Newest Completed Project

I know I posted some time ago that I would be making special costumes for my kids. This would've been back in September or October. My intent was to have them all made up for Christmas. Well, that didn't happen. LOL I did complete one for our oldest daughter's birthday, though. So here is the finished product. I'm happy to share these photos with my readers but please do not copy them in any way. These photos are my property and these photos are of my child. I hope you enjoy the post and the photos for the educational purpose for which they are intended.

San is one of the main characters from an animated film titled "Princess Mononoke". Her costume consists of a fur covered clay mask, a blue dress, a white slip-on top that goes over the blue dress, a pair of oversized oval-shaped shell or bone earrings, leather headband & armbands, a fur cloak with a string of teeth holding it together, a jewel dagger necklace, a pair of short moccasins, and some red face paint. Altogether, I'm not sure how much I spent to gather all the materials I needed to accomplish this but it took a long time to get them all. I would estimate that the entire cost was around $130 for the entire outfit, and considering the labor for this kind of job, you'd be looking at paying about $300 for a well done costume. That is, if you bought one from me. Um...don't ask. It's fun when it's for my kids who love it no matter what discrepancies exist therein. I'm not making stuff like this for anyone but close friends.

Materials:
blue fabric for dress-1 flat sheet-$6 (I had some left over from another project.)
White fabric for top-1 yd @ $3
Moccasins-$35 (her grandmother bought those for her)
Amethyst gemstone dagger pendant- $15
4 Shell 'Teeth'- $6/each
'Fur' fabric (fuzzy fleece)- 2 yds @ $6/yd
Shell ovals for earrings- 2 @ $1.50/ea
1 pr sensitive solutions post earring findings in gold- @ $4? I had these on hand.
Velvet ribbon for armbands- $1.50/spool
black elastic for headband- @ $3? I just had some on hand.
3 black buttons for arm/headbands- $1.50/card or so
3 bone beads for arm/headbands- $5/container or so. Depends on the size of the container.
1 pre-primed full face mask- $3 or so. Can't remember exactly.
Acrylic paint for mask- 3 colors @ $1-3 per container
Hemp cord for the dagger necklace and cloak tie- $2 or so
1 package twill tape-$3 or so
Single fold bias tape in white and blue-$3/each or so

It took about 3 or 4 days to put the whole thing together. I started with the furs since they were simply a very free hand cutout resembling animal furs. I just had to make sure they were wide and long enough to match the picture and fulfill their purpose. I simply edge stitched them with a very nice zig-zag pattern. I used a t-tunic that was already made up for her and a tank top to cut out the dress and top. I used the hemp cord to make the dagger necklace and the cloak tie. It was a bit difficult to find a long enough piece of the cord that would fit through the tiny holes in the shells I used for teeth. I suppose I could have tried reaming them but I'm a tad heavy-handed. For the mask, I removed the elastic that was to hold it on the head and used a hole punch to make holes all around the outer edge. Then I sewed the smaller fur around the edge of the mask using safety pins to secure it in place through the holes. I tacked it to some twill tape on the inside. That made the mask less likely to scratch my daughter's face or make her itch. Once the fur is sewn around the mask, there's no need for that elastic thread that comes with it. For the arm bands, I just cut lengths of ribbon/elastic the size I needed, found the middle of each, sewed a black button and a bone bead in the center of each.

I've also included a picture of the animated San for those who wish to compare. You should be able to copy and paste the link.
http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs28/i/2008/052/0/3/Princess_Mononoke___Wolf_by_Sonda.jpg

The mask should've been clay but that would've been heavy and would've required all kinds of patience I just don't have. I mixed some paints I had on hand to achieve colors pretty close to the original. I used a cordial glass to make the cirlces around the eye holes and I freehanded the white lines across the face. The earrings should've been shells that were solid and much larger but that would've just been too much for my daughter. Well, I hope you enjoy this post. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Laugh a lot!

A Wing and A Prayer, A Sigh and A Care

I'm just gonna jump right in today. My husband just called me to say gas prices went up. Now, normally that wouldn't warrant a whole text message, much less a call. I'm used to seeing the prices vary by week by about 2 or 3 cents. Aren't you? Well how about this whopper! Read it and weep. Gas prices went up a whole 26 cents. Yes. You did not read that incorrectly. Our gas prices rose 26 cents. With my husband having to drive 45 minutes or more to work every day and then again to get back home, this could be the beginning of the end for us. We just recently decided to opt out of the food stamp program b/c we felt we could perhaps make it on our own. Our own government is trying desperately to push us back into the system of handouts on a maybe. You heard correctly again! There isn't even a problem yet! They're raising prices on the /possibility/ of things going completely nuts. So our government is basically saying, "Let's stick it to the poor souls who still have jobs during this time of greater unemployment. Let's see how many more we can drive out of jobs because they can't make it in to work. Oh and while we're at it, let's continue to waste our own natural resources because the sky is blue." Yeah, folks, it makes about that much sense.

