Buzzmills

We found this place...

And named it "Creature Beach"...

We took a hike down to the "deep dark woods", or so that's what the kids like to call it...and because it had been a while since it rained...we found this large rocky beach in the middle of the creek...

We explored...and found many many creatures...

My phone did not capture the pileated woodpecker, the coopers hawk, the tadpole, or the smell of a skunk...

It was a good hike...

Have a lovely weekend!  Enjoy!

Linking up here and

We've been decorating...

Ahhh, Fall!! Yes, I know you are sick of hearing it maybe...I Love this time of year!  

We are all excited and have been decorating the house accordingly.

The other day Violet found a piece of bark on a walk that she wanted to bring home.  She decided that she wanted to paint it.

Once painted, it seemed like it ought to be our new centerpiece for the dining room table.  But what to put in it?

Acorns!  Oh, and just to be fun, some acorns that we painted orange and then I added some sharpie faces to them.  (Thank you Pinterest!)
And before I go...a few acorns had to be hauled off ;)

Washi tunic and a little oopsie...

I've been loving my new Washi dress!  But, let's face it, I'm going to have to put it away soon :(  as fall has arrived.  I'm sad to have to tuck it toward the back of my closet, but I am not sad to see the arrival of fall!  Besides, it doesn't mean that I have to say goodbye to Washi all together!  There's always the tunic with jeans and a sweater!  Sounds like the perfect fall uniform to me!  

Soon after my first washi I was already planning my second, a tunic version using Madronna Road by Violet Craft.  

I fell in love with this fabric the moment I saw it!  The pairing of the white and orange and the washi tunic, in my opinion, is perfect for these warm early fall days. 

I really love this tunic version with piping and decided to do it myself.  I happened to have exactly just the right amount of navy piping sitting around (in fact it was the only piping I had in the house) .  I thought I'd give it a go.  I'm fairly certain this is the first time I've used piping in clothing.  In fact, the navy piping was left over from Violet's easter bonnet (another Made by Rae pattern!) and I think that was the first time I used piping.  Anywho...I was a bit nervous that I was going to screw it up, but I love the way it turned out.  It's not perfect,

but I really like the finish that it gives the neckline and the extra color too! 

I am so in love with this shirt that I started to search through my stash to see if I could immediately make another one!  Boo, I usually only have one yard at the most sitting around...so, I guess I need to order some more fabric ;) to make another or two...

So, here comes a few pictures of me wearing my new favorite shirt and the oopsie part of the post...I accidentally got my hair cut exactly the same as Violet!  
Yes, she did inspire me to get my hair cut, but I did not have any intentions to have my hair cut just like hers!  It was supposed to be longer and more angled and yada yada yada...but then when my hair dresser was all done it was pretty much exactly the same!  Oopsie!  Now we have matching dresses and hair?!  Yeah, that really wasn't planned!  While I do love my little girl I feel quite silly that we have the same haircut!  Oh well, it will grow!

I like the change...but I must admit that it will never look like it does in these pictures...this is about two hours after the haircut...yeah, it will never look this put together again!
And, one more thing...this making things for myself is awesome!  But the photographing them is not!  I feel completely ridiculous getting my picture taken!  Ugh, I do not like it!  Fortunately I have a loving goofball of a husband that makes me feel just silly enough to tolerate it for about five minutes.  Tops!

Eh, so there they are a new tunic and a new do!  Newness for fall!  

Oh, wait, one more thing!  I got stopped AGAIN out of the blue in a store by a woman who told me she liked my shirt!  I was wearing my new washi tunic for the first time out and about!  That's two for two for theses washis!  Oh my, it does feel good to get a compliment, especially when you made it! :)  

Have a great day!

My own pretty apron...

The other day I was in one of my favorite stores and I came across this hand towel. Something about the colors and design made me have to buy it.  I know silly.  But I was thinking...use for fabric for a dress for Violet, or a skirt for Violet...and then I thought, wait a minute...something for me! 

And, so, since I never did get around to making myself an apron, and Violet and Henry already have adorable aprons....

(Both of these were given to Violet as gifts.  Neither were made by me.  One was made by a good friend (thanks Kristin!) and the other a local shop.  Henry took ownership of the blue and red one and now it is his.  They love wearing their aprons!)

I've always wanted a cute little apron to make cookies in and what not so I used this towel to make myself an apron.

I used some Woodland Gray Dots and Vines for the top part of the apron, cut a little U out of two pieces, sewed their right sides together, turned it right side out and added a bit of bias tape to the U for the neck tie, attached it to the towel and added thick ribbon for the back tie.

I love how the two fabrics come together so nicely. 

Now I have a cute little apron to wear for making breakfast
or cookies or whatever...speaking of which...I've been promising to make cookies with Violet and Henry, guess we all have a reason to don our aprons now, huh!

Potholders for Craft Book Month...

The folks over at Craft Buds have declared September Craft Book Month...

And so, in honor of craft book month...and thanks to craft book month...I finally sat down and browsed through each of the craft books that I have on my shelf.  I don't have many, but my collection did grow considerably after Feather your Nest.  

There were a couple of craft books on my shelf that I hadn't even looked through yet!  It's so fun to look through those books, the photos, the ideas, the creativity, it's all so inspiring!  

While I did come away with many new ideas for projects, most of them seemed to fit the "in the future" list as opposed to the "to do now" list.  

But one idea, was one of those that I intended on doing sooner and just didn't...potholders from Amanda Soule's book "Handmade Home".

What a great way to use up scraps!  Goodness knows I have an abundance of them!  And, these pretty potholders are far better than any of those boring and somewhat icky ones I already have in my house.  Don't you just love a project that makes the seemingly mundane pretty!

I added some little "finger pockets" on the backs of the potholders so that my fingers didn't slip out of the petite potholders while reaching for something hot.  

And then, when I was done...of course Violet and Henry requested some for their kitchen.  I was happy to oblige them.

Theirs are slightly smaller and have only one piece of batting (as opposed to the two towel layers and one batting I used for my potholders), and I gave them some loops.

Don't they look perfectly at home?

So, thanks Craft Buds for finally making  inspiring me to make myself some pretty and cheery potholders and to add some more craft book projects to my list!