99 Days Of Halloween

Today it's official- there's only 99 days until Halloween 2023. Let the ooky-spooky fun begin! Is it just me or is it hard to feel an October vibe when it's sunny and HOT? A Starbucks PS latte would help but it's still too early for that! My pumpkin patch is loving this bright sunny weather but me? I'm an Oregon girl and prefer cooler weather.    I've been seeing new Halloween stuff in stores for a few weeks, craft stores especially. Stores are finally catching on that Halloween really is a BIG thing and have started to put their seasonal stuff out much earlier. Suits me- I'm always looking for fabric with small scale prints for tiny doll dresses.  I'm been busy working on a series of Halloween themed dolls using vintage Nancy Ann Storybook Dolls as the base. These very old dolls are being upcycled to for the 21st century. Don't worry collectors- I only use damaged or incomplete dolls for this project. They get cleaned up and then I make colorful wig...

OMG I miscounted and almost missed writing my first 2021 post on my 99 Days of Halloween blog!! In my defense I think I either counted today or didn’t count Halloween. Or maybe I'm a day early… whatever. At least I caught my mistake. It’s sorta hot (since it’s July) and tho I ❤️ Halloween I don’t feel very Halloween-ish right now. But my car's tellin' a different story! I'm an avid thrift shopper & crafter. The photo up 👆🏻 shows 3 of my recent finds. The family hasn't seen the clown mask before today... I expect some objections to its presence in my dining or living room, lol!  That's a vintage 50s Madam Alexander doll behind the clown face. I don't think she's a creeper but she DOES need eyelashes. If you're part of the group that says 'OMG creepy doll' any time you see a vintage doll, well... to each their own! 

Pumpkins in our front yard Yes, I planted pumpkins in our front yard 2 months ago and I'm as excited as a little kid, watching them grow! I've never grown them successfully before... EVER! The seeds I used were from last year's jack o'lanterns that I carved with the grandkids. Theirs were 2 different kinds of mystery squash-kins... squat and super hard to carve. Mine was a classic carving pumpkin from a local grocery store. I started the seeds in my greenhouse exactly 3 months ago (April 29th) and you can see how successful that was!  Classic pumpkin Piggyback (oops, the top one rolled off) Dangler (I'll have to add a support this one) Jack-B-Littles for the dolls! There's 6 mounds of pumpkins across the front of my new flower garden bed with some fresh compost/soil. Maybe that's why they're so very happy. The 'Jacks' are marching forward across the lawn and sprawling backwards towards the house thru the bed of cutting flowers and sunflowers.  Su...