Fabrics on the Table

I can't believe we are wrapping up our fall crafts and heading into the winter season already. The girls (of course) wanted to put up a few decorations to fill in the gap between Halloween and Christmas.

A few weeks ago I found these fun vintage fabrics and decided to make placemats. I placed some batting between each side, and they look fancy as ever.

I love reading articles about upcyclyng. I always try to be mindful and do it when I can.  I found a vintage tablecloth at our community yard sale a few years ago that I was super excited about. However, it just didn't fit well with our table. I decided to cut it up and make some cocktail napkins for a friend of mine. 

I was happy with the results. I know I'll be on the lookout now for more vintage sheets and tablecloths to add to my files.

In the upcoming weeks we will dive into our mass production of neighborhood gifts and become more consistent with our older kids craft club. I love this time of year!

Felt & Other Fun Fibers

The best thing I heard all day was Marlee stating she considers late fall the start of "sewing season".

Lately, it's just the three of us girls home together after dinner. Things are quite low key for us at 7pm this time of year. A month ago there were random kids running through the yards or we were going on post dinner hikes or bike rides. We have been setting aside roughly an hour a few days a week to craft together.

Since I visited Maine a few summers back, I've had a great interest in wool. We stayed with folks who sheared their sheep, dyed the wool with plant based color, and spun their yarn. As I watched this process, I loved the awareness it gave me. Kind of like the farm to table awareness, I am now constantly wondering where all these finished projects originated. 

My goal for the upcoming months is to work with wool often. I have many cute projects in mind and I also want to learn as much I can about sustainable products.  The girls have quite a few awesome projects and gifts in mind with felt. Maybe I'll write a blog series about it. I thought of "Felt Up" but maybe I may attract a crowd other than crafters ;)

Anyway, here's some finished, half finished, and some neat ideas:

Marlee and Mya are diggin' the fall

September and October just blew by and I just realized I've been on quite a hiatus from my blog.  We've been rolling along, feeling the fall rhythm,  Here are some highlights of our past few weeks:

We said good bye to some of our oldest and dearest Asheville friends who moved to Portland

A send off party that turned a little crazy later on

 



A visit with our favorite girlfriends in Atlanta



Apple picking at Sky Top Orchard

 

 

Finally got to the American Girl Store in Atlanta

 

Waterfall tour at DuPont State Forest

 



Virginia Creeper Trail



 



Celebrating the last year of my 30's



 

pumpkin carving

 

What little girl doesn't want to be Daddy Warbuck's bodyguard?

 

Ready for Halloween!

 

 

This weekend we started our month of thanksgiving.  We still use the same board (click here) that we made a few years ago. I forgot that we kept the old notes of gratitude in the pockets from years past.  It was great fun to read the old ones.  It's also cool to see how the girls focus of gratitude changes over the years. 

 

We are also planning our homemade gift list.  It seems our lists grow with so many more caring people that enter our lives each year. The girls and I will post our finished products and hopefully some tutorials and/or recipes.

 

The girls will be focusing on the Nutcracker rehearsals for the next few weekends.

I will be focusing on making better choices with my free time and staying current with our blog!