Halloween: The final chapter

Today the Great Pumpkin gave to me:
Most importantly, most of my Halloween spirit back! Thanks, in part to, the following:

Chocolate chip Halloween pancakes for breakfast (my family was sorely lacking in tradition, so I am trying to institute a few traditions with Jack),

One very good trip to the thrift store this morning! I found an IKEA rosalinda duvet cover and sham, some Rachel Ashwell curtains and some Laura Ashley pillow shams that match my living room curtains (I never find IKEA stuff since the closet IKEA is in Chicago),

One toddler who reports that pumpkin guts "smell", but are good for driving through,

One cool pumpkin, finally painted and carved,

And one potato head pumpkin.

Still to come, photos of Jack in his costume (I hope he will wear it!), and the Jack-o-lanterns all lit up. Sorry for the photo wonkiness, Blogger is a huge pain in my, ahem, rear end.

**Is anyone else who pre-ordered the Crafters Companion still waiting? It's killing me that it isn't here yet!**

On the eleventh day of Halloween...

The Great Pumpkin gave to me:

Not very much. I still don't have my Halloween spirit back. In the meantime, here is a piece of art for you to enjoy. Still Life, by Jack, October 2006. The artist says "Mama cream? Doggie? Dadda? Baby? Blanket?" (Jack will not be convinced the dinosaur is anything other than a dog. It lives in the dollhouse.)

It's a dino eat Dadda kind of world.

On the tenth day of Halloween...

The Great Pumpkin gave to me:

Nothing. Some assholes came into my yard last night and stole my Halloween decorations and my pumpkins from the pumpkin patch.

I am REALLY angry and hurt. This is the third time this year they have stolen from me. It's getting expensive (more than $250 worth of stuff this year), and it is stuff that is hard to replace (my awesome light up dracula). And, as usual, no one seems to know/have seen anything.

The police report that perhaps we have pissed someone off (who, I wouldn't know, we are very friendly to everyone) because we are the only ones who seem to be targeted.

Whatever the case may be, this has really upset me.

On the ninth day of Halloween...

The Great Pumpkin gave to me:

One glorious sunshiney day in the country after 2 solid weeks of rain (that is Missouri wine country, my heart feels so still out there),

One finally finished felt treat bag. The eyes are made from vintage rhinestone buttons that Jack thinks are "lights",

One very happy toddler in a giant sandbox of corn kernels at yet another pumpkin patch (that is visit number 3 for us this year!),

And one terrific tractor driven hayride.

We interrupt regularly scheduled programming

To announce that the Cardinals have won the World Series! Woooooooooohoooooooo!!!!

That is a picture of a baby Jack meeting Curt Ford last year at the old Busch Stadium.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled Halloween programming.

On the eighth day of Halloween...

The Great Pumpkin gave to me:

One toddler desperately digging in a jar in the Halloween china cabinet to remove the "skeltins",

One used-to-be very beautiful orange oak tree (it has now lost all of it leaves since it has done nothing but rain for 2 weeks straight),

One more pile of junked up, vintage, fabulous fabric (there are some genuine 1930s prints in there!),

One more very hard to photograph Halloween tree,

And one VERY uncooperative, hugely annoying Blogspot.com, who has refused all week to load photos properly, and who has made me sit here for almost 30 minutes trying to get those 4 photos onto the blog. Not very thrilling photos today, but, like I said, all it does is R-A-I-N right now. I am so sick of it. What happened to fall? Jack and I should be spending all day playing in the yard!

P.S. The Cardinals could take the World Series tonight, we will be rooting them on!

On the seventh day of Halloween...

The Great Pumpkin gave to me:

A great vintage (?) devil flashlight, bought at a garage sale this weekend,


Another vintage Halloween inflatable, this time a Jack-o-lantern with both a happy and sad face,

And a brand new niece! Margaret was born at 2 am yesterday. I made her these wool felt Bitty Booties yesterday.

P.S. Have you noticed we like Halloween yet? LOL Jack was due on October 31, and in my extreme goofiness, I just had to call him Jack, because he is our little "Jack-o-lantern."

On the sixth day of Halloween...

The Great Pumpkin gave to me:


One very cool vintage treat bag, hanging on an old farm ladder,


One acorn flour sack towel, made for a terrific friend ,


And one very determined toddler, clutching his pumpkin reward. (It was really hard for Jack to walk in the pumpkin fields. There was a lot of falling down because it was muddy and uneven ground, and he kept getting tripped up in the pumpkin vines.) Jack now wakes up every day with "Morning mama! Punkins?" He would live at the pumpkin patch if I would let him!

Gee, I haven't been sewing very much, and I really have the itch! I have a great WIP now though, hopefully it won't take more than a day or two to finish.

On the fifth day of Halloween...

