Married to the Empire

Bad News

2009-11-10T14:20:00.004-06:00

Calvin went in Friday for a blood pressure check, and they did blood work while he was there. I spoke with the vet yesterday about his test results. The news isn't good. His kidney levels are up, and we're nearing the end. She seemed to indicate that we're looking at a few weeks or months with him. Our options at this point are to continue treatment as is, or hospitalize him for a week or so to do intense treatment to try to improve this condition, but that would just be a stop-gap measure and temporary. She and I both agreed that Calvin would be miserable with the hospital option. Steven and I are choosing just to keep him at home where he's happy and comfortable and keeping him on his current treatment of pills and special diet.

I held it together on the phone, as I think I've known in my heart that this is where we are. But I cried off and on all morning. I have some small canvasses that I bought a few months ago with the intention of doing collages of the boys. Guess I can't put that off much longer. I want to do paw prints of the boys on their collages. I've also decided to order a copy of the Chicken Soup book that has Calvin's and Doogie's story in it. I'll have my boys "autograph" it for the vet, and I intend to give it to her eventually as a thank you for the great care she's given to our cats, especially Calvin lately.

At this point, we just need prayer. I'm not expecting a miracle in Calvin, as this is how life works due to the curse. Just prayers for his general well-being, as well as mine. Also pray for Doogie. Doogie isn't our smart cat, but he is fully aware that Calvin isn't well, and I think he's hurting a little through all of this. He's become angry with me lately whenever I take Calvin to the vet's, and now instead of smacking Calvin when he comes home smelling funny, he gives him nose bumps and stays by his side the rest of the day. He cries like his heart is breaking when Calvin is away from home. I don't know how he'll do when Calvin is gone for good.

In the meantime, we're just enjoying every day we have with our furry boy. I hope it will be a long while still, but I'm aware that the time may be short. The one thing giving me comfort is that I fully believe that animals go to heaven, and the thought of Calvin standing in heaven meowing his heart out in praise to the Almighty makes me laugh.

The Winner: Star Wars Scrapbook Kit

2009-11-06T13:44:00.005-06:00

I put numbers in a cup, then drew the winning number to determine the winner of the Star Wars Scrapbooking Kit.

The winner is Dolphin Girl! Please send me your mailing information, and I'll get the scrapbooking stuff sent out to you!

Thanks to all of you who entered.

A Rather Belated Halloween Party Post

2009-11-06T01:00:00.000-06:00

I have a new computer, and I've been trying to transfer stuff from one computer to the other, so I haven't been updating here. Obviously. But now that I have Photoshop downloaded, I'm finally getting around to posting pics of our Halloween party.

My theme for the table was as some of you guessed: Miss Havisham's wedding banquet.

I made the "rotting" wedding cake out of styrofoam and papier mache, and Steven gave it the extra old look with some spray paint. When getting ready for the party, I dealt with the food and put Steven in charge of the decor. I think he did a great job! I did have to mix-and-match the china, as we had 10 people for dinner. I have 2 sets of fine china, but one set has 9 place settings and the other has only 8. Oh well.

The table full of appetizers:

Now for the costumes. Unfortunately, I had to leave my husband in charge of the camera, as I was cooking the main course, so he didn't get everyone as they came in. For example, Sandy and Glenn came dressed as Swine Flu and a bottle of Germ X. No photo of them together or with their costumes all in place. So, anyway, here you go:

I was supposed to be dressed as Miss Havisham, but the costume didn't work out. I pulled out an old dance costume from high school and went as a geisha instead. Yeah, the makeup isn't great, but it served its purpose.

And now for my husband's costume that he worked so hard on. He decided to be a creepy scarecrow this year:

He won Most Disturbing at work this year. Um, yeah... Still not sure if I'm proud or horrified. Really, I think he did a great job on his costume. However, it caused a little issue when it came to answering the door to trick-or-treaters. Steven wanted to greet our party guests at the door looking all creepy, but we didn't know who was actually at the door when the bell rang. So every time the doorbell rang, I'd race to get to the door ahead of him so that there would be a smiling face at the door and not just Mr. Creepy if kids were on the porch. As soon as our last guests arrived, I made him take it off for answering the door. It's amazing what a difference that made! When he was in costume, the kids would just stand and stare in total silence. No chat, no thank yous, just silence. Once he was unmasked and dressed normally, they were talkative and expressed thanks for the candy. Funny how that works.

