The Final Mini-Halloween House

Notice the witch hat as a chimney

Another Halloween Mini House

Pumpkin Train Station

Mini Porcelain Halloween House

The second mini house I have, as the sign painted over the door says, this particular one is the "Ministry for Magic". Each side was photographed, like the previous house. I think I found these at a Dollar Store.

Porcelain Halloween Miniatures

This is house #1, I have 3 more I'll post later.

Well This Happened Today

A big storm with gusts in the 40s-60s, with rain too. It is actually normal to get wind & rain this time of year. Several Halloweens ago I had sheer balloons hanging around the porch with cheese-cloth dangling around them; then I had a rainy wind day & most of them flipped up onto the roof. I had to pull them back down, they were mostly ok, & the beating they got made them somewhat weirder. So half a tree fell on my house, around 2PM Tuesday. Not fun.

Failed to Post Daily!

It's SO true, I wasn't able to-let's say I was too lazy to take some pics for the Halloween daily post countdown. I don't have a ton of negatives, my Epson scanner has decided to quit finish warming up.....

Sunday I went to a porcelain artists' show, it's a yearly event, every October-but there is hardly ever anything Halloween-related; blasphemus but true. This is the only piece, with pumpkins, the next closest would be chrysanthemums, everything else was roses, pansies(which I love, but they NEVER sell what they display, try & understand THAT, I still can't), forget-me-nots.....

I have a few Halloween houses I bought from somewhere, could be Big Lots or some Dollar Store, can't remember. I'll probably take some pics of those & post them, they're small but have ghosts, jacko'lanterns, & candy corn.

October 6th Halloween Post

I LOVE these plastic pumpkins, I loved using one as a child & I was thrilled to find a few in a thrift store. Next I had to come up with a reason to use them, other than as candy containers-although that would work, to offer trick-or-treaters a grab into a jacko lantern instead of a large plastic bowl. I put silk mums & Chinese Lanterns! I can't grow them but I have a version now that will last for awhile. I arranged the 'silk' flowers, mums, lanterns, & leaves & they are now hanging from the ceiling on hooks.

A Halloween Coffee Table

This was just done, in my living room. The fabric is from Joann's, the plastic pumpkin lights up, with a Jacko'Lantern on 1 side & a black cat on the other, it blinks on & off. The other pumpkin I found in a thrift store, I filled it with Luden's.

A New Day, New Halloween Pic

Another pic of Lilly, she wasn't sure if she liked the horn barrettes, but she LOVES posing for the camera.

My Halloween Countdown -1 Day

Lilly chewing a ghost dog toy I got at Petsmart, her little sister is Dahlia; Lilly is American Eskimo, Dahlia is Pomeranian-she thinks she's the 'lion' of the house. I guess Poms are the Old World's equivalent of Chiuauas, I probably spelled that wrong, sorry. These are pics from last year.

Cats vs. Dogs

I have noticed the big differences between what dogs actually like & what the 'pop culture' says; it's the same with cats. I cannot find a site that compares the two, so I'll put my view on it here.

THE POPCULTURE VIEW
Dogs love meat, they are very loyal, they can play rough but that doesn't mean they're hostile towards their playmate.

My dog LOVES dairy, SO MUCH that I call her a cat/dog. There IS a commercial where a kid is in a stroller eating ice cream & there's a dog that gives the "sad puppy" face & gets to lick the ice cream-great, but it needs to be mainstreamed. I have always had cats & I researched awhile when choosing a dog breed & yet I NEVER read anywhere about dogs' superior love for all things dairy. Ice cream and white cheeses(Asiago, Monterey Jack, Parmesan) are her favorites.
Loyalty, hhhhhnnnmmmmm...My dog is most loyal to the oldest person in my household and it's not me. I have watched "The Dog Whisperer" & I understand dogs better, pack leader, etc. I'm still not #1.
Puppy-Housing, is what I call it; I notice they regularly check by snuffling/happy sneezing, that they're just playing; they are somewhat like boys in the house, not noticing any objects nearby & knocking things over.

