Time with my girls and a secret obsession!!!

While Kevin was in India, the girls and I got to spend some fabulous time together. I would be lying if I said I was not dreading Kevin being gone for 11 days......mostly because I was afraid the inner witch in me would be unleashed on my poor, defenseless kids when I got too overwhelmed. And while she did surface once or twice, she retreated back into her witch cauldron pretty quickly afterwards. I was pleasantly surprised at myself!

The key, I found, was keeping to lot's of activity! I did more with my girls in those 11 days than I have in a long time.......something I'm proud of but equally ashamed of. We had a great time together. Why don't I do more fun stuff like this with them regardless??

We visited a winery. No, not just for the free wine. There was a fall festival!

We made super healthy banana wheat muffins........

......and some totally gross cookies that never made it past the dough. Notice, they are a little green.

When I had to work, the girls came with me and tie dyed t-shirts with Sharpie markers. Thank you, Ms. Reeve!

We did a lot of painting......on canvas and on ourselves.

We made lot's and lot's and LOT'S of dolls.

After so much time with me, my kids were happy to get back to their kindles, books, toys and cartoons. As a matter of fact, they were pretty sick of me. Lilly even told me once to have a little 'mommy time'.

So....I did. Which brings me to a secret obsession I have that I rarely entertain. But after all that pipe cleaner doll making.......well.....that obsession came screaming out.

I heart making dolls. I LOVE it. To me, dolls are the ultimate form of hand made art making. They are beautiful. The make adults and kids, alike, smile. They are given as gifts for virtually EVERY occasion (think about all those willow tree angels. They are dolls!) They are played with and displayed......kept for years......they bring back beautiful memories to so many of us.......

Dolls rock.

So....I let my inner doll maker take over and I went wild.

I started with Halloween dolls. This little witch took me forever even though she is only about 4 inches tall. I'm not used to paper clay but I've always wanted to try it. It's GLORIOUS!!! It sticks to anything and you don't have to bake it.

I moved on to free standing dolls.....something I've always wanted to try. I read a magazine article on the process, watched a youtube video, emailed the video artist with some questions (she was so cool to email back with answers!) and then went to work on this dude. He's tacky.....but I like him.

I had a great time making this angel. I don't like her wings, though. I made them by covering grunge board with paper clay. It was a wet, nasty mess. Again....she took forever but I knew I was getting a little closer to having a little bit of a clue about what I was doing!

Then I made my fave. It took no time at all.

This gal is my first angel tree topper. I can't help but be proud! The other dolls were tons of fun but there are really just for me. This gal actually has a chance to be purchased and placed as the crown on a Christmas tree! She has a chance of being a keepsake and bringing memories. She has a chance of being someones favorite. I can't think of anything better than that.

And my sweet Lilly kept asking and asking to make more pipe cleaner dolls. So that's what we did.

LOADS of them! They turned out super cute. They have bells on their toes, wings on their backs and they are even holding plastic candy. If you come into the gallery next week, you'll see them hanging all over a little Christmas tree as ornaments!