Mr. Wonderful and I are very happy members of the greatest gym on Earth, CrossFit Vacaville. I'd never heard of CrossFit until I was flipping through our local magazine one day. Apparently the guys that trained for the movie 300 did some CrossFit workouts when they were acquiring those drool inspring bods, and the Special Forces military guys really like it. And apparently there are CrossFits all over the place. It's kind of like 24 Hour Fitness or something, except it's awesome. It's one of those places that you may read about and/or hear about and hesitate to go, but once you do you're forever glad that you went.
It sells T-shirts with slogans like "Does your workout make you nervous? It should" and "Pain is temporary, quitting is forever". It's a place that would make you think it's packed full of meat heads and crazy scary people who will judge and stare at you. A place where at first glance you think you wouldn't belong. It's a place where you do things you never thought that you could.
After you've psyched yourself up and are feeling awkward and unsure of yourself, it happens. You arrive and you see that the lady wearing the t-shirt talking about the permanence of pain vs. quitting is 5 foot 6, 150 lbs, about 20 years older than you, and is not only a total bad ass but also a total sweetheart. She smiles at you, waves, and tells you it's good to see you.
It. Is. Amazing. And it only gets better from there.
Six months ago I was struggling to put up a 60 pound push press. Now I'm up to 115 single rep. We've made friends there, people who willingly smile, wave, check your form and give you a spot. In the gym, politics and religion do not exist. They are irrelevant, unnecessary, pure vanity. Politics and religion will not help you attain that 185 pound deadlift or the 20 double unders in succession that you've been working toward. There's a comaraderie and an understanding among folk at the gym. There is no bad mouthing, only togetherness as you attempt to finish those 50 squats as quickly as possible without breaking form.
It makes me wonder what I'll do next, which is definitely not something I ever thought I would wonder. Mr. Wonderful and I will be doing a 5K Turkey Trot next week, which we're very excited about. I also never thought I'd be excited for something like that! Glory, I tell you.
They also do nutrition challenges. In my next post I'll be outlining the Eat Clean diet, which is essentially no white carbs and all fresh ingredients. None of that processed stuff! The good news is I don't even miss it, especially not with sites like The Gracious Pantry to hold on to. Ahhhh clean eating chai tea latte. How I adore thee.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Thursday Gratuitous Cuteness
The weather is turning colder here in Northern California and tomorrow it is supposed to rain. Both of these glorious facts have us quite excited since we're the type of folk that dig baking and movie nights with soft throws on our laps. Yesterday it was a lovely 74 degrees (aka no jacket weather), and today the expected high is 61 (aka definitely jacket weather). Soon we'll be in the realm of hand me a parka weather, which is a different post altogether. To honor this most wondrous occasion, we offer you a picture salute to one of the best - and our personal favorite - ways to keep warm: the mighty cuddle. Assisting us with this illustration will be Superpup and our youngest the Mighty Attie. Take it away, lovies!
You're welcome.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
I have waited for this day, Part 1
Since Mr. Wonderful and I moved our home from a one bedroom apartment, I've been regularly on the look out for stylish yet affordable furniture. This in turn has led to a very effective love affair with Craigslist, and in consequently a very releaxing and useful new hobby: upholstery.
It all started with this beauty:
This was my first craigslist purchase for $100.00. If you forget the ugly velour fabric and the weird stain, isn't it pretty? I just love it. I love the lines, the good bones, and the possibilities. Tufting, anyone? Oh, I'm weak in the knees.
My brilliant plan was to call in an upholsterer, see how much it would cost to get it recovered in something of a royal blue, and wonder at my good fortune at getting such a beautiful item at such a bargain price once it was alllllllll over.
Yeah.
Not so much.
The final estimate came in at exactly fourteen hundred (1400!) dollars, followed by at least three references to "people in [my] situation" after I politely mentioned that $1400.00 was just a tad out of my budget. Poor guy couldn't get out of there fast enough. The whole time I was thinking....I could learn to do this! And so the craigslist scouring continued with three more pieces, two identical chairs and one very large looks-like-it-lived-in-a-hotel piece.
