The Great Pumpkin … Mystery

(I have no idea why part of this post, and all of the last post is in black…talk about your mysteries!) 

So I’m doing a little advanced planning.  I’m planning on making those adorable plush velvet pumpkins that are so popular in the fall (see, told ya I was planning in advance!).  One of the things I love about the pumpkins is that their stems are real pumpkin stems - which is what brings me to the advanced planning bit…

This year we had 4 pumpkins of various sizes and shapes on our front porch.  They will meet their demise this weekend to make way for something a little more holiday appropriate, but before they do, Kevin is going to carve off the pumpkin stems for me.  Four.  Only four.  Now, of course, I wish I’d planned even further in advance and picked up a few more pumpkins before they were all gone.  But alas, I did not.

However.  An interesting thing happened over the weekend.  Kevin and I were driving along one of our favorite routes and we passed a house that had bunches and bunches of pumpkins lining the wall, driveway and front porch.  The pumpkins were all shapes, sizes and varieties.  Sooo cool!  We passed in on Saturday.  Then again on Sunday.  I drive home from work that way, so Monday and Tuesday I spied the pumpkins again.  Finally on Wednesday, I decided to go up to the house and ask if, before they tossed them out, I could have a couple for my craft project.  I wrote out a slip of paper with my name and phone number and the word ‘Pumpkins’ on it to hand to the homeowner should they agree with my request.  So.  I ring the doorbell and a very nice lady answered the door.  I told her that I had a strange request.  She immediately told me that she was not the homeowner, but she asked if the request was about the pumpkins.  I said it was and asked if the homeowner was around, and sure enough, she was.  She joined the other lady at the front door and when I mentioned the pumpkins, they both giggled.  They said that the pumpkins really weren’t theirs.  The homeowner said that she woke up one morning and went out the front door, and there they all were...dozens of pumpkins!  Seventy in all.  She still has no idea who put them there or why.  It’s the Great Pumpkin...mystery!  She invited me to take as many as I wanted, wished me a Merry Christmas and that, my friends, was that!  I am now the proud owner of six more pumpkins with fun and unique stems for my craft project.  Yahoo!  

PS - She did mention that the pumpkins had been disappearing over the last several days and that I was the first one to actually ask if I could have one.  I’m glad I did the right thing and asked -- it was completely worth it to hear the story of how she acquired all of those pumpkins!

WOFA Memory Book Event

(This is kinda strange. In looking over my blog, I saw that there were a few items in the 'draft' stage. Hmmm...I didn't even know they were there! I decided to publish this post even though it's about two years old. The subject is actually pretty close to right on time and hey, better late than never, right?! I think I didn't publish it when I first wrote it because I made one of the Memory Books for Deb. If I'd published it, she would have seen it before I gave it to her as a gift. Not good. At any rate, here it is!)

We have a women's group at work - WOFA - and we get together over the summer to have some fun. Well, actually, we get together during the school year, too, but the group was originally designed to maintain contact over the summer. We've done all kinds of fun things! Manicure/pedicure evenings, Bingo nights, movies, and craft days.

In July we got together to make Memory Books. One of our teachers made them with her family and brought them in to show everyone ... and we all fell in love with them! So she decided to host a craft day so that we could all make one of our own. They are so much fun to make! They take much longer than you would think they would ... but then again ... I'm pretty particular about what goes with what, so maybe it just took me longer =)

Anyway - here's a peak at the final results. I'm really happy with it! I guess I shouldn't really say 'final' result - we still need to add our pictures and our comments to the book. So, it's mostly finished ...I need to add a picture to that open spot on the front page.On the pullout card, it asks questions like "What is was your favorite Christmas gift when you were growing up?" or "Where is your favorite place to celebrate Christmas?" We each have a card in the front pocket to add our responses. Because it's such a family tradition, I added a page with our family peanut brittle recipe. YUM! The last page is for more Christmas memories ... favorite Christmas song, favorite Christmas movie, etc.

I loved this WOFA!! I had so much fun! Poor Linda probably thought I'd never leave her house because it was taking me forever! In fact, I ended up bringing everything home and just finishing it up here. She's going to have another Memory Book event in a month or so. I can hardly wait!

CHARM-ing

Do you subscribe to Country Living magazine? Oh mercy. In the March issue, I found page after page after page of inspiration!

