Boo!

Yup, it is that time of year again! Ready for another Halloween! One of my favorite holidays too! And not because it is an excuse to dress skimpy with your girlfriends wearing next to nothing with maybe a slight nod to a bunny or kitty cat! Haha! Maybe it is my love for themes. I love themes and I love to go all out. I am also all for homemade costumes. When I grew up we made a lot of our costumes and they were fabulous! So that is why I want to make my little Riley's costumes from scratch, it just makes it a little more special.

Last year she was the Littlest Mermaid and she was so darn cute! It was pretty easy too. I am not the best seamstress but I can handle some basic patterns. To make her costume I just took a pair of pants and used them as a guide for the tail. I drew out a pattern of a mermaid tail, cut the fabric, sewed the front and back together, flipped them inside out and added an elastic to the top. The elastic part was tricky for me. I would love to take a sewing class someday to learn those basics. Then I just added some ric rac with some fabric glue for decoration. I also filled the bottom of her tail with some stuffing and sewed that closed. The top was a bib I made with cut-out sea shells and ric rac. Her crown was just a piece of floral wire I made into a halo shape and twisted it together, wrapped it in cut fabric strips. Added some knots of loose fabric strips and ric rac. For the front of the crown I knotted tulle to make a poof and added some real sea shells with a hot glue gun. My last minute idea was the seaweed which was was a perfect accessory for any mermaid! I had some green fabric lying around and I just cut it freestyle in squiggly shapes and ta-da, seaweed!

This year I have 2 really fun ideas. One is something that is soooo cute I saw on another blog that I may have to copy and another is quite original and maybe a little controversial! Not really but you will see if I make it!

Would You Look at That: Grease Drainer

Introducing the Pampered Chef Drainer!

What it is used for:

Quickly and easily drain liquids! Its generous size fits most cookware pieces. Dual handles and tabs help you comfortably hold the drainer and prevent foods from tumbling into the sink.

What I bought it for:

I got this little gem to drain the grease from my ground beef or turkey! Yes grease is a liquid so maybe that was Pampered Chef's intention but I am pretty sure it is made for draining pasta water or maybe vegetables. But I always have issues when draining my ground meat. It always falls into the sink when I am trying to drain the grease out and pour it into to a tin can. But this thing works wonders! I love it and I am not spilling my meat anymore!

well good morning sleepyhead!

Hey ma, how bout pancakes for breakfast?

My lil helper!

not bad ma!

Photo Fun for Parties

Everyone loves to dress up and take fun pictures right?! I set up a little photo shoot area with a back drop and all at a friends party that I went to and took pictures at. I did this at my wedding and had a lot of fun memories from all of the guests pics. It is so easy too! All you need is some fabric for the backdrop, fun props and a camera. A polaroid would be fun too if you have one of those still kickin around.

Happy Birthday Maria!

Hosting a party is a lot of work and for a 1st birthday you want to make sure you capture all those special moments, so my friend asked me to take pictures at her daughter Maria's party. I was so excited! I love taking pictures and even though I really have no clue what I am doing I thought they came out pretty darn good! Here are some of the shots I got...

Simply Black and White

Here is the latest wedding gown hanger I made for a custom order. So beautiful!!!