I couldn't wait to get started, but there were a few snags. I now understood why the upholsterer seemed so snooty. Upholstery fabric is pretty expensive. The good quality stuff can cost anywhere from $50 per yard and up. Luckily, a wonderful little thing that I like to call the Founders Day Sale at Jo-Ann's Fabrics took pity on me and gave me 60% off the lovely gray velvet fabic that I was drooling over. Yum.
Finally. FINALLY after weeks and weeks of book reading, blog surfing, tool collecting, waiting-for-fabric-to-go-on-sale-ing, and waiting-for-said-fabric-to-arrive-ing, I was ready to begin with my first go it:
Chair #1 Before.
I spent most of last Friday night removing staples and seeing how everything worked. Look out! I'm a wild one! Of course, I took pictures the entire time as recommended by the wonderful book that's been guiding me, Complete Step by Step Upholstery by David Sowle and Ruth Dye.
I can't tell you how good it feels to feel a stubborn staple give. Oh yeah, I was born for this.
Next up was to remove the cushion apparatus as well as the cushion itself to free the frame.
FREE THE FRAME!
I'm telling you, I'm enjoying this way too much.
It all started with this beauty:
(Please pardon the ironing board and flip flops at the bottom there. We're having a par-tay on Saturday and things are a bit torn up. Also, please disregard the Super Kitty Butt.)
This was my first craigslist purchase for $100.00. If you forget the ugly velour fabric and the weird stain, isn't it pretty? I just love it. I love the lines, the good bones, and the possibilities. Tufting, anyone? Oh, I'm weak in the knees.
My brilliant plan was to call in an upholsterer, see how much it would cost to get it recovered in something of a royal blue, and wonder at my good fortune at getting such a beautiful item at such a bargain price once it was alllllllll over.
Yeah.
Not so much.
The final estimate came in at exactly fourteen hundred (1400!) dollars, followed by at least three references to "people in [my] situation" after I politely mentioned that $1400.00 was just a tad out of my budget. Poor guy couldn't get out of there fast enough. The whole time I was thinking....I could learn to do this! And so the craigslist scouring continued with three more pieces, two identical chairs and one very large looks-like-it-lived-in-a-hotel piece.
I couldn't wait to get started, but there were a few snags. I now understood why the upholsterer seemed so snooty. Upholstery fabric is pretty expensive. The good quality stuff can cost anywhere from $50 per yard and up. Luckily, a wonderful little thing that I like to call the Founders Day Sale at Jo-Ann's Fabrics took pity on me and gave me 60% off the lovely gray velvet fabic that I was drooling over. Yum.
Finally. FINALLY after weeks and weeks of book reading, blog surfing, tool collecting, waiting-for-fabric-to-go-on-sale-ing, and waiting-for-said-fabric-to-arrive-ing, I was ready to begin with my first go it:
Chair #1 Before.
I can't tell you how good it feels to feel a stubborn staple give. Oh yeah, I was born for this.
FREE THE FRAME!
I'm telling you, I'm enjoying this way too much.
Again, please forgive the busy backdrop. I've yet to figure out a good workspace.
I set the frame aside to be painted in the morning, and got to work on dismantling the cushion to figure out what made it tick aka to make a pattern. I traced the outside using hash marks with a colored sharpie (making sure it didn't bleed through to the side), and then used the folds of the seams to determine where my seams should go. I went ahead and made two patterns since there are two chairs and therefore two cushions. I used a different colored sharpie for the other one just to keep things less confusing.
After the pattern was cut out, I started pinning and sewing using the still intact cushion for reference.
By the way, this is Margaret. She'll be our sewing machine throughout this adventure and hopefully for many, many more.
I followed along the edges and boom! Cushion number one was DONE!
Um............hang on a sec....
That's better.
DONE I SAY!!!
Done with part 1! The journey continues...
