Happy Halloween!

Yes, my pumpkin wears a tiara.

Doesn't yours?

Hope everyone had a safe and happy halloween!

Pumpkin Carving

An evening of family fun....Pumpkin Carving!

We started with all of the neccessary equipment, including a plastic tablecloth for quick, easy cleanup.


Hubby getting into the spirit of things. Yes, he's wearing gloves to clean out his pumpkin. Something about the insides feeling yucky.


That's me, cleaning out Nathan's pumpkin. Again, something about it being yucky. Look at the "ewwww" expression. (Like father, like son!)


And he didn't want to eat any of it either! : p


This is manly pumpkin carving. Power tools MUST be involved. That's a 19.2 volt cordless drill. Really, what else would you use to give your jack-o-lantern round eyes?


Ta da! The picture isn't great, but it's hard to get anything better.

We had a great time tonight carving these together. Afterwards, hubby fired up the new barbeque and grilled up some tasty carne asada.

Definitely a wonderful family evening!

Cupcake Apron

A little craftiness that happened this week:



A "baking apron" made from an Alexander Henry fabric with an added appliqued and beaded cupcake.

Cupcake closeup:

Nathan's school carnival is next week and they'll be raffling off baskets, put together by the room moms of each grade level. The Kindergarten moms decided on a basket of baking goods (measuring cups, cake pans, spatulas, etc.), so I thought aprons were appropriate. I made a mom size apron (in the photos) and a kid size apron. I added the appliqued/beaded cupcake to the adult apron. It was my first attempt at adding beads to anything and it was a bit of a struggle, but I persevered and I think it came out okay. And it looks a lot like the cupcakes on the fabric.

The striped fabric that I used for the bottom part of the cupcake came from my dear friend Dinah. And since the apron was something for Nathan's school, I asked his opinion. His criticism: "Mommy, your cupcake has too many stripes on it. This one (pointing at the fabric) doesn't have any green on it. You need to take it off."

Sure honey, I'll get right on that!

Swap Goodness and Craftiness

I finally feel like I can breathe again. I've had a lot on my plate lately and everything had a deadline. Luckily, the three big things (swap package, costume and class halloween party) are finished and all were successful.

I have to apologize to my Swap Sister, Cindy. She sent me a wonderul swap package, which arrived on Tuesday, but I haven't blogged about it yet. So, without further ado...

Here are all my goodies, wrapped up with twine and brown paper. Cindy embellished the wrap with "Happy Halloween" stamps.


This is the wonderful decoration that Cindy made for me. The sheet music is a song called "Nocturne", which is very appropriate for the season. This has the honor of being our only Halloween decoration, other than one very lonely pumpkin. There was some drama associated with the crafting of this hanging, but I'm very glad Cindy worked through it. I love it and appreciate all you did to make it.


Cindy was also kind enough to include a parcel for Nathan. He was SO excited to see his mane on a tag and promptly ripped into it. You should have heard the whooping and hollering about all the candy inside! He's supposed to share with me, but I don't hold out much hope for that happening.


My goodies included a boxed stationary set, a recipe for Gingerbread Trifle (yum, yum), mini emery boards and a mini notebook to stash in my purse to record ideas, inspiration and other information.

There were also some vintage fabrics (soccer and muppets), a softie pattern, softie eyes and a bar of Pumpkin soap.

Thank you Cindy for the great swap package. Can't wait to get started on the next one!

Costume Progress - Part 5

Aaaaahhhhhh......

Do you hear that big sigh of relief?

The Cindy Lou Whoo costume is done.

D.O.N.E.

Since the last photo of the skirt, I added a few details to jazz it up a bit.

I added buttons to the front of the bib. They're not functional, purely decorative. I also made a petticoat which makes the skirt stand up quite a bit. Makes it look more Dr. Seuss-y.

I also finished up the straps in the back by adding buttons (functional this time), which match the front buttons. (The petticoat won't show quite so much when it's worn, just hard to photograph without the ruffles sticking out.)


And the cape.

The finishing touch here was the slits to put hands through. These were actually much easier than I expected. I try to read the sewing instructions all the way through before I do anything and the instructions for the slits seemed very confusing. Once I got there, it was fairly easy.

So, my friend and her daughter were both VERY happy with the whole thing. Now, she's trying to think of more places that she can wear it so she can show it off!

Grab a plate!

I hope that you're sitting comfortably and wearing your stretchy pants! Vallen, of Queenly Things, is hosting a potluck, blogland style.

Here's what I'm bringing:



It's one of those "back of the box" recipes and it's pretty tasty. (They could've come up with a shorter name for it though.)

Barilla Plus Rotini with Sun Dried Tomatoes, Walnuts, Basil and Parmesan Cheese
Ingredients:
1 box Barilla Plus Rotini
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil & herbs, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup fresh basil, cut into thin strips
Salt and pepper, to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, saute walnuts in a small skillet for 1-2 minutes until slightly brown. Place in large salad bowl. Add sun-dried tomatoes, including some oil from tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. Add broccoli florets into boiling water (with pasta) for last 3 minutes of cooking time. Drain, add pasta and broccoli to salad bowl. Add parmesan cheese and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well and serve.

Add some garlic bread and voila! Now I'm off to check out some of the other yummy things at this party!

A visit from the Tooth Fairy

Look at my baby....

He lost his first tooth last night!

And of course, the Tooth Fairy collected the tooth and left a dollar for Nathan.

Needless to say, he was very excited to find a crisp dollar bill under his pillow this morning.

Getting creative

So what do you do when you finally decide on a project, but absolutely cannot find the last thing that you really need?

You get creative.

If you go to every fabric store in town and can't find fabric that looks like a brick wall, you make your own. Yes, the stitching is supposed to be a bit wonky. It's supposed to be an old, creepy sort of brick wall. (Hint, hint...it's for Halloween)

And when you ask your husband if your creation looks like a brick wall.....and he answers, "Well yes, now that you tell me that's what it is."

Try not to smack him. (Thanks honey.)

I hope I'm not the only one who thinks it looks like a brick wall. (And Cindy, this is your sneak peak!)

Costume Progress Part 4

The cape....



Just needs to be hemmed and have the ties stitched on. I'm very happy with how it's come out.

Costume Progress Part 3

Nearly finished. Well, as far as I can go before doing a fitting. After the fitting, I'll attach the inside of the waistband, add hook and eye, sew buttons on the straps and make buttonholes on the back waistband.



Adding the bib and the bit of taffeta to the shirt cuff makes a big difference in how it looks. I think it looked too much like a uniform before.

The cape is actually almost done too, but Nathan did not want to put it on for a photo shoot. Guess he didn't like the furry collar or the taffeta lining!

Costume Progress Part 2

Here's the start of the cape for the Cindy Lou Whoo costume.


I am a little further along than the photo shows. I have put the collar on and started on the lining. It's a little early to ask for my model's assistance with a photo though.

Hopefully, I'll be back later with a photo of the nearly finished product.

A Royal Title

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Her Royal Highness Mumsy Wumsy the Indecisive of Nether Wombleshire Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Thanks to Carolyn for posting the link to this bit of fun.

I admit that I did it a few times until my title had the right sound to it. Using Christy didn't work so well. Didn't sound royal enough. So, I used Mumsy Wumsy, which is what both hubby and Nathan call me on occasion. It's a British thing, and that's the shortened version.

Maybe I should make a wall hanging with my title on it.

Oh, and I must find my tiara!!