Happy Halloween!

My three favorite goofballs and I wish you a very Happy Halloween!

I made Bailey's costume. Her request: to be an orange princess. I think I got that one covered. In her big shimmery pouf of a dress, complete with sparkling tiara, she is one happy camper.

Owen had the skeleton shirt already and then we found the gloves in a $1 bin at the craft store. After purchasing some black sweatpants, I decided to make a stencil of the leg bones and just use some acrylic craft paint I already had to complete his costume. He LOVES it!

We've already been trick-or-treating at Daddy's office (an annual tradition) and are looking forward to heading out tonight for a little while. They've already collected their body weight in sugar so I know we're in for a crash later tonight and probably tomorrow, too. Thank goodness it's only once a year!

Halloween Snack Mats!

Unable to attend Sewing Summit last weekend, I consoled myself by making some Halloween snack mats and placemats.

Here are the six snack mats.

These were super fun to make and I absolutely LOVE the Cosmo Cricket Halloween fabric (purchased at the Fabric Depot outdoor sale for you locals).

And can I just say that I am officially hooked on straight line quilting. The texture is so great and it's a perfect no-brainer for small projects like this when I can just zone out at the machine.

These are destined for my two kids and four of their bestest friends to celebrate the holiday season.

Once I get the binding done on the placemats, I'll show them to you. Have you started any fall crafting?

Halloween was a hit!

Oh my goodness! Halloween was a blast!

This was the very first year we did real, door-to-door trick-or-treating.

The rain held off and both of the wee ones really got into the spirit of the evening.

Now if someone would just hide the rest of the peanut butter cups from me....

Roasty goodness

Mmmmmm...I love a good roasted beet. So yummy on a salad with goat cheese.

Although my kitchen looks more like the site of a terrible massacre.

And if anyone looks at my hands for evidence they'll have no trouble identifying me as the guilty party.

The Roast Beet Bandit.

It's that time of year.

When I spend a LOT more time in my kitchen. I love holiday baking. It's become both trickier and more fulfilling now that there are kiddos on the scene. They love to "help" but my kitchen often qualifies as a disaster zone when we're through.

In an effort to class the place up a bit, I decided to make covers for my blender and mixer so that they a) don't collect dust when they aren't being used and b) look way cuter.

Blender before (and keep reading if you're curious about those cookies on the cooling rack):

And blender after:

Why, you may ask, is the blender covered in mixer fabric? That would be because I made this very very late at night and realized too late that I was following the blender measurements instead of the mixer ones. Nice, huh?

But have no fear, there's more of that fabric lying around and I have a pretty green kona that matches the green in the print so the mixer will have a matching cover soon.

Check out the yumma-numma cookies we made the other day:

Found the recipe over here. The cookies themselves are pretty awesome, almost like a shortbread but easier (I think) but it didn't hurt to add the cream cheese icing.

'Nuff said.

Halloween Costumes Were a Hit!

My little munchkins were a hit with the toddler set this Halloween. Although, I think at this age the costumes are more for me than them. Owen picked out being a doctor and chose the color for his scrubs. I tried to steer him away from his first choice but he wouldn't be budged. Now that all is said and done I have to admit, he rocked the purple scrubs!

Bailey was what we called a Pirette. Seriously, her costume was the cutest thing. My personal favorite was the skull and crossbones on her hiney. They both managed to acquire quite a haul of loot. Now, the costumes will become part of a dress-up stash and hopefully, Bailey will want to be a doctor or a vet before she outgrows the scrubs.

Did I mention that I made the costumes myself? Well, I did. I'm more than a little proud of them as I consider myself to be more of a hobby sewer. It was loads of fun to make them their little outfits and I'm already looking forward to next year!