Chicken Scratch

Happy Halloween!

[crickets chirping]

Sorry for neglecting my blog lately! I just haven't been in the mood, I guess.

Anyways, Happy Halloween!

I took Kaleigh to Portrait Innovations on Friday to have her Halloween portraits done. I take her twice a year... for Halloween in her costume and for Valentine's with her Bear. I usually only get the $9.95 special and one extra pose. But this year I couldn't resist. The pictures turned out extra cute and this year's costume isn't just a costume. She loves is obsessed with Pokemon and wanted to be Dawn, the Pokemon trainer. These aren't just Halloween costume portraits. These photos truly capture my child at this time in her life. :)

For those unfamiliar with Pokemon (pronounced poh-kay-mahn), this is Dawn:

And here's Kaleigh! (warning: pic heavy)

The photographer let Kaleigh do this pose on her own. Kaleigh said it's a Dawn pose. :)

Love this sassy pose. :)

I think we did pretty good on the costume. The hat and scarf were purchased off etsy. The skirt and tank top she already had. The boots and knee-high socks we bought at The Children's Place and she can wear the boots all fall/winter. She already had the Piplup doll (Dawn's Pokemon) and the pokeball (what they carry/capture their Pokemons in). The vest... now that was an interesting process. I couldn't find a black vest (go figure) so I found a dark denim one at Walmart. I bought some black Rit Dye and headed home to dye it. It came out okay in the first run but I thought I could make it a tad darker so I dyed it a second round, washed it, and threw it in the dryer. I woke up Friday morning and got it out of the dryer... it was back to blue! I had no time to really do anything about replacing it before pictures after school so I improvised. Whenever I craft with acrylic paint and get it on my clothes it never washes out so I figured I could do the same with her vest. I watered-down some black acrylic paint and brushed it all over the vest. I hung it to dry, said a prayer, and left to volunteer at Kaleigh's school all afternoon. Got home and it was black! Yay! But STIFF! LOL Oh well, it's just for a costume. Anyways, she looks adorable in her costume and she LOVES it. Score one for momma. ;)

So I'm off to carve pumpkins while we watch the Cowboys game and then trick or treating and watching the Rangers game tonight.

Have a safe and fun Halloween!

Halloween Wreath

 

  

I made this Halloween wreath for my front door last night. I used this tutorial from the Shanty2Chic blog for making flat folded rosettes but I used burlap instead of fabric. Burlap is bulkier and stiffer to use than fabric so I had to play with it a bit. It wouldn't stay folded and some of the raw edges show which I like anyways for its texture and rustic-ness (is that a word? LOL)

Anyways, I made 3 rosettes. The black one has a pearl brad for a center. The large orange one has a black button with cream embroidery thread. And the small orange one I played with for a bit trying to get a layered look. I ruffled and hot glued the lace trim to the  back. I tucked in and hot glued loops of black burlap ribbon between the rosette and lace trim. Finally I made loops of tulle and tied at one end. Then I cut the loops at one end so they fanned out. I hot glued black rhinestones for a little shimmer. I hope that all made sense! I was just playing around and came up with this. I'm happy with how it turned out. I can wait to get home today to hang it on my front door. :)

Thanks for looking!

 

Kaleigh, Friends, Crafts, and Halloween Fun

Kaleigh

I took Kaleigh to the pumpkin patch last week. I haven't gone through all the pics yet but here's one. Isn't she the cutest? :D
 

And we got her school pictures last week. She's getting so big!

Friends

One of my close friends, Monica, is moving to Colorado. I'm very sad about this but also very excited for this opportunity for her family. Thursday we had a going away dinner for her at a local restaurant.

Monica and me
 

Me, Jo Anne, Monica, and Abby being silly on the horses out front of the restaurant
 

She was supposed to leave early this morning but last I talked to her she was still packing. ;) I hope she gets finished soon! Best wishes for safe travels. I'm gonna miss you so much!!! :(

Crafts

First, this is Kaleigh's trick-or-treat bag I made her. She outgrew her little plush pumpkin she's ToT-ed with since her first Halloween. I made the bag out of felt, hot-glued the edges to form the bag and add strength, and then did a blanket stitch around the edges. I made the candy corn out of felt as well and added the blanket stitch. I sewed on black sequins and beads for a little bling. I hot-glued on the ribbon loops and made each bag handle out of two felt strips that I stitched together and then trimmed with my pinking shears. I think it turned out super cute and Kaleigh was very happy to have a large enough bag to hold more candy! ;)

The bag
 

Close-up of the blanket stitching and sequins/beads

Close-up of the handles and ribbon loops

These are the treat buckets and cards I made Kaleigh and her cousins. The outside two are Kaleigh's and my niece's and the inside one is my nephew's.

I was asked by a friend to photograph one of her friends with her family. She'd been recently diagnosed with lymphoma and wanted a family photo session before losing her hair to chemo. It was somewhat of a tough session since I know all too well the effects of cancer on loved ones. But this woman is AMAZING. Her faith and outlook on this disease is truly admirable. She shared once that she loves zebras because they are the only animal to run into a fire to get to safety on the other side. She uses that analogy regarding her cancer because she's going to fight and run right through it. So I made her this plaque (and card) to honor that attitude.
 

 

Halloween Fun

Kaleigh and her cousins

Making a scary face!

Mommy, Daddy, and our little vampire

I had to cut alot of length off Kaleigh's dress to make her costume. She took the extra fabric and made capes for our dogs' Halloween costumes. Love her creativity! ;) LOL

Buffy

Belle (although you can't see hers as well)

So tomorrow I get busy packing. Just under 2 weeks before we close on our new house and I have ALOT to do to get ready. I've enjoyed a lazy day with my family watching the Cowboys game, playing on my laptop, and eating Halloween candy. We're about to put on a movie and I'm gonna digi scrap a bit. I hope everyone has a fabulous week!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from my little vampire!

So sweet...

...and so scary, too!
 

I hope everyone's day is filled with spooky fun and lots of candy!