Spangles are in !

 

Current Mood : a bit wheezy

Spent on craft projects : $3.77

Spent on embroidery scissors : $4.32

 

Didn't find any new doll goodies at Mal-Wart last night. Kinda ranked, because I was all geared up to at least buy an outfit or, well, something ! Having found a complete nothing there, I navigated over to the shrinking craft section. Found the posterboard I wanted, and a big bag of misc. shaped sequins for the upcoming tutorial. While posterboard is pretty cheap at M-W, ours didn't have white. They only had two-sided colors ! I picked out a sky-blue/navy blue one, but there was also orange/red, red/yellow, green/screaming neon yellow, and a pink/purple combos.

 

There's the bag of sequins - or spangles, as the bag reads - I bought. You'll be seeing it again soon. Ya get a lot of ‘em for $2.97 !

 

Of course, it was still raining when I hustled my cartload outside, so it's a good thing it doesn't matter that the board got water-spotted. I'm hoping to work up the tutorial Friday or over the weekend. Wrote up the directions, even though I haven't done the project yet. I do that sometimes. I write down what I know, then later on, edit it to better reflect the pictures or change the wording, once I have actual experience. This way, it's not all squeezed into one day, and nearly everything's easier when it's spaced out. And ya'll know me, once it's begun in earnest, I'll get it done, just to say it's finished ! 

 

 

Ran errands this morning while Beloved was home - it's always a relief to get the end-of-month bills paid ! And after hearing about all the great deals everyone on In The Pink found at Big Lots, decided to stop in for a bit. (sigh) Nothing new - in fact, there was less, not more, there. Luckily, I remembered to buy up two more pair of the embroidery scissors I snagged before Thanksgiving - those are great ! The handles are much thicker than the $5. manicure scissors I had, which makes them easier to use, and less tiring to my hands. Seriously, after you cut tacked-down appliqué fabric, and Peltex backing, and a buncha jump threads, it starts to ache a bit. But with the new scissors, it doesn't hurt at all. So I now have two extra pair, while they're so cheap. The manicure scissors will probably go to the bathroom - or to my living room desk, as back-up scissors in there.

 

Oh, and this isn't news to us, but the season premiere of Hoarders Monday broke A&E's ratings records - it's now ahead of Intervention as their top-ranked show. Whoo. Augustine was darn hard to watch, though. Gratitude and responsibility seem to be as alien to her as toilet scrubbing. But part of me knows, deep down, that could be me in 20 years, given a run of bad circumstances and poor choices. And loneliness.

 

I'm glad you're here. And it's my fond hope that all of us feel a bit less lonely together.

Happy December !

Current Mood : Worn

Current Image Notes : On the left, the original design, unfortunately too tall for Brody. On the right, what it looks like - or will look like ! - once I was done editing it ! 

 

Learned something today, too. I'd long heard that the 4-inch by 4-inch hoop for Brody isn't really 4x4. It's 100mm by 100mm, which is a bit smaller. I took others' word for it that it was something like 3.85 inches square.

 

So when I got an offer of an adorable freebie - a Christmas kitty playing with a sprig of beribboned mistletoe - I launched in its direction. Well, skittles. Only three inches wide (good !), but six and a half tall (rats !). Hmm... What if I pull up Stitch Era Universal and remove the bracketing cursive ‘Merry Christmas' ? That takes it down to a bit under five...what if I remove the pine branch over the kitty's head ? That took it down to 4.10 inches tall, and I've yet to conquer ‘moving stitches' on Stitch Era Universal.

 

So I opened up Explorations Sizer. It'll shrink designs, and fairly well, too. But it has odd limits. In this case, I could either resize ‘ChristmasKittyV3' to 3.95 inches tall or 3.65 inches tall, no ‘in betweensies'. Ya'll know me, I want it as big as I can have it ! But 3.95" might be too big for Brody's hoop - especially if the ‘conventional wisdom' is true.

 

Well, no way to tell ‘til I try. I've already done some experiments with Brody's memory - if a design's too big for him, he'll download it, but won't store it. So I decided to load it up, along with another design or two to try. Aaannd...it worked ! Brody stored it without so much as a pondering pause, and it's on his memory now. So you should see it stitched out soon. Plus, I got a lesson in ‘don't take "everyone's" word for it - try stuff out yerself. Nothing lost if they're right, but a lot to win if they're wrong !

