Halloween Craft Time

Conference weekend is just around the corner. Only two days away! Again. Conference always seems to come so quickly...and I love it.

When Conference rolls around, that means it's time to get in touch with my crafty side and think of a fun holiday craft. While the men are being edified at Priesthood Session, the ladies in the family are eating goodies, laughing and crafting the night away! You remember our Easter craft, right? Well, this time, it's a Halloween craft. Here's what we're making! I'm so excited to decorate for Halloween this year.

Flowers

Spend my Sunday afternoon making corsages and boutonnieres for Hailee's upcoming wedding.  It's only about 18 days away and we are in a flurry to get everything finished in time!  The kidlets and I are headed to Mom's house sometime this week to help finish up more wedding projects and take Hailee's Bridals! 

Commissions

I've gotten several orders lately for car seat covers. They're fun for me to make and I enjoy doing it.

This was the first booster seat I've ever done. The client wanted it to be girly, but wanted to be surprised. I LOVE when I can run with my creative side! So, I bought this adorable rose minky and fabulous flowered material. Whipped this baby out in one night! The client loved it, and has commissioned me to make her another cover for her 4-year-old's booster seat as well!

Zebra print with hot pink minky is very popular right now. I've done three in the last 3 months. It's kinda fun! Not my style, but I do love the contrast! This client had an adorable cover already on her car seat (plum purple Minnie Mouse), and wanted the zebra one so she could change it out. Usually, on an infant seat, I will remove the canopy and permanently attach the new one. Because this client wanted to change it out, I left the original canopy on and made the zebra/pink one attach via velcro. The velcro is hidden so you can't tell that's how it attaches. The client (and her mother) were so in love with it, they commissioned me to make a matching car seat tent and blanket to match!

This client bought her own fabric from Joann's. I prefer the zebra print in the previous picture (less white). While I was fitting and pinning the fabric I realized I would have to make a new requirement for my orders; I now can only take orders from smoke free/pet free homes. The smoke smell from this seat made me cough badly, and there had to have been cats in this home because I couldn't stop sneezing. I went to Walmart to buy some double-fold bias tape for the edging (let's face it, their options are few, but their prices are awesome)...nada. Went to Joann's...zip. Hobby Lobby? Zilch. Back to Walmart to get single fold bias tape. I ended up having to sew two separate pieces of single-fold, to create a double fold. Time consuming? uh, yeah! More expensive? For sure! Worth it? Absolutely! And...I've decided I like doing boosters much more than infant seats; infant seats take twice as long!

Project Jewelry

I bought this cupboard door off my city Facebook yard sale page for 50 cents. I painted it green to match ny bedroom, roughed it up abd added hooks and pulls. Voila! Beautiful jewelry wall hanging!

A New Room

I took the leap and switched Ava over to a toddler bed. Sean wasn't transitioned until 3, but it just seemed right for Ava at this time.  So, I went to DI and found a few things to make her room even cuter than the nursery!

I found these three frames at DI for $2/each.  I sanded them down and painted them and then wrapped them with fabric that coordinates with her new comforter!  I made that, too.

I moved her black shelf underneath the large Shakespeare board and moved her square bookshelf as well. I just recently added a $5 lamp that I spray painted white with a light pink lampshade (it's not pictured).

Finally, I spent 5 hours (yes, 5 hours after you include tracing, sewing, cutting and reversing all those petals) making this awesome Dahlia pillow! I bought the pattern from Etsy several months ago; the minute I saw it I knew it would one day grace Ava's bed...and there it now sits! My friend just brought me a new, ornate frame from DI that I have painted a coordinating robin's egg blue, wrapped in chocolate brown damask and white ribbon to make a new hair bow holder; the old one is simply just too small. But, I just barely finished it and didn't take a picture of it. All in all, Sissy's room is gorgeous! I love it and feel my heart skip when I walk in every morning to open her blinds. The chocolate brown, robin's egg blue and rose pink are such beautiful colors together; peaceful yet cheerful!

Conference Weeeknd

We spent our General Conference weekend in the usual way; sleeping at Lyle's parents house, watching all sessions and having a Girls Night while the guys went to Priesthood Session. I spent Friday frantically baking and packing for the big weekend. I made one of my favorite snacks...chocolate buttons. That's what I call them anyway. They're easy to make (though they take awhile to harden), and have just the perfect salty to sweet ratio!

One of the new things I did this year were Conference Buckets.  I bought two tins from Target and filled them with small items from the nDollar Store, Target's Dollar Spot, etc.  I printed out a picture of each member of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve and put one picture on each item.  Whenever one of them spoke, the kids got to pick out that item from the bucket.  Ava was a bit young (let's be honest, she's only 2), but Sean got a kick out of it and actually looked to see who was talking EVERY TIME!  Yay! 

Another activity I did was Key Word Treats.  I bought these tins from the Dollar Spot at Target, filled them with yummy treats and stuck in a sign with a word on it.  Whenever anyone heard that word they got a treat from the bucket!  (You may have to put rules into effect, such as this activity only counts during talks, or you may have a 33-year-old boy rushing to the "prayer" bucket DURING the opening prayer...I won't name names.)

During Priesthood Session the girls and the kidlets all gathered at Aunt Vicki's house for craft night!  We ate yummy homemade Cafe Rio Chicken Tacos and then delved right into crafts!  I was in charge of the craft and as a result have now officially been placed in charge of the craft every time.

Our awesome creation!  My original idea was a wreath...but it looked more Spring-ey and less Easter-ey.  After running around to 5 different stores, I couldn't find ANY of the yarn I needed (unless I wanted to drive to Reno, no thanks).  So, at the last minute, Mom helped me re-vamp my idea.  This is our final creation!  Everyone loved it and it only took about 30 minutes to make.  Mine is now hanging on my kitchen cabinet!  My only Easter decoration, incidentally.

While the Mom's crafted, Grandma Susan helped them dye Easter eggs...even using a magic crayon!  It really hit me during this activity that next October Conference, Sean will be attending Priesthood Session with the guys;  he sat on the couch and wouldn't dye any eggs (too baby-ish, I guess).  I helped Ava dye her one and only egg (which we left at Grandma's on accident).  She chose the color and loved the flower! 

It was a peaceful, relaxing, spirit-rejuvenating weekend.  Cannot wait until this upcoming weekend.  EASTER!

Lace it Up

I thought I'd make something to keep Ava entertained during Conference and Sacrament Meeting.  I printed out some free clipart images from Melonheadz, bought shoelaces and clear contact paper from the dollar store and made a handful of lacing cards! 

Crafts

Today saw me working on some crafts for Ava's Strawberry Shortcake birthday party next week. I can't believe she's going to be 2 already! Where did the time go!? Mom's always say that, but I'm serious. It seems like only a few months ago I was still crying my eyes out, depressed to the brink of insanity over my infertility. God is wonderful, isn't He?