Which "shell" I choose...

Decisions, decisions...
This old guy has been pulled back out of the garage, since three potential fabrics were discovered for his "shell".





The local Fabricland is closing due to not having enough business which is incredibly sad as it is the only place to really get sewing supplies without driving 20km. The one positive thing is that everything has been 75% off!

When we were living in Perth, Australia, I had to take about 3 buses just to find a store even for the simplest of sewing projects. Everyone I asked said they had all closed down due to a lack of interest. I suppose less people are sewing all the time which is really surprising as with sites like Etsy and so many creative bloggers out there, it seems the opposite.

Anyway, I have collected my fair share of fabric and other sewing implements in this past month while the store clears out their stock. These 3 fabrics are possible contenders for my little turtle footstool.







May the best cloth win!

A Fruitful Day at the Thrift

My mom and I visited both of the local thrift shops here and I came across some pretty great stuff today.
The first shop reeled us in with their 50% off clothing sale. Unfortunately nothing I liked happened to be clothing!
The second had us just by being on route to home.
So, here is a peek at some of the spoils of our afternoon...


I am always so surprised when I find something in a second-hand shop that someone has put so much time and effort into, like the needlework in the back.
I bought the oil lamp with the hope that a similar shaped milk glass top would fit. It does not, but for 99 cents I'm still pretty happy with it.
The small business card holder and white organizer are for my sewing room. I'm gonna need more room if I keep "organizing"! :)
The two little ceramic turkey candleholders will be nice on my table next year.


My mom bought this wooden sled for the little guy. Fingers crossed that we actually get snow this winter!


I bought this bedspread thinking it may be a little much as such, but with the turquoise colour in it I thought it would at least make great throw pillows for my guest room bed. Once I tried it on the bed though I think I like it as just that.



You never know what you'll find!

OH BOY!

Somebody is going to be a big brother in about 4 more months, and he is going to be a great one at that.

The big news is that he's going to be a big brother to a LITTLE BROTHER!!!



In March my tune may change, but right now I'm looking forward to the mad house that will be our home!
xo

New Love For Old Desk

Finally, this desk has been completed! Here is the post from back in June that shows it's before state, which wasn't so bad either.



I didn't originally buy this chair and desk together, but they just work so well, don't they?
The chair was finished and in the room months ago just waiting on it's buddy. Things like this, once they find their corner in the garage, really seem to sit a while. It's kind of a do NOW, or do in a few months thing.

We have been the accomplishment champs lately. Must be the desire to sell and move that finally gets us all settled in a place... How does that work exactly??

Anyway, thanks a whole bunch to my Hubby for painting this up for me!

A Very Simple Toy to Make

This is really the simplest "toy" to make. All I used was an empty formula container with the top, and a few tin frozen juice lids (they don't have any sharp edges). Really any container will do, and any lids will do.



Just cut a slit the size of the lids you are using in the top of the container, and you're done. I also covered the container in fabric to make it look a little nicer.

The little dude loves it! He just slides in the lids, runs to me with the container so I can open it and off he goes again. Guess I'll need to drink a lot of juice, cause there are only 4 lids right now - he's keeping me very busy!



It's amazing what will entertain your babes with you barely spending a cent. :)

Favourite Online Crafty Tutorials

Here are a few of my favourite FREE(!) tutorials for crafting your own beautiful gifts, or just to get the handmade holiday, inspiration ball rolling!

Christmas Stockings

Denim Slippers From: 21CenturyDressmakers

Free patterns for projects made from fabric scraps From: TipNut

Travel Car Caddy shown both Here, Here
and Here

Knit Baby Bell Bottoms

A Guitar Strap From: Prudent Baby

The Gratitude Wrap From: Soulemama

The Holiday Hoot Felt Ornament From: Anna Maria Horner

I think I could probably go on and on and on! People are so lovely and generous with their how-to's on their blogs. What would us craft-loving chicks do without the internet??

Stop over @ Plain and Joyful Living- the inspiration behind a Handmade Holiday

The Hot Pad and the Question Mark

What to do? What to do?...

I found these 2 pieces of vintage material at the thrift shop a while ago and couldn't decide what to do with them.



I finally, just yesterday, chose a purpose for the little square piece of Santa fabric - a hot pad. I combined it with two different fabrics that I picked up while in Khorat, Thailand, and the inside is two layers of re-purposed towel. The thrift shop sells bags full of used towels for a couple bucks, so I hot water wash 'em and they work perfect as filler for different projects.




Anyway, I am super happy with this little project, but I require another perfect purpose. The second piece of material is linen and much bigger. It looks like it was a portion of a much larger tablecloth at one time. Whatever it will be will require ironing all the time :( so I'll have to factor that in to my decision I suppose. I'll have to stew on that one a tad longer...

