Thank goodness for the long weekend! I still have a long ways to go, but I have made great progress in getting the
Mardi Gras Masquerade ready for this coming Saturday! My fairy costume is very nearly done, some tedious handstitching left on the top of the bodice, and details like adding ribbon to the mask & things, but at least wearable already! I could have been further along, but I really wanted to do the wings a certain way, which took something like 12-16 hours of handstitching I swear! :P A lot of the food is ready to go, but since I'm making new cookies which are a surprise, they are taking longer & more ingredients since they are oversized. All those need to be decorated tonight after work but at least I have 50 baked that haven't broken. There were more that were either attacked by stealthy kitties (tag-teaming ganging up on me isn't fair!) or just broke from being too thin in places.
party prep so far, starting 2 weeks before party day:
prebaked 30 creole chicken skewers
10 dozen spinach balls ready in freezer
gallon bag of crab triangles ready in freezer
sewed 4 new pillow covers (fabric purchased how many yrs ago? in 2005 I think?)
corset bodice from scratch w/ boning & grommets
costume underskirt (leftover aqua sheet scrap)
lavender gauze dress (pinned in 2002 but never finished until now)
custom fairy wings formed from wire, handstitched sheer iridescent fabric to frame (already had the wire, leftover fabric from 2002 wings that were tossed out in 2005)
purple plastic crown enhanced with beads & floral to be fairy princess crown
custom mask covered in bodice fabric to match
mowed & edged both lawns, plus other front yard cleanup so I won't be embarrassed
prepped 4 dozen new puff pastry tricolor scrolls ready in freezer
baked 3 qts caramel corn ("golden" caramel) with purple & green M&Ms
baked 5 dozen oversize sugar cookies (shhh - it's a surprise!), but so far only 29 iced white ready for further decorating
organized bead variety in bowl by door (I swear I NEVER need to buy beads again!)
some decorating done, more to do but that's fairly quick
...still LOTS to do, and I haven't even set up the webcam yet since the weather has been so bad I'm not sure it should go on the screened patio this time, even though that was an excellent spot at Halloween. Wish me luck getting everything done! :)
P.S. I have used my new "kitchen computer" for two recipes already and I love it! :D
Happy Birthday!