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
My adventures with Fire: Yes, I am that crazy.
When I was a senior in college, an old man who was a regular around the theater department came up to me and said "you should look at this. I think you'll find it interesting." Without question he was a sweet, interesting, eccentric old fellow and far be it from me to turn him down. It was a course catalog for an absolutely wonderful place in Oakland called The Crucible, where a person can go to learn all kinds of industrial arts; welding, glass blowing, neon sign making, even bell making just to name a few! I swear, if you're interested, they teach it. As I scrolled down the page, fire performance caught my eye: I had just been thinking about how cool it would be to learn how to do that! Kismet exists, let me tell you.
I signed up for the class entitled Fearless Fire Eating, in which a person puts a lit torch in their mouth and extinguishes it. Easy, right?
Uh. Yes. Of course.
What I didn't know is that there's so much more to it than that. It's not just extinguishing a flame, it's learning to understand it, and overcoming fear of it. Or, as my teacher explained, "All you have to do is overcome thousands of years worth of evolution and common sense that fire can hurt you." Simple.
Here's probably where I should point out that I was learning all of this from an experienced instructor, and you should never, ever, ever do this unless you have at least the proper fuel and proper safety measures in place, such as a fire extinguisher and wet towels handy. Learning this from a seasoned professional isn't a bad idea either.
First we learned how to construct the torches using aluminum rods and kevlar. Next came body transfers, where a person literally transfers lit fuel from the torch onto their body. If you were to google my real first and last name, this would pop up in the image screen:
The mask is added (poorly) for effect, but note the look of sheer amazement; that's the look that happens when you realize something really, really cool (in this case, human skin is fire resistant).
Then we moved on to the fire eating itself.
It's that where you're leaning and tilting back and the flame is literally in your face, moving towards you that's the hardest. But once I did it, I was hungry for more and not content to stop there.
That's when I noticed that The Crucible was offering a Fire Breathing course.
I signed up for the class entitled Fearless Fire Eating, in which a person puts a lit torch in their mouth and extinguishes it. Easy, right?
Uh. Yes. Of course.
What I didn't know is that there's so much more to it than that. It's not just extinguishing a flame, it's learning to understand it, and overcoming fear of it. Or, as my teacher explained, "All you have to do is overcome thousands of years worth of evolution and common sense that fire can hurt you." Simple.
Here's probably where I should point out that I was learning all of this from an experienced instructor, and you should never, ever, ever do this unless you have at least the proper fuel and proper safety measures in place, such as a fire extinguisher and wet towels handy. Learning this from a seasoned professional isn't a bad idea either.
First we learned how to construct the torches using aluminum rods and kevlar. Next came body transfers, where a person literally transfers lit fuel from the torch onto their body. If you were to google my real first and last name, this would pop up in the image screen:
Then we moved on to the fire eating itself.
It's that where you're leaning and tilting back and the flame is literally in your face, moving towards you that's the hardest. But once I did it, I was hungry for more and not content to stop there.
That's when I noticed that The Crucible was offering a Fire Breathing course.
Oh yeah. That's the stuff.
It's a popular fixture at parties. I'm not sure when I would actually use it in real life, but it's nice to know how to do it.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Pretty and Practical. A work in progress!
I love practical things. L-O-V-E them. Well-made and useful items make me drool. The year I got a Swiss Army knife for Christmas, I peed myself a little. It's in my blood to adore good craftsmanship. My Pappy, my grandpappy, my great grandpappy, they all believed in it and craved it like our Superpup craves superpup cookies. What's even better than things that are practical and of good quality? Things that are well-made, practical, and beautiful. Observe:
Not to say that you can't have just one of the three, but I tend to roll this way.
