Halloween

I'm pretty sure this will be my last post for Halloween this year. I was perusing the internet when I came across this. And it was so cute and so easy, I had to make some for my Activity Day Girls and one of the people I visiting teach. Here are the results...





I think they turned out pretty well.

New stuff out of old

When I went to our Deseret Industries Exchange Night, I picked up a shirt that I liked specifically for the fabric. I started out by making this from one of the sleeves. No pattern, just trying it out.



My granddaughter thought the shirt was adorable as a dress and asked if I'd fix the other sleeve and give it to her. I thought about it and told her, "Sure." Here's the finished dress. I just had to cut off the gosh awful sleeves that looked something like upside down mushrooms and hem what was left. Here's how it turned out.



I still had a sleeve to play with and so I took the idea from this blog
at this site and made this.



Next I found this site here and decided to make these cute little fellows.



My granddaughter's dress got this one.



And I put together a little set for a baby. It has a button to button the owl onto plus the cute little owl and the stuffed owl also.





I still have 2 more owls and little more fabric and have great plans for them, but they'll have to wait until after Halloween. I have too much to do between now and then.

And yes SB, I figured out how to link websites, but there is no infinity key on my keyboard.

My creation

I was surfing blogs and came across this website

http://notsoidlehands.blogspot.com/2009/09/freecycle-friday-glowing-jack-olanterns.html

and loved this simple craft. There was a tutorial so I threw it together today. In the light, it is really nondescript or maybe even ugly.



But in the dark with battery tealights, it looks great. It was a lot of fun to make and put my abilities with decoupage to the test. Thankfully it was a very forgiving project (in other words it looks good in the dark and that's what I needed.) I'll be using this to decorate my trunk for the ward trunk-or-treat.

Working on Sunday

I was talking to our former Bishop (I would say old, but I'm older than him and what would that mean about me? LOL) and he said something that made me remember a story about my husband's family.

As the WWII started, it was determined that many of the Japanese peoples needed to be contained in internment camps in the U.S. The U.S. government needed workers to build the internment camps. This came at a time when money was short, at least in my husband's family's house and so my husband's dad, grandpa and Uncle T decided to apply. They applied and got jobs as carpenters.

The workers were not accomplishing things as quickly as the powers that be thought they should be done, so it was determined that the workers needed to go to a 7-day work week. Uncle T told his supervisors that he would not be there on Sunday. Threats were made that he would lose his job, if he didn't work Sundays. The pressure was on. Would he or would he not show up? Sunday came and Ken's dad and grandfather were at the camp, but Uncle T did not come. He went to Church as was his lifelong habit. He was back to work on Monday and nothing was said, then or ever. He continued working. As the camp neared completion, workers were laid off, but Uncle T was one of the last to be laid off.

I have always admired Uncle T for choosing his God over his job. It was a hard decision, but the right one for him.

For pictures, go to http://parentseyes.arizona.edu/wracamps/camplife.html

Decorating for Halloweeen

It's past time to decorate for Halloween and I decided to invite my two oldest grandchildren that live close by to come decorate my house. I started by putting out my homemade wood projects and the carefully selected store bought decor.







My grandchildren weren't too impressed at that point. They sat down and watched the Disney Channel. Then I pulled out the store bought decor that I had bought to decorate the church many years ago when I was in charge of the Halloween Party. There are enough to decorate much of the church. They also found some homemade stuff from when I couldn't afford to buy much of anything. Here are my grandkids and what they did.











There are decorations in my kitchen, my dining room, my guest bedroom, the bathroom, the hall, plus all the ones you see in the main living area. Yet, I wouldn't have it any other way. The reason I decorate is to delight my grandchildren and they were truly delighted with the results.

Our trip

While on our vacation, we decided to go to Atlanta, Georgia with our oldest son and his family. We invested a huge amount of money going to visit the world's largest aquarium, the Georgia Aquarium. It cost about $24 each. It was fun and interesting, but immediately after, we went to the Olympic Park across the street.



There the grandkids had an even better time for no money at all.

The results

I have been lucky enough to see the results of my efforts on the stuffed animals. Kennedy must sleep with her giraffe now. The stuffing has all been pushed from its neck where she grabs hold of it and the eyes will soon be pulled off. I'll leave the stuffing as it is since she really likes it like that, but I'll be working on those eyes.

Regan likes her elephant and Kinney likes her kitten. They have dressed them in doll clothes and carried them all around the house. They have both intimated that more would be good and they think Christmas time would be a good time. Regan would like a dog and Kinney thinks a horse would be great.

Sewing projects

I have spent much of the last week sewing.

The Giraffe.


The elephant.


The kitten.


The entire menagerie.


An apron.


I can sew because my mother taught me the basics. I can sew a dress, shirt, pants plus crafts of all kinds and even quilts (though I don't particularly enjoy piecing a quilt.) I have no problem with set-in sleeves, zippers, linings, facings, easing, etc. and it is all because she took the time to teach me. I only wish I could have learned the techniques needed to alter a pattern. I have never been able to sew something for myself that actually fits.

On the other hand, my mother-in-law taught me the basics of working with knits. I learned to make baby booties, sleepers, t-shirts and even designed a pattern for "Rugby" shirts before patterns were available through the mass market.

Early in my marriage, it was cheaper to sew than to buy clothes, so my infant boys and toddlers had corduroy pants and jeans made by me. I also made onesies. I made bibs, spit up rags, lightweight receiving blankets suitable for a swamp cooled home and toys. How grateful I am for a heritage that provided me with the skills and knowledge to make virtually anything I want to.