Bringing in the Harvest

We had our first snow here in Cheyenne the other day. I have to admit I have very mixed feelings. SOOOO grateful to have this horrible, hot stiffling (with no a/c) summer over with! So glad to be able to stop watering the garden .. but also very sad about the end of six months of gardening (we started LOTS of seedlings inside) and also sad to face the bitter cold that is coming our way.

We were able to harvest 15 sugar pumpkins this year. The kids were so excited, and my oldest, Hunter was REALLY excited for the gray jarrahdale pumpkins (an heirloom variety) that he grew and sold on his own.

So rather than focus on the sad, I am staying busy enjoying the wonderful opportunities that fall brings. We are processing our own pumpkin puree this year! :) And with fall brings wonderful colors and a change in wardrobe. :) I'm excited to find some personal time for sewing projects and to blog a bit more too. Here's to hoping right?

I also posted lots of new things in my etsy store lately. Here's a link to check it all out!

First bit o' chill

I live in Cheyenne, WY. Which means that *generally* (i.e. - every year that we've been here) there has been SNOW by September 15th. September 15th. The leaves don't change colors, we don't really get to have the cute autumn front door step covered in pumpkins, because generally it is really covered in snow & ice.
This year has been a bit different. This year, it's September 13th and the frost still hasn't come and no snow in sight ... yet. But yesterday was the first really chilly day in the fall, which now has my mind whirring with ideas and possibilities for the front section of my house. It's a narrow little area, about 2 feet by 4 feet. And nine months out of the year it's an ABSOLUTE mess because of all the coats, etc. that tend to gather there. So I have been searching for ideas and have come up with these ones ...
I want to make a shelf for the coats using this tutorial (picture found via pinterest).

And then try to decorate it really cute like this gal's amazing shelf (pic found via pinterest ... again).

Then I want a cute little sitting bench like this one from ana-white (photo from her site ... unfortunately not mine ... yet!)

 But since it's technically only 21" across (not even 2 feet!) for the entryway ... I'm guessing a big ol' tub will be more realistic for the space.
Oh! And I don't want to pay anything for it ... we'll see. Maybe if I ever finish re-painting the chairs that I started in March I could talk my husband into making it for me??? :)

Girl Craft Night

My daughter and I have tried to keep the tradition of having a girl craft night once a week. Sometimes we fail, but mostly we succeed. Last night we were finishing up our crate book shelves (tutorial/idea found here). The girls room is so small and cramped and this was the PERFECT low cost solution to giving a much needed home for all of her random books.

$5 for the crate (using a coupon) and we already had the paint and supplies. I can't WAIT to put these babies up on the wall this week! :)

Family Movie Night

We have a family tradition like many others, family movie night. But my goal has become more & more lately to not just have a movie night, but have a fun night with an activity or special treat that is themed to the movie. But I have to be honest, most ideas I found on-line were NOT cheap or easy. Both of which I really needed, until I came across a few gems on-line. :)

This week was the first time that we did this. My husband had read the kids' Charlotte's Web and it's a movie I remember loving as a child. So that was the first movie we requested from Netflix.

So I made some pizzas using this fabulous tutorial (she shows you how to make a spider out of olives! My kids freaked out they thought it was so cool!). And then I took some simple paper plates & hole punched them like crazy and wrapped some tape around the ends of yarn, so it wouldn't fray on the kids. And voila! little red spider webs to make while watching the movie.

 (Sorry for the photos ... it was late & I was just glad I remembered to document at all)

Now the kids are begging to do this as a weekly tradition of sorts ... hmmm, guess it's time to start checking for more ideas! :)

Flowers, Flowers, Flowers!!!

I haven't had much time to post - mainly because I've been making TONS of these little beauties ...

I've got a HUGE assortment of colors available at my shop (link is here).

And a brown and pink combo is my latest addition ... love this look!

The best sellers are this dark purple 3.5" cutie - in fact I'm shipping some off tonight for a wedding! Eek! :)

And my girls favorite is this hot pink 3.5" flower! Definitely a girlie favorite in our home!

So I'm working on some new crafts & promise to take the time to post them soon! :) Have a great weekend!

Winners of the giveaway ...

So I used that random number generator and got ...

Bethany said...
Teal Silk Satin Singed Edge Flower Hair ClipGray/Silver Silk Satin Singed Edge Flower Hair ClipBrown Silk Satin Singed Edge Flower on Hair ClipI love all of them, but those are my favorites!Thanks!

AND

Krystina said...
Red, pink and teal are my favorites! Thanks for the chance, these are lovely!

CONGRATULATIONS LADIES!!! I'll be e-mailing you for your addresses so we can get these shipped to you ASAP! :)

Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway This Week!

