I’ve been remiss in writing here, but not remiss in my Christmas preparations.  The house has been decorated inside and out, the tree has been gotten and decorated, and new cookies are made almost every day. And, of course, music, music, music!   I love pulling out decorations I haven’t seen in almost a year.  Each one is a happy “OH! Remember this!”  I’m working on a few new things this year-some felt trees, and maybe another photo wreath.  I actually don’t have a ton of photos, but will once projects are finished and surely once we have our Christmas party (because then I’ll take pictures of all my cookies.) For now, here are chocolate mosaics:

We had our first snow, which was beautiful and even though there was really not very much, it ended up being loads of fun. The kids sledded down our tiny hill (each time Clark yelled “Heeeeeeeeeeeeelp” as he wooshed into the brush.) The chickens were surprisingly fussy about it and wouldn’t come out of their coop.

Speaking of chickens, we bid an adieu to Pecky, who got taken by a hawk (presumably) last week. This brings us to 8 hens (only 7 of whom are laying at the moment.)

Christmas! Hooray! Now that Thanksgiving is officially over we’ve been gradually decorating.  We even saw Santa fly in at the tiny local airfield yesterday.  We started listening to our massive Christmas music collection and today I strung up some lights.  And to go along with all that I baked a first batch of Christmas cookies today.  I had saved a recipe from quite some time ago that I wanted to try this year.  It was from Better Homes and Gardens and called Cinnamon Red Hot Sticks (or something like that.) Basically a shortbread type stick that gets dipped in white chocolate and then crushed red hots. Very pretty and festive!

The main dough called for slivered almonds, toasted and ground up.  I wasn’t so sure how that would be with the cinnamon red hot stuff on top because I like my cinnamon spicy stuff and I like nuts, but not really the two together (unless we’re talking party nuts.) Although I didn’t love these freshly made, now that it is several hours later and there are literally only a few left, I can vouch for their deliciousness.  I’m not sure how much this had to do with it, but I couldn’t find a plain bar of white chocolate at the CVS, so I got a Lindt bar of white chocolate truffles. I love them on their own and figured it would be meltable.  Meltable, indeed.

I think this recipe would also be great dipped in milk chocolate with either nothing else on top, or possibly some chopped nuts.  The red and white definitely made it look like a nice Christmas cookie, though. (And what exactly makes a Christmas cookie a Christmas cookie? I think there has to be some level of it looks good, it might be time consuming or complicated (and that’s how it became a once a year cookie), and it is not chocolate chip (EVER) )

Somehow Clark got into his head last night that he needed a cape. He was racing about the house with a blanket and asked if I would make him one. I said yes. We had a rough night of sickness-coughing and crying and so on, so you can imagine my surprise when he woke me up in the morning by saying, “Hey mom, did you make my cape yet?” Um, no.  We got up and what else did I have to do at 7am but make him a cape? He chose this train fabric and I added red panels to make it wide enough. The C and its background are both felt and sewed on with a zigzag stitch. I’m quite thrilled with how it came out, but need to add velcro so he can secure the ties himself (snaps are  verboten for him). Not bad for made before breakfast!

Racing by at the speed of light…

We had a very special Thanksgiving this year as both my brothers and their families joined us. They live in Colorado and Vermont and we’re not often all together at the same time-last time was two years ago! The Vermont brother brought the turkey, which he had won in a silent raffle. It was a 22lb. free range had a happy life turkey. It was huge! On Thursday morning I was concerned that I hadn’t planned enough side dishes, but as usual I was absurd. We had so many leftovers it’s just ridiculous.  The menu:

Appetizers: Orange Curried Pecans (from Party Nuts, of course), bacon wrapped dates (they were such a hit last year), mixed olives (I hate olives, but somehow thought everyone else would love them, plus I have a cute olive dish), and stuffed mushrooms (my brother made these and they were delicious. He says it’s because the secret ingredient was a slice of Taylor ham ground up.)

Main Course: The roast turkey, prepared with sage leaves placed under the skin, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper; Brussels Sprouts with Pecans; Cranberry Sauce (made from this November’s Food and Wine-made with a Fuji apple and in a loaf pan); Mashed Potatoes; Gravy (for some reason I made it very thick and then all night long wondered why I’d done that. For leftovers I thinned it out and it was great.); Corn Pudding (quite possibly my favorite thing); Stuffing (our traditional stuffing is celery, onion, and Arnold’s cubed stuffing); Sweet Spinach Salad (I also made this for Tabby’s party, it was delicious.)

Desserts: Apple Pie and Pumpkin Pie, made by my brother; Cranberry Walnut Tart with ginger whipped cream.

Everything was delicious and we were all very full and happy.  It was great to be all together and of course I made us pose for some group photographs. I am truly thankful every day for Paul, Clark, and Tabitha and the many blessings we all enjoy.

Oh, and of course I have to mention Tabby’s dress, which had its debut.  I think it looked great and she was comfortable in it.  I’m really pleased with it!

(First, don’t mind the mess all about me in this picture. It’s only when I look at it with another viewer’s eyes that I realize there is a cookie rack, alphabet magnet, plate, train crossing, and a bunch of other toys visible! Pretend I’m modeling against some pristine background. Oh, and that I’m a model.)

