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pumpkins, gourds, frost…oh my!

October 6, 2011

We knew it would be happening soon, the first hard frost of the year.

I spent most of the day yesterday picking the gardens clean.

Which you can see have been severely neglected and was still full of fresh goodies.

Along with lots of pumpkins, gourds and squashes.

Normally picking the pumpkins is a family affair…not this year.

This year it was a scramble to get everything out of the garden, into piles and undercover. The kiddo’s helped at times, but mostly played in the car where it was warm and full of gum and lost treasures hidden under car seats.

Normally I would take my time and admire the beautiful pumpkins and gourds and all of their odd shapes.

But this year was all about getting these beauties undercover.

And safe from the frost.

I think the biggest pumpkin weighs a good 40-50 pounds and really wished the hubby was home to help to carry it.

But not just because he would have been more helpful then these little hands.

But because it would have been more fun.

And not just a scramble.

embrace the camera {picking apples and pears in the yard}

September 29, 2011

Embracing the camera again to capture our days together.

Making it work.

September 28, 2011

We are right on schedule for finishing the other side of the house (squeals), but it might be one big ole empty 1/2 a house. We realized that our funds will be depleted and we will not be able to furnish it. Realizing that was a bit of a bummer. So the red couch I have been dreaming about for 7 years and all those cute little storage bins from Ikea that I have been eyeing for the kiddo’s playroom will have to wait. But instead of getting down, I decided to use what we have to “make it work.” Plus I’ve been on the lookout for any freebie on the side of the road to repurpose, repaint or reupholster. Reupholster? Yes, reupholster. Now I have never reupholstered before but I have heard its doable, so why not give it a shot. Plus this bloggy friend of mine has done it before and she has given me the courage to give it a try. Thanks girl! I figured I would take the old love seat that has been sitting on our front porch for years and use that as my trial run. It was in really bad shape and wasn’t worth saving anyways, so if I messed it up, no loss. Then I started searching for fabrics online but quickly realized how much upholstery and outdoor fabric costs, yikes. Then when you add the amount of fabric needed on top of that…yikesaroo! Yes, its still way cheaper then a brand new couch, but still way out of our budget. So I decided to just wait for a good fabric sale and put my reupholstering dreams on hold.

Well the other day we were driving by the local fabric shop and saw that all the upholstery fabric was on clearance at $1/yard…seriously?! I still cannot believe $1 a yard and even felt a little guilty for paying just a dollar…but obviously not guilty enough because I left the store with 17 yards of fabric. This is plenty of fabric to cover the love seat and a few chairs.

It just so happened that one of the fabrics had the perfect shade of green in it, plus I love those the little squares! Unfortunately she only had a few yards left in it but I ended up finding the other purplish fabric to coordinate nicely with it. Not crazy about the purplish color but there is a tiny little bit of green in there and I will make it work somehow. Then I found this great lime green knit to match and just love how the green fabric brings out the greens in the other two fabrics…helping to tone the purple down a bit.

So that afternoon, my three helpers and I started pulling staples out. A few hours later I was taking the fabric and batting off. Unfortunately the batting was in such bad shape it had to be replaced…unfortunately adding a little more to the total cost of the project.

But I’m excited at how easy the love seat is going back together and it is already looking so much better! I’ll admit, I have run into a few tiny obstacles with the wrong sized staples and two nails that went right through the foam and out the front of the frame, but luckily my hubby has been there to bail me out. I definitely have a new appreciation for power tools and the powerfulness of them!

But really “making it work” is not so bad after all. It’s kinda working for me and has actually been a lot of fun. So have any of you reupholstered before? Any tips? What do you think of my $1 a yard fabrics and my new color scheme?

Catapillar to a monarch butterfly.