Giveaway: Star Wars Scrapbooking Kit

2009-10-30T16:24:00.006-05:00

I haven't done a giveaway in a while, so while at Star Wars Fan Days III last weekend, I scoured the vendor room looking for the perfect thing. Steven and I knew immediately when we came upon this that it would be just right for my blog:

It's a Star Wars Scrapbook Kit! (Click on the pictures to see them larger.) Included inside:
- 8 sheets of double-sided paper
- 1 12"x12" sheet of cardstock stickers
- 1 sheet of epoxy stickers

This set is The Clone Wars Collection. For a chance to win, simply leave a comment and a way to contact you if you're the winner. Contest will be closed at noon on Friday, November 6th, and a winner will be randomly chosen. Good luck!

Prayer for Calvin

2009-10-29T23:48:00.003-05:00

My furry boy isn't doing so well. He has another bladder infection, and he's built up antibiotic resistance to the strongest stuff the vet has. His kidney function has decreased, he's lost more weight, and he's developed a heart murmur. We came home from the vet's on Tuesday with an antibiotic that hasn't worked for him in the past, but we're hoping. The vet really examined the bacteria plaguing his little body, and she said it's rod shaped. This particular drug is supposed to work well on rods.

The news isn't good, and I realize our time with him is waning. Yet, once he was home again with me, he just purred his little heart out and stuck to me like glue. Tonight he made a pest of himself, as he wanted our chicken from dinner. Later I had him running through the house, chasing after some of Doogie's yarn. In spite of the poor diagnosis, he's telling me not to give up on him because he has life left in him, and he intends to live it.

I intend to let him.

*Please pray for my baby if you're not opposed to praying for animals. Specifically, pray that the antibiotic will work, and he'll get some relief from these constant bladder infections. He's already battling kidney disease; I'd love it if he didn't have to work to fight infections, too.

Star Wars Fan Days III

2009-10-28T15:00:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was Star Wars Fan Days III in Plano. Steven left super early on Saturday morning to help set up the 501st booth/room. I joined him a few hours later. (I was exhausted after the concert the night before!) I walked in just in time for all the stormtroopers to leave to take pictures. Someone asked if there were any handlers to man the tables, and suddenly, I was working.

The 501st Legion did more than just attend in costume this year. They worked hard to raise money for breast cancer research. The stormtroopers went pink!

In addition to special costumes, they held a bake sale to raise money. Vader Halloween buckets were spray painted pink to collect whatever people wanted to donate. Additionally, one of the members made two custom Pink Royal Guards to auction off to raise money.

I always enjoy walking around the convention. Plenty of interesting things to see. This absolutely cracked me up:

I was very impressed by Wayne's Land Speeder. (Wayne is also the one who owns R2.)

Scott Horne of Yak's Pub was there, so we stopped to chat with him for a while. Even though Yak's Pub said, "Do Not Touch," my husband was allowed to play with it. We got to take pictures with Yak himself (although I got in a little trouble when I grabbed Yak and asked, "This is Yak, right?").

My husband asked me to take pictures of the set-up with the zombie figures he purchased at the con. Creepy Luke was the perfect figure to pair with the zombies. Scott took a picture with the zombies, too.

Anthony Daniels was there signing autographs. I had to laugh when a 50-something woman in front of me sighed like a 13-year-old girl and said, "He's so cute!"

Definitely a full weekend.

Star Wars: In Concert

2009-10-27T20:00:00.003-05:00

Star Wars: In Concert was here last weekend at the new Cowboys Stadium, and the stormtroopers were invited to attend. I went along as a handler, and for the first time, I truly had to handle! (Usually, I'm just telling a little kid not to hit the stormtrooper with his plastic lightsaber or to leave his gun alone.)