One of my favorite things was a charm bracelet created by Cathe Holden over at Just Something I Made. I just fell in love with the vintage images she shared for the project - I knew I'd have to make one for myself.

So. I did! It was very easy to do, didn't take long at all, and I think it turned out just adorable. See for yourself:Isn't it cute?!

If you love it, you can find all of the supplies you need on a quick trip to Michael's - and nothing was over $5.00. Plus, the images are downloadable for FREE! Check out Cathe's site or Country Living online for all of the details.

Happy crafting!

Playing with Books

A friend of mine at work lent me this book: Oh my gosh - I think she's created a monster! Each chapter was better than the next. There are a TON of amazing projects that I am just going to have to do.

Thanks, Linda, for loaning me the book. But darn you! Now I'm going to have to go buy it! ;o)

...now all I have to do is *use* them!

Last Sunday I took a trip through Michael's. I haven't been there in a while (I try and stay away as much as possible because it's like an addiction!) and I wanted to see what was on sale. After all, I *did* receive a $25.00 gift card from a friend for making some invitations for her, so it was like getting 'free' stuff ... right?

Anyway, I also had a coupon for 40% off any Martha Stewart craft item - and you know I couldn't pass that up. I came away with a goodie bag filled with things - AND I still have $8.00 left on the gift card. Score! More on the other goodies later, but I was really excited about the Martha Stewart item and just had to share.

So this is what I ended up buying with my 40% off coupon: Cute, right? I know! I ended up spending just $5.00 on the whole set. I looked at the plastic mounts you're supposed to use for these new kinds of stamps (remind me again, what was wrong with the good 'ol days of wooden stamps?) and I was pretty shocked. The mount alone was $12.99! Yikers. No thanks.

When I got home, I began thinking of things I could possibly use as a mount for the stamps. Then, it hit me: ask my friend Michael - who also happens to be our Industrial Technology teacher - if he has any wooden scraps he was going to throw away! I emailed him and he asked to see the stamps so that he would know what size scraps I needed - makes sense. I brought the stamps in today and by 10:00 a.m., he brought me a box FILLED with the perfect sized pieces of wood - just like the old wooden stamps! YAHOO!! He even brought me the sandpaper to smoothe the edges and 'make them pretty'. I'm going to work on putting them together this weekend and I'll post a picture of the finished product. I can't wait!

Road to California

...quilt show, that is!

This past Saturday while Kevin was working on umpire updates in Phoenix, Deb, her friend Andrea and I had a girls day! As it happened there was an outstanding quilt show last weekend at the Ontario Convention Center so the three of us headed out to see what we could find.

WOW. It was absolutely amazing! Lots and lots of vendors carrying everything you could possibly imagine, from fabrics and patterns to quilting machines to yarns and embroidery transfers and floss. You name it, if it was for stitching, it was there. So many beautiful things to see (and be tempted by!), but THE most amazing things, of course, were the finished quilts. One was more beautiful than the next. I cannot imagine how much time it must take these amazingly talented women to finish their quilts. There is so much incredibly fine detail in these treasures - they truly are a labor of love.

My favorite quilt at the show was called "Tea with Miss D." - a quilt by Sandra Leichner. It's absolutely phenomenal. I didn't take any photos at the quilt show, but I did contact Sandra and request permission to post some photos of her quilt, to which she generously agreed (thank you, Sandra!). So, without further ado, check this out for yourself: (the quilt - not including white border) (center of the quilt)(all the rest of the sweet details)



I have to say, this quilt was such a treat to see! I just fell in love with it; hope you enjoy it, too!

What happened to the rest of October?

Huh. I was thinking that I'd just posted something and I looked at the last date and it says October 17th. My gosh ... how did October skate past me so fast?

Since we're now into November, it seems a bit silly to show you my Halloween tree, but I'm going to do it anyway! Afterall, it is just the first of November - it's not as if it's the middle of the month or anything.

So without further ado, here are a couple of pics of the Halloween tree for this year: I made some cute little ornaments to hang on the tree:
(sorry, I think they may be a bit blurry...). I also bought these sweet little ornaments from someone on etsy...but I can't remember who! If you're out there reading this, thanks! I love them! Okay, I feel better now - we can move in to November =)

Cute 'lil Halloween Banner

BOO!