I’m on an apron roll. I didn’t know if I was making this for myself or someone else, but now that I’m done I will probably keep it because I’m so pleased.  I’m pleased with this apron because I mostly made it up myself! I intended to make a patchwork border of a plain rectangular half apron (see Psychedelic Squares).  First I made the patchwork out of 3 1/2 inch squares I cut out of a variety of very traditionally color schemed Christmas fabrics I had leftover from when I made us all stockings. I intentionally made the two rows not line up (which is something I saw on another A is for Apron pattern and was quite taken with.)  Then I went to the store to look for a plain fabric for the top. I couldn’t quite think what would look right, but when I saw this dark red ticking fabric I knew it was perfect. I bought one yard of it.  Basically I folded it in half to get a nice size rectangle to put on top of the patchwork.  I stitched those together and had a nice plain rectangle.  But, since the bottom patchwork had lots of seams I then cut a piece of red fabric and attached that to the bottom, folded and pressed it behind and stitched to conceal all seams.  I left about a 1/4 inch of red peeking out at the bottom of the patchwork as a nice trim.

On to the waistband and ties.  I used the pattern pieces from Psychedelic Squares and then folded and pressed and topstitched and came out with a very nice plain waistband and long ties to wrap around the front.  I was exceptionally pleased that the stripes of the waistband lined up with the skirt piece so well that it actually looks like it’s one piece instead of two!

At this point I tried it on and it was a nice long half skirt. (I hadn’t actually stitched on my ties yet.)  I took the extra piece of fabric I had, held it up to my top, and thought a-ha! This needs to be a full body apron! So I set about making a top.  The piece I had (folded) was the right width, so I stitched up the sides so that again, all seams were hidden, the back of the apron is nice and smooth, and topstitching will prevent sliding of any inside bits during washing.  Again, thestripes lined up perfectly!!

This morning I decided that it might look good with a small embellishment on the top and I cut out a Christmas tree bit of some of the fabric.  Well, it looked great, so I appliqued it on by using a zigzag stitch.  I think it came out great.  What kind of straps to do on the top? I cut strips of the little bit of fabric remaining on the bias and made two tubes. I pinned them in various places and ultimately sewed them in just straight into the corners. I liked having a wide top, so I didn’t want to change the neckline of it.  After all, I’ll be whipping up bowls full of flour and sugar and eggs into dozens of Christmas cookies in this, and will need lots of coverage!

Overall, I’m very pleased and it was a lot of fun to be able to make things up as I went along.

This pattern was the first one I made from A is for Apron. I wear it quite a bit and really like it.  Back when I bought the fabric for mine I also bought fabric to make another one of it.  I decided to make it for my sister-in-law’s birthday…which is in July.  Yes, I’ve been meaning to do this since early summer. At this point I will be presenting it to her on Thanksgiving.  I think she’ll like it–the fabric really made me think of her and I like the sparky bright green bias tape I made for it.

There is an imperfection (the pleats are not the same direction!!), but overall I really like this. (Hey, I just put in the link to the post from when I first made the fruit tart apron.  My hair has grown so much since June!)

For some time now I’ve wanted to make a basic tiered skirt for Tabby.  It seemed like the sort of thing you’d hardly need a pattern for, but I just wasn’t quite sure how to begin (shape of pieces, size, etc.)  Then, I came across this free tutorial and it was exactly what I was looking for: The Market Skirt by Dana Made It.  She shows this as a nice lightweight spring and summer skirt, perfect in gingham or seersucker.  Since it’s fall I thought I would make it out of denim.  I’m quite pleased with how it turned out! One thing I will do differently when I make it again is make it longer.  I shortened one of the pieces by 2 inches because she suggested her pattern would yield a 2T-3T size, but I think I would have been more pleased with it being as long as the one she made. I might also choose to make it slightly narrower. I put a little ribbon tag on the side, and felt I showed considerable restraint with regard to embellishment.  I can’t wait to make this again and embellish away with embroidery, applique, buttons, corduroy flowers, etc. Also looking forward to using other fabrics and combos. This can definitely be an easy go-to skirt for a few years for her.

Look how swishy!

I am perhaps more pleased with the garment than any other I have made so far.  I bought the paisley fabric back in August with the idea that it would be used for some sort of fall item for Tabby.  Then, a couple months later, I bought the polka dot corduroy to coordinate with it.  I looked through the patterns I had and decided on a jumper that I could easily use two separate fabrics for.  Then I bought some lovely brown velvet ribbon, and then I finally got to work.

I love the way the fabrics look together, and am pleased that all my corduroy goes in the right direction and it is extremely soft when you pet it.  It looked nice before the ribbon, but I think the ribbon suddenly really made it look special.  I’m planning on having her wear this  on Thanksgiving with a brown turtleneck and tights, but here she is just trying it on over other clothes.

