Halloween Dinner

I host a family dinner every Halloween this year I did a bit more to make it extra fun and seasonal.I served homemade chili Frito boats with all of the toppings that we enjoyed after our scary veggy appetizers that Christie brought.  We shared Haloween jokes and played a guessing games about monsters.

I made my own Seasonal stoneware by buying black and white plates from the dollar store and drew a different Halloween character in the middle of each one (a whole dozen) then I baked it in the oven on 350 for 30 minutes.  I appliqued the bats and moons on b/w gingham napkins I made.  I wanted everything to be black and white so that the accent of orange jack-o-lanterns would truly be an accent.  I love my new set of dishes!





 The mood at our table was completed by two glowing ghosts made with twinkle lights, sheets, and tomato cages.  We topped the night off with Melissa's creative Halloween desserts.  So fun and yummy!

It's time for another wreath

bought a yellow Dahlia wreath half off

added a fall leaves garland

hot glued purple flowers and added a burlap bow

     When all of the kids go back to school and summer activities aren't fun anymore I get in the mood for fall projects.   so here is my first wreath of the season.

Sunday Dinner

   Since I have been in Arizona I have been so happy to have the whole family over on Sunday evening for dinner.   I love being able to have a big nice meal together.  My Mom and Dad were always good about family meals when I was growing up and forever after, so I am happy to carry on the tradition.
     I enjoy setting a nice table and being more festive and often formal. When I am at my Mom's I am usually the table setter/decorator which works for everyone since I don't really enjoy the cooking part.  Everyone here helps by bringing some part of the meal and I still have my fun doing the table.
     A new idea I tried this time was taking the smallest terracotta pots and saucers and spray painting them each with a chalkboard finish.  I used them as place cards and had each person write their name on their pot in chalk.  This dinner I had candy corn in them but next time I think I will do tea lights.

OWL because I LOVE YOU

      My  obsession with owls (they are soooo cute)  started when the 1970's owl necklaces started coming back in.  My daughters were selling them in their business, 'Sassy Pose'. They sold out very quickly. 

    

 I made an appliquéd owl pillow and my daughter Kimmie fell in love with it.

  She wanted to do her kitchen in bright colors with owls. I gave her some owl dish towels. 

 Of course my daughter Melissa thought they were cute so I made her an apron out of adorable owl fabric.

I made this for Melissa when she was using Zebra print as her decorating accent in her apartment.  Way cool!

             

 I then started selling my new design 'Night Owl" pillows.  They came in sets of three.  I sent a set to Kimmie for her kitchen.

She also wanted and appliqued owl for her bedroom.  I love the colors

So now Kimmie is in a new  apartment and I felt my creative juices flowing so I came up with a new owl design for a house warming gift.  Happy moving in to a new apartment Kimmie!  Your picture is in the mail.  

"owl because I love you"  MOM

Time for a little creative Visiting Teaching

"almost as good as chocolate"

      My friend Annie and I needed a bit of creativity this week so we made these adorable little burlap bags complete with flowers for our visiting teaching sisters.  We don't have the same route so she made four and I made four, actually, she whipped up the bags and I did the handles and the bows.  We were so lucky to get the daffodils for 99 cents a piece.  Annie made really cute cards to go with them so we have a complete "Happy Easter Package"  to drop off to our sisters.  How cool our we?  Bet you wish you were on our route?

Easter Devotional

Of course there is candy in these along with scripture verses.

   I don't know what to do with teenagers for Easter, and I always like to try to get the family to get a little taste of the reason for the holiday, so this year I made a devotional for the week.   Each egg has verses from the Bible to read and a suggestion for a hymn.  Hopefully we can have our little devotionals every night with family prayer.  If you want a copy of the verses just ask and give me your email.  Happy Easter.

Her comes another Baby Quilt

 It is that time of year for baby quilts!

I copied this idea from my mother. It was quick and easy . I just rolled the edges over and stiched a straight line for the finish. I loved not having to sew quares together and I love the raggety soft look. 

 

                               







Lay your bottom fabric (45" square) print side down. Spray a light film of spray adhesive on the fabric then lay the thin batting ( I use warm and natural) on it and smooth flat. Spray lightly again and then lay your top fabric wrong side down on the batting. smooth and trim edges if needed.





Take a pencil and a ruler and mark you top fabric with a graph of 3 inch suares. This is the most important step so you have a pattern to lay your squares on. Trust me the pencil lines will never be seen.




                              



Cut your fabric into squares. You will need 182--- 2 1/2" X 2 1/2" squares. I figured that I could get 48 squares out of 1/4 of a yard of fabric.



Lay your squares of fabric out on your grid with each corner on a corner of the penciled in squares. You can make a design or place them randomly. I pinned each one to all the layers of cloth with a single pin. Then just sew it all together!



So simple and adorable! What are you favorite patterns for baby quilts?