Hodge Podge End of Year Update

Guys. Come on now. You didn't really think I was going to go the whole rest of 2015 without blogging again, did you? Okay, okay, so I'm cutting it close, but I've been a little busy. Here's all that's been happening:

First of all, the house. We got the foundation work all completed, and it is now completely steady and under a transferable lifetime warranty. Unfortunately, the buyer ended up backing out with no real explanation the very day we were having the work done. So that was disappointing, but the foundation repair needed to be done either way, so we are more prepared than ever for when the right buyer comes along. We also put in new kitchen counter tops and new backsplash along the sink wall, so it went from this:

to this:

Halloween was definitely better this year than last, but I didn't do anything crafty in the costume department. Or take really any pictures, apparently. This seems to be the sole picture I have of the two littles who trick or treated. Lily was either Rapunzel or Sophia the First, depending on her mood and whether or not she wanted to wear the wig. Sawyer was a little more put together as a pirate. But seriously, what was the deal with this picture? Mom/photographer/blogger fail.

We also had a couple of things going on with the ladies ministries at church. Our Teachers of Good Things group had their quarterly craft meeting, and this time around we made easy burlap wreaths. Nick came up with a pile of wire coat hangers and helped me (mostly just did it for me) shape them into wreath forms. Then we just unhooked the top, accordion folded burlap ribbon, threaded it on, and rehooked the top. My awesome mom, who is a licensed florist, whipped up burlap bows for everyone.

My SIL Leah the wreath model.

We used basically this tutorial on Just Call Me Homegirl although as I mentioned, we accordion folded the burlap instead of zigzagging/twisting to save on time because our church life center had a second event happening after ours. In retrospect, I wish we had followed Homegirl's tutorial more exactly, because folding it the way we did required more burlap (about 15 yards a wreath) and I found that over time it tends to compress and sag down to the bottom. I think it would work well this way if you were to first use a fabric stiffener on the ribbon.

We also did a fun Christmas Sock Exchange/Cookie Party. Everyone brought a fun pair of new Christmas socks filled with goodies and we all baked cookies and exchanged socks. So fun!

In other news, I finally got to upgrade to a Cameo, and I did a lot of fun projects for Christmas with it, I made a couple of cool guy gifts out of paracord, I made some awesome drop cloth Christmas stockings, and I participated in the Craftaholics Anonymous Handmade Gift Exchange again, all of which deserve their own post. Happy New Year, guys!

Halloween 2014

So Halloween was kind of a wash. Almost literally. We got like 5 houses into trick-or-treating and got blasted back home by sudden torrential icy rain. At least we weren't all the way on the other side of the neighborhood when it hit, but it kind of killed our enthusiasm for more. I spent all day at Joann's getting a crazy good deal on a ton of felt for our upcoming 4th Quarter Ladies Craft Meeting at church, and I got home much later than I planned, so Lily's adorable Tinkerbell-esque tutu that I had planned on finishing turned into a very simple gathered tulle skirt that I knocked out in 10 minutes and is literally the worst thing I have ever sewn. I couldn't get the elastic to feed through the casing, so in a fit of desperation I stretched it and sewed it directly to the waist band, but I couldn't get the gathers to cooperate and ended up having to add an extra piece to get to the end of the fabric width. Then the whole thing ended up being too big, so I had to sew in some very messy extra gathers, and it was really just disastrous. BUT, Lily loved it, and when I told her later that I was sorry we'd gotten rained out, but that I thought she'd looked very beautiful in her costume, she sadly shook her head at the weather, sighed, and said, "Thanks. I thought so too." Lol. But I still have more green tulle, so I'm going to try to make that originally planned tutu for her just for dress up when I get the chance. Or maybe for Christmas. Two birds with one stone and all.

Anyway, that's my craft fail for the night. Sadly I couldn't get Taylor to pose for me in her Batman themed costume, but here are Fairy Princess Lily and Goofy Gorilla Sawyer. I wish I had a better picture, but we were in a hurry, so I thought, "I'll take more when we get back", and of course when we got back we were all encased in icicles, so this is what I've got. And Sawyer's shirt was supposed to be long sleeved, and in fact my mom bought him a new one just for the occasion, but when I went to grab it from the place it has sat for two weeks just waiting, it was gone, so he wore this one instead. He did wear a coat out over it.

Do you see my poor empty fireplace tool rack? Yeah, no clue where any of those went. Ask that shifty ape standing there.