(Is that right, the 5th day? Ah well, 7 days left at any rate.) The Great Pumpkin gave to me:

One sweet toddler in a corn maze,

And one very hard to photograph Halloween tree. I love the vintage inflatables. My husband dug them up at a junk sale. (There are others too! I hope to get more photos of our Hallowe'en decor up this week.) The cat is the greatest. I suppose that in order to get a good photo I need to cover up the mirror? Moving the tree is out of the question, it would be too scary, even for Halloween!

P.S. Diana, I think blogger is having issues again, I couldn't see your photos either earlier today.

Boo!

Jack emptied the Halloween advent calendar in one fell swoop. These glasses were a favorite.

Swap Goodness

Thank you so much to Rebecca at Thrifty Goodness for my terrific craft supply swap package! I cannot wait to put it to good use. Look at all the good stuff, fabric, buttons, scrap papers, paper dolls, patterns and more. (I have hidden the buttons. They are so beautiful, and Jack really wanted them. LOL) The best part is I had been kicking myself over not buying some of that BOO fabric, imagine my surprise when I found it in there!


Jack loved the fish face too!

My life in pictures and Go Cards!

After the turkey incident yesterday (that turkey was really running and gobbling trying to get away from Jack, they ran in circles for a good 10 minutes while I nearly wet my pants laughing), Jack was very excited to find this turkey at a sale this morning. "Turkey!" He exclaimed. When I told my husband I bought a "melted plastic turkey" in an email, he replied, "What the hell do we need a melted plastic turkey for?" I guess melted plastic turkey is not the best description, eh?

Jack, looking ever so sweet, zonked out in the car after the zoo yesterday. He looked at that blanket like I was crazy when I tried to put it on him. "Dandy? Dandy in room?" Yes, baby, we left Dandy in your room. Sorry about that.

This is a really amazing quilt on display at the Zoo, in the insectarium. I am sorry I cannot remember the artist's name, and googling turned up nothing. Amazing quilts show up in the most interesting places.

And, last but not least, the Cardinals are off to the World Series. I couldn't really give two hoots about baseball, but, the World Series is always exciting.

And then he was 2.

My Dearest Jack,
Today you are 2! I can hardly believe it is true.

I can now see bits and pieces of myself in you, but, I can also see how you are quickly becoming your own little person.

This has been quite a year for us, you have learned how to walk, how to talk, how to be funny!, how to be loving, and so much more. You have been a great joy to watch grow, and sometimes I can still hardly you believe you are my little boy.

I hope that you will always keep your enthusiasm and curiosity about the world around you.

(And most importantly for me, I hope I will always be able to hear the sweet way you say "Mama" forever ringing in my ears.)
With love,
Mama

P.S. Look at the turkey run!! He sure was scared of you.

Birthday Parties

For some reason I never have a decent photo of Jack's birthday parties. I think I just get too busy to take a picture.

Either way, here are a few to give you the idea. I used loads of orange and white tissue balls and fans (which Jack deemed butterflies);

Hung up a Happy Birthday sign with his beloved Teletubbies on it. Jack found this in the storage area of our basement, we used it many, many moons ago for another party;

And fed everyone all the orange food you can imagine: carrots, oranges, goldfish crackers, halloween M&Ms, Doritos, hot dogs and Jack's favorite, candy corn!. I did end up making the cupcakes, which of course I forgot to take a photo of, they were just star shaped and dusted with orange sanding sugar. I served them with the yummiest orange dream ice cream. (BTW, there is nothing wrong with store bought cupcakes, I just really wanted something orange to fit my theme.)

Because the house is already done up in plenty of orange for Halloween, it was easy enough to pull off a very orange theme.

Now, only 2 more days until my baby is 2! years old!

Flea markets

If you've ever read a flea market guide, you know they aren't always right in their evaluation of certain flea markets. We live near a flea market that is always rated as "one of the best in the midwest" in those guides. Personally, having lived in Florida, I think the flea market here is really hit or miss. Sometimes it is fantastic, sometimes, I wonder why we bother.

Since Jack's birthday party was yesterday (pictures to come on his actual birthday), I didn't do my usual Saturday morning junking, so, I decided we should go to the flea market this morning. We didn't even get out of bed until 9 am, it was cold and looked like rain, and it was 10 am before we were even close to the market. I only took $10 with me, because I figured there would be no vendors there and we would turn around and head right home.

I was wrong.

By the time we were only 1/4 way through the stalls I had spent everything in my pocket and everything in my husband's wallet. Honestly, I could have spent more this morning if we had it on us. I bought 3 great vintage candlewick spreads in white, no holes, $10 for all 3. I use them to make "lazy slipcovers" for our furniture in the playroom, and when they tear, I sew with them. I also bought: a red and white cutter quilt ($3), 6 vintage japan santa ornaments ($3), a 1950s tea pitcher and 3 glasses in pink and black ($7), the awesome handmade rug above (it was $5, I would have bought 2 more, as they are usually crazy expensive and hard to find around here), and 20 of those vintage butterfly ornament picks ($5).

