On Reindeer Bells

I'm a little late in starting in on my Christmas crafting this year. This past week I got to work on remedying this and to justify last year's on sale purchase of a pack of 72 bells, made reindeer. 

In case you are wondering, the one is yellow because I was out of brown pipe cleaners and was eager to see if my idea of using bells for the body would work. 

While I was intending for them to be ornaments, I may just be happy with letting them stand about on their own.♥ 

On a Thanksgiving Pie Skirt

For various reasons I haven't been sewing clothing items for the past year, but when I saw this pie fabric early or mid-summer, being a pie baker I just couldn't resist and knew that even if I had to push myself I was going to make a circle skirt for Thanksgiving. 

In September I decided that if I could at least get the pieces cut out I would then be able to sew them together at a later date, which ended up being Veteran's Day weekend and this past week. 

Sewing a circle skirt together is fairly quick, although when I reached the hem I found I forgot how to use the narrow hem foot on the sewing machine. As usual the hem waffled, but as I always shorten the pattern when I'm tracing it, I never have a perfectly curved hem anyway, so this probably just adds to it doing that. While not typically considered ideal, I actually like the look.

I had wanted a baby ric-rac on this, but for some reason neither fabric store had off white and I ended up finding a nice olive green medium sized ric-rac for purchase by the yard, which I'm rather happy with as it was the color I wanted in the first place. 

Only a few things need to be adjusted on this. I need to go back and fix the 1/8 inch worth of white selvage that is showing in the one side seam (I spent about an hour unpicking the other side seam to remedy this problem and just could not handle unpicking a second seam, thought I'd be okay with it, but it bugs me) and I think I'm going to try using a fabric marker to color the bit of white showing at the zipper opening (I will NOT be redoing the zipper). Last night I also managed to sew the hooks slightly off from where they are supposed to be and as I didn't make my typical adjustment for my larger than me pattern, this skirt needs all the help it can get it terms of it being tighter in the waist, so they'll need to be re-sewn on.

That being said though, it's a very nice skirt for Thanksgiving and while it wasn't going to get it made this year, I already have the Wearing History "Harriet" Drop Shoulder Blouse pattern and some white on white print fabric lined up for a matching blouse.

  Happy Thanksgiving!♥

On a Small Scarecrow

I was planning to make some small scarecrows. I made a scarecrow. I'm done small scarecrow making now. 

His name is Hawthorne and, while it didn't quite turn out as I envisioned it (I didn't realize I used up my fake leaves), I feel he looks quite nice in his autumnal bucket.♥ 

On "The Road to Roswell": A Book Review

Title: The Road to Roswell
Author: Connie Willis
Genre: Science Fiction

About the book...

Francie is headed to Roswell for Serena, her college roommate's, wedding, presumably to talk her out of marrying the bride groom who is alien obsessed, hence why they are holding the wedding in Roswell during a UFO festival. When Serena sends Francie to grab something from the car while trying to get things squared away for the wedding at the UFO museum, little does she suspect that the funny looking tumble weed in the front seat is an alien ready to kidnap her and with a point of his tentacle make her drive all over the state.  

What I think...
Connie Willis is one of the few living authors I actively keep track of and regularly read*. Not all her books and stories appeal to me, but I'm usually willing to give them a try. As far as sci-fi goes I'm not usually a spaceships and aliens person with a handful of exceptions and after the first thirty pages I almost gave up on this one. However, I'm glad I kept reading. 

This book does veer on the sillier side, which given the topic isn't particularly surprising. The characters, which keep getting added to the abduction group, were such a quirky mix including a paranoid alien hunter, a little old lady, and a western movie enthusiast that make a nice addition to the more grounded Francie and Wade, a hitchhiker that the alien picks up, and the alien, who they begin to call Indy (after Indiana Jones) just becomes more and more amusing as the story goes on.  

Willis loves putting movie references in her contemporary works and I loved how this book focused on a mix of alien and western movies, including having each chapter start with a quotation. I also appreciated that you didn't need to have seem all of the movies referenced to have the book make sense! 

I do have to mention the dedication, which, I was delighted (but not surprised) to see included Eleanor Cameron and John Wyndham who fall into my exception category and are two authors of space/alien books I adore.

To sum it all up...
A fun alien encounter with a rather abrupt ending that I hope meanings a second book might be coming!

*My other Connie Willis book review on Doomsday Book can be found here.