Cats: "love dairy/milk, are not loyal, & are too 'girly' to play rough."

SO NOT TRUE. Exhibit #1 I have only had 1 cat that would drink milk regularly, over several decades & generations of cats. Cheese, again more of a popculture myth; offer cheese to a dog & a cat, it's probably the dog who will gobble it up.
Exhibit #2 I've had 2 cats that ONLY sat in my lap, not anyone elses, just like the popculture describes as a lap dog; both were Siamese, and this breed IS said to be the most dog-like. Also my Mom's cat would insist on eating from her plate, very rarely did she ever do this with anyone else. My sister's cat would eat brocholi off her plate not anyone elses.
Exhibit #3 Night-Crazies, like puppy-housing, the cats would suddenly duck(almost like the puppy bounce)their eyes would look wild, & they'd run full tilt around the place. The hallway is a favorite place to begin, running then jumping off the couch arms, the hall walls; chasing over the couch was not unusual. A few times things were broken by the cats; also they love to grab the other fall to the ground & kick with their hind feet. 'Boxing' is something I've seen, it's when 2 cats are up on their hind legs & the cats start smacking at each other, nails out; quickly & almost like fighting, the giveaway it wasn't fighting-NO PUFFY TAILS. I heard the nails tearing........but it was only in play.

Cats and dogs are opposite in many ways, this can complicate things when in a mixed dog & cat household. It's good to know what to look for: dog is friendly=ears are down. Cat is angry=ears are down. Dog drops to ground=open to playing. Cat drops to ground=cat's going to attack. The proper way to approach a dog=under the chin. Proper way to approach a cat=the top of the head. IF YOU CONFUSE THE TWO, prepare for a hostile dog and cat. A dog actually likes under the chin, even from strangers, top of a dog's head is felt almost like an attack. A cat knows it kills by going for the throat, & thusly reacts if a stranger attempts such a move; on the back of their heads though, is a friendly & relaxing massage.
I've not seen a side-by-side comparison, especially explaining how the two have totally opposite signals. A cat raised as a kitten around dogs won't be alarmed by the difference in signals, neither will a puppy raised around cats; what occurs is the cats become doggified & the dogs get cattified, each taking habits from the other. That can be a cat that sits down head first, like a dog, or a dog that loves to wrestle & kick with the hind legs.

Either way, it's not the end of the world, it's just dogs & cats living together.

Roses in Pitcher

A small bouquet of 3 HP Reine Victoria, scented geranium-Balm, whatever that means & tiny salvia. Old Country Roses pitcher on a tablecloth I made; basically turned the edges over & sewed lace onto it.

Ruby's Hats

These hats I made, the grey and blue ones I made entirely, cut the brim from a stiff polyester craft felt bought at Joann's. The blue hat has a crocheted crown, the brim is covered with taffeta(manmade). The grey hat I used that wonderfully soft polyester micro-suede, I lined the inside with lavender scrap cotton left over from another project. Both the blue and grey hats are too big for the mannequin head, I have a fat head, I can't fix that, so....

The green hat has a frame I bought here;
they have awesome 'raw frames'. I also used some Vogue patterns, but as usual I made several changes. I noticed that "summer" hats are either wide-brimmed or veiled & small. I bought veiling from here.
Also vintage veiling from here
The above has vintage forget-me-nots, in velvet and paper, there are many flowers with labels that say: Made in West Germany, Made in France, etc. I put forget-me-nots on the green hat above, the lily is new from Joann's. What looks to me like rosebuds can be found in many shops that sell vintage trims, sometimes these are called 'cactus buds'. They are made of a vintage plastic and are flocked to varying degrees with green, little 'slits' are cut out and rose-ish pinkish color can be seen.

The veiling I pin on while wearing the hat, difficult but to have the veiling cocoon around the face how I like means having to shift it around and use clothespins, then sewing the veiling on by hand. It helped having actual vintage hats to study, and some of those had veiling only past the eyes, some looked like the veiling was permanently folded back over the hat, like lace.