Happy Thanksgiving!!

I hope everyone eats 'til they are STUFFED! :) That way I know I won't be ALONE!! HA! I am looking forward to spending some time with my family...and MY KIDDOS!! Two of them have been with my folks since last Tuesday!! My momma and sister came Monday and whisked Ms. Priss away too! They LOVE it over there...but it makes me lonely! :( Anywho...as you can see, I've been playing teacher's pet again!! Love the tulle turkey feathers...last time I used ribbon, but found it "floppy", so I wanted to try something different this time! What do you think? Last week was soooo busy! Ms. Priss' school had their annual Symposium week! This year's theme was History and our parents outdid themselves once again!! Once I get the pictures off of my camera, I'll do a better post on that event! :) I was in the History of Writing tent and got to dress up like a goddess! So much fun! I used a fitted white sheet, since it already had elastic and made a long skirt. Then just ripped wide strips, sewed them together and "draped" them over my shoulders across my chest. Easy peasy...not as formal as my friend the Red goddess, but good enough for this "Homemade Momma"! I wore some crazy false eyelashes I picked-up for 75 cents at the after-Halloween sales...first time for THAT!! Not too bad, but because I was snapping pictures all day, my camera kept grabbing one of the eyelashes and ripping it from my eye!! But I had fun walking up to random parents asking them "hey, can you put this back on for me...?" HA!! They were probably thinking...WHO is this CRAZY woman! Here is a picture of me and another awesome Momma in all of our goddess glory!



Right after Symposium was over...it was on to my NEXT project!! Our Girl Scout November meeting and activity was Monday....at MY house!! So of course I HAD to clean...UGH!! But we were also going to learn to knit, so I had much more exciting business to take care of!!


I spent a lot of time browsing the internet trying to find a good deal on BULK knitting needles for our girls!! The only place I could find, couldn't ship soon enough for me...so I was at a LOSS!! WHAT am I going to do..I don't have 20+ knitting needles laying around my house...ok, I do have ALOT, but not TWENTY!! ;) So I called my other knitting momma and asked if she had any extra and she said...none that would work for teaching 7 and 8 yos!! BUT she did give me a FABULOUS idea....CHOP STICKS!! How AWESOME is that?? I mean, they are made of bamboo, which is a choice material as far as knitting needles go! AND they are just the right size for little hands! So I got to work collecting chop sticks from various local Chinese restaurants...mmmmm!! I love Chinese food, so this was SUCH a hardship!! HA! So after collecting, I did some light sanding to get all of the little burrs out, and made sure the tips were pointy enough. But what to put on the ends to keep the yarn from coming undone??? Beads? But would I be able to find beads with that big of an opening to slip on a chop stick...ooooh I know..I can make some clay beads. But I'd never done it before!! Thankfully, I have an AWESOME friend who makes the most AMAZING things with polymer clay!! Thanks Melanie!! You were such a wealth of information!!

Here are 21 knitting needles, with 20 stitches cast on and one row knitted...yes, that was a LATE night...thankfully there were re-runs of Project Runway on to keep me SANE!! ;)

And my beads close up! I know...not as awesome as Melanie's creations...check out her Etsy shop!! She made a fabulous ornament for me last year of all the grandkids...my Momma LOVED it!! I was really not expecting ALL 21 girls to show up...but they did!!! WOW was it crazy!! We had 3 mommas that knew how to knit...and that is because I gave my friend Kathy a crash course Friday after Symposium...thankfully she is a FAST learner with TONS of patience!! And of course my knitting GURU friend who is always a wealth of knowledge on all things knitting!! Also, her daughter was our "teacher"...she did her best to explain how to knit...but ended up showing them a way more interesting way...FINGER KNITTING!! The girls loved this even more then regular knitting!! Oh well, they all loved their needles and went home HAPPY!!! Once they were gone...it was back to the sewing room to finish up......

THESE!!!

