Happy Halloween

from the ghost of Ansley.

The Great Reveal (Ansley's Halloween Costume)

(standing in first position)



(tree flying)





I wanted a useful Halloween costume since Ansley doesn't know she can have opinions about costumes yet (don't worry- she has plenty of other opinions. Last night she told Tyrone to "close your mouth." Today she told me "Mommy is not so cute. Only Ansley is so cute".) I added a fully lined hood to this coat pattern to keep Little Red Riding Hood's head warm. It was tricky sewing through all four layers of fleece, even with my heavy duty denim needle (especially that double top stitching). The fleece was another remnant. I'm planning to use this little coat for Christmas pictures and maybe on Valentine's Day. Unfortunately it will probably still be cold here on the Fourth of July so Ansley can wear it then too. ha. The dress is from this post. The tights were on super clearance at baby gap last year. The shoes are from Piperlime and would've been a good deal if I remembered to use the gift certificate before it expired.

I'm wearing a Shade shirt, a skirt I made, and crocs shoes from Big Lots. I even got an extra ten percent off b/c the bow was broken. I was able to fix the bow at home with a needle and some thread. And I'm kind of obsessed with my curls. My friend, Aubree, recommended curlformers and they work pretty well. I had to get the extra long length and the only option at Sally Beauty supply was the wide curl, though I don't consider these to be very wide.

Bonus photo shoot with my little princess:





Linking up here:

Fall!

Thanks to a tip from one of my facebook friends, we found this gorgeous tree! (it's actually two trees, fairly close together). I would've liked to get a few different angles but didn't want to stand in the middle of the street and set a bad example for my two year old.























PS Today I'm posting at Leafy Treetop Spot, my first guest post ever. Thanks Tricia!!

The Best Pumpkin Bread

Recipe from All Recipes via my friend Karen.

Ingredients:
3 cups canned pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
4 cups white sugar
6 eggs
4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves (I didn't have cloves or allspice so I just added extra nutmeg and cinnamon)
(I added mini chocolate chips (b/c Karen had chocolate chips in hers and it was so good), which I liked better than regular sized chocolate chips. Also, I didn't mind not having the cloves and chocolate mixed together)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 9x5 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, oil, sugar, and eggs. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves; stir into the pumpkin mixture until well blended. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. The top of the loaf should spring back when lightly pressed.

(note- This recipe makes three GIANT loaves. So giant that they spilled over in my oven. I halved the recipe the second time around and it made two loaves. If I make the whole recipe again, I'll cook it in four bread pans).

The Corn Maze and One of Ansley's Coats

Ansley was so excited to go to a corn maze (thanks to Curious George). We tried to go earlier in the week but it started to rain as we left the house. The maze was shaped like George Washington praying at Valley Forge. They actually had four separate sections of the maze but we only went through one. We solved the farmyard mystery though and Ansley had fun. She also rode in a barrel train behind a tractor and picked out a mini pumpkin.















I used Simplicity 2526, which I first spotted on Tricia's blog. I don't love the fur so I left it out. I found a fleece remnant at Joann's the week that fleece was on sale. (sidenote- when isn't it on sale in the fall/winter? second sidenote- I finally figured out how remnants work. They are half off the current price, so if a fabric is already on sale that week, you get half off the sale price. The half off doesn't always show up right away at the register but at the very end before they ask for payment. So my fabric was about a yard and was regularly $9/yard. It was on sale for half off and since it was a remnant it was half off that, about $3 with tax). I didn't intend to find purple like the picture but that's how it turned out.

I LOVE the facing. I added a half ellipse shaped piece to finish the back neckline. I might sew buttons over the snaps again, like this jacket, but I haven't decided. Also, I don't know why my sleeves are always way bigger than the armhole. I gathered the top of the sleeve to fit the armhole but don't like how puffy it is. I've since made three more coats with this pattern (one of them was the boy's version) and I just trimmed the excess from the sleeves.

Piano Practice Books

I made these books for my students. I decided to bribe them to practice. After they practice ten hours, they will get a candy bar/pack of gum/tictacs or the like of their choice. I created a table to record daily practice time, based on the books I used growing up, a place for assignments and a tiny musical staff at the bottom. I had them copied double sided on pre punched three hole paper, then put them in a three pronged folder. Each book cost about two dollars.

If you'd like to print your own, send me an email: emmillee(AT)gmail(dot)com with "piano practice sheet" in the subject line. I tried to open the document in google docs but the columns disappeared.

Some Changes Around the House

and I need your opinions (see below)

We finally hung up a few more pictures:







The bookshelves are cool at the top of the stairs. I know they could use some styling but we have too much to store to leave room for pretty displays. I'm kind of toying with the idea of moving the shelves and making a hallway office. What do you think?



Wish I could hang curtains in here but I don't trust Ansley with them.



Here's where I could use some suggestions. I haven't decided what I want behind our bed. I liked our other headboard but didn't like the indentations after leaning against it. I don't want plywood behind my head b/c of the glues in it. I don't want an accent wall. I don't want to hang anything that would fall and hurt (I grew up in earthquake country). I'm not into vinyl decals. So that obviously leaves a lot of options. haha. Oh and I'm making a quilt (I'm actually half way done with the piecing!) so a coordinated but not matchy look would be ideal. Maybe I should just subtly stripe the walls in a neutral color (definitely vertical stripes this time though! The horizontal stripes in the living/family room took forever).

Another Little Trip to the Mountains

We tried finding fall colors but I think the snow and wind made the leaves fall early.



























(picture by Tyrone)