 

Making a midnight (well, 10pm) grocery run, soon as Dearest Son's asleep. Which is now. See ya'll tomorrow !

 

Gone fishin'...

Current Mood : Quietly contemplative

 

Today, I learned that there's a whole different Clean House show, with outtakes, commentary, theme episodes, etc. It's sort of like a clip show, but it doesn't seem so bad when it's a ‘reality' show doing it versus a sitcom. They're called Clean House Comes Clean, and even though the DVR is set to get the original, I had to program it separately to snag CHCC. There's one tonight, at 9:30 Central, with the intriguing title ‘Bad Boys'.

 

As Anika pointed out in a comment, the new season of Hoarders begins tonight. I just discovered it this week, so it's all new and amazing to me. I'm utterly fascinated. I feel an odd kinship yet a complete repulsion at the same time. And there's a weird schism going on with every last hoarder - I can't stand to have anyone over my shoulder while I'm sorting out my vast treasures, yet I can't do it on my own, or I already would have. I confess, if I could go shopping every day or three, our clutter would be far worse. The only bigger thrill than getting something new is getting it at a great discount ! So I'm glad to be mostly broke, I have to really think over my purchases.

 

But I also know that, when money's tight, I hold on to more stuff. I'll keep things like glass jars and food trays I'd normally ditch, in hopes of finding some sort of organizational or decorative use for it so I won't ‘need' to buy anything similar. Or have an excuse to go buy stuff, even second-hand stuff. Because, you know, when I don't have cash, I stay home - and when I'm home, I go through stuff. Of course, when money's back, a lot of the stuff I carefully hoarded goes out with the trash, and I feel wealthy to toss things. (sigh)

 

Speaking of hoarding... embroidery design companies must really be feeling it lately, because some of the deals I've received are almost irresistible. I'll find myself wondering what I'd score if I took up this offer or that one, even writing down lists of sets and designs. Bear in mind, I have over thirty thousand files right now. That's between eight and ten thousand designs, maybe half of which were free. If I sewed one every day, it'd take me over 25 years to use them all. It's outrageous for me to even think about buying or even freebie-obtaining any more ! But I do consider it, I leap at sales, even if I don't take advantage of them, and most of the denizens of the SiCK embroidery boards have five to ten times as many as I do. It'd be classified as hoarding too, if it was stored anywhere besides a hard drive ! Sheesh, sometimes when I look for one specific one, I have to stop and think where it is - image if I had ten times as many ! That actually makes me shiver, because I could have that many, if I wanted. There's that many freebies out there.

 

(wry laugh) Few months ago, when we first got cable, I caught the tail-end of a travel show. It touted the biggest Barbie collector - why, she had over six thousand dolls ! Pfft. If I simply snagged all the $1. or less dolls I find naked and abandoned, I'd have that many in a few months. Especially during yard sale season. At one point, I had 228 (or so, the count was always a bit off), and every one had a name and a family. I was trying to figure out how to obtain silverware for them all. It was easier to thin the herds, but it's been sneaking back up on me.

 

I'll probably do another thin-down soon. With so many examples around me, I doubt I'll let it get too far out of hand again.

Drifting...

 

Current Mood : Lazy

Spent on embroidery designs : freebies !

Current Image Notes : Here's the aquarium, still in package. Hit up your Dollar Tree for one - or two !

 

Today was another of those days that slipped away from me, and I still don’t know where it went. Several times I went to the Lab, intending to dig out the Huge Bin o’ Barbie furniture, or at least the Corner o’ Carpet Scraps, but it just wasn’t “there”, ya know ? So I never followed through, I just stared stupidly at everything in there for a few minutes, then left.

 

So I didn’t do squat with the Dollhouse all weekend. No real reason for it that I can think of, either. Beloved Hubby made me breakfast – pancakes and sausages ! – and I had pretty much all day, but I mostly sat and watched TV. I’ve watched enough lame-o greedy jerks holiday ads to turn me into my usual Christmas curmudgeon early this year, and maybe that was a goal, I don’t know. Several of the new Target ads are just plain cringe-inducing, and Mal-Wart feeds the same old ‘reading Christmas tales fireside’ fantasy again. Bleh.

