Happy Autumn

I am quite sad to see summer go, but I will wish everyone a happy autumn today and think about next summer when I will spending those warm months with D. and our little baby. To think that next summer there will be a baby!

I made these perfect circles with this...

A circle cutter. I could have spent a lot of time yesterday making perfect circles. There really are craft tools for just about everything.

In honor of the beginning of autumn, I've been crafting a harvest looking wreath. The change of seasons does inspire me to craft, I have a whole long list of projects to make.

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Here is the wreath I am crafting, click here for the DIY from A Beautiful Mess.

Yummy Soup

Last year as a wedding present, I was given a year's subscription to Martha Stewart Living but sadly this is my last month to receive the magazine. (I can't believe I've been married almost a year already!) 

The current issue has a delicious recipe for Chinese Broccoli and Soba Noodle Soup. My honey and I decided to make it the other day and it was sooooo good!

The empty tea cup was soon to be filled with ginger tea, which was the perfect compliment for the Asian soup.

Topped with limes and chilis. We are fortunate enough to live close by an Asian grocery store so we easily found the Chinese broccoli (I never even heard of it until I made this recipe) and the soba noodles. The soba noodles were quite tasty and rather filling since they are made out of buckwheat flour. If you happen to pick up the current issue, you won't be disappointed in this yummy soup!

Daydreaming of a Cuckoo Clock

Last week my mom went to Germany for the weekend, she lives in Belgium so she can easily do this kind of thing, and I asked her to keep her eyes peeled for a cuckoo clock for me. Well she found some...all priced between $750-$1,000! Now I don't doubt that the craftsmanship is excellent, but that is definitely not in my budget. Then I remembered how I saw this picture on hello, friend's blog.

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This got me thinking about how I could just make my own cuckoo clock. Today, while in my history of WWII class, I found myself gazing out the window at a pine tree thinking about how excellent some dangling pinecones would look hanging from my soon-to-be cuckoo clock. I will be sure to post how I make my clock once I gather all of my supplies. In the meantime here are some cute clocks made from Black Forest Works.

Timber Wolf Clock

Black Bear Clock. 

I like this one, I think I will be adding some bears to my clock, but I also want to add some fawns and don't bears eat fawns?

There's A New Boy in Town

That's right, there's a new boy.

And he'll be here in about 13 more weeks.

We are quite happy. ♥

A Mini DIY Roundup

D. and I decided to flee from the path of Hurricane Irene so we've spent the past few days up with his parents in safe central New York. I was planning a much more interesting post for today, but I left my camera at home! So instead I will share some links to two very cute DIYs.

Rick rack roses, would be cute added onto shoes, or jewelry.

Wrap bracelets in every color!

Christmas in...August?

That's right, I've been Christmas crafting away these past few days in the middle of summer! Normally this is something I would never do, but I foresee a very busy few months fast approaching and I decided it would be a good idea to get a jump start on making Christmas presents. For my sister and her family I am making vintage-inspired Christmas stockings, influenced by the one my grandma made for my mom when she was a little girl (and she still uses every year!) Now I don't have pictures of the mentioned stocking, but trust me it's really cute, with her name spelled out with shimmering star sequins and adorned with felt appliques. 

First step in stocking making: gather inspiration for handmade appliques. I went perusing through etsy and found this cute pattern (notice that the top left corner of the pattern says "Not suitable for chubby girls"). If I had a little girl, I would buy this pattern, learn how to sew and make her this romper. But as I do not have a girl, I made the snowman applique instead.

I added some silver cording to his hat and glove, I affixed it with Fabri-Tac and kept the edges from fraying with Fray Check. I highly recommend both products, Fabri-Tac is the only glue I have found that  will actually work with felt and Fray Check really does keep frays in check.

Next up this pattern featuring Santie Claus and Christmas bells.

I love the Colonel Sanders-esque mustache.

I thought the original appliques from the pattern were a little too stream-lined 1960's, and we're going for sparkling goodness here, so I added some beads, sequins, metallic pom poms and gold trim to the mix.

And finally there are the wreath and the candle appliques. I want to add a halo of gold sequins around the candle, just for some extra oomph! Now that the appliques are done, I just need to find some plain red flannel or felt stockings and some sequin stars. I am quite excited by this little project, but boy is it time consuming!

More Decal Fun!

I've been having fun with the decals from my mom...

These can all be found in my shop and are part of my Vintage Floral collection. I'm sort of impressed that I did an etsy update; a New Year's resolution that I'm following through with.