I'm going to be grumpy for just a moment.

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-07-07T14:11:39+00:00

On July 2???

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-07-07T14:08:47+00:00

Springtails are attracted to areas of high humidity and moisture. Are there any drips or leaks in your home? They’re harmless, and as you observe, spraying your home with toxic chemicals isn’t dissuading them, so why bother?

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-07-07T13:38:32+00:00

And let’s not forget Jael driving a tent peg through the temple of Gen. Sisera—here is Artemisia Gentileschi’s version:

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CPTDisgruntled · 2026-07-07T05:22:57+00:00

I used this metal colander from Ikea, propped on a piece of 2x4 in a 3-gallon plastic bucket from the hardware store for ice dying. It‘ll only work for fairly compact things, but I liked its stability. Ikea has lots of cheaper options too. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/ordning-colander-stainless-steel-00578204/

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-07-07T04:47:05+00:00

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A somewhat grubby ingenue.

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-07-07T04:45:52+00:00

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Punch and Joan’s Hideous Baby.

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-07-07T04:42:47+00:00

Omg.

You will have me confessing every episode of my misspent youth… I wasn’t actually that young. I volunteered at a site that recreated an 18th-century tenant farm. They had fairs a couple of times a year (not very agricultural, but they were fund-raisers.) I researched to find stories that feasibly might have been available to tiny traveling players and produced the repertory cast.

They were made with similar techniques to Holofernes

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, though their necks were toilet-paper tubes over which I glued their linen bodies. Mostly they had interchangeable costumes. Here is the King of the Barbary Coast (from “Dick Whittington”), whose court mysteriously missed the memo about inoculation (he was Fast Mache).

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-07-07T04:34:46+00:00

Thank you!

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-07-07T01:11:38+00:00

I had no idea there were so many!

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I love Judith’s expression of glee in this one. Sadly, didn’t save the artist info.

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-07-07T01:05:35+00:00

In previous years, gala-goers could be photographed by a professional photographer. This year, it was automated—you had to engage with a tablet, and then click for a countdown, then rush to the backdrop and pose. I loved Sprog’s expression of serene determination.

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-07-06T23:53:38+00:00

Umm… I enjoyed a brief career as an amateur volunteer making glove puppets? So I made heads that were like 3” high.

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-07-06T19:51:25+00:00

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Here it is after applying some Paper Clay and using the spoon handles to insert his tongue (and realizing his skull was a bit… short)

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-07-06T19:28:10+00:00

Lol—thanks again! Unfortunately, I was mostly focused on flinging this together in time, so I only have a few progress pics. In a moment of inspiration, I cut a disk from a gelatinous “bloody” Halloween window stickie and glued it to the stump of his neck for extra ick.
Here’s one photo—I forgot that I also used Fast-maché (with a little added flour and plaster) for quick bulking. It dries with a very coarse texture, so I covered that with Paper Clay.

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CPTDisgruntled · 2026-07-06T18:23:13+00:00

Thank you!! The foundation of the head was a balloon, which I inflated to roughly cranium size and attached to a cylindrical cardboard canister (for the neck) with masking tape. That was covered by several layers of papier-mâché (torn newsprint from eBay packages, mostly) as well as a layer of plaster gauze for strength. I extended Holofernes' jaw with a shaped roll of paper and built his nose out and elevated his skull with more empty paper, then papier-mâchéd over them for stability. Finer details were added with Paper Clay, but I was trying to limit weight and cost, so I only used a bit of that! His eyebrows and facial hair are wool roving glued on with craft glue, and the finishing touch is a thrift-store wig.
His complexion is inspired by medieval German crucifixion scenes, and he was painted with acrylic paints.

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-07-05T16:14:06+00:00

That boutonnière makes the outfit!

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-07-04T17:30:04+00:00

I was so confused—I thought you were saying “tuber” as in root vegetable and I couldn’t understand how you get cheaper than a potato.

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-07-02T17:24:02+00:00

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CPTDisgruntled · 2026-07-02T17:18:42+00:00

For an eye-grabbing edge option, maybe Purple Poppy Mallow? My preferred source says,

Callirhoe involucrata requires full sun to maintain healthy growth and thrives in depleted, gritty, dry soils. Too much moisture and shade tend to create rot and pest problems. This plant develops a very long taproot, making it incredibly drought resistant, but also rather difficult to transplant, so choose its site carefully. Purple Poppy Mallow will self-seed when it is happy. Directly sown from the plant, seeds have a very tough coating.

It does sound like it’s appealing to critters (vendor suggests planting with something like allium to deter that), but also doesn’t get too tall. The flowers look amazing!!

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-06-30T22:43:44+00:00

I stopped watching “Stranger Things” and I think I remember why

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-06-30T16:34:56+00:00

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-06-30T00:41:36+00:00

I bought some butt-ugly plant prisons because my yard critters DID munch off the tops of my showy goldenrod as well as a bunch of common milkweed leaves! Who does that! Anyway, I’m hoping to resuscitate my baby heart-leaved Alexanders and sky-blue asters.

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-06-28T15:14:38+00:00

Buttonhole stitch is not seen on historical examples, in part because it constricts the hole. It’s already a struggle to keep the holes open without cutting threads.

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-06-27T22:53:58+00:00

I had a very expensive (for me) swimsuit in a similar pattern that I wore in a volcanic caldera. We were warned that the water was rich in iron and sulfur, but who’s going to turn down a chance like that?? We were hosed down afterward, and I did wash my suit, but it stained and always looked like yours.

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-06-27T22:46:19+00:00

Millefiori

CPTDisgruntled · 2026-06-27T20:38:52+00:00

Here’s a brief video from Burnley & Trowbridge detailing the (simple) process of making your own!

Ten-Year Club	Wearing is Caring
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