Caramel Apples!

Why did I wait sooooo long to make caramel apples?  It has been years!  Remember the Caramel Wraps? I'm sure they still make them. Those were awesome - and so easy!

I saw the Kraft Caramel Bits at the grocery store the other day and thought my youngest kids would just love them.  Well, they weren't all that impressed but I had much fun making them and it brought back fond memories.  Anyway, they looked pretty on the plate.  My oldest daughter I shared one.  Yummo!

My friend, Harriet and I tested out the masks.  Pretty spooky, huh!  HA!  Have a safe and Happy Halloween everybody!

Mona

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Hally Happoween Ya'll!

Halloween is just a few days away and we are getting excited around here!  I made pumpkin bread, we bought our pumpkins the other day, painted a few, and will be ready to carve the others on Wednesday.  Costumes are ready, too.  Even mine and my husband's! 

Every year my son asks, "Mom, what are you gonna be this year?"  And my answer is usually, "a hagard Mom!"  I usually get "the face".  But, this year I wised up and made it easy on myself and had a better answer for the little man.  I found these cute masks at JoAnn's, of course.  Super-cheap, under $2.00 each, I think.  They came "ready to paint".  And, naturally I added a little glitter - to mine.  (I promised my husband I wouldn't glitter his.  After all, Frankenstein isn't too scary when all glittery.)  I wrapped the handle with some fabric left over from the Halloween shirt re-do and "whoo hoo"!  I also whipped up the little "Boo" piece.  Cute, cute, and cute.

And, I just couldn't stand my boring old stapler (and had nothing better to do - huh?), so I tricked out my stapler!  Yes, a little spray paint, fabric, trim, and E6000 will do the trick and quick!  I say, why not - go nuts with it.  Then I got "the look" from my daughter.  "What-evvv-ah".

Anyway, my BFF Harriet and I are having a Trunk Show in a few weeks and we have been busy brainstorming.  I tried to talk her into calling it "Harry and Mo's Trunk Sho'".  I got that look again.  Okay, maybe not.  We need more time and money and... "Phahahahah - we could rule the (crafting) world!!!  Back to reality... we have made some progress and have had fun in the process.  I'll post pictures soon. 

Remember me mentioning being organized?  Well, I also get asked, "how do you keep everything so neat?" - a lot.  It's because I'm a freak for being tidy!  I work, work, work and then, before I stagger off to bed in the wee hourse of the morning, I clean it all up again!  So here are the "before" and "after's".  It's scary, so prepare yourself.  Appalling, I know.

Hey, I warned you!  I hope you all enjoy Halloween and wish you the best of "Trick or Treating" weather, too!

Mona Pin It

Done. Did that. Uh huh. Next?

Have you ever had a time when by some miracle, lots of things on your "to-do" list get done?  Whoo hoo!  Then... errrrrrrrr.  Nothing.  Well, I was glad some things were accomplished anyway!

I finally took pictures of this sweet little outfit and listed it on my etsy store.  I made this while on a sewing retreat.  Oh my goodness!  It should be called a "sewing TREAT"!  Three days of nothing but sewing and gabbing, gabbing and sewing!  A room full of women with all that great sewing experience and machines humming.  Lorene Bonewitz of SewItUp.com hosts these retreats several times a year at Southern Comfort in Mineola, Texas.  I have been twice and will be going again before the end of the year!  Lorene packs in plenty of lessons, tips, tricks, and fun.  And aside from sewing and gabbing, Linda and Bill, owners of Southern Comort, just spoil us the whole time.  Yeah, sign me up!

I also made a cute Halloween table runner.  Because, hello?  Time is running out here!  I don't know what it is about polka dots, but they're just cute!  So I paired the black and white polka dots with a gorgeous pumpkin colored bias and some pale pink rick rack!  Love it!  I'm not a quilter, but I practiced a few techniques with this runner including mitering corners!  Thank goodness for YouTube - the tutorials rock!

