[gobble, gobble, strut, strut...]

Meet Abe (as Little A has dubbed him). Perhaps he's not that proud - he is a little awkward around the feathers after all. But we're happy about it as it saved him from the chopping block and has allowed him to come and live with us. I do believe Abe will be the only stuffed turkey at our Thanksgiving table who will not be eaten. Phew.

OK, so this is my first time creating a softie in three dimensional form (as in not just two pieces of fabric sewn back to back). I wasn't at all sure of what I was doing but I stole a few tricks from the hat I made for A's sailor costume and then just tried to "wing" it from there.

Speaking of wings, I had a hard time getting Abe's feathers to stand up straight so I ended up sewing them closer to his body. As I mentioned earlier, it's a bit awkward, but we're fine with it. I was also able to use some of that hand-drawn fabric I created a while back which is very fun to see in action.

One stuffed turkey down, one to go. Well on my way to making way for Christmas.

[jumping ship for a...]

This year we did things a little different for Halloween. Little Captain A and baby O-ctopus and the rest of the crew sailed away from the warm shores and green palms of California for the drizzily chills and bright fall leaves of Tennessee, and we had the time of our lives.

Jon had a graduate acting reunion/presentation of sorts that was being held on Halloween day. We were thrilled as this gave us a chance to see dear friends, frolic through fallen leaves, and trick-or-treat on a chilly autumn night. Perfect.

After some serious late nights I managed to get the costumes finished before the trip (only some last minute fish stuffing for Captain A's trick-or-treat bag). Phew. It was difficult pulling together baby O's costume but I'm pleased with how it turned (I used a pattern for the hood but made up the rest). He was so stinkin' cute. He calmed down about the tentacles and hood once he realized he had a built in chew toy. Awesome.

I couldn't get Cap'n A to sport the beard but Jon ended up wearing it so it worked out great. Little A had a mustache as an alternative that he wore for tricks or treats but not for the photo shoot. It was to die for.


I knew with little A I had to make a costume that was more or less like wearing every day clothes. He has never been into wearing elaborate costumes with too many things going on, and if it had a zipper or Velcro, you can forget about it. That thing would be off in seconds. He eventually warmed up to his ensemble and was very proud to be a "Sailor Man!".

This year was especially magic for all of us as Little A really got it. When we were getting ready to leave for trick-0r-treating he kept running for the door in a panic holding his hat and mustache crying for me to put it on so that he could go. And once we were out (in the rain) going from house to house he went crazy trying to keep up with his older friends. He didn't understand that he couldn't eat a piece of candy after each house and still be able to keep speed. It was priceless chaos. Ahh...I love Halloween. And now, I love that it's over. I'm ready for Christmas baby. I'm ready Christmas.

[Go batty...]

It's no secret that we all love security envelope patterns, right? And like many of you, I collect them, waiting for that perfect moment for when I just might come up with something to do with them. It actually makes receiving those bills not all that bad - almost exciting and somewhat suspenseful waiting to see what special pattern is hidden within.

It just so happens that most of our "important documents" come wrapped in black security splendor. Initially this made me a little disappointed, as I favor the classic blue look. However, it seems that black has come in quite handy for the occasions at hand, and as a result, I have now grown rather fond of it.

Because security envelope patterns are "hindered" a bit by their intended layout, I find that bite sized projects, such as cupcake or sandwich toppers, work best for me. So in honor of the fabulously spooky holiday at hand, I had to make little bats to top off some scrumptious pumpkin shaped sandwiches.

And let me tell you, nothing dresses up an ordinary ham and cheese sandwich better than a cookie cutter and a toothpick topper.

Little A went batty for these and couldn't wait for me to finish the photo shoot before gobbling up a bite or two.

Trust me, these babies with fly off the plate, before you can say BOO!

[Baby O]

We took it easy this year for baby O's first birthday. Thanks to last year's Target post-Halloween sales we were good to go with decor/invite/the works. The only thing I made was the Pumpkin spice cake with my favorite Williams Sonoma pumpkin cake mold that I break out every year. Pretty low key. Pretty great.

After gobbling his first cake bites and opening a few gifts from grandma, Little A and friends, Baby O was ready for a nice long nap. As were the rest of us.

Happy Birthday my little baby! (now please feel free to stop growing...seriously...you can slow it down any time you like).

