I posted my Halloween tale over the weekend. It is a cautionary tale of parental abuse of power. Read it HERE if you want.
Today's post is a more personal one but very appropriate to the day.
When my kids were little I made all sorts of things for them. I am sort of a frustrated artist who never figured out the best way to express myself, so I've tried most art forms at one point or another. Some might call me a crafter and that is fine with me as I have probably tried every craft available. Others might just say I have ADHD but it is mostly confined to creative endeavors and I've been like this since I was a kid. If I've seen it once, I can copy it or make my own version or teach myself the method.
Over time I have progressed and transformed and now consider myself to be a glass craftsperson or artist if you will. I have my work space set up in the garage so that when we get more settled back in the house I can get back in the swing. I make stained glass of all sorts and sizes and also used to make my own glass beads. The later requires the use of a torch that burns at around 1800 degrees and I'm not too crazy about playing with fire right now. Maybe someday in the future I will feel safe enough to do that.
The fire destroyed pretty much everything that I had ever made for my kids. From hand smocked baby clothes and crocheted blankets to stained glass lamps and handcrafted jewelry, it's all gone. I can't change that and certainly will not remake most if it.
Today I got a gift in the form of a few saved items that came back from the cleaners. Three Christmas stockings and one Halloween costume. They are very obviously fire "victims" and don't possess the beauty that they once had, but they are the prettiest things I have seen in a while and they brought me to tears. I hadn't cried over lost "things" in quite awhile. This was different as the tears were for found things.
Her royal cuteness was precious in her costume. I hand made all of their costumes when they were little. I hope that she will be pleased to see her dress once again. She will always be my little princess.
Now she is a little bit more of the Princess of the Night type, but I'm NOT making her an outfit for that mood.
Glad "Her royal cuteness" made a great showing!
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a cool dress. I wish my parents had been that crafty. Or that I was that crafty. But alas, unless my future son wants to be dressed up as a trash bag, we'll have to buy our costumes.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know about your fire but I know they can be devastating. My mother is eighty-six years old and her house burned down when she was eleven. She still talks about it. I hope the return of your precious items gives you some solace.
ReplyDeleteI, too, was unaware about your fire. My heart goes out to you.
ReplyDeleteThat dress looks beautiful! I wish I had been a seamstress. You don't want to see what I've sewn.
Actually, they might make a good Halloween Costume!
You have mad skills, girl! I adore that dress. :) Great job!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness. That dress / costume is really beautiful. You made that? INCREDIBLE!!
ReplyDeleteHey "royal cuteness"--that's...um...CUTE! Haha :-)
ReplyDeleteI’m here visiting from Jeremy Bates' blog hop, and I love your blog!
My favorite scary book is IT (scared the crap out of me as a kid), movie that horrified me most was Rob Zombie’s remake of Halloween, and I did not dress up this year, because I suck. One of my favorite costumes in the past was "Dead Baby Roller Blades."
Happy Halloween!
Princess of the Night? Do I want to know what that is?
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you got a few things back from the cleaners'! And, like you, I have tried many things, including stained glass. Right now, I'm doing acrylic paintings. Master of none, I guess. ;)
ReplyDeleteHer royal cuteness indeed!
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry about the fire - I can't imagine!
ReplyDeleteI am a crafter in my heart, but my hands just won't follow. I am jealous! :)
I remember the first year or two when my daughter wanted to dress up like a princess... but all too quickly it turned in to scary things. LOVE the beautiful dress!
Copyboy - Jesse, I made that dress when she was 2 1/2. She could still fit in it when she was 6. Now that she's 16, not so much...
ReplyDeleteBeer - If you do the trash bag, just use a black one rather than a red one for hospital waste...that's just messy and I speak from experience.
Stephen - I've never really given the whole story here in my blog. I gave some of the story back in May (cotton candy). It was horrible, but we are resuming some sense of our old lives now.
Quirks - Not everything I've sewn looks that good - You should see the dress I made my hubby one year - that was pathetic!! And scary that he wore it, too...
Crystal - Thanks - she went from wearing that at age 2 to a bloody witch at age 5. The cute years were short-lived.
Meleah - Thanks - I just got a new replacement sewing machine that practically does everything for you! Times have changed in technology in the last 20 years! Wish I still had a little one to make costumes for!
Amberr - Thanks for stopping by! She used to be quite cute - now she's a surly teen!
Doug - Your kids are still little - wait til they are teens! Then call me ...
Dawn - That is cool - my great-grandmother was a painter and I have some of her works. I never did well with paint - too hard to fix mistakes.
Dr. C - She really belongs in your classroom now. Her royal queen of sarcasm and cynicism would be appropriate.
Katherine - She was actually excited to see the dress. It's the little things sometimes that we appreciate the most!
aw so happy you were able to save this
ReplyDeleteWhy not? I'm a great princess of the night!!!! Remember the vampire bowling I told you about? I could be in charge of that! If only I had a princess of the night outfit...
ReplyDelete