The guys changed down in a dance room that presumably is used by the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. (There was a big photo of them in the room.) While they were changing, Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca, came in with his wife to say hello. They were there to attend the concert. We all thought that was very nice of them to think of the 501st Legion and stop by.

We rode up in the service elevator.

The doors opened and the hordes descended upon the group. Ordinarily I stick with my husband when he's in costume, but this time I stuck to Vader like glue. He's always the most popular. My pictures of this part of things aren't very good, but they capture well just how crowded things were. The crowds were too close for comfort, to be honest!

When it was time for the guys to go change back into normal clothes before the concert started, I had to lead them through the crowd. Everyone wanted Vader to stop for photos. Good thing I used to be a teacher, because my teacher voice and authoritative tone came in handy for telling people that he wasn't stopping for photos and please let him through! After getting that group through, I had to go back two more times to pull stormtroopers through the crowd. I've never worked so hard as a handler before!

I did stop to take a photo with R2-D2. Wayne Orr was brave enough to bring his R2 into the madhouse.

After everyone was changed, we went down to the concert. They gave us great seats! We were dead center in the first set of seats behind the floor. The acoustics were surprisingly decent, considering it was a symphony playing in a huge stadium. However, I had to laugh when I saw people walking in with beer and nachos. That's a symphony first! Anthony Daniels, who played C-3PO in the movies narrated between musical numbers.

We didn't actually see the end of the show, as the guys had to go put their costumes back on for more photo ops. After that, once Steven was dressed normally again, he and I wandered through the Star Wars prop exhibit that was on display. I took a picture with the ewoks, of course.

Cleaning Scents

2009-10-22T15:17:00.005-05:00

I'm super sensitive to smells. The littlest things can be migraine-inducing for me. Because of that, I prefer unscented cleaning supplies, but sometimes it's nice to have a fresh scent accompany a cleaning job.

Here's my little secret:

I love essential oils because they're pure scents, rather than chemical ones, and I can choose the ones I like and can tolerate. I use them in the cleaners that I make myself. My personal favorites for cleaning are lime, peppermint, and lavender.

When I mop, I use 1 tablespoon of borax in a gallon of hot water. Easy and unscented. Add a few drops of essential oil to the mop water, and mopping because a more pleasant task.

The scent even lingers for a while afterwards, making the house smell clean, in addition to looking clean.

Star Wars Meets Mod Podge

2009-10-21T01:00:00.000-05:00

Sometimes the props that the stormtroopers take out into the public have some difficulties. The front of the life-size action figure card was coming apart at the seams and minorly ripping in a few other places.

Mod Podge to the rescue! No crafter is without it. I recommended a good coat of the stuff to reglue the seams and give it a protective layer. Steven told me to go for it.

I think it will be able to take whatever the public dishes out now!

Speaking of the public, we'll be at Star Wars: In Concert at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington on Friday night. If you're local and happen to be there, come say hello! I'll be with the stormtroopers, of course.

Saying Thanks

2009-10-20T10:00:00.000-05:00

We had a lot of help putting together the youth group's 5th quarter party. There was the leadership team, of course, but then there were those who weren't part of our team and helped out just because. Typically I send those folks thank-you notes in the mail, but as I was baking bread on Saturday, I decided to use that to say thanks.

I stamped tags with a thank-you message, then wrote a little something on each one.

Then I tied them onto the bags of bread.

If you're wondering why someone got a full loaf while others only got halves, well, the full loaf goes to a couple who helped. And boy, did they help! The husband was the only one who stayed with us until 3:15am to clean up the church afterwards. That's friendship!

And as a little crafty FYI, an old hair straightener is great for ironing out crumpled ribbon! I bought a new one a couple of months ago, and my old one now lives in my craft room.

