Things to do in Bellingham- go down to my basement - make paper houses on glued wooden blocks , cover with plaster, more glue , paint, glass Glitter , stick something tiny on it, add bottle brush trees and a few pebbles and call it a village. I have made three , this one is the most recent , but is it complete- not sure. It was going to have little people attached but I am conflicted about the little people chosen...
I bought the little people at AL , but when I got them home and looked more closely , the box said limited addition, I googled- and that is where the dilemma became dilemma.
You can see that they are the size of less than a dime, just the right size for the villages but, turns out, they are highly collectable, says Google. First addition Hummel , 1988. Collectors have paid $175.00 a few years ago and more than $200.00 initially. CRAZY!! Also on closer inspection , the figures are detailed , not made of resin crap and the base is bronze, stamped for authenticity. I guess I won't be using E6000 to stick them to the glittered foreground . So, if any of you collect these tiny treasures let me know and you can have it for less than $175.00!!!
I found two perfect boxes that held jewelry at one time, in good nick. I painted one and made a paper house to stick on top, It was dull so I cut a hole in the back and added a mini night light that cycles through all of the colors. The battery can be replaced, so says the insert...The real gift will be inside the box.
Anyway I will be adding to the garden area of this house - but it will not be the little Hummel folks. There will be glass snow around the base- maybe a tiny dinosaur or forest animal - I do have a tiny shark that would be "scale", maybe that...
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The deck is beginning to look post prime of everything, especially the squash leaves They look like ghosts. Dennis brought in the largest of the green tennis ball tomatoes. No chance of any of them ripening on the vine, the mornings are feeling like a change gonna come!
Maple , pretty sure that it is for carving and having her own jack-o-lantern, looks for the sharpest sword in the drawer.
That idea was discouraged.
The rest of the peanuts have been tossed out for the blue jays and squirrels. Emily got a notice from one of her neighbors asking that people not put peanuts out for the birds because of allergy! Also , when Flora goes to school, her lunch and snack are to be nut free.
This allergy is a new phenomena. Read here. In the 90's it was advised to not give babies Peanut butter until age four, thus screwing up the entire system of tolerance. Like kids raised in sterile homes, no eating of dirt to keep them from dying from dirt later. Just parents trying to do the best for their kids. Never questioning the rational behind Pro advice. I always questioned, we always had peanut butter, Erik did not die. Was I a shite parent? Probably.
Blooming now! More orange on the deck in the sunshine than when they bloom inside. When I bring them in for winter they bloom red.
We have too many plants to house over winter- The pink flamingo light can only do so much...
i think i would rather find small hummel figures that the plenty of precious moments that one of my local church thrifts has. i think someone gave me one at one time. i wanted to ask if i looked like a precious moments person....... perhaps the hummel figures can rotate scenes.
ReplyDeletekirsten
ps you can tell those are older ones as their faces are so sweet. newer made stuff seems to have lost all sweetness.
Deletekirsten
I did not know what "Precious Moments "were , I thought that collectors of "Precious Moments "were like zen folks...Then i saw the little dumpy figurines and i got the heebie jeebies! I am giving all of the villages away, we are having christmas here with family so they can take them if they want them. The tiny people would be stuck on just one village, or not...
DeleteWe definitely have gone in a week's time from high nineties to sixties, and forties overnight. It's crazy. Definitely not summer anymore.
ReplyDeleteIT"S OVER! Get out the winter gear!
DeleteIt's NOT over! 99F this weekend! Aaaaarrgghhh. I am tired of summer, I would like autumn now. I didn't realize the villages were package decorations. That is really fancy. I used to hot glue flowers and picks from Michaels on boxes. They were gorgeous, people drove me crazy trying not to tear the paper. No mas, it's gift bags for me now. The Hummel children are darling.
ReplyDeletewow, it is hot over yonder! I think it got up to 67 today, I am still wearing typical bellingham winter wear. Seems to be the same for all seasons. The larger villages will not be on top of boxes- they weigh too much- pretty solid wood base. But, maybe if I find wooden boxes that would work! Gift bags are great! The less hassle the better!
DeleteYou were not a shite parent. I imagine you were careful and would have taken Erik to the hospital if he had any allergic reactions, but not having the fun stuff just in case? That's silly. I never even gave any thought to allergies, just fed my kids whatever we were eating. We did notice when our third child had coca cola she got a little wired and hard to settle, so we switched to pepsi which doesn't contain red colouring and she was fine. We didn't have fizzy soft drinks very often anyway.
ReplyDeleteThe houses and village are fine but it's a shame you can't put the little Hummels in. I really like the collection of mushrooms/toadstools you have there.
curious about coke and pepsi- we never had either but interesting that red dye would have such an effect. The smaller mushroom was hand thrown by a friend of my son's , The others are just commercial though well done- the usual "made in China'.
DeleteNot a shite parent at all. Science now understands that exposure to everything from youngest possible ages strengthens immune systems and better prepares them for distinguishing friend from genuine foe. Imagine not being able to enjoy peanut butter (and forcing everyone around you to go without as well).
