I’m not quite ready for my holiday making yet, but I’ve started a Pinterest board full of ideas for sewing, crafting, and decorating!
Pumpkin Pincushion
I’m enjoying the cooler weather and glad we finally have some sun here in Atlanta after days and days of rain. Someone recently asked me to post the instructions for this pumpkin pincushion that I made a few years ago, so here it is! Download the instructions here. There are two sizes of pumpkins here and obviously you could make them as a pincushion or fall decoration.
I’m busy getting ready for the upcoming Quilt Market in Houston, where I’ll be showing my new collection in the Seven Islands booth #354/454. More details soon.
Have you heard about the Craft Industry Alliance? If you are a maker or craft business owner, this community will provide you with lots of great advice and information. Head over to Crafty Planner to listen to a podcast with Abby and Kristin talking about their new venture. This is a great opportunity to empower us by providing more transparency in the industry.
Happy Holidays!
Wishing you a peaceful and happy holiday break!
Baking
I’ve been procrasti-baking. Anyone else do that? Rather than clean my house or get work done, I’m in the kitchen baking.
We made two batches of peppermint bark for my kid’s holiday market, maybe five batches of my all-time-favorite cookie snickerdoodles, and quite a few rounds of these peppermint meringues. So the teachers are all gifted this year. These meringues are simple to make and require just a few inexpensive ingredients. I always use a ziploc bag and a pastry tip because I cannot be bothered with washing a pastry bag. I tried two different pastry tips for different results. And I tried one batch substituting vanilla extract for the peppermint, but I think I prefer to stick to the recipe. They taste like crunchy little peppermint candies. Easy, tasty, done.
If you are still looking for quick goodies to gift, check out this adorable printable peppermint bark label from Hello! Lucky.
Scarecrow
Creepy, isn’t it? October always is always a busy month for us. With Quilt Market, a trip to Portland, and Halloween costumes and events, we’re having an extra busy year.
My daughter’s fourth grade girl scout troop made this scarecrow “Ghoul Scout” for the Atlanta Botanical Garden. She actually turned out a bit creepier than we intended, but the girls were enthusiastic and this was the right age for getting a bit scary. The photo above was taken right after we dropped her off and she still has a tag pinned on her front. We haven’t been to the garden to see her in place yet, but she’ll be on display throughout October. And it looks like she’s won second place in the non-professional category, which should be exciting for our kids who worked so hard!
The girls made badges for the Ghoul Scout that you can see below, and I was impressed with their grotesque creativity! The badges include “puppy scaring”, “human head basketball”, “blood tea party”, and one of my favorites — “killing rainbows.” Pretty great. We even added a box of “Skin Mints.” This was my 11-year-old’s idea and she came up with the list of disgusting ingredients like flaking soda and hydrogenated toes. Gross, huh?