Mini Halloween Pennants

Made these mini Halloween pennants for some "BOO baskets" to hand out last week.  They are a much smaller version of what is hanging on my fireplace, printed from HERE last year.  Still love them and love that my Mac can shrink these babies down so easily, then just hit "Print".

Happy Haunting!

Usain Bolt Halloween Costume

My five year old is severely autistic and is in a running away phase.  Considering he has little self preservation skills no verbal skills at all, it makes it very scary when he bolts away from us.  He has shown to have an uncanny ability to wait for the right moment of parental distraction to break away and he is FAST.  Kind of like the world's fastest human, Usain Bolt.  My mom thought up the idea to have Austin be him for Halloween, since he fits the bill so nicely.  I loved the idea and got to work.

Picked up a child's running shirt and pants (who knew they made them this size?!) and added a little vinyl.  I had to recheck a few times to make sure I spelled the country correctly, it just looks wrong to me...

Back

And what is a world class runner without a racing bib?  I tried to replicate what was worn at the Olympics.  There will be another one for the back with a number on it instead of the name.  This is the perfect costume for my son, not only because it's so appropriate, but because it's loose, comfortable, and doesn't have anything on his head.  So many costumes have head gear and he won't tolerate it.  Hope you like it, buddy.....Ready?....Set....GO!

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Kate has been chosen by Hades (Henry) to save the world.  She must pass a series of tests in order to save her dying mother, and in turn, perhaps save Henry and the Underworld too.  The only problem is that someone is trying to make sure that Kate not only fails the tests but will die trying.

The premise of this book had such promise, I loved the idea and the opening characters were really good.  As the book went on, the plot became more and more flimsy until it kind of unraveled in your lap.  A good effort, just not enough substance there to keep me engaged in the end.  Don't think I'll keep reading these.



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Little Irish Girl Quilt

One of my son's autism tutors recently had her first baby, a girl!  Knowing that the mom loved her Irish heritage (her wedding colors were even orange, green, and white), we decided a little tribute to Ireland for the baby was in order.

I do realize if this was a flag it would be upside down.  I already gave her the quilt before I realized my mistake and couldn't retake the pictures.  Luckily, this is just a loose interpretation and can just pretend it's a color block quilt instead, right?

Backing was a simple yellow floral print.  We didn't know the gender at the time I was making the quilt, otherwise we may have thrown in a bit of pink here.

There is the correct way for the flag!  I quilted a lot of small width straight lines with a couple of wider strips down each color, for some visual and textural interest.

I'm not going to lie, it took a while to sew all of those lines, but it was a worth it in the end.  The quilt washed up beautifully and is super soft.

Congrats to the Nelson family!  Can't wait to see more pictures of their little Irish girl!

Book Review: The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Once again Percy, Annabeth, and their demigod friends are out to save the world from utter destruction.  Can they stop Gaea in time from fully waking and raising her giant army? Can the Roman and Greek demigods function together and work as a team?  Aboard their trusty air ship, the Argo II, the prophecy of the seven begins to unfold....

I loved this book and can't wait for the next in the series.  The only reason it didn't get 5 stars is that it wasn't quite as gripping to me as some of Riordan's others.  It seems to be the plight of the "middle of the series" books.  It's really hard not to have them come across as fillers for the books before and after them.  The plot did move along and we are making progress on their quest, but there wasn't a twist in this one like I have grown to expect.  Maybe there will be a double twist in the next installment to make up for it.  And I was completely wrong in my guess about how Hazel and Leo are connected.  There may be more to the story though, we'll see.  Can't believe we have to wait a year for the next book!



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Party Favors Using Disc Sleeves

I did a low-key baby shower for a friend at a local restaurant recently.  As a parting gift, I needed something that could be passed out and taken home without a fuss.  I saw a very similar version of this on Pinterest, but of course, now I can't find the picture or link because I didn't pin it, oops.  Lesson learned.  So, I didn't come up with this one on my own, but I wish I had!  I baked my favorite chocolate chip cookies, wrapped them in plastic, and placed each cookie in a CD sleeve.  A cute vinyl elephant on the front, a little sticker on the back that read, "Love you a TON, thanks for coming!", and we were good to go.  I'll probably do this again, it worked great and they turned out really cute.  Thanks Pinterest and photo link that I can't find!

Elephant Chevron Quilt

My dear friend, Stefanie, is expecting a baby any day now...we are so excited to meet their newest addition and I have a had a lot of fun scheming and dreaming up a beautiful nursery with her.  We were inspired by THIS and THIS, going with an elephant theme in grays, white, and yellows.  We don't know the gender of the baby, so we will finish the rest of the nursery with some teal or pink...I'll take pictures once the baby is here and we have finished decorating.

This quilt was so fun to make.  We found some gorgeous gray fabric that kind of looks like elephant skin, paired it with a monochromatic dot white and a pop of yellow along the edge.  I loved learning how to do rounded corners for the first time and made my own bias tape using THIS tutorial from MADE.  Love her blog.

Used a black, gray, and white toned thread and followed the chevron lines.  Sorry for the date stamp on all of these pictures, it's a new camera and I'm still learning the ropes.

The back is a solid piece of smaller scale gray and white chevron.

A little heat transfer vinyl in the corner so this baby knows which "auntie" loves him/her the best.

Outtakes.  Trying to get some pictures of the quilt with two of my boys holding it up.  My five year old, who has autism, wanted in on the action.

He actually confiscated the quilt for a while and snuggled in.  Hey, if he hunkers down for a good cuddle, then you know did a good job.  He is a bit of a blanket snob.

Packaged up and driving it over to the new nursery.  This quilt was so much fun to make....no more twin size or larger for me!  Baby quilts are the way to go, they are so much easier to handle due to their smaller size and you get to see the fruits of your labor so much faster.  Can't wait to make another one.  Congrats to Stef and family...we are waiting for the call from the hospital and the cell phone picture announcement!