Weekend pt 1

We finally made it to Restore to donate all those old clothes! The guest bed is empty (and clean!), and I am slowly getting everything else in order back there. Unfortunately, as I'm sure you've all guessed, I couldn't just drop stuff off without a little walk-through...which led to buying something. I found this really awesome two-piece outfit...it's a long skirt and a button down shirt, but I'm thinking of putting it altogether and making a romper...or just making shorts out of the skirt, and making the top sleeveless. I don't know yet, it's very exciting. The fabric is gorgeous, it's black with big blue, green, pink, and orange flowers and leaves on it. I'm in the process of washing it right now, so I'll take a picture tomorrow.

Yesterday we went out because Josh and I both kind of felt like going somewhere, but neither of us had any idea of where to go, so we ended up at TJ Maxx. I found this really awesome aromatherapy set, and the smell reminded me of this lotion I used to have from Victoria's Secret, so today after Restore we stopped at the mall and got some of that. (Very proud of myself for going in through Dillard's but not getting distracted!)

Oh, remember how I couldn't resist that Marc Jacobs watch the other day? Well, last night I was might have ordered a bracelet so it wouldn't be lonely on my arm. I can't help it, everything Marc Jacobs does is perfection. Anyway, I told Josh that those two things can be my Valentine's Day gift. Mostly just so I'd have an excuse for having bought them, we normally don't celebrate Valentine's Day.

I discovered the magic of cooking with quinoa this past week. I made some with apples and cinnamon for breakfast the other day, and tonight I made fajitas and replaced the rice with quinoa cooked just like Mexican rice...so good! (I found both of those on Pinterest.)

Well, it's kind of early for me, we slept till 2:30 today (isn't it awful? I wish I could flip my schedule back to normal.) so I'll be up for a while, and I really want to go empty my cabinet space under the counter, and toss all the food that's expired or we're not planning on eating. I'll try to get the craft room clean, too, I have a project that needs to get done pretty soon so I really want to get stuff organized in there so I can get it done!

Here's a picture of an awesome car we spotted while on the way to Restore today. (It's a 1961 Studebaker Hawk, if you're curious.)

Plans

Well it's been a busy, fun, and exciting holiday weekend, and it's not looking like things are going to slow down anytime soon! My in-laws brought me the table and chairs I wanted (!!!) along with another chair (and ottoman) I completely forgot about asking for. They're both in great condition, but have been sitting in a warehouse for...a few years at least, and have more than their share of dust and mud wasp houses on them. I hope to have at least the table done by Christmas; cleaned, stripped, stained, and sealed. The chair I absolutely love (the style/size are perfect), but since I'm supposed to get a couch in a few weeks, I'm going to wait so that I can pick a similar fabric to re-upholster it with.  

Here's all the chairs in our carport immediately after they unloaded them from the truck:

And you can see part of the table (the leaf is upside down on top of it) in the background of this picture of me after I smashed my phone with a hammer.

It's really gorgeous, I'll take better pictures soon, it's got a lot of detail in it, and it's the perfect size, but for the moment I'm just enjoying spending time with Josh and my mother-in-law. (The men went home Friday.)

Today (which for me, is still Saturday) we went to restore (I KNOW.) where I got three sweaters for re-purposing, and one for wearing. (I have to say, though, I actually have plans to make gifts for everyone this year, and so all these sweater are going to be made into matching accessory sets for various loved ones.) We also went to Michael's, where I got a few more Christmas things (ugghh 50% off), and out to see the Christmas lights at Garvan Gardens. I came home inspired and put up some lights around our front window (on the inside.)

Well, I'm pretty tired from all the adventuring we did today (probably should have worn better shoes for walking at the Gardens, but oh well) so I'm going to leave a few pictures of the lights here and get to bed. I hope everyone has had a great holiday!

31 Days Series: Halloween costumes

Halloween costumes!!

As much as I looove Halloween, I've really been slacking the past few years. Two years ago I threw a pumpkin carving party a couple of weeks before Halloween, and was still recovering from that on Halloween. Last year we had just moved here two weeks before Halloween, and were still in the process of unpacking, getting settled, and we really didn't have any idea of what to do. But this year I am determined to do something, even if it's just dressing up so that I don't look crazy (or creepy) when I go walk around downtown and take pictures of everyone else in their costumes.

