Apron Giveaway

The Fabric Shopper & I are offering my first Apron Giveaway!! I will be giving away one of my Utility Vendor Craft Aprons. This apron is great for those of you that are vendors at craft fairs or farmer's markets, as well as for those that like to craft, sew, scrapbook, stamp, etc. The apron has a total of 8 pockets. The front layer of pockets has 4 angled pockets and 1 small straight pocket. The angled pockets are great for items such as pens, pencils and scissors, and rotary cutters. The angled pockets are designed so that these items will not poke you while you are working, sitting or bending. The apron has a second (or back) layer of pockets which has 1 straight large pocket and 2 straight medium pockets. These pockets are great for carrying such things as money, receipts, and business cards.

Head over The Fabric Shopper and see how you can win this apron. Be sure to read through her blog and bookmark it. She has wonderful information about fabric, fabric sales & discounts, patterns, and more.


Good Luck!!

Where Women Create

Over the past year I've met and read about so many talented women that create handmade goods either for themselves, friends, family or sell their handmade creations. It's just amazing what talent is out there. And the internet has been a great avenue for all of these women to 'meet' one another and learn from one another. My inspirations mainly come from seeing what these women are capable of the creating. So I've become a total internet junkie.. reading blogs, tweeting, facebooking, etc. But now and again I really like to sit down and hold a magazine in my hands and read articles and gaze at pictures and flip pages back and forth and not have to worry about bookmarking a link on my computer so I can find my way back. There's something to be said about holding a magazine or book in your hands. It really is satisfying. Last year a creative friend of mine introduced me this wonderful magazine called Where Women Create... wow !! ... I look forward to each and every issue. Each issue is filled with total inspiration . The magazine will introduce to you so many talented women and what they create, what inspires them, tips and tricks and best of all you get take a look inside their amazing studios. You really need to buy this magazine!!

You can find Where Women Create on twitter, facebook, and their blog. They are very active on the internet so there's always something to read that will inspire you!

Halloween Night

I'm not sure exactly why, but we all love Halloween in our family. The decorating, the food preparation, the costume ideas & creations ... it's all fun!

My daughter is still at the age where she loves to trick-or-treat. My son wasn't so sure if he was too old/too cool to trick-or-treat so he decided to have a party at our house and the boys could all decide if they wanted to trick-or-treat or not... of course... why wouldn't they wont to go door to door to fill up their enormous bags with candy!?! At one point during the night we had 25 kids gathered in our house. It really was a fun night for everyone!

As I said before I love to decorate for Halloween and make spooky foods. Here are some photos and recipes from our Halloween Night...

Our Haunted House...

Spooky Party Foods...

Swamp Punch:

Ingredients:

* 2 quarts lime sherbet
* 1 (12 ounce) can frozen limeade concentrate, thawed
* 2 liters carbonated lemon-lime beverage, chilled
* 1 1/4 cups cold water

Directions:

1. Spoon sherbet by tablespoonfuls into a punch bowl.
2. Mix 1.25 cups cold water with the lemonade concentrate; add to sherbet.
3. Slowly pour soda down side of the bowl; stir gently to mix.

Watermelon Brain:

Ingredients:

1 Watermelon cut in half lengthwise or purchase 1/2 watermelon

Directions:

1. Slice off bottom of watermelon so it won't roll around.
2. Peel green skin off of the watermelon.
3. Score brainy folds in white flesh.
4. With a sharp paring knife, carve channels out of melon to resemble cortical folds.

Finger Foods:
Ingredients:

* 1 can refrigerated breadstick dough
* 1 package sliced pepperoni

Directions:

1. Separate breadsticks and place on greased cookie sheet.
2. Cut pepperoni into fingernail shapes and press into dough.
3. Cut knuckle marks into "fingers" and sprinkle with rosemary to create a hairy-knuckle look. (I ran out of time to do this part)
4. Bake according to package directions.

Treats for my daughters class at school:

I made these treat bags from orange fabric and green polka ribbons. Real easy to make and the kids really enjoyed them (at least they acted like they did). Since the kids get so much candy at Halloween, I decided to fill the treat bags with somewhat healthy snacks, such as, gold fish, fruit roll ups, etc.


Here are the bags before I filled them...
Jack-O-Lantern Rice Krispy Treats...

Pumpkin Carving...

* *Happy Halloween!*