A needle in a haystack

No dreams, and if there were, I don't remember them. 

Yep - at this rate, I might get one or two things off that table by Christmas! I only finished the third of those three small projects - that's it! And I didn't do much else either, but that's OK because I stopped to chat with a neighbor about dogs on my walk, had a snooze, and read a bit, plus DH and I went to his golf club for Thanksgiving lunch. No need to mess up the kitchen! It was great, and I didn't feel like I overate, but I didn't need dinner last night, and I'm still not hungry. It's that darn turkey!!! 

But something very bizarre happened in Studio B. You know, everyone talks about finding a needle in a haystack; well, I did! Yep --- I found something I never thought I'd find, and it's so tiny that the chances of it happening, and when it did, well, that's a flipping miracle. 

And NO - it was not the missing templates. 

As I was finishing up my mini project, it called for adding blush to the face. As I was out walking the dogs, I remembered that years ago, I had a small stencil brush and a tube of paint that I used to add blush to faces. I know that it's in a foldover top zippered plastic bag. I had totally forgotten about that, and the last time I used it would be years ago! 

So where the heck could that be? 

As I was out in the afternoon, I remembered a box of similar projects, and perhaps it was in there. When I got home, I dug that box out. 

A box of ornament kits

OH MY -- I should not have opened that box because I found a TON of things that are partially started, patterns, trims, and doodads to complete these projects, and brand new kits. That is a nightmare waiting to happen when I pull that box out to work on it. At the rate I'm going, it would take a year to complete all the projects in the box, and that's just one box of many in the closet where I found it. At least, I knew exactly where it was! 

I decided to dig everything out of the box in case the little plastic bag I was looking for was somewhere in there. Alas, I did NOT find the stencil bush. I'm going to start a list of lost things because it's driving me crazy! I'm pretty sure the stencil brush is in a project box, which is a bad thing to do. 

BUT as I emptied the tub, guess what I found? Well, you didn't know it was missing because it was part of the third project I'm working on, and I haven't said a word about it. 

The box was filled with kits for candle mats or ornaments. The candle mat I'm working on has these tiny little buttons shaped like a bat. The box where I dug out this project is on the OPPOSITE side of the room, in another storage area. The kit box was open, and when I dug out all the supplies, one of the teeny tiny bat buttons was missing. 

So when I found the teeny tiny bat button at the bottom of that tub, it was a miracle! That container must have originally been in the bigger box, and when I moved it out, that button fell out. But what are the chances of finding that little thing, and at the very moment when I was working on the project where it came from? Yep -- if that isn't like finding a needle in a haystack, I don't know what is!

The missing bat button

Here's a close-up - that button is tiny!

It's about one inch long

Here's the container where I found the original kit. Not even in the same room. 

The second box of ornament kits

But I have a feeling that I separated the kits - the Halloween and Christmas ones. So help me god - why did I purchase so many? 

More Halloween ornament kits

I think at one point, I made kits to teach this as a class because I found so many supplies. Let's not discuss the logistics of that, and let's call it a day! 

Supplies to make ornaments

I found candle mats that were almost completed. They just need the accessories put on. 

Some projects are partially completed

I found oodles of patterns, including a duplicate, so if anyone wants one of these, it's yours! It's a witch table runner. I don't even know if this company is still around -- Happy Hollow? I think so - I just Googled it and a whole pile of new patterns popped up. I do NOT need another pattern!

Witch table runner - up for grabs

Now that I have found the missing bat button, but not the blush, it's time to audition those buttons, as I had searched through my button box the night before and found two substitutes. 

Option Number One

Option Number Two - the original 

I liked the star buttons that I had found because they were larger. The bat buttons gave the little guy a sleepy appearance. 

So I grabbed my pliers, which were super handy in the drawer with all the beading tools! 

A drawer for beading tools

I snipped off the shanks on the back. That particular tool snips the shanks off flat, which is very nice. It had been missing in action for a while, but when I went through all the beads a while back, I put all the tools in one drawer. As I mentioned yesterday, Studio B is becoming a quilter's haven, except for the missing templates and stencil brush! 

The shanks are completely gone! 

So, minus the blush, which I can add when I find the darn thing, the little candle mat is done! Instead of gluing the trim to the hat, I stitched it on, and next time, I'll hand embroider his mouth, but it's fine! And it looks stinking cute!!!! I debated putting a hanger on it, because what am I supposed to do with a candle mat anyway? It's about eight inches across. 

The 99% completed candle mat

And that brings me to those three boxes that were delivered last week. 

They are from IKEA and are called Helgeo - Decorating rods for table decor. You clamp them to the ends of your table and add decorations. You have to look very closely to see it in this picture. 

The table decorating rod

But here is my Halloween witch hanging on it. I used a clothespin, as that's all I had handy. 

My candle mat is on the decoration rod

Then I added some fall leaves. 

The witch with some fall leaves

Why do I need three? Well, these rods are going to be super handy. If I ever need to embroider something heavy, like a quilt, I can use the rod and a bungee cord or two to take the weight of the quilt off the embroidery arm. When I take pictures of sewing machines for my blog posts, I can drape a fabric/quilt over the rod and get a super background. And when not in use by either of those things, I can put decorations on it! I LOVE it. Thanks to Becky for bringing it to my attention! 

Why three? When I do Facebook Lives or any other event, I can put three on each of the tables I use and very quickly get a nice clean backdrop!!! The pole is quite sturdy, and you can vary its length. They cost $40 at IKEA. 

I'm off to spin class, and that's all the time I have this morning. 

Happy Thanksgiving and have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!