Halloween 2011

We had a very pleasant Halloween how about you? I wanted my daughters to dress up all matchy matchy just like last year but that didn't happen! We were so busy, starting with a very nice surprise visit from my brother the night before our garage sale that we prepared for for w whole week. He is stationed in Italy and was in the area for schooling. It was so nice to see him and spend some time with him no matter how short it was. He had only a couple of days here but they were great. It would have been even better if the family would have been able to come too but we can't always get what we want.  After his short stay here we also went over to Biloxi, MS to see him off before his long journey home.  So in any case, since we had a very busy week I didn't get around to making my daughters' costumes. So we recycled my youngest daughter's costume from last and my older one used one from a couple of years back.  It worked out okay.
Our neighborhood is still fairly new so the past few years the amount of trick-or-treaters has slowly increased.  There are still some houses that either haven't been occupied or even built yet. This past year however there have been several new families with kids that moved in and it was a real treat to see so many out trick-or-treating. Here are a couple of pictures I wanted to share:

See you do it like this

Yay, I didn't break it!

Finished project

Ready to go!

A car parked on the street had a cool skeleton that moved it's mouth! SCARY

Playing with the Halloween lanterns in front of the house

Handing out candy to the last of the trick-or-treater's

This house went all out!

This pumpkin was really cool!

Checking out the stash!

Babies..Babies..Babies

  I was invited to a baby shower with much advance notice so I wanted to sew something for the mother-to-be.  I set out on a hunt to search for the perfect thing.  I scoured the wide world web (www) and saw some awesome things to make.  My sewing skills are still a bit limited so I wanted something that was somewhat easy and still really nice to give as a gift. 

  I came across a wonderful blog Schwin and Schwin by a pair of very talented sisters. I fell in LOVE with a dress tutorial and an added bonus shoes to match!!  The dress was SO easy to make even for me.

 I did a couple of things differently but overall I was able to follow the directions and had a awesome turnout!  I used bias tape for the edges instead of the piping...I have yet to venture that far into the sewing world.  They also have a tutorial on how to make your own piping if you choose to go that route.  Here are some pictures of the final products:

I also made pretty fabric flower headbands to match the already matching dress and shoes.  Here is a closer look at the headbands:

The gift was a hit at the baby shower!  Not much fabric was used and I mainly did all the sewing during nap time and at night when the little one was sleeping.  I highly recommend this project for beginners!

ROAD TRIP..and some last minute sewing!

We were going on a last minute road trip and I decided the morning of the trip that my daughters had to have a neck pillow!

  


So started out by free handing a pattern onto a commissary paper bag (I love to make my patterns on them....they are GREAT).  Picked out my fabrics, pinned, cut, sewed, stuffed and hand sewed the closure and I WAS DONE!  

Easy peasy!  And I absolutely LOVE how they turned out!

 

The little blessings in life

  Sometimes in the path of life we hit speed bumps. We hit a speed bump this evening. Our main vehicle's radiator has had a small leak in it for awhile. We choose to ignore the problem and "wait until we have the money" to replace it. Well that time has come! So here I sit in this car pondering and thanking God for his blessings as we wait for a tow truck (which has informed us it would be two hours before it gets here).
 
  Blessing? Where is the blessing that I speak of? We are blessed in the fact that this happened two days after payday ;) and our funds are much more abundant than say two days before payday. We are blessed in the fact that my husband was able to pull into a well lit Arby's parking lot and we are not sitting in the dark on the side of the highway. We are blessed in the fact that a nearby auto parts store had the part in stock and we didn't have to order the part. We are blessed in the fact that there is a tow truck coming (eventually) and even though it is getting late he is not charging an after hours fee. See there are so many ways of looking at the good and bad things that happen to us in this game called life. More often than not though most things can be looked at positively and we are all blessed more than we can ever know!

Thank You Jesus!

My newest "TRYING"!

SEWING

I learned how to sew in Middle School.  Home Economics class and I knew from the moment I picked it off my elective list that it was going to be great.  I was so excited to make something from virtually nothing (I think that I have always been in love with that concept..something from nothing).  I learned a lot of the basics in that class.  How to thread a machine, how to thread a bobbin but some of the first things I remember learning to actually make was a pillow and some stuffed Christmas ornaments.  The Christmas ornaments were made of a Santa Claus printed fabric.  I cut a circle around the print, sewed around as best as I could I gotta say it was more of a rounded diamond ( I have yet to conquer a "straight" circle or perfect circle... i guess you could say) a bit of ribbon was added for it to hang on the tree and it was done.  It was awful but I presented it to my parents and siblings with pride.  After Middle school I no longer had access to a machine and I forgot the joy that sewing can bring to a person.  I always had my eye on a sewing machine but I could never justify spending that amount of money on myself.  After a tragic event in my life, I decided that it was something that I have always wanted so while at the store I just picked it up and put it in the cart like it was a pack of diapers....not a second thought.   I have been LOVING it ever since. I will share my trials and tribulations in this blog not just the sewing but with all the crafts and baking I like to TRY.  Like it says I am always to "TRYING".  TRYING to TRY things is something I am very good at!

Brother Model LX3125E