This week has been long and fun!

Friday, as you all know, I took my gourd to the Gourd Festival.   The next day, James and I went to go see how it did.     I have never been to a Gourd Festival before, so it was very surprising to me to see how many gourds there were, and how many people REALLY -and I do mean REALLY-  love their gourds.  They even have bumper stickers on their cars to show their affection for gourds! lol  It's like another world.  I even saw women sporting Gourd Earrings, made from real, tiny little gourds!  
There were tons of unpainted gourds outside, for sale. I bought several of them....dozens of the small variety.  I know that they will be fun to work with later.

Here is part of the outdoor part of the festival:


My gourd did not win, but the good news is, I got the opportunity to be inspired by all of the beautiful creations that others had made. There were so many different ideas...so unique.   My gourd is the one indicated by the arrow:


There were so many strange but wonderful examples of creativity...for example, this one:


Or this one - I don't know what it's supposed to be, but it's neat!:


Who would have thought to decorate a gourd withit's own seeds?  I love this idea...



This one is just lovely...




After the festival, James and I went to the mall.    While we were there, I noticed that Belk was closing down, and all of their store fixtures were for sale!   James and I went in to look...all of the mannequins were for sale too!  (I have been desperately wanting a mannequin to help me with my sewing. I even went to the measure of creating my own duct tape mannequin, like this one, but it's not the same).



We were there too late to talk to the manager that day, but we came back Sunday, to see what they were charging.  I got my mannequin for only $65.00, which believe me, is a GREAT deal!  
Most of the ones I have looked at are at least $200.00.

Now that I have my mannequin, I can show off the Scalloped Apron that I made this week. It took me all week long and it was exasperating!  Although, it was worth it in the end.  I pulled so many seams I thought I was going to go crazy!    (By the way, you can print out the full pattern here for absolutely free!)

I love the way this apron looks!




While we were still at the mall, we let the kids go on the trampoline with the bungee cords...they had a blast!




Noah was too scared to get on his and we had to get our money back. lol

Yesterday, I was a little bored (it was about 6:10 in the morning, and everyone else was sleeping), and I went online to look for Advanced Origami patterns.  I found this pattern which was astounding!   I wondered if it could really work, being only 1 piece of paper...fortunately, it came with a printable pattern, and I decided to try my hand at folding it.    2 hours of folding later, I had it!!  Is this cool or what?  ONE piece of paper.    You can fold it too.. .it is at this link.

Here is the front (mine doesn't look as good as his):


Here is the back of it:


The guy, Robert J. Lang, who comes up with these patterns is a spacial genius. He crafts insects, legs and all, out of one sheet of paper. I have no idea how he does that! It is amazing.   You must check out his website sometime.


Okay, and one last thing before I go..... One of the gourds bought at the festival was begging me to paint it.  So I did...now I have a watermelon bird feeder, if I ever want to use it for that (10- 20 minutes of painting):



The weekend has been long and fun and I now need to get some housecleaning done.  Dishes in the sink are calling my name.  Thank goodness the laundry has been put away....got that taken care of last night.    Finally, keeping it maintained.... I hate laundry...hate it, hate it, hate it.... especially when I have piles up to the ceiling to take care of.  And believe me, it has gotten that way here. lol  

Lately, I have been taking bagfuls of clothing we no longer need, even if I think "I may use that one day", and getting rid of it, because it is just taking up too much space. So far, doing that is helping tremendously.   Hope it will stay that way!

I hope you will all have a bright and cheery week!!!