thanksgiving recap

Where did the last week go?? Thanksgiving was so wonderful! Several days of no school for the kids and no work for Michael was heavenly. I've had a hard time adjusting back to normal life.

Thanksgiving dinner was hosted by my sister-in-law Jen this year. Everything was delicious! I made a turkey, roasted carrots, rolls (I used frozen rolls- don't tell anyone!) and several pies.

The adult table:

The kid table. They had lots of fun coloring on the paper covered table.

There was a little wiffle ball going on in the front yard. Sutton LOVED being included with the big kids.

Then came the PIE. I may or may not have looked like this after I ate my pie.

The obligatory group shot. Kalleen, you asked for a belly shot. This is probably the closest you'll get. I am starting to get a complex. The next person that asks me if I am "sure there are TWINS in there?" would get kicked in the teeth if only I could get my foot that high! :)

Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween! I don't like the creepy, scary horror movie type Halloween and I don't particularly love trick or treating but I do love dressing up and having fun! I love that I don't have to worry about the over commercialization of Halloween or if my kids understand the "true meaning" of Halloween because there isn't one! Halloween is just for fun. I love letting my kids decide what they want to be and then creating it for them.

This year we dressed up as: A sumo wrestler, a mime, a lion, Strawberry Shortcake, and Nacho Libre.

Michael's Nacho Libre costume was made from ladies pants and jacket from Goodwill, a flesh colored t-shirt from Walmart, an old (but never even worn) swimsuit, a wig and a moustache. The knee pads and the boots were made from parts of the jacket.

Liam chose to be a mime and he took it seriously. He watched 'how to mime' instructional videos on youtube so he could play the part right. The hat, gloves and t-shirt were purchased at wal-mart, pants at Goodwill. I made the suspenders and the scarf.

Sutton loves Strawberry Shortcake and decided weeks ago to be her for Halloween. I was glad because I knew it would be a really easy costume to make. I bought the tights and made the skirt and hat. I appliqued the strawberry and diamonds onto a white-shirt she already had. Sutton's costume was the most expensive because of the tights and the fabric. I justified it though because it looked perfect and now that Halloween is over the skirt can be part of her regular wardrobe.

Ezra was a little lion. Liam and Sutton both wore this costume when they were little. I love it!

I decided to take advantage of my rotund figure and be a sumo wrestler. The shirt and the old lady stretchy pants came from walmart ($3/each on clearance!). I made the mawashi (diaper-y thing) from felt.

And because I have no pride... here is a shot of the back view:

To help you get that image our of your head here is another cute one of the kids:

I hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween!!

the puzzle solution

My kids love puzzles. They also love to stand and sit on the puzzle boxes. After I had re-taped the boxes for the umpteenth time I had had enough!

The puzzles before.

After- each puzzle in it's own canvas drawstring bag.

Using a box cutter I cut the picture off each box (If you do this, be smarter than me. Don't cut the cardboard box on your lap while watching 30Rock. You'll be really mad at yourself when you cut a 1" gash in your brand new jeans. MOM: don't worry I barely scratched my leg- hardly any blood at all!). I cut a piece of vinyl a few inches larger than the picture. I sewed the vinyl to the front piece of the bag (before the bag was sewn together) with the picture sandwiched between the canvas and vinyl. Then I trimmed the vinyl close to the stitching. I made the bags with boxed bottom and button holes for the drawstring.

A little tip: when sewing vinyl the presser foot drags and gets stuck on the vinyl. Cut a narrow strip of paper (the tissue paper that comes with the vinyl works well) and place it under the presser foot near the needle.

After I had made almost all of the bags Tammy at she wears flowers posted a drawstring bag tutorial. I made the last six bags using her method and it was so much easier and quicker! Thanks Tammy for being smarter than me!

All of those puzzles from the first picture (plus a few more I found scattered around the house) all fit perfectly in this bucket that I picked up for $1.82. Look at how much space I am saving!! The puzzle bin sits nicely at the bottom of my lovely new closet.

me, pretending to bake cookies...

My blog friend Abby is celebrating her two year blogiversary. I was excited when she asked if I would like to make something for her month of giveaways. I knew exactly what I wanted to make. An apron and coordinating dish towels (with snaps, of course!). Go here for your chance to win!



I have been making aprons for a couple of years now. They make great gifts and I think every one of my sisters and sisters-in-law and many friends have received one as a birthday present. BUT I have never made one for myself. I decided to rectify that this week! Stay tuned...

look familiar?

I just came across this on the Anthro website:
I think it is so funny that I made an exact replica of the rosette on this top with out ever seeing it. I am not suggesting that Anthro copied me (haha, as if!) I am certain this top was in production long before I made my version of the Shabby Apple dress. It is just a funny coincidence that my rosette looks more like this Anthro version than the Shabby Apple version.

i know i said i was sick of ruffles...

but I had never done tuxedo ruffles before! I really like how this turned out except that when you sew five ruffles onto the front of your shirt it does nothing to minimize a large bust! Which shouldn't be a surprise to me, I've always had a large bust and should know how to dress for my shape but when I tried on the shirt after I finished it I was like "woah, hello BOOBIES!"


Last week, I helped my friend Meredith refashion one of her old shirts for her daughter. At one point we needed to use the seam ripper to pick out a mistake. Meredith said something along the lines of "I wouldn't think you would know how to use a seam ripper" as if my seamstress abilities are so great that I never have to rip out a seam. Ha! If only! I could only laugh at that comment. Case in point: when I was sewing the last tuxedo ruffle onto this shirt I somehow managed to also sew the the back of the shirt to the front. Oops.

P.S.- can someone come to my house and make me stop refashioning clothes? i have (way belated) birthday and Christmas presents to make for crying out loud!

the beard

Liam's Gandolf costume is done. You guys had such fantastic ideas for the beard. I would have put your ideas to use except I had already purchased the materials for making this beard. I am mostly happy with how it turned out. The length and shape (especially the crookedness of it) I think are perfect. The color is off though. I couldn't find and gray or white trim, only brown. Maybe Liam can be a young Gandolf?

All is not lost though... the beard has already seen a lot of use. Liam wore it constantly for two days after I made it. And it even looks good on me:


Maybe next Halloween I will be the bearded lady. Totally hot, right? RIGHT?

I'll be posting more pictures of the kids in their costumes soon.