Before and After

Here's our recliner, which has been around forever:
I got it from my grandparents when they were downsizing, so probably 2004 or 2005. My grandmother says she's actually had it reupholstered TWICE. I had bought fabric to do same, only then the economy collapsed, and I couldn't justify spending $3-400 on something that wasn't food, diapers, or health insurance. But, I did have the fabric (which was a steal at $5 a yard) so I finally decided to try my hand at sewing a slipcover.

To wit:
I actually... sort of hate it. The pattern I used was badly drafted, and nothing fits the way it's supposed to, and it looks all bunchy and homesewn, and the only way to keep it together is with a bunch of upholstery pins which like to pop out and prevent a safety hazard. BUT. At least it matches the rest of our furniture now.

I got a lot of other stuff finished last week, too. Like Betsy's Halloween costume, which is very sparkly and girl-tastic. I also made some random doll clothes (my current obsession, I must admit) and an apron for Betsy that I cut out in, I think, 2007. I made matching mother-daughter aprons for us and since I had so much leftover fabric, I also cut one out for her in a larger size, since she grows and whatnot. The interesting thing was, something that used to take me days to sew is now completed in mere hours. Yay competence!

I should be cleaning my house before my in-laws arrive on Thursday, but I'm blogging instead. I'm also dealing with a houseful of sickies... not fun. I was rather miserable last week but all I have now is a lingering tickle in my throat, which is more of a nuisance than anything else. But poor Betsy is home from school today. On Friday morning she threw up on the bus and had to come home. I'm hoping she'll be all better tomorrow, since it's a short school week as it is. And Amy had a fever yesterday: we actually had to leave church early, but not until the Primary program was done, which was AWESOME and I was so proud of all the kids and not just mine.

But, it's not all bad around here. Look what we saw this morning:

No, that house isn't on fire. It's a RAINBOW.

I Haven't Died

I've just been doing a lot of multi-tasking.

(Isn't that picture hilarious? The best part is, Amy came up with that trick all on her own... and immediately came running to show me Just How Clever she is.)

We've been getting ready for Halloween, which is always a fun holiday. I put up the decorations a few weeks ago and I've been working on Betsy's costume:

She's being Glinda, the good witch from the Wizard of Oz. She came up with this idea entirely on her own, mind you. The dress isn't totally finished in the picture above: it still needs hemmed, and there's a lit of sparkly trim. But I'm thrilled to death with how it looks. The funny thing is, this costume weighs a TON. I made it out of good heavy satin - I think it was originally from the bridal section, and not costumes, because they didn't have the right color - and that skirt is abot a million yards wide. I have no idea how Betsy is going to handle trick-or-treating, but I'm sure she'll manage.

We went to the pumpkin patch last Saturday and let the kids pick out their own pumpkins.

It's really turned into quite the event, with games and rides and whatnot. We let the kids each pick a couple of activities that they could do.

The next big thing on my plate is the Primary music program. We rehearsed it in the chapel last Sunday; we have one more practice on Saturday and then it's SHOWTIME. And I woke up this morning with a killer sore throat... I seriously cannot lose my voice this week!

WCMD '09

Okay, I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that I didn't get any cardmaking done yesterday, which was World Cardmaking Day. I was just way too busy. But, I'd sort of anticipated that that would happen, so I got these done a little earlier in the week:

Yeah, I'm still having lots of fun with that Early Bird paper pack. Maybe at some point I'll actually use it for a scrapbook page?!