Springridge

Ok, so we REALLY like visiting this farm. A farm is such a nice place to be on a perfect fall day.






In this last photo, Levi walked around and carefully selected this big old orange guy, sat down all comfy like and stayed there watching other kids while occasionally playing drums on the neighbouring pumpkins. This is how I knew it was naptime - this little boy is not usually prone to sitting for more than a couple seconds!

Creating space in my creative space

My little crafty corner was becoming a bit of a catch-all there for a while. Seeing as all I could think about was wanting to clean it up, there was no room in my mind for brainstorming and making :(.
Finally, I found a wee bit of time, and an extra dresser in the garage that needed a little fixing on a drawer but holds a whole lot more stuff which I desperately needed.

Here is a little peek at a few nooks and crannies in my creative space.







It may be a furnace room, but it's mine, and I love having any space at all!
xo

{This Moment}

{this moment} is Inspired by Soulemama, and beautifully done by so many. It reveals a single moment from our week that is special enough to stand alone, without need for expression, or explanation.



xo

Slightly delayed

...but, Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!!

We are just finishing up the last of our homemade turkey soup. mmm... I scored on that one, as my generous aunt loaded me up with all the turkey bones and left-over meat after a tasty dinner last Friday. When I first tried my soup (first attempt) I was not all that impressed, but it just seems to get better and better with every bowl. I suppose maybe it's like a good stew, or chili where leftovers are almost better than the first meal...



We have been buying up the apples at one of our local farms, and therefore have needed to make a whole lot of apple-y goodness.
One of my favourite cookie recipes is an applesauce drop cookie in the Betty Crocker cookbook I use so regularly. They were even tastier with fresh pureed apples, than with my usual go-to of store bought sauce. I also loved having an excuse to pull out my apple peeler for the first time (Thanks Mom)!



I am looking forward to making some tasty pumpkin pancakes as I bought a nice little pie pumpkin the other day. There are just way too many awesome things to make with pumpkin, I'm gonna need to get a couple more.



Today I found myself buying a big old box of candy for giving out on Halloween. MISTAKE! As if we'll even have 95 kids at our house, and I think deep down I knew it, but nonetheless... I purposefully bought a type of candy that I would love to eat should we not get very many trick-or-treaters (last year we had all of 8 kids). Next time I must remember to go the other route, and buy something I don't like. I have already sampled a few and it's been just a few hours in our house.

I had big plans to sew my little guy a costume - even bought all the material for it, but it looks like it will be his 2011 costume, as for some reason I can't seem to get anything other than sorting and cleaning done in this house.

Well, as tomorrow will show I have at least finally brought that tidy-bug down to my sewing space. I must say, a clean room does a lot more for my creative mind. It's just too easy to put things off when you are surrounded by a chaotic mess. Yay for space to brainstorm!!

xo
p.s. 20 weeks today! I'm half way there :)

Handmade Holiday

Well, as it is, blogging has been pretty far from my mind lately and I have a lot of catching up to do on reading some of my favourites.

I feel as though time is racing by, and I haven't made any gifts yet! I mean, it is nearly November!!

There are so many gifts you can create for others while using pre-existing goodies from your local thrift shop or your own storage space.
Scout your local thrift for items you can spruce up with a coat of paint (maybe chalkboard paint?..), a little decoupage, or some other ingenious makeover idea.

There are always tons of baskets available for cheap, which with a coat of paint, and a big old ribbon, would be a great gift filled with something yummy.

Mason jars layered with ingredients for a tasty cookie, or soup. Recipe attached of course.

Photo frames decorated with hardware, tiny toys, jewelery etc. and then spray painted one solid colour. I saw a mirror at a craft show decorated with buttons in a diagonal rainbow formation. Super cute.

Here is a great gift idea for using old children's books: Vintage Book Memory Game

Quilts out of second-hand t-shirts.


Don't forget to Check your local area for craft shows. Christmas Craft Shows are the perfect place to pick up creative inspiration, not to mention unique handmade gifts. They are usually held throughout the month of November.

Here are a couple I am aware of for people living in the Greater Toronto area and around:
The One of A Kind Show - Held November 25 to December 5th at the Direct Energy Centre, Toronto (Also found in Vancouver, Chicago & New York)

Fair November - November 18 to 21st at the University of Guelph

SpeakEasy - December 2nd at the Gladstone Hotel


Stop over @ Plain and Joyful Living- the inspiration behind a Handmade Holiday where you will find links to all the other fantastic people who have joined in on this quest!

{This Moment}

{this moment} is Inspired by Soulemama, and beautifully done by so many. It reveals a single moment from our week that is special enough to stand alone, without need for expression, or explanation.



xo