[inspiration overload and feeling rawther...]

Ahh...fall. The dreamiest of seasons, set apart to usher in the delight of holidays magically stacked upon one another in just a way to get us through the drizzly and dreary months of winter. OK, so I live in California, but it has been unusually cold this past week and equally drippy (skipee!) and I have strived to enjoy every minute of the (sadly brief) sweater lovin', boot sportin' weather. Unfortunately, along with draftiness, fall brings with her a most bothersome flu bug. And yes, the little beast found me, and got me good.

So this past week was spent sipping hot herbal teas, lounging with lozenges and tissues while deliriously dreaming about a courageous orphaned daughter of a knight...and somehow trying to keep track of my little knights throughout it all (and relying heavily on our good fried DJ Lance for a little down time).

Of course this little spell couldn't have come at a "better" time. I mean, I only have two costumes to sew before the end of the week, baby O's first birthday to plan and prep for (please say my oven will work by then), and kajillion other Halloweeny creations boiling over in my brain. In fact, this time of year, so beloved by all all in our house, can often get a little congested (in more ways than one). I love the holidays (any excuse to celebrate and throw a party, right?) so much so that I often get a bit of inspiration overload. I have SO many ideas that I start to get stressed and saddened (of my own accord) when I realize that time is slipping by and there is no plausible way I'm going to be able to do it all. So one by one I have to eliminate and prioritize and of course get back to the spirit of it all (but left a little heartbroken for all that I was not able to do). Does this ever happen to you? What's your secret remedy? Please do share! I'd love to curl up with it and let it steam out all my early holiday congestion.

[costume prep and the...]

Having a three year old for Halloween this year is an entirely new adventure for me. Little A is actually starting to get it and is very excited about tricks and treats, The Great Pumpkin and any and all Halloween themed story books we can find (he's like his mama in this way). However, I was counting on this being a year I could still, ahem, "greatly influence" my son as far as what sort of costume he will be wearing alongside his brother (yeah, I'm one of those moms). Well, he's really been into Kung Fu tigers (ala Tai Lung from Kung Fu Panda) so I toyed around with the idea of having him being a tiger/snow leopard and baby O being a panda but it just wasn't inspiring for me. So I waited. Waited for that "Ah Ha!" moment when I knew I had the perfect costume idea for the littles. Well it came...and I'm SO into it now (which I'll keep under wraps for now, and no, it's not Santa Claus). Little A still needed some convincing. So I started off with the beard to see how that would go.

Well, for 1, 2, 3 seconds we had a bearded man. I was prepare for this and therefore wasn't too discouraged. So we are doing all we can do to talk up this costume idea and on some days he's really jazzed, and on other days he wants to be what his little brother is going to be (and I'll admit, baby O's costume is kind of cooler). So we'll see how it goes. I might just have to have a back up plan...and hey, the more costumes on Halloween the better right?

[more fun with scissors...]

So I mentioned that I was hooked on this paper cutting thing right? Well after our Halloween snowstorm of paper pumpkin snowflakes. the scissors just kept on wanting to cut. Anything they could get their shears on...so many ideas...no paper was safe.

No Halloween is complete without a little black cat mask right? So one had to be made.


And we couldn't just stop there. So a little fox was born for little A. He loved it...and promptly ripped it. But fun was had so Mr. Fox's short life was not in vain.

In fact I like him so much that I might just have to make him again...and only let him run free under more constant supervision.

Hmm...so I wonder what is next for the old scissors?...I have a feeling we aren't done with them yet over here...

[Jon's super stellar...]

The other afternoon while unpacking I came across our Halloween decorations and couldn't resist getting into the spooky spirit right away. So I called little A and Jon over to start the festive adorning. While setting up trick-or-treaters and pumpkin treat bowls with little A I see Jon across the room with some paper and scissors, cutting out what looks to be a snowflake. No sooner does he see my quizzical look when, voila, he unfolds this super stellar pumpkin. Yeah, I was wowed. And hooked. So he showed me his methods and I went to town.

The best part, it's easy. And brilliant. And fun. (And something kids can join in on!)