So somehow, I have to figure out a way for us to earn more income. We had to drop our dental coverage because it was costing us more than we spent in dental visits per year. You read /that/ right, too. It was a good policy but come on! Spending more to keep it than we did to use it was just a little upside down, if you ask me. Now we're going out of pocket on that but at the time, we thought we'd be able to take care of the normal visits on our own, albeit one person at a time. Oh, well, maybe I should just go to dental tech school. Back to the matter at hand, I guess I better go apply for my business license. I'll be putting stuff up on Etsy if I am able to get that license and I'll post here to notify folks when everything is a go. I might eventually put things up on Artfire if I make enough money through Etsy to cover the monthly fee for premium that Artfire charges. I really need to figure something out. I must. In this nasty economy we have, with a group of money-grubbers at the wheel who could care less about anyone but themselves, well, you have to ask yourself what is going to give next?

I'm so thankful we live in the country. I hope our garden does well this year. We're going to need those veggies. I refuse to pay $2 for second rate lettuce. And at Wal-mart, to boot! I am just so amazed that people will buy that nasty iceberg lettuce for that price. It's a sad day when iceburg lettuce costs more than romaine. Wow. Just wow. I really hope that my milk price doesn't go up. Otherwise, we will be buying a cow...or borrowing one. I won't be able to buy milk if the price goes up. And I can't risk the health of my children by buying second rate milk, either. So, what a conundrum!

So now we need to figure out how to spend money in the best way. The grocery items we purchase rarely, if ever, offer coupons. I've gotten to the point where a coupon being offered to me usually causes me to suspect the item of some kind of nefarious ingredient or chemical. So I'm watching instead for sales. Wal-mart is no longer a guarantee for the lowest price in town, though they still do the price-matching. And if they have a lower price on anything, it's usually for their clothing or for their brand of grocery items. I never shop for clothing at Wal-mart. I usually hit the outlet or bargain stores for that and only at the direst need. I can sew. :) I guess we'll be staying close to home and trimming our eating habits down to bare minimums. I wonder how many others will be having to do the same. You can pretty much bank on it that the politicians will not be among us. And for the record, I'm all about the billionaire who made his money legally being able to keep that money that he earned. He shouldn't have to pay for my kids to get their teeth cleaned. I just want us to have an opportunity to be able to hold a decent job that pays for what we need. I don't want a handout. I'd rather have the opportunity to succeed at something. But it looks like it's going to be very hard to even do that for now.

Remember to breathe.

The Ultra Super Fantastic Magnificently Marvelous Marble Dice Game

OK, so maybe all those wonderful words aren't necessary but the game is so simple and so easy to transform into something that works for your family that the words all apply. While probably not an original idea, I came up with it to help my youngest with counting and recognizing numbers in groups. We started out using only a handful of marbles and one die but we've expanded our game to include /lots/ of marbles and two dice so that the whole family can play.

Step 1: Gather as many marbles as you can find.

Step 2: Get at least one die. If you have tons of marbles, you're gonna need to have 2 or more dice...or a heck of a lot of people playing along.

Step 3: Youngest plays first (or you can roll a die to see who plays first). Roll the die/dice. Collect marbles in that amount and keep them in front of you. Play goes clockwise.

Step 4: Continue play around the circle until all the marbles are gone. The number on the die has to equal the number of marbles you take. If it doesn't (say you roll a 6 but there are only 2 marbles left) your turn is over and play passes to the next person until all the marbles are gone.

Step 5: When all the dice are gone, play continues clockwise around the circle. "How?" you may be asking. Play continues because you want to get rid of all the marbles you've collected. Roll the die/dice and replace that number back into the center of the play area.

Step 6: The game is finished when one person is out of marbles. That person to end up marble-less first is the winner!

We have one child who is so competitive that games are usually out of the question. She takes them way too seriously and ruins the fun for everyone. This game works well because the fun goes all throughout the game and you never know who is going to win until the game is over. It usually works out well for all of us...even the losers. ;)

I hope you enjoy this game! It's easy to modify it for any group of people. All you need is a little bit of imagination and enthusiasm. Happy game play!

P.S. DO NOT PLAY THIS GAME IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN WHO STILL THINK EVERYTHING IS FOOD. MARBLES ARE NOT FOOD BUT THEY CAN HARDLY BE BLAMED FOR MISTAKING THEM FOR CANDY...