 

While I still avoid the Designs By SiCK embroidery design forums, I continue to get their e-mail newsletter. It’s the usual ‘I’m trying sooo hard to be inspiring’ articles and in-house puffery, but occasionally there’s a good tip in the morass. Or hints of a new set that may be worth seeing. Today’s was like that – use troublesome thread in the bobbin so it won’t be a total loss, and oh, here’s a new ‘tiny charms’ set in free-standing lace. Hmm. I have several charms already, but I’m always up for small designs.

 

These were nice. A heart with a star, a four-leaf clover, a Christmas bulb and tree, a ghost, a leaf, an Easter egg, a legless flamingo (?), graduation cap, and an awareness ribbon, ready to be stitched in the supportive color of choice. Since I still had enough points for one set, I got it. Now they’re on my computer, waiting for the next big project. I can use them on the craft I’m brewing, or on doll clothes, or as wearable jewelry. Not bad for a freebie !

 

It’s already past my bedtime, so I’m gonna go crash. Hopefully tomorrow, I’ll be out of these over-humid overcast blues, and I can enjoy the day moving around some more !

 

Mary P. and Dollar Tree

 

Current Mood : Wheeeee !

Spent on Dolls and doll stuff : $1.34

Spent on fabric : $1.06

 

Well, I never got near the Dollhouse today, but I really didn't mind. I got to sleep in, had some time with Beloved Hubby, got to go to an unfamiliar thrift in another town, made a doll find, found rice crackers by-the-pound while running errands, and got new pets for Shinobu, Inaba, and Michio - an aquarium from Dollar Tree !

 

So, let's start at the beginning. We were up a bit late last night, mostly watching Law & Order episodes. So it was glorious to sleep in until we couldn't lie around anymore. After a quick breakfast and a pair of quicker showers, we headed out to Capital City so Beloved Hubby could do a quick touch-up on a job site. Since he wanted company, I was glad to ride along. We passed a couple of thrifts, and I got to choose one for a quick look-see.

 

I'm glad I chose the ‘Miracle Network' one, because we both scored. I'd noticed earlaier this week that one of his tool bags had a serious split down one seam, irreparable. While I poked through patterns - nothin' - he was digging through luggage, and found a great rolling soft-side tote. $25. seemed a bit much, but I soon found out that everything with a tag was half-price ! He was happy with $12.50. I selected a $2. bag of fabric scraps (shame on me !) and figured that was it. Especially since the ‘toy' section was being used as a playground by several kids and parents.

 

They left before we did, so I risked a peek. Wow. Poor baby dolls, I hope they didn't look that bad when they came in ! Spotted a few naked Barbie legs and went in after ‘em. Mostly newer dolls I wasn't much interested in - many damaged and chewed - until I spotted a shock of brown hair. Kinda short brown hair. I pulled her up...she looked so familiar. Like Tara Lynn, a Steffie-faced favorite, but not quite. I saw the china marker prices - $1.99, 99c, 50c. Not seeing any major damage, I selected her, and also scavenged a backdrop and some gold fencing from some playset I didn't recognize. Those were gifted to me, and I only paid 25c for the pretty brunette doll.

 

Once home, we polished off Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch, and I went through my fabric. The lavender eyelet was pretty, but faded... hmm. I may try to dye it soon. About half of it will be donated, but I kept the eyelet, some pretty blue print, a smiley-face cotton print, and some solid lavender cotton. I brushed the broken rubber band out of my new doll's hair, and tried to recall where I'd seen her before. Her face wasn't quite a Steffie one, but very similar. She really reminded me of a brunette Tara Lynn, with a similar eye style and coloring.

 

After a few minutes of searching, I thought to look on the back of her neck. © Disney. Oh ! That's who she is - Mary Poppins ! She was a Disney Parks and Store exclusive in 1993, and even though I didn't work at Diz Store ‘til 1995, we had a couple. Definitely her. Neat. Didn't bug me that she was nude, since she wouldn't have remained Mary anyway. I brushed her hair down, instead of restoring it to the curly bun she had, and gave her a quick dunk in hot water, so it'd lie down. She had a minor dent to her right thumb, and a tiny scratch under her left eye, but otherwise, she was practically perfect in every way !

