Sometime last year I thought of making little Ouija boards for my Halloween treats. Thanks to the Internet it was easy to search for Ouija board images and I realized a ghost was the right treat. I found some small Wilton plastic bags that were the perfect size for the Peep ghosts. I wrote Woo Woo on the back thinking that sounded like a ghost but also knowing that it is what some say about Ouija boards and other items of the occult – “What a bunch of woo woo!” I got lots of compliments on the ghosts but not much acknowledgement of the Ouija boards except from one co-worker who related that her boyfriend looked horrified and said, “Get that thing away from me!” Apparently there is a new scary movie called “Ouija”.
It was getting harder to fit all our Fall ornaments on a branch or two in our double window so this year we decided to move over to the triple window. We found a great big branch but we quickly realized that the ornaments weren’t going to fit. So we went back to the woods to get another branch for the double window. And we decided to divide the ornaments.
The new window hosts the Halloween, Day of the Dead, and miscellaneous Fall ornaments.
The leaves, nuts, pinecone, and Fall fruit look great (if still a bit crowded) on their own branch. On the left you can see the beautiful new leaf my niece Emily gave me for Christmas last year. It’s been waiting a long time to be shown off. Here’s a close up:
And here is a close up of another new leaf that we bought at the Ashfield Fall Festival:
I needle felted a ghost that is hanging on the other branch:
Now that I have a new granddaughter – my “Fox Granddaughter” I was excited to find a Thanksgiving fox at Hobby Lobby. Here it is hanging next to an owl that honors my Owl Granddaughter:
I have wanted to buy my husband a print of a painting by Liz Mandeville, one of my favorite singers, for many years and this year we finally connected. And connected! Since I was in Chicago, Liz actually dropped off two prints herself! This weekend we got around to hanging the picture of a singer above several other prints of musicians.
This meant that we had to move one lizard over and relocate one lizard entirely and we decided he needed to go upstairs which gave me the opportunity to rethink another decision. Lately, I really hadn’t been happy with the placement of the Robert Jr. Whitall print I had given my husband a few years ago. I had bought the picture of Buddy Guy because it reminded me of another gift – a series of original pictures of blues musicians by Denise Beaudet that hangs in our living room. At the time we couldn’t figure out where to hang the new print in our living room so it ended up in the bedroom (see post “Incorporation Day II”). When we decided the lizard would go upstairs, I put on my thinking cap again and came up with a new idea. We propped the picture of Buddy Guy and husband’s second Liz Mandeville print – a photo of the Crossroads with blue guitar! (see post “Where is the Other One?”) – on the little table next to the couch and the Denise Beaudet paintings.
I think my father must have had a “pet peeve about language use” collection. His pet peeves included the incorrect use of the words hopefully and contact. Since my mother used to say that I was my father’s daughter it makes sense that I’d have a language pet peeve collection too.
On the top of list would have to be the (over and mis) use of the word arguably. As in “He is arguably the best blues man of our generation.” Well of course it’s arguable – I can (and probably will) argue with your opinion whether you give me permission or not. This has been my #1 language pet peeve for a few years but I think it is being supplanted by the phrase “friendly reminder” which of course is used to preface not so friendly reminders. As in a posting titled “A friendly reminder about our sick child policy” or an email that begins, “This is just a friendly reminder about our staff meeting tomorrow night.” It is certainly arguable just how friendly those reminders are!
My treats. X’s and O’s with Hershey’s kisses and hugs.
The biggest hugs and kisses for my Valentine. Hershey kisses and an M&M bear hug.
He made me X’s and O’s too! And gave me Lindor truffles Mmmmmm!
The first mermaid of Christmas was in my stocking. I hung it in the mermaid bathroom with the other flat mermaid ornaments. It is the one in the middle of the top row, under the shelf, holding the heart.
The second mermaid of Christmas was this beautiful bathmat from my oldest daughter Julie.
It is by Anne Hall of Anne Hall Designs. http://www.annehalldesigns.com
My sister Dorothy gave me a mermaid cut from an oil can holding a guitar! She joined our other oil can mermaid in the bedroom.
Nephew Greg and Rebecca gave me a merman. I only have a few of them and they are all holding tridents. We found a special place for him tucked under the carved wooden mermaid.
Here’s what he looks like. I had to turn off the flash so the wall is the wrong color.
I got a beautiful leaf ornament for my Fall tree from niece Emily and Nick so wasn’t expecting a mermaid too. But then it turned out my delicious Cacao Prieto dark chocolate bar also contained a picture of a mermaid being carried by a sailor. I squeezed them onto the wall by the door.
Perfect!
I downloaded a pumpkin seed package graphic for my treats this year.
One (looking huge because of the angle) is hanging at the top left of the very crowded Fall branch. We definitely have to move over to the other windows and get more branches next year!
For the longest time I just had the wooden heart bowl. And then one day I bought a small carved wooden heart. It ended up in the wooden bowl and then of course a few months later I bought another wooden heart which joined the first. So when I saw the small striped heart at Arts Night Out last week I knew where it belonged.
“My home is a maximalist paradise awash with mesmerizing discoveries.” says Nanette Lepore in the latest Traditional Home (September 2015).
I found this quote a few minutes before heading out to Artwalk Easthampton where we stopped by the Thread Arts Collective and were introduced to the work of Eli Helman and his “maximalist pen and ink illustrations.” I purchased a card of “Guitar” – a mesmerizing discovery and a great addition to our guitar illustration collection!
My first stop during Sidewalk Sales is always the Smith College Museum of Art tent. I found this gourd giraffe in the bargain bin for only $3.00.
I tried him on the top of the china cabinet with the other gourd animals but realized he definitely needed his own display area. The recently resurrected CD cabinet turned out to be perfect.
Another find at the museum was a tin paisley heart. I’m putting it away for Valentine’s day but first I paired it with a heart I made several years ago which never came down after this Valentine’s Day.
After the museum, I headed downtown for all the usual stops. For the second year in a row, I tried on a dress at the Artisan Gallery but ended up buying a pair of shoes. Could this be a new tradition?
Collections and Other Stuff I Like 