A Third Eye

I am sure I am experiencing a medical marvel. There must be a third eye in the middle of my forehead. I can’t see it…..nor can other adults. But it is apparently perfectly visible to anyone over 12 and under 21. I know it’s there because of the way the children look at me when I say stupid things like” don’t put your index finger into your mouth and suck it clean at the dinner table” or “don’t pick up a huge chunk of meat on your fork and gnaw around the edges at the dinner table”. The other four will glance at the offender but then they all swing their heads around and look at the third eye in shock and amazement. The offender is usually frozen for a moment in a tableau straight out of Oliver….the piece of meat poised ready to be gnawed or the finger still in the mouth with the others straight up in the air awaiting their turn to be cleaned.
My hubby, at that point, will usually chime in with agreement. He doesn’t notice these offenses because his plan is to keep his head down and focus on his plate so he doesn’t have to watch them eat. I, however, am tasked with attempting to civilize the Mongolian horde. I guess the third eye is the one that sees all these things and that is why it generates such interest. My goal here is just to be able to have them eat at a real restaurant someday….not CiCi’s Pizza or Golden Corral…..the only safe places to go at the moment. There seems to be an abundance of finger suckers there I’ve noticed.

Well, that’s my contribution to child rearing for the day….let’s (happily) move on….

It is gorgeous here! The temp is in the mid-80’s with low humidity. I am attempting to make some new bears look old and have plunged them into Dark Brown RIT dye. They are polyester or something similar so we’ll see how it goes. They were really cheap at the thrift store and I wanted to experiment a bit. Here they are sunning themselves on the picnic table. I left them soaking wet so more of the dye would go in….maybe….

That was yesterday and this morning it doesn’t appear to be working very well. One of my ‘clever’ ideas gone awry…..ah well…Ive tried coffee but it rinsed out, wood stain made them really stiff. I’ll have to keep thinking…..

Another project…..decorative paper cones…..

Here is a pic of one of my paper cones. This one is more prim and says ‘sweet’ on the tag. I sold a paler French cone with pink accents at the Porch sale. I need to get some more made and will put them up for sale. They are 15” tall and 22” with the fabric hanger included in the measurement. Nice and large for display. They look very pretty with lavendar or other dried flowers, grasses, or sticks in them.

I put some silk roses in this one…..
They are made completely by hand…..I don’t use pre-made cones because I want to control the size and shape. They are covered in paper and muslin with cheesecloth, fabric, buttons and other embellishments added. I think they’re very pretty!

Here are some in the early stages