 

I let her rest and dry, and headed out for a couple errands. Decided to hit Dollar Tree - and it was still busy. Got some more of the crackers I like, a package of foam stickers for an upcoming craft project (tutorials coming soon !), an ornament painting set for Dearest to go with the stamp pads for his stampers, and some peg-type clothespins, for crafts next month. I also found a really great ‘expands in water' aquarium that's just about perfectly Barbie-scaled ! So cool ! The hood even looked real. They had two styles, so I chose my favorite, the green one. You get a photo of it tomorrow. I'll probably never fill it with water, but it's so cool to have one - and to have found it at Dollar Tree !

 

Just wish I could have taken the hood off, and repositioned things, but it's on there good. I'd have to break it to remove the top, not worth it. But it's great that there'll be a new fish-tank in the Dollhouse !

 

(grin) And it really made me smile to learn that we all like Clean House and Hoarders. Did ya'll know there seems to be a Hoarders marathon Monday ? I was just looking at the schedule on Titan.com, and starting at 7am on Nov. 30^th, there's eleven episodes, usually two or three in a row. Wow.

 

But for now, I'm gonna grab my crackers and watch some backed-up Pop Up Video the DVR got for me. Hope your Saturday was great !

Mailers and Hoarders...

 

Current Mood : Happy, but a bit distracted

 

You'd think I'd be all relaxed today, since we're not participating in Black Friday madness, and the week's goal - sewing Joanne's pillowcases - was complete, and they looked good ! But... I had to bleach a spot on one ‘case, and wash them, so you know I was wigging out about the bleach and damage potential in the wash. Turned out fine, the spot came out and nothing else got bleached, and nothing tragic happened to the appliqué. Whew !

 

While the wash went on, I glued a magnet to the back of the gold-stripe test head, and applied Fray-Check to two of my ‘Made for You by Dorrie' labels, so they'd be ready. Yup, even though I didn't literally hand-make either the pillowcases or the embroidery design - I merely altered it a bit - I wanted to attach a label, and I don't have any that say ‘Embroidered for You by Dorrie', darn it. Hmmm... I may have to make some.

 

No Flea Market today - there was a craft show, but no thanks. I already have more ideas than time ! So I picked up a Priority Mail box and took Dearest Son to the grocery for the consolation prize he requested, a Lunchable. Streets were deserted. Even the post office was empty. Was still empty when I returned to the PO at 3pm to mail it off. Yaaay !

 

Hand-sewed the labels on - too lazy to change the embroidery foot on Brody to machine-sew ‘em - ironed ‘em both, and attached stitch-shield to the backs. Since Priority boxes are now printed on the inside in two colors (to prevent folk from turning ‘em inside out and using the ‘free' boxes to ship non-Priority) I bagged ‘em, so the ink couldn't rub off on the white fabric. They should reach Joanne Tuesday, at the latest. I think I'll let it be a complete surprise, and not say a word. (happy smile) I'm so glad I did it. And I'm also glad it's done !

 

Well, after watching several episodes of the happy-ending-always Clean House, Hoarders was like a bucket of icy creek water in the face. Clean House features a team of three or four stereotyped loud characters and their work crew coming into a semi-cluttered home, convincing the residents to ditch their stuff at a yard sale, then using the proceeds to renovate and redesign the interiors. It's an hour long, but you can actually time when they go to the yard sale part, when they reveal the money totals, etc. The family goes to a hotel while the crew gets to work, and they come home a day or two later to a sparkling home. The underlying ‘Why did it get like that ?' and ‘How you gonna keep it this way ?' or ‘What did you jerks do with all my stuff ?' issues are never addressed.

 

Hoarders, on the other hand, is a clinical study resembling a documentary. To me, at least, it was somewhat chilling. The crews here are psychologists and therapists, and a group of ten helpers who can clean out a house, attic to cellar, in three days. But it is extremely rare for the clean out to be complete in that opportunity window, and happy endings are less than half the time. I watched three episodes, each with two families' stories, and only one had a somewhat happy ending. Most of the hoarders are in massive denial, even if they haven't been able to get into a closet in six years, and they insist on saving everything the crews are trying to dump - like the vacuum cleaner that's been in the backyard, in a foot of snow, for two years. Or they want to go through it all, one box at a time, with one box taking four hours to sort. Most are on court mandates to clean up, they may have lost custody of their children, had their homes condemned, or ended their marriages from the stress. Facing an eviction seems almost gentle in comparison.