Don't be scared, it's just me ;o)

I've been wanting to make one of these for a while and finally got around to it this year. I kinda had an idea in mind, but didn't quite know how to go about tackling it. So, as with most things, not knowing that I couldn't do it, I just jumped right in and did it! I think it turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself. What do you think??

It's easy peasy. First I cut out circles from black paper. Then I added orange crepe paper to the back of the black circle using double stick tape. I gathered the crepe paper as I went along to give it a somewhat ruffled effect. Next, I cut smaller circles from sheet music that I had crumpled. I attached the sheet music circle to the black circle using double stick dimensional tape. Finally, I cut out letters that I'd printed in orange (the font is called 'Circus Ornate' -- don't you just love it!?), and used a glue stick to attach the letters to the sheet music. When each of the individual letters was complete, I hot glued each one to a length of cute black and orange polka dotted ribbon. A little time consuming (mostly the crepe paper step), but worth it I think. It's the perfect size for the mantle of our little fireplace =)

Temecula Quilt Show

This past Saturday, Deb and I headed out for a girls day event: a really cool quilt show in Temecula!

Every year the town has a 'quilt walk'. Merchhants throughout the town display handmade quilts - inside their stores, from rafters, bannisters, balconies - you name it! Everywhere you look there are gorgeous hand crafted quilts. Amazing!

We had a fun time walking around - eventhough it was pretty warm out there. Our last stop of the day, of course, was Quilters Coop. I had promised Deb that I would introduce her to the most amazing quilting shop. And I made good on that promise! We walked in the door and Deb said "WOW!". My sentiments exactly. Here are a few photos (though neither of us took them) of the quilts on display:

Quilt Project

Years ago a friend of Deb's tried to teach both of us to quilt. Actually, it went fine - and it was fun - but I never finished my project. I still have it tucked away thinking that I'll take it out one of these days and finish it. Deb did finish hers - and it's beautiful! We made table runners.

Flash forward to about two years ago. I was looking at a fabric store online and discovered a whole new world. I discovered that quilting fabrics sure have changed! The way the fabrics are blended together and packaged is just phenomenal. All of those rich, delicious, gorgeous colors - one is more beautiful than the next! I couldn't help myself and I bought a few sale items - charm packs and panels - thinking that I'd begin working on them as soon as I received them.

Yeah well ... not quite. However, over the summer I was inspired to begin one of those projects. It's small in scale - which is perfect for me since I'm really a novice quilter. A wannabe quilter I guess you could say =) Anyway, while working on this project, I made another discovery: I love it! Putting this project together has been a joy! I'm not finished yet, but I'm getting closer. I'm not in a hurry, I'm just working on it as I feel like it. And it's actually coming together! I'm hand piecing and working on it in the evenings. It's very easy to work on it while listening to the Dodger game, or while Kevin reads aloud to me (yes, we know it's not common ... but it's fun! Feel free to roll your eyes and groan ... that's what my boss did ;o) At any rate - I think I've found a new, very enjoyable hobby.

Knowing that I'm really a beginner and need lots of direction, I've been looking at instructional manuals and different patterns online. Mercy. One could spend a fortune! Sadly, I came to the conclusion that most of those things were out of my budget (there's that beer budget thing again), and passed on making a purchase. Yesterday, though, I decided that I'd stop at my favorite thrift store to see if they had any books on quilting. The often have craft books, but I'd never looked for anything on quilting before. Let me just say this: SCORE!! It's kind of a strange thing - every time I begin thinking about something and decide to go look at my thrift store, they have exactly what I need! It's really amazing. Yesterday was no exception. I found three great books on quilting - one is a book filled with 'best loved' patterns, one is a guidebook for quilters and one is a combination of the two. When I went up to pay for them, I mentioned to the clerk that they always have exactly what I need and yesterday, it was quilting books. She pointed out another quilting book that had been in a different section, and was an even more comprehensive guide than the first. COOL BEANS! I bought all four books, plus a great example of a quilted potholder (it's a craft project I'm going to suggest to our WOFA group), and a booklet on learning how to crochet - all for $16.00!! When I got home, I checked out the books; the comprehensive manual is a Better Homes and Gardens bookthat originally sold for $40.00 - I got it for $6.00. The other three books were a similar bargain - one sold originally for $39.99 and I paid $3.00 for it; the other two had each been $29.99 and I paid $3.00 each. I just love a bargain! I thumbed through each of the books last night and I think they will be a lifesaver for this novice quilter.

