Cute and Cozy (31 Days: Day 6)

One of my favorite things about fall is the crisp air and the cooler temperatures.  There is just something so appealing about making yourself all cozy in your favorite jeans, sweaters and thinking about snuggling up with a good cup of hot cocoa.  And since I started crocheting on a regular basis, fun new hats (mostly for the shop) are now part of my Things I love about Fall list.  I've been having so much fun playing around with new patterns and colors.

My most popular hat is, by far, my green/teal monster hat.  So I decided to make a sister version!  I love the little stand up antennae on this one :)

And I just had to come up with some fun new striped hats.  I'm realling loving the bold bright color combinations.  I also have a new favorite flower rosette pattern - cute! 

And here is the baby boy version.  Isn't he a cutie?!  Part of the fun of coming up with new hats is that I get to talk all my friends into borrowing their adorable little ones for photo sessions.  Not only do I get to see how the hats look on real babies, but I've found that I truly love the practice photo sessions.  There is just something that has always drawn me to babies.  And to photography.

And one last baby photo!  This particular monster hat isn't brand new, but it was the first time I had a baby available for pics.  Love it!  (I gush like that the whole photo session.  The moms probably think I'm nuts.  But babies are just so dang cute!  Who can resist?)

Linking to:

Getting into the Spirit (31 Days: Day 5)

It's Fall!  I know, I know - that's not exactly news to anyone.  But for some reason this year, I'm enjoying the change in seasons even more than usual.  I even took the time to finish putting out the decorations yesterday!  (I meant to do it sooner but other things kept needing my attention first)  Kaitlyn helped me and they all went up pretty quickly.

I like the fireplace this year, especially my new pennant banners (listed in my etsy shop if you want one!)

My little vignette in the corner of my kitchen countertops

My own witch hat centerpiece (as opposed to the ones I made for the craft show).  I think this is the only holiday for which I actually have a centerpiece for the dining table.  I need to do something about that before Christmas gets here...

Fall leaves in my "window box"

And the ledge in my stairway is almost completely outfitted - finally!  I have a couple more crafty ideas I'm hoping to get to in the next week or so.

There!  Looks like we're really getting into the Fall Spirit around here, right?  My front porch is looking pitiful, but I can leave that for another day.  Happy Fall!  And HAPPY FRIDAY!

A Visit From the Tooth Fairy (31 Days: Day 4)

What is one of the most exciting events in the life of a 5 year old?  Losing a tooth and getting that very first visit from the Tooth Fairy!  This happened to my little guy not that long ago and he was SO excited.  So was his sister, who volunteered the use of her Tooth Fairy Tin since he didn't have one yet.  Such a sweetie!  I decided on the spot that we had enough time to whip one up for him on the spot so I sent Miss Kate in search of a suitable tin.

Wasn't she nice to volunteer a Hello Kitty one she had been holding on to?  So that's the Before photo.
And here is the After:

I had a can of red spray paint on hand, so that's the color we went with.  And while it was drying I grabbed some tooth clipart from Google and printed it onto an address label.  Ty insisted that it needed some blue (that's his favorite color) so I added the ricrac and we were ready for the Tooth Fairy!  You know she (he?  that was a debate we were having at our house that night lol) appreciates having the tooth contained in something so she doesn't have to risk not finding those teeny tiny teeth under the pillow. ;)

And look at that grin!  Toothless Kindergarteners are so precious!

Why did I add this as part of my 31 Days series, you ask?  Well, because it happened in the Fall, that's why!  I want my 31 Days to include more than just pumpkins and Halloween Costumes because there are so many other fun things that fill our days this season.  (and it's my blog - there are no rules other than the ones I make up!  hehe).  Plus the tooth loss was the result of biting into one of those lovely apples I was babbling about the other day. :) 

Witch Hat Centerpiece (31 Days: Day 3)

I love fall and I LOVE fall decorations.  And for some reason, I'm extra obsessed with the witch themed stuff.  Strange maybe, since I don't like any of the icky, scary, gory parts of Halloween but give me a diembodied witch hat or boots and I can't help squealing about how cute it is - the whimsical fun witch stuff, that is.  Even thinking about it now has me wishing I was strolling through Gardner Village right now (which totally isn't going to happen as that is now a 4 day drive from here *sigh*) to see what fun things they have added to their witch displays this year.
A couple years ago I got the bright idea to dress up a witch hat as a centerpiece for my dining table and this year when I was wanting to add a few Fall things to my collection for the craft show (and the Etsy shop, of course) I whipped up a new variation of it.

