Oh What A Night...

Fixing their costumes!

You can't see it well, but they were holding hands!

Happy Hallowe'en!

'Cute' Little Devil

I had mixed feelings when my oldest wanted to be a devil for Hallowe'en. I mean, why couldn't she be an angel? or perhaps a fairy? 

That's when I realized that she's growing up. The 'cuteness' of Halloween will almost be over for her. And, with a typical 9 year old stubborn streak, I knew that the more I tried to convince her to be something else, the more convinced she would be to dress as a devil. So, off I went to fabric store...

She didn't want make up, but we did paint her nails black and curl her hair. (Although, she did tell me that devils don't usually have their hair curled)

(I thought that by making a cape, it can also be used for a  future magician's costume, or perhaps -yikes- a vampire)

When I dropped her off, I told her how cute I thought she looked.

"Mommm! I don't want to be cute!"

I told her that she'll always be cute to me...no matter what she wears...or how old she is.

Introducing Alice

Miss Alice had her Hallowe'en Party at school today. Her costume turned out as sweet as her! Mom and I worked on the costumes together...I chose the easy one (you'll see that tomorrow), and Mom worked on this one.

At Sparks, she had a princess party and she wore her Belle dress. She declared that she was a 'salmon princess'*... (Dad, this is for you!)

I knew the fishermen in our family would appreciate her outfit!

* Footnote: The Salmon Princess is a Cinderella Story, based in Alaska in which the princess wears rubber boots, instead of glass slippers. We've been reading that story A LOT lately!

Pillow Talk

I was so excited to finally get the pillows on my living room couch finished!
I made 2 of these ruffle pillows (seen absolutely everywhere!) and was thrilled with the end result:

Then, I found a blue/grey  (yes - blue!) drapery panel at Winners for only $12 and convinced my seamstress Mom to make 2 more pillows out of this panel.

I really like how they turned out! I still have enough material left over, that I might have pillows made for our bedroom. Not bad for $12!!

And, no, I still don't have a plan for the wall behind the couch! Maybe one day... Any ideas?

I have a couple of more ruffle pillows to make and might post a tutorial at that time (just so I won't forget how to do it!).



Favorites

Tonight I went window shopping with a friend while we waited for our kids to finish a church youth event. Even though I didn't buy anything, there were a few things I saw that made me extremely happy!



Yea! It's baaaack!! There was also this: (yum!)



And, of course, my all time favorite:



I expect hope to see a few of these in my stocking this year!

It was a fun evening, espeically when ended with the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate from Starbucks.



I love this time of year!

Fall Around the House

I thought that I had better take pictures of our house decorated for Fall before they come down (usually October 31st at 7:00 p.m. while I wait for trick-or-treaters!). To be honest, I'm already thinking of Christmas and where I'm going to be putting all my treasures!

The 'Keep Calm and Scary On' printable came from Craftily Ever After and the 'If the Broom Fits, Ride It' printable came from Crafts and Sutch. The great thing was that since I already had the frames and scrapbook paper to print these on, it didn't cost a thing! I'll definately keep these for next year.

My Table centerpiece (with ruffled pumpkins!)

Burlap Wreath

Ruffled Wreath

My Cloche

There you have it! One more week and it'll be down!

And I'll try to hold off on bringing up the Christmas for a few more weeks! Although, since there are no guarantees, a few items might sneak up the stairs!



Batteries Not Included

Yesterday was quite a productive day!

#1: My mom and dad brought some apples from B.C. for me to make applesauce. It really doesn't take long when you have one of these:

I have no idea what this is called, but it came from my grandma. I think my sister, Barb, had it and she inadvertantly left it at my house one year. (NO - I did not steal it!) The great thing about this gadget is that I don't have to peel the apples, only core them. By moving the wooden thingamajig (a very technical term in my house) around, the softened apples are strained and I get a very smooth applesauce.

However, after doing this for the third time, I must have sighed and my youngest heard me.

She asked, "Are you tired, Mom?"

"Yes, dear, I'm tired".

For then she replied "Are the batteries not included?"

Huh?!?! "Uhh...nooo...there are no batteries."  (Do you think she watches too many Mattel commercials?)

Anyways, by making my own applesauce, I end up with this in the freezer. I just have to grab one in the morning for lunches and the kids love it (which makes all the work worth it).

#2: As for my second big chore: My Friend, Debbie set up a blog for me to keep in touch with family and friends who live far away! This is BIG for me, as I'm not very techy. I spent most of the night just looking at the blog and moving stuff around. Now that I (sort of ) have the hang of this, I think that it'll be easy to keep up. Thanks Deb!

And, no, batteries aren't included. (Although sometimes, I wish they were!)