Halloween Costume

Happy Halloween

Hi all! And Happy Halloween! I LOVE Halloween! I love the leaves on the ground, the decorations, the imagination, and the kids' excitement! Jeremy and I live on a very "neighborhood-y" type street. We get TONS of trick-or-treaters, and we both love passing out the candy each year. This year, we are making turkey pumpkin chili and looking forward to some Halloween fun!

To get in the Halloween mood, we have put up a few decorations. (Just so you Ludington folks know, the ghost and witch sign were both purchased at "Kmart North")

And we went on a little Halloween walk with Mosby the other evening. A lot of our neighbors love to decorate for Halloween. Notice the outrageously decorated house? You should see it at Christmas.

And yesterday, I brought Miss Sofia her Halloween gift. 

For my second knitting project, I made a little pumpkin hat for Sofia. I had a little help from my instructor (especially on the top), but I think it turned out SUPER CUTE!

My mom and I had already found the little outfit, and Emily had it on her when I stopped by. Adorable!

Of course, I decided that Mosby needed a costume wear while greeting the trick-or-treaters. 

 Last year, Mosby was a baby dinosaur. He was very ferocious. (Actually he was growing so quickly last year, the costume was too small for him by the time Halloween rolled around, and he was pretty miserable.)

This year, I decided to make Mosby a costume. Dog costume are kind of expensive, especially considering Mosby will probably only wear each one once, and after about a half hour, I feel bad for him and let him take it off.

For Mosby's costume, I wanted to play off his looks. He has a big white strip down the center of his head, much like.....

A DOUBLE STUFF OREO!

Yup, Mosby is an Oreo this year. 

Here's how I made it happen...

I bought a dog t-shirt from Target that was on sale.

Then, I used some scrap cardboard to make the bases for the two outside cookies. I used a bowl for perfect circles.

I used the bowl again to cut out slightly larger circles from an old t-shirt.

 

Next, I sewed the two "cookies" to a piece of white fabric (the filling).

 Then, I sewed one end of the filling to the collar of the dog shirt. I placed the cardboard on either side, snug to the black "cookies". I used some left over stuffing from my pillow project to stuff the cookie. Then, I hand sewed the rest of the cookie to the shirt.

I also had to put a piece of cardboard between the cookie and Mosby's back, to keep in nice and stable.

And here's the finished project. One Oreo!

Wishing you a SPOOK-tacular Halloween!

Until next time, keep crafting!

SB

A Fall Wedding

More Wedding Crafts

Hi Everyone!

We are back from my sister's wedding! It was wonderful! I feel so lucky to have been able to be a part of her and Tony's big day!

When I was up north two weeks ago, I had the chance to help out with some wedding crafts. My mom got REALLY crafty for Em's wedding. It turned out just GORGEOUS! (Much like my sister on her wedding day!).

We had just a GREAT time! I'll give you a little run down of the weekend, with some crafts thrown in!

So, we arrived on Friday. After the rehearsal, our Aunt Amy (with help from Aunt Cindy) hosted the rehearsal dinner. My sister and Tony invited all family members from both sides to celebrate at the dinner, so we had a packed house! It was fun catching up with all of our family and getting to know Tony's two sisters who came in from Australia and New Zeeland.

Our cousin, Jill, with Sofia! Jill and her sister, Kristen, were so AMAZING this weekend! They helped out Miss Sofia and even took her overnight both nights so Em and Tony could be rested!

It was so amazing to see them and their families all weekend! 

 And speaking of Kristen and Jill's families, Mosby made a friend in Jill's son, Parker. Parker was the first really little one who liked Mosby. I think that's more a testament to Parker's easy going nature than to Mosby's understanding of how to interact with one year olds.

   

And here's Tony with Sofia! Cute little outfit! 

Aunt Amy with Tony's sisters. Our family can be slightly overwhelming, but these ladies held their own!

 Here's our dad with his first born daughter.

 And first born granddaughter

Liza (the best ma'am) & me (the matron of honor)

The family of the hour!

And their beverages! (Bet you can't guess who each drink belongs to!)

SISTERS!

Emily got me a beautiful locket. We will put a picture of us at my wedding & a picture of us at her wedding inside. It is such a thoughtful gift; I just love it!

On Emily & Tony's wedding day (hooray!), we had lots of fun getting ready!

We woke up at the crack of dawn...

 ...Literally.

And we had fun getting ready.

And playing with Sofia.

On Wednesday, Emily texted me because she didn't have anything borrowed or blue. She asked if I could think of anything.

I decided to go for one last craft before the wedding.

