My Hard Work Today!

   Yesterday and today, I finished my latest batch of handpainted wine glasses for the beautiful Pine Mountain Inn. Diana, innkeeper extraordinaire, gives them to guests during special weekends...

   I especially like the quail...

   I should have taken a before photo! Our frontage area had reverted to dirt and weeds. Thanks to the Kern County Fire Dept. & their chipper crew, I had two HUGE piles of wood chips. Today, I spread them out (after pulling a trash can full of weeds). This is the result!

   It took me ALL day to do this, & I have a blister, but it was soooo worth it! Love my wheelbarrow, btw. Now, to make meat sauce & casserole for the post-wine festival feast tomorrow!!

Backtracking: Lilac Festival

So, I am finally catching up on past events! The weekend before my Sagebrush gig, I was in charge of the PMLC Lilac Festival booth. This is the booth and three of my wonderful friends who helped run it.

   The kids did the traditional May Pole dance...

   We sold a variety of items to raise money for the school, including pinecone wreaths I made, and fantastic flag art the students made. We have a wonderful parent volunteer who taught art to the kids, and came up with this project. The patriotic art sold like hotcakes, and the head of the business association purchased 19!

   We had a faux jail, so the students could get 'bailed out.' The stilt walkers had fun surprising the kids inside!

   It was a great weekend. I worked the entire event, but had so much fun. I got to know some new moms, and got to sneak away a few times. There were great vendors, and even our friend's band played. AND, we raised about $1100 for the school!

Ugly Doll Birthday!

   The monkey wanted an Ugly Doll birthday, so I happily obliged. We all had a blast. Sadly, didn't snap nearly enough photos, but captured some of the elements. The goody bags had candy, blowouts, and an Ugly Doll pencil & eraser.
   On the menu were hot dogs & hot links, with a variety of toppings. I usually make too much food, but I think I was a little too minimal this time, so I'll revert back to having an overload next party. It ended up being the perfect amount, with my Thai slaw, chili, etc.

      The monkey and I had fun creating big poster board Ugly Dolls for decor and directional signs. Some exist, and some we made up. He had to have a fun bounce house, of course (a lifesaver for those who perpetually run late with their parties, like me!).

   The doll on the left is Ox, the one on the right, the monkey created. I forget what he named it, but I like the vertical 'X' eyes that graduate in size...

   This one, the monkey also designed, and called it an "Ugly Bug." He named it Pip.

   These cupcakes were prettier in person. I had the supermarket make them in four colors, then the monkey and I decorated them. I always like him to help with that. They may not look as perfect, but it is so much fun!

   After cupcakes, it was pinata time!

   For activities, we had our usual coloring station on white butcher paper, a bubble station up on the hill, face painting by me (why didn't I take some photos??), and t-shirt decorating. I got fabric remnants in a variety of colors, fabric glue, colorful buttons, big embroidery needles and embroidery thread. The kids and parents had fun creating Ugly Doll t-shirts or whatever their creativity sparked. Some of the girls even made little mini-purses and eyeglass holders out of the fleece. Here is one awesome creation:

   Isn't that great??

   Sadly, I didn't snap a photo of the fireplace mantel with the Ugly Doll crepe paper, and the monkey's entire collection of Ugly Dolls, but it looked very cute! He had an awesome time. We had less kids than last year, since his class shrunk so much this year, but that turned out to be a good thing. If there had been more people, we would have had to run out for more food!