Happy Howl-o-ween!

I may have been off the blogging grid, but I have been crafting, granted at a much slower pace than usual.  Life at school has been more than a little crazy - anyone have any suggestions for teaching atmospheric convection creating wind?

Anyways, we are getting prepared for Halloween at our house by creating costumes for my two tiny bark-or-treaters!  This year, they (and by they, I mean me) decided they should be super heroes.  I bought a pattern to make them capes from a dog coat pattern, but then I realized that I was out of my mind and there was no way I had time for that.  Instead, I bought children's tees from Walmart in 18 month and 24 month sizes.  I followed this tutorial to make a t-shirt into a cape, sans the Velcro neck strap, because it fit over their head no problem. 

I traced Superman and Batman logos onto a leftover piece of white sheet from my bathmat project (found here) and colored them with marker.  So, they can't go in the wash, but it was finished, so I'm okay with that!  Here is the finished product!

Cape Modeling

Letting those capes flap in the breeze

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's SUPERGUS!

Dodododododo ATTILAMAN!

Our superpower is cheering up our Grandmommie!

I also learned from this little endeavor that snapping pictures of the dogs while posing them is much easier at 11:30 at night when they have already been asleep for a few hours.  There was no fussing or squabbling!

In other exciting news, my Craft Rescue Hero was on ESPN for his Halloween costume at the UT tailgate on Saturday.  Here he is as a UT Lego Man (all homemade - with no help from his crafty wife)

Have a Happy Halloween everyone!

I Love Bathtime!

Dear Attila,
I love when you take a bath and get squeaky clean.  I love when you get out of the tub and you look like a wet rat.

You smell like dog shampoo and you can't figure out where the stinky new smell is coming from.  And, Gus is completely bewildered about what happened to you (he always goes second in the tub).

 You think you taste funny too.

Then, when you snuggle to get dry, the hair behind your head gets crimped and corkscrewy.  I love that.

And the rest of you looks like a Pomeranian. But, I know you are much smarter than that!

Makes me want to sing Hakuna Matata like a little Simba in puberty.  It makes  you look really fabulous.  Just like when you wear your very snappy glo-stick glasses.

You are one snazzy pup and I love you lots!

Love, Your Doggy-Momma

Makin' the Guest Room Spiffy

Approximately two years ago when Brad and I started look for fabric for our bedroom, we went to the $7.99 fabric store in Durham, North Carolina.  Their website is here.  Anyways, I don't think we found anything while we were there, except this little brown and blue sample fabric for $2.  It is perfectly matched for our guest bedroom with a chocolate brown comforter and colonial blue walls.  I have had delightful plans for a fancy throw pillow to spruce things up in there.  They have been well-developed over the two years.
The time has come and the plan has been completed.  At first, I was going to make a bolster pillow, the ones that are round and tie like a tootsie roll.  I used my Pillows for Dummies pattern and this dummy messed it up.  I would just like to say that they could make the double up the fabric sign a little more obvious.  I was so busy measuring to make sure the fabric was straight, I missed the part that said, make the pattern twice this size - whoops.  My mother very kindly set me straight after I was just positive the pattern was incorrect. 

Anyways, I ended up trimming it down to make a regular old plain pillow with an envelope back - fancy pants!  It was actually easier to do the envelope back than wrestle the whole thing to sew around the outside. It came out nicely.  The back fabric is from the white sheets from my latch hooked bath mat.  The only thing I had bought (this fiscal year at least, was the $8 pillow on sale at JoAnn's).  And here are the pictures, which is what you all wanted to see I'm sure. 

On the bed straight...

...or at an angle - which reminds me of my darling brother everytime I see a pillow on its point

The front.

The back (and yes, I know it is a little crooked)

And, a picture of my little helpers and their best friends, Mike the Tiger and Zip the Zebra.  Oh boys, you are so spoiled.  Mike is under Attila's booty if you can't find him (and two nylabones are there too).

And here is Attila checking the light near the pillow.  He says 2 thumbs up Mom!  Love those precious faces!

Fruit Today... Leather Tomorrow

I am headed home in two days... we will be celebrating a tardy Father's Day and my Mom's birthday (which is today actually - happy day Mom)!  So, I am gathering up all my goodies to take home.  Dad, if you are reading, stop and wait two days - k?

My Dad has a penchant for third grade snacks.  I don't remember this as a child, but since I've moved out, my brother noticed his weird lunch habits.  String cheese and pudding... really?  Anyways, when I was thinking about what would make a delightful Dad's day gift, I thought of homemade fruit leather... I mean for the man who loves kids snacks, its perfect right? 

So I set out to make fruit roll-ups, homemade style, using this recipe... It is in the oven and hopefully by breakfast I'll have something delightful!

Fresh strawberries, freshly squeezed lemon juice, a touch of sugar....

And then, I forgot to take a picture of me blending the fruit in a blender.  But I did, and it ended up like this on a cookie tray, in the oven.

 I'll post the final project tomorrow.  I can't wait for a taste... I hope it turns out really well!