Remember my wedding handkerchieves? 

I had made a special "I Do" hankie for myself. I decided that this would be something nice to borrow. But I wanted to add something blue to it.

 So on the opposite edge, I wrote in Jeremy and my initials and wedding date and Emily and Tony's initials and wedding date.

Then I embroidered them in blue. I thought it might be a nice family tradition to start. Someday, maybe Sofia will want to use the handkerchief when she gets married.

Anyways, we went to the ceremony and it went off without a hitch. Our childhood priest, Fr. Bill, married Emily and Tony. It was so wonderful to have someone who knows our family perform the ceremony. It made it feel very special.

After the ceremony, we went for pictures. 

We went to a park where the colors where just gorgeous!

Then I headed over to the reception to help my mom and dad set up.

When I was up north, I helped my mom gather little leaves for the escort cards. She had already done a lot of the gathering, and we looked for lots of different types of leaves.

Then, we glued the onto the escort cards.

 They turned out so cute!

While I was up north, my mom and I trying to figure out a cute place to put the gift cards that Emily and Tony were going to receive. 

We decided to get a HUGE pumpkin.

 

Paint a little plaque and letters.

 

And attached the plaque with ribbons. (There is plastic wrap inside the pumpkin so cards didn't get all "pumpkin-y".)

Emily, my mom, and the caterer, Carol, also design these beautiful centerpieces.

Didn't my dad to a great job carving all the pumpkins??

After the set-up, it was all fun! It was so fun to see all of Emily's friends!

Jeremy and I had a wonderful time dancing and chatting the night away. And of course, celebrating the beautiful couple.

Until next time, keep crafting.

SB

Quick Inspiration

When in doubt, CRAFT

Hey all! I'm back from Michigan and back to the grind!

My week off was WONDERFULLY FULL!

I started off with a little Happy Hour on Friday, then headed up to my parent's place on Saturday. Here's some pictures from the way up.

After some leaf hunting (for a super secret craft), we headed to the yacht club for a chili cook-off. My mom's white chili placed (of course!).

On Sunday, we headed to church in Manistee. Then we went on a little tour, including A&W rootbeer floats and watching the waves.

Then, it was some pumpkin picking and our daily hike. To finish up our first full day up north, we had a nice snuggly fire.

Then, Mosby decided he was a big boy and was going to sit right by the fire.

It took some getting used to...

And some encouragement...

But, he finally decided to relax at a safe distance.

Monday brought a busy day. My mom and I left for a quick trip to Traverse City to run some wedding errands. Eleven hours and seventeen stops later, we got everything we needed.

Some highlights were a HUGE pumpkin! 

Lunch and a beer at Northpeak Brewing.

 

 AND an early Christmas present!

My mom and I went into this little funky mall and my mom pointed out this table. It's so cute and just the perfect size for a sewing table (my current craft table won't support my sewing machine). I LOVED it, so my mom gave it to me as an early gift. HOORAY! Thanks Mom and Dad!

On Tuesday, we ran into Ludington for some errands and lunch with my mom's friend, April. Before they passed away, grandparents also used to live in Ludington. As a memorial to my grandpa, my grandma bought a brick by a little clock tower.

 

Tuesday night, we had Jeremy's folks over for 

dinner. As always, we had a great time with them. We all missed Jeremy though.


We started our Wednesday with a little hike with our friend, Karrie!

 

After our hike,Wednesday was full of wedding crafts. They are all top secret for the time being. I'll let you in on a few on Sunday, after the wedding!


Thursday and Friday were full of BABIES!!! I babysat for Sofia, then got to meet my friend, Lizzy's little girl, Audrey Helen. She was only a week old and so sweet & new!


Saturday was all about EMILY! We had her bachelorette party, which included mani/pedis, sushi, and lots of wine! It was so nice to see all of her friends!

I spent Sunday recovering from all the fun!

This week is equally as busy! We celebrated our friend Sean's birthday last night. I did have time for a quick craft.

Going back to school after a break is always tough, even if it's just a week. There are a lot of changes going on at my school right now. I decided that with all the changes, I am going to treat the quarter like it's a new year. I decided I needed a little something new for my desk to motivate me during my "new school year". 

I started with a piece of cardboard.

And painted it a pretty grey.

Then, after the paint was dry, I put the stickers over it.

Then, I painted pink over it and waited for it to dry. I peeled the stickers off. Here's the finished result. It's not perfect, but it will be a nice remind at work.

This weekend, we celebrate Emily and Tony! I couldn't bet more excited! Until next time, keep crafting!

SB