 

Beloved and I discussed what we watched, and he said sometimes he wonders what I'll drag home from the next yard sale, but I've never been that bad. He admits to sharing similar tendencies, and once I got the house back to ‘normal clutter', he wanted to get the Shop back, too. That's why he had no problem with keeping the Dollhouse in our bedroom. He says he'll probably feel a bit prouder of it once I start using it. No problem there, I'm broke and roads are crowded tomorrow - I'm stayin' home and playing !

'Task of the Week' - done !

 

Current Mood : Satisfied with self, overjoyed with Brody

 

Happy Thanksgiving, if you celebrate ! Hope you had a good day, holiday or not - and that you ate some tasty, delicious goodies. Should do that every day anyway.

 

We were almost out of plates, so I did an hour's worth of dishes. It's so nice when they're done and it doesn't take all day !

 

Lest you think I go a whole week without goals, the unspoken one this week was, ‘Finish Joanne's Pillowcases'. And by ‘finish', I mean, actually start on real pillowcases, no more tests or experiments. This takes a gulp and a breath for me to actually do, because I'll happily do tests and trials ‘til forever, because I always get nervous about my projects when I know it's gonna be a gift. Add to that, this week's spending kinda drained the House Checking account. If I totally wrecked the ‘cases, it'd be a week before I could get more - or even get near the stores to get another set. And I was surprised to find that I had a fire under my burgeoning butt to get them done, so I could spend all weekend with the Dollhouse. Yes, I'm capitalizing it now. It's pretty much the real Chez Insanity, but right now, with no occupants and no furniture, it's just the Dollhouse.

 

But this afternoon, with Beloved Hubby watching a ‘stuff blowed up' movie kinda loud and Dearest Son gleefully dive-bombing toy cars with toy spaceships, I needed a retreat and I was out of excuses. I'd decided to make a pastel pink pillowcase and a mint green one, for variety. I'd already pulled the appliqué fabrics aside, with the washed pillowcases and the stabilizer I knew I'd use. Decided to do the pink one first.

 

And it came out beautifully. I am completely happy with this one. But it...sort of looked blank with just the profile. So I pulled up the ‘vintage' Barbie signature design I'd bought probably the same month we bought Brody. I thought it odd that I'd never used it, but I had used the ‘Crystal Barbie' 80s signature, on the "I Still Play With" sign. Well, time to break all the rules. Decided I was gonna stitch this on the other side of the ‘case, without doing a test stitch-out or anything. I was gonna just go for it.

 

I could not be any more pleased with how it turned out. It is perfect ! Even if I completely blow out the green one, I thought,  I'd be proud to send her just this pink one. It is just the way I wanted it to look. I am proud of me, of Brody, and what we can do. Happy !

 

Took a break for an hour, and went right back to it. I really wanted to finish today. The green one is done, but I'm not quite as happy with it. (sigh) It's more of my niggling little concern with things matching - the Barbie signature on the green one is much higher than the pink version. And the profiles don't match up, either - and I stopped the green one, ripped out the stitches, repositioned the hoop, and began again. It's better, but not a lot. It's the first time I tried an embroidery tear-out, and it's easy to get those big stitches out. The tiny ones around corners and curves take a bit of doing ! Basically, ya wiggle the top thread a bit, then the bobbin, and sooner or later, you can slide the bobbin thread out and the top floats away. I'm just glad I caught the ‘closer to the case hem than the other one' before it got too far along.

 

If I was doing two separate pillowcases, I'd be absolutely content with each. I just wish they matched each other a bit better. I hope Joanne likes ‘em ! This week's goal - completed ! Hope to mail ‘em Saturday or Monday. I still stand by my vow of not going anywhere tomorrow - but I may hit the Flea Market, if they're in.

 

Looked out the living room window. Someone down the street has put up flashing white lights all around the house and in the yard. I can see ‘em from nearly a mile away. Very pretty in the dark night !

 

A tiny bit of fun on Wednesday...

 

Current Mood : Evening lazies.

