This I know for sure: creativity and order are not mutually exclusive.

Since I don’t have a craft room, I improvise in various rooms of the house. I set up my sewing machine in the living room and projects requiring glue, tape or paint happen in the kitchen. We’ve been doing our costume spray painting outside in my newspaper-lined wheelbarrow. Boy, the fumes are nasty. I don’t think I’ve spray-painted in ten years.

After weeks of setting up Halloween, dressing up pumpkins, making cards, sewing our costumes, I could take the chaos no longer. I sorted, cleaned, straightened and did the family laundry while I was at it. When I found one of the buttons to Mike’s costume at the bottom of the washing machine, a barely flinched. How it got there is anyone’s guess. I’m just glad I found it.

With order restored, I felt the calm descend. I threaded the machine, pinned some fabric into place, and I sewed. Yippee! Life is good.

No-Candy Countdown:

Thanks for cheering me on with my no-candy countdown. Marlene, Diane and a few others are doing the same. Support and accountability help me stay strong. I’m sleeping better, not so driven by my cravings and the scale moved south, just a bit. With three Halloween parties to attend, I’m planning a good dinner ahead of time to limit my junk-food intake once there.

Under-the-sea Costume Update:

I completed all the machine sewing on Mike’s tunic today. The medallion is sewn in place along with the buttons to support the cape. I plan to add ‘seaweed’ to his tunic and some sparkle to give it a sense of movement. Additionally, I cut the fabric for his cape, but need him to try it on before I finish the shoulder details. It’s fun seeing it come together.

Under the sea costume progress

Pumpkins on Parade:

Introducing the ghost of the mystery pumpkin patch.

Ghost pumpkin

One of my boys insisted on dressing up as a ghost one Halloween, though quickly realized how difficult it was to see. Lessons learned. I’ve kept the ‘costume’ all these years, and use it in a variety of ways. This year it’s draped over the wicker chair on the front deck. Other years I’ve used it as a part of a group of layered table cloths for our Halloween party. The year that our magic cauldron leaked, the ghost soaked up the water along with orange and purple dye from something on the table. After a wash, it still had just a trace of those colors. Our ghost continues to improve with age.

Please keep sharing your ideas for pumpkin dress up. I’ll be catching up on comments and your posts over the next few days, but I’ll be back here at Gardening Nirvana on Monday. I hope to see you then.