Saturday, October 31, 2009

last minutes sewing

The final reveal- here is my costume for tonight's Trunk or Treat event at our church. All made from stuff I had in my stash, so this one was Free :)

Sorry this picture is so dark, but I did not have a better one with the ears and all.

I decided today that Tallulah's costume just was not complete without the hat so at 4:30pm this afternoon (after I finished my own costume) I started cutting it out. I finished it right as we were supposed to be walking out the door, so we were a few minutes late, but it was sew worth it!

Friday, October 30, 2009

one of those days

It has been one of those days... It started with lots of whining from a certain little boy during school this morning, but then things started to look up when we were able to finish school, make a grocery list and (mostly) finish Lulu's costume all before we had to pick the younger two up from Preschool. It turns out that streak of productiveness was just a tease because after we picked up Max and Lulu from Preschool we headed to BJ's only to realize about 1/3 of the way through the store that I had forgotten my coupons... and not just $.050 here and $.035 there- we are talking almost $30 worth of coupons. So we put our stuff back, grabbed a rotisserie chicken for dinner, some candy for our church's Trunk or Treat tomorrow night and a birthday present for a party tonight headed to McD's for lunch and then on the Walmart for our other grocery shopping. As if the BJ's fiasco wasn't enough, on the way to Walmart Tallulah spilled her soda in her car seat (and not just a little bit, but at least half the cup)! When I pulled her from her seat, soaking wet, there was still 1/2"- 3/4" of standing soda in the seat! We did our best to calm her down and ran into the store to buy a change of cloths and then do our grocery shopping.

All that to say- I am thankful for the few moments to sit here now and collect myself (while the kids watch some TV) and be thankful for the money to buy a dry change of clothes and the car to drive to and from the store (even if I have to do it twice in one day) and all the other many blessing the Lord had given us.

Speaking of blessing- let's get on to the real reason for this post, Tallulah's costume (Tallulah being the blessing, not the costume)! Here she is, my little flower fairy!
It was hard to photograph the fairy skirt, so here is the image from the pattern.
The pattern is a size 6-8, and I tried to adjust it to fit a 3 year old, but I think it still may be a bit long. I also totally love the hats, but I am just not sure I am up for any more sewing with satin! Oh, and she has no wings either, but don't tell her, she does not seem to care!
The break down:

Pink Satin for flower- $1.60
White Satin- from my stash- $0
Pink Tulle- $3
Elastic- $0.97
Leotard- from dress up bin-$0
Pattern- $1

Total=$6.75

Thursday, October 29, 2009

two posts in one day?!

So, we don't have any dinner to eat, but I got Max's costume done! This is also from a pattern that he picked out at that same $1 pattern sale almost a year ago. His first choice was actually a viking costume that I said no to because it was just too difficult to do in such a short time (and would have been much more costly), so he settled for this knight costume.
This costume ended up being a real bargain...

Red Felt for tunic- $2.00 (I also only used a fraction of the yard of this that I bought)
White Felt- from stash- $0
Black Hooded Shirt- from the dress-up bin- $0
Gold Tissue Lame for belt and boots- left over from last years king costume- $0
Batting and Lining in boots and belt- scraps from my stash- $0
Sword and Shield- we made these last year also, when we studied castle times- $0
(looks like the shield could use a new coat a paint before Saturday night!)

Here are the boys, in action- they look pretty fierce, hope these costumes make it to Saturday night!

two down- two to go

I was hoping to have posted this earlier in the week, but this morning was the first time I had a chance to take photo's of Micah's costume. He picked out this prince pattern almost a year ago when Hancock was having one of there $1 patterns sales and has been begging me to make it ever since. The goal of the week was simple and frugal, so with that in mind I search my supplies to find as much as I could at home. This Costume probably ended up costing the most money out of the 4- but still under $10! Here is the breakdown:

Black fabric for cape- a table cloth left over from when I sold Silpada- $0
Gold Satin for lining- $3.20
Blue Felt for Tabard - $2.00 ( and I only used a fraction of the yard that I bought)
Gold Felt for crest- out of stash $0
Black belt- made for table cloth- $0
Belt Buckle (a necklace charm from Micheal's) $2.50
Hook and Eye for cape- $0.75

Total- $8.45 and I very happy 6 year old :)

I did not do this for Regan's costume in my last post, but hers was all made from my stash- I think I paid about $4.00 for the fabric at a clearance a few months back and bought the pattern a couple weeks ago for $1!

