Ever wonder why some things never seem to grow old? How we never tire of revisiting them and expressing them in new and different ways?!
While certain other things are so trendy they fizzle out after only a few months?
Newsprint is one of those items for me that some how always looks fresh and interesting.
One rainy afternoon while "trapped" in the house when I was a kid, and after pestering my Grandfather "What are you reading? What does that spell? Can I look through your glasses? Do they help you read? Who is that a picture of"? He decided it might be easier on him to put me to "work"!
So he patiently taught me to make newspaper hats! I thought he was a Genius! I was hooked! And apparently easily entertained!
I made tri corner hats for every doll and stuffed toy I had!
I decorated my hats with colorful cutouts from the comics.
And cut out little "ransom" style letters to spell out each dolls name.
Glancing into my room it must have looked like a virtual tabloid army!
A dozen smiling faces all lined up in a row!
Needless to say, it kept me busy the rest of the day!
And every time I see one of those hats my thoughts tumble back to dream like days,
and Grandfather sacrificing his yet unread pages just to make me happy!
For complete diagrams and instructions, pick up a copy of the newest issue of Somerset Life Winter 2008 on news stands now.
And just to get you started and keep you from mischief on the next rainy afternoon, here is a little gift for you, just click on the blue butterfly to download it, recopy one image smaller so you have two different sizes, one larger, one smaller, back them each to cardstock and glue at the center. Be sure to give them the feeling of "motion" by shaping the wings a bit.
Some details: The bust is one of my painted porcelain dolls, she's got inset French paper weight blue glass eyes, and wears a human hair wig. I pierced her ears before firing her and made her a pair of freshwater pearl and garnet earrings. As I had in mind to create a wig stand rather than a typical doll, no arms or legs were poured and she is mounted on an ornate base that was originally a little boudoir lamp. She stands about 24" tall and is dressed in a shawl made from a wide piece of antique French lace. As for the blonde puppet doll, look HERE for all of the specifics on how she was created. The illustrations are my colorized and recombined versions of the wonderful old classic Alice in Wonderland, of which the black and white original versions were taken. Look HERE to see the beautiful little book its self, which once belonged to my husbands Grandmother Pearl.
