Catching Up

Hello there. I haven't been here in, well, let's just say EONS.You may have already noticed that I am making some updates.

 Life has been busy. I have been busy. Tons of crazy things have happened in the past year and a half, including my husband changing careers (not by choice), our youngest swallowing a quarter causing us to be thousands of dollars in medical debt, me working four jobs to pay off said debt successfully in just under five months. That is just the briefest of synopses. 

Roly Poly looks like the cutest hipster EVER

 Little to say, all of this has kept me away from blogging, reading blogs, crafting much at all, and, well, doing much more than being Mommy, wife, professor, Bible study leader, and exam rater.Yes, things have been C*R*A*Z*Y!!!!!!!!!!!

 Good things have happened too. I want to use this summer to share some of those things that I did manage to squeeze in. Also, I will, hopefully, share some new things as well. Today, I just want to give you a glimpse of how my Monster and Roly Poly have changed. These photos are our Christmas shots from December, so they are actually outdated, but too cute not to share.

Monster is becoming such a little man

I did the shoot myself with my Canon Rebel I received as a birthday gift in May 2012 from a WONDERFUL friend. It was her old one, but it is an AMAZING gift all the same. I LOVELOVELOVE it and, more importantly, HER!

The shoot was done at one of our local Super Targets. There are some benches on the south side between the Target and Ross. And, from the first time I saw them, I knew I wanted to do a shoot with the industrial, metal flower arrangements. They are so great. 

We chose a Geek Sheek theme to go with the industrial flowers. We even took some post "work" shots inside the Starbucks at Target afterward. You know ties undone, grabbing a quick drink. 

I hope to get back in the swing of things here. I need me some creativity.

The Henry Shirt

Hey there. To begin, isn;t this a cute picture. It was one of our Christmas card pics.

Photo Courtesy of Chris Gomez Photography

Okay, so now to what I am really talking about today.
In November I won the phenomenal sewing book
Sewing For Boys
by Shelly Figueroa and Karen LePage.

I won it from Stacey over at the amazing blog Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy!

Then in January I had the honor of guest posting with a project from the book, for an event based on the book, at the very same blog.
Yes, I felt special!!!

She had a series based on the book, and she is having a year long sew along.

The projects are great!

The book is great.

The ladies are GREAT!!!!!!!!

As some of you know, I have two wiggly boys who I love so much.

They are known to the world as Monster and Roly Poly.

We live a Rockin' Life Fueled by LOVE,

and we are making leaps and bounds that keep us busier and busier by the day.

Okay, so on to the project at hand.

I instantly knew that I would be sewing the Henry shirt when my book arrived.

I have some fabric set aside that I really want to use for this shirt,

but as a first try I used some remnants. 

I used material left over from Monster's first birthday party;

it was a Vintage Americana theme because his birthday is Fourth of July.

I also cut up an old sheet for the main color.

The Henry Shirt is found on page 30 of the book.

And, although this pattern is labeled Advanced, 

I found that I was able to complete this project in one LONG night.

There are of course some flaws in my sewing because I am truly an amateur,

but I know that next time I will be able to navigate around these puckers in the fabric.

So, even if you are a beginner,

I say brave this pattern.

Try it!!!

You will be surprised at how much easier it is to follow 

than those silly ones from the sewing section at retail stores.

I am already planning my next project from this book. 

I think I am going to do the patchwork quilt.

Monster is excited that he will be wearing this to his friend's Birthday Party Saturday.

I wish all of you boy moms, grandmas, aunts, and friends

HAPPY SEWING!!!

What? I have a blog?

Right now I feel like I forgot something.

What did I forget?

Oh, I forgot about this here ol' blog.

This is a photo from our Christmas shoot this year.
Courtesy of Chris Gomez Photography.

Really, I just have been enjoying time with my family,

relaxing, doing nothing, and in many ways

re-prioritizing the way I spend my time.

What this has meant is less technology, less blogging,

less reading of blogs (like ZERO),

less sewing, less crochet.

LESS. LESS. LESS.

It is not that I do not plan on doing stuff,

or even that I haven't sone some stuff.

Instead, it is that I plan on making this 

blog a place for only the best.

I believe that I, like others I am sure,

began to feel obligated to post.

This meant I felt obligated to do.

It began to feel daunting.

I just couldn't keep up with myself.

In October I totally over crafted myself by 

saying yes to sewing some stuff for a church event,

plus product to sell there.

I think after three weeks of all nighters,

I needed a LONG break.

I am beginning to feel ready to create again.

I just think at a slower pace,

especially since I will also be taken on a second 

class this semester.

Since I haven't taught it before, 

it will be an additional challenge.

For those of you who stay, thank you.

For those who go, thank you too.

I understand.

I love blogging.

I love the community of ladies and creativity.

I hope to continue to bring to the world

 some pretty and fun things.

Keep creating.

I will have more soon,
like maybe I will be guest posting somewhere tomorrow.

PROMISE!!!

Pilgrim Cuffs Courtesy of Starbucks

Just look at these lovely pilgrim cuffs 

Monster and I whipped up tonight.

They are finished just in time for the 

Thanksgiving Festivities on Thursday.

Wanna know how we made them?

Okay,

well first I saved some Starbuck's coffee sleeves.