September 23, 2011

This year I was determined to document a caterpillar transforming into a beautiful monarch butterfly with pictures. It is something I have wanted to do for a few years, but never seemed to follow through with it from start to finish. This year things were different, the kiddo’s were so interested in watching our caterpillar transform into a monarch butterfly that we spent a lot of time each day looking into the jar. For those of you that have never raised a monarch before, you really should. It really is amazing to watch, plus it is a great way to teach the kiddo’s about metamorphosis. I bought this book a few years ago and read it everyday to the kiddo’s while we watched the caterpillar transform.

Caterpillar to a Monarch Butterfly (our unscientific observations):

Day 1: Today we found our caterpillar eating some milkweed and gave her a new home…in a canning jar of course.

Day 4: Our little caterpillar attached herself to the side of the canning jar with her head hanging down.

Then the chrysalis starts to form.

And within a short period of time the chrysalis is complete.

Day 16: The chrysalis is becoming transparent and we begin to see the monarch butterfly on the inside.

Day 19: We can really see that little monarch butterfly inside of the chrysalis and it looks like it is ready to come out.

Within minutes of showing the kiddo’s the chrysalis our butterfly emerged from the chrysalis.

We all sat there in amazement watching our butterfly wiggle and become bigger. Her wings became larger and straighter while her abdomen became smaller.

Then she slowly opened and closed her wings.

A few hours later she started climbing out of the jar.

Unfortunately the kiddo’s were sleeping and didn’t get to see her fly away.

But this momma was determined to take a video of her flying away for the kiddo’s and spent close to an hour watching her before she decided to fly away. And yes, this momma was able to catch her flying away for the kiddo’s.

The hubby says I was using the kiddo’s as an excuse to watch the butterfly fly away and maybe he was right. No matter how many times I watch a caterpillar transform into a butterfly I am always amazed at how nature works and does it so beautifully.

So there you have it, our totally unscientific observations of how our caterpillar turned into a beautiful monarch caterpillar.

Ruffled Baby Lovey {Tutorial}

September 23, 2011

Moving on with the last of the baby basket tutorials, today I’m showing you how I made this cute little ruffled baby lovey. These are becoming one of my favorite blankets to make. They are the perfect size for the car seat, stroller or for baby to hold and snuggle up to. They are super easy to make and take just a few hours to put together. This is one of those projects that uses up those little but long scraps or you can use a fat quarter pieced together.

Ruffled Baby Lovey Tutorial

(allow 2+ hours to complete)

Materials Needed (cut to the following):
*Long strips of cotton fabric that are 30″ x 3″ or use fat quarters and piece them together to make a 30″ x 3″ strip. I used four different fabrics, but you can use as many different fabrics as you want.

*One strip of cotton fabric that is 120″ x 5″ (ruffled edge). Again, you can use smaller scraps pieced together to make one long strip.

*One piece of minky fabric about 21″ x 24″.

Start by making sure you have the 8 strips cut out to the size of 30″ x 3″.

Take one of your strips and sew down the middle and make it ruffle with your sewing machine. This is a new little trick I just learned from the gals over at Simple Simon & Co. Set the tension on your machine to the highest setting and the stitch length to the highest setting. Trust me, once you ruffle your fabric this way you will never pull a thread to make it ruffle again. It is so much quicker! And looks neater and the ruffles are more uniform. But of course you can ruffle your fabric the other way by just pulling one of the threads to make it ruffle. By doing it this way you can get a more ruffled piece of fabric then just ruffling it with your machine. So its up to you here.

Repeat with the other 7 strips of fabric.

Take your iron and gently press on top of the ruffled pieces to press them flat. This will make it easier to sew together.

Now lay out the ruffled pieces into the desired pattern.

With right sides facing pin together the two fabrics that are beside one another. Sew in place. Unfold and gently press flat.

Lay your fabric pieces out again to make sure you keep the fabrics in the right order.

Pin the next two rows together and sew. Just make sure you are sewing on the correct side so that your fabrics line up correctly.

Press flat. Pin and sew the two last pieces of fabric together. Now you have the top of your lovey.

Press flat again.

Trim off any loose threads and neaten it up on the backside.

You should have this now.

Take your seam ripper and pull out the threads in the middle of the ruffled pieces.