GLOW: 5th Quarter

2009-10-19T17:33:00.013-05:00

Our big Fall event with our youth group was a 5th quarter party last Friday. For the uninitiated, a 5th quarter is a big party held after a football game. We chose to hold this after the game for our two big rival high schools, and our students were great about inviting their friends to attend with them.

The theme was GLOW. The whole thing was my hubby's idea. I seriously don't know where he comes up with this stuff! His plan was to hang glow sticks all over the church, give the kids glow necklaces to wear, and do a bunch of stuff with black lights. Crazy, huh? Also, very cool.

Some of the preparation:

The worship center transformed:

We had karaoke going in the worship center, as well as an arena set up for playing with glow swords. Glow swords are foam lightsabers wrapped in black-light tape. The arena had black lights attached to the black barriers, which were also covered in black-light tape.

We also played Black Light Bingo, in which the kids could win some great prizes: gift cards to Starbucks, AMC theaters, and iTunes.

The hallway was set up with green glow sticks, strobe lights, and videogame music. This was where they played 4-on-4 Firefly. I have no idea how that was played, as I was busy running karaoke, but I do know it involved Nerf guns and glow-in-the-dark darts. I heard this game was a lot of fun. In fact, the first group to play didn't want to stop and give others a turn!

(That last pic was with the flash. Totally kills the glowing effect, but gives you a clear photo of what's going on.)

We also had the foyer set up with red glow sticks. We hung those above the food tables, where we had pizzas, grapes, cookies, snack mix, and soft drinks set up. You'll just have to trust me when I say that it looked really neat.

This event was a lot of work, but so much fun! Definite success!

The State Fair of Texas 2009

2009-10-15T14:44:00.026-05:00

We finally made it out to the fair yesterday. We've had rain, rain, and more rain lately, but it actually cleared up yesterday. Well, it started out very foggy, but then the sun came out. So much so, in fact, that I came home with a sunburn. Ouch.

We started by dropping off our canned goods for the North Texas Food Bank. The fair always has $1 admission on Wednesdays if you bring 3 cans of food.

(If you click on that last photo, you might be able to see that it says, "State Fair Texas."

Our first stop was the Birds of the World show. They bring out all these fabulous birds and have them show off. It's good stuff.

That last photo was my husband's attempt to capture the raven taking money from me (for conservation efforts). The raven was too quick for the camera.

The Pirates of the Caribbean diving show started out pretty lame. Lots of dumb jokes, probably meant to appeal to little kids. But the show improved as the diving really started. The captain's last dive was from 80 feet in the air! Yikes!

One of the great highlights for us is always the Auto Show. We were disappointed that Honda chose not to attend this year, but Steven was thrilled to find a Camaro all decked out like Bumblebee from Transformers. Even had the logo.

The Dallas skyline all covered in fog (or just bad air).

Ever been to a pig race? Up until yesterday, I hadn't! (I'm a city girl through and through.) It was kind of like watching reality TV: 30 minutes of show with only 5 minutes of substance. The pigs were cute, though. They set up little cheerleaders to lead each section. We were the white team. The pigs had silly names like Squealie Nelson, Britney Squeals, Hamma Montana, and Snoop Hoggy Hog. We cheered for Hamma Montana.

We sat down to dinner (Fletcher's jalapeno-and-cheese corny dog for Steven; catfish taco for me) and chatted with a nice older couple from Fort Worth. They asked us to take their picture, then offered to take ours.

While we were eating, the parade rolled by. I snapped a few photos, then totally regretted not getting a shot of the super-creepy clown thing. Kitschy and creepy all rolled into one.

As for the food, well, there were the typical offerings, such as the corny dogs. But there were also new things like fried butter, fried lattes, and fried peaches-and-cream.

We opted to try the peaches-and-cream, as people have been raving about how good it is. I have to be honest: I was unimpressed. Four slices of canned peaches, dipped in a batter, then overcooked. At least, ours was overcooked. We paid $5 for the privilege. A funnel cake would have been a better way to spend our dessert cash. Live and learn.

Finally, the icon of the State Fair of Texas: Big Tex. I promise, he looks way less creepy in daylight.