Anyway... on to the project. I bought a charm pack: and cut the 5" squares in half, and then in half again. I took each of the quarters and sewed them together - making sure the fabrics for each quarter were different. Then, I sewed the halves together doing the same thing. I ended up with 22 squares that looked like this: From there, I sewed each of the squares into a strip of 7 squares; now I'm in the process of sewing each of the three strips together. Here's where I'm at right now: As you can see, I've sewn one of the strips to the other, now I just need to sew the third strip to the other two. At that point, I'll be ready to make my 'quilt sandwich' and begin quilting the project (yes, you guessed it ... it's another table runner!). When that step is completed, I'll add my binding and the project will be finished (sounds easy, right? Huh - we'll see!)

If you've never quilted before, don't be intimidated. It's really not all that hard. You have to have some time, and lots of patience, but I really think the end results are worth it. Or, at least I think they will be ... when I'm finished! In fact, I've already got lots of other projects in mind ;o)

Busy, Busy Summer

This summer is flying by even faster than most. I think that's because both Kevin and I worked (or in my case, am still working) summer school this year. Neither of us have ever done it and we were both offered the opportunity at our respective schools, so we decided to work. I feel so fortunate that we're in a position to not 'need' the money, but I also feel that, with our economy so precarious at the moment, it would be foolish to turn down the opportunity for some extra cash -- even if it is just to pad the bank account.

Kevin's summer school job ended last week and mine ends next week. It hasn't been bad at all. In fact, I could definitely get used to it! Where as my regular job is 7:30 - 4:00, Monday through Friday, summer school hours are 8:00 - 12:00, Monday through Thursday. Which one would you rather work? Yeah, me too!

At any rate, we've been doing little fun things here and there. We're headed to Old Town Temecula soon to go antiquing and wine tasting (cheese tasting, too, because there's a wonderful artisanal cheese maker in the area!), and not long after that, we'll be headed to San Diego for some fun in the sun ... and sand ... and surf ...

In between summer school and fun, we've also been accomplishing many projects around the house. Yard work, deep cleaning, washing and ironing, cooking for the freezer, and I've even tucked in some crafting projects here and there. All in all, it's been a wonderful, albeit busy (!) summer.

School starts early for both of us - Kevin's on August 25th and mine the following day - and fall will be fast approaching. Holy cow, before you know it, it will be Christmas!! (Oh, did I mention I've already done about a third of my Christmas shopping? No? Oh, well ... now I have!)

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

I'm going to leave it up to you to decide if I'm 10 months early, or two months late ;o)

Here are the Christmas canisters I've been working on:

The (mostly) Golds
The (mostly) Reds
The (mostly) Blues
The (mostly) Greens
I'm having a difficult time deciding. Which one is your fave?

Some things I've been working on ...

Among other things, here are some photos of a few craft projects I've been working on.

The first project began on Peanut Brittle Making Day (it's not a national holiday, just a family holiday ;o), but was put on the back burner until recently. I'll take photos today of the Christmas canisters I made, but these spring cuties were finished first, so they get posted first:
These guys are just different types of containers (coffee, oatmeal, cocoa, etc.) that are covered in pretty papers and embellished with stickers and such. They're super easy, fun to make and make great gift containers for food (cookies, candies, snacks, etc.) or small gift items (scarves, notecards, etc.). They're frugal, too, as long as you find your craft supplies inexpensively. Oh yes, and collect your containers from friends and co-workers =)

Next is cupcake picks. These are so fun to make! Having found those tins of die-cuts, I wanted to find something to do with them beyond scrapbooking and card making. I think this fits the bill. I just love how they turned out - each one is different - and I love all of the colors!! Today I'll start using the cute heart die-cuts that I found and begin making those into cupcake picks, too. I can hardly wait to see how they turn out! Stay tuned...

Smitten

That's what I am with K&Company craft products! Each one is cuter than the next. Case in point: I found these today at the 99 Cents Only store: I'm dreaming of all kinds of fun things I can do with these adorable die-cuts. Ahhhh, the possibilities are endless!

If one package is good, six are better - right? Hey, they're 99 cents each - it's a splurge I think I can afford ;o)

More Great Crafting Deals!!