Use the back of your seam ripper or an iron to fluff out those little marks down the center of the ruffled pieces.

Square up your edges and make sure they are straight.

Round the corners.

Top stitch if you want.

I just used the edge of my foot as a guide and top stitched both sides of each fabric.

Take your 120″ x 5 ” piece of fabric and fold wrong sides together. Sew all the way down the open edge of the piece to make a ruffled piece. **Make sure you use a 1/4″ sew seam here.**

Take the ruffled piece and pin it all the way around the top of the blanket. Where the two unfinished edges line up just fold each of the unfinished edges in opposite directions. Then place one on top of the other with the folded edges touching and sew in place. That way you will have a finished edge that is quick to do.

Now place on top of minky fabric with right sides facing. Place a few more pins in. I know this is a lot of pins, but it does make a huge difference.

Sew around outer edge with a 1/2″ sew seam while leaving at least a 2″ opening for turning right sides out.

Trim excess fabric.

Be careful of all the pins and turn right side out. Iron and sew opening shut.

Trim off all of the little threads.

And that is it! One cute little lovey for the baby!

Thirty 3

September 22, 2011

It was a store bought Boston Cream Pie that had lost a quarter of its frosting on the way home.

It was celebrated a day late.

There were no decorations and we were all in our J’s, except for Daddy who made it home just in time.

We couldn’t find the candles since they are buried in someones box of Lincoln Logs.

Those cute little plates were not used and instead we just dug right in with our forks.

It was the first time all 3 sang “Happy Bird-day to Momma”!

It was the best gift this momma was given.

It was far from being the “perfect” party, but it was perfect for this momma at thirty 3!

Candy corn hats from Sandy Candy.

September 19, 2011

I wish I could take credit for them, however I can’t.

Their great aunt (also known as Sandy Candy) made them for them. But she is more like a grammy to them, then a great aunt. Plus great aunt sounds old, dontcha think?

She is always knitting up something amazing for the kiddo’s.

But these three just might be my favorites.

There is just something pretty dang cute about your three little ones wearing matching candy corn hats.

Thanks Sandy Candy, we love them!

We heart dry wall.

September 19, 2011

Three 16 hour days, 80 sheets of dry wall, lots of coffee and take-out and we are done. We have walls!

It was a lot of work and took a lot of patience, but it was also a lot of fun. It was great to be working on the house with the hubby again, but definitely harder with 3 little ones under our feet though. Luckily my mom took our kiddo’s for a whole day and we were able to get the entire upstairs and the ceilings downstairs done. The two other days we did what we could to keep them out of trouble while we kept working. All I have to say is that I’m glad its done and hope that we never have to hang that much dry wall again!

Ironically, our kitchen was featured this weekend over on Remodelaholic. Gosh, just looking at those pictures again make me realize how much we have done…yet have so much more to go!

Its that time of the year.

September 13, 2011

Its that time of the year when the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cooler. In a few short weeks we will be getting our first frost. And in a few short days fall will be arriving.

Its my favorite time of the year. The sunflowers are in full bloom and are towering over the cornstalks.

The pears are just about ready to be picked.

And time spent in the garden is getting less.

But we are picking some of my most favorites.

The leaves are beginning to change colors and soon will be falling from the trees and blanketing the grass.

The pumpkins and gourds will be picked soon.

And the snake gourds are as big as they are going to get this year.

Its that time of the year that I wish would last forever!

Baby Basket Cake Bunting {Tutorial}

September 13, 2011

Baby Basket Cake Bunting Tutorial
(allow 1/2 hour to an hour)

Materials Needed:

*small fabric scraps
*1 package of bias tape or make your own

I used only 3/4 of a yard when making my bunting but you can make yours longer depending on how long you want it to be. I think it would be super cute to drape it around each of the tiers instead of just the bottom basket like I did. Once you have decided how long you want your bunting to be, top stitch the bias tape the entire length. Take and cut up your small scraps into all different sized circles, flower shapes and squares.