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Adorable clay ghosts!
A while back I had pinned a trio of ceramic ghosts that I wanted to buy from Etsy. They were adorable. When I went to find them, instead of going back to Pinterest (to be honest I forgot I had pinned them) I searched Google for "clay ghosts" instead of "ceramic ghosts" (it's been a very scattered September) and one of the top results was a link to a tutorial on Why Don't You Make Me on how to make some yourself. I'm always up for a low-stakes, sedentary challenge. I bought some oven-dry clay ...
Our Christmas Village
Yes I'm writing about the Christmas Village in March. The Friday 5 jogged my memory and who knows if I'll still be blogging regularly in December. Listen, if I were actually GOOD at blogging I'd be rolling in influencer cash by now. Many, MANY years ago I started collecting Department 56 Christmas in the City houses. I only had a few because I was in my mid 20s and they were horrifically expensive. Years go by and I end up with WM. And, oddly, the Christmas Village scratches an itch for ...
Halloween Decor 2021
I hate fall but I begrudgingly admit to enjoying decorating for Halloween. If you have a giant ivy pit in your front yard, put some foam graves there! And a skeleton. This year the graveyard expanded past the walkway. Don't forget the friendly ghosts. (we trim the ivy down from the wall after Halloween every year) And a not-very-friendly bat. Let's toss some plastic skills into the potted plants while we're at it. We also have a string of Mickey Mouse pumpkin lights in ...
Halloween 2020
This year our town decided to go ahead with trick or treating, with caveats. They encouraged everyone to wear a mask, that trick or treating groups be limited to households, and that candy be given away at a decent distance. The hours were 3pm-7pm, which is what they are every year. I was fine with this. While the cases here are on the rise again, trick or treating is an outdoor activity and even scaredy-Kim here felt fine with it. Rather than go overboard with chutes or catapults, we ...
Halloween: How to be Baby Spice when you're over 40
This year TNP decided that instead of an individual costume contest on Halloween, there would be departmental ones. The stakes, my friends, were upped. I was desperate for a first place win after last year's practically less-than-perfect second place, so I knew I'd be all in. We took a survey of how many in our department wanted to participate. Two coworkers had the day off already, and a third opted out. That left us with five. Four women and our male manager. Since costumes are all ...
Happy Halloween from the Spice Girls!
We had a department Halloween contest at TNP. Baby Spice was an age stretch for me, but I think I did okay. My boots are made of white duct tape and construction paper wrapped around black shoes. The dress was $7.99 at Ross. I made the BABY necklace (hidden from view) from Shrinky Dink paper and the wig was from a costume shop. Zig-a-zig-ahhhhh... ...
Rabbit Rabbit – December
Apparently on this blog, NoBloPoMo means NO Blog Posting Month. So here's some catchup. I went to New Orleans for a business trip in early November. I ate with wild abandon. Mary Poppins came in second place at the office Halloween party. She decided to celebrate! I'm still with this cute fellow: I started playing Tiny Tower on my phone, and I think it killed the Candy Crush monster. WM is a big Doctor Who fan, so I watched the 50th anniversary show with him. I didn't understand a ...
A practically perfect Halloween costume
For my entire adult life I wanted to be Mary Poppins for Halloween. In 2005, I mentioned it on this blog and variations on "Mary Poppins costume" dominated my incoming search results for months and months. Which was sad for the searchers because I didn't follow through. I was a pirate that year. My big concern in 2005 was that I wouldn't be recognizable. But thanks to the musical stage show, Miss Poppins has seen a resurgence. So this year, I did it. And it was easy! The blouse, black hat ...
Throwback Thursday: "Little" Red Riding Hood
October, 2001. "Little" Red Riding hood -- completely handmade by me except the blouse & tights. The shoes were from a wedding that I was in. And I had to lengthen the skirt six inches from the pattern. I'm a great costumer as long as the costume only has to stay together for 2 days, tops. AND I STILL LOST THE CONTEST AT WORK. Not that I'm still bitter. Just competitive. ...
LadyPirate.net? (domain taken)
I was neither Mary Poppins nor Mrs. Incredible nor Mother Nature. Those'll have to wait for next year, when I actually FEEL like making a costume. Every year we celebrate Halloween at my job-that-is-the-most-awesomest-of-jobs. Naturally, I dressed up for the entire day, because it's HALLOWEEN, PEOPLE! Coworker S came in with her guy T and their baby, Quinn. This is the first I've seen the baby since the day after he was born. He is by far the cutest baby ever born at our job. And not just ...
Perspective
Is this thing on?After a week of introspection and sadness, our Halloween party happened. If I had my druthers, I would have cancelled it, but the invitations went out a while back and the guests were looking forward to seeing our new house.So Thor and I slaved away all Saturday morning cleaning, decorating, and cooking. We suited up (he, a pimp; me, Martha Stewart) and threw open the front door. It was a nice mix of adults, with a handful of kids (my two cousins' kids) thrown in for good ...