You may remember a few weeks ago when I was at the 99 Cents Only store I came across a great deal on tins of K&Company die cuts. They normally run about $15.00 at Michael's!! They had five tins and I bought all five (I've been making some fun things with them too! ... more on that another time.)

Well last week while I was at Tuesday Morning picking up the non-slip hangers, I thought I'd just take a quick peak in their craft section to see if they had anything fun. I'm so glad I did!! I found several great pads of scrapbooking/crafting paper - also from K& Company. I was almost afraid to look at the price. Not because I thought it would be outrageous (like it is when you pay full-price for it), but because I thought I'd fall in love with the patterns and still not want to pay the discounted price. But I risked it and looked: $1.99 per pad!! Are you kidding me?? I snapped up my three faves and left the store before I could do any more damage.

When I brought it home, I checked out the K&Company website just to see what they had it listed for. I was shocked ... one of the very same pads that I'd just paid $1.99 for was selling for $19.99!! It's this one - which I absolutely love! It's Christmas paper, but not in your typical reds and greens - it's so sweet! The other two were not listed on the site, so they may have been discontinued. However, similar items at the site sell for between $9.99 and $12.99. One of the items is called 'Party in a Pack'. It's great! It's a Thanksgiving themed pad that has die-cuts for napkin rings, favor boxes, wine glass charms, tons of fall leaves, children's placemats with word searches and other activities and even a darling pumpkin centerpiece that you can embellish with either fresh or silk fall flowers and ribbon.

I just can't believe all of the wonderful deals I'm finding out there. I've got so many craft projects running through my head, I'm wondering when I'm going to have time to make them all! I'm hoping for a few more rainy weekends so that I can at least make a dent in them.

Hmm ... of course, there's always spring break ...

Goodies!

You just have to love the 99 Cents Only store. You just never know what you're going to find there! From time to time I meander the aisles just for fun to see what I can find.

Today, I scored! I found these: for just 99 cents each! The tins are filled with over 350 shapes and tags for card making, scrapbooking - any kind of paper craft. Plus, I love the little tin and I've got some fun ideas for these, too. They had five tins, so I bought all five. Just one tin of these die cuts is normally $15.00 at Michael's; I bought all five for a grand total of $5.43 -including tax. SCORE!

Does this ever happen to you?

You have every intention of walking in to Michael's to pick up ONE thing. An hour and $30.00 later, you're walking out the door with a bag or two filled with goodies that you absolutely had to have.

It does? Good. At least I know I'm not alone!

The Great Pumpkin

...or at least a pretty good one.

(Has it really been 15 days since last we met? Where does the time go??)

Kevin and I have been working on the house ... still! However, we're pretty much done with everything except the garage. We still have a few boxes to unpack out there, but other than that - we're completely moved in to our new home. YAY! In some ways it seems like it's taken us forever to get organized, but in other ways it seems to have flown by. The reality of it is we've not even been there two months yet, so I think having everything DONE in that amount of time is a pretty amazing accomplishment. Now it's time to turn our attention to other things.

What other things? Pumpkins. Fall decorating. Yard work. 40th birthday parties. Baking. Yard work. Winter decorating. Winter holidays. Yard work. Oh yes, and PICTURES.

I realize that I haven't posted very many pictures of our new home. There are so many things to photograph it's hard to know where to start! But start I must. That will be a project for this upcoming weekend. I promise!

In the meantime, I bought our first pumpkin of the season last weekend. I LOVE pumpkins!! I love to decorate with them as well as eat them. Pumkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, pumpkin seeds. Pretty much you name it and, if it's pumpkin, I'll eat it! But I digress... the pumpkin that I bought over the weekend is on the porch. He looks a bit lonely sitting there all by himself so I need to be on the lookout for more this weekend. I love to have pumpkins on the porch all season long. We don't usually carve them, though we might try one or two this year. I'm thinking about trying one like this - what do you think??

Repurposed Containers

Yep, it's March and I'm busily planning what fun things I will be creating for Christmas gifts! One of the project I'll be working on this year is containers for homemade goodies. Or rather, I should say, I'll be repurposing containers that already exist.

This is a fun, easy little project that will take more creativity than skill and I can hardly wait to get started. However, first I need to collect containers. With that in mind, if any of you out there have empty Pringles containers, oatmeal containers or one pound coffee cans that you don't need or want, I'd love to have them! Who knows, you just might get them back filled with yummy treats!