There Is a Season for Everything… and Thank Goodness This One Is Indoors 😂
Hi Friend! 💖
I have a confession.
My biggest joy this week might be that Halloween is officially OVER.
😂
You would think that as a professional face painter, Halloween would be my absolute favorite.
Costumes! Creepy faces! Spooky everything!
And listen — I will absolutely show up and give the people what they want.
But personally?
I am VERY ready to turn the page toward Christmas.
This weekend’s Vault + Vine Makers Market in New Bloomfield felt like the perfect little finale. There was a Halloween parade rolling through town, familiar faces stopping by, costumes everywhere, and plenty of interesting requests coming through my chair.
And naturally, I made most of them significantly more sparkly than necessary.
Because that part I can get behind. 😂✨
Give Me Something Weird and Let’s Figure It Out
My favorite face of the day was a little girl dressed as Scarlet Overkill from the Minion movie.
Neither of us could quite figure out what “Scarlet Overkill face paint” was supposed to look like.
So we abandoned that plan and started putting Minions all over her face.
She decided where they went, how many eyeballs they needed, and what their hair should look like. Then came spiderwebs and, naturally, a tiny smiley face on her chin.
By the time we were finished, she was delighted.
That’s one of my favorite kinds of creativity.
You don’t always need to know exactly what you’re making before you begin.
Sometimes you just start somewhere, play a little and see what happens.
The Little Ones Always Find Me
But my favorite part of the whole day wasn’t even something I painted for a customer.
It was the other vendors’ kids.
I know how hard it is to run a booth while also keeping track of your children, so I’m always happy when the little ones wander into my world.
For once, the busiest person at the event wasn’t the face painter. 😂 It was one very caffeinated mama pumping out coffee all day.
Her two little kids kept coming over to visit me — asking questions, trying to help and hanging around all the colorful stuff.
At the end of the day, while everyone was packing up, I loaded a couple brushes with paint and handed them over.
It was so precious to see her enthusiastically meet his requests for certain subjects and colors and specific glitter accentuations.
As soon as she thought she was finished there was always just one more request! 🤣.
Such a great big sister!
Faces. Arms. Whatever they could reach. 😂
If there isn’t weather coming, I’m usually in no giant rush anyway.
So why not let the kids play?
Those little relationships around the edges of everything else are often my favorite part.
My Poor Tent Deserves a Medal
The other enormous source of joy?
That was my last scheduled outdoor event of the year.
HIP HIP HOORAY. 😂
Normally, painting is almost entirely muscle memory for me. My brushes move with my hands without me thinking very hard about them.
When I get cold?
Apparently my brushes become popcorn.
They just POP out of my fingers in random directions because my extremities stop cooperating.
And then there’s my tent.
My poor tent has been hanging on for dear life for what feels like YEARS. I’ve literally drawn little hearts around its especially tender spots as reminders:
Slow down. Be nice to her. Don’t force it.
Last weekend one of the nuts and bolts came loose and made part of the tent nearly impossible to articulate.
Thankfully, I was set up next to an old seasoned pro named Stan.
Stan lent me his screwdriver and started sharing clever little tricks for making things work when you don’t have the right tool.
The funniest part was how badly I wanted to say:
Stan. I used to be a home improvement contractor. I KNOW HOW TO DO THIS.
😂
I traded my screwdrivers and hammers for paintbrushes and Sparkles a long time ago.
But sometimes people really enjoy being useful.
So I let Stan teach me.
Naturally, he became Stan the Man.
There Really Is a Season for Everything
I keep thinking about this verse:
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” — Ecclesiastes 3:1
Maybe part of appreciating a season is knowing when you’re ready for the next one.
Fall was beautiful.
Highland was beautiful.
The community events were beautiful.
The little pumpkins, princesses, sparkly cheeks and ridiculous Halloween requests were beautiful.
And I am still completely ready to go inside.
Warm fingers.
No wind.
No weather variables.
Christmas.
Sparkles.
YES, PLEASE.
Something Is Starting to Wake Up Again
I also spent some time this weekend making room to create again — not some giant new body of work, just enough room to focus on one project at a time.
Right now I have one of my big three-foot-by-three-foot acrylic pours sitting where I can stare at it.
It’s one I never really considered a success. I used too much paint, it dried in ways I didn’t love, and for a long time it just felt unfinished.
But suddenly I’m looking at it differently.
I can see something beautiful hiding inside it.
Maybe glitter.
Maybe gold leaf.
Maybe radiant translucent bursts of color.
Maybe epoxy.
Maybe even hair tinsel because apparently we have completely lost control. 😂
I don’t know yet.
I’m just wondering:
How do I help this thing radiate the badass beauty I know is buried inside it?
And honestly?
That sounds fun.
Christmas Is Coming FAST
My first Christmas craft show of the season is already here.
This weekend I’ll be at Carlisle High School, which means I have a whole lot of Sparkle-making to do first.
Our limited-edition Winter Wonderland Sparkle Gift Sets are coming back, plus a take-home Hair Tinsel Kit.
And this year I’m creating something brand new:
Warm cinnamon-bun deliciousness with creamy icing and sparkle.
Obviously. 😂
The minute I start concocting new scents and shimmer, my brain immediately starts inventing seventeen more things.
I KNOW.
Apparently my creative brain did not receive the memo that I already have enough on my plate.
So this week I’m putting my head down, enlisting my kids where I can, getting the necessary things done…
…and hopefully leaving myself just enough room to PLAY.
A Little Something to Reflect On
Maybe there’s a season in your own life that was good…but you’re ready for something different.
Maybe there’s also something you’ve written off because it didn’t turn out the way you expected.
What if it isn’t ruined?
What if it just isn’t finished yet?
Maybe it needs a new layer.
A different perspective.
A little patience.
Or, in my case…
probably glitter. 😂✨
I’m grateful for another fall season.
Grateful for the little ones who wander into my world.
Grateful for Stan the Man and his screwdriver.
And genuinely excited to see what happens when I make a little room to play again.
Come Find Me This Weekend! 🎄✨
And just like that, Christmas craft-show season begins!
Come find me this Saturday, November 7, from 9 AM–3 PM at the Carlisle Christmas Craft Show at Carlisle High School.
I’ll be there with face paint, henna, hair tinsel, all the Sparkles, and our limited-edition Winter Wonderland Sparkle Gift Sets making their seasonal debut. ✨
I’m ready for warm fingers, Christmas energy, familiar faces, and a whole new season of colorful fun.
With love, color and absolutely no desire to paint outside in the cold,
Brookie 💖