Pumpkin Painting

I've been busy working on a painting this week!  This one is not nearly done yet, but I wanted to show you what I've been working on.  I haven't done any oil painting all year, so this has been really fun for me.

  I've decided I want to try to sell my art.  I'm going to sell art I've already made and also offer to make custom art for anyone who wants it, and can pay me for it.  I'm working on a website too.  I'm so excited about all of this!  I know the competition here in Utah is pretty fierce.  There are so many good artists out there, but I think I may have a shot.  So, if you want some art or know anyone who does, let me know!

Crochet Flowers

If you haven't noticed yet, I have a severe flower addiction.  I love making them out of all kinds of materials because they are just soooooo cute!  So, bear with me while I share yet another one of my flower-making adventures. 

I got into crocheting again with my first crochet hat.  Since then I've been learning how to crochet flowers so that I can stick them on my crochet hat.  I found some awesome patterns for the flowers at littlebirdiesecrets.  The seven petal flower pattern is my favorite- although I must be doing something wrong because I keep coming up with an 8 petal flower.  Oh well, no matter.  They are still cute. 

So, if you have some basic crochet skills, take a look at the patterns and try them out! 

 

Photo of the week

Is anything more beautiful than fall colors?

Patterned Packing Tape Cards

Ever since I discovered patterned packing tape at Michaels, I wanted to try some out on cards.  I love it!  This tape is awesome (and very affordable, I think I paid $1 for a whole roll!).  The possibilities for it are endless.  The wheels in my head are turning.  What else can I use this on?

Felt Ghosts and Spiders

These are the extent of my Halloween decorations this year.  I cut out some simple ghosts and spiders from felt and stuck some eyes on them.  My son loves them- probably because they are more cute than scary! 

I have yet to figure out what to dress up as for Halloween for me and my son.  I always have such a hard time coming up with a good costume.  If you have any good costume ideas for a 2 year old boy who doesn't like wearing anything on his head, send them my way please!

Hard and Fuzzy Friends

My son got into my craft stuff last week and we ended up making some cute little friends for him.  Googly eyes can make just about anything cute!

 

Flower Addiction

I took a walk this beautiful morning with my camera.  I couldn't stop taking pictures of the flowers in my neighborhood.  I love flowers, even the weeds!

I've about filled up our entire hard drive with all my pictures, but I can't seem to stop.  I can't resist trying to capture some of the beauty I see around me.  It makes me so happy!

Fall Decorations

This week I've been decorating for fall!  Better late than never, huh?!  Not having money to spend on new decorations meant I had to get a little creative and use some things I already had.

Acorns and Pine cones are great to decorate with.  I went around my apartment complex and collected tons of them for free!

I had some old silk flowers and leaves hanging around.  The flowers were really tall, so I cut them down to fit my little vase.

I'm all set for fall, now on to Halloween decorations!

My first crocheted hat attempt

Way back when I was about 12 years old, my Grandma Heap taught me to crochet.  I got into it and tried to make a blanket.  I wasn't too good at it then and I'm still not very good.  Probably because I took over a ten year break from it.  I still have the crochet hooks my grandma gave me.  Once in a while I get them out with some yarn and practice.  This time I decided I would try to make a hat.  I found a website with all sorts of crochet hat designs.  If you want to check it out, go to http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/patterns.htm .

This is how my hat turned out.  I think I may attempt another one soon to see if I can make a better one.

Photo of the week

More Flower Experiments

I saw some headbands with these cute little flowers on them at a store and then I found out how to make them at blissbloomblog and then... I had to try it!  Way easy to make! 

I used the flowers to make a headband of my own, plus a few other things.  Here's what I came up with:

This one is a little different.  I used the flower rolls in I wrote about in a previous post.

Now if only I had a little girl to wear some of these!  Oh well, someday....

What I had for dinner

 

Austrian Potato Soup!

I realized that up until now,  all of my recipes have been for sweets.  Probably because that is what I like to cook best.  However, with the weather changing I got in the mood for some warm soup.   Oh, comfort food!  Sooooo good.  This recipe comes from my Mom who made this for me right after I had my baby.  Good memories!

Austrian Potato Soup

¼ c. bacon drippings                                                       4 large potatoes

1 c. chopped onion                                                          1 c. celery chopped

1/3 c. flour                                                                       1 can mushrooms

3 c. hot water + 3 chicken bouillon cubes                         2 c. grated Monterey Jack Cheese

3 c. milk                                                                          Salt and Pepper

In a large pan, sauté onion in bacon drippings.  Stir in flour until it is golden.  Stir in liquids.  Add potatoes, celery, and mushrooms.  Simmer until tender.  Stir in cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Printable Happy Birthday Sign

For my husband's birthday last weekend, I made a birthday sign!  I plan to re-use it for my son's birthday next month, since its laminated and should last a long time.  If you would like to make one too,  click the link below to get a free PDF file of the letters I used to make it.  Just print out your letters, cut them out with some pretty card stock, and glue and laminate- if desired.  Happy Birthday planning!

Birthday Sign PDF

Photo of the week

Pumpkin season is here! We picked out our own at a local pumpkin farm that has street names for the rows of pumpkins. I love this place!