Spookify Me Project

I made this cat coaster and thought it would be perfect for Spookify Me Saturday. Each Saturday in October, Val from Yarnigras will be posting projects for Halloween. It sounded like fun to me so I made this coaster from wool felt then wrote up a quick little tutorial for it. You can use this coaster to get into the Halloween spirit or use it all year if you choose. You'll find the tutorial here or on the sidebar. Check in next Saturday for another Spookify Me project and don't forget to check out Val's projects.

Poe Swap

I participated in Val's Edgar Allen Poe Altered Art Swap. I received my package from Little Messy Missy on Saturday but didn't open it until tonight. I was under the weather for a few days last week so I'm not finished my package to send out. I thought waiting to open the package would help me get my goodies done faster. It helped but one project took much longer than planned so I'm still not quite done. My husband and daughter just can't stand walking by the package knowing it's been left unopened! Tonight Nature Girl became the camera girl and snapped some pictures of the goodies Missy sent.

Inside the box was wrapped. Nature Girl claimed the sparkly white fabric right away.

Missy altered a cigar box to fit the story I picked, The Tell Tale Heart. Doesn't it look amazing?!

This is the picture Nature Girl took to show what was inside.

I took this picture to show what was inside. Missy also made some amazing tags and a Poe necklace complete with blood spatter. Poe does to have a bit of a gruesome side, perfect for Halloween.
Thank you Missy for an amazing package! You are great at altering art! I think I need to take a few lessons from you. Too bad you didn't live closer!

National Tie One On Day

I just saw this button on Karen's blog this morning and was curious. I had to check it out. I'm glad I did, I love this idea! The idea is to wrap a baked good in an apron, tuck in a prayer or note of encouragement in the pocket and deliver it to someone in need. I know I have a few extra aprons I've sewn(yes, because I'm apron obsessed) so plan to try this. How fun is it to spread kindness and apron love?!!
I don't remember my mom or Gram wearing aprons to cook but Thanksgiving was always a time filled with family and fun! This Thanksgiving I'll be wearing my apron and hope someone else will be enjoying the apron I've wrapped up and sent their way. If you want to join the fun or read more about National Tie One On Day click on the badge or click here.

Tutorials

I'm a teacher so I love to teach. I also love to do crafts. What better way is there to combine these two loves than to write a craft tutorial. I created two simple tutorials to share. I'm not sure anyone else can use them but I thought I'd put them up them up anyway. You can click directly on the pictures here in this post to download the pdfs or click on the sidebar.


I have a couple of apron tutorials I'd like to do and another softie but I need time to make them again and take the pictures. I just need about 10 more hours in every day and then I might do all the things I want to do!!!
* Special thanks to Val and my husband for being my tutorial editors and my tech support. You two are great!

September Hail & Snow

It's only September so it seems way to early for hail or snow. Surprisingly a good thunderstorm rolled through last week and dumped a bunch of hail on us. We watched from the windows waiting for it to stop. When it finally ended Nature Girl headed outside to play with it. She thought it was great! Her dad and I worried about any dents it might have left in his car(though it was fine.)

Yesterday we made snow. The teacher I share a room with at school took a trip to Colorado this summer. Being the amazing teacher she is, she brought back polymer crystals that turn into snow when you add water. It's what many of the mountains use to create their snow. The first week back at school was brutal in our room as the temperatures were above 90. She pulled out the crystals and had her students making snow and practicing letter sounds, spelling and math in the snow. They had a blast! She was kind enough to share with Nature Girl.

We had a great time sitting at the table writing, drawing and touching the snow! This was one of Nature Girl's snow creations. The best part is it doesn't melt. We put it in a jar to use again.

Weekends

This is a bit of a long post as I'm jamming in the last few weeks into one post. Now that school is back in swing, things have been a little bit quiet on the blog. It's not that we haven't been doing things, it's finding the time to sit and post the things we're going. School/work takes up most of our time so we look forward to the weekends, it's our family time. The last few weekends have been filled with fun. Over Labor Day weekend we sent the weekend by the ocean. We walked on the beach, went swimming and relaxed the whole weekend. It was fabulous!
Nature Girl had a blast and loved having an indoor pool, an outdoor pool and a hot tub at her disposal. She thought we should trade houses with Steve and Carolyn who were kind enough to invite us to share their home for the weekend. Our house would fit in the indoor pool area of their house so when Nature Girl said "Wait, that's not fair." I thought she saw the obvious differences in our houses. Then she continued on with " It wouldn't be fair because they'd get all of my toys." I guess that shows what has the most value for her.

On the way home we stopped at my favorite hot dog place. I wanted one last hot dog special-all rings, before they close for the season. It was delicious! I thought it would be our last hog dog of the summer but then . . .
We were invited to a hot dog party last weekend. Well, I've never been to a hot dog party but it sounded fun to me! There were tons of hot dogs and topping choices to choose from. Being the teacher I am I brought along a story and coloring pages for the kids who might show up at the party. We had a good time! After the party Nature Girl had a sleep over with her cousins E & M, so we had a date night then a field trip the next day.

Can you tell where our field trip was? Opening day at Gillette Stadium - Patriot's vs. Bengals.

It was a great game and we had a lot of fun! The Pat's won and are off to a good start this season. We've never been to a game before. Half the fun was the people around us cheering and joking around. The season's ticket holders next to us we're hilarious! They've been going to games for the past 17 years.
Two rows ahead of us was the infamous Schuster. He was the Patriot's fan of the year in 1999 and is well known. I was surprised that he didn't show up until half way through the 3rd quarter of the opening game. That doesn't seem like a big fan to me. He had his face all painted and was decked out in his Pat's gear. Of course I tend to think it might have been the gear he was wearing when he won fan of the year in 1999.

So with all of these fun activities over the past few weekends you're probably wondering what this weekend holds. The answer is cleaning the house. I know that sounds boring to me too! At least I can wear an apron.

Creative Girl

So what does a creative girl make with some magnets and some rocks? Why a cat of course!