Laugh a Lot!

Yea! High Speeds Are Here Again!

Since I last visited my blog, many things have happened! My husband and I have stopped using Twitter, for one. And we also discovered that Twitter was a bit hungry. You might say it had a lot to do with our download usage getting eaten up so quickly. I'm hoping that now we will see a bit more high speed time than we were experiencing.

Another thing that happened is that my husband and I decided to take a little mini vacation. We went to Houston, TX to see a Flogging Molly concert at House of Blues with a good friend of ours. (He's the one who really got us into the band, though we had other good friends saying awesome things about them in previous years. So we're slow! LOL) Here's a great Flogging Molly tune if you are unfamiliar with the band. Flogging Molly has a website and is also on facebook (and probably on MySpace, though I don't know that for sure and suggest it for those wanting to check and see).

I don't think I'll be having anything but a salad next time I eat at House of Blues. For some reason, their food didn't really sit well. I can only hope our server didn't do something awful to it. *shudder to think*

The concert was fabulous! We got to see two pretty awesome bands we'd never even heard of: The Drowning Men (awesome, energetic and steampunk-ish) and Moneybrother (awesome, energetic and happy). You can see The Drowning Men here. Give the video time to get going. It's a pretty awesome concept. :) They also have a facebook page. You can find Moneybrother here. Please do not be offended by the song title. I happened to think it was quite imaginative. :) They were a great addition to the concert. Also, I have gained a bit of respect for people trying to photograph or film anything at a concert with 'standing only' floorspace in front of the stage.

Flogging Molly was simply amazing. We'd love to go again, in spite of John being nearly knocked out by a crowd surfer's boot and me getting a boot to the face by a different crowd surfer. I'm happy to say that most of the crowd surfers were well-behaved and went on back to their places like good little boys and girls. :) There was one guy (who must've been dared) who tried to jump up on the stage. (snicker) The security guy grabbed the back of his jacket and yanked him back down pretty quickly. Yea, Security Guy! He was our hero, btw. There were a couple of obnoxious drunken people but on the whole, it was a great experience for my first real concert. We met some awesome people and hung out with a few of the band members for just a few minutes before we decided our aching muscles and joints really needed to rest. LOL I told my husband I should get a medal for wearing heels and standing in them from at least 3:30 pm until 1:00 am or after. (The photo is similar to the ones I have but not exact.) I guess it helped that they were clog-type heels & had a bit of a platform. I'm thankful I had them. My cowboy boots would've been colder and had less traction and my tennis shoes would have offered zero protection from the stomping feet of the crowd. Pushing back an eager crowd is a difficult thing and would've been impossible in shoes without traction. Shoe shopping is in order before the next Flogging Molly concert. :D

We stayed at a really beautiful and comfortable bed & breakfast called Sarah's Bed & Breakfast Inn on the Boulevard. Here's their website b/c you just have to check them out! The staff was extremely friendly and helpful. When we walked up to the door, the manager opened it for us with a smile and chatted with us for a bit. He took us on a tour through the house and explained concerns about bad weather and the possibility of icy roads. He also helped us find a reputable taxi company. Our first taxi driver was extremely chatty and an interesting fellow. Our second taxi driver was bit more taciturn but both did the job well. I believe they were from Yellow Cab Company or something like that.

On our way back home, we stopped to eat lunch and visit with my sister & her husband. Unfortunately, he had to work but we still got to visit with my sister and speak briefly to him. It was an awesome shared lunch and we had a good visit. It's only a pity we didn't have more time. I did enjoy my mojito at Cafe Olé but I think my sister had the best meal of the three. She ordered the spinach & cheese fajitas...I think they were fajitas...and I have to say I'm definitely getting that the next time. My chalupas were good but they couldn't beat her meal. LOL

I tried out a new makeup style yesterday. Surprisingly, it worked well! John loved what I did when he got back home yesterday. :) It's nice to hear admiration from my husband and I never tire of it. :D It was inspired from checking out the history of burlesque and some old photos and vintage video footage. It was pretty interesting stuff! Too bad I didn't get a picture.

Well, I guess I'll stop here. These are the major points you should take from this blog post:
1) You're never to old to do something new, such as go to a concert.
2) You /can/ wear heels and stand for hours if you are completely filled with the sheer determination to do so. LOL
3) A bed & breakfast stay should be something you do at least once in your married life.
4) When you're getting tired of the same old, same old, Google & Bing can be pretty good resources for finding new and interesting things. Don't be afraid to try some of them. User discretion is advised, though... ;)

Please let me know if any of the links aren't working. With that, I'll say "Laugh a lot!" See you next time!