Perfect example: back before I met Mr. Wonderful, I had a four poster bed from Ikea that I absolutely loved. Actually, John and Sherry from Young House Love have the same bed. Not only was it lovely, but it was perfect for hanging my unmentionables to dry. One night as I was coming home from a party, I took off my necklace and had the uncontrollable urge to hook it over one of the bars up top. I liked the effect so much that I put the rest of my necklace collection up there where it stayed until Mr. Wonderful and I moved in together and the bed had to go *tear. It was quite the menagerie:
I loved that it provided the opportunity for the collection to be displayed since truth be told even though I really love necklaces, I don't wear them very often. I love the look of them, and I'm not going to stop having them so I wanted to be able to enjoy them all the time. It truly was the perfect solution.
When Mr. Wonderful and I moved into our apartment, I wanted to keep my collection out where it could be seen. The absence of a four poster bed consequently did not deter me, and I opted to hang each one up on a wall in our new bedroom using push pins. Looooooooots of push pins. I wish I'd taken pictures but I'm terrible at that, so I'm going to trust you to use your imagination. When we bought our house I wanted to re-invent the effect since the last incarnation involved us using a lot of spackle when we moved out. The other night while I was halfway to dreamland it came to me: frame them. Literally.
The plan was to go to Michael's, buy a canvas frame that painters use, and use some of the left over muslin from my last project, to stretch over it, and hang the necklaces on it using pins.
As it turned out, fate had a better idea.
As I was wandering around the framing aisle with Mr. Wonderful, leaning up against an odd corner I saw the most amazing thing....a corkboard! Not just any corkboard. A BIG corkboard.
My original plan was to staple the frame itself in the back, but the wood was too hard to do that and the staples stuck out too far. I wanted it to work and was a bit stuboorn at first, but finally conceded it probably wasn't the best idea, removed the half sticking out staples, and moved down further.
Perfect example: back before I met Mr. Wonderful, I had a four poster bed from Ikea that I absolutely loved. Actually, John and Sherry from Young House Love have the same bed. Not only was it lovely, but it was perfect for hanging my unmentionables to dry. One night as I was coming home from a party, I took off my necklace and had the uncontrollable urge to hook it over one of the bars up top. I liked the effect so much that I put the rest of my necklace collection up there where it stayed until Mr. Wonderful and I moved in together and the bed had to go *tear. It was quite the menagerie:
When Mr. Wonderful and I moved into our apartment, I wanted to keep my collection out where it could be seen. The absence of a four poster bed consequently did not deter me, and I opted to hang each one up on a wall in our new bedroom using push pins. Looooooooots of push pins. I wish I'd taken pictures but I'm terrible at that, so I'm going to trust you to use your imagination. When we bought our house I wanted to re-invent the effect since the last incarnation involved us using a lot of spackle when we moved out. The other night while I was halfway to dreamland it came to me: frame them. Literally.
The plan was to go to Michael's, buy a canvas frame that painters use, and use some of the left over muslin from my last project, to stretch over it, and hang the necklaces on it using pins.
As it turned out, fate had a better idea.
As I was wandering around the framing aisle with Mr. Wonderful, leaning up against an odd corner I saw the most amazing thing....a corkboard! Not just any corkboard. A BIG corkboard.
You can't tell, but I'm really excited in this picture. *Sigh* I need to get me a mask.
We took it up to the register to check out while I pulled out my 50% off one regularly priced item coupon, tallying up a budget in my head. The kind lady behind the register scanned it and......it came up at $.01. Wow....one cent? Awesome. Knowing it wouldn't last, I basked in the fantasy of plopping down a penny and saying things like "Here you are my good woman. Much obliged" but of course as fantasies go it was not to be. She called over the nice kid with the stocking gun and took another scan as I waited to find out what it was going to set us back.
"Okay......um.....well, this is on clearance, 80% off the sale price so....."
The register sang, and spittled, and spit it out.
$6.44 with tax.
All the way home, I kept turning to Mr. Wonderful and saying "$6.44, man. $6.44!" It's also possible that I uttered a casual profanity, but that I will neither confirm nor deny. Needless to say, I was excited.
