Halloween Dreams

I thought I'd have a little fun and share some costumes I'd love to get a chance to try out but probably never will. These are my top 10 costume wishes but done in a countdown from 10-"it would be cool" to 1-"this is flippin' awesome and one day I will own this costume if I have to make it completely from scratch." Hope you enjoy...

10) Anything with cool heels-I love high heels. They are so much fun! And these days, you can actually get kooky heels to match your quirky moods. Too bad only the major designers sell them. :( I love them but I'm not paying more than about $60 for super heels or $150 for awesome boots. Sorry designer people! But, you guys will notice a recurring theme in most of the costume ideas...


9) 80's Punk Rock Star-OK as cheesy as it sounds, I've always wanted to have a costume to display my 'edgy' side. What? You didn't know I had an edgy side? See! I knew I needed this costume!


8) An Amy Brown Fairy-I confess, I cannot help myself when it comes to the colors and designs of the Amy Brown faeries. They're pretty flippin awesome! But since I'm short, this costume gets stuck at number 8 because let's be honest...a short faerie? And my shape is all wrong...


7) Gypsy-Here's a traditional sort of costume! And one that I could really get creative with.


6) Autumn-Yes, I do mean the season. I've been winter. I'd love to dress up as autumn. Perhaps a dress of leaves (fabric leaves, of course) would be pretty cool...


5) Chainmail-clad warrior maid-Who has never desired to wear chainmail and carry a sword and jingle when they walk?? OK, so I guess I'm in a minority with this one. Just goes to show how eclectic I really am. :) I've always loved fantasy art and fantasy stories. It would be fantastic to be a warrior maid, I think! This one gets two pix b/c I love these kinds of pictures...

This next one is one of my all time fave warrior maid pix.


4) The female android from the movie 'Bladerunner'. The main reason for this one is that she wore this sparkly body suit. Now if you know me well, you know I'd never wear an exact replica of that (couldn't actually. I don't think it would be legal.) This also puts me in mind that I need to purchase this in blueray for my dear husband. It's a favorite of his. :)


Now we get to the top 3 which I will have, one of these days. I may not ever wear 2 of them out of the house but that number 1 costume is a must use.../somewhere/. It's really hard, though, when you don't really celebrate Halloween...

3) The Princess from Conan the Destroyer-She's got this fabulous sleeping gown that I have got to learn how to make. Sorry, the picture is just a face shot. Apparently more people like the posters, comics and book covers.


2) Harley Quinn-I would wear this to a private venue but not out in public...except for the car ride to get to the host's home. I just think it'd be a great deal of fun. LOL

And one more...


And the number one costume favorite of my life that I will own one of these days even if I have to make it from scratch-------

1) Maleficent-She's been my favorite villain for a long, long time. How could you not love that hat! And the Dark Flame Cloak/Dress? Wow! Now the glowing orb staff might be a bit of a trick to make...


I hope you've enjoyed this fun installment of Muddled Mawkishness. Now, go and have a wonderful Sunday!

Laugh a Lot!

Top 10 Things To Do Today

Some folks have asked, "Melody, how do you fit it all into a day?" Well, that just depends on the day. Some days I get nothing done. I hate a nothing day because it feels like an absolute waste. Some days I get so much done that I'm tired for the next 3 days! I like those days because they feel so productive and positive. But you can see the imbalance in my life. I wouldn't recommend /my/ way of doing anything to anyone! LOL I just figured a top 10 of what I'd like to achieve today might give a little insight into a "Mel Day".

1) Drink coffee. Check, check and triple check. This is done times 3. :)

2) Drink cranberry juice with breakfast. Check. The girls fixed a fruit, yogurt and bread breakfast that was really yummy.

3) Drink water. Working on that throughout the day.

4) Touch base with Twitter and facebook friends. Working on that throughout the day.

5) Keep tabs on email messages. Working on that throughout the day.

6) Fix something for lunch. Leftover soup is on the stove to warm.

7) Fix something for supper. Still working on some kind of idea...

8) School with the kids. Started at about 9am and we'll keep working til about 3pm or 4pm.

9) Some sort of craft?

10) dishes and laundry

As you can see, my list is pretty vague except where food and coffee is concerned. I really just wing it. I figure we'll get what we need to do done at some point. We just take it one step at a time. I guess that's the best reason to explain why it takes me forever to complete my mega-projects. :) It's a beautiful day. I better go get that laundry started...

10 Reasons I Love Days Like Today

The weather in our area is absolutely gorgeous today! The morning was cool and dewy. Autumn is in the air. I love this time of year. Days like to today just make me feel so very alive. So here is my top ten for today. I haven't done one in a while and thought it would be fun to make a list today. :)

1. The sun is shining brightly, making the dew look like millions and millions of little stars. How could anyone not love the creative thought of that?

2. The air is fresh and clear. Living in the country, you can take a huge breath of air and most of the time you just smell fresh air. Sometimes you can smell the diesel fumes from a tractor or metallic scents of a barn or garage. Sometimes you can smell freshly plowed dirt (which is one of my favorite scents). But on days like today, all you smell is the combined scents of all the flora and fauna surrounding you and they mix well to form the scent of fresh, unpolluted air. AWESOME!

