Black Cats and Trick-or-Treating

Well I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween. To those who celebrate anyway. Now Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year. If you hadn’t already guessed by my love of costuming! As I said in my last post, Elsie was a cute little kitty for Halloween. Elsie helped me paint and glitter the mask last month. It was what inspired the whole costume. Plus I figured mask on a stick was better than trying to keep a mask on her face.  I used two simplicity patterns to put together this adorable costume:

Isn’t she so cute?

Kitty Says Meow!

Here you be a kitty!

Purrrrrr

We went to all the grandparent’s houses and to Gigi’s(great-grammi’s) for trick or treatin’. We also went in Grandma’s neighborhood. She made out like a bandit and by the second to last house was saying “Twick tweat” and thanking everyone for their candy. I think she is going to like this holiday when it rolls around next year.

I have been busy with doll commissions. Yes, I make original crochet dolls. I take commissions and also sell already made ones on Etsy. I call them Whimzees. I just finished up the Morning Glory Faery for my friend who owns Mothers of Purl Yarn Shop. I’m currently working on a fireman for another friend. I also have ideas for a Knight and a Princess that I would like to do. Below is a picture of the Morning Glory Faery and the Daffodil Faery. Sorry They aren’t for sale as they have homes, but they can be ordered through my Etsy shop if you would like one of your very own.

Well tomorrow is shaping up to be a crafting day with my little girl. We have some painting projects we need to get to. And also to figure out what we are doing for Christmas Presents this year.

Homemade applesauce, Canning and Halloween Prep

Sorry I have been quiet for quite a while. September and October are usually busy months for me. There are lots of family birthdays/anniversary/etc. to attend. And though I didn’t spend as much time there as in years past, I volunteer at the Connecticut Renaissance Faire. I did manage to make my renaissance dress in time to wear it for the weekend I worked. Don’t worry I promise to have pictures. I just have to do a few minor things for it to be fully completed. I received many complements on it, especially the fact it was reversible.

I finally convinced my mom to make applesauce. Now to be clear, my mom used to be a canning machine when I was kid. Fresh berry jams in the summer, apple sauce and chili relish in the fall. In fact, I can’t stomach store bought applesauce now since I was raised on her homemade goodness. We last made applesauce(my first time) shortly after my daughter was born two years ago. And I didn’t really do much as I was still recovering. I wanted her to show me so I could can on my own someday. We made 49 pints of applesauce. I am really proud because I did most of it myself. My mother said that she had passed the torch and now I was responsible for all future canning. Now I had pictures of me canning but it appears my dad deleted them off the camera so he could take pictures…All I have is a picture of the jars sitting pretty on the pantry shelf.

Homemade applesauce

Now I just finished Elsie’s Halloween Costume. She is going to be a black cat. She informed me that she wanted to be a “Kitty Kat Meow!” And trust me, she is going to be the cutest wittle kitty kat evah. I will have pics of that as well. I used two simplicity toddler patterns :

 

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I am making the furry jacket. I am using the hood from the poncho and have attached cat ears to the hood. I made it out of a plush black felt that was fabulous, because I didn’t have to finish the edges.

 

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I’m making the skirt on the top right with out the pockets in a sparkly black satin. I’ve added orange netting underneath to give it some poof and attached a feather boa “tail” to the back.

Both patterns were actually very simple and easy to follow. From start(cutting) to finish(slip stitching the skirt hem, it took me about 6-8 hours. I think even for a beginner sewer with limited experience it would be a very easy pattern to complete. And the skirt is just adorable! Well that is all I have for you now. I promise to try and be a bit more regularly about updating. And soon I hope to have up some tutorials as well!

 

Finally Fall

I will do a more detailed post about the party when I finally get pictures from the people that took them. I do have one of the cupcakes to share with you though, that I took the night before. I didn’t end up using all the cookies I made because the butterflies were HUGE and the cupcakes weren’t. I would probably use a smaller cookie cutter next time.

Butterfly Cupcakes

I am so glad October is acting more mature and not pretending to be something it’s not…like September tried to be summer. I made Elsie a dress for the CT Renaissance Faire, because we had a wedding to go to.  We’re usually there volunteering in the Eldyrwood Handicrafts Booth as I am part of that artisan co-op. No one seems to have gotten pictures of her in her dress (Silly Daddy forgot his camera) but we’ll be there again and I will definitely get pictures then. It’s a pretty gold satin “princess” dress with a green velveteen bodice. All made from random leftover fabric I had. I didn’t spend a dime on it.

Elsie and I went out earlier today and played in the leaves. I got some great pictures:

Playing in the Big Leaf Pile

Crafty To-do List (so I can remember):

1. Finish my Renaissance Dress before I work the Faire

2. Make Elsie’s Kitty Kat Halloween Costume

3. Finish the three crochet dolls in progress

4. Knit my mom’s sweater.