When we got home, I grabbed my staple gun, aka Maxwell. Max came to us when I first became interested in upholstery, something that will be on this blog a lot, I imagine. My first step was to staple just underneath the frame of the corkboard at the back.
Then I turned the board over so the bottom was at the top, pulled on the fabric to stretch it, and stapled again.
I moved on to the next side, and the next, pulling and stapling as I went. I stopped to check the front every now and again to be sure it was getting to be evenly taut.
I don't know why, but this step was oddly statisfying. Must have been the muslin *love*
Once I was done, I trimmed off the excess (sorry about the blurry picture...I promise I'll get better).
And this is what I was left with:
Time to add the artpieces necklaces!
I had help of course. This is my supervisor in charge of symmetry.
Voila.
It's a good start, but I don't think it's quite done. I want to add framing around it once I can get my hands on a miter saw and some crown moulding. But then again, maybe I'll hang it up in our bedroom and discover that it works with our motif! Of course, that would mean that first it would need a motif. I should probably get started on that...
Monday, October 17, 2011
I am the FEARLESS FICKLER!!!
This probably goes without saying, but "The Fearless Fickler" is not my real name. I struggle to think of a single person who would do that to their child, and my parents are no exception.
I'm your average twenty something superwoman at the beginning of the 21st century. I have superpets, a superhusband named Mr. Wonderful, and a variety of superinterests. Don't worry, not everything in this blog will begin with "super".
We own our home, and like millions of other Americans we're up to our eyes in debt, though we purchased AFTER the bubble burst so I suppose it would be more like "up to our waists in debt", a fact that we are constantly thankful for. We live in California, and are currently moving through the last of the summer heat. I was born and raised in California, and with the exception of a brief stint overseas during college I've never lived anywhere else. I love it here. I love the diversity of everything; the people, the food, the weather, the landscape. I love the nooks and crannies and opinions. I love the history and the lifestyle. I love being young and free and alive. And I love working with my hands and trying new things.
Unassuming as I may be, I have a number of unusual hobbies and a some unusual experiences under my belt, and I'm always looking for more. My goal is to be fearless within reason in trying new things - like not being afraid to make a wrong cut or paint a wrong color or make a complete fool of myself - and to look at each situation and realize exactly what there is to be afraid of. My goal is also to recognize and celebrate that the things that I have learned, or want to learn to do, are an important part of me. Each hobby or project I undertake will appeal to some part of me and even if I cycle through them like the revolving door at Macy's (and I probably will, after all that's where I get my name), that's okay because it's fun and valuable to try new things and know how stuff works. These are things that make me a better person, and are not in any way a waste.
By the way, if any of you are currently attempting to google "fickler" looking for a definition, don't. "Fickler", while hilarious, isn't technically a word and was coined by my dearest friend, The Mysterious Pearl during a conversation that we had over gchat recently. Observe:
TMP: had to reboot, all better now. So how is your day going?
me: Pretty good. I'm going to start a blog. What should I call it?
TMP: that depends, what is the blog about?
me: I'm thinking somehting with the word "Fearless" in it. Just my life and adventures in fickleness.
Involving crafting and my varying interests.
TMP: fickleness and fearlessness huh
the fearless fickler
me: hahaha
Nice!
The Adventures of the Fearless Fickler
And so it begins....
I'm your average twenty something superwoman at the beginning of the 21st century. I have superpets, a superhusband named Mr. Wonderful, and a variety of superinterests. Don't worry, not everything in this blog will begin with "super".
We own our home, and like millions of other Americans we're up to our eyes in debt, though we purchased AFTER the bubble burst so I suppose it would be more like "up to our waists in debt", a fact that we are constantly thankful for. We live in California, and are currently moving through the last of the summer heat. I was born and raised in California, and with the exception of a brief stint overseas during college I've never lived anywhere else. I love it here. I love the diversity of everything; the people, the food, the weather, the landscape. I love the nooks and crannies and opinions. I love the history and the lifestyle. I love being young and free and alive. And I love working with my hands and trying new things.
