Happy Post Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving celebration with their family.  Ours was a bit different in that it was just Chip and myself making the trek to Kentucky.  Our family has reached that point where not all of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren can attend each family gathering.  I knew the day would come, and I want to handle it with grace.  It's all part of aging and the whole cycle of life thing.  It makes you stop and own up to your age, though, and that kinda stinks if you still think you're 40. 

Whatever.

But enough of that.  Thank goodness I'm not still 40 or I wouldn't have these precious pictures to share with you!

And you know I love me some baby feet!

That's it for now.  Nothing crafty to share.  It's been nothing but transcripts since my last post.  And a little turkey.  Speaking of little turkeys, Miss Kaitlyn has her first basketball game Saturday.  I can't wait!

Sew, what's up?

I've been playing around this weekend.  This is one of six.  Each will be different. 

I'll attempt to make three of them a bit less feminine.  =)

 This one uses lace from Chip's grandmother, Grace,

and buttons I had in my scrapbook supplies. 

The velvet is decorator fabric, which is all I could find in the right color.  Lucky for me, it was dirty and, thus, reduced to $7 a yard.  I got 3/4 of a yard -- which should be plenty for six cuffs --  and used a 40% coupon. 

I had an old cotton sheet -- literally old, and literally 100% muslin, which meant it had to be ironed and I would never use it -- that I used for the lining.

So far I'm out $3.44, including tax.  Suh-weet.

(Yes, Christina, it's a little wrinkled.  I was too eager to photograph it. 

I hope you can iron burlap...)


*ETA:  My "talent" did indeed come from my mom.  Plus, you're the one that taught me to sew.  Thankyouverymuch, Mom!

How 'bout a little peace and quiet . . .

Chip and I were delighted to have the opportunity to watch Nolan Sunday afternoon.  He's such a good baby.  I knew we could enjoy both him and the Titans game.  But seriously?  This is what we got instead . . .

Blog it . . ..

One of these two kiddos suggested I take a picture of this and "blog it."  Can you guess which one?  And I might have been reminded to get a picture of his little hands holding her fingers.  I might have more blog posts if I had her someone here to keep me on my toes.

Got Scraps?

I've never been a wasteful person.  When I first began scrapbooking, I would cut the paper out from behind a picture and use that scrap somewhere else.  I don't do that anymore, but I still like to be creative and see what I can do with my waste. 

In this case it's burlap.

Remember the table runner I made a couple weeks ago?  Once I was finished, I was left with a pile of burlap strings and scraps.  So what can you do with burlap scraps?

You can make nests for big pumpkins . . .

and for little pumpkins . . .

and even for the poor little gourd that's trapped under glass in your bathroom, of all places.  Everybody does that; right?

You can tie up a bundle of books.

And if the candle you want to burn isn't anywhere near quite the right color, just wrap some burlap around it.  At first I used burlap to tie it as well, but I decided I liked the strip of muslin better. 

So there ya go.  Instead of throwing my burlap waste in the trash, I sprinkled it around the house.  Did I mention I've got several yards of burlap left? 
I'm thinking of making Christmas stockings
with creamy velvet cuffs adorned with vintage buttons and lace. 
I'm going to need six stockings this year, ya know!   =)

Stay tuned! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Cj

Four months already ???

Well, four months and a few days for this post, but the pictures were taken on the 1st.

Lucky for you I'm all proficient in my Shutterfly Studio collage creating, or this would be an extremely photo-heavy post.  You may still consider it such, but please indulge me...

These are the shots where he's studying my camera. 

As soon as I would peek out from behind it, he was all smiles.  

Would ya look at that.  Somebody's got a belly!

And you know I had to take those socks off and get some baby toes in the pictures!

                          

And finally, a layout.

The lace I used was given to me by Nolan's great-great-grandmother, Grace, years ago.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cj

Halloween recap

Hey there!  I mentioned doing a little fall crafting, and I did it on Halloween day.  Over a year ago -- or maybe longer -- I bought yards of burlap for a project I never completed.  Okay.  I never started it.  But I knew the burlap would be put to good use eventually.  So many possibilities.  I've seen some cute burlap table runners in blogland.  I decided to start simple, and I made a runner for the chest in the foyer.   

Cute huh?  My next one may have hemmed sides and a 3-inch ruffle on each end.

Things I learned for next time: 

Don't work with burlap right after you've dusted your house.

Don't wear black pants.  Please.

Use a tape measure instead of "eyeballing" it.

Don't work with burlap right after you've dusted your house.
Yes, that deserves being mentioned twice.

Here's a shot of the chest in the foyer as we waited for trick-or-treaters.  What's significant about this picture, you ask?  Well, it's the yellow melamine bowl.  That was the bowl we used for our candy when I was a kid on Sunset Drive.  And now I always use it for our candy. 



That bowl also held lots of green beans, and macaroni & tomatoes, and mashed potatoes in its day. 
No, no, not in my house.  On Sunset Drive.  It's my candy bowl, remember? 
Me having a bowl for mashed potatoes would give my family a good chuckle.  ;)

 Here's a shot of the front porch.  Instead of putting mums in my planters this year, I just added pumpkins.  Much cheaper.  I'm hoping they'll last through Thanksgiving.  It doesn't show up very well in these pictures, but there's a grapevine draping thingy (I can't think of the word I'm looking for!) with some burlap ribbon woven in it and hung over the door, along with a "boo" sign, and a spooky spider web is stuck to the storm door.  That Kaitlyn is full of good ideas!  ;)

 

Oh, look.  You can see Chip sitting in his chair with his laptop, and you can see part of my still-summer mantel.  The smart thing to do would be go straight to a Christmas mantel, but I am determined to celebrate Thanksgiving in true fall style.



And since these pictures were taken on Halloween day, it's only fitting to end the post with a cute little pumpkin.

And a cute little '50s diva!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cj