YAY!! No more minky pants!! Wait a minute....what is in that bag my sister brought when she took my children???!!!! UGH!!! MORE MINKY!!!! That's it...I am officially shutting down the minky pants-making machine!! I've got to start sewing for Christmas!!! Until later....

Sewing for Fall

Thanks to a really good friend, my sewing room is SEMI-clean and organized!! YAY!! She insisted on coming over and kicking my butt in gear! She went on and on about how great it would feel to be able to SEE everything I had. And how much I would get accomplished if I could actually USE my cutting table!! She was right....OF COURSE!! She gave me two good days of her precious, recovering-from-chemo time and made me promise to do more on my own...how could I refuse? She has Lupus and has been going through years of struggling to keep her own arts and crafts clean and organized! So THANK YOU my friend!! On with the sewing....

Do you like my new banner for Fall? I LOVE it! It is made with burlap and lots of SCRAPS!! Can I tell you that the amount of my scrap stash is gianormous!! So much so that I am having to THROW little pieces away!! GAH!! It is killing me! So, after much back N forth, and getting Steph to BELIEVE me...I'm boxing some up and sending some to Australia! But even that is proving to be a challenge! I LOVE you, Steph..but I find myself picking up scraps to put in your box and think, "but maybe I'll USE this..." I know, I know....I AM AN ADDICT!! :) I think I will have to blindfold myself and just shove some in...that way I won't know exactly what is going in...and I won't miss it!! HA!! Anyway, I would love to show you some pictures, but something is wonky with my lens! I think it has been dropped too many times!! It won't auto focus when I zoom in and out, and even my manual focusing is leaving alot to be desired. Maybe I'll win the AWESOME giveaway over at MADE. Some super duper awesome ZOOM lens that fits a Canon or Nikon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed....yeah, me and the 1500 that commented BEFORE me...and that was like three days ago...the giveaway goes until the END of November. Can you imagine getting THAT many comments?? {shudder} So please forgive my terrible pictures!!

Ms. Priss loved her Halloween Yo-Yo headband so much, I made her one for Fall with......SCRAPS!

The red corduroy has a pom pom too...it must have gotten hungry and SWALLOWED it!! ;)

The middle child has BROWN Day tomorrow...no pressure to have anything done...thankfully for the THIRD year in a row, these corduroy pants will be worn!! Remember, these were originally made for the Boy for his first Thanksgiving...then last year after he outgrew the length, the Middle Child got them with the addition of a cute ruffle...this year I added a new Swing top made from my Scrap stash...YAY!!

Again, sorry for the horrible picture...I won't be holding out for the giveaway, I've already ordered a replacement lens! :) So, I've been seeing alot of acorns this fall....must be a trend! She really likes it and I had to pry it off of her today, with the promise of being able to wear it all day tomorrow!

Oh, here are a couple more Minky ruffled pants I did last month.

I just got the red Minky in for three more orders. I do feel better when my sewing room is neat and organized! Hopefully it will last...but the Holiday season is upon us!! With all of the fabulous tutorials popping up on Sew Mama Sew! these days....the wheels of creativity are turning!! And did I mention that we booked Disney in the Early Spring???? SOOOOO excited!! Our last visit was Thanksgiving 2007 when I was pregnant with the Boy, so not many rides I could do!! I have been having fun planning our trip and making maps and scheduling character dinings...so much to do in such a short time!! Anyone been recently?

So that is it for this post...it is LATE and I am tired! Check out the new links I've added on the left...one is for Wee Folk Arts Handmade Holidays Directory!! These awesome ladies always offer the best support for Crafters!! If you sell stuff online...go and add your link to the ever growing list!! The other new link is Sew Mama Sew!...of course!! They are doing Handmade Holidays IV! Lots of tutorials, lots of prizes, lots of chances to win!! So one last look at my cute Fall banner, wish the picture was better...oh well...

...until later...