Giveaway now closed - thank you to all who entered! And if you are interested, check out my etsy store! THANK YOU!!! :)Welcome to this week's Sew Mama Sew giveaway! I make a HUGE selection (16 colors to be exact) of handmade, singed edge silk satin flowers that I sell in my etsy store.I'll be giving away three flowers (on hair clips, so you can add them to your own headband, or tuck them above a ponytail, on your own bobby pins, etc. - it's all about getting a good deal!!!) ... and since I think it's not fair to only have one person win, I'll give away to TWO people! Here's the link to the store to check out the color options even better!All I ask is that you comment with which three you would want personally (it'll make it easier to get your package ready for you when you win!). The giveaway is open until Friday night at midnight (MST). And I'm sorry, but I can only ship these within the USA.And if you're interested in buying your own ... I sell the hair clips for $4 regularly, but with the coupon code SewMama20, you can get 20% off! So that's only $3.20 each ... great deal!!! Also check out the other bulk ordering options for an even greater discount! :) I also host giveaways on my facebook page, go here to like it! :)

To join in on the other giveaways ... go to Sew Mama Sew to see the other goodies up for grabs this week! And I have three tutorials almost finished & ready to add, but they will show up below this posting since it's supposed to stay up for a week! Good luck everyone! :)

Photoshop ...

So I've been working hard on our family Christmas card, Christmas gift tags and a fun little Christmas piece of subway art for a spot next to our front door. I found that Costco had the best price around $20 for 75 card, including the envelopes! I used a fantastic idea I saw on snapfish for the card and then typed a quick synopsis of our family events around the outside of the card (which I took off for the posting on-line) ... I think this is my FAVORITE card I've made so far! I can't wait to see everything printed up ... unfortunately the closest Costco is in Denver ... so now I have to be patient & hope it doesn't snow on Saturday so we can go still! :)

Jax's Christmas Blanket

I've been working hard to finish at least one project a day ... I'm tired, but it's great to know the fun things the kids will get for Christmas! I want to make each child their own Christmas Nativity blanket (here's version #1, #2, and #3) ... and I also picked up two extra flannel versions of the panel by accident when I ordered them on e-bay. Since Jax is still in a toddler crib, I made a quick one for his bed, using up all scraps for the batting, backing and front too. Now I just need to make one for Lizzie's crib too ...

The Girls' Christmas Tree

It took a lot of "girl craft nights", but we've finally finished up the ornaments for the tree! I'd like to do more with it (like a felt ball garland), but right now I'm out of time to finish a LOT of other projects for Christmas gifts, so this is going to have to be it for now ... except for the tree skirt which I'll post tomorrow. :) Because that thing has been an insane amount of time for a such a small circle that goes under a tree, that NO ONE will see ...She painted each bird house, and then cut & mod podged on the scrapbook paper. I helped with some measurements & hot glued clothespins onto the bottom of each house to help hang them up with. The star was actually green before for a previous project, but we just covered it in TONS of pink paint & I think it looks pretty on top of the tree ... it doesn't feel complete, but I guess we'll leave some of those other projects for next year. :) She was pretty excited about it all though!

Ruffled Table Runner

So I saw this picture & idea via pinterest. And it was *LOVE*. Only, the burlap warnings of never get this wet or it will stink scared me off. Then I saw some yummy linen like colored fabric at Jo-Ann's and I was able to get this table runner out of it (and also used the remaining fabric for some of my pillow forms)! For $9.47 I was able to get three projects out of the fabric, and I have to say I LOVE the look this adds to the room. Of course having to place & clean the table three times a day can be annoying (so the kids who *always* spill something each meal don't ruin it). But so far, it's a GREAT addition to the room! :)

Black Ruffle Pillows & a Giveaway!

I saw a similar set of pillows on Dear Lillie and absolutely loved them! I actually used a red pillowcase (picked up a set of sheets -queen- on cleanance for only a few bucks last year for the trim, and the fabric was on sale last weekend for $1.99 a yard at Jo-Ann's. They are going to go on some white chairs I picked up for $2.50 (for the set!). I'm planning on re-covering them as soon as I find some cheap upholstery fabric, but they are a nice anchor for the entertainment center. But for now they seem like a nice splash of christmas-y color ... Pillows #5 & #6 done and now I have absolutely no idea what I want to do for the rest ... ALSO ... remember those little flowers? Well, I have the facebook page up & running and since I had my first big sale this week, I thought I would celebrate with another giveaway this weekend! Go here to check it out if you'd like to win some flowers! :)

I'm linking up to these parties: Freckled Laundry

Boys Room - Jax's Pillow -

So I saw this pillow and LOVED it. And since Jax was the only boy still without a pillow for his bed, I used a $1 pillow form from the thrift store (obviously pre-hot washed and sterilized). I love the way it came out, and he was pretty excited to have it on his bed too! Pillow #4 done!

