Sea Monkey Mermaid

Dear Diary,

Every year, my father took my sisters and me to the Lowndes County Fair in Columbus, Mississippi. Before we could ride any of the carnival rides, it was a family tradition to go through the home economics building and look at every jam, jelly, and preserve, and all sorts of hobby, craft, or sewing project that the local 4-H or ladies’ clubs had made. We tried to hurry daddy through most of the exhibits but we always stopped reverently and stared longingly and in awe of this sock monkey. My sisters and I coveted that monkey!

Another thing we did every single year at the fair was throw horrible fits, drag our feet in the county fair dust, squall, whine, and complain about what we didn't get to do when Daddy said time to go. My poor Daddy, I don't know why he continued to take us year after year.

A few summers ago while on vacation, I found a sock shop that sold the red-heeled socks used for making sock monkeys. I could now have my own! There was another thing we fantasized about owning as children – Sea Monkeys. This doll is a combination of two fond childhood memories. I sent this one in to Art Doll Quarterly for a challenge and it was published - that was last summer and in the same issue as the Tree Sprite doll. I modified the tail when it came back because after looking at it again it looked like a bass tail! I gave that one to Leslie and made two more. Then I gave one of them to a friend I worked with at the elementary school . So now I have one. I want to make some more but what do you do with them? I've been buying some cool old fake pearls and old sea themed jewelery to put on them. I've got the goodies in a shoe box and every now and then I pull them out and look at them. What do ya'll do with all the Art stuff you make? Mine is starting to accumulate. If they were cats - the city would be after me.