On "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm"

Today marks the US release date for one of my all time favorite fairy tale movies, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, which came out August 7, 1962. It tells the fictionalized story of Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm and their journey from more serious scholarly work into the world of fairy tales and is delightfully interspersed with three fairy tale segments of "The Dancing Princess" (a pet peeve of mine--the Grimms' story is "The Twelve Dancing Princesses", but I do like the segment), "The Singing Bone" (complete with puppet dragon), and "The Elves and the Shoemaker" and presents everything in true 1960's fairy tale portrayal goodness!

Earlier this year I finally broke down and bought the MGM Records Deluxe Edition album, so I thought today would be a fun day to spotlight it and share some interesting facts about the movie! 

The fun thing about this album is that under the record is an inset with a book about the making of the movie, so that's where the images you'll be seeing come from.

This was one of the first films MGM made using the three camera Cinerama process (the other being How the West Was Won, which they actually devoted a page to in this book).

I absolutely love all the little sketch images!

The legendary George Pal directed the stop motion fairy tale segments, with other segments being directed by the notable Henry Levin, and it is made up of a truly delightful cast including stars such as Laurence Harvey, Claire Bloom, Barbara Eden, Russ Tamblyn, Terry-Thomas, Buddy Hackett, Jim Backus, and Ian Wolfe (the seemingly perpetually old man that appears in a ton of 60's shows usually as a grump and who's career spanned the 30's-90's).  

The movie was filmed in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a Medieval Franconian City in Germany. According to the book, props used in the movie were enthusiastically provided by local museums including a cannon used by Napoleon during the Napoleonic Wars, street signs, and books by the Grimms. At one point in the movie, the brothers travel on a steam propelled side-wheeler, which in real life was named the Oskar Huber. This was used for film service "just three days before it was scheduled to retire to a spot of honor in the famous ship museum at Mainz". The film crew also had special permission to "borrow" so to speak a cobblestone road

In terms of award nominations, the movie did fairly well, being nominated in 1963 for Academy Awards for Best Music, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, and Best Costume Design (It won this one!); and with Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor-Motion Picture Drama (Laurence Harvey) and Best Motion Picture Musical.  

For added fun you can watch the trailer on IMDb here!

♥🏰♥

On "Top Secret": A Book Review

Determined to actually get my book review up this month...

Title: Top Secret
Author: John Reynolds Gardiner
Genre: Children's Fiction

About the book...
Nine year old Allen Brewster has a science project to do and he is determined to be the winner of the silver trophy in school science fair with the topic of human photosynthesis. Presenting his idea to his teacher, though, she finds it ridiculous and assigns him the topic of lipstick instead. Determined to avoid that subject altogether, with some encouragement from his grandpop, scientific research, a decent amount of liver, and a lot of determination to prove to everyone who says he can't do it wrong, Allen sets out to turn himself into a plant with some very interesting results.

What I think...
This is a favorite from when I was in elementary school and is still just as good every time I revisit it as an adult. 

It has just the right amount of science aspects to be realistic, while at the same time being very whimsical. This is the sort of children's book that sucks you in from the first few pages with Allen letting you know he's not actually supposed to be telling this story (it is "top secret"), but he's going to do it anyway, which sets you up for what to expect from his character. His persistent determination to prove to everyone who continues to tell him human photosynthesis is impossible despite his turning green, getting aphids, and starting to grow roots, is both heartwarming and hilarious. 

I think one of the things I really appreciate about this book is that Gardiner's portrayal of Allen comes across as being very realistic. Allen very much responds to things like a child would rather than thinking about or approaching things from an adult perspective. He has a reasonable response to liver, thinks and responds to thinks with a child's rational, and is actively learning and acknowledges it, which makes him all the more endearing.

Marc Simmont was the perfect illustrator for this. Though there are relatively few illustrations each one captures the characters and the story perfectly and really adds to the overall charm of this book!

Got to add the liver!

 To sum it all up...
A quirky children's book about a boy determined people can photosynthesize that's sure to bring a smile to your afternoon!♥

On a 60s Craft Kit and Other Fun Finds

I haven't been inclined to write very much lately or if I am inclined to write haven't been inclined to finishing anything, which means that drafts for various posts on a variety of subjects have have been piling up over the past few months.

Having been to the thrift store about a week ago for some cheering up sort of shopping, this is the post everyone is getting today.

As usual I ended up coming home with an odd assortment, the weirdest being this craft kit from the 60's that was my least expensive purchase of the day at 2.99. As you can see, it still has all the pieces, the elephant isn't even open, the instruction sheet, and horrible little foam noodles that were to be used for the filling and are in a state of disintegrating.

I have a thing for Alfred Hitchcock books and magazines (enough that they probably deserve their own post someday) and very rarely when I come across them can I resist buying at least one. In this case, I bought two. This larger sized glossy covered book published in the 60's has a nice selection of writers including Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, and, a favorite of mine, Cornell Woolrich.

