Halloween Sweet Tooth

I saw this cute idea for a Halloween craft over at A Pumpkin and a Princess. I thought it would be a fun thing to do with my daughter while her big sis was at school and little sister slept. She did a great job painting the pots for me.

I couldn't find the round tea light holders in the right scale so I ended up using empty salsa jars for two of them and a marshmallow creme jar for the third. In this shape I think they look more like lanterns than a gumball machine... even better for Halloween. I just need to find some thin wire to wrap around the top of the jar to look like a lantern handle and some Halloween ribbon to dress up the base a little.

Big sis wants to be my helper too... she wants to help me eat all the candy!

Doll Clothes

My youngest just turned two. Her favorite thing right now is playing with dolls. She doesn't go anywhere without her "baby," a well-loved, usually naked doll. For her birthday, my mom thought that poor naked "Sarah baby" (as we call her) could use a new outfit. Just look what she made! This adorable, fully-lined hoodie and shorts with lace at the bottom. It's just so precious. Suddenly my older girls, who haven't been interested in dolls so much lately, want to play too. Sarah baby is back at the top of the list of things we fight over. I think we know one of the things that will be on the wish list for Grandma/Santa.

Happy Haunting

I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of Halloween. I tend to skip right to the Harvest/Thanksgiving stuff when it comes to holiday decorating. Now that I have little kids, however, Halloween is more fun. They dress up almost every day anyway, and the candy!! I'm trying to get into it a little more for them. We picked out some pumpkins this week, which we will carve into jack-o-lanterns closer to Halloween night. We pulled out the Halloween lanterns that we made last year (saw the idea here). Such a fun project to do with kids. They are so proud of them.

Then, I found this amazing banner from Moselle Design over at Blue Cricket Design. It was free to download and print, and the graphics – especially the little circles – were quite charming. I know, not the adjective most associate with Halloween... but I loved them!

I printed and cut them out, then added a little ruffle (natural coffee filter) around the edge of each pennant.

Close up. See? Charming right? I CAN do Halloween decorations. Who knew?

For Thomas

I love to make these cozy little flannel receiving blankets for new babies. Here is a great tutorial if you'd like to try one too.

Beaded Wool Clutch

I've been wanting to make this clutch since I had the idea last fall. The wool makes it a perfect texture for fall and I'm crazy about the olive green... maybe it's because I'm seeing so much of this military trend in clothing right now. The design is so simple it could almost be plain, but the beading gives it some interesting detail as you can see in this close-up of the back.

It's lined with an olive green satin and I used heavyweight fusible interfacing to help it keep it's shape. The clasp is made from two D rings and a clip I actually cut off an old wallet.

The next two pictures, back and front, give a better idea of the scale. It's a big clutch, perfect for my basics of cell phone (with it's own pocket inside), keys, wallet and mini-make-up bag.

My inspiration? Surprise! A thrifted wool sweater:
Someone had apparently washed it in hot water, shrinking it to an unwearable size and stiffness before I got my hands on it at the thrift store. I LOVE felted wool and the beading detail was still beautiful. The minute I saw it I knew exactly what I wanted it to become. When I showed my sis the finished clutch she thought I'd done the beading. I wish I could take credit for it, because it is my favorite detail. It took enough time just to reinforce the lines of beads as I cut the sweater to keep them from coming loose. So there it is. One less project on my to-do list.

It was raining today when I was taking the pictures. The colors of fall are so pretty, but even more vibrant with a little rain. Since I had the camera out, I couldn't resist taking pictures of everything else around. This bright yellow flower was my favorite, so I'm just throwing this in here so you can enjoy it too.

Baby Gifts

I'd been wanting to try out this tutorial for an easy shirred skirt from Creation Corner for a little while now. A baby shower I was recently invited to was a good excuse to get it done. My fabric must have been a lot more lightweight than what was used in the tutorial, because it really gathered up. The first try became a new skirt for my daughter's baby doll. Try number two turned out really well. I added a lot to the width. It still gathered up so the waist looks very small, but it stretches out nicely and still looks gathered. I think this is the perfect alternative to a wide elastic waistband for a little tummy. It keeps the skirt up without being at all constrictive. I embellished some onesies to go with it. Since this was a double shower, for a boy and a girl, I made two more embellished onesies to go with a pair of the baby legwarmers I'd made recently.

Refashion: Blouse to Jacket

I found this blouse on the clearance rack. It was originally $68.00 and i paid $5. I really liked beading, the gathered bell sleeve and the shape of then neckline with the mandarin collar but I couldn't really imagine myself wearing it as a blouse. So I refashioned the bottom to make it look more like a jacket. I experimented with a few different ways to make the bottom band, but in the end I left the band flat in the front and inserted a wide elastic in the band in the back to gather it just a little. Here's a closer shot:

Once again I bribed the 3 year old to take a few pics. Yes, the bribe was necessary. She loves to play with the camera, but takes after her independent mother and does not like to be told what to photograph!

High noon equals unflattering face shadows and squint... so of course I overcompensate with groovy photo effects from picnik.com.

I like it over the black maxi-dress, but think it's an easy way to dress up a slouchy tank and faded jeans too. The light-weight fabric is perfect for this extra warm fall weather we're enjoying.