New Look, Fountain Lady, & Religious Intolerance

What a whirlwind! Since the last time I posted, I've come across several things that inspired & appalled me. How do I get these things out of my system? I blog!

First, I'm sure you've noticed the new layout. While not as varied & eclectic as I am, I'm hoping it will be much easier to read.

Next, let's talk a little bit about Fountain Lady. *eye roll* Basically, this woman did something TO HERSELF. It was HER BAD. Could she laugh it off? No. She must sue someone! It's people like her who clog the judicial system with petty upsets. Would I have loved the fact that someone plastered my faux pas worldwide through the internet? NO! But I wouldn't be stupid enough to /sue/ over MY OWN MISTAKE! That really does compound the utter ridiculousness of this poor woman's situation. Honestly, I had worse faux pas happen to me at school. I survived EVERY ONE of them. This woman must be sorely upset with her life in general to push something like this. It would've been much better for her if she could have reveled in her moment of hilarity and been happy things /weren't/ worse. Why should the security guards rush to help someone who was quite obviously not injured? Why should she sue them for her own mistake? Ah! The beauties of our broken system abound! PS If you haven't seen it through the much publicized news circuit, you can catch it on youtube...unless the powers that be remove it for trial purposes.

I'm tackling this religious intolerance issue last because I feel strongest about it. Throughout history there has always been religious intolerance in some form or other. The Jews were hated by all kinds of people (and, regrettably, this still goes on today). The Christians were hated by the Romans. Traditional Muslims seem to dislike anyone not of their religion. But is that so different from today's Christians saying, "Be careful who you befriend. People of other religions make cause you to stray from ours!" Granted, our (Christian) Scriptures are not interpreted in such a way that we believe we must kill those who believe differently... My discussion of this topic has a focus. I'm getting there. Although we tend to align ourselves with a belief that most encompasses our own individual beliefs/morals, people need to realize that all practitioners of any given religion may not agree with every little tenet of that religion they choose to embrace. It is so very wrong to judge one person by one aspect of his life. (Yes, I am not PC and embrace the age old practice of using he/him/his to represent humans in general.) This is like judging someone b/c of the clothes they wear or how much jewelry they have on, or what hairstyle/color they choose. This is like looking at a tattooed person and saying "Oh! He must a biker or an unbeliever!" Good grief, people! Get a life! There are so many more positive things you can do with your life than deride those you call Friend for the religion they choose to embrace! Wake up! If you call someone Friend, shouldn't you support them in the choices they make? Perhaps you can present your OPINION to them but shouldn't this be done in a friendly discussion with no pressure on them to /conform/ to your way of thinking?

Well, I've said my piece. I'm out.
Remember to breathe!

Perfection Is So Overrated

I haven't blogged in a while and recent life events have caused me to reflect on society's view of perfection, the wonderfully awesome post by Single Dad Laughing at http://www.danoah.com/ and how that was the start of a few interesting conversations around our house.


A few months back when Single Dad posted his great article about perfection/imperfection, it made such a great impact on me and my husband. We had a great conversation about it. At the time, we each shared some of the things that we considered to be our imperfections but not all was shared at that time. It took something major to bring out some of the other things. Now that those things have been aired, we can look at them and study them and tackle them together. I am really thankful to Single Dad for taking a great step forward and posting something that should've been posted a long time ago. I wish everyone would see the truth of it and the relief it can bring to just speak your imperfections and admit to imperfection. It's very freeing and it gives you an opportunity to 'change the things you can change' about yourself and give the rest over to God. Holding things in your heart, especially painful things, is very rough on the human soul. I wouldn't say trust everyone! No, not at all! But I would say find someone you can trust who will help you walk through those issues, struggles, imperfections and become a better person for your efforts.

On a different note about imperfections... I'm an artistic sort of person. I was always taught there are no straight lines in nature. I really, really like that. It means that when I look at something, the thing that catches my eye is the one thing that is different. For bugs and certain animals, this is quite a dreadful thing. On the other hand, those little differences are the things that make humans unique. I choose to revel in my differences and enjoy being the person I am. For too many years, I felt locked up in a box of 'You /are/ this. You are that. You are not this. You are not that." When the box was finally opened, there was a whole new world to explore right in front of me. Who was mostly responsible for helping me get out of the box? Well, that would be a combination of great folks but mostly my husband. His constant assurances of loving me as I am have helped me so very much. His encouragement for me to try new things has helped even more. My life is so much richer because he is in it and I thank God so very much for putting us together. Having said that, I'm not sure I've totally convinced him that I feel exactly the same way, that I love him just the way he is. His whole being is what makes him right for me, in my opinion. His smile brightens my day and when he's down and out, it troubles me.

