Merry Christmas

Hello friends! I hope you are all well and enjoyed your Thanksgiving feast. We certainly enjoyed ours. This last month has been busy for me. I started another per diem job. With two per diem jobs, I am now working full time. My new job has longer hours which means I don't get home until after dinner. That means I have been busy searching/making crock pot meals and frozen meals so my family can start dinner without me or my help. After a month of these new changes, we are slowly developing our new normal. Thanks so much to my in-laws who have been tremendously helpful in this process. Without them, we would not be able to adjust to this change.

Last weekend, Leah and I spent a little time in my craftroom. We managed to finish up our cards today to play along with the DeNami sketch challenge. There has been some technical difficulties with the challenge, so it is extended one more week. I am so excited to have made my first Christmas card for this season. Yay! Unfortunately, I have a long way to go until they are done. I kept it pretty CAS, just like I did for the last card that I made.

  

I inked up Elegant Holly (cling) and fussy cut the images and I used Merry Christmas for my sentiment. I used my Circle Interlock embossing folder on the center panel to add some texture.

 

Leah also made a Christmas card (for me). She used the same sentiment and inked up Hearts Stamp set. For her side panel, she wanted to create a candy cane feeling using score tap and some Ruby Red glitter. She laid down the adhesive, trimmed it up and added her glitter. So proud of her. The only thing I helped her with was cutting out her panels. She adhered everything down.

Here is the awesome sketch. It was so fun to work with.



Well, this is a short post since I've got to get back to meal prep for tomorrow. Have a great week!

 



Greetings from Batgirl and Spiderman

Hello friends! I am back today to share some pictures from our trick-or-treating festivities. The kids had a great time and so did we as we watched them run from house to house. We live in a very small gated community with only 88 houses. With zero lot lines, that means we can cover a lot of houses in a small amount of time. Since we live on the first street, that also meant the kids could dump their loot back at home before proceeding to the remaining streets. lol.

 

Before the sun set I took a few pictures of Leah and Josh in the front yard. Yes, it is just a few feet between the sidewalk and porch. If you have ever tried photographing little ones that are eager to hit the streets for trick-or-treating, then you know how hard it is to capture them not moving. I managed to get a few.

 

Joshua's costume was store bought. One of these days I will make him his costume. Sigh. I don't think he minded a bit though. When I brought it home from the store he was so excited.

 

 

I mentioned that I made Leah's costume. Again, it was nothing fancy. I found a template for the mask and adjusted it a bit to fit Leah's head. I used the same technique when I made the masks for the kids birthday party this summer. To make her skirt, I used this tutorial. I bought 4 yards of tulle and cut the length that I needed. I pieced together 8 yards and trimmed off the rest that I didn't need.

 

Originally I was just going to tie a simple yellow ribbon around her waist but then I came up with an idea to actually make her utility belt. I simply cut the ribbon to fit her waist, heat sealed the ends and added some Velcro for the closure. Then I trimmed pieces that were about 2 1/2 inches and slipped stitched the ends together to form 4 small loops. I pressed them flat and slipped them onto the ribbon.

 

For the buckle, I cut my oval and used the same technique for the mask. I used the small bat template that came with the mask and topstitched that on. Then I simply added Velcro again to attach it to the belt.

 

And yes, my girl is sporting flip flops. I ran out of time to figure out the footwear for her costume. Maybe next year I won't wait until the last minute. lol.

 

 

 

 

 

Leah once again made a sign for our candy bowl to let folks know that we weren't home, but to help themselves. She also decorated our pumpkins from the patch and added a speech bubble to it that read, "Take your candy and get out". Not quite the friendliest note, so I am glad she made up another one with some manners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because Leah is almost 4 years older than Josh, he was always one step behind. Poor boy. He very kindly told our neighbors when they opened the door, "No peanuts please." Mostly everybody had some peanut/nut free candy for our little guy.

 

 

 

 

 

I love this banner that says trick. One neighbor did not have any candy even though the young boy opened the door. We reminded Leah to ask him for a trick. The poor little guy couldn't think of anything on the spot. It sure made us all chuckle. I am sure he didn't think that anyone would actually ask him for some tricks.

 

 

This next picture showcases our best dressed house in the neighborhood. This family goes all out every year. I didn't capture the whole house, but you can see the chains and spiders in the windows. They have ghosts and ghouls hanging on the porch, bloody hand prints on their columns, lots of tombstones, webs and skeletons. Yes, the word "DEAD" is written in "blood" on the sidewalk with some splatters. And of course scary music playing in the background. It really is the haunted house of the neighborhood.

 

 

And lastly, you can see the loot. Leah's pumpkin is hiding most of hers, but she actually collected more than Josh and you can see just how much he managed to get. Quite a few people gave them full sized candy bars and one gentleman gave them each $5!!!

 

 

I hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween. Have a great weekend!