3. It's a reminder that my second favorite holiday is just around the corner. I love Thanksgiving. I consider it to be a true American holiday, not borrowed from any particular culture but a tradition all our own. And what a wonderful tradition! Who can find fault with a day to be /thankful/? And who can find fault with a table brimming with delicious goodness?

4. Days like this make it hard to frown. I frown a lot about a great many things. But on days like this, it's really hard to stay down for long. The bright sunshine and beautiful scenery around me are just too beautiful and too magnificent to foster any kind of 'down-ness'.

5. I feel energized and renewed. I don't know if it's the sunshine or the fresh air or the combination of the two but I feel like I could conquer the world on days like today. Or maybe just the few herds of dust rhinoceri that have invaded my domicile. :) (Didn't you know that rhinoceri is the plural of rhinoceros?)

6. It's the beginning of a new school year. A fresh start is always a good thing. You've had a breather, a short break, and now it's time to learn more interesting things. Helping a child learn new and interesting things is such a blessing! To watch your child catch on to new ideas or read a book for the first time...what an awesome thing!

7. Ah, yes! The bugs will soon go to sleep for a time. OK, so not all bugs sleep during the cold season. Some die before it hits. But some of them do. Let me just say here that the ones that don't had better stay out of my house (or stay out of sight) or they will not live through the winter.

8. The time for a fall garden is near at hand. The excitement of planting fall veggies is always something to look forward to. Broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, turnips [which I do not like so much], there are so many healthy vegetables to plant during this time of the year!

9. The sounds of cicadas and crickets and frogs are all still heard during this time of year. They wake us in the morning and sing us to sleep at night. What beautiful music they make!

10. The stars shine brighter, it seems, when the weather turns cooler. And I can hear the train passing by as if it was just across the bayou rather than 10 minutes down the road. I don't know about you guys, but I love to hear the passing of a train at night. During the day, it's not half as fun! I have no idea why this is.

This concludes today's top 10. I hope you enjoy it and I hope you will come back to read more in the future. Until then, be sure you...

Laugh A Lot!

Treating My Scalp and Hair, Naturally

This year, I've really been thinking about a lot of things. I know what /you're/ thinking..."UH-OH!" Seriously, though, I'd just really rather do what I can with inexpensive (or relatively so) items that I already have on hand. And some of you requested to know how some of my experiments have turned out so I'm tagging you. Also, if I thought you liked herbs or natural remedies, I tagged you. :)



For the past several years, I've had to switch shampoos constantly b/c they all tear up my scalp. I was told at one time that allergies can make your scalp break out. I believe it because when I'm in humid areas, my scalp is awful! When we moved to Texas, it got better for a time. Then it started to come back. I'd found a shampoo that worked well. Then the company did what they always do. They discontinued it. I can't use any shampoo that isn't clear. That severely limits my choices, right there. And the traditional choices for scalp issues and dandruff just do not work for me. In fact, none of them were clear shampoos except Neutrogena T-Sal (which didn't work but didn't make it worse) and one of the types of Selsun blue. Most of them actually made the problem worse.



I despise going to the doctor for /anything/. And I refuse to pay for a doctor to just shove a prescription in my hand without concern for whether it will work for me personally and pay twice as much as my regular doc charges. So I did the next best thing. I went looking for the herbal care websites. Bingo! I found a whole page of natural hair care recipes you can make at home. Some of them required items I don't usually buy, like glycerin. But since I just wanted the basics, I had everything I needed.



For my scalp issues, I use 2 Tbsp of coconut oil massaged into the scalp. (You could also use olive oil but it just depends on your personal choice. Since I have oily hair already, I opted for the lighter oil. It smells better, too.) I let that sit for 15-30 minutes. While I'm waiting, I make my shampoo and conditioner. The shampoo is 1 tsp baking soda to 2 oz water. I double the recipe because I still have a lot of hair. The conditioner is probably the most unpleasant smelling of all of them. Mix a ratio of 1:2 apple cider vinegar and water. It stinks. And if it gets in your eyes, it burns. But I'll be doggone if it doesn't work! My hair isn't quite as bouncy b/c of the oil treatment but it does work and my hair is clean and my scalp itch is much better. The only thing I'm going to change is buying apple cider vinegar that is not distilled...unless Louisiana gets another wild hair and outlaws it. I'll find the link where I got the recipes and post it in the near future.



Coconut oil and olive oil both have amazing results when used on the skin but you have to find out which one works for you. Coconut oil has antibiotic properties and can also be used on cuts and scrapes as a healing agent. Shh! Don't tell the doctors! They might try to take it off the market. Coconut oil also pulls out infection. If you use it as a facial mosturizer, it will pull out all the acne and then you'll see an improvement in your complexion, or so they say at a blog I read which I will have to find again. In the meantime, here's a resource from a place that 'sells' coconut oil so you should take that into account and perhaps do more research on your own.

http://www.coconut-info.com/coconut_oil_why_it_is_good_for_you.htm



Also, I'm sure some of you with babies know what a problem cradle cap can be. The coconut oil will work for that. I so wish I'd known when Rowan was born! I knew olive oil would work but I hated to put that on her knowing the smell was so strong. No worries now. I give the girl's hair the same treatment as I do mine. It surely helps Rowan.