There were quite a few of the mass market paperbacks, but I settled for this one because it was the older one in the bunch and I like the way Dell paperbacks from the 60's smell. Upon flipping through it at home I have discovered that it fittingly has a spiderweb sandwiched near the middle. 

 

I don't know how old these chicken plates are, although I'm inclined to say 50's or 60's as they got my attention because they remind me of my grandma's egg plate. 

I spotted some wooden owls a little over two inches in a grab bag (Heaven forbid I make it through a visit to a thrift store or the swap meet without coming home without an owl of some sort!). The one on the right has some vision problems, but is very lovable, in my opinion.

The grab bag also had a pretty wooden egg timer and, due to the bag being so small, an unidentifiable wire thing that I reasoned I would just get rid of since I was really getting the bag for the little owls. 

Turns out it was what I'm now thinking of as a kitchen themed dangle-ly with a bunch of miniature utensils and household implements--I love it and am absolutely keeping it!

Upon getting ready to buy my items, I spotted another very shiny and appealing looking small owl, so it came home with me too.   

My random item for this trip was a miniature tea set. I've always wanted a fairy tea set and now I have one!

Other items not pictured were a few dresses, several dvds including Lost Horizon (1937 version) and The Shari Show (Lamb Chop makes everything better!), and a Big Band Romance cd.

On A Little Bit of Spring

A few weeks ago, I made a spring themed garland. 

This originated with the desire to make some flowers with my Knit-Wit, but needing to have something to do with them other than just leave them randomly sitting on the arms of the couch, which is where the extras seem to end up. 

While I was originally intending to slip cord through the center beads to hang them individually, I realized between the yarn holding the bead in place and the pipe cleaner leaves it would be too tight, as well as resulting in them hanging straight down. After a bit of trial and error with trying to wrap the pipe cleaner around the jute cord (a frustrating endeavor), I ended up just tying them to the cord with little pieces of yarn and then slipping a few petals over the pins I used to hand the cord to keep them straight.

 

 

To add to the garland, I bought some flat wood chicks and bunnies at the dollar store (actually writing this post, I'm realizing everything I used in making this with the exception of the pipe cleaners is from there). I painted the chicks bright yellow and used hot glue to attach baker's twine to them and the rabbit in the center so they could dangle. With the two outer edge chicks I made little hooks out of floral wire so they could hang from the jute cord since the placement looked better than hanging them from the push pins. To finish it off, I added a few large beads on the end of the cord giving me a very cheerful spring garland to grace the fireplace. ♥ 

On "Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villians"

Title: Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains
Author: Bethany Brookshire
Genre: Non-Fiction

About the book...
Elephants, deer, cats, pigeons. Are they animals we love and cherish or are they pests? In Pests, Bethany Brookshire approaches the subject of animals, what a "pest" is and why we choose to view them as pests (or not), considering the history, culture, and science involved in why we feel the way we do.

What I think...
As the author herself points out, the ideas in this book aren't exactly new, but it offers a fascinating and thoughtful look at what causes a culture or a regional area to feel the way they do about various animals and the way that perception is formed and shifts over time often in a contradictory manner.  

I felt this book approached the subject in a well rounded manner; looking at the perspectives of indigenous people, ideas of co-existing in ways that create a balance, and at the perceived "pests" from multiple perspectives. Throughout the book interviews from people who both view the animals as pests and those who don't are included, which I really liked as it provided a more nuanced look at things. Brookshire also did quite a bit of in-person research, such as going snake hunting and on a rat search, and shares her own often humorous experiences with wildlife.

Most of the chapters focused on a specific animal, however Brookshire brings examples of other animals to offer comparisons showing how similar methodology was applied in either trying to handle the particular animal situation and the results on both the environment and the humans involved, which I found interesting. I also learned quite a bit about the various animals she addresses (ex: elephants don't like bee noise and wolves aren't fond of flags). In particular, I really enjoyed the chapter on elephants. As someone living completely devoid of elephant problems (in this case, crop destruction and property damage, among other things), I thought it provided an excellent example of how a greater whole often thinks they know how a problem should be addressed, without really understanding the problem because they aren't directly involved.

To sum it all up...
An interesting look at human attempts to eradicate, control, and co-exist with various animals referred to as pests and a good read for anyone interested in nature.

On a Cat in a Hat: A Photo Post

Well, this year has started off slow in regard to getting anything posted. Hoping to remedy this is coming weeks.

For now, though, to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday, may I present you with a cat in a hat? 

♥ ♥ ♥