The Sewing Machine Came Out...

A good friend of our family had her 3rd baby a few weeks ago. She's one of those girls, that never finds out if she's having a boy or girl until the actual birth day. (I could never have waited 9 months to find out!) Already having 2 sweet little boys, we were all kind of hoping she would be blessed with a girl this time, and they were!!!

I knew I had to send some pink, so I made baby Abby a snuggle chenille quilt.

Inspired by the yummy colors in the sweet dress my mom found, I went through my chenille stash to make a coordinating blankie.

It felt good to complete a little sewing project again.

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The other day, Lori shared a tutorial on how to make a snowman box. If you haven't already taken a look at the Joli Paquet blog, you must. Lots of fun Holiday projects await.

I think my frosty turned out ok, but I'm a little disaapointed with his head...

it's a bit on the big side.

I used some fabric to cover the box and for the party hat too. The craft store I went to was out of celluclay so I bought fastmache' instead. Overall, I think it worked out ok. I'm working on a different snowman box now. I'll let you know how it turns out...

Goodbye October...

Our October was beautiful here in the Pacific Northwest. One morning last week the sun was shining so beautifully through the trees in our back yard, that I ran outside in my pj's to capture the moment. I would have stayed out longer, but I got cold!!!

I thought I'd post a picture of one of the rockeries we added this summer to our front yard. After living with a dirt front yard all summer, it's so nice to see green grass!
Thursday, I had the girls draw a picture of how they wanted their pumpkins carved. Sydney drew a few pictures, and decided the one on the left was what she wanted. Daphne drew just one, the smiley face on the right. I couldn't wait to see how Daddy was gonna carve that.
Sydney worked so carefully to remove every single seed - almost one at a time...
We told her she couldn't take all night, so she finally pushed up her sleeves and dug in.
The slimy gooey insides were so fun to squish between fingers.

I think hubby did a fine job carving the girls designs.

Sydney's kindergarten class made costumes out of paper bags, and yesterday they paraded around the school. Sydney was a red heart.

The girls have been beyond excited (for so long) waiting to go trick or treating.

When they returned home with their loot, hamburgers and chocolate milkshakes were waiting. Grandpa L picked the menu. One of our traditions is that Grandma & Grandpa L come over for dinner on Halloween night. They always have, even before we had kids. We all think it's a lot more exciting now! Oh, we even ate at the dining room table. I know, shocking huh?! hehe

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Oh, and one more milestone happened this week.

The tooth fairy came to our home for the first time!!!

I guess, do to inflation, Sydney got $5 from her. I think I got a quarter....

Vintage Gurley Halloween Candles

A few years ago I came across these novelty candles at a garage sale. The only reason I picked them up was because my mom collects Christmas candles that look similar. I had no idea how collectible vintage Halloween candles would be. This small collection was the extent of my Halloween decorations, until this year...

The candles were made by the Gurley Novelty Co., which manufactured candles from 1940 - 1960. A couple years ago Country Living ran this article... if you click on the picture you might be able to read it.

Happy Halloween!

Adding A Bit Of Halloween Around Here

Last Friday, my mom, the girls, and I went out to the pumpkin farm. It was a beautiful day (after many raining ones) so we thought we'd better take advantage of it. We had such a cool August that a lot of the pumpkins were still green! I was finally able to get a picture of Daphne without her plugging her nose! Oh thoses farm smells... ;o)

I displayed their pumpkins on our front steps. A friend of ours from church gave me the vintage milk jug this past summer. (Thanks Betty!) I thought it made a great pedestal for the pumpkin. I've been making a few decorations for Halloween this year - the boo banner is one.
Besides Christmas, I've never been one to decorate seasonally. I decided to change that this year since I've been so inspired by others who do, especially so many out here in blogland. This is what I put together on our coffee table.

I made the party hat for the little jack-o-lantern

I was inspired by this artist and created a polka dot pumpkin adorned with a baby holding his kitty in a jack-o-lantern.

My flirty eye doll head needed a party hat too.

Stella (the dress form) was crowned Miss Oct. 31st! hehe

I even bought some faux gourds to put in my apothecary jar. I'm totally stepping out of my pink comfort zone here people! hehe

Overall, I like the change of having a bit of Halloween around the house.

I guess I can handle a little orange for a month or two. hehe

Sidetracked Again...

Yesterday, I was given this gorgeous old funeral basket from a dear friend at church. It is absolutely stunning! Thanks so much Audrey, I love it!!!

I was so excited to add it to my collection - I just needed to figure out where I'd display it.

One thing lead to another and soon I was rearranging our bedroom...

Our room is quite small and it's packed with furniture!

I actually only moved 2 pieces of furniture - the chest of drawers and my vanity. It ended up making quite a difference in overall space.

I hung a vintage prom gown on the wall, and framed it with a old mirror harp.

Since I moved the chest of drawers from under the window, it freed up some space, giving me a wonderful spot for my dress form. The peg rack displaying a few of my favorite vintage batiste baby dresses was rehung under the window. I've been trying real hard to declutter and I think I did pretty well in our room... It's really hard for me - I like lots o' stuff. hehe

A picture of my most favorite piece of furniture concludes the full circle tour of our bedroom.

Oh, I almost forgot.... I did a little makeover to this bench today. Here is the before,

and the after...

I covered the seat with a vintage barkcloth remnant and painted the wood black. Since I have a few darker accent pieces now, I decided to go with black - completely opposite of my standard off white. I actually like the change!

Sweet Six Studio's Vintage Hanky Bunting

As I've been clearing off my dining room table, I've also been trying to complete a few projects.

Heather from Pretty Petals presented a tutorial the other day at Sweet Six Studio, on how to make these charming banners. They are so easy and fun to make! No sewing, just hot glue.

Gotta love that!

I'm running low on in need of more vintage millinery... I did however, have a few of these velvet and organza beauties and, I was really happy to find a few vintage hankies in my stash that coordinated so well.
I had a hard time trying to figure out where to hang my bunting. I'm lacking wall space! It looked pretty cute in our entry way hanging over the coat closet, but my hubby thought it would get in his way....
so now, it's hanging in the hallway.
I love the added splash of color!

Spoon Lampshade

Just a little while ago, Isabel shared a lamp shade she had made over using old spoons. When I saw hers, I knew I had to make myself one too!

I used six silverplate spoons that I had my hubby drill holes through.
Next, I tied the spoons to the lampshade frame with rayon seam binding.
I then wove tulle around the frame to soften it up a bit.

For the last couple of months, I have been in the process of rearranging and de-cluttering. I can't believe I'm not done yet... I get almost satisfied with the look in one area, then I mistakenly start rearranging in another. All of which end up in disarray! hmmmm

My cute little spoon lampshade sits in a newly arranged corner of our dining room. Sorry the picture is cut off. I haven't yet managed to get the area below picked up. hehe