Weekend Amusements

2009-10-13T00:03:00.004-05:00

Some of the ways we amuse ourselves on the weekends:

For the record, that last photo is known as irony. I do not approve of Snuggies--even if they are pink. Saw a commercial recently advertising Snuggies for dogs. I felt sorry for the dog in the commercial. It looked embarrassed and humiliated.

The Great Tea Panic and the Joy of Old Friends

2009-10-09T15:11:00.003-05:00

I've developed a bit of an addiction. I can no longer live without Whittard of Chelsea tea. In fact, I travel with my own tea, as the stuff supplied by American hotels (and the cafeteria at youth camp) tastes like garbage in comparison. I've become a Tea Snob.

My parents ~~feed my addiction~~ buy me tea, as they go to England frequently to see their grandbabies. But on their most recent trip, they could only find 1 of the 4 tea flavors I'd requested from Whittard's. The entire company was out of stock of English Rose, which is my favorite. To make matters worse, I'd given my last reserve box to a friend since I was going to get more soon. (Friends who willingly drug your cat while you're out of town deserve the best tea in the world!)

Panic.

On a seemingly unrelated note, I love Facebook. It's put me back in touch with so many old friends, which is especially nice, as mine are spread all over the globe, and I'd lost track of most of them. That's what happens when you move a lot and finish high school in Europe in the pre-internet age.

When I mentioned on Facebook my disappointment about my parents not finding my tea, my friend Joanne asked what flavors I like. Turns out, she went searching for me, as she lives in England. (We met because we went to school together in Norway way back when.) Sweet friend that she is, she found someone selling boxes of my tea flavors on British Ebay, bought them, and is sending them to me! What an unbelievably kind thing of her to do!

Naturally, I wanted to send her something in return. She went to college in Utah, so the American thing she told me she misses is Big Red Gum. No problem! I sent her several packs, along with some crafty goodness. (She's a crafter, too, which is cool. Neither of us knew this about each other in high school, but then, we probably didn't know it about ourselves at that time!) While I do enjoy receiving gifts, I really like giving them! This was a fun package to put together. Included: gum, an American craft magazine (because I love it when my sister sends me British ones), a lavender sachet (really, a tutorial is coming), and a ton of paper punches (I got a little carried away with my Martha Stewart bird punch).

Be sure to check out Joanne's blog! I've had a blast reading through her previous posts and getting reacquainted with my dear, old friend. Old friends are the best! And not just because they buy you tea.

Halloween Prep

2009-10-08T01:00:00.000-05:00

When we can, we like to host a small Halloween dinner party for our close friends. Steven's been working hard on a top-secret costume, and I'm putting together a fun theme for the table. The only hint I'll give you as to my theme is that I'm using the Grey Lady costume idea from Martha Stewart's 2009 Halloween magazine, which led me to an idea straight from 19th-century literature. Yes, the English teacher in me couldn't resist having a literary theme.

A few things from around our house for the party:

The hubby's mask in the very early stages. I think that it currently looks like something out of the low-budget Dr. Who of decades past.

The horribly ugly brass candelabra I bought at Goodwill for $3.99. No, I'm not going to polish it up.

And the white roses I bought for the express purpose of drying them, which is really just as well since Doogie enjoys knocking over flowers in vases and making a huge mess.

Simon's Cat: A Review

2009-10-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

I've been given the privilege of reviewing Simon Tofield's book Simon's Cat here. This book is completely wordless, yet utterly hilarious. Through clever comic illustrations, Tofield gives an accurate picture of life with cats. I found myself nodding my head throughout the book because I'd either been there with my feline delinquents, or I could totally picture them doing what Simon's cat does.

Here's an example from the back cover:

Of course, when it was my own cat sitting in my suitcase, he was also peeing in it. That made for a fun phone call when I had to explain to a bride's mom why I would be late to her daughter's bridal luncheon...

But I digress.

For anyone who has ever had a cat, or visited a home with one in it, you'll understand this book. And if you're allergic to cats, you can vicariously experience what it's like to live with one. I intend to share this with my fellow cat owners.

