photo of last week's prize..

so here it is:

 

Okay, now the winners of the 

Broomsticks on the Bayou giveaways:

#13 Frosted Petunias won the mask. 

#5 Autumn Wind a mini voodoo doll

#26 Glitter Tart Designs a mini voodoo doll

I need your details please:)

I don't know if you know

but Lisa Kettel is having a blog hop event!

It's going on until the 2nd..

Be sure and visit,

there's lots of prizes!

I created a Dia De Los Muertos dolly

out of one of her Lulu Dolls:) 

I love how she turned out!!

she reminds me of a cookie.

speaking of cookies...aren't these cute!

They're from the grocery store..

We're going to do some baking tonight though...

Lot's of gingerbread skeletons are getting prepped 

at the moment....

we're also going to be using this to make some candy critters.

We also made Salted Caramel apples...!!!

These are SO good!

you make them just like regular caramel apples

but you add sea salt to them afterwards.

You want to know why there's so many goodies?

Well, tomorrow is Great Pumpkin night!!

 (google image)

Ever since my daughter was 3 years old, we've been 

celebrating Great Pumpkin Night 

on the 30th of  October.

It's kind of like Christmas for us.

It started out with a a treat bag full of

candy, a toy and a letter from GP himself.

 Now...

We have a 'party' starting at around 7pm on the 30th

with food, sweets, scary music and games.

at around eleven pm 

we put out the lights out, save for a few candles

in jack-o-lanterns,

and then the stories begin...

At midnight

Great Pumpkin will leave the treats by the front door.

it's usually a cauldron full of candy & magic...

...think of

grandma Aggie's bag in Halloweentown.

Yeah, like that:)

We all dress up too!

Even Magnus has been trying on costumes..

We can't wait!

 I have a couple book suggestions for these long chilly nights!

This one is good for children and adults..

The Young One

The Desrick on Yandro

and Henry Martindale, Great Dane 

are my favorites.

This one has been in my bookshelf for decades I'm sure.

It belonged to older siblings at one point

but I ended up keeping it.

Maybe it's a little silly, but I enjoyed it.

It's all the apocalyptic drama that I like.

 Are you ready?

let's gather one last time.

 I've mentioned that we have an old tool shed in the back yard.

A lot of 'odd' things have happened in and around it.

Sometimes it was unlocked

even after my dad would lock it up.

(maybe he forgot to lock it..maybe not)

I hated when my mom would say

Let's go lock up Pappa's casita

There was a chain leading from inside the shed

that would lead back out and a padlock was put on it.

there used to be another door and the hole where the

chain came through was bigger.

big enough to stick your hand through and pull the chain out.

I had to do that a couple of times...

and I was very sure some cold clammy claw was

going to grab my hand and pull me into the shed through that 

little opening! 

Anyhow..one night we went out

to put the darn lock on the door.

When we got out there, the smell of sulphur

was overpowering. 

My mom uttered some prayer or another, locked the door

and yanked me into the house.

When I asked her what was wrong

she told me that the smell of sulfur meant the

devil was about, and bad things were going to happen.

It was all in Spanish, which somehow sounds way creepier. lol

The next day we had to go to my cousin's baby shower.

I was just a little kid

so everything was super boring for me there.

That is until my cousin brought out a Ouija board

she'd had in her attic (really!) for years.

They asked it silly things, I remember laughter..and my mom's

disapproving look, she refused to touch it and was upset that my

aunt , her sister, was actually playing.

All of a sudden, someone picked up the board 

and threw it across the room.

I guess the board was telling them

horrible things about my aunt..

calling her a widow and asking how

it felt to lose her husband.

We left soon afterwards and I forgot all about it.

I spent that night at my aunt's house..

it was summer vacation

and I usually stayed with her because she was

a teacher and had the same time off as I did.

The ringing phone woke me up at six am.

I remember she ran in and got me to get my shoes on.

We then we went outside to

 wait for my mom to come pick us up.

My uncle had had a heart attack on the way to work.

she got to speak to him, but he passed away late that night .

I never forgot the smell of sulfur in the shed & 

that the board had called her a widow the day before.

 

Our kitchen counter is notorious for dropping bread.

you set a loaf of bread up there and you'll hear a noise

and the bread's on the floor!

Or worse, you don't hear it fall

and then see a certain dog walk passed with 

a bag of bread, thinking it's his lucky day!

It's not just bread either..

we used to keep the fruit bowl there

but oranges and apples would be found under the table

all the time.

There's no real way of explaining it.

My dad, said there must be a damn rat

throwing sheet (that's how he said it) around.

Well we don't have rats, or mice...

what else could it be?

The foundation is even too.

behind our kitchen is a spare room..

the closet lines up with the kitchen counter.

So the back of the closet wall is also the same wall as the kitchen counter.

(I hope I'm making sense)

that closet has always giving me the heebie jeebies.

(My grandfather passed away in that room but that's never bothered me)

One night in 2005, I put a tape recorder by the closet,

turned it on and left for 4hours.

No one else was in our house that night.

The next day I listened to the recording and

I heard a sound...it was after about an hour of

not much..

It was a low moan...deep and full of pain..

I have the recording still, but I couldn't figure out

how to transfer it on here.

I'm also never going to do that again haha!

Maybe our home really is haunted...;)

who knows...the graveyard,

the weird creatures, the noises..

maybe there's no other way to explain it.

The 'Spirits" seem to have moved the giveaway gift

so I can't take a photo of it...

it's a pair of earrings with skeleton girls on them

I know I set them down right here by my laptop!!.

Thank you all for visiting, commenting and being

so enthusiastic about Haunted Humpday.

I'm going to miss it...but rest assured...

I'll be digging it back up next year.

I'll have more stories and goodies for you.

Hope you will join me on the second to celebrate

Dia De Los Muertos.

 

And all of November 

I'm going to host 

a book and a blanket event!

Come back soon to get more details

Big Halloween hugs to everyone!

Marfi