I finished the glittery candelabra and hung that over the kitchen table and then decided to glitter some more.  Hey, I've already warned you, right?  I found these chipboard letters at Hobby Lobby and decided to dress them up.  I traced the letters onto some Christmas wrapping paper, glued the paper to the letters, and then glittered the edges.  Easy-peasy!

And, the last project before all projects halted was embellishing a store-bought Target Halloween t-shirt with some awesome fabric I found at Magnolia Quilt Works, a new quilt shop here in Arlington.  It gave me an opportunity to play on my Baby Lock Evolve serger.  It was worth every penny!  It makes a mean... and pretty, rolled hem among other things.  I suppose I should let my daughter wear the shirt now!

So now I'm brain-storming on some other projects.  Little, blue notebook?  Check.  Pen?  Check.  Be back soon!

Mona Pin It

To glitter or not to glitter? That is.....

a dumb question!  Of course glitter!  I get in a mood to glitter and look out.  If it isn't moving, I might glitter it!  Not that I need an excuse to glitter, but the holidays make it so easy, even Halloween.  And check out my glitter collection!  I know you're jealous, its okay!

Last year I found these great wooden pincones and went nuts (uh heh - pun intended) with Martha's glitter.  Her glitter is super-fine and comes in the best colors.  Incidentally - when I went to her sight to grab the link, guess what?  Yup, a big, new header that said, "All that glitters!"  I'm fer real!

Anyway, I love to create, so what better than this to remind me?

So getting back to Halloween.... I found this cute little papier mache house and instead of going with a Christmas theme, I decided on a fun haunted house.  A little craft paint, some foam pieces for shingles, and of course lots of glitter and "ta-da!"  Not too spooky, just fun.  It is in the living room shimmering right now.

While browsing Joann's, I came across this great wooden candelabra.  My son helped me paint it and then we commenced to glittering!  I even added a spider from last year's glittering extravaganza.  Sorry about the pour photography on this one.

I hope this encourages you to go forth and glitter!  I'm headed for the vacuum cleaner now.  The cat is starting to sparkle!

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Lemme give a shout out to...

I wanted to give a shout out to my peeps!  Okay, they're not my peeps - we don't exactly hang out at Starbucks!  But, I have been a fan of their blogs forever (or since last year when I actually became aware of blogs and the blog addiction began!).

Always good for a chuckle, great tutorials, and fun stuff - check out Jona's blog.  And if you are a fabric hound, go have a look-see at her online fabric shop Fabritopia!  Thanks Jona - you rock!

I also regularly visit the blogs of Sandi Henderson of Portabellopixie and Heather Bailey of Hello my name is heather.  Both are fabric designers and always working on the latest, greatest for those who sew, quilt, or craft with paper.

Another fave of mine is Dena at the Sugar Shop.  She sews, crafts, and designs handbags, but her photography is what caught my eye.  And, she's just a sweet gal.  Speaking of photography, I just love the portraits by Jennifer Anderson.  I may just fly the family to DC for a portrait session!  Ok, maybe not - but wouldn't that be fun?

Peace, love, and fabric!

Mona Pin It

Well hello there!

Welcome! My name is Mona and this is my blog. I am a wife, mother to the best four kids I know, crafter, sewing enthusiast, photographer, and all-around organizer. (I hear "You're so organized." quite often- I thought I would add that to the description!)

Friends have encouraged me to start a blog of my own, and since I don't have near enough going on, I thought, "why not?" So, here I am! Blogland is just fascinating and addicting - am I right? I have been inspired by so many and grateful for all that has been posted and shared.

Now that we've met, I would like to share my studio with you. You can find me here throughout the day working, sewing, crafting, emailing, Facebooking (is that a verb?), and spending time with my family.

My built-in computer hutch. The PC and printer are below and out of my way!

I have lots of counter space and storage underneath.

Neat storage containers and my pretty hutch for my fabric stash!  I love my peg board as it is behind the door and holds lots of great things I need such as scissors, sewing machine feet, tools, small ironing board (which desperately needs to be re-covered!), yard stick, and more!

I will share some of my organizing tips later as well as some things I am working on for Fall.  So check back soon!

Mona

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