I'm in love with polka dots, and the black/white color combination - have you noticed? ;)

I've found that floral designs are kind of a free style thing, so I'm not going to do a tutorial on this one.  But I will mention that I used fishing line to sew most of the items onto the hat itself then just used hot glue to add some of the other accents.  I have a love/hate relationship with hot glue and I try to use it sparingly as it doesn't lend itself well to long term use, especially on seasonal decorative items that have to be moved in and out of boxes or ones that may be disturbed by kids or the weather.

 

I had to see what it would look like hanging too. :)  If I didn't already have my witch wreath one of these would probably end up on my front door.

So I'm curious - are there any other "witchy" ideas out there I need to add to my collection? :)

Linking to:

Apple Picking! (31 Days: Day 2)

31 Days of Fall Fun, Festivities, and Projects!  Day 2! :)  (insert big pat on the back to myself for being on the ball and getting it posted not too late in the day LOL)  Why don't we focus on one of the fun parts of fall today - family time!  The weather here has been so beautiful the last couple of weeks - blue skies and moderate to chilly temperatures.  I've been loving it and was excited to catch the tail end of apple picking season over the weekend.  Of course that was the day the weather decided to turn overcast and drizzly but we went anyway.

And what fun it was!  The orchard was beautiful and even in the rain we didn't mind the walk out to the field from the parking lot.  I was kind of hoping for big trees with ladders to climb, but these were just short ones that we could all reach easily (and I guess in the scheme of things it's better not to risk the 5 year old falling out of a tree, right?). 

 

It didn't take much time to fill the basket, even with me snapping photos and only picking about two apples myself. Then the kids happily skipped back to the barn/picnic area where they had spotted a few tire swings.

On the drive home we kept coming up with more and more fall recipes we wanted to try with our new apples and pumpkin (even though we skipped the hayride to the pumpkin patch this time - there is only so much rain one can take).  Stopping at Cracker Barrel for lunch just contributed to our enthusiasm.  They had a photo of their pumpkin musse with gingersnaps, which we didn't try there but promptly looked up recipes for on the way home.  My husband took charge of making the mousse, while I whipped up a batch of pumpkin dip for the apples and put a pot of apple cider on the stove to warm up.  What drizzly apple picking day would be complete without warm apple cider?
And the "recipe" I use is very simple - simmer apple juice/cider with little bit of orange juice, some brown sugar, and a few whole spices (cinnamon, cloves, etc - just remember to fish them out before drinking).

Such fun!  This is for sure something we will add to our fall traditions next year!

31 Days of Fall

It's that time of year again - time for 31 Days Posts!  If you're a follower of the Nesting Place blog, you'll know what I'm talking about it.  If not - well, basically I'm committing myself to write about a specific topic every day for the next 31 days.  Every Day.  Yeah - intense :)  I attempted it last year and ended up stretching my 31 posts across 2-3 months lol.  This year I feel even busier than last year, so I really was going to skip it.  Then it occurred to me that with everything going on maybe posting is exactly what I SHOULD be doing - it's not like I'll have a hard time coming up with material to babble on about, right?  And I've been meaning to be more consistant about posting here on the blog instead of letting life run away with me.  So I'm in.  31 Days here we go!

See?  I even have a button!  And a Theme:  31 Days of Fall Fun, Festivities, and Projects (I tried to come up with something that incorporates everything I know I will be dealing with in October; Birthday Month, Halloween, Fall stuff, etc etc).
And now I have an introductory post! :)  (and it's only 5:30 PM on Day 1 lol - I'm not late!)   I'll see you back here tomorrow, k?!

Master List for all 31 Days posts (I'll update with links as I go along):
Day 2:  Apple Picking
Day 3:  Witch Hat Centerpiece
Day 4:  Tooth Fairy Tin
Day 5:  Getting into the Spirit (my fall decorations)
Day 6:  Cute and Cozy (crochet hats!)

Come in and Sit a Spell

**UPDATE October 2015 - Blog had moved to a new domain and photos, details about this fun Witch Wreath project along with new photos of companion projects and great Fall/Halloween front porch decor can now be found HERE.


It's Fall!  It's Fall!  It constantly amazes me how the change of seasons really does coincide with the dates on the calendar....