ReplyDeleteYes science is realizing that children on the farm have always had fewer allergies-"how can that be" they wondered - so, a huge experiment on the population was done . Now we are dealing with it and peanuts are not allowed in public!! Question everything. Especially arrogance!
DeleteIt is odd how kids have dietary allergies they never had before. I had terrible, terrible hayfever when I was a child and was allergic to cats and dogs. All of those passed when I was in my thirties and forties. Why? Who the hell knows?
ReplyDeleteBellingham. My brother went there for college in the seventies and never left. I wonder how often you've seen him, never knowing...
I visited there once. I really liked it. That was quite awhile back.
Those little Hummels are pretty darling. And I adore the light in the house. You are definitely taking Christmas to a new level here.
well, you should come to Bellingham again- you can stay here and have the kitchen to yourself!! Mini nightlights are clever aren't they! You can put them in anything small and get away with it!
DeleteNow they tell people to start giving peanut butter (tiny amounts) when still babies. I'm just glad I don't have a nut allergy because I love it. Those Hummels are cute. I've never seen the tiny ones. I have some of the bigger ones. I suspect yours have more value than mine. Yes, probably smart to hold off with the e-6000. But I love the houses. They are enchanting!
ReplyDeleteThe little Hummels are sweet and would be perfect for the village but I can not bear seeing it land in land fill .
DeleteLove the little lit house with color changes. And the Hummel tiniest (I wanted to say plural tiny, but tiny-ies doesn't exist apparently). On allergies...I think I read once that use of chemicals in growing crops has changed the food we eat completely, so that may be a factor. Of course I eat organic every chance I get.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about chemicals and toxins in crops - we only eat organic these days because we can afford it. Maybe that is why peanuts suddenly became poisonous?
DeleteI never knew Hummels came that small. My mom had a Hummel but neither my brother nor I wanted it. I think we left it for the person who bought the house. It was broken anyway.
ReplyDeleteThe increase in peanut allergies is perplexing. I think it's because childhood is so much cleaner than it used to be -- kids staying inside in sterile environments. When I was a kid we played in the dirt and our immune systems knew who the enemy was!
we ate mud pies, we sucked on rusty bolts, still alive after a childhood of eating the inedible , germy, nasty stuff! You have a strong immune system, thank playing in the dirt for that!
DeleteThe Hummel pair are lovely/is lovely(?)
ReplyDeleteUK schools have been outlawing all nuts for at least 25 years. Anaphylactic shock can be a killer.
I always believed in the 'eat a peck of dirt before you die' rule. Even so, my eldest daughter developed an allergy to kiwi fruit, of all things.
That is an odd allergy- But I suppose Kiwi are not in everyone 's bowl of fruit- rare!
Deleterequesting people to not put out peanuts for the birds in their yard because someone in the area might have peanut allergies? yeah, fuck that. just too over the top and too controlling. touching, smelling, or inhaling peanuts will not cause a reaction, you have to fucking eat them. my neighbor is allergic to pecans and yet he can shell them all day long with nary a reaction. people need to get a grip. immune systems are built through exposure starting from birth. sterile homes with kids not allowed to play outside and get dirty grow up to be sick adults. I had terrible allergies when I was a kid...dogs, cats of which we had both in the house, trees and dust and basically the whole outdoors and we lived in a wooded area and played down by the bayou. by the time I was 20, no allergies.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right! People are incredibly weird/protective/hovering/controlling these days. Poor kids...
DeleteEh, money is made up, I say glue 'em down, they would be perfect in a sparkly village.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your sparkle villages!!!
Ok then, I agree! However I must be sure which village they would want to live in for E6000 eternity!
DeleteP.S. Wow, I looked up peanut allergies and there is an interesting reason--among others--people are washing their skins too much!
ReplyDelete"Peanut preparation (dry roasted vs. boiled or fried), delayed consumption of peanuts in young children, genetic factors, ***skin adaptations caused by regular bathing that lets peanut proteins penetrate the skin***, changing agricultural methods and a weakened immune system may all be to blame.
Feb 26, 2024"
https://foodallergiesatlanta.com/food-allergy-blog/increasing-prevalence-of-peanut-allergies/
But right, you have to *eat* them to die:
Delete"Even if you are allergic to peanuts, touching, smelling or inhaling particles from peanuts cannot cause an allergic reaction—at least not the serious, life-threatening type that everyone with a peanut allergy fears. You are not in danger unless you eat them."
Thanks for the link. Hippies were right. Don't bathe everyday, eat organic, put peanuts in every dish!
DeleteI was born in Germany and mum bought a Hummel figurine while my parents lived there. I still have it and always think of her when I look at it.
ReplyDeleteI love your paper houses! And your beautiful blue lake. Parental advice is constantly being revised. When our son was born the wisdom was to always place him on his stomach. Two years later when our daughter was born, the advice had changed--always put the baby down on her back. You weren't a shite parent. You did what felt right, and your boy thrived!
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