Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Trick or Treat and a Special Birthday


About 5:30 this evening, there was a knock on my door and 6 very loud voices yelling
TRICK OR TREAT
A fire fighter, an "eighties girl"?? a cow girl, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty 
and a...
"big" girl who turned thirteen today and just came as her sweet, sweet self.
After the Trick or Treating we had a family dinner to celebrate our
all grown up Drew's Birthday.

Happy Birthday Drew!!
We love you!!




God is Good!!
Life is Good!!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Pinterest Try Tuesday # 7 and Tabletop Tuesday


Today, since I am joiningMarty at A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday, my Pinterest Try will be at the end of the post.  I used to do Marty's tabletop party more often, but since we moved into our RV  small cottage, I don't have as much tabletop space to decorate. But at any holiday, you will see me making room for some decorating.

I think I told you I kept only one tub of fall decorating supplies out of 10 when we moved.

This is our dining table called a banquette in RV  small cottage terms. There is just room for this tray and a little room for us to eat.
The flowers were given to me for my birhtday a couple of weeks ago and they were perfect to add to
to this little vignette.
This is the island between the kitchen and the dining area.
I always have a few thing here, but expanded it for fall decorating. I have a little room left for cooking and doing dishes. Hey....what's really important here anyway?
This little basket holds cookie making supplies and some cute mini cupcake papers.
See the yellow leaf and brown acorn cookie cutters. Do any of you recognize those? They are from Hallmark and are probably 40 years old. I have Christmas and Easter ones too.
Two more cookie cutters and aren't those M&M's just the most wonderful colors?
The kids just love this little pumpkin. It is called Tiger Baby pumpkin.
It doesn't have a cute stem, but it's pure cuteness makes up for it.
A cinnamon candle I found in Sacramento and the required candy corn in my glass pumpkin.
See the mason jar? It is full of Kraft Pumpkin Spice Marshmallows.
I am not normally a fan of mashmallows (unless, of course, if they are roasted over a campfire), but these melt in your mouth and  have the most wonderful flavor. It's amazing there are any left.
Okay, the last area to decorate is my mantel. (Uh-oh, I'm busted...I have never replaced the lodge look border, like I said I would)
This sweet little Dept. 56 fall church with it's fall leaves at the base and on the roof is still one of my favorite pieces. My sweet friend Linda found this for me.
I had tons of pilgrim and turkeys before I "pared" down, but the white ones are unusual so I decided to keep them.  They came from Home Goods, but  because I am a "I like everything white" sorta girl, these are just special to me.
One of my favorite candy jars and a white pumpkin and it's done.
I didn't do as many candy jars as usual. Just ran out of space, and who needs the temptation?
My kids do...that's who!!



Okay, on a different note.  Let's try something we've seen on Pinterest.
Just FYI, I have had the big thick flip top cell phone forever. Nope, no texting, internet, camera or ANYTHING.
I left it in Sacramento sooooo...
Instead of having my cousin send it to me, I took it as a sign to get up to speed with the rest of the world.
A few weeks ago, when the new iphone 5 came out, the 4s was  too good a price to
pass up.
So here's my iphone.
 On Pinterest I found a website for covers for my new phone. Since I waited so long for a new phone, I thought I deserved a really cute cover.
What do you think...is this me or what?

This is the pin I saw and thought I wanted this one...after all Red and White  and a quilt. What could be cuter that that?
Well, when I saw the antique quilt, my heart pitter-pattered and I ordered it.
the pin was from:
That led me to Zazzle.com and my new iphone cover.

Remember if you post something you tried from Pinterest, come back and let me know so I can link to it.

Also, be sure to check out Marty's Tabletop Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life to see all the great tabletop vignettes.


God is Good!!
Life is Good!!

Saturday, October 27, 2012

A Little Shamless Bragging


When my DIL, Lialani, e-mailed me these pictures, I knew I had to post them.
Recently, their school had a  Barn Dance as a fund raiser.
From what I heard from the kids, it was really fun.
This is my middle son and his family.

Eric (my son) and his son Cade.
All three of my sons have red hair and out of 10 grands, Cade is the only one that has red hair.
He is so much like his Dad was as a little boy, that it is sometimes scary.
I tell Cade that all the time, and he never gets tired of hearing it.

