Usually, when I start a project, I have every intention to finish it.   That doesn’t mean that I don’t have a whole slew of partially finished project stashed away on the shelves.

Princess Petunia Attacks The Gown

I totally intend to finish them — someday.   However, once in a great while, I just hit a brick wall and say “no more!”.    That happened to me today.  By way of background, my family and I will be attending a charity event in memory of my cousin Karyn next week.  (check out this wonderful article about Karyn in the Billerica Green Newspaper). The theme of the event is “Prom Night”.  When I found out that all attendees were encouraged to wear real prom attire, I got really excited.  My brain was racing with great ideas — maybe an early Madonna-inspired dress with lots of tulle and long lace gloves; or perhaps something in the vein of “Pretty in Pink”.  I finally decided that I was going to make matching purple taffeta dresses for my daughter and me, and matching bow ties for my husband and son.  Who can deny the kitsch appeal?  C’mon, it would be the ultimate in prom cheese!

Spreading Out The Fabric

Well, here we are – less than a week before the event, and I realized I have committed myself to make 2 gowns and 2 bow ties in 4 days.  Not to mention, I am trying to get my act together for a craft fair for which I am totally unprepared, unpacking from an impromptu trip to NYC, and dealing with 2 very cranky, over-tired kids.  But, I was determined to give it my best shot.  I managed to get the bodice out and stitched together.  (My daughter took a photo of me laying out a burgundy dress to use as a pattern for the bodice of my purple gown).

Measuring the Gown

No sooner did I start sewing the bodice, the kids took the rest of the fabric and decided to make a tent out of it.  During the tent venture, my son managed to close the top to the storage ottoman on my daughter arm.  While dealing with arm-in-the-ottoman incident the cats decided to get into a fight in the middle of my fabric.  For the icing on the cake, my gathering thread broke on the skirt, and I was faced with starting the gathering process again.  Then, the light came on.  “Do I really need to do this?  Am I really this crazy?”  And, the answer was, no, I didn’t need to do this!  We will have just as much fun wearing something out of our closets.  So, I balled up the fabric, half-finished dress and all, put away the sewing machine, and called it a day.  It was cheap taffeta anyway, and I can always use it for a kid’s project.

It made me think a bit about how much of our day to day stress is really necessary and how much is self-induced.  Sometimes it feels really good to just say “no”.  And guess what I’ll be wearing to the event?  Yep, the same burgundy dress in the photo that I was using for a pattern.  Go figure!

Princess Petunia Sleeps on My Half-Finished Gown

In spite of our cats, our yard is filled with birds all year round.  At our feeder, we’ve seen woodpeckers, cardinals, doves, nuthatches, finches, titmice, bluejays, chickadees, sparrows and even wild turkeys!

Bird on a Branch Felted Bag

Last summer, a pair of chickadees made a nest in a birdhouse in our yard and laid their eggs.  For some reason, the parent pair abandoned the nest after the chicks hatched. (sadly, I suspect it had to do with having pest control treat our house for ants).  We called the Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Rhode Island to find out how we could save the chicks.  They were so helpful! Since it was a weekend, the rehabilitator whith whom we were working told us how to rescue the babies and take care of them until Monday when we could bring them into the rehab center.  We took the roof off the birdhouse to carefully remove the babies, placed them in a shoe-box with a towel and kept them warm with a heating pad.  Every few hours we fed them mashed up grapes.  When Monday came around, Jon drove the chicks to the rehab center where they could receive the care they needed.  I’m happy to say, all of the surviving chicks made it and were eventually released back into the wild in Rhode Island.

Opening Up The Birdhouse

Happy Chicks

Feeding the Chickadees

Recently, I was reading the WRARI newsletter and realized how expensive it really is to rehabilitate a wild animal.  Baby animals require round the clock care, special diets, and, depending on their situation, veterinary treatment for injuries.  Did you know it costs about $500 to rehab a fawn, $80 to rehab a baby bird and $25 to rehab a baby cottontail rabbit?  So, I decided to make a felted bag for the animals.  All proceeds from my “Bird On A Branch Bag” will go directly to the WRARI.

I’ve also put together this treasury of other Etsy sellers who are making items for charitable causes.  Please check them out when you get a chance.

Bird On A Branch - Proceeds to WRARI

Bird On A Branch – Listing