Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Fall Recap

Oh friends!

I knew having a baby would put a damper on my ability to sew and craft for a few months. I even told myself that it would be at least three months before I was able to get back to the blog. But here we are a little over four months after My Sweet Baboo was born and I'm just starting to think I can dip my toe back into the blogging waters. Even with the new baby I have my two-year-old (His Nibs) hitting his Terrible Twos in stride. Man, has he got a case of the terrible twos. And my four-year-old (Missy), is navigating going to pre-school and learning all kinds of new things-both good and bad. It's great to watch all of them grow-and sometimes I wish I could stop time-but handling all three has kind of put a hamper on my time to craft and sew and create. Honestly, some days it really bums me out.

But here I am! I have been busy with Halloween crafts and costumes, finishing my nieces quilt and working on some gorgeous GORGEOUS Christmas pillows. My mom keeps on asking me where I find the time and I just keep on telling her my house is not immaculate. There is a load of laundry that needs to be folded and two more loads waiting their turn as well, and I am trying to figure out how to get a mustard and blueberry stain out of my husband's work clothes (any ideas?). That is all going to have to wait because I really wanted to get a post done! And maybe continue to work some more!

So here's what I have been doing!!!!

Halloween Costumes! I love them. I love making them. I love the homemade look. I love looking through all the stuff we have and trying to incorporate it into a costume without having to buy too much stuff. It's a great thrill for me. Missy was a peacock this year. I think this will probably be the last year I get to decide what she is and when I saw this post on Pinterest last Spring, I knew it was for me....I mean, my little girl!

I used it mainly for inspiration and if I had to do it over again I would have made more peacock feathers (I made about 9-12) and attatched them to ribbon hanging from the elastic band; I think they would have stood out a little more. I would have also used some lime green tulle. That would have been pretty awesome too.



Making the tulle skirt is so easy! 

As for my son, he needed to be a Ghostbuster! Many moons ago my older brother made a Ghostbuster costume for my younger brother and for some reason, I thought His Nibs should go as one this year. So I needed to make a proton pack. I spent quite a bit of time looking at them on Google. Luckily, my husband has more computer parts laying around than he knows what to do with and I put them to good use. 




The above picture is a little wonky but a combination of a hot glue gun and lots of duct tape made this bad boy come alive! I used this heavy duty cardboard my contractor had laid on my floors and it was able to withstand the multiple paint jobs and weight of the computer components. Jacob from Home Run Solutions cut me off a huge piece of it to use and without it the whole idea might never have taken shape! Thanks, Jacob! 

And, just because, here is My Sweet Baboo! Or monkey!

I did not make this costume but bought it when Missy was about three months old and all three kids have worn it for their first Halloween. I love it!

What else? What else have I been working on? Oh! My niece's quilt. That's coming along nicely. I just have to bind it and I am done. I think I will devote another post just that one since I have lots to talk about.  Plus my husband took some hilarious pictures of me quilting the borders. 

I made some Halloween luminaries out of mason jars. That idea was found here. I don't have a great picture of them but I made about a dozen-4 jack-o-lantern type, 4 ghosts, and 4 monster- and they were pretty cute. I lined them up along the path to my front door and I really liked them. I got some great responses back from neighbors-one who jokingly threatened to steal them- and parents, so that was fun. Next year I will take a picture! 

What else? What else? 

Oh right. The pillows. I'll just share this picture with you but these will definitely get their own post. 

My friend Taylor and I are making these for our moms and ourselves Christmas. They are so easy. So beautiful. So lovely. Here's one of them: 


Honestly, I changed the pin in the middle and it really makes it pop. I have made three so far-two in the blue and silver and one in red burlap with a cream flower-and they are just so great. I am hoping to get them all done this weekend and I will write a post just to them, I promise!

So that's what's been happening here. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. To paraphrase Bishop O'Brien, "When you are giving thanks for the turkey on the table, don't forget to give thanks for the turkeys AROUND the table." HA!



Monday, November 11, 2013

I need your help!

I have been busy, people, very busy! Not just with everyday cooking and cleaning stuff but with crafting! Sewing! Painting! Have I blogged about any of the things I have completed? Not even once. Have I thought about blogging about all the things I have created? All the time.  Hopefully the blogging part of this will happen vey soon. 

I have a dilemma for all of you and I need your help. The next pick from the lottery is to finish a quilt for my sister. The quilt top is done, all if have to do is get some backing material, quilt and bind the quilt. My dilemma is this: I have enough fabric leftover from the quilt top to sew together the back of the quilt. Do I use all of this beautiful material for the back of a quilt or do I buy more material for the back of the quilt and then make a brand new quilt with all of this amazing fabric.

Here is a sampling of what the fabrics look like that I will be working with on either the back of my sister's quilt or a brand new quilt. 

Tell me what you think I should do in the comments below!