Eric and Kobi
Such a sweet girl and our only granddaughter out of 10 that has dark hair and eyes.
I've called her since the day she was born "My Brown Eyed Girl"
She looks a lot like her Mom and I like to think a little like I did as a young girl.
Eric, Lialani, Kobi and Cade.
Some of my friends tell me Lialani looks a little  like me. That is the biggest complement.
It's also a little funny to me, as Eric was the one of my son's that I struggled the most with as a teenager.
We laugh about those days now.
He turned into a great father, husband and son.

Well, I could go on and on and brag about all of my son's and their families, but maybe you can just take one at a time. So I'll have to feature the others another time.


I know one thing for sure...


God is Good!!
Life is Good!!

Monday, October 22, 2012

Pinterest Try Tuesday # 6


In case you haven't noticed, I love acorns. First acorns cookies and now an Acorn Pillow I just couldn't resist trying.  I even have a little red chair.
This is what I saw on Pinterest.
It was a free embroidery  for an embroidery machine.
The software for my machine won't work any more, so I decided to machine applique.
I copied and saved the design then enlarged it on my printer.
There are instruction links for making the pillow, and lots of other ideas for using the acorn.


My chair is smaller and my pillow larger, but I think it looks cute.
The fabrics are all some I had. The pillow background is made from Osnaburg. I had forgot about this nubby oatmeal looking rustic fabric and how much I love using it.

Recently, I have renewed my love for machine applique.
It could be done with buttonhole stitch or needle turn applique, but by machine appliqueing it, I was able to finish my pillow in one evening.
However, me being me, I had to add a little handwork, so I hand embroidered the curly ques and hand quilted around the acorn.
Found these buttons in my jar  that look "stitched" and tied them on with floss.

As I have been doing with all my pillows, I used a covered button overlap to close the back.

I just love it . I think the original looks cute with the twig wreath.  Maybe I'll go to Michael's and see what I can find. Some bittersweet would be nice too.


If you try something on Pinterest, and blog about it, please come back and tell me so I can link up to your 
"Pinterest Try"

Patty @ Lemon Lane Cottage joined me to day and tried Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars that she found on Pinterest. Go Check them out. They look delicious.



 
God is Good!!
Life is Good!!

Sunday, October 21, 2012

"Falling" It Up and a Turkey or Two

Today, after watching a cute little redheaded eight year old play "Fall" baseball, I came home and finished two turkey bibs. One is for Emmy of course and the other for her to take to her cousin Scarlett  when they go visit for Thanksgiving.

She saw me outside taking pictures  a few minutes ago and
said, "Is that for me?"  "You betcha, I said. 

Perfect place to take a photo was on my outside table, hanging on the pumpkin stem.
I could have put it on Emmy as she was dressed in a purple shirt, pink leggings with a duck hat on her head.
Oh, and don't forget the smudge of dirt on her cheek,
But she was off and running to tell mama.
and I needed to get a picture of the table anyway.
My flowers are looking a little wilted. We had a couple of 95 plus degree days and I forgot to water them.

My table inside isn't big enough for much so I thought I would decorate the one outside. We eat most of our meals there anyway when the weather cooperates.
I'm so glad I kept this pumpkin. It just says it all...don't you think?
I saw these on Suzanne's blog, Notes From the Patch and knew they would be perfect for my outside table.
Love the chicken wire. Kinda fitting, since we live next door to a chicken coop.


But my very favorite thing about the whole table is my pumpkin with the most wonderful stem.
I love a pumpkin with a cute stem.
I nearly screamed with delight as I dug through the big bin at the grocery store (nearly falling on my head)
trying to reach this baby.
When I finally grabbed it and "righted" myself, I looked around sheepishly, hoping no one had noticed.
NOT...two box boys were close by and they very quickly looked away...snickering, I'm sure.
I don't care, I think I got the prize, don't you?
                                     



God is Good!!
Life is Good!!


Monday, October 15, 2012

Pinterest Try Tuesday #5

Since I spent the weekend out at the Peddlers Faire, I needed something quick and easy for dinner Sunday night when I got home.
I remembered seeing these Ham and Pineapple Kabobs on Pinterest a few days ago.
I had everything I needed on hand.
incredibly simple grilled ham & pineapple

Mr. SS fired up the BBQ while I put the ham and pineapple on the skewers.
I sauteed red onions and bell peppers in a little olive oil, added some farm fresh eggs and scrambled them up while the Kabobs were on the BBQ. Mr. SS brushed them with some Honey BBQ sauce as I toasted some Garlic Bread and added some grated cheese to the eggs.
Oh YUM!
Mr. SS was trying to grab the plate while I tried to quickly get a photo for my post today.
So here's my first Pinterest try. 
They were delicious!!

