I've tried hard to keep myself focused.... But then I come across some scissors, then some paper, and then its just a free for all with bits and bobs flying every which way. Cutting, gluing, inking...
punching, gluing....
more cutting, inking & gluing....
Ahhhhhhhhh that was fun~ I made a banner saying "Artsy Fartsy"
I hung it up... and hated it. Isn't that how it goes sometimes? I'll try hanging it over my window next. 
I'd better stick to getting things organized.
Miss Chloe felt the large hat was a bit much for her brother to wear to the party....
She tried her very best to convince him that it wasn't a good look for him, but it fell on deaf ears....
Miss Chloe, being the resourceful girl that she is, grabbed the hat and plunked it on her very own head to show him just how funny it looked.
Jonathan grabbed it back and forcefully put it back on his head... "Drat," said Miss Chloe, "foiled again."
While walking to the party on the very-very narrow path...
Miss Chloe came across a sign pointing the way to the very place she was wanting to go. GASP... The signs were in French! Miss Chloe and Jonathan can't read French.... or English for that matter. The cat who was sitting on top of the sign post wasn't any help at all. What to do? What to do? 
"Lets just go home and play with our bubbles," said Jonathan.
Which was perfectly fine for Miss Chloe as her brother did all the work making the bubbles, and she got to play~
Jonathan was not amused.
On that note, Miss Chloe grabbed her brothers hat and ran off, all the while laughing hysterically saying, "I'm the evil Doctor Porkchop."
After wrestling his hat back from his sister and placing it back on his head.... 
Miss Chloe, in her sweetest voice said, "You gotta love me, I'm da baby."
Which was met with a cold shoulder from her brother....
Hmmmmm, I got an idea!...
"Watch brud-da, I'm going to eat this bubble just for you."
Bubbles sure don't taste as good as they look....
While laughing at his sisters puckered up face, Jonathan noticed the time.
"My heavens! My cartoons are on," exclaimed Jonathan. "I'm outta here!" "Wait for me brudda!" yelled Miss Chloe.
Cartoons, animal cookies and a drink box and all is right with the world once again~
It was floor to ceiling bins, so to force myself to display things, I added vintage sheet music to the top area. I am working hard on giving my studio an cuter look for an open house of sorts being held next month. Better late than never on getting started! Isn't that sheet music divine? Its from the early 1900's. 
Project #2.... I've also been working on another Alice in Wonderland prop for this years Mad Hatter tea party--- being held this Saturday. In previous years I made props using foam core, this year I used a piece of plywood. Here it is with the first coat of every color......
This past Sunday while sailing... yard-sailing of course. I came across a couple who were moving and selling everything in their house and yard. I bought a fabulous wheel barrow for only $10--- and after drooling over their flagstone patio.... I asked if it was for sale. "Sure, $20 was the reply.".... SOLD! my new wheel barrow and I got to work. Kismet? You betcha! All of this pictured below, plus a truck load more! These are the small pieces, the bigger pieces are still on the truck ;-P I guess this is Project #3.
Like I need another project...
To give it a little character, I dirtied up the edges with black and brown ink pads instead of sanding the edges. I used double sided sticky tape and adhered some pages from a Sears catalog to the backs of each cubbie. I think it turned out cute. It was a NICE release from some of the angst I was feeling while taking on the HUGE project of painting my wall-to-wall cabinets. Tomorrow I'm going to the hardware store to buy some trim to add to my cabinets a.k.a. bookcases... to make them appear to be a built in unit across the back wall of my studio.... a.k.a. my daughters old room. The only upside to this huge painting project is I get to set up little vignettes when the paints all dry on the shelves. Hooray for happy stuffed shelves full of stuff I love. Nuts, I guess I better get back to painting or its never going to get finished. Oh..... I thought I'd share this funny.... at the hardware store where I bought the paint, the clerk said, "Looks like you've got everything you need. you've got the paint, brushes and "him" to paint for you." Hysterical! I laughed as I corrected him that I was going to do the painting. Do men paint?
