I’m sure I’ve done stranger things, but it might take a while to recall what those things were.

It’s hard to top having spent several hours decorating the skulls of dead fish.

In the big city, such behavior might earn me the title of Performance Artist. In these parts, though, I expect folks are more likely to be calculating what size back-strapping jacket I’ll need.

The adventure began with my daughter Celeste and her friend, Emillia Samosky, visiting a yard sale on our street. They returned with several strands of multi-colored wire garland, a white silk corsage, and two rectangular Styrofoam blocks meant to serve as a base for flower arrangements.

The girls looked at these items and saw in them the foundation for building monsters.

 I looked at the items and saw the possibility for getting much done while they were distracted.

It wasn’t long, though, before they needed help with a nonfunctioning outlet, and the next thing I knew, I was rummaging through the garage, looking for monster-making materials of my own.

When our home’s previous owners moved out, they left behind a good bit of stuff in their garage, and we’ve had fun gradually sorting through what they left. Among the more curious things we found was a stringer of fish heads that dangled from a nail near the door. I don’t know much about fish beyond the tartar sauce part, but we were told the heads came from Muskies, which are large and fierce-looking fish with many small, jagged teeth.

Celeste was so thoroughly repulsed by the fish skulls that we quickly removed them.

And relocated them to random places throughout our house.

Fish heads are surprisingly handy devices, ideal for holding keys, posting notes, and storing hair bands. Ours wore witch hats at Halloween, a pilgrim’s hat at Thanksgiving, and what better way to say Merry Christmas! than with a holly-wrapped fish head, complete with glowing candle propped in its jaws?

The skeletal Muskies also turned out to be the ideal starting point for making a monster, although Celeste and Emillia initially disagreed. They wanted nothing to do with the pair of dusty, cobwebby fish heads I brought from the garage. Until I spray-painted the heads shiny silver, and their interest was piqued.While the girls worked to embellish their Styrofoam one-eyed and multi-eyed monsters, my silver fish heads went the glam route, with feathers, lashes and breasts.

In time, the Short One and her friend began to be swayed by the influence of the group’s elder member, and were soon adorning their monsters with such charming details as a uni-brow, soul patch, and chest and pit hair.

Most creative projects for kids involve craft shop staples like felt, pipe cleaners, and puff balls, not severed doll limbs, spray-painted glove thumbs, and an assortment of glued together washers and nuts.

Frankenstein would’ve been proud.

Martha Stewart would not.  

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