Unassuming as I may be, I have a number of unusual hobbies and a some unusual experiences under my belt, and I'm always looking for more. My goal is to be fearless within reason in trying new things - like not being afraid to make a wrong cut or paint a wrong color or make a complete fool of myself - and to look at each situation and realize exactly what there is to be afraid of. My goal is also to recognize and celebrate that the things that I have learned, or want to learn to do, are an important part of me. Each hobby or project I undertake will appeal to some part of me and even if I cycle through them like the revolving door at Macy's (and I probably will, after all that's where I get my name), that's okay because it's fun and valuable to try new things and know how stuff works. These are things that make me a better person, and are not in any way a waste.
By the way, if any of you are currently attempting to google "fickler" looking for a definition, don't. "Fickler", while hilarious, isn't technically a word and was coined by my dearest friend, The Mysterious Pearl during a conversation that we had over gchat recently. Observe:
TMP: had to reboot, all better now. So how is your day going?
me: Pretty good. I'm going to start a blog. What should I call it?
TMP: that depends, what is the blog about?
me: I'm thinking somehting with the word "Fearless" in it. Just my life and adventures in fickleness.
Involving crafting and my varying interests.
TMP: fickleness and fearlessness huh
the fearless fickler
me: hahaha
Nice!
The Adventures of the Fearless Fickler
And so it begins....
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
My Mummy. Wreath, that is ;-)
So, this is technically the first entry of my blog.
Hello! *wave*
I'll backtrack later, but for right now I'm going to dive right on in with a crafty little project adapted from one of the best blogs on the entire internet, The Handmade Home, (which in turn was inspired by another favorite, The Nester).
I was reading Ashley's fantastic post and was quite inspired by the prospect of a wreath made out of fabric. It seemed like a wonderful project to dive in to, especially since the heat finally let off a little here in NorCal. October is always a wonky month for us as far as the weather is concerned (yesterday it was a lovely 76 degrees, the day before that it rained, today is looking to be 85, and tomorrow is anyone's guess). A gal such as myself with an air conditioner that is spotty at best must take advantage of cooler weather when it presents itself. And a gal with an opportunity like cooler weather, an abundance of muslin dropcloths, and a coupon for 50% off one regularly priced item at Jo-Ann's must also remedy certain unfortunate situations, such as not owning a glue gun. Yes, I know. Rest assured I was quite ashamed. But now I do. Oh yes. I do indeed. In fact, we are now on a first name basis, having gotten very well acquainted over this past weekend. I never could have done this without you, Sherman. <3
I was sitting on the couch working away on my little project and watching a movie with my husband, Mr. Wonderful, when I held up my in-progress wreath for him to give me an in-progress assessment, AKA "what do you think, love?"
He looked at it and said, "You know what would look good in there?" No, what? "A mummy's head for Halloween!" Brilliant. That's why I married him.
Off to the craft store we went once again, this time armed with a 20% off your entire purchase coupon (thank you Columbus Day Sale) for a plastic skull and a Bing Crosby Sings the Christmas Classics CD. Don't judge me.
I didn't take any pictures of the ensuing awesome, so I will re-enact my process to the best of my ability and will rely on your willful suspension of disbelief. Much obliged.
First, my workspace. For the purposes of this post, Sherman will play the part of Glue Gun, and any empty space you see will play the part of the 14 Inch Straw Craft Wreath that I picked up at Jo Ann's.
And then it was a simple and time-consuming matter of ruffling the strips and fastening them to the wreath using trusty ol' Sherman.
Once the "base" wreath was completed (I did three layers....one outer, one facing forward, and one inner. You'll see.), it was time to prepare the skull. The skull is made of plastic that is soft enough to cut, so I cut out the eyes (I'm still debating whether or not it's feasible to put a light in there..it would be pretty cool, that's for sure), and also cut a hole in the top of the head for a thin strip of muslin to go through so it could tie on to the top of the wreath. Like this:
I knew that I didn't want anything permanent since I hope to use this wreath for all of the seasons, so tying was the easiest option. Plus, I've been amazed at how blessedly forgiving muslin is, and how easy to work with. Seriously. I heart it so much.