Here's a little YouTube fun of one of Simon Tofield's videos of Simon's Cat. Unfortunately, my poor husband can relate all to well to this, as Calvin bugs him this way every morning around 6am:

Stormtrooper Preparations

2009-10-04T22:09:00.003-05:00

Can't do an event without first checking the armor and polishing things up.

Of course, it always helps to have the cat double check everything for you.

Life with Cats

2009-09-30T14:31:00.008-05:00

And with a new camera, which I'm still trying to figure out...

Anxiously watching for Daddy, who is outside. (I forgot that the flash on this camera has to be manually opened, hence the dark photo.)

Being annoyed by Daddy after he came back inside. It's a hard life, being loved on so much.

Relaxing the day away.

Making a Mask

2009-09-29T01:00:00.000-05:00

While other North Texans were spending their Monday night watching the Cowboys play football, I was covering my husband's face in some sort of nasty papier mache strips, making him look like a trauma patient. This is the basis for a mask he's making for Halloween.

Life at my house may be weird, but I suspect it's infinitely more interesting than most people's.

The Weekend Report

2009-09-28T12:25:00.008-05:00

Saturday's plans changed drastically. One of the stormtroopers was supposed to come over to work on banners, but he cancelled, so Steven and I had an afternoon to fill. We headed out to the Old Town part of our city to go to the feed store. Steven was looking for burlap for a Halloween costume he's making, but when we got downtown, the roads were blocked off. We detoured around and found a parking spot, only to be carded as we tried to enter downtown. What???

Turns out our town was having Western Days or something like that, and Old Town was blocked off from entrance. You had to prove your residency just to enter if you didn't want to pay a whopping entrance fee. I told the ~~bouncer~~ volunteer at the gate, "But we just want to go to the feed store!" Ridiculous.

Anyway, we were allowed in once we showed our driver's licenses, and we spent some time in the feed store chatting with the owner. He told us the store has been in his family for over 100 years. He was filling us in on our town's history. It was really interesting! Then Steven set about finding the burlap sacks he'd come in for.

Since we were in the gates anyway, we walked around for a bit, looking at all the displays and vendors. A car show of sorts was going on with old cars such as this:

I was sucked into this vendor's space immediately, as I found her repurposed cabinet doors just beautiful:

Our hubbies chatted and discovered that they're both Baptist ministers (mine is a youth minister and hers is a pastor), so they talked "shop" while I chose my piece of art. We totally were out looking for inexpensive materials for Steven's costume, and we wound up spending money on wall art. Unexpected, but wonderful. I've been unhappy with what's on my living room wall for quite some time, and I've been looking for just the right thing. This makes me happy:

We left Old Town and headed out to a few more places, including a New Orleans store/restaurant where we bought an inexpensive lunch of shrimp po'boys, French fries, and root beer made with Louisiana cane sugar. Pure nirvana.

Our final errand of the afternoon was a stop at Goodwill. Steven was again looking for costuming stuff. We ran into a family from our church in there, and one of the daughters was looking for a purse to take to the Homecoming dance that evening. She showed me what she'd found, and it was all so pretty that I was inspired to look at purses. I enjoy thrift store shopping, but I've never looked for or bought clothes or accessories there. That's the one hurdle I hadn't yet been willing to jump.

While looking at purses, I happened to glance at the shoes, and there was this gorgeous red pair with black accents. Excellent condition, barely-worn children's dress shoes. My size. Price: $1.50. I decided to take a chance. There was also a box full of sweaters for only 50 cents each. Again, I took a chance. Two sweaters for only 99 cents!

We went to dinner and a movie that evening with friends. I wore my fabulous new shoes and received lots of compliments. I confessed where I'd bought them and what I'd paid. Amazement all around. I think I could get used to this thrift store stuff! (But my daddy will be horrified if he finds out I'm wearing used shoes!)