Spent on doll stuff : $3.23

 

Oh, man, I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to go grocery shopping today. The day before Thanksgiving. Aaaauuugh ! It was almost as bad as TRU Saturday. Not as much crying, but it was amazing to see how crowded the whole turkey freezer was. Um, do ya'll really think that's gonna be thawed out in time ? Yikes.

 

But first... I carved out a few minutes for the thrift store. No new full-size Barbies, but I did snag a cute Kelly for her dress, a sixth-scale baby seat, and a 2005 ‘Mini Kingdom' Nutcracker doll and three dresses - in the case ! I've always wondered if those dolls' clothes would fit the similarly-sized Musical Disney Princesses, also made by Mattel, but those small dolls came with unusual prices. A six-inch Princess or Pauper with just the dress she comes in costs about $8. - more than a full-size swimsuit or ballerina Barbie. So I snapped that set up - three bucks to satisfy curiosity is still a great deal !

 

So. I grabbed the MDP Snow White and the pretty white dress - wedding gown, I assume - and discover that the thread holding it closed is still there ! It's never been on a doll ! Snipped the thread, and as you can see, it's a bit short, but otherwise fits well. Snow's standing in the case, which makes a nice backdrop for the small dolls.

 

The big question now is : do I keep the Mini-Kingdom Barbie, add her to the MDPs ? Not sure yet. She hasn't really grown on me yet, and she's a bit smaller than the others. I don't want anyone to feel oversized !

 

Anyway, I got lots of good treats and such, and even a new pair of boots for Dearest. The thrift-store ones we got for his Halloween costume in first grade (Luke Duke, Dukes of Hazzard) are finally too small. They've always been his go-to shoes whenever he was home (had to wear sneakers at school), something I hadn't planned on when we bought ‘em. Found a nice pair of hiking boots in a similar shade, and he already loves ‘em. He said to donate the old ones, but they're simply too worn. I'll ditch ‘em later. Still, I'm very proud of him. 

 

Tonight, I picked up our Thanksgiving dinner - a big ole box of chicken from our favorite local place. We had some tonight, of course, and can eat the rest whenever we want tomorrow. While I was there, I saw that we weren't the only ones with that idea ! On the way home, I got behind a car with a wrapped-up live tree protruding from the trunk. Guess I know what they're doing after the feast !

I think I'm gonna play Simon-cat Says, too...

 

Current Mood : Exhausted

Spent on Vanity: $7.79

 

Today, I did something really selfish. It was fun, too ! Got an e-mail from Webshots (an online offshoot of American Greetings) containing a code for 100 free photo prints. Hmm. I'd started a photo album of my sewing creations a long time ago, using '10 Free Prints at Mal-Wart !'codes off potato chips, but when the offer dried up, so did my interest in the album. Even though it was nice to flip through and think, "I made that !" and be just a bit proud of m'self on occasion.

 

Of course, when I say ‘album', I mean a Lucite easel with hoop-hooks and page pockets that I got from a thrift store for less than a buck. All I had to do was scrape the painted name of some sorority off the thick Lucite ‘cover'. You'd be amazed how many ‘Friends Forever' frames and fraternity memorabilia ends up at GoodWill in a college town... sometimes the photos are still in there !

 

Getting a hundred new prints - which, of course, doesn't include shipping and/or tax - would certainly invigorate the book, that's fer sure. So I had fun uploading all the photos I didn't already have as prints and some family stuff, too... but when I went to ‘add to cart', I kept getting error messages. Decided to give it some time.

 

Did four loads of laundry, some bathroom work, talked to the couple that likes the dress form, made lunch, etc. And tried again this afternoon. Yikes. I had 764 images in the basket ! Well, I started deleting and then adding, and editing, and within an hour, I had the 103 images I wanted, ready for checkout. I like a nice matte finish, which I had to specify on each one. Went over it a couple extra times, to avoid duplicates and make sure I had ‘matte' on them all - and placed the order. My prints should be here Dec. 09, and it cost $7.79 to ship. Not bad, since the best local print offer is 11c or 12c each. Plus tax, which I didn't have to pay on this order. Should be interesting when they arrive !

 

There's a link on the e-mail to forward the offer to a friend - anyone else need 100 photo prints for the cost of shipping, probably about eight bucks or so ? Be glad to send it along !

