jump up and down

happy halloween

 

Hello!  I hope you all had a fabulous Halloween and before it gets too much past, I wanted to share our costumes.  I know I said earlier that I wasn't making anything for the boys, but after waking up in the middle of the night early last week and having the thought that I wasn't making their costumes be the first thing that came to me, I changed my mind and made an emergency trip into to town for fabric and accessories.  I convinced myself to buy pleather for the first time to make Batman costumes for both of the boys - one in black and one in silver.  You won't be seeing the black one here, because when it came down to it, Ned was still pretty set on being the "green dinosaur" that he had picked out of Grandma's costume box, so now I suppose I have something for next year if he wants, or just for dress-up. 

The pleather was actually pretty easy to work with and I loved using it for the appliques because there weren't any raw edges that had to be sewed over.  I just used a straight stitch to attach those bats.  I did have to be a bit careful about not pinning too much and pinning in inconspicuous locations because the pleather isn't very forgiving when it comes to pinholes.  Other than that, it really wasn't that difficult to work with.  And he didn't actually end up wearing the mask even though that was the only part of the costume he wanted to wear to school for his party (and the only part I really thought he should leave out for school).  

And my costume - it has been a really long time since I have dressed up for Halloween and I really wanted to this year, so here I am - the fairly friendly witch.  I made my skirt from a $4 piece of vintage grey and black woven plaid and then added some vintage trim on top of grosgrain ribbon to the hem.  I did have to make a tulle underskirt (with some help from my mom) to add a little volume to all of that skirt.  You can't see my shoes very well, but they were incredibly pointy and thrifted for $4.  I added some rick rack and ribbon to a $2 shirt.  I actually tried to reconstruct another $2 shirt first, but that turned out to be a disaster, so I got a shirt that fit the second time around and just embellished!  My Mom gave me the hat from her costume box (the one that I remember from my childhood, although I don't think I've been a witch before) and I also embellished that.  I made some of my first Wisecraft Fabric Flowers and added one to the hat and one as a brooch at the top of the cape.  I had a lot of fun with this - I just might have to make another one next year!

And our little green dinosaur.  My Mom made this costume for my younger brother about 20 years ago.  It was a little big for Ned, but that made it easy to put his jacket under it.  He also wouldn't wear the headpiece that went with it.  He actually didn't even want to go trick or treating.  I was convinced that he wouldn't be too happy with that decision when his brother brought home a big bagful of candy, so we finally got him to tell us that he thought there would be scary monsters there.  Once we assured him that there wouldn't be any and that if there were, Dad would be there to keep him safe, he put on a smile and his costume and we made it out the door.  Now I just need to figure out the best way to deal with all that candy.  This is the first year that they are both begging for it constantly and the first year that I think they might notice if some accidentally went missing.  What do you do with it?

getting ready to trick or treat

Thanks so much for our feedback about my pickle.  I still haven't really made a final decision about what I will do, but I have decided that I will keep blogging and that the content here will be pretty similar to what it's been in the past - a little bit of everything.  I think this was really just brought on by the start of school and having a new schedule and me not being sure to where to fit in the blogging.  I'll have to work on that.  I usually don't have such a rough time getting used to a new schedule.

I have been working on a few projects to get ready for Halloween.  The boys both chose costumes from my Mom's store (she has kept every costume she's ever made and every costume item she's ever bought - she's been making costumes for a long time - there's a lot to choose from!), so I don't have costumes to make.  Well, except one for me...we'll see if that gets finished.  I have one major part of it finished, so maybe it will happen.  I haven't dressed up in a proper costume in a few years and I've missed it.  

With no costumes to make, I thought I could get to making some trick-or-treat bags.  This is a pattern that my Mom made when I was a kid and I was so excited that she still had it!  You can see mine below (so glad I still have it!) and I'm almost finished with the boys.
I always loved having this great bag to take to gather my goodies on Halloween night and I hope the boys love them too!

You can find one more thing I did for Halloween here - I've been such a slacker blogger lately that I have to depend on my friends to blog for me!  Thanks Missy!

super swap

I just thought you should know that Beth over at Modern Jax is hosting a super fun Scrappy Christmas Block Swap.   Sign-ups end on August 1st.  I am so looking forward to a fab Christmas quilt this year!  Thanks Beth!

happy st. patty's

thanks for the glasses grandma!

our favorite sugar cookie recipe here

planning: easter

These are last year's eggs - complete with the stained hands that helped dye them.