Staying Busy

2009-09-24T13:20:00.005-05:00

I've rediscovered one of the great ways to save money: be too busy at home to go out. This isn't any great revelation, but it's one I have to be reminded of every so often.

What's keeping me busy? Crafty stuff. Last week it was sewing burp cloths for a baby gift. This week it's these:

I'm finally getting around to making lavender sachets. I bought the lavender several months ago when I visted Lavender Ridge Farms in Gainesville, TX, and it's been sitting in my craft room ever since. My goal all along was to make these sachets, but sewing still intimidates me, and I only pull out the sewing machine when I really have to. Now that it's out, I plan to make many of these little sachets, especially as they're extremely easy. (Tutorial is coming.) Several will be for use in our own home to protect our woolens (well, what few woolens we Texans actually own), but I'm thinking these will make for nice Christmas gifts, as well.

My whole craft room is perfumed with the scent of lavender right now. It's nice. Staying busy with creative pursuits is nice, too. Sometimes I forget just how much I like making things.

Cold Feet

2009-09-23T01:00:00.000-05:00

Nothing quite warms your feet on a chilly day like wearing giant sheep on them.

Baby Gift: Homemade Burp Cloths

2009-09-22T01:00:00.000-05:00

We were invited to a couples' baby shower over the weekend. One of those weird relationships (husband's high school best friend's little sister) with people I don't really know. I keep a stash of board books in my gift closet, as books are my standard baby gift. (Everyone gives cute clothes, but rarely does anyone try to make the new kid a book lover...) I decided to supplement the gift with some homemade burp cloths.

I claim no originality in making these. I totally snagged the idea and design from Shannon.

This project wound up being really easy. I bought some gray flannel with pink polka dots and some pale pink flannel. Unfortunately, the pink flannel faded in the wash to an almost white. Oh well. I laid out the fabric with the right sides together and drew rectangles in the dimensions in Shannon's instructions. I used a cup to round the corners.

I cut it all out after that. BTW, we recently bought a rotary cutter and large self-healing cutting mat. Rotary cutters are amazing! I zipped right through the double layers of fabric with no problems. Makes cutting so much faster and easier. I had to use scissors to round the corners, though.

Next I set about pinning them, then sewing them, leaving an opening for turning them right-side-out.

After turning them right-side-out, I ironed them so that I could be sure I had the inside seams all nice and flat and straight. Then I sewed all around the edges.

The finished product:

Sonic... At Home

2009-09-21T01:00:00.002-05:00

I'm a big fan of Sonic drinks. Love 'em! If you get one between 2-4pm, they're even fairly inexpensive, as they're half price at that time each day. But I've found a cheaper way to get the same yumminess at home.

I'd mentioned last year that I found coffee syrups at Sam's Club. Each bottle is less than $5. The bottles I bought last year just ran out, so I bought more this week. (Seriously, a very good value, IMO.) I have vanilla, raspberry, and coconut.

Mix a soft drink with whatever combo of syrups you want (I mixed raspberry and vanilla into my Sierra Mist), and voila! A drink like you'd get a Sonic (of course, without the special ice) for much less and without the drive.

Glittered Pumpkins

2009-09-19T05:00:00.001-05:00

I enjoyed my glittered pumpkins last year so much, that this year I decided to do it again. However, this time I used fake, plastic pumpkins so that I can reuse them each year. I had a much easier time this year than last year due to some smart changes.

One, plastic pumpkins with long stems are a lot easier to hold than real pumpkins with short stems. That was my #1 difference this year!

Two, water down the glue to be painted onto the pumpkins. Makes it so much easier to apply!

Three, I used coffee filters to catch the glitter as I sprinkled it over the glue-painted pumpkins. It was a nice catcher for the stray glitter, but it also made it very easy to pour the glitter back into its container. I learned this little trick... somewhere. Seriously, I'd give credit to the person I got the idea from, if only I could remember who that was!

Four, dry the pumpkins on cookie sheets lined with waxed paper. (Not a new idea for this year, but it's still helpful.)

Five, pile pumpkins into a glass bowl, and admire the sparkle.