candy costumes for red cross donations!

when i was seven my wonderful grandfather gave me a ring with my birthstone in it. it was an emerald cut alexandrite (not quite sure that's how it's spelled but i guess it's a bit late for me to start bein' concerned with spellin' dontcha think?) in a dainty gold setting. it was of course the first piece o' jewelry i had ever received besides the pin i got when joinin' the blue birds. then when i was eight that same incredible grandfather gave me my first watch. since my family's idea of jewels leaned more toward soap on a rope than anything insurable, i wasn't gifted with any other precious metals or gleamin' gems until my first true love jerry fairchild gave me a gold bangle bracelet the summer before we headed off to college.

by the time i was out o college my birthstone ring didn't fit any more, the timex no longer kept time and the bangle bracelet was pretty much mangled. and though i had started rakin' in a bevy o baubles from the dashin' dare devils i dated, those first pieces o jewelry were, along with my bluebird pin, my most prized possessions. while the blue bird pin was always safe in the top drawer of my mom's dresser, the ring, watch and bracelet were kept in the lil velvet box the bracelet had come in.

i am not sure how it happened but the lil velvet box got lost when i left my last residence in texas. i didn't even realize it was missin' for a couple of years but when i did it made my sick to my stomach and still does whenever i think about it disappearin'. for a few years i kept hopin' it would turn up in one o my boxes of art supplies or photos but after a while had to accept that it was really gone. at least i knew my blue bird pin was in a safe place...or at least i thought it was. when i cleaned out my mom's house after she died and it was no longer in the top drawer of her dresser, i was sure i'd come across it in one of the other places she stashed the family heirlooms but unfortunately it never materialized.

when i watched hurricane katrina unfold on the television screen i felt really guilty that i had ever even mourned the loss of those tiny lil pieces o my past and vowed not to ever think about them again. of course with the passage of even such a short period o time, my promise not to think about my lost trinkets faded and i have to admit i have thought about them now and then. but...after a week of watching my fellow california citizens sift through the ashes that were once their homes full of their own precious trinkets and photographs and beloved doo dads, i feel i have no right to ever think about 'em again.

i have to figure out how to really help the poor people who have lost their homes... i would certainly need someone to help me if i i suffered the same loss. for the time bein', since i am sure many of you feel the same way i do, i thought i'd provide a way for us to do something that could be done quickly and easily.....so....if you'll please make a donation of at least five dollars to the red cross and send me a copy o the email receipt they send you, i'll send you these delightful doo dads! i'm sure you must have some naked candy in need o halloween costumes and you can't find any more festive than these created with doo dads by my dear friends lori, bettyc, christa and lisar. even if you've already dressed your candy for this halloween, you can always get 'em now and use 'em for every halloween from now on!

the red cross web address is http://american.redcross.org and i am pretty sure they take all sorts o credit cards. once you have your proof o donation just shoot me a copy to neekedcandycostumes@mojacksonslildoodadshop.com and i will send along file for you to download halloween costumes for your neeked candy bars and lifesavers as well as some instructions for gettin' 'em printed and on the candy. if you have any questions please send 'em along and for all who participate, let me thank you ahead o time! and if any o you ever hear me whinin' about losin' my earliest momentos please feel free to remind me of those who have been left with nary a one!

ribbon revelation

the last thing jo said to me before settin' out on her long road trip was that she'd wring my neck if she returned to find my ribbon collection in the same big tangled mess it took her almost two weeks straight to get organized. since i take all jo's threats seriously, i truly tried to keep all the ribbons in order by color and coiled perfectly just as they were when she pulled the silver bullet outta the driveway. i'm not sure how it happened but in no time they were once again just a big ol shiny pile o' tangled trimmins' - as you can see in the before pictures.

i have a hard time believin' it was me who is responsible. maybe it was tink. i do, afterall, have this picture i could hurl toward jo if i wanted to place all the blame on the fluffy lil creature. but jo would just say tink was tryin' to get them all straightened up again.

however it was that they got all tangled again, i had to act quickly to fix 'em back up.it was finally time for me to figure out some solution that would actually work for me. i've tried just about everything...jo's coils, racks in all shapes and sizes, my dear mason jars, big bins...i could go on and on....if you've seen or heard of it i've tried it. each one of 'em worked...if i wanted to just ADMIRE my colorful collection. but none of 'em worked after one search for whatever it was i needed. the end result was always the same big tangled mess.

it was time for one o my three hour tours of the hardware store with the mission o findin' the perfect ribbon rack for a piggly person who can't keep things neat but hates anything outta place.

i took tink and coco along for moral support and we traveled up and down every aisle - all thirty-two of 'em. of course along the way i found many items i couldn't live without - so many in fact that at one point i was afraid i'd have to take the girls outta the basket to keep 'em from gettin' squashed. when we hit aisle number thirty-two outta thirty-two without findin' a solution to my dilemma i started tryin' to figure out how i could get all the coilin' done in such a short period o time. but at the very end o that very last aisle, my perfect ribbon rack was waitin' for me. it was diquised as a hook of some kind to hang a bicycle on but i wasn't fooled for a minute. it was just the thing i'd been needin' all my ribbon rackin' life!

as you can see in the 'after' shot, this set-up might not work for everyone but it is more than perfect for me! it took me no time to pitch the ribbons all on and now when i need one of 'em i can easily poke through the whole shabang to find what i want....and the best thing is - i actually put everything back when i'm done! i'm tryin' to get the rest o the doo dad den organized but when that's done i'll make my new ribbon setup a bit neater but for now i am more than pleased with it!

i'd love to be one o those less-piggly artists capable of inspirin' you with lots o pretty supply set-ups...i must accept that i will never be in that group. i'm hopin' a coupla you visitors are more on the piggly side too and can also solve your trimmin' troubles with a ribbon rack disguised as a bike hook!