Cow Skulls: Series 2

submissions for the current contest put on by Oh Deer! Designs

feet that stumble over concrete deserts

belong to the glittered, barefoot girl

whose heart burns so sweetly

like a fat-bellied cactus in your hands

Moonrise Kingdom

"I have an escaped Khaki scout."

(i heart sam shakusky)

"i love you, BUT..."

"i love you, too." 

poor suzy-bean

[even the kitten is an important character...they ALL matter]

here's to

stolen adventures

and writing love letters

and not getting stuck in one place

and falling deeply in sweet, sweet love...

Let's Give Thanks, Darlings...

...for a NON-Thanksgiving DIY.

That's right.  No hand turkeys or foam pilgrims here.

Just wand/flag thingies.

It's not that I'm a Thanksgiving Scrooge, or anything like that.  

But as wonderful as Thanksgiving is, it just doesn't feel very...magical, the way other holidays do.

So here's a bit of magic, just because we should be able to find whimsy any time of year, or day, or life.

Supplies: A branch/stick, glitter, crepe paper (one or multiple colors), raffia or string (one or multiple colors), Elmer's glue, a plate or piece of paper to catch excess glitter, a hot glue gun and glue (optional)

First, slather some Elmer's glue on the tip of one end of your wand/flag.  Sprinkle your glitter over the glued end of the wand/flag.  Catch and reuse excess glitter.

Next, use the Elmer's glue OR your hot glue gun to spread a line of glue below your glittered end.  This will anchor your crepe paper.

Attach one end of your crepe paper to the line of glue.  Wrap the crepe paper around the stick once.  Spread another line of glue, but make sure this second line is not directly over the first (you want to avoid getting the crepe paper too wet or making a giant bump of hardened glue).

Repeat this step of wrapping and gluing once or twice more, until you feel that the crepe paper is secured to the stick.

Below my yellow crepe paper, I repeated these steps to include a strand of pink crepe paper, too.

Below the crepe paper, lower on the stick, use the raffia to tie a knot.  Wrap the raffia around the stick, covering the knot and continuing to wrap your way down the stick.

You have two options when you get to the end of your raffia-hot glue it or tuck it (as you can see in the picture above, I did the latter).

Add another string of raffia, like I did, in another color, if you like (and I think you will like).

You now have something magical to celebrate your 

holidays-and EVERY day-with.

Happy Celebrating...

and, of course, Happy Thanksgiving.

After all, we have so very, very much to be thankful for, yes?

Yes.

Loving you...

...ain't hard to do, baby doll.

So this...is love.

let's be boyfriend and girlfriend

Dia De Los Muertos...

 ...never dies.

Painted cow skulls and pink sugared horns,

Frida portraits surround and adorn;

Bright yellow shrines and red crowns aflame,

Bottle-capped crosses to unblemish the blame.

Sweet, sticky orange and tart, tangy lime;

Hearts made of citrus, forget that there's time.

Benevolent white demons and coffins of black;

Eyes that see everything, but never look back;

Flags of culture and pendants to remember;

Skeleton dogs come out to play this November.

The Most Important Meal of the Day

eat up, chaps!