I threaded the two open ends through the hole from the underside of the skull, threw one "arm" over the front of the wreath and disguised it under some folds, and brought the other one around the back and tied it, like so:
And from the front: BEHOLD!
Ta Da! I have to say, I'm pretty happy it turned out as well as it did. I'm looking forward to diving into more projects now that it's sewing machine/harvesting/catching-up-on-projects-that-I've-procrastinated-on-because-it's-hot weather. Hopefully this will kick start me into many happy Sherman related projects to come.
Happy Haunting!
Hello! *wave*
I'll backtrack later, but for right now I'm going to dive right on in with a crafty little project adapted from one of the best blogs on the entire internet, The Handmade Home, (which in turn was inspired by another favorite, The Nester).
I was reading Ashley's fantastic post and was quite inspired by the prospect of a wreath made out of fabric. It seemed like a wonderful project to dive in to, especially since the heat finally let off a little here in NorCal. October is always a wonky month for us as far as the weather is concerned (yesterday it was a lovely 76 degrees, the day before that it rained, today is looking to be 85, and tomorrow is anyone's guess). A gal such as myself with an air conditioner that is spotty at best must take advantage of cooler weather when it presents itself. And a gal with an opportunity like cooler weather, an abundance of muslin dropcloths, and a coupon for 50% off one regularly priced item at Jo-Ann's must also remedy certain unfortunate situations, such as not owning a glue gun. Yes, I know. Rest assured I was quite ashamed. But now I do. Oh yes. I do indeed. In fact, we are now on a first name basis, having gotten very well acquainted over this past weekend. I never could have done this without you, Sherman. <3
I was sitting on the couch working away on my little project and watching a movie with my husband, Mr. Wonderful, when I held up my in-progress wreath for him to give me an in-progress assessment, AKA "what do you think, love?"
He looked at it and said, "You know what would look good in there?" No, what? "A mummy's head for Halloween!" Brilliant. That's why I married him.
Off to the craft store we went once again, this time armed with a 20% off your entire purchase coupon (thank you Columbus Day Sale) for a plastic skull and a Bing Crosby Sings the Christmas Classics CD. Don't judge me.
I didn't take any pictures of the ensuing awesome, so I will re-enact my process to the best of my ability and will rely on your willful suspension of disbelief. Much obliged.
First, my workspace. For the purposes of this post, Sherman will play the part of Glue Gun, and any empty space you see will play the part of the 14 Inch Straw Craft Wreath that I picked up at Jo Ann's.
My next step was to tear strips from the muslin dropcloth that I'd had laying around for a while. For my birthday a few months back, I had the idea to fabricate a lovely awning outside using large dropcloths and a hodgepodge of assorted poles. It actually worked beautifully until the wind picked up and instead of an awning I had a sail, but that's another post for another day.
Anyway, muslin dropcloth! I tore it into strips:
Anyway, muslin dropcloth! I tore it into strips:
(Crappily drawn re-enactment take one, baby!)
Next I took a strip of muslin and wrapped it around the head, gluing where I felt like it as I went. It was all eye-balling at this point, which I loved. I am all about the eyeballs, yo! Then I tore a very thin strip, folded it in half, and knotted it at the base so it looked like this:
(And Part Deux)
I threaded the two open ends through the hole from the underside of the skull, threw one "arm" over the front of the wreath and disguised it under some folds, and brought the other one around the back and tied it, like so:
And from the front: BEHOLD!
Ta Da! I have to say, I'm pretty happy it turned out as well as it did. I'm looking forward to diving into more projects now that it's sewing machine/harvesting/catching-up-on-projects-that-I've-procrastinated-on-because-it's-hot weather. Hopefully this will kick start me into many happy Sherman related projects to come.
Happy Haunting!
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