Unsupervised Cake Decorating

She asked for fondant, that stuff you can roll or mold. It's basically Play-Doh for cakes. I bought a package at the nearest retailer, Wilton brand, as it happened; then, when I went looking online for instructions, I found everybody saying DO NOT BUY WILTON. And they were right, the stuff tastes awful! I wouldn't taste it, the smell was bad enough. I think at least a few of the kids had a nibble before spitting it out. It wasn't gone rancid or anything, it was just yucky and had intense chemicals.
So they had fun playing with the cake-Play-Doh, then they scraped it all off before cutting.
Don't you think we could have just used Play-Doh?

Here's the actual cream cheese frosting. It was delicious!

Barbie Modelmuse Pattern Progress

I love this picture. So dramatic. 
Here's the progress on the next strapless Barbie bodice pattern!

Garb Progress, Sept-Oct

Okay, here's what I'm working on.  Here's another old sheet testing the shape of the sleeves.  They're not very flattering, but they're about what I had in mind as far as the narrow fit, so I'm gonna go with this.  I don't like the wrinkles at the top, but I like sleeves that are built to be mobile.  Since childhood I've disliked sleeves that are fitted for having one's arms down at the side and there's a pulling sensation when the arms are lifted.  This sleeve's the opposite! 

Another picture of me in my nightie, for the internet :-)
I've got some actual LINEN, and it's such a gorgeous shade! I washed and dried it, and it came out just wonderful. Now I'm too scared to cut into it.

(How about that dramatic-looking wound on the arm? That's only a bit of primer where I reached past a painted corner, and it was already dry when I noticed. I tried scraping it off with my fingernail. Just a bit more and I'd've made myself bleed, yet the paint was still there. They were right about the stuff bonding to the surface, eh?)

So I made my first real test out of some content-unknown fabric I picked up on the clearance table.
But I like how this came out-- I like this A LOT. I think it looks medieval and it feels medieval. I've just got to decorate it, sleeve and neck trim, and it'll look really cool.
(It's poufy because I'm wearing the patchwork dress under it!) 
Maybe it FEELS so medieval because of the great amount of extra fabric "puddled" on the floor! In the old statues the noble ladies always have their extra skirt fabric piled artistically over their shoes. But mine's because I cut the gores much too long, and that will be trimmed.

Dave's butterfly

Dave came in the house and went upstairs without noticing this critter had come in with him. 

That’s not as bad a surprise as some other critters would be, if found in the same position!

Karen's sketches

Nifty Sport mp3 player headset

Don't you get irritated with that headset cord going from the ipod to your ears?  It's fine for just walking, but yardwork is impossible without catching on that cord all the time and yanking it loose.
I put "mp3 headset" into ebay to see if anyone had invented such a gadget yet and there it was.   I didn't expect much for $15, but it seems to work fine!  The sound's loud and clear, it's very lightweight and fits great.  The ends can be bent to match up with your ears.
There are only three buttons to control, one for play / pause (has auto turn-off) and two on either side to advance to a different song or replay, or hold them for volume up/down.
I have to say I'm tickled to have it. 

Watch out if you go shopping for one, some on ebay don't have built in memory and require a card.  This one has 2gb built in which is plenty for just some favorites. 
Here's the ebay auction I got it from
I know it's from China and I hate that... if there WAS one made here I wouldn't mind paying more... but there just isn't such a thing right now   :-(

An Actual Patchwork Dress

This IS what they meant by patchwork dress  :-) 
Here's the story:  I'm so persnickety about what I'm going to wear, that I end up with just about nothing to wear.  It has to be 100% cotton, it has to be a dress with a gathered skirt with flowers on it, it has to be made in the USA and I have to be able to afford it, unfortunately there's approximately one way to meet those qualifications, and that's to get busy.  I do get around to making a dress every once in a while, but then, it's usually a nice dress that goes into the closet for going to town in.  So what do I wear to mow or chase chickens?  Some pretty disreputable-looking raggy outfits sometimes.
So I set out to use up some of my scraps (to please the daughter of parents who loved to tell me about the Great Depression, in which they apparently had a rollicking good time stuffing cardboard in their shoes to keep their feet off the road, etc, and rule #1 was not to throw anything away, ever) and to make something extremely casual that can be worn outside to get dirty on purpose. 
Success! 

Showed "this ridiculous dress" to husband and he said it was pretty. 
I said I wouldn't exactly wear it in public, he said, "Why not?  Have you seen some of the things they wear?"
That's not comforting! 
Anyway I designed it for gardening  :-)