Alligator Bag

Here is my version of an alligator bag--something every woman should have, don't you think? Or, if not a bag, at least shoes!

Quite a few years ago, I got into machine applique. Husband, always eager to please me with the latest technological gadgets, bought me a swell new sewing machine that was known for doing a great satin stitch. I appliqued lots of things--bags, sweatshirts, placemats, napkins and everything else that looked stitchable. Soon I started thinking it might be fun to sign up for a craft fair and sell shirts.

A friend of mine, who was a successful dollmaker and a veteran of the craft fair circuit, invited me to share a table at a local fair. It was fun, but not very profitable. While she sold about $600 worth of dolls, I sold one shirt. But I did learn something that day, and that was I would do well to put the shirts away for gift-giving and start making dolls. That's what I did. She was fine with it because she was about to move to Atlanta, where I understand she continued to do well with her dolls.

On a completely different subject, here's one of my pet peeves. I'll call it Pet Peeve No. 1. I have many pet peeves, but I can never think of them all at once. Maybe if I make a list, I'll find it easier to remember them--like for dinner party conversations. You never know. My son requested that I make a cheesecake for Christmas dinner. I assembled the ingredients, and when I opened the box of graham crackers for the crust I noticed the crackers had grown noticeably smaller. Honey Maid graham crackers--a favorite treat of my childhood-- are now skinny! Fortunately I had enough for the cheesecake, but it left a bad taste in my mouth....so to speak. I felt like I'd been tricked. Price increases would be easier to stomach than the sneaky ways food companies are trying to put one over on us.

It makes me sad to think that S'Mores just won't be the same anymore.....