Trick or Treat

I had a really hard time deciding what to dress August up as for Halloween. Luke was easy, he decided after Halloween last year that he would be Darth Vader this year. We bought the mask and light saber and made the rest. The mask was a little hard to see through so he wore just the helmet part for most of the night.
I decided last minute to make August a bumble bee costume. We go to Boo at the Zoo at the National Zoo every year which forces me to have costumes done a week early. I used my very favorite pattern, the Sienna dress from Little Blue Boo, and whipped this out in a night.
I wasn't too happy with it once I had it on her. So I added a few more rows of ruffles on the bodice and also around the sleeves. Then I made her a little beret and attached antenna to it. Her wings are actually made for a cat, I got them at petsmart. Hey, whatever works! I am pretty proud that her whole costume only cost me the price of the wings... $3!

I got it!

I am so excited about what I chose from CSN Stores. I actually decided to get something for myself.

I got the x-acto self-healing cutting mat!!! Ok...probably not the most exciting thing in the world but for me it is. First of all I always end up cutting on the floor so now I have a huge 24x36 surface to work on. Second I cut a lot of straight lines when I am making scarves (and I've been making a lot of scarves). So this allows me to use my handy rotary cutter and see through ruler and cut a lot of squares at a time and they edges aren't all jaggedy like they usually are when I cut with a scissors.

I used it the other day when I made a sweater coat for August and it was fantastic! Oh and for cutting tulle and all of the ruffles for Halloween costumes...again a god send! The CSN shipping was incredibly fast. I actually couldn't believe it. I ordered it late on a Tuesday night and I had it by Thursday afternoon, even though it said it would take a week or so to make it to me. I am super happy with my CSN experience this time! They more than made up for the crappy experience I had last time. I would definitely order from them again.

CSN Store Review

I have shopped with CSN and reviewed products for them before and they recently contacted me to be a part of their Preferred Blogger Program and asked me to review another product! They really have almost everything you could want on their site that is made up of 200+ stores.

I love Paula Deen and they have her collection of furniture including really pretty bar furniture

And how about this bed? Love it!!!

Don't need furniture? How about kids stuff? In our house lego reigns supreme. Luke plays legos every day

August would go crazy for this little purse. She loves putting things in bags or buckets and taking them out again.

So stay tuned to see what I pick to review. I might actually get something for myself :)

That's Life

Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging and life has been crazy lately so I haven't been keeping up with the blog. I finally bought the license for the Sienna dress from Lil Blue Boo so that I can sell the dresses I make.
Then I signed up for 3 craft shows in a row. So I spent a lot of time making dresses for those so that I could have a lot of stock. I also have had quite a few custom orders that I've had to keep on top of. Not to mention the crazy kiddos. But I'm gonna be back to blogging now that I am getting more organized and into a regular schedule of doing everything.

I have been making things:

This circle skirt from a tutorial over at MADE

A fun scarf for Luke out of t-shirts

And a matching hat from a tutorial over on I Am Momma Hear Me Roar.


T-shirt sleep pants for Luke. I even wrote a tutorial for these over here.
And a tutorial for this little top will be coming soon!

Kids Clothes Week: Day One

The fabulous Meg at Elsie Marley is hosting Kids Clothes Week this week. She did it in the spring too but I didn't participate. I'm excited to be doing it this go round since August really needs some fall things and Lucas always is happy to test out whatever I make for him.


Monday was Day One and I made the Amelia Top from Mama Stellato. First off let me say whoever invented pdf patterns...I love them. I hate those old tissue patterns and once you cut them you only have the pattern in that one size. Now I save the patterns, I can print them whenever I need to. If I lose a piece (which is VERY likely to happen) I just go and print it again. And I only have to buy the pattern once but I can use it until the kids outgrow it!

This pattern was very well written and super easy to work with. I made a few mistakes but mostly because I didn't read the directions that thoroughly. I made the 2T so that I can layer it over long sleeves for winter. I used this brushed flannel-y fabric that I got for FREE from a friend and a little floral trim also from the same friend. So this shirt cost me $0.00!

I still need to add a button to the top but I didn't have any and I didn't make it to the store. All in all I love this top and will be making more.

The Great Ugly Knit Upcycle Contest

Remember this ugly fabric that Augie picked out of a pile of other ugly fabrics?

It has now become this! I made kind of a swingy peasant top. Once you have a basic sloper of a raglan you can change it up and do all kinds of variations to make it look completely different. It has a a stretchy elastic neck and also at the 3/4 sleeves. I also made the leggings which were so incredibly simple. I didn't even use a pattern just a pair of leggings that fit August now.
I added some little flowers on the shoulder. She also got a knotted headband. Up until yesterday she wouldn't leave a thing on her head. But I have found the secret to getting her to leave it on. I just show her herself in the mirror. She loves looking at herself, it's funny!

Brace yourself for a whole lotta ugly

There is still time.....grab a serious pile of UGLY and turn it into something fantastic! The Lil Blue Boo Great Ugly Knit Upcycle ends August 15th at midnight Pacific time. I am going to try to make something out of the ugliness pictured above. As usual I waited until the last possible day to figure something out. Let's just hope it looks like something when I'm done!