(Pillowcase blogged here, jean blanket blogged here)

Santa Christmas Pillows

The next set of pillows were actually purchased for $2.99 each at Ikea. I want to put them in the toy room, but the bench is currently being touched up for paint, so I guess my front room couch will have to do for now. I bought this fabric years ago, and I really love it, I'd love to be able to make some accent pillows to go with it, but I've never found anything that really fits. Easy pockets on the back (using some leftover fabric from my front room curtains) ... and I love the festive colors it brings into the room! :) Pillows #2 & #3 done ... now to finish Jax's car pillow! :)

The Patience of Job ...

So you know that day ... the day when you realize you have let your to-do pile get out of control? The day when you realize you have TEN pillow forms (most from the goodwill ... but still) laying all around your craft room/homeschool room/daughter's-taken-over the room with her crafts room ... and your sweet husband makes absolutely no mention of that when you tell him that you want to start on a new project tonight? Yeah ... seriously patient guy. So ... I am making the goal to finish up those pillows this week! It's 9:30, but after this I am going to go stitch up the next set before bed ... a little less sleep, but two more finished pillows would DEFINITELY make him happy.

The first one up for show is this cute little unicorn pillow. I had stitched up the unicorn FOREVER ago (beginning of October) during the first weekend while watching General Conference. I picked up the pillow form in September, nothing really wrong with the pillow, just not the right colors for the girls room re-do. Savannah loved the unicorn stitchery (a freebie found online), so I enlarged it 125% and just worked on it during the weekend. Love it, and it only cost me $0.50 for the pillow, everything else I already had on hand! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great, relaxing day. I did most of my cooking on Wednesday, so until the last hour of the turkey cooking, I got to rest all day long and hang out with the kids. :) The kids made the table decorations, little pilgrims & native americans around the table and cute little colored ring napkins, complete with Savannah drawing a "personal" picture of each person & placing it on their plates. We laid two large strips of craft paper out with crayons ... it made the kids last at least 15 minutes, they still didn't eat much, but it didn't feel like wasted effort at least! And of course the funniest part was Savannah coming upstairs, dressed "fancy" for her favorite day of the year ... and insisting that we all dress up for her too, it was actually really fun being "fancy" together too. :)
My hubs is working today, so I have LOTS of sewing/project finishing on my agenda for the day. Have a nice weekend! :)

Flower Giveaway

So, I started a facebook page for the flowers. And to kick start it off, simply comment on the latest status update & be entered to win TWO FREE FLOWERS from my store! :) Seemed like a good way to channel all the etsy stuff into one spot and not spend too much time on the craft blog about it all. "Like" the page and spread the word to get some freebies! :)

Girls Craft Night

So, my daughter and I have been working (during all my *free* time) on making decorations for her Christmas tree. It's a beautiful pink, pre-lit foofy (technical term, honest) tree that we got 75% off last year for $5. I picked up some bird houses for $1 and we are busily, painting & mod-podging them, and cutting out cute little birds to go on them ... and then I came up with this monstrosity of an idea for the tree skirt. Which I plan on finishing up tomorrow (hopefully) in the morning before the family heads out for family pictures. Is it just me who wishes we DIDN'T have to be a part of the family pic at all sometimes? Not a slam on myself, just the kids are so cute, and their clothes were sooooo much easier to pick out then trying to bargain shop for myself, in the right color scheme, with clothing that I feel comfortable in. LOL. Good to know that's the absolutely worst thing on my plate for tomorrrow. :) I am truly blessed.

Etsy sale thru Black Friday

So, I have gotten better pictures up on the etsy store & am having a black friday sale. There are these cute pom-pom flowers on a hair clip.

As well as a lot of different varieities of the singed edge flowers to choose from. You can choose single, or your own variety depending on your check out choice. And use the coupon code BLACKFRIDAY20 for 20% off your order thru next week! :)

Super Saturday Cuteness

This last weekend was our church's Super Saturday Craft Day. There were lots of cute things to make and I was REALLY excited about it all ... so of course my husband had to work unexpectedly. Which wouldn't have been a problem (they were offering free child care), except my children also got nasty colds. Which quickly ended my fun day of crafts and self-indulgence. So, I finished up one of the crafts last night & had to show this cuteness! It's just simple wood, painted with craft paint, add the vinyl & paint mod podge all over ... wah-lah! SUPER CUTE! :) I've ordered four more now for gifts for next year ... LOVE IT! :)