Angel wings

Here are the wings for one of the angel dolls. It's butterflies for Katherine; the other one, for Brynn, will have bees. I've learned a few helpful hints for dollmaking along the way....mostly from my own mistakes and not being happy with the finished doll. I used to cut a slit on the back side for turning the wings (they are sewn right sides together with a layer of batting thrown in.) But then I realized that the back side will show, and the middle of the front will be up against the doll and won't show at all. It always seems crazy to be cutting into the side I've just finished all that hand-stitching on, but it works well in the end.

I've been fiddling around with ideas for the Santa ornament. Here's what I have so far. I think I'll use black beads for the eyes instead of drawing them on with pen. I'll make a hat that will hang down a ways and decorate it with a small gold bell. I'm not sure about the hat trim. I do have some small holly leaves on wire that might work nicely and it would be easy to attach. I've used this in the past for Santa ornaments I made with driftwood. I kinda stole, I mean borrowed the idea from some Santas I'd seen done on oyster shells. I think I mentioned once that I'm not one to buy things at craft fairs, but I had to have one of those! So cute. I'll try to remember to take a picture.

Mr. Gadget did indeed go out and blow leaves today, in spite of the windy conditions. It won't be long before he'll be looking out the window and noticing that lots of his work has been undone. And I did see that the man across the street--the one who blew his leaves into a huge pile around his tree--is out raking those leaves onto a tarp for dragging to the wooded area behind his house. I guess he wasn't saving them for his grandkids after all.

So I bought some Halloween candy last week so we'd be ready for the crowds of trick-or-treaters on Tuesday night. If we're lucky we'll get two or three. That was the count last year. But you never know, and it's good to be prepared. I asked Tech Guy if he was going to dress up in a costume for work and he wasn't so sure. Then he perked up when I reminded him of a great costume he wore one year. It was jeans, a sweatshirt and a pair of work gloves. He stuffed one of the sleeves of the sweatshirt and attached a glove. He carried a box....with one real gloved hand and the phony gloved hand taped or glued on somehow. He had cut a hole in the side of the box so he could put his free arm and hand inside and he gored it up with fake blood and a nasty injury. I only hope his boss has a sense of humor......

Mr. Gadget informs me that we're well prepared for Halloween this year. He made a trip up to the attic a couple of days ago to stash a window fan and noticed 5 bats hanging out up there. Here's hoping they don't find their way inside for another close encounter. Things are batty enough around here.......