On the upside, Nick carved some AMAZING pumpkins, which he does every year. And I got these beauties at Aldi for $1.99 each! What? I love that store! Actually I'll take some daylight pictures tomorrow so you can see the size and shape of them better, but Nick was kind enough to grab the all-important illuminated shots for me while I was out getting assaulted by Mother Nature.

Tinkerbell with fairy dust for Lily. Can you believe he freehanded that? And Superman for Taylor.

A mason jar with fireflies for me. I have to take a daytime picture of this one for you, because it turned out SO cool! I found the inspiration pumpkin through Better Homes and Gardens. T-Rex was Sawyer's, and it was a pretty sure bet that his design choice was going to involve either dinosaurs, cars, or army men.

Nick did this crazy wicked grin for himself, and I think it might actually be my favorite.

After our unexpected cold shower, we warmed up for a bit and answered the door for the few trick-or-treaters who showed up after that, mostly, it seemed, kids being chauffeured from door to door by parents in cars. Quick rant - I HATE this. I think there's never a good reason to do this. I get that not everyone lives in a neighborhood great for giving out candy, but if you need to find somewhere for your kids to trick or treat, either pick a neighborhood with a safe place to park and walk, or attend one of the myriad events offered in nearly every city and town by churches, malls, YMCAs, rotary clubs, schools, etc. Generally a neighborhood with good enough pickings to draw visitors will be teeming with kids on the street in the dark, and while yes, it is the parents' responsibility to keep their kids safe, don't make that harder to for them to do by unnecessarily driving your mini van between rows of kids and toddlers likely to be distracted by passing costumes, decorated homes, and thoughts of candy. Sadly there are kids struck by cars while trick-or-treating every year. And while I had a firm grip on Sawyer and Lily the whole time, and even carried Sawyer part of the time, I know how easy it is for a toddler to break free. Okay, rant over. :)

After we were all warmed up and the costumes had been run through the dryer (yes, even the gorilla. For $2.99 at the thrift store, I can afford to live on the edge), we got the littles dressed again and headed over to see Nana and Papaw, who more than made up for the grievous candy shortage caused by the wintery storm. All things considered, not a bad night after all.

Behind the Scenes

Yikes, I've been a bad blogger! It's been crazy hereabout though. My birthday was the day after my last post, and it was so great! I got to spend some time with my awesome friend LaDonna, who I rarely get to see anymore, although we're working to remedy that! And she brought me a pumpkin spice latte, and Nick sent me these GORGEOUS flowers!

Then my parents in-law and brother and sister-in-law came by and showered me with gifts and cake (well, there was no actual cake shower, but there was cake presented.) There was a lovely cozy sweater/wrap, some pretty earrings, a cool paper bow maker, and some envelope stickers. Then we went to my parents' house, where they presented me with (heavy breathing here) another punch board! This one was the gift box punch board, and I've been having so much fun with it! They also kept {ALL THREE} kids for us so Nick could take me out for a birthday dinner! The festivity! The romance! The meal with no one spilling their tea in my plate!

I also received some terrific embossing folders from another brother and sister-in-law, birthday money from Nick's grandmother, a gift card from Nick's other sister and her husband, and a certificate for a manicure from my other brother. My parents also got me a couple of outfits. I'm totally spoiled!

I've been at my sewing machine doing some mending jobs, and also making up some note cards for a charity fundraiser. And I've had some photo shoots on the books, including some senior pics for a couple of my very favorite girls from church camp. They are just gorgeous, and they are every bit as lovely inside as out, which should tell you something. Take a look at these beauties:

I have another shoot on Saturday, but of course Halloween is the day before, so I've got to get going on a fairy princess tutu to go with the sweet light up Tinkerbell wings I scored at the thrift store for a cool 99¢! Also, there may be a red tutu in the works for a Superman themed costume, and can I tell you how excited I am that Sawyer's costume requires no more input on my part than putting it on him? Not that I mind making costumes, but this week I'll take store bought, especially when it's a crazy cool gorilla costume I scored at the same thrift store for $2.99. Ahem.

Anyway, coming soon on the blog, we'll be talking about that cool gift box punch board, the pinwheel punch board, a few of my favorite 30-minutes-to-the-table meals, a The Fault In Our Stars themed craft, some fun leather key fobs, a darling pin cushion, and a sweet baby headband. See you soon!