Upcycled Dolls!

I spent a delightful day with Meri Wiley and friends making an upcycled doll!  The entire idea came from Meri while working on one of her many original ideas.  It was a rather long, involved process but we all chatted and laughed which made the time fly by...except for the hand sewing!  You would never guess that the entire doll started out as a light bulb!!!!  After adding some clay and doing a little molding on the light bulb, the heads were ready for the oven.  Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of the work in progress.

This is Meri's sister, Jen, showing off her completed Marie Antoinette doll.

 I think that Jen did a fabulous job!  Love the "wig".

        Melissa is working on her doll which she modeled after Meri!  Great job, Melissa!

                                         Here is Melissa posing with her "Meri" doll.

                                                                Melissa and "Meri".

       Here is Sharon with her doll.  The doll isn't quite finished but it really is cute as is.

Here is our wonderful hostess, Meri, posing with two dolls that she made and used as models for us to follow.

You can see that Meri's dolls really look great because she has just the right touch when it comes to sewing and painting heads.  I wish that you could see the detail which is flawless.

Here is a photo of my doll...poor thing!  Meri had to help me with the face and a few other things but I finally finished the doll.  I think that the nose is too big and I wish that I had drawn a nose instead of molded one with the clay.  My doll's hair is in a pony tail tied with a red ribbon.  I added cherry earrings to go along with the dress.  My doll has painted nails, as well as a necklace and bracelet on because I always have my nails done and I usually wear jewelry when I go out.  

Visiting Meri's blog is always a treat.  She is an exceptional and generous hostess who opens up her house for crafting a few times a month.  Our next project will be in November and we will be making "putz" houses for Christmas.  I told Meri that I would attend as long as I didn't have to sew anything! Last year we made wreaths at Meri's for Christmas and that was wonderful project so I'm really looking forward to joining Meri again in November.

Diaper Wreath

On May 4th I will be going to a baby shower for a friend's daughter-in-law who is having a baby girl.  I didn't know what to do for the shower so I looked on good ol' Pinterest and I found loads of ideas.  I really liked the diaper wreath idea so I thought that I would try my hand(s) at it.  It seemed simple enough even for me so I started to gather things for the wreath.  

I used a 40% off coupon at Michael's for the ring and I covered it with pink gingham material that I had on hand.

Next time I will tack down the material with hot glue for a more snug look.  However, this method worked just fine because I was going to cover the material with diapers anyway!

Because this is a shower for a baby girl, I wanted to use things that the mother could use on the baby when she is older so I bought the hair ties.

 I started wrapping the diapers around the ring and I secured them with the hair ties that can be reused!

After all the diapers were on (I used 15 out of a pack of 36 Pamper's Swaddlers 2 for 12-18 pounds) I started to use different-colored ribbon to attach the stuff I bought.  I purchased a 4-pack of  Carter's newborn socks, a "take-a-long" 4-pack of Johnson's & Johnson's lotion, powder, shampoo, and baby wash, a pink teething ring, a cute bath book, petroleum jelly, Baby Magic Lotion, a 3-pack of hand sanitizer, some stretchy head bands with flowers, and a Million Dollar chocolate bar.  The chocolate bar is for the parents because it will probably cost $1,000,000 to raise and educate this baby!

Here is the wreath with some of the things attached.

Here is the completed wreath!

The bottom part (I took off the chocolate bar so that it wouldn't melt).

The top part.  I didn't add anymore curly ribbon to the top because of the bunch that I added near the top hook for hanging.

I'll probably be making another wreath because I'll be going to another shower in August or September.  My friend's daughter is pregnant but they don't know the sex of the baby yet so I'm on hold right now.  I'll probably tweak a few things the next time around...maybe use bigger diapers...I don't know yet.
It was fun and it didn't take a lot of time to make this wreath.  To me this is so much easier than the diaper cakes!

The patience of JOB!

My grandchildren (ages 6 and 3) decided to "dress" Pokie Rosie, their cat. Pokie is a very patient cat, obviously, and she sat quietly while Brandt and Lily gave her a makeover! How they got Lily's pink top on Pokie I'll never know! Notice the "bling" on Pokie's left paw in the "bridal" picture! The headbands around Pokie's neck and the hair ties on her ears in the other picture just crack me up!

 What a cat!!!!!

How do I look?

Home Goods after Easter Sale!!!!!

I always go to Home Goods the day after a holiday because they have the best sales. Therefore, bright and early Monday morning I was at my local HG store patiently waiting for the doors to open so I could treasure-hunt their Easter sale.

 The chocolate sign practically flew into my cart on its own...it probably could detect the chocolate in my blood! 

The other two signs were accidents. I originally had two crackle bunny pictures in my cart when another lady held these vintage-looking canvases up and asked me if I wanted them. The bunny pictures were out and the canvases were in. I love the vintage look.

I spotted the topiary immediately and put it in my cart. I had seen it a few weeks ago but I didn't think that it would still be available!!!

I felt very good about my shopping excursion and I will continue to "hunt" at Home Goods especially after every holiday!!!!!