National Dress Day!

The other day, Tom walked by the writing sanctuary with a pair of socks in his hand and said, “These have worn places on them. I guess I should just throw them away?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, snatching the socks from him. “These are doll clothes!”

Then today, I heard that March 6 is National Dress Day. After I got home from a doctor’s appointment, I had a few other things to do, and then I picked a model from the doll closet, named her Roberta, and designed and crafted a dress for her from one of those socks.

In honor of the day, and the late Roberta Flack, songbird of the Seventies, here’s Roberta on an outing to a Peter Max exhibit, dressed in bespoke fashion from Becks.

From the National Today site: On National Dress Day March 6, we celebrate the most versatile and fun article of clothing there is — the dress! Fashion designer Ashley Lauren founded the day to help pay homage to dresses and the magical moments that happen when we wear them. “I remember the dresses I wore to my prom, first job interview, first date, competing in a pageant, my first red carpet event, the list goes on,” she says. “This is a fun day to cherish and celebrate those memories.”

Something for me

A bunch of assorted flowers, marked down to $4.99 at the grocery store, became my mood-elevating craft project for today, with assistance from antique half-pint milk bottles, a tiny antique vase (lower left) from Debby, and a recycled liqueur bottle (front and center) from Timothy. I might also have been inspired by the Netflix series I’m watching.

I send those flowers with birthday memories for my mother (born March 4), and birthday wishes for Timmy, born March 4, and my never-let-me-down-once-since-we-met-at-age-eighteen friend Debbie, born March 5.

Plus I never slept last night–maybe a couple of hours from 9:30 to 11:30 this morning–and if I choose to continue work on Book 7, it’s suddenly going to turn radically different from what I thought.

Tiny Tuesday!


Eva, weighing in at under six pounds, looks so big compared to Delta in the distance, who weighs twenty pounds. Perspective…

However, this week’s theme is craftiness, not dogs. I watched something on Netflix that I won’t disclose; the very name connected to it is triggering to some people. I found it relaxing, and it made me think of this past weekend, when we gathered at Houndstooth Hall to belatedly celebrate Lindsey’s and Debby’s birthdays. For Lindsey, I usually bake a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Debby’s favorite is coconut, so she usually gets yellow cake, white frosting, and coconut. I decided this year to bake cupcakes and put out Duncan Hines Creamy Milk Chocolate and Duncan Hines Dolly Parton Creamy Buttercream Frostings, along with a bowl of shredded coconut and spreaders so everyone could choose and use their own frosting choices. When Lindsey saw that was my plan, she said, “AND SPRINKLES?” To which I said, “Yes! I have lots of sprinkles.”


It went so well that I think this may repeat for future birthday gatherings. I also keep a large assortment of cake candles in that cabinet, so we’re covered.

Back to my Netflix viewing: One focus was on ways to make a guest/friend/visitor/relative comfortable in your home. That made me think of one of my characters who lives in France, for whom a guest’s comfort has always been important. I flipped through my French Countryside Coloring Book because I remembered something specific about it.


Here’s the page I liked. On the property in the Neverending Saga, there are no vineyards, but there is an olive grove. I imagined Madame arranging a table outside on a pleasant afternoon, setting out breads, wines, cheeses, and fruits for friends. But today is TINY Tuesday, and that’s a big coloring page.

Fortunately, this book provides an option. Mini versions of all the coloring pages.

Voila! A scene I colored that measures less than three by four inches.

Whether you call it Tiny Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, or Shrovetide, I hope you find your place of comfort and celebration.

Sunday Sundries

The planets aligned last week (literally!). These are some of the things that happened as a result.

I went on a mending spree.

Repaired the decorative top of this soapstone box I featured last Sunday.


This ornament was already damaged when I bought it last December, but the parts were there and just needed to be glued. However, it was so fragile that even though I was able to attach the broken piece, in doing so, part of the front disintegrated in my hands and wasn’t fixable. Solution: glue a couple of gold, flowery sequins in place on the bottom right. Tom said I made a country music guitar fancy.

The first photo I posted in 2024 (i.e., last year) was of this Christmas ornament, which has always been special to me.

When I removed all the ornaments from the tree a few days after posting that photo, it was the only one I dropped. Not only was it broken in several places, so was my heart. I couldn’t throw it away. I had an idea for it and bought what I needed, but somehow it sat waiting over a year for repair and a new way to shine. Finally, last week, I put it all together.


Repaired with glue as best it could be and hanging in its own shadow box, surrounded by glistening snowflakes. Not lost; only changed; still loved.

For several years, I’ve had fifteen wooden, unpainted cigar boxes that once had a purpose they no longer served. I always wondered if I’d eventually do something crafty with them.


Yep. Paint and an old piece of my jewelry repurposed a wooden cigar box into a fairy box filled with goodies for Debby in a late celebration of her February birthday.

 

 

Paint and embellishments (including a star, the one remaining earring of a pair) repurposed a wooden cigar box into a steampunk box filled with goodies for Lindsey in a late celebration of her January birthday.

More craftiness will be shared in the coming days.

Photo Friday, No. 949, part 2

Current Photo Friday theme: Lopsided.


The metal horned lizard in Aaron’s Garden also fits this week’s theme. I spotted him at Buchanan’s Nursery in April of 2023 and hesitated about getting him until I realized he was missing a foot. After working in animal rescue, I know “tripods” make some of the best companions and teach us about stoicism, adaptability, and the refusal to let joy be taken because something’s missing. Years ago, after a drought, I put this old dog bowl in the garden so the lizards would have a place to take a bath and drink water. I don’t keep this guy in the water all the time as pictured here–he’d rust–but as we’re starting to see lizards now that the weather’s warmer, he’s nearby as a lopsided guide to refreshment.