I chose my fairy tale (Little Red Riding Hood) and assigned parts. Obviously I was going to be Little Red Riding Hood, and it was easiest to give Josh the part of the huntsman who saves me (and granny), which left Orion to play the part of the wolf dressed as granny.

At Re-store I collected the pieces for our various costumes: a plaid flannel shirt for Josh, a night gown, scarf, and granny glasses for Orion, and a red circle skirt (to be converted to a cape) for me. I didn't really want to make everything from scratch, so I bought basic stuff that could be easily altered to fit our needs. I think Orion's costume ended up needed the most alteration (Duh, I guess, I did buy people clothes to dress a dog as a wolf dressing as a granny.)

(As usual, these photos were taken over the span of like 24 hours, so the lighting is pretty random. Sorry!)

Ok. Here's the breakdown. For our wolfy-granny I started with a long pink nightgown. I tried it on him, then cut off approximately ten inches. Then, I cut a huge, upside down V out of the front (don't want him peeing on it!) I didn't want to hem anything up so I just stitched a piece of pink lace across the bottom. (I just happened to have a piece the perfect length. It was fate!) Next I had to work on the neck. It was a little tight across his back so I cut another V out of the top. Then I pulled out so that it was straight across, and used a piece of fabric from the bottom to make a matching ruffle to fill in the gap.

His accessories were much easier. For the glasses I simply attached a cheap pearl necklace to them, then put a dot of hot glue on each end to keep the chain from sliding around. I made 'wolf ears' out of some black furry fabric and brown suede. I stuck a few pieces of jewelry wire inside them (after sewing them) to keep them standing up, then I hot glued them to the top of his scarf. Easy peasy.
Here's his whole outfit.

Mine was actually much more simple. I took a circle skirt I'd found at Re-store, and cut off the elastic waistband. Next, I cut it open, right up the middle. (I guess. I didn't measure.) I folded the top down and stitched it closed. (For whatever reason, I apparently took no pictures during any of this.) Then, I took a red t-shirt (same color, same fabric) and cut a hood out of it. (I cut it out of the bottom and the side so I only had to sew one seam.) Then I attached that to the inside of the cape. I strung a piece of ribbon through the top of the cape, but I kind of like it better with a broach instead.

I'm like 90% sure of what I'm going to wear under my cape tomorrow, but I am really going to have to wait and see what the weather is going to be like. Anyway, we'll be heading downtown to walk around and gawk at other people, and take pictures so hopefully I can get someone to take one of us at some point and then you can see a (well lit!!) picture of us all in costume. :)

31 Days Series: Sweater hats

Today, I made hats. Two of them so far, one more in the works. They're pretty basic and easy to make if you have a sweater or two that don't fit, and depending on the size of the sweater, you can not only make multiples, but you can use the rest of it for other re-purposing purposes! (Pretty sure that's some kind of grammatical blasphemy, but I'm making it work.)

Anyway, here's a link to a tutorial if you need one.

My process came about after getting distracted while trying to finish up our Halloween costumes. (More on that tomorrow.) I was desperately searching for a skirt that I'd bought at Re-store before Joshs birthday party, and then packed away when I got to cleaning. I emptied my entire bin of fabric before remembering that I'd put it with the rest of the costume supplies, in a box on the shelf in the closet. Anyway, long story short, I needed something to do while the skirt (and other costume bits and pieces) washed since they had gotten that 'been in a box in the closet' smell to them, and after coming across two pieces of what used to be sweaters in my fabric bin, I decided to make us a couple of winter hats.

Sorry for the poor lighting, a storm rolled in on me and it got dark earlier than I expected. Brown one is mine, the patchwork one is Joshs.

Our attempts at taking a picture together with the hats were...a failure, I think is the best way to put it. I offer this as proof:

I'm going to make one more hat, considering that I managed to find a gorgeous grey angora sweater at Re-Store today. It's too small for me to wear, but I want to find a way to utilize as much of it as possible, then I'm going to work on making some soft, gorgeous matching accessories. :)

Here it is, in all it's soft, fluffy, grey glory:

(Yes, I did take that in the car immediately after buying it. I WAS EXCITED! And the light was great.)

Here's a close-up of the detailing.

This is taken back at home, obviously, but check out the buttons on the top; you could open it up for a more 'off-the-shoulder' look! I almost feel bad about cutting it up, but it only cost me $3.

That's all for now. Our Halloween costumes coming tomorrow! All three of them, including Orion. He's going to look hilariously adorable! So excited!!