Sock Monkey Hat

I found this adorable Sock Monkey Hat by Nicole Montgomery on Ravelry and just had to make it.  You can find her pattern for sale at her etsy shop.  I'm working on another one right now to send to my nephew. It's a great pattern! It also makes a great hat without adding on the sock monkey face.  When I started knitting the child size hat I didn't check my gauge and it ended up being too big, so I passed it along to my sister.  I definitely would have worn it, but you know we don't typically see cold weather down here in Houston.

Pan Organization

So, after 3 years I finally had to get this cabinet above my oven under control.  It was an avalanche waiting to happen.

I had plans to put in wood slats, but I found something at Ikea that would take care of the problem.  It's so nice to be able to find things in seconds.

Porch - Thanksgiving

Here's a glimpse of my porch decorated for Thanksgiving.  I thought I'd show you a picture before I change it to Christmas.  I re-did my wreath this year with a few floral items from Hobby Lobby.  This is why I love grapevine wreaths they are so easy to change up.  I probably spent all of $5 updating this wreath.

Pumpkin Dip

Are you looking for new ways to use pumpkin puree? I tried out a new recipe today and yum, I thought it was delicious.  You know I'm a fan of anything sweet.  It was from the magazine Cooking Light - October 2003.

Ingredients: 
6 oz. of cream cheese (light version)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 tsp of maple syrup
1/2 tsp of cinnamon


Add first 3 ingredients to a bowl and beat until mixed.  Add remaining ingredients and beat till smooth. Serve with apples.  


I also used graham crackers to dip into the pumpkin dip and it tasted yummy too. My little guy liked it too.

The Princess Basket

I forgot to show you the princess basket I helped assemble for my daughter's school.  It was seriously a hit with all the little girls.  What was funny is my daughter actually won the basket.  She was beyond excited when she found it in our living room that morning.  Look at how happy she is that she won. I had to explain to her that she won't win every year. 

Here she is posing in her new Little Mermaid outfit and scooter. 

Here is a picture of the basket before we put all the stuff in it.  I bought an storage bin and made a liner for it.  I'm glad I kept the lid so I can still use it as a storage container. 

On a side note, the lamp I helped the kids make ended up auctioning off for $750.  Hurray! 

3-D Turkey Craft

I was on the hunt to find a Thanksgiving craft for my daughter's classroom.  I found a fantastic 3-D turkey project with a pdf from Designs with Heart.  You can go to the Designs with Heart page here and download the instructions.  It's a great craft to do with the kids and makes a cute centerpiece or decoration.

Autumn Centerpiece

I'm trying hard to avoid getting the Christmas stuff out.  Don't get me wrong I love Christmas, but I think I would get tired of having it out after awhile.  I don't have too many things to decorate with for Thanksgiving and actually there isn't much in the stores for Thanksgiving.  They seem to skip it and go straight to Christmas.  I decided put together a centerpiece to put on our dining room table with some items I had on hand.  It's very simple and won't mold, since it's all fake.  I recently added some gourds to the mix and then a few days later saw that they were molding.  Ewww. So, off to the trash they went.

Tie Bib

I saw different versions of the Tie Bib on pinterest and wanted to make one for a friend who is pregnant.  Indietutes has a good tutorial on the tie bib and if you want to make one you can check out the tutorial here.
What was great about this project is that I had all the material on hand and didn't have to make a trip to the fabric store and could use up some of my leftover fabrics. I chose to use knit for the bib and the tie is made out of a material with some stretch to it too.  It was a quick project and makes a great gift for baby boys.

Felt & Gravity Collection

I came across this wonderful designer, Amy Hunting who makes this wonderful modern and colorful furniture collection, Felt & Gravity. I just love the nice clean lines with the pops of bright color.  She is based out of London, but you can view more of her wonderful designs at her website.

Halloween Aftermath

Well, I think we have all come off of our sugar highs in this house.  I've had to hide the candy from the kids otherwise they will devour it all in one sitting.  Although, I really need someone to hide it from me too.
I wanted to show you pictures of the kids in their costumes.  I was lucky that my daughter wanted to be Jessie since I made that costume earlier in the year for the Rodeo.  You can find the tutorial for her chaps here.  Thankfully, it all still fit her.  This just left my son's Woody costume to make.  I made the shirt and vest for the Woody costume.  The pattern I used for the shirt was Kwik Sew 3146, view C.  It turned out really cute and I used the pearl snaps on it to make it look a little more western.

The vest was pretty simple and you really don't need a pattern, but I had one on hand for a costume that included a vest so I used it. 

Here they are in their costumes from Toy Story. 

Yeehaw!