 

And the dress form is sold ! The new owner picked it up and paid me in cash a short while ago. Yaaay ! Since it was kinda late, we decided to get some take out and rent a couple movies. I treated us to snacks, too. I'm happy - some of my clutter is gone and we had fun with the proceeds ! I've already deleted the ad, and started looking around at other potential things I could go without...

 

But I'd best get my rest. I got dishes to catch up on tomorrow, and it's grocery shopping day ! Busy, busy, busy !

There it is... my pretty dolllllllhouse....

 

Current Mood : De-cluttering busy

 

Aaand, there it is - the dollhouse Beloved Hubby made for me. It seems simple, and probably is, but I love it for not being a bookcase. And I'm especially in love with the spiral staircase and the roof deck ! As requested, Elphie's posing for us in the high-ceiling potential living room, for a sense of scale. I hope to find a grayish carpet rectangle to use as a driveway under the table/platform, for the cars, and move in furniture this week. Not sure if I'll ever get it painted or carpeted, especially when I haven't really decided which floor is ‘bedrooms' and which is ‘kitchen', but ya never know ! Beloved put the 'Vegas' lamp up there, as a joke. It does kinda look cute up there...

 

Since the house displaced not only a lot of floor space, but also wall space, I spent a good chunk of today re-hanging some stuff and finding places for others. While I was at it, I got one of the artworks Beloved drew for me framed and hung up, too. I've been meaning to buy a nice frame and get that done - instead, I recycled a frame I had for years. The one holding my high-school diploma. It's nothing special, just some cheapie I got at TG&Y or someplace, and if it didn't have the diploma in it, I'd have tossed it for being boring by now. Nothing wrong with it, though, and it'll do for now. Eventually, I'll find a nice frame, and give the art what it deserves. But right now, I'm glad it's protected and hanging, instead of getting dusty and fading on the chest of drawers.

 

I also redid the ‘display' at the top of the ‘entertainment center' (i.e., the TV/DVD/Wii cabinet). The princess Barbie Dearest Son won for me in the Pink Ticket Sweepstakes is up there, with the My Favorite Malibu repro, and two pretty dolls Aunt S. gave me. They're surrounded by cute things Dearest's made over the years and some photos. It's all the same stuff that was there, but I never arranged it, just stuffed it in. Been meaning to do that for a while - pretty much every time I dragged in the step-stool tool box, it was on the To Do list. And I always forgot, but not today !

 

While I was so happy and thrilled to snag that avocado-green wavy-texture 70s-vintage sewing box this weekend, I wasn't sure what I was gonna do with it. I just know I love those - and since this is #3, it's officially a collection ! What's funny is, the one I don't have is the one that everyone in my family had back in the day - the tall one that could hold patterns upright. This one can hold ‘em sideways. Anyway, today I decided. It's gonna hold stitch outs and fabric scraps designated for more stitch-outs ! Right now, those are stacked up on my Madeira Treasure Chest, and I don't like looking at the sloppy pile. I love seeing the Chest a lot more ! Hmm. I think Clean House is seeping into my semi-consciousness...

 

I'm thinking, after I fill the sewing box, I'll put it in the place of a nice cardboard box I use to keep scrap stabilizer - because I don't want to stack it up anymore. I want to either toss it or store it right after I've cut it away, as part of the clean-up work I always do after I embroider. So, no more storage box, just the sewing box.

 

I'm still stuffing threads into the ornament, but I'll probably seal it up at month's end. Not sure if I'll keep saving thread once that's done, since I can't think of much else to do with them. Embroiderers' boards say to use them in appliqué designs, but I have no idea how sewing over them would keep the stray threads down. I thought about sewing a plastic cover over them, but if I did that on clothes, it'd be a mess in the dryer. So I haven't figured it out yet.

 

It's hard to believe that, here in the US, this Thursday is Thanksgiving. Followed by the nightmare of retail, Black Friday. I refuse to go out in it. I'm gonna sit on my wide butt, eat leftovers, watch silly movies like Thank God It's Friday, and if I spend a dollar, it'll be because I strolled across the street to the 7-11 and bought some potato chips.

 

If you decide to venture out early Friday morning, please be careful ! People are too busy staking out the next sale to watch where they're going - in the parking lots and out on the road !