So I guess, I said all that to say "Nyah" to all those pricey options out there that never worked for me. I don't need fragrance and weird chemicals to make me better. Take your heavily scented junk and...yeah, I guess you get the picture.



On a side note, I've found out that ridged nails and loss of hair can be caused by a zinc deficiency. I'm taking zinc anyway b/c it was suggested to me for a better immune system. I guess I need to take it more consistently for it to have any kind of effect on my hair and nails. LOL I would just really like to /know/ what minerals are deficient in my body and where I really need to work to pick those up before just downing a bunch of different things. And /why/ is there only one naturopath in our area? They're charging way too much for a thyroid test. I have a friend who gets hers done for $35 or $45 so why should I have to pay $218? I guess that's Lafayette for you...



Laugh a Lot!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

We are so busy right now! We have so many projects going on that I am feeling massively overwhelmed. I do this to myself all the time. For most people, Halloween is coming up. My family doesn't celebrate Halloween. We host a Redwall Feast instead and celebrate the joy of friends and family. It's like a Thanksgiving feast but with costumes and party games. :) The costumes for this year's feast are almost done. I still need to finish the chemises for the girls. But after that, I do believe we'll be ready for the Redwall feast. For Christmas this year, I'm making my kids each a costume of their choosing. It's ok that the older two know that. We don't celebrate Christmas like everyone else, either. LOL We have our own family 'traditions'.

TheShi has been after me for a long time to make her a San costume. San is the wolf girl, aka Princess Mononoke, from the movie of the same name. If you haven't seen it yet, it's a good movie. Not for young kids, generally speaking, but a good movie all the same. So I have most of the pieces and parts that I'll need to complete the San costume.

Next up is Merle, the cat-girl from the animé and movie 'Escaflowne'. Not a great deal of work there but it will require more purchases. I find I'm lacking in the yellow-orange fabric that I need for the dress. And I'm also having trouble finding a pendant in the right shape, size and color. I'm thinking I'll end up making the pendant myself. Not hard, just more expense and more time. The hardest part of this one is going to be finding a pair of ears and a tail in the right colors.

Last and most definitely the 'piece de resistance'-Able Nightroad from the animé 'Trinity Blood'. If I can pull off /this/ costume, it will indeed be a great feat worthy of feeling proud of myself for the accomplishment. It's massive and grand. Leave it to my son to choose that particular costume. I never would have guessed in a million years he'd want /that/ one. He hasn't seen the animé, so far as I know but I'm sure there are clips on youtube. Regardless, I finally found patterns that I will only have to modify slightly. One is a Matrix pattern and the other a cloak from a vampire costume pattern. The rest of it will have to be completely my own imagination. I'm /hoping/ it will be done by Christmas but I'm thinking a better estimate might be birthday. I'll have to buy almost everything for this costume. Most of the black fabric I have is the wrong kind of fabric. But it will get done and hopefully I will not be shamed by my efforts. :)

Also going on the project front-a Sleuth Kit based loosely on the Nancy Drew sleuth kit. The girls and I are making a sleuth kit from scratch. I hope to post our materials and methods here when we are done, along with pictures of the completed project. Those should be finished this week sometime.

I'm still working on that boxchain I started a couple of weeks ago. I ran out of supplies so I just have to wait to get more. I should be able to finish it within a week of getting the supplies in. :)

It's a beautiful day! I started it with a headache but the headache is fading and I'm really thinking I'm going to enjoy this day. At least, I'll give it my best. I read a fabulous statement in an email newsletter this morning. I'll post it here. "The right thing isn't always the easy thing—especially in the midst of daily bickering and the responsibility of vigilance as both parent and teacher. It's a calling I don't take lightly, yet I know for now God wants me here. And
what I love about Him is that in the most necessary moments, He lifts me
up and swathes my heart in grace and joy. "The LORD gives strength to
his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace" (Psalm 29:11 NIV).~Lori Freeland" That's what homeschooling is like for me. So I thought I'd share it with as many people as I could. I know this could be applied to any calling! I got this from a Crosswalk email. I'm glad I didn't ignore that email today. :) Hope you all have a fabulous week! Laugh a lot!

How Exciting!

While they were playing outside recently, my children found something they thought very exciting. They rushed inside telling me stories of 'berries in our yard'! When theShi was researching herbs this morning, she found out what kind of berries they are. They were elderberries! I didn't even know they would grow in our area. This was an even more exciting find than first thought. TheShi will be blogging about it on Friday so I won't spoil the fun. But if you'd like to learn more about elderberries, you can find lots of information online.

We also found some mystery berries that I'll be taking to our local nursery to see if they can tell me more about them. They look like little grapes and could be muscadines but I'm really not too sure. They have this really bright fuchsia color and then turn a dark purple that is almost black. I suppose I'll keep you posted on our findings.

Until then, y'all be sure to laugh a lot! I know /I/ need some laughter today...