I've been thinking about Easter - luckily, it is fairly late this year (April 12th), so I've got time to get a few things made before then.  Here are some things that might be in the works in the next couple of weeks (yes, I am probably being way too ambitious, but a girl can dream, right?)

Toys for the Boys
    Definitely a Rocket Man Ship for each of them via the Long Thread
    Maybe some Felt/Play Food, inspiration courtesy of Flickr

Decorations
    A Flower Garland via Creature Comforts
    An Egg Garland via Martha
    An Easter Birdy via Molly Chicken   
    Pinwheels via Allsorts

Egg Decorating
    With Tissue Paper via Family Fun
    Maybe some Natural Dyes?

What are your crafty Easter plans?

head start on easter

Ryan showed the boys It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown a few days ago and then Peter started asking to make colored eggs.  He asked several days in a row, several times a day (see how much his language is improving?), "Mommy, I wanna make colored eggs," or "We make colored eggs tomorrow?" or "Look Mommy, it's the eggs (showing them to me in the fridge).  I wanna color eggs."  I decided he wasn't going to be able to hold out until Easter, so, we relented this weekend. 
It was a good activity to do while Grandma was here - she came to help out because the boy's babysitter is out of town.  We're excited to have her here next weekend too!  Hooray for Grandmas!

 We used a sparkle egg coloring kit - it had sparkle glue that was painted on and the color packets had a bit of oil in them that created a swirling effect.  The sparkle glue probably wasn't worth it - there was only a small amount in the kit.  I wonder if you could pull off a similar effect by just painting the egg with glue and using your own glitter.  The swirling effect could definitely be created with a strip-down dye kit - just add a couple of drops of oil to your cup of dye.  Re-dip in a second color for a multiple color effect.

And the best part is that Peter is enjoying eating the eggs too!

our valentines

The end of the week turned out to be a bit hectic - I had my first test on Friday morning, so I spent the last part of the week studying.  And then on the way to take my test, Peter threw up about two blocks before we got to the babysitter's house - ack!  I thought we were out of the woods - no one had shown any symptoms for two days. 

Ryan was already a work (an hour away) and had carpooled anyway, so I would've had to go get him.  Emergency mode!  Long story short - I took Peter with me to the test (yes - I did ask to take the test later in the day, but the response from my teacher and my thoughts on that are a whole different story!), he threw up once more, but we made it to the bathroom that time, and when I was about three questions away from being finished, my teacher brought me a note telling me that the babysitter had called to say that Ned had thrown up and I needed to come get him. 

 

I finished up my test, picked up Ned, and went home and did nothing for the rest of the day except eat saltine crackers and drink flat soda.  We've taken it easy this weekend too...we ate dinner in as a family yesterday and today I kept the boys home from church (since apparently this thing just comes on with no warning) and we made Valentines.  I bought the digital file for the animal ones from Up Up Creative.  Peter enjoyed putting them together...

and Ned loved taking them apart.

 

neighbor gifts

We got so busy right before Christmas because we ended up leaving a day earlier than planned to avoid driving in a pretty nasty snowstorm.  Now that we are back, I'm busy getting the house back in order, so I hope it's not too late to post about my neighbor gifts.  This year I used some jams that I made earlier in the year, on a weekend my mom came to visit, and then wrapped a pear and apple appliqued towel around the jar, tied with crochet thread and some tags that I received last year in an Etsy trade.  I had planned to do some holiday themed appliques, but when it came down to it, I already had the pear and apple on hand and ready to go and I was short on time so we went with the pear and apple.  This was so perfect - most of the work had been done earlier in the year and the towels whipped up very fast.  It was inexpensive too - I got the towels for 49 cents from IKEA when we were visiting family at Thanksgiving.  I used these as gifts for Peter's teachers too - since he's going to two pre-schools right now that was two teachers and three aides.  

Unfortunately, we were in such a hurry to leave that I didn't get any shots of my other homemade gifts - a collection of Purl Frogs for my nephews and nieces and a diaper bag for my sister-in-law who is having her second little girl at the end of this month.  I didn't do a ton of handmade this year, but I'm glad I got in some - it definitely makes it feel more like Christmas to have some handmade gifts to give.

