Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Pumpkin Science and Dead People

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I finally bought one of those beautiful Fairytale Pumpkins for Halloween this year. I just couldn't bring myself to carve it into a Jack-O-Lantern, so it's been sitting on the counter with other decorative squashes waiting to become pie for thankgiving. I cut into it Monday afternoon and look what I found!


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No, those are not tapeworms! They're pumpkin seedlings! I let the pumpkin sit on my counter for so long the seeds sprouted right inside! How cool! They all had big healthy roots and a couple even had fully developed leaves. None of them had any color, though, because they've never seen sunlight. This is called etiolation. Science rocks!


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I was very excited about my Fairytale pumpkin seedlings, and I thought for a second about trying to grow them, but I decided to just wait to grow pumpkins until Michael and I have some dirt of our own. At least I have pictures of them. They won't be forgotten.


After roasting my Fairytale pumpkin, I finally put my Dia De Los Muertos fabric to good use. Kimbra gave me the perfect apron-sized piece of some GORGEOUS fabric called "Los Novios" (The Lovers). I used my favorite apron pattern . And, as usual, I made it even simpler.


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I bound all the edges in bias tape, and I also used it to make the neck strap and ties. I rounded the bottom corners, so the bias tape would go on easier and I added a pocket for my cell phone. Although the pocket is not too easy to find because of my ninja skills in matching the print! :)

Friday, November 21, 2008

First Christmas Gift Done!


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Last night I completed my first Christmas gift for this season! I made a Ruby Doll for my Grandma. Ruby has turned into quite a sensation with the online sewing community. She even has her own Flickr group. In case you haven't heard of Ruby, she's an adorable little soft doll that was offered as a free pattern from the very talented Jhoanna Monte Aranez at One Red Robin.


I love stopping by the Ruby Flickr group every once in a while to see what kind of cute Ruby creations people have made.


My latest Ruby is a Christmas Angel for my Grandma. I added some sequin holly berries with felt leaves, I stitched some beads and sequins on her green shirt to give it some sparkle, and I gave her wings with a little bow-shaped button in the center.


 


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Friday, November 14, 2008

The 7th Annual

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The 7th Annual Halloween Party was great! The night before, which was actually Halloween, Lindsey and Cornbread and Justin and Kelly came over for some pizza and Jack-O-Lantern carving. I was hoping we'd get more trick-or-treaters than last year, but we only got one. :(

This year's party set-up went really smooth and stress-free for me. Thanks to Michael for making me take a nap so he could play garland elf, and Kelly for getting all the decor up to Esco in one turbo trip, and of course Lindsey's magical spiderweb skills. It was so nice to have the party all set-up and ready to go with plenty of time to get our costumes on. Thanks to everyone who made it happen!

We didn't have a huge turn out of party people, but what really matters is that the RIGHT people showed up. We got to be treated to a quick little appearance by Elliot in his monkey costume from his beautiful and talented Fairy Godmother. Alex and Kimbra won their second Pussy Award and brought the most delightfully awful-looking meatheads! And we had lots of new-comers to the party; even Aunt Gina Lola Zappa and her fortune-telling cards.

The pictures will be added to website soon!