Well, I better get back to the sewing machine if I want to get Max and Tallulah's costumes (plus my own!) done before Saturday night. Back soon with more pictures!

Monday, October 26, 2009

progress

Sew, I finished the mermaid costume. Sewing this fabric is like trying to sew water, and out of all the dresses I have made this was definitely the most complex- I am really not sure why either. I will definitely be more discerning in my pattern choices in the future!
Regan still does not want to wear it on Saturday, but she does LOVE IT and says it is very comfy! That is definitely progress :) The good news is, it is big enough that I am sure it will fit her next year, so there is still time for her to be a mermaid for Halloween... someday :)
The boys finally convinced me to make them costumes for Saturday as well (I know, I am crazy). So I dug through my fabric stash, made a quick list of the things I needed to make their desired costumes and we made a mad dash to the fabric store this afternoon. Would you believe we made in in and out in 30 minutes and spent less than $15! That is definitely a record for me- both in time and money spent! Well, you know what I will be doing this week. More picture to come!

Friday, October 23, 2009

the best laid plans

I am really good at making a plan to be organized. I make charts and lists, schedule out every minute of the day making sure that the nothing (will) get neglected. And I can even keep up those great organizational plans... for 1 week. That's it- one week of a clean, organized, well run house and then complete disaster! It is like being organized for that week takes so much energy that not only can I not keep it up into future weeks, but I seriously digress in the second week! We are at the end of that second week right now, I look around me and see nothing but disaster and feel nothing but exhaustion and complete overwhelmment (I just made that word up) at the idea of trying to recover from the chaos! I did not even realize that I have been MIA from my blog since Monday until I clicked on my blog bookmark this afternoon! So, to prove (mostly to myself) that my week has not been completely unfruitful I took a few photo's of some of this weeks projects...

I've been making some take along art book's for a Bazaar at my nephews school.

I just love this vintage Holly Hobby fabric!

Baby blanket fabric washed and pressed, ready to be cut and sewn into some new baby blankets!

A mermaid costume for Regan that she had already told me she does not want to wear for Halloween, why do I bother?

In the final stretch of Tallulah's blanket- This is the flower border that will surround the entire blanket.
Well, looking at all this really makes me want to do some sewing or crocheting, but I stayed up way to late last night folding laundry and watching a recording of SYTYCD and Glee (I think this is the second time I have watched the show all the way through and all I can think when I watch it is that it's HSM for adults). Anyway, the couch is calling me (the couch b/c if I get in bed I will never get up!) Hopefully I can pull myself together this weekend and you will see more of me next week. TTFN!

Monday, October 19, 2009

pumpkin goodness

Saturday morning instead of our standard chocolate chip pancakes I decided it was time to pull out a fall favorite. I got this recipe out of a Martha Stuart Living magazine years ago and everyone loves these pumpkin pancakes. I am giving your the doubled recipe- cause that is what our family of 6 eats.

Pumpkin Pancakes

2.5 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 pinches of ground cloves
2 eggs
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup melted butter
2 cups milk

Whisk together dry ingredients in mixing bowl.
In separate bowl combine eggs, pumpkin, butter and milk, fold into dry ingredients.
Heat a buttered (must use butter it makes the flavor irresistible) skillet over medium heat and pour 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook about 3 minuted per side (these are thicker than regular pancakes and take a bit longer to cook.)