I'm trying soak up my vacation time with lots of relaxing and cleaning - I'm not sure how those two go together, but I'm trying to make it work since I want to have the house spic and span clean when I go back to school on the 12th and I want to be well rested and ready to get going again.  Although I'm hoping that things won't be quite as crazy since I'm not working that part-time job anymore.

I'm also trying to do a little home improvement - I picked up some fabrics yesterday to make new pillows for our couch.  Our current pillows are almost as old as Peter and definitely showing their age.  I may even try to make a new mini-quilt to hang on the wall as I'm no longer in love with the one that's up.  So, hopefully I'll have those to share soon, or at least some in progress shots as I'm planning do do some embroidery and I'm not sure how long it will take me.  I've been craving a sit in front of the TV project, so this will be perfect! 

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and are enjoying the new year!  I apologize that I have been fairly absent from blogging as compared to my past presence - I really do appreciate your support and love and all of the good friends I have made in the blogging world!  And I hope that I'll be here more in the near future as I've made some adjustments to the demands on my time. 

seeing red and green

I was thankful to have several stocking orders this year and even more thankful that my Mom offered to help me sew them up while we were visiting for Thanksgiving.  We whipped out seven stockings and then got really ambitious and finally made some for my own family (I'll share those later - I love, love, love how they turned out and I'm so glad to have them).  I really do have such a generous and helpful Mom.  And the the boys love her too!  Tonight when I was tucking Peter in bed, I told him that he needed to get right to sleep because he has his big pre-school day tomorrow.  He just replied, "No thanks, I want to go to Grandma's!"  Poor boy - at least we are headed back soon for Christmas!

Thank you to all of you who are still reading, even though the posts have been super spotty of late.  I'm working on adjusting some of my commitments so I have more time for family, crafting, and thus have more blogging fodder.  The last few weeks have been crazy busy with school, all of Peter's things, and the holidays and I'm looking forward to the end of the semester here in two weeks or so and a little break for a few weeks. 

I wish you all the best in getting ready for the holidays and hope especially that you may feel the peace of the season!

happy halloween

Here are our Jack-o-Lantern creations from last night - mine, Ned's, and Peter's.  I scooped out the guts and Ryan contributed by helping the kids draw and cut.  This is actually the first time I have carved a pumpkin in a few years and I think the ones that we bought from our pumpkin patch adventure must be a new variety.  They were so easy to scoop and clean out!  We did these three pumpkins in less than an hour and we would have been faster, but Ned's was from the grocery store and not so fun to clean out. 

And we have a winner, generated by Random.org since you all guessed correctly - yes they are little Jedis!  I guess that wasn't much of a guessing game, but it was still a giveaway.  And our winner?  it's MISSY. And what has she won?  One of those little apple totes - I still have a few to finish (and I'm going to try really hard to sit down at the sewing machine sometime today - it's been a while) and the next one I finish will be hers.  Missy - send me your address please.

Speaking of not sitting down to the sewing machine in a while - I want to thank those of you who are still reading, despite the lack of crafty in this so called crafty blog.  I've been productive and busy lately, just in a different way.  My days are full of being Peter's taxi to two pre-schools and therapy, entertaining, feeding, and loving two very energetic boys, getting a good grade in my Anatomy class, joining a dinner co-op (which has actually saved me time and $$$ - more on that next week), getting way behind on my blog reading, working for Sandi (which I am grateful for - I love Etsy as evidenced by the fact that my shop is still open, but the income was always so variable), celebrating a birthday (happy 34th Ryan!  There was supposed to be a post about that, but it didn't happen.) and getting vein therapy (the endovenous ablation type).  I had my second treatment yesterday and this one seems to hurt less than the last one, although I was more nervous for it - maybe because I knew what I was getting myself into or maybe beacause I had spent less time thinking about it and mentally preparing myself for it than I did for the first one.  Either way, I still have two more and I'll have to get myself a little more calm for the other ones or the doctor might force me to take the drugs (they'll give you Xanax to help you relax, but I'm sort of the au natural girl - have I ever told you that I gave birth to my boys in the water, without drugs of any kind?  yeah - drugs are just not my thing).  Note to self - more mental preparation next time! 

And to leave you, I'll give you a link to the project that I wanted to do this Halloween, but didn't get around to doing.  Quixotic Pixels put together these free witch and vampire embroidery downloads - aren't they fabulous?  A wall hanging or pillow would have been perfect - maybe next year. 

Happy Halloween everyone!!