while we were out...

We spent the last week and a half in Maryland visiting family.  The kids and I drove up first and the hubs joined us a few days later for Thanksgiving.  But before he came up he was busy at home.  He tore out most of our carpet, and patched, sanded and primed the sub floors. We are planning to paint them and buy a couple area rugs.  We eventually want to put down hardwood, but are not quite ready, so this is our making due until that time come.  So far I am enjoying it and it's only just primed!
Back later with pictures from our trip.

baby shower

My husband's younger sister and her hubby are expecting their first baby in January (the day after Addie's birthday!)  Anyway, I whipped up a couple of things for her shower.   I love how these "Baprons" turned out.  They were fun and easy to make.  The front is a breathable, waterproof fabric I got from Joann's, and the back (you can see the green a blue checks peeking out at the top of the monster bib) is flannel. 

I also made this bunting that I hope will match the colors in their nursery- it is hard to know for sure when you are trying to match colors via the Internet!

We are anxious to meet the newest addition to the family in just a couple months!

indiana jones party- prep

Here are a few pictures of what I've been working on for Micah's Indiana Jones party. There are lots of great ideas out there in blog-land.  For the invitations I printed the information onto scrap book paper with a map on it.  Then I glued another piece of map paper to the back, cut the edges roughly and rubbed them on a brown ink pad. (Did you notice how I forgot to put the time for the party on the invitation and had to write it in?)

I am also making 7 of these satchels for all the guests.  I got Micah's explorer hat at Michael's with a 50% off coupon but ended up buying cowboy hats at the Dollar Tree for the rest of the kids- I saw were someone else did the same thing and just trimmed a bit off the edge of the brim to make them more like the explorer hat.

Here is a close up of the bag...

And the lining.  Although the construction of the bags is pretty simple, the pockets are a bit more time consuming than I anticipated... I am glad I started 3 weeks before the party and not 1 week before!  Both the fabrics (which were perfect for our theme!) came off the clearance rack, one from Hancock and one from Joann's.

And these little books that fit into one of the inside pocket of the bags were quick and easy, just cut the paper to size and stitch down the middle with my sewing machine- then stamp on the "property of..."

I also plan to fill the bags with a flashlight and compass.  We took advantage of the after Halloween sales and bought all sorts of rats, spiders, snakes and skulls for decoration.  For activities we are going to have a scavenger hunt of sorts- a snake pit, turning a team member into a mummy, crocodile creek (all ideas I have scavenged from the Internet).  I will post more pictures after the party.

tin whistle case

The kids are learning to play the tin whistle at Classical Conversations.  This morning Tallulah asked if I could make a "bed" for her whistle- some of the tutors have made simple felt cases with the students name on them, a place for them to "rest" while the teacher is speaking.  Of course I had to go a step beyond in true Amy fashion :) so we dug through my scraps and found some fabric that Lulu approved and I got busy stitching up this little case. 

She's gonna have the most stylish tin whistle case at CC now!  I have a feeling I will be getting requests for more of these, at least from my own kids if not from others :)

I am busy planning and creating for Micah's birthday party in a few weeks.  The theme is Indiana Jones.  I will try and post some pictures this week of some of the things I am making for the party guests.

in the works

I've been doing a little blog planning this last week. I am hoping to get a series going that will feature my ever growing collection of sewing books.  I may even have my first post as early as next week, stay tuned!

giddy-up horsey!

I got my old rocking horse down from the attic last week.  Adelaide climbed up and was rocking away before I could even finish wiping it down!

think she likes it?

craft fair 2

We had our second craft show on Saturday.  This time we had two tables and still felt like there wasn't enough room!

My bed frames got lots of oohs and aahs... everyone was shocked when I told them I made them (with some help from my pops of course), too bad I am not still making children's tables- I think I might have sold a few!

They had a huge white elephant area and I scored 3 boxes of lace trim, zippers, and covered buttons for $5!  Some of the trim was hand crocheted, it was definitely a steal.  I found a few other treasures, but they are tucked away for another time :)

glass studio

My parents came down for a quick visit this week and surprised us by bringing one of my nephews, Joseph, with them! Yesterday we decided to to check out the Chrysler Museum's new Glass Studio- they are having free demonstrations and performances all week for the grand opening.

The safety goggles were a big hit...

Even Adelaide kept hers on for awhile!

But the real attraction was Skitch Manion (a glass artist from Philly) and his team.  They were making a replica of the Cape Henry lighthouse.  We did not stay for the whole performance (it was really interesting but for the littles it was hot and slow moving) which lasted about 3 hours, I think, but what we did see was really neat.  In the end the lighthouse was to be 36 inches tall- the largest thing that had ever been made in this studio, and really about the largest that could be made as "The Glory Hole" (the main furnace) is only 38 inches deep!  Here are a few pictures of what we did see...

This last picture isn't that great, but if you look closely you can see how they have stretched out that black and white cylinder from the second picture to make the body of the light house.  As we were leaving they were blowing it to make it larger!

They said that in the end, because this piece is so large, it would have to sit in a special cooling oven for a week or longer before it would be finished and ready to display!  I totally wish we could have stayed and watched the whole thing- it was so fascinating!  I just might have to save my penny's and go take a glass blowing class at the new Glass Studio!

I am off to another craft show... hope you have a wonderful weekend!

halloween

Last night we trick or treated with some good friends in their neighborhood.  It was a beautiful night and we brought home at least two years worth of candy per person!  I've sorted out the good stuff (chocolate) and that filled my trifle bowl to the brim!  There is another bowl full of skittles and starbursts and at least 3 gallons of nerds, dum-dums, sweet tarts and the like!  Any body need some candy?

Regan went as Pippi Longstocking... we realized when we got home that we had been in such a rush we forgot her freckles!  Oh, well, she looked pretty cute anyway!

Tallulah was Minnie Mouse.

This was the only costume I made- Mega Mind. The cape was from a Halloween costume I made a few years ago.  I sewed the lightning bolt onto a shirt we already had and made the pants with the leftover fabric from the cape.  The head is an old t-shirt-turned crazy skull cap, stuffed with poly-fil.  His face is still blue today :)

Max was a rock-star- if I had been more organized I would have made him a cardboard guitar to carry, but that just did not happen.

I really wanted to make this costume for Adelaide, but I was not feeling well over the weekend and she looked pretty darn cute in this bunny costume... Regan wore this costume 8 years ago- crazy!

And just because I couldn't resist another picture of this cutie...  She loved her first trick or treating experience- carried her bucket to every door, and smiled as we went from house to house :)