Halloween 2011

left: simplicity 5520 and right: simplicity 4944

On the left is the pattern I used for Emily's dress. On the right is the one I should have used but didn't discover it till just now. Boo. I had to alter the left one to look like the right one and I don't like making my own pattern pieces. Jenny's not good at it. 

I used a black satin with flocked moons and stars from (I think) Joann fabrics from years and years ago. I lined it with a cheapy poly lining and then lined the sleeves with this really cool two sided silver and black fabric. I forgot to include a picture of the back but I did a faux lace up. Although Emily's hat is not really the best match for this gown, I had the worst time finding one. The one I ordered online was so terribly thin and cheap and then they had nothing at the PX. I found this at a German toy store. It had green iridescent feathers, green pom poms and thicker netting on it along with the tulle you see. I took all that off and just left the tulle and fabric flowers.

*

Ava's dress and hat are from a German clothing store (Takko. Yes, it sounds like taco.). During fasching last year they had costumes. Not bad for $20 euro.

*

One other thing:

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY JON!!!!

Love you pooh shiv, you're the best.

10 years married, 19 altogether.   

Chewie, Leia and R2

I'm not going to apologize for the 15 photos of Ava. Because there is a crafting item in those photos! Look at this adorable Chewbacca softie from Pinterest! He was really easy to make...if you follow the directions. Which I didn't and he is actually Chewie #2. The first one is "the ugly twin". I won't bore you with the details but I will say that you should follow her instructions and make the back part with a seam and interface the whole thing (my instructions). Anyway, he's adorable and I love his teeth and ammunition sash the best. Which is made with black grosgrain ribbon and duct tape.

*

Here is Emily wearing the Princess Leia costume back in 2008 when Ava was but a wee babe of  about 10 months. The R2D2 is actually a phone I've had for years and years that of course does not work over here. Oh and Ava calls Chewbacca "Bock Bock". I guess that's not an easy thing to say?

Ludwigsburg Palace Pumpkin Patch year 7

This years theme was Dinosaurs!! How cool is that?? And we went on my birthday and with good friends. The only thing that could have made it the perfect day was if Jon was there.

*for last year and all the years before, look here.

year 6

year 5

year 4 (here here and here)

2005, 2006, 2007 can be seen here.

2

I think Ava looks just like my brother in the photo below.

I'll have to dig out a photo of him pouting at that age.

Who has the coolest shoes ever?

Ava's crazy.

Crazy I tell you!

These are the other kids we went with. Nicolas, Annabel & Sienna.

If you can take your eyes off Ava's crack, take a look at that huge pumpkin!!

Thanks Heidi and Mary for some of the photos:)

Masks

My sister sent me a picture of her Halloween name plaque in front of her house. It looks so good!

*

Yesterday was the Girl Scout Masquerade Ball. The girls made their own masks. They got them from the arts and crafts center here (I still have not gone in as I'm told it has a small selection of ugly fabric and notions) and I think they were done with a die cut machine and suede mat board. Speaking of die cut machines....I have saved up gift certificates (thanks family:) for a Silhouette Die Cutter. Anyone know much about it? Heard anything bad about it? Good?  

Don't they look adorable? 

*

I turned 40 a week ago!

I went to Stuttgart and to the Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Patch for the big day ( I'll post pictures someday). How does it feel to be 40? The same as 39 and 38 and 37..except saying 40 makes me cringe. It really does sound (from a teenagers point of view) old. Of course now that I'm 40 it's not old to me at all.

Name Skeletons

If you turn Bernie (the girls call all skeletons Bernie) clockwise you can see Emily's name! Where did I get the idea? Pinterest of course! There isn't really step by step instructions so I photographed some of the steps while I made the girls. Also, since Emily can't do cursive and Ava draws scribbles for her name, I had to write them. I cut the names out, while Emily did almost everything else. Ava did draw her Skeletons head:)

On white card stock I wrote the girls names in cursive. You shouldn't make them very big or you'll not be able to fit legs, head or arms in. Ava's is about 3.5" long and 1.25" tall when folded. Emily's is about 4.5" long and 2.5" tall when folded. I used a yellow calligraphy pen so you won't see it on the other side and it gives you nice thick lines. Just remember not to cut the folds:)

I had to show Emily how to draw bones and after showing her once, she was able to draw all the bones for Ava's (she did hers without me helping so her bones are not defined still cute though!).

I love them and I'll keep them forever and ever:) I was thinking smaller ones would be cute for Halloween cards.

***

*"Curated" digi page from kitschy digitals

Pinterest Inspiration

Here's two more ideas I got off pinterest. The first is this fingerprint tree.

 So then I saw this digi kit on Jessica Spragues "one buck Wednesday" (completely forgetting that this pin had a link to a free one) and thought the tree was perfect for this and it was $1!! So I printed it out to fill an 8.5x11 piece of paper and printed it on card stock. I had the girls choose which color stamp the wanted and told them they could only use that color so when looking at it you knew who's little prints were who's.

 The 2nd project is this Halloween garland. I printed it in black ink (just the outline) on black cardstock. Because printers don't print in white:) But the black showed up enough for Emily to cut this out. She wanted it above my bed.



Farmers Wife Quilt Blocks: the 1st 20

My 1st Farmers Wife Quilt blocks. Have I said already how much I love making these?? I'm addicted. I think it's because each block is different so I have to think up a new combo of fabrics each time. If you haven't already noticed, the two predominant colors are yellow and green. I may switch to another color combo soon. I only have so much green and yellow...

The yellow lady bug one is wrong. It was not supposed to have a border aroudn it but I somehow made it smaller than it was supposed to be and I was not going to remake it!

You're looking at a big girl now! Ava goes to "part time, part day, pre k". Say that 5 times fast! She goes to "school" 2 days a week for 3 hours each time. Luckily we only live 10 minutes away so I can come home and do stuff and not feel like I have to turn right around and go get her.And what's the stuff I do? What do I do with 3 hours of free time??? Clean out the basement. And go for long walks where I can walk fast and not have to hear one of my kids complain about me walking too fast or not have to push a stroller with 2 kids in it because that's the only way I can walk fast with them is if they are both in one stroller. I've been listening to Interview with a Vampire on my Ipod while walking.