halloween tree ornaments

I saw this tutorial and thought these would work great hanging from my black Halloween Tree. The stickers in the center are from the Martha Stewart line. Really easy to make. I need to get working on a few more.

enjoying autumn

We thought this pumpkin looked like Pac Man

I know this is my favorite time of year because each day that I see the colorful leaves all over my yard, I am excited and don't even want to rake them up. Once when we had just moved in to our house, I had a lady stop by and I apologized for all the leaves everywhere and she said that I was lucky because I had my own natural Fall decoration. I have taken it as such ever since. Sorry to my neighbors who get all my leaves on their lawn!!! We have made our pumpkin cookies, breads and muffins. We have visited pumpkin patches, apple orchards, and have taken hay rides. I have made a few new Fall decorations. Yes, it's a great time of the year. Here are a few photo from our pumpkin patch trips, field trips, and back yard leaf playing.

custom charms

I love making custom soldered pendants. And, I really love when people have me make them for special occasions. This one was for a friend's sister's 50th birthday. It has a photo of her and her sisters at the beach many years ago. She added a quote about sisters and another initial charm. I added the silver key and extra beads.

my parisian dress from mani mina patterns

I bought the pdf pattern for My Parisian Dress from Mani Mina Studio on etsy. I wanted to make mine out of corduroy and after searching a couple of stores for print corduroy and not finding what I wanted, I ordered this Robert Kaufman cord on ebay.

Changes I made - (not very many)

*Added jumbo rick rack to the bottom hem

*Added 1/4" elastic to the cuff of each sleeve

another bib

I made this one too. From the same pattern as this one. I think I made the Scottie Dog from clip art I found on Martha Stewart website.

a few new things

I really am here. I keep wondering when I am going to post like I used to. I think life has a way of going in cycles and right now I seem to be busy with kids even though three of mine are in school all day. I can't explain it, but it's true. I have made a few things and haven't even taken pictures of them. Maybe that means I don't just make things to blog about them, but I am still not sure that is completely true. It's something I am trying to figure out for myself!


I made a few bibs for new babes over the past few weeks and took a photo of one of them. I used my owl applique pattern for the owl on the front and just used terry cloth for the back. I got this bib pattern from juicy bits blog. Mallory is wearing the bib in these photos and thought it was so funny to wear a baby bib.

I made this hair bow last Halloween. I just ran a long stitch along the length of grosgrain ribbon and pulled it taught so that it formed a circle. I made a smaller one for on top and then added a Halloween button I got in a package from Hobby Lobby. Simple and sweet. Mallory will now wear hairbows - sometimes. That's better than never I guess. Here is a photo of her with the wooden candy corn man I bought at the Country Living Fair two weeks ago in Columbus, OH (that I went to with Melissa) from company called Fried Green Tomatoes in Burlington, WI. He welcomes everyone as they come in the front door.

shop update

The may and mae shop has had an amazing update! There are new charms - vintage Halloween ones, initials, fabrics, etc. and Melissa has added fabric kits for her bags in great combinations. I am still making more charms - some smaller 1x1 initials and vintage Christmas pendants. Many of the pendants (charms) now come with a chain!

Check out what we have so far.

shop update coming soon

Been soldering away, so Melissa and I are planning a big shop update soon. Here are a few that are finished so far...Amy Butler fabrics, Keep Calm, vintage Halloween and Christmas postcards, lots of initials, dictionary pages, etc.

another birthday girl outfit

Mallory had a little friend turn four last week. She decided Ellie would like a skirt and shirt. Since the skirt is a quick make and I have a bit of a stockpile on shirts, it came together quickly. I used Joel Dewberry fabric along with a red and white polka dot from Joann's for both the skirt and applique. The bird applique came from the pattern here.

just got back from

Natural Bridge State Park and it was amazing. It is in the Daniel Boone National Forest about 2 hours east of Louisville and it is beautiful. Also right in the Nat'l. Forest bordering Natural Bridge is Red River Gorge. It has over 100 natural arches and it is just as cool. We stayed at the Hemlock Lodge at Natural Bridge for 3 days and were able to do some hiking and see so many beautiful things. Our first evening there we hiked up to Natural Bridge which you are able to walk up to and on top of. It was a unusually breezy night and there was no body else there. It was one of those moments with my family that was rare and so nice. We hiked around Red River Gorge as well and picked out where we wanted to stay next time. The Gorge is one of the best places for rock climbers in the US and we saw some of the enormous cliffs that they climb and were in awe. We ate at a place called Miguel's that had some of the best pizza I have ever had and it is also a rock climbing shop and camp ground.

sewing 101 series

Chris at Pickup Some Creativity has been hosting a fantastic series called Sewing 101. Evey day she has had a different blogger post a basic sewing technique or tips to help in all areas of sewing. Today I am posting over there with Basic Applique.

After I sent her my post, I realized there were a few other tips or tricks that I wanted to include, so I will post them here -

• If in doubt, go slow. Slowly but surly helps especially as you go around the curves.


• Leave your needle down in the fabric as you do any turns.


• Be EXTRA careful when cutting away the excess Stabilizer you have on the back of your applique.
  

This is the kitty applique I made the tutorial over at my Sewing 101 post.

It got me in the mood to make another one for a friend who had a baby girl a few months ago. I have white onesies in a basket just waiting for embellishment and it's one of my favorite baby gifts to give. I made this sweet baby a cute elephant out of lime green fabric from Amy Butler's Love collection.

wearing the dress

My husband took a photo of Mallory with his phone after church because she was wearing the dress. She loves it. I love that.

ps - her other leg is behind her leaning on the wall!

peach summer salad

I've gone to post about my new favorite salad several times, but I stop because I don't have a photo of it. I have decided photo or not, I am posting it because it is just too good not to. I am eating it right now and it is just so summery. I found this salad (or the bare bones of it) in Southern Living, but I changed it quite a bit and love it my way. Of course, I never tried it their way, so the original may be just as good.

Peach Summer Salad for Two

1 large ripe peach

1 large tomato

1/4 cup pecans toasted (and I add just a bit of brown sugar)

2 Tbs. red onions in little julienne slices

1/4 cup fresh mozzarella chunks

2 tsp. fresh basil chopped

Dressing:

1/4 c. apple cider vinegar

2 Tbs. olive oil

1/2 tsp. chopped garlic

1 Tbs. brown sugar (or less)

1/4 tsp. salt

Pour the dressing on the salad and let it sit. The longer it "marinades" the better it tastes. Enjoy!

the dress that followed your advice

When I posted about my daughter's lackluster love of my homemade clothing for her, many of you gave suggestions to help solve this problem. I took that advice and let her pick out the fabric and the pattern. That was easy - why didn't I think of it before? She chose this cute fabric by Anna Griffin with bunnies. I even gave her a choice of a few dresses and she chose this easy McCall's pattern 5613 (view C). I made her the size 4 because she is a tall 3 year old, but it turned out quite a bit too big. So, I made a casing in the back top seam and added elastic to it which helped a lot. It is still a bit too big, but she can wear it. Before the elastic casing, it was so big that I don't know when it would fit her. She even tried it on and it's so full that she loved spinning around in it. It will look cute with her turquoise leggings. I think I am going to have more of a say a lot more often.