Step 1: Grab any old sheet of paper, rectangle, square...mix it up
Step 2: Fold it in half
Step 3: and then fold it in half again
Step 4: Now make sure the fold is on your left hand side
Step 5: Cut scallops on right hand side ending with the stem at the top
Step 6: Open up the fold once and then cut off the bottom stem
Step 7: Cut out a mouth
Step 8: Then a nose
Step 9: Use an x-acto to cut out the eyes
Step 10: Now unfold and enjoy your new creation!

Once you start, the possibilities are endless. And you might go a little crazy...

cutting out new creations for the rest of the night...


Happy cutting!

[sniffles, sleepless nights and...]

Thank you all for you kind wishes for our little move across town. We are slowly unpacking everything and trying to settle in a bit. It's been a crazy week of preschool starting for little A, sniffles that are keeping baby O up (for far too many hours of the night) and a whole lot of sorting and arranging (and then rearranging) going on around here.

I'm happy to have the dining area slowly come together. This room was what sold me on the apartment (along with the cute little kitchen). It's been my respite for when all the boxes, sorting and finding a place for that one random thing that doesn't seem to belong anymore, starts to get to me. And I've enjoyed using the left over lemony tea party candy as bribery for little A's help (or an incentive to stop pestering his brother, to be more to the point.)

Hopefully I'll be getting my act together here soon so that I can start fun holiday projects and keep the posts rolling. Right now I better catch some Z's before baby O wakes for the first round of midnight tossing and turning.

[packing? or a....]

So, yeah...we are moving....tomorrow. And you would think packing would have been my main priority this past weekend. Well, my good sport of a husband no doubt wishes it were. But when you are moving into an apartment, and only have a backyard for one more weekend, sometimes an end-of-the-summer tea party just has to take precedence over packing. And in my opinion...it was entirely worth it.



We enjoyed a wonderful time of sipping delicious herbal teas in dainty cups and consuming delectable edibles such as Swedish meatballs, cucumber sandwiches on rye bread, deviled eggs, rosemary lemon sandwich cookies (these are to die for, truly), devils food trifle, magnolia cupcakes and lots of lemony candies.

It was my first time hosting a tea party of my own and I do believe I'm quite addicted. In fact I think I'm rather hooked on parties in general. They seem to encompass all things I love: design, decor, fashion, art, craft, food, and great company. And speaking of great company, I had a wonderful time with all the fabulously talented ladies that joined me for tea. Thanks so much for humoring me! It was great fancy fun.




If your interested in anything in the above pics, I'll try to break it down for you here:

Table cloths: Ikea fabric
Fabric banners: I made these from vintage fabrics (an easy and quick sew)
Tea pots and cups: from various antique/vintage vendors on ebay and etsy
Yellow and black silhouette china: from a local antique store
Yellow and white striped dress: I made this from umbrella awning fabric (it was the only kind I could find!) using this Butterick See & Sew B5339 pattern

[easy peezy]

If you haven't noticed, I like making things. Simple things. Easy things. I admire those that can spend hours on a just the right stitch, or those that do things over and over again just to get it right. I'm trying to work up to that...but let's be honest, I'm so not there. That is why I love little bit projects like these super easy pennant tea party invites. I made these by simply cutting decorative tape into triangles and a then sewing a stitch across the top.

Add a little hand written note, and voila! you are done.


Now that is my kind of afternoon project.

Done, and done.

[It's a jolly holiday...]

Little girls have dresses. Little boys have vintage (or at least that's how it plays out in my mind). I love having little boys but I can't deny wishing for dresses and dollies every now and then. Well, after dressing up my little dandies in the most adorable vintage attire, found at heart and sew, my throat swelled up and I got all mushy and mommy like. Jon thought the boys were adorable too and proceeded to tell Little A how handsome he was. Little A quickly retorted "NO! I"m not handsome! I'm like Mary Poppins!" The little guy had a point. He did indeed look just like Bert on Mary Poppins.

So of course we needed to have a little photo shoot and Spidey came along for the fun.

It's fitting that Little A brought Mary Poppins up because I've been crazy about the wardrobe and nursery styling of Jane and Michael Banks for as long as I can remember. I have a secret dream of living in a brown stone in London similar to that of the Banks or the Darlings (and one day flying off with an umbrella to Neverland). (I also want to live in a modern industrial renovated barn...so I'm a bit bipolar when it comes to dreaming).

I did forget that vintage runs a lot smaller than sizes today so I think the boys will grow out of these very quickly...but I'm enjoying them while they fit (barely).