This pattern was very easy to follow and although I was all anxious about doing a zipper, it turned out not to be hard at all. I was a slacker on the photographs so I don’t have a good pic showing the zipper.  Further evidence that the pattern (Ottobre) I used for the my very first sewing project was a very difficult one for a beginner.  I wish I had used a brown bias tape for the armholes and hope when she wears it you won’t be seeing the peek of white.  Overall I think it adorable and it got the highest praise from Jen: “Looks boutique, not homemade”. Can’t ask for more than that!!

Yesterday I had a wonderful sewing day.  Everyone very kindly let me just keep working on my projects. It helped that I had cut out pieces the previous day for some of them.  And with all my working at my own stuff, Paul was still able to paint the front of our garage! Between that, the new driveway, and some new fencing around the garbage can, our outside is looking as nice as we imagined it for the past few years.  So what did I sew? Aprons, aprons, aprons!

“The Waverly.”  This is a pattern I have made before for my friend Melissa’s birthday. I’ve had fabric set aside for this for some time and I’m pleased with the way it turned out. Sort of frilly and flouncy with the scalloped bottom and plenty of gathers, but also crisp and elegant, with the white binding.

This cherry fabric I purchased at least four years ago and have only just now gotten around to turning into an apron.  I loved the cherry border that is printed on this fabric.  This border went along both side of yardage.  I cut it right in half and then used more of the leftover side to make the waistband and ties.  I was very pleased to make the waistband and ties based on the other aprons I had made.  I really feel like you can learn some good sewing skills with these projects! Once you get down the construction of main piece + any pockets + waistband + ties, you can really play with embellishments, bindings, and so on.

I am going to use the leftover fabric to make a Tabitha sized apron for her for Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas…I’ll be making at least two Christmas aprons this year.  Here’s the first.  I used the “Psychedelic Squares” pattern (from A is for Apron)  I bought this fabric specifically for aprons for baking Christmas cookies, so I was definitely going for a red/green and fun pattern scheme.  I like the ric-rac on the pocket, too.

I have pieces cut out for another one and ideas for a couple more to make as well.   When I bought that cherry fabric I also bought some gorgeous bluebird fabric with the intent of making a full apron (covers top as well as bottom), so maybe I’ll try my hand at that as well. But first up, a belated birthday present, another Christmas apron, and another gift apron (or two..).  I think one of the reasons I felt motivated to get started on this yesterday is that Halloween is done, it’s officially November, and while not Christmas season yet, it’s almost here and it’s certainly time to think of Thanksgiving and decorations and time to get going on handmade gifts.

Now, I’ve got to start whipping up cocktails and party nuts to go along with my little aprons

This was the most fun Halloween we’ve had in years! At 4 this was the year that Clark not only embraced his costume, but also was thrilled by the trick or treating (last year we did about 5 houses and that was it, though he did love his costume) At 2, having an older sibling, Tabby was also excited by it. She also has a monstrous sweet tooth and was nutty about the candy.  And of course, since it’s a Saturday and Paul was actually off of work, the whole day was a fun holiday.

We all painted masks:

Ate loads of cookies that we baked and decorated yesterday:

At nursery school Clark has been gearing up for Halloween big time.  Crafts and songs and stories, all culminating in the Halloween parade and party on Thursday.

Bat made with hands:

Mummy:

We don’t decorate too much around the house, except for a string of spider lights.

And of course we’ve had some pumpkins and gourds about for a while now:

And now, the main event: trick or treating.

In our little village Halloween is a huge event.  We’ve only lived here 6 years, but my friend who’s grown up here assures me it’s always been a big deal and in recent years has really exploded.  It’s somewhat inexplicable, but it’s absolutely delightful and we’re happy to be a part of it. In the village center of 3 streets  hundreds of people wander the streets trick or treating.  Grown-up dress up just as much as kids (I’m thinking that next year we might; my favorite grown up costumes this year were Paul Stanley and Luke Skywalker with Yoda attached to his back ) and many of the houses have lavish decorations.  One of my favorites is this tree with a headless horseman.  What’s so awesome about it is that this house was sold 2 years ago and the new owners continued to create this decoration:

This picture is a bit blurry, but I include it so you can see that the tree itself looks like a horse:

Spoooooky:

Here we are ready to walk down to town (note: it was a bit rainy now and then, a very damp walking around.) Clark requested a pink and purple Tyrannosaurus Rex costume and Tabby was a cow (Clark’s costume from 2 years ago, but I made a new hat with more authentic ears)  I sewed the main part based on last year’s giraffe costume and Paul masterfully made the headpiece.  He really loved wearing it and roaring.

On the way we stopped in at Walter’s (the feed and seed) and he had a wonderful “treat” for us: his pig, Cheyenne, had her babies! They are 3 weeks old and were possibly some of the cutest baby animals I’ve ever seen. They were like puppies. None of my pictures came out very well, so a word picture instead: they are all black, have floppy triangular ears, little round behinds, and little tails with just a slight curl at the end. Their mother is humongous.  Seriously large.

On to the houses and the candies.  Clark was not at all hesitant about marching right up to the doors all by himself and nicely saying “trick or treat”, “thank you”, “Happy Halloween!”.  Tabby couldn’t bring herself to say anything, but was quite happy to help herself to the candy.

Lots of fun, lots of nice town spirit, lots of really good candy.

Happy Halloween!