On a side note, Craft Rescue Hero was doing undercover work as Dog-De-Stinking Hero and bathing Attila.  Gus got a bath 2 nights ago.  Attila was so cute with a shampoo mohawk.  So, indulge me in my baby dog pictures.

Wild Thing, You Make My Heart Sing!

Look at those big eyes, begging me to take him out of the tub!  Afterwards, he got his hair blow-dryed, and a mani-pedi!  My sweet boy!  And Gus, I love you too!

Boob Men

This link has nothing to do with anything crafty.  It is all about my sweet baby boys... Attila and Gus!  I love them dearly and they are remarkably spoiled.  Really spoiled.  Every night, we usually end up looking like this.  They are snugglers, or more specifically, boob snugglers.  They rub their little noses and get in their very special spot... just Mom and the boys.  

Perhaps this is their way of promoting breast cancer awareness.... but mostly just their way of feeling at home.  No other spot will do.  They really are my little boob men!

Attila - my Craft Rescue Hero put on this fancy border! Thanks honey!

 

 

 

Gus - his cheeks get all smushed up!  Too cute!

What can I say?  I love 'em?  More projects tomorrow - I promise!

lesleypaige

Sewing Class

For all of you who read with bated breath and pencil all of my events on your calendar, you know that yesterday I finally got to take my sewing class at JoAnn's.  It was really fabulous and taught by an extremely patient lady named Madge who had been sewing since she was five.  She was really nice and helpful and never got frustrated with the six of us making a huge mess with pillow cases!  She was so patient, I signed up for her next level class on Wednesday morning - watch out for a new post!
Anyways, without further ado: my first pillowcase!

Argyle and Polka Dots - Does it get any better?

"So soft and silky, just like me" - Gus

"Mom, this part is my favorite... it looks good with my nails" - Gus

A pillow made for two - or three if Attila would join us

On the Guest Bed

Attila wouldn't model on the pillow, so I just took his picture being cute!

Every night, Gus gets in bed and the pillow falls on his head, because he is pulling it over on himself.  Every night he panics, flips it over and lays on it.  Apparently, afternoon pillow modeling is no different. 

So, what do you think?  I really like it and was thinking of making 3 more to go on my guest bed.  The comforter is dark brown with beige sheets.  I think it would spruce up the room and the blue in the argyle and dots matches the walls.  It could be an easy way to make my guest room a little more personal.

Lake Day

Yesterday, we went out on Chickamauga Lake, near Chattanooga, Tennessee.  A huge thanks to Kara and her family for the boat and accommodations!  Anyways, the Craft Rescue Hero and I took our furbabies out to the lake for a day of boating and fun. 
We had a great time, well, almost everyone did.  My little Gus HATES the water, the boat, and the car ride to get there. We put him in the water and he tried to climb up the pontoons to get back in the boat.  Panic is truly the only word to describe it!  We put him on a float, held him against my chest, nothing would do - he is a landlover (like his mom). 
However, my Attila loved the water!  He was swimming like a fish and chasing another dog in the water.  He even jumped off the boat to swim with Craft Rescue Hero!  He also spent a lot of time laying with our friend Kelly on a float.  He was so happy!
Now, since I am a great dog-mom I packed my camera to capture all the great moments... and then promptly did not take any pictures.  So, we had a photo shoot this morning with two very sleepy dogs!  Attila fell over in his life vest, he was so tired.  Gus took one look at his vest and ran the other direction.  He was hiding from Brad, but we snagged him to get some great pictures. 
It may not be the lake, but it is the living room!

"Really Dad?  Wasn't yesterday enough?"

"Do NOT put me in today!"

"Where's the water Dad?"

"Maybe I'll swim after my nap"

"I am so handsome"

"Are you happy now?"

"Can this be our Christmas Card Mom?"

I love Gus' "Batman" ears in the last picture!  They were so good - most likely because they are exhausted!  It is noon now, and they have not been awake for more than 10 minutes since we left the lake about 10:30 last night!  I love these guys - they truly are spoiled furbabies!
I'd like to give Outward Hound dog life vests a shoutout!  They are fabulous, secure, and have a super hand on the top that helps you lift your pup out of the water, for any reason.  And, they are reasonably priced at PetSmart!  We have two and they have held up really well over two summers!

Nature Made... Lesley Made

Yesterday, I went out to check my garden and look what I found...

That is 3 HUGE stalks of romaine lettuce.  About 50ish leaves.  And 4 meager green beans.  Way to go backyard garden... but a little pacing would be nice. 

This week's dinner menu:

Sunday - Caesar Salad

Monday - Taco Salad

Tuesday - Chef Salad

Wednesday - Salad Leftovers

Thursday - Car Picnic

Friday, Saturday - Wedding!

And while I was in the backyard, I got a little painting done.  Okay, a lot of painting.

Count 'em... six things checked off the list.  Lots and lots of projects coming to a close and a handful more getting ready to get started!

My little artists in training were working hard on not inhaling paint fumes, while sunning!

Get excited - tomorrow I have a big reveal of a project long in the making!  It started as a sad, old bulletin board... and I can't wait to show it to you!

Before...

Come back tomorrow for after!