lunch

Sometimes it feels like we eat the same thing every day for lunch. I am always looking for a way to change things up and this week I stumbled upon a new trick that made all 4 kids happy! See those rolls of Salami in the top right corner? It is a piece of string cheese cut in half with Salami rolled around it- simple- easy and everyone loved it!
I am also loving the single servings of hummus they sell at BJ's- Not everyone in the family likes hummus, so I can easily open one of these and not worry that the whole container will go bad before we can eat it all!

Oh, and lets not forget dessert- these are those pumpkin bars I posted about a week or so ago- there is a link to the recipe in my side bar. I made these yesterday (9x13 pan or 24 bars) and already, less than 24 hrs after cutting into them, there are only 4 left! Yikes! I did serve them at Bible study last night, but we won't talk about how many I have eaten compared to everyone else!
Well, I am almost finished sewing up the goods for my Nephew's School Bazaar- I'll be back tomorrow with pictures!

more hairkerchiefs

I've been seeing those hairkerchiefs popping up everywhere online (remember these ones I made a few weeks ago?) and I decided yesterday that I wanted to add my own twist to them, so I pulled out a pile of scraps and started sewing strips together. This is what I ended up with...
Okay, so really this is what I ended up with- I may have gone a bit overboard, but it was sew fun piecing them together! :)

last minute business cards

I am getting some of my handmade items together to send to my sister to sell at my Nephew's school Bazaar (the school that I attended for elementary school too) this month and realized I have been negligent about ordering tags and business cards. I keep saying I am going to do it, but have not followed through. Then I remembered the neat cards my friend had made using old playing cards and decided to put my own (sewn) spin on her idea. She does beautiful paper collage and book making using old books and found items- and her cards reflect that- mine are not nearly as beautiful as hers, but they will do the job!

happy monday!

I have to admit, have been dreading this Monday. Max and Lulu have no preschool, the house was a complete wreck after a week of non-stop sewing and one sleepless night this weekend and somehow we needed to accomplish a regular day of school, clean the house, and do 4 loads of laundry all on a cold rainy Monday with all 4 little ones trapped inside.

It is noon on that dreaded Monday and it has been full of God's mercy and even a few unexpected surprises! First- we got a great night's sleep (despite the fact that the boys were up at 4:45am!) You really appreciate a good nights sleep after a REALLY bad one! Then, even with the little ones around we flew through school and got all the laundry washed and folded! We were making good progress on getting the rest of the house clean when, surprise- the mail man came early and what did he bring but an unexpected package from grandma!

Of course cleaning has been put on hold for a bit, but every hard worker deserves a break, right? Here are the pictures of the loot from Grandma's package- the kids could not be more thrilled! Thanks Grandma!

A Tinkerbell bracelet for Lulu.

New cloths for Ruthie...
and Kit.

Star Wars figures for the boys!

And for me, a few moments of peace and quiet while the kids are lost in the wonder of something new :) Hope you are having a happy Monday too!

last minutes sewing

The final reveal- here is my costume for tonight's Trunk or Treat event at our church. All made from stuff I had in my stash, so this one was Free :)

Sorry this picture is so dark, but I did not have a better one with the ears and all.

I decided today that Tallulah's costume just was not complete without the hat so at 4:30pm this afternoon (after I finished my own costume) I started cutting it out. I finished it right as we were supposed to be walking out the door, so we were a few minutes late, but it was sew worth it!

one of those days

It has been one of those days... It started with lots of whining from a certain little boy during school this morning, but then things started to look up when we were able to finish school, make a grocery list and (mostly) finish Lulu's costume all before we had to pick the younger two up from Preschool. It turns out that streak of productiveness was just a tease because after we picked up Max and Lulu from Preschool we headed to BJ's only to realize about 1/3 of the way through the store that I had forgotten my coupons... and not just $.050 here and $.035 there- we are talking almost $30 worth of coupons. So we put our stuff back, grabbed a rotisserie chicken for dinner, some candy for our church's Trunk or Treat tomorrow night and a birthday present for a party tonight headed to McD's for lunch and then on the Walmart for our other grocery shopping. As if the BJ's fiasco wasn't enough, on the way to Walmart Tallulah spilled her soda in her car seat (and not just a little bit, but at least half the cup)! When I pulled her from her seat, soaking wet, there was still 1/2"- 3/4" of standing soda in the seat! We did our best to calm her down and ran into the store to buy a change of cloths and then do our grocery shopping.

All that to say- I am thankful for the few moments to sit here now and collect myself (while the kids watch some TV) and be thankful for the money to buy a dry change of clothes and the car to drive to and from the store (even if I have to do it twice in one day) and all the other many blessing the Lord had given us.

Speaking of blessing- let's get on to the real reason for this post, Tallulah's costume (Tallulah being the blessing, not the costume)! Here she is, my little flower fairy!
It was hard to photograph the fairy skirt, so here is the image from the pattern.
The pattern is a size 6-8, and I tried to adjust it to fit a 3 year old, but I think it still may be a bit long. I also totally love the hats, but I am just not sure I am up for any more sewing with satin! Oh, and she has no wings either, but don't tell her, she does not seem to care!
The break down:

Pink Satin for flower- $1.60
White Satin- from my stash- $0
Pink Tulle- $3
Elastic- $0.97
Leotard- from dress up bin-$0
Pattern- $1

Total=$6.75

two posts in one day?!

So, we don't have any dinner to eat, but I got Max's costume done! This is also from a pattern that he picked out at that same $1 pattern sale almost a year ago. His first choice was actually a viking costume that I said no to because it was just too difficult to do in such a short time (and would have been much more costly), so he settled for this knight costume.
This costume ended up being a real bargain...

Red Felt for tunic- $2.00 (I also only used a fraction of the yard of this that I bought)
White Felt- from stash- $0
Black Hooded Shirt- from the dress-up bin- $0
Gold Tissue Lame for belt and boots- left over from last years king costume- $0
Batting and Lining in boots and belt- scraps from my stash- $0
Sword and Shield- we made these last year also, when we studied castle times- $0
(looks like the shield could use a new coat a paint before Saturday night!)

Here are the boys, in action- they look pretty fierce, hope these costumes make it to Saturday night!