For my second Pinterest try this week, I wanted to do a Mug Rug.
Those of you who follow Pinterest have seen lots of these. I pinned so many that I wanted to try, but since my fall fabrics were still on my cutting table along with more of the binding, I decided to do this one.
Pumpkin Mug Rug


Here's my version.

I was in Von's today getting a rotisserie chicken for dinner and I saw this mug. It was on sale, and I just knew it would look cute on my new Mug Rug. Was I right or what?
If you have never tried the Dollar Tree's Maple Leaf cookies, treat yourself  to a dollar bag. They are so good dunked in your morning coffee.
                                     

So what have you tried that you have pinned on Pinterest. Come on and share with me and I will link to your blog.

Hope you are having a great week. 


God is Good!!
Life is Good!!

Friday, October 12, 2012

Sewing Fall and a Tote


It's been a busy couple of weeks since we came home from Sacramento.  I haven't done as much sewing as usual, but did manage to finish a couple of projects.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned to Drew (my 12 year old granddaughter) that I  needed to go shopping in the storeroom for some fall fabrics as it is time for fall nesting.
She said "Oh, can I go?" as if I was going toStrawberry Patches. Well in a way I was, because a good portion of my stash came from Strawberry Patches. Some of it 15 or more years old, but fall is fall and I was sure I could find some pieces to work with.

We took the market basket (of course) and did some shopping.
Drew is a big help getting those big tubs down for me and is more than willing to search for just the right fabric.
We came up with a pretty good variety to choose from.


While searching, I came across something that I had forgotten about. Two years ago when we were packing up to move, a sweet blogger friend had posted something she had made for her fall table and I commented I had not seen the fabric with the scriptures on it. Renee from Sewn with Grace very generously sent me a panel of "Table Graces" and a cute Thanksgiving panel to go with it.
Not having time at that time to sew, as I was packing, I packed it away and it was so exciting to find it along with some of my fall fabric stash.

Another fun find was this roll of binding left from some placemats sewn long ago.

I considered several ideas with a pieced border and latice with corner stones and some other creative stuff, then said to my self, "Self, if you are going to have this done to use this year, go simple and  get it done"
So after doing some math I came up with this. I used only things I had (even pieced some batting).
I love it and it is just the right size for my small RV small cottage table.

It literally took me only two evenings to cut, piece and machine quilt. (Yes, I said machine quilt. I'm starting to feel more comfortable with that. Of course it is just stitch in the ditch, but hey...it's machine quilted.)  Then an afternoon sitting watching the kids play to bind it.





My other project was not made from fabric I had in my stash.
When I saw this at Strawberry Patches (click on this to see the whole line)
I knew it would be perfect for the bag I wanted to make to take to Bible Study.

I designed it as I went along, so I did a lot  little bit of ripping.  Mr. SS, my resident carpenter always says measure twice...cut once. Well my measuring lacked a lot.
But, I finally got it right. It could have been shorter, but I wanted the background to show on the front.

The panel was perfec to make a pocket on the front for my notepad.

I embelished with buttons from my favorite button jar (There were button already printed  where I placed mine)  Then I did a little quilting.

I love the way the sides look with the measuring tape straps framing them.

This is the back. I was tempted to put a pocket here too, but love the background fabric so much I didn't wan to cover it up.

The inside has a pocket that I divided with a space for my cell phone, a pencil and my Kindle.
Even though I have the bible on my Kindle, I still carry my Bible. There is something about leafing through the pages to find a Scripture that I love.
So my Bible and the Bible Study book fit perfectly. Right now that book is
Beth Moore's Breaking Free.



Well that's it.  What have you been working on this week?  I get so inspired seeing what all of you that I follow are doing.  There just needs to be more hours in my day or I need to sleep less.
Speaking of sleep, I guess I had better get to bed.
We just got home from our grandsons's football game and tomorrow morning I am helping my friend Gail sell antiques at a local show.  The Peddlars Faire at Pioneer Museum is tomorrow and Sunday for any one who lives close enough to come. 



God is Good!!
Life is Good!!