Roll call!

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Finished the capes!

Well, I've been working on an apron for my grandmother for Christmas. First of all, I've never made an apron before. Ever. Secondly, I made up the pattern instead of buying one. Thirdly, it's reversible! Yikes! But, except for the ties (since I ran out of fabric...gotta run to the store today!) it's all done. I'll share a picture now, even though it's not done. Maybe when it's done, I'll model it for you! :)

I also finally got around to making the other cape for my kids' Halloween costumes. I really needed to get it done since my mom's supposed to be coming to pick up her sewing machine tonight. (Mine died so I'm at the mercy of my mom's sewing schedule to get my projects done. Yay for my birthday being close though! I've asked for a replacement sewing machine.) I think it turned out pretty well!

Halloween!

You know, as much as I love Christmas, I think that Halloween is definitely my "most wonderful time of the year." What other holiday has kids using their imagination as much as Halloween? Which holiday makes us think and create more than Halloween? I don't think there is one. Sure, Christmas has presents, but Halloween has magic, fantasy and fun! So we've been getting in the Halloween spirit this week at our house. It took us a while longer than I would've liked, but who knows where all the decorations got put when Hubby emptied the garage? So I made my own. I asked my sweet dad to cut a 2x4 that I had lying around in the garage for me. Then I used leftover paint and a "Boo" sign I got at JoAnn's for $1 and made this:

I also made this ghost and mummy set that I've seen all over the blogosphere lately. So fun and easy! I wish I could've found my camera to take pictures while my kids and I were making these. At one point (while I was mod-podgeing...if that's a word) I heard Bubs say to Chubs, "No, don't paint yourself!" and looked up to see him with paint on his nose and cheek! He looked a little like a kitty cat. Pretty cute!

Anyway, today I also tried to work on finishing Halloween costumes. Bubs is going to be Princess Presto (from the PBS kids show, SuperWhy!) and Chubs will be SuperWhy! Baldy will probably be Alpha Pig, also from SuperWhy! unless it's really cold, in which case, we're hoping he still fits into the pumpkin costume that we were given for Chubs but never fit him. So here's the reversible cape I made for Chubs today. I printed the logos onto iron-on paper for the capes, so it was way easy! I love how it turned out. Chubs isn't so sure about the SuperMan side since he's never really seen SuperMan. He actually asked me to take it off, but it was a little late. I got a yard of each fabric, and had enough for two capes, so I may be making another one!

(P.S. Sorry about the formatting at the beginning. I cut and pasted and something happened. Any suggestions?)

Recipe Cards

So, I made my mom some recipe cards this month. They're way cute, using a freebie that I got from somewhere (give me a sec, it'll come to me! Aha! Digital Scrapbook Place. ) Anyway, I love them, and apparently someone else did too! One of my mom's friends has asked me to make some for her. Don't worry, I'm doing this all nice and legal-like, so I won't be using that freebie. I don't wanna tick someone off. I am going to be using a kit, though and buying a commercial use license for it. I love the kit and it comes with recipe cards, but I won't be using them. They all have colored backgrounds and I prefer using a white or cream background for my recipes. It's so much easier to read! (Especially for those of us with not-too-great eyes!) I'm trying to decide if this is something I should try to do for more people. What do you think? Would you pay to have all of your recipe cards typed for you and made all cute?

Well, here's a peek at the recipe cards I made for my mom (complete with a yummy recipe for you to try!). You should be able to click to enlarge, and I'll even let you keep the recipe! :)

This is one of my favorite holiday recipes. It's really not just for Christmas-time, but who can resist a good cinnamon and cloves recipe around Christmas! Also, it may not say (since it was word-for-word from my mom's card) but you use a large cookie sheet and press the dough into it to cook. It's so yummy and is always gone when we take it to potlucks! Hmmm...maybe this is what I'll take for our Halloween dessert for the church party. Yay! Enjoy the recipe!

Older Projects

Well, here's an older project that I haven't shared. I decided to make some chore cards for my kids. Someday I'll get around to making the rest of the project, but these are some of the finished cards. These are the cards that the kids get to choose between for general chores. They also have specific chores for their rooms (or they did before they got stuck sharing a room again!) I went through the rooms with them, cleaning up, and then when we were done I took pictures of how it is supposed to look when they're done. Now, they're 3 and 4, so it probably won't ever look quite this way, but at least they have something to aim for, other than throwing things in the closet! When I was done with the pictures, I put them in my digital scrapbooking softward and "prettified" them. I printed them out at http://www.artscow.com/, where you can get tons of prints for free (although the shipping is a little more, since they're located in China...but it's still cheaper than some other places).

Success

Well, the last post was Fail, so I figured I'd start out on a more positive note this time. I had a rough couple of weeks there, but I finally got the car cleaned out. I did use the clear shoebox with snacks, tissue paper, gas mileage tracking stuff, and other miscellaneous items in the front seat area. I also kept a baby shower gift bag in the van, since that's what I'm most likely to need a last-minute gift for. I used another clear shoebox in the back to keep swim diapers, regular diapers, diaper wipes and sunscreen in, since I very often forget those. Also, my husband's amazing and he cleaned the laundry and bathroom for me this week! Just thought I'd throw that out there. Yay for husbands!