My troubles start with laziness and serious cases of the 'I don't wannas'. They don't stop there but I won't go into my seriously long list of shortcomings. Suffice it to say I've made a conscious decision to strive towards doing much better in the year to come. My shortcomings are things that I /can/ change so I'm working to do just that, one step at a time. Working on hard things is much easier when two people tackle the job, even if one of those people is only there for conversation to lift the spirits. So pray for me as I start the new year with this determination, with this desire. I hope for good things in this new year, for me and for you all! Have a great one!

What To Do? What To Do?

Hello, all! I was sitting at the computer tonight and thinking how much I'd really like to be /doing/ something. Anything! I could watch a movie I stored in my Netflix queue. I could just surf the web. I could wait for someone to talk to me, or start up a conversation with someone on a social website. But I'd really rather be doing something more active with other people. Board games aren't an option right now. Our hosts are out or asleep so I wouldn't know wear to look for them and I don't dig. It's a point of honor, I guess. Two of my kids are watching an Avatar marathon (the /real/ Avatar, btw, and not the fake one with blue people). My youngest is watching an anime (Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple). My husband is surfing the web/using his tweetdeck. And I sit here, blogging. *shrugs* Ah, well. We can't always get what we want, eh?

So, what do you, my awesome readers, do for fun that doesn't cost money? What's your favorite game or hobby? What's your favorite place to go for a relaxing time or valuable conversation with your spouse/date? Try to give answers that are great for a tight budget. I can't wait to see how many folks give an answer. And please do keep it kid friendly. My kiddos are sometimes hovering under my elbows... ;)

Here are my top ten ideas for fun, inexpensive things to do with my family. The first 5 will be family activities. The last 5 will be date night activities.

1. The Zoo-Our whole family loves the zoo. The only downside is if the zoo is big or in a town that gets most of its income from tourism. We usually look for smaller zoos. Those are best for my husband (who has trouble with his knees) and much better for our budget.

2. The library-While going to the library with an active 6-year-old can be quite trying sometimes, on a good day, the library is a great way to get out of the house and enjoy some forced quiet. This can be an awesome thing when there's been nothing but noise for days on end.

3. The park-While the kids really enjoy going to the park, I'm not a big fan. We do take them from time to time but I generally like to avoid the park. We usually try to go when there are fewer children since too many children makes it very hard for me to keep an eye on mine. I'm easily distracted by conversation and sights and losing them in a crowd just isn't an option. Not to mention, crowds of children are very intimidating to me.

4. The pet store-I don't know if any of you have tried this but my kids (especially my girls) love going to the pet store. We've been avoiding it lately because our youngest wants a hamster. It's not fun when you leave the pet store with a whiney 6-year-old.

5. The Arboretum-Our 'local' arboretum is about 30 minutes away but it's free to go through it. Some Saturdays, they host a discussion about nature. The did a good little presentation on butterflies that we were able to attend. Not only is it relaxing there, it's also educational!

6. A local cafe-Our local cafe is called 'Cafe Mosaic' and it's an awesome venue for some fun conversation and a little bit of online fun. They also make a fabulous gelato! However, if you want intimate conversation and a more private venue, this isn't it. On Fridays and Saturdays, it's so packed you can hardly hear yourself think.

7. Go to a movie-It's always nice to go to dinner and a movie, even if you have to eat at McDonald's or Subway. During the dinner, you get some conversation and after the movie, you have the opportunity to discuss the finer (or awful) points of the movie. This is sometimes the jumping off point for further discussion. From a woman's viewpoint, that's always a plus!

8. Karaoke-While I've never done this as a date, some might enjoy it. I prefer to do karaoke with a larger group. It's a great adult activity and gives parents time with other adults while they take a small portion of time away from the daily grind.

9. Visit a museum-Our small town has 2 museums-a Cajun culture museum and a Cajun music museum. At least, I think the second one is a music museum. It's located in a couple of refurbished train cars, one of which is an actual caboose. :) We haven't visited it in quite some time. But both of these museums don't cost much at all to go into. One of them asks for a donation.

10. Go for a drive-There's nothing like going for a drive down country roads on a star-filled night. The music is awesome (because you choose it) and the conversation is as private as can be. It's a great way to focus on the conversation and talk about things you might not otherwise discuss. Most places have beautiful country roads that are scenic and beautiful. Talk about great ambiance!

Well, I've wracked my brain and now it's your turn. Get ready! Get set! GO!