When I was done with the pancakes I had exactly enough pumpkin puree left in the can to make these pumpkin chocolate chip squares that my friend Jen posted about a couple weeks ago. They were SO good, you absolutely MUST try them- they were soft and moist and oh so yummy- wishing I had one to eat right now, but unfortunately the kids and I polished off the last few after lunch today!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

seeing pink!

I thought the blog could use something pretty after the last two posts :) I am off to a baby shower and am looking forward to an afternoon filled with lots of pink and adult conversation!

Friday, October 16, 2009

today's treasure

Keeping with yesterday's (picture) theme of icky candy- we found these little treats at Bed Bath and Beyond today and I could not resist buying a box- It's right out of Harry Potter...
and check out that little sunburst on the back, "Picked Out Especially for You!"The boys are very excited to try these- Regan and I are not so sure :)

Update:
They were pretty gross- tasted like plastic, the kids still got a kick out of them though.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

pause

Holy Experience's Slow Down posts (I just linked one- be sure to read them all) this week have hit home with me today. I am tired of the rush, the list to check off, the projects that pile up, the places to go... I'm ready to slow down- experience life. Today that meant capturing a bit of silliness that came via a package from Grammy yesterday...

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

afternoon sewing

I finally got those napkins I started last week sewed up this afternoon and because I have a baby shower gift to make by Saturday I figured I better do some other unplanned sewing too, just to procrastinate a little bit longer :) Here are the napkins, front:
and back (the backs are all the same print):

And just for kicks I threw together a couple of hairkerchiefs using this tute, only adjusting the size of the triangle to fit my girls (I started with an 8.5" square for Lu and a 12" square for Regan).

In other news, I chopped off all my hear today! This is what it looked like before (in case you have not seen me recently) and here it is now!

Monday, October 12, 2009

oh, to be young and fall asleep any where!

perfect timing

Look what the UPS man delivered today!
Okay, so that's not really what was in the box :)
Regan has been saving her money since last Christmas to buy an American Girl Doll and we finally ordered it 10 days ago (yes, we've been counting). Since it is Columbus Day, we did not expect it to come today, so Regan was pleasantly surprised when the UPS truck stopped in front of our house this morning just as we had finished school! They are currently dancing around the living room together while Regan sings songs about "Ruthie." :)

Sunday, October 11, 2009

chore chart

I finished our new chore chart yesterday and we started using it today! Looks like the kids are pretty excited about it... or is that just because mommy has the camera out again? :)

Saturday, October 10, 2009

a little weekend humor

Last Friday, while I was at Waterford with my mom and sister, Phil took the kids downtown (DC) to visit the museums. That morning before we all left the house there was some discussion about some of the exhibits in the American History Museum, like the First Ladies Dresses and the Doll Houses but how they were going to see the Dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum. Later that Morning Phil called me to say that while they were driving downtown Tallulah shouted out excitedly "We're going to see the dresses that the Dinosaurs used to wear!"

Friday, October 9, 2009

regan's house

While I was cleaning up the cupcake mess yesterday Regan was hard a work on this:
She did it all on her own, as a matter of fact, I did not even know she was doing it- her first ever diorama! Turned out to be just the right size for Lulu's Go Anywhere Girls!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

it's been one of those days...

where it seems like everything takes WAY more time than you think it should. I am feeling a bit harried with all that we did not accomplish today, but wanted to post a picture of our cupcakes.
They are not quite at cute as the ones in the book (see below) and I am not crazy about the frosting recipe I used- but then again I don't really like frosting- the ultimate test will be when the kids eat their's later :)

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

my list

So, this is what I got done from yesterday's list...

41 paper leaves glued together and taped onto floral wire (this project is turning out to be more time consuming than I anticipated!)

5 pieces of card stock bought for our new chore chart.

36 cupcakes baked, but not decorated.
6 napkins cut...

1 sewn.

3 pumpkins made and hung
 

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