I picked up the blue perfume bottle, the vintage magnify glass and the stack of vintage sheet music for fifty cents each. The gold and glass relish tray was $1 and the Virgin Mary alter was only ten cents.
Here is a photo of where I house my tin collection. I'm going to start filling up those tins with vintage jewelry for my grandaughter who really likes "Nana's pretties" She is such a love~ 
Well, I am currently working on painting the massive wall of shelves in my studio-- which I pinky swore last year -- to do-- for this year. Ugh. It is such a HUGE undertaking, thats why I'm blogging instead! I am also wanting to create some large wooden Mad hatter pieces for next Saturday's Mad hatters tea party, plus make a baby blue dress for Alice a.k.a. Miss Chloe~ Then and only then, will I start to work on the 7 tags I am needing to make for a tag swap. Hmmm.... I may need some chocolate to get me through this~
Now everything is right with the world once again...
Uh, scratch that, my 4 year old grandson suggested I make a Peter Pan for the other mast. lol..... I am in full get 'er done mode right now, so I also stitched up a brown fabric cover to shade the pirate ships cabin. Another suggestion from my grandson....
Next, I stitched together a fabric false ceiling for both gazebos and hung some faux ships sails to shade our outdoor buffet table.
I bought these two talking skulls at a yard sale for only $2--- a little fabric and a felt eye patch and they are two spiffy pirates!...
I also hung up the "Peg legs made while you wait sign" that I made. I've got quite a large selection of peg legs to choose from.... Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrgh...
Lastly, some random shots of my yard. I'll spare you the photos of the really messy parts. Our pool.... 
The dock where our pirate ship is moored....
and the grandkids play yard that actually got played in today :-)
I had some left over black felt that I knew I could use to make something piratey. Of course, immediately, eye patches came to mind. But how fun would it be running around with one eye covered? Not to fun I imagine. So... the next best thing? Pirate hooks.
These were super easy to make. Here is a square of felt that I cut to make into a pirate hat. See the long center piece? Thats the scrap piece of felt I used to make each pirate hook. One square of black felt yielded one pirate hat and one pirate hook.... not to shabby for .25¢!
Here is a tutorial on how I made the pirate hooks if anyone is interested.
Next, I opened up each one and stitched two together to make the cuff of each hook. By stitching the center seam on each scrap, when you turn it inside out it gives it a nice puffy appearance to each pirate hook. The pointy bit at the bottom of this picture will be where you will be adding the hook. Do not cut this opening to big, start by cutting away just tiny bits until you get the right size opening. 
Next, I used the plastic from a two liter bottle to create the hooks for each pirate hook.
I cut the top and bottom off of each bottle, then I cut the middle section in half taping the two together using double sided sticky tape. So, your left with two pieces of rounded plastic stuck together. Next, I drew with a sharpie marking each hook I needed to cut out. You can get four to five hooks out of each two liter bottle depending on how wide you make each hook. 
Once each hook shape was cut out, I used masking tape and taped the plastic to a wooden handle. (all craft stores have these) Then I simply hand stitched some gray felt covering the plastic hook and tape.
The final step is to hot glue the gray hook to the black cuff. The stitching will be on the inside of each hook. You need to cut an opening in the small pointy side to slide the hook into the black cuff. Slide the hook through until it looks like the hook at the bottom of this next photo. Using a generous amount of hot glue (where the gray felt meets the wooden stick) glue down the black felt. Once the glue has time to cool and set up, peel the black cuff part of the hook down.... seams inside remember....
and taaaaaaaaa daaaaaaaaaa PIRATE HOOKS!...
Before you know it you've got yourself a bunch of pirate hooks!
Aaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrgh! Easy-peasy! I've linked up to "Very Merry Vintage Style" linky love post. Also, I've linked up to Seven thirty three's "What are little boys made of" linky.