Catch Up, and Beet Soup

I've been feeling a little overwhelmed lately. Fall is a flurry of activity and events for my family, and all that, coupled with trying to get the house and yard winter ready, testing the waters for working part time again, and some family strife, I just haven't felt like blogging. Or even crafting much, for that matter. I also forgot to take photos of almost everything, so here are some of the highlights: * goodies for a play group Hallowe'en party -- 'mouldy' popcorn (idea from Purple Chocolat Home), bean bags with jack-o-lantern faces, and pumpkin pie scented playdough.

* finished second butterfly quilt. I free motion quilted it like the first one, but managed to get a fold in the backing. Not a big deal...still pretty. * took part in a vegetarian soup swap. I made beet soup, from this Canadian Living recipe, and really enjoyed it. I never cared for beets as a kid, but as an adult, there's something about the vibrancy of beet flesh that just screams health and vitality to me. * baby hats, knitted and sewn. My friend gave birth to a beautiful baby girl almost a month ago, and I knitted her a few simple baby hats and sewed a little bonnet as part of her baby gift. Love all that girly stuff! * Hallowe'en quilt -- I completed a couple rows of the quilt front, but this project is now officially on hold until next fall! * Handmade Gift & Bag swaps -- I haven't participated in many swaps, but t'is the season for me to procrastinate on making gifts for people I know, in exchange for making gifts for people I don't know. These projects are on the hush, so photos will come after mailing. And, um, completion. * Family gifts -- despite good intentions, I have very few Christmas gifts completed, and I foresee myself hitting the stores the week before Christmas. Yike. * Baking -- I've been doing a lot of baking lately. Cool weather response, I suppose. * And, the biggie, my youngest son decided it was time to stop using diapers. I'm so proud of him! I didn't 'potty train' either of my kids; rather, I put out a potty seat, told them what it was for, and waited. It probably took them longer than some kids (my youngest is almost three years, and my oldest was three years and a couple months), but the transition has been pretty accident free, even at night. That's it for now. I promise to be a better blogger the rest of November and December. It's not that I think anyone is sitting at home, pining away for me to post something. Rather, posting is a good way to motivate myself to get going on my projects, and a nice way to look back on all that I did manage to get done. Sounds silly, but I really am more productive when I think about blogging something. Have a great week!

Ghostly Hallowe'en wreath

My brain usually skips right over Hallowe'en and jumps to Christmas. But now that my oldest son is starting to recognize different holidays, I thought I should at least attempt to decorate. A little.

So off to the dollar store I went, and picked up some black and white ghost garland. For a week or so, it was draped around the edge of our kitchen ceiling. But as time wore on, I hated it. Time for plan B, a ghostly wreath.

This was the world's easiest wreath. I took a length of foam plumbing insulation and duct taped it into a circle. Then I used straight pins to attach one end of the garland to the foam, and then wrapped and wrapped. Another pin, a ribbon to hang it, and done. I also purchased a large, glow-in-the-dark plastic spider to mount inside the wreath once it's on the front door, but that won't be for a couple more days.

I also purchased some wooden letters to make BOO blocks, but we'll see if that happens this year. If so, great, and if not, at least there's the wreath.

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The DIY Show Off: Fall Festival

Glow-in-the-dark Hallowe'en mat

I had been planning a Hallowe'en themed door mat for a while when I saw this version at Lolly Jane Boutique. It was better than I had in mind, so I hopped off to the local dollar store and picked up a mat to make one, too. Unfortunately, my mat has deep ridges, so the painting didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked, but it looks great when the lights are low since I used glow-in-the-dark paint.

I couldn't capture the ghoulish green glow in the photo, but I love how it looks in the dark. My sons also love it, so I'm calling it a success, crazy paint job and all.

Monster applique

My kids grew like weeds over the summer, so they need new clothes. Pants, specifically. The situation isn't dire for the youngest one (other than PJ bottoms, and I'm slowly making those), but my oldest son is such a stringbean that it's rare to find store-bought pants that fit both his long legs and ridiculously skinny waist. His diaper used to be our primary pants-keeper-upper, but now that he's potty trained, his pants are always falling down.

So, with that need in mind, last night I added...a shirt to his wardrobe. Sigh. Apparently, I'm truly hooked on applique. Maybe tonight I'll get to some quick pants for pre-school next week. In the meantime, here's the first piece for his 'fall collection'.

We'll layer this shirt over a long-sleeved shirt for cooler weather wear.

Not too scary  (=

I used my Silhouette cutter to cut out the monster shape. I've never done that before, and next time will use a little extra pressure on the cutting blade, but I'm ecstatic that it worked. I fused my fabric (a Christmas print turned sideways!) to some Heat and Bond Lite before sticking it to the cutting mat. I left the backing paper on Heat and Bond, and then removed the paper after the cut was finished and adhered to the t-shirt as usual. Then I zig-zagged around the edges, and added a couple red button 'eyes'. My son loves it, and I think this shirt will be great for Hallowe'en without being so themed that it can't be worn at other times, too.

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