****Speaking of ornaments, I have 3 dozen Shiny Brites, in original boxes (2 dozen red and 1 dozen turquoise, not all have the shiny brite caps though), that I wondered if anyone was interested in? I thought maybe we could do a little swap. You send me whatever your heart desires, and I send you ornaments! I really have too many to keep them all. Just leave me a note if you are interested.******

It's official

It's official, I am insane. Jack's birthday party is tomorrow, there are a million things that need doing, and instead, I am positively freaked out about cupcakes! Last year I made him a really awesome monkey cake. It was easy, it was cute, it fit the theme! I swear, I have tried a million different cupcake ideas and nothing is working, nothing is making me happy. I am 5 minutes from buying pre-made cupcakes at Costco and calling it good. (Will I be able to live with myself? LOL) Ugh, here is hoping that either inspiration or the Entemann's man strikes soon.

In the meantime, I finally finished this pillow. I LOVE it! Love, love, love it! My husband took one look at it and said, "You don't fool me, that pillow is for napping on the sofa. Why else would my wife need a down pillow there?" The acorn is more applique, done with Steam-A-Seam II. The ruffle is grosgrain ribbon, that I pinned and ruffled an inch at a time. And I love the pretty toile on the back. I stuffed it with an old down pillow we had on our bed. Money spent on new materials for it? $1.93. Not too shabby.

A little bit of everything.

It is REALLY cold here today. Cold and rainy. Cold enough for the first fire in the fireplace. Cold enough to kick on the furnace for the first time. What else was there for Jack and I to do but hit the ever dwindling supply of yard sales? I found lots of good stuff. The top photo is 2 aprons (to be scavenged for fabric I think, the aprons aren't really anything terrific), another tablecloth for the collection, and little pink and blue plastic turtle thermometer, which Jack swears it is a frog.

And below, the score that almost made me squeal outloud with delight. (But, you know, you have to play it cool or else you arouse suspicion that you have found something really terrific.) 6! Count 'em, 6! boxes of Shiny Brites and a box of my favorite turquoise tear drop ornies. I have some of those already, and they are magical on the tree. They have that really great glow that only vintage ornaments have, and, I got nearly 80 ornaments for a price that is almost embarrassing, less than $2. Woohoo!





And, last, but not least, my fall purse is finally finished. The sewing machine is really giving me fits right now. Dave talked me into using the chickens, I wasn't sure about them on a bag at first, but, he was right, they look great. I tried to pull down the front a little so you could see the sweet rose fabric I lined it with.

"Here I come!"

More conversations with Jack:
First thing this morning, "Morning mama! Not raining anymore. Morning, up, pants, putz, milk, George tv?" (He watches Curious George while eating his nutrigrain bar, and for some reason when it gets dark at night he thinks it always raining.)

Naptime today, suddenly there is heavy duty crying, I open the door and say "What is the matter baby?" He says, "I stuck." Sure enough, his leg was stuck in the crib.

After naptime he comes running into the living room. "Help mama. Need pants and cream. Outside for sand, bugs." (The cream being bug repellent, the mosquitos are still nasty.)

In the car while passing a Burger King and the railroad tracks. "Milk. I thirsty. Want milk. Thirsty. No train right now. Choo choo tracks, no choo choo yet, not yet. Milk, thirsty. Bye bye choo choo."

And, yesterday, he started saying "Thank you," not just "thanks."

Suddenly those 250+ words are real sentences! Complete thoughts! Conversations! Amazing.

Oh my

I couldn't be in a worse mood the past few days. Some family stuff is really getting me down. To console myself, I have spent hours folding old paperback books into pumpkins (and then shoddily trying to fake photoshop out the background.) Directions for the pumpkins can be found in the October Issue of Country Home magazine. (Essentially you just fold the pages and secure the front and back page together after tearing off the cover. I use double sided tape. Then I elmer's glue on faces cut out of scrapbook paper and stick a pipe cleaner stem in the middle.)

Maybe I will feel less grumpy tomorrow...

P.S. Emily, I am thinking of some beginning sewing ideas for you.

Busy as a Bee

We took Jack to the pumpkin patch this weekend. He wasn't feeling like posing for pictures, but, he was completely into the "punkins." He is also into "skeltons" (a.k.a. Skeleton), and absolutely shrieked with horror when I suggested he NOT sleep with the skulls he was clutching. (At a sale this weekend, I bought an old Barnabas Collins Coffin game, he is enthralled by the little skeleton pieces in it.)

I have been busy, busy getting the house cleaned up for his party next weekend. Let me just tell you now that when I have to wash all the curtains, rugs, shower curtains, and other soft furnishings, it takes me a full two hours just to take them all down!

I also finished his birthday crown (above). The stripes are actually needle felted on. My first needle felting project complete! Now if I can only manage to talk him into putting it on for at least 2 seconds. It very well may never happen, and that pumpkin may be the only thing this year to wear the crown other than my goofy husband, who has already tried it on more than once. (That fact doesn't make me feel very optimistic about getting him into a Halloween costume either. LOL!)

And I finished my own fall purse, I need daylight to take a photo though. What on earth am I going to craft next? The list is getting dangerously short!