Yep! That's right.

Coffee sleeves.

I was driving with the Cuban Cowboy a few weeks back when 

I slipped the sleeve over my wrist like a bracelet 

and an idea was born.

My initial thought was super hero cuffs, 

which I am sure will be a project in the near future,

but then I thought of Thanksgiving 

and knew that they'd be perfect for a pilgrim outfit.

So here is what we did.

We gathered our supplies:

* 2 Starbuck's coffee sleeves

* White paint and a paint brush

* black paper

* Small circle punch

* glue

Ignore the square punch.
I was going to put buckles,
 and then I realized that cuffs have buttons not buckles.

First we painted the coffee sleeves white. 

Monster enjoyed this part,
 and he really did a decent job of not making a mess.
Well, until I decided 
it would be funny if I painted his palms white.

Then we let the cuffs dry.

Once they were dry Monster punched the circle, 
with my help of course.
Card stock can be difficult to punch through.

Finally, with some Elmer's glue he adhered the circle where buttons would go on cuffs.

The "seam" of the sleeve is perfect because it makes them look even more like cuffs.

This one even got a little wet and bent so it looks more like fabric.

I LOVE THEM!!!!

I am going to make Pottery Barn copy cat felt pilgrim hats tonight now that the boys are in bed.

They will be perfectly festive on Thursday.


Oh yes, and after our fun photo shoot Monster decided 
that his little brother needed to participate too.
So, he put Roly Poly in the middle of the pumpkins,
 and I let him take some photos.

He is always trying to eat things

Okay, so go and try this with your little one.

It is easy.

Cheap.

Fun.

A Little Help For My Friend

Last Friday Monster's bestie is having her third birthday party.

It was AMAZING.

Her mommy enlisted The Cuban Cowboy to help out a bit

by drawing up a poster board size Hello Kitty

for a game of 

PIN THE BOW ON HELLO!

Too cute!!!


And here it is in action.

It was wonderful to see everything in full effect,
especially since I helped my friend with some cutting and pasting and general crafting.

I love a good kids party.

Oh yeah, and to go along with the theme, 

I whipped this baby up a few days before the party.

I was inspired by Pinterest, but had to hunt down a good tutorial.

I found this AWESOME one at Made by K.

I love that the red yarn has gold sparkles through it.

It will be perfect for the holiday season,

while it also matches the parties decor.


I will say that I am not wholly satisfied with the face. 
It is much harder than I thought, 
but I just didn't have the patience to keep redoing it.

In the end  . . .

great gifts are handmade,
and that is all that matters.

I hope that you all had a wonderful Veteran's Day last week.

I know that mine was full of Hello Kitty fun 
followed by an evening of BUNCO.

What more could a gal ask for?

{What I Wore Wednesday} Missoni Madness

Do you remember a few months back when Target had the Missoni line?

Do you remember the madness that ensued?

Well, I live in the middle of no where,

which means there was a little less madness.

In fact, there is still some Missoni left at all four 

Target's near my house.

Anyway,

about a week after the madness I picked up 

a lovely pair of Missoni socks.

I liked the pattern, color, and price.

I have worn them a few times, 

but today I got to wear them the way that I really 

planned on from the moment I purchased them.

Wanna see?

Here's a gander of the socks up close.

Aren't they delicious.

I thought that our '58 Chevy would be a cute set up for this little impromptu shoot.

I love the combo of yellow and brown. 

Sunny yet fitting for Fall.

Dress: Gift/Macy's, Cardigan: Nordstrom BP, Shoes: Kohl's, and Socks: Missoni

Did you have Missoni madness?

Just curious how many of us are suckers for chevron goodness.

Perfectly Pumpkin

I really enjoy seasonal cooking. 

Part of why I like it is because 
even if the weather isn't what I desire,

the food can still be yummy.

Some of my favorite seasonal recipes are Autumn recipes.

Pumpkin and squash.

Soups.

All those things that start the cozy feelings 
in preparation for winter.

Sooooo . . .

for dinner last night I created a delicious menu 
full of Pumpkiny goodness.

On the Menu:

Pumpkin Soup

Fresh French Bread from my favorite local bakery

(The Brass Cupcake)

Adult Beverage: White Wine Beverage 

(made with peaches instead of plums)

Pumpkin Frozen Yogurt

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte

Okay, so all of the recipes I used are stolen more or less. 

So I have used photos from the points of origin 

and then linked back to them so that you too 
can have a fun Fall feast.

The exception is the Pumpkin Spice Latte.

The photo above and the link are to a recipe 
I found online that I would like to try,

 but I have not yet tried.

Instead, I did things simply this time.

I just made my normal Cafe con Leche 

(AKA Cafe Latte)

using Cafe La Llave brand espresso and my cafetera.

I left it hot unlike my preciously posted ice mocha version.

You can read a little more about this from the previous post here.

Then I added a splash of pumpkin pie spice, sugar to my taste, 

whip cream atop, and a little more pumpkin pie spice for prettiness.

I hope that you try out some fun seasonal recipes. 

I have used the Pumpkin Soup recipe for three years now, but the other were all new to me.

I found most via Pinterest.

Enjoy your Fall.

Winter will be here before we know it.