Ever so Clever:: September 2009

Sewing Attempt #1: Pillow Cover

>> Monday, September 28, 2009 – craft

I was inspired by Melissa at The Inspired Room to try some of her Fall Nesting Tips.

A lightbulb went off in my head when she listed monogramming a pillow with felt.

Hey! I can do that!

So...or Sew.....

I had an old pillow, some left over fabric from an ancient chair covering project, a sewing machine that works, some brown felt and Tacky glue.

Umm....I'm sewing impaired so I really can't explain what I did...I guess you could say I made a simple envelop with the fabric to fit over the pillow (I didn't bother to close the opening. Perhaps I'll get some Velcro dots for that).

Next I grabbed a piece of brown felt and cut out the letter B. All I did was glue the letter to the fabric. I'm pretty sure it's not washing machine safe but oh well. I think next time, I would stitch the monogram into place before sewing the seams of the pillow envelop.

Here's the not-so-pretty backside. Pretty ugly, right?

But the Girlies thought it was pretty neat...and Big Bear really enjoyed his time next to the "new" pillow.

Okay...so it's not at all professional... I can see all you seamstresses out there shuddering. I did however manage to make this in less than an hour. So, that's good, right? (ahem, my next project will be to learn how to sew straight)

Be sure to stop at A Soft Place to Land and check out other DIY Day projects. I'm in desperate need of motivation so you can bet I'll be checking it out!

A Fall Walk

Hello Mr. Snake! We promise not to bother you....

Fun trick...make the bags into pretend balloons. At least while the wind blows.

Turkey Feathers!

Two sisters going for a walk.

A snail....

In the hands of a curious six year old.

Observing deer tracks.

A creative way to carry Polly (the toy dog).

We were on a mission to collect acorns for a craft project. We haven't done the craft yet but I did toast the acorns in a warm oven to hopefully kill the bugs that might be living in them (ewwww).

AK Trip:: Our Last Day

Name that mountain....

Our Last Day in Alaska.

Oh, how sad that we've come to the end of the photos from our Alaskan vacation....

Here are a few more photos because naturally we packed our last day full of activities!

First- lunch at Glacier Brewhouse...our favorite for the awesome beers and wonderful food.

Next- short hike from the Glen Alps parking lot with Mark (our host) & Zeus (his black lab...cool name!).

Daddy JUST HAD TO dip his head into Campbell Creek. Yes, it's mountain fresh cold. Yes, Daddy is one crazy guy!

Yep...that water is as cold as he remembered it being! (he used to do this frequently when we lived in Anchorage and go for long hikes or bike rides)

Can you spot the tallest mountain in North America? (hint...it's on the right side of the photo)

A bit of fall color

Sleeping Lady!

Michele & Jason

Michele and I have been good friends since Junior High School. That was a long, long time ago! They were just in the process of moving to Nome during our visit.

Michele & Jason's children: Lindsey, Liam (twins) & Julia with our Girlies. Eek! It seems like only yesterday the twins were born. Boy, I must be getting old....

Isn't Julia adorable??? She's quite the ham!

Michele & Me.

One of the last photos from our Alaskan vacation....Julia wanted to come with us. Or so she thought.

We really did have an amazing trip. I had my misgivings about doing this trip....I was afraid to see the house I grew up in and that my Papa built (and we consequently had to sell when we moved to the Lower 48). But...despite all that I've got to admit that I was relieved that we weren't living there any more. I loved that house but it wasn't mine. I also wasn't sure how it would feel being back...but it really felt like home. I haven't felt at home in any other state (even though I've got lots of friends here). Certainly a few things have changed in Anchorage since we last saw it! But underneath it all is my old home town. Thank goodness!

One funny/annoying thing...we left Mark's hat in the rental car! Oh well. REI still sells those hats and we bought him a new one in Madison.

While we were waiting to board our plane in Anchorage, Annika kept saying over and over that she didn't want to leave Anchorage and Alaska. It is with some sadness that I wish we could have stayed too. (tearing up now)

A Quick Trip to the Apple Orchard

It's APPLE SEASON here in Southwest Wisconsin! And that means the Gays Mills' apple orchards are in overtime production. This particular weekend is AppleFest in Gays Mills...which translates to uber-crowded store rooms. Perhaps NOT the best time to come get your apple fix taken care of....

BUT how can you resist sinking your teeth into a juicy Honeycrisp apple?

After our quick (ha!) trip to Kickapoo Orchard to procure some Honeycrisp apples and apple cider.... we headed out to a U-Pick apple orchard, Starry Ridge Orchard, to pick Cortland apples... I don't know about you but I'd much rather pick the apples myself then go to a store room. I think the Girlies preferred it too!
Yippee! Ava got an apple! (she's a little on the short side but she managed to help fill our big box).

Remember girls to twist the apples off! Don't yank them!

Ava on tippy toes trying to reach that apple!

Apple= Nature's Lovely Perfection

Annika was funny- she wanted to shine up her apples (by polishing them on her shirt) to make them "look like they came from the store". Ummmm...actually Annika we want them to look like they came from the apple orchard! Funny girl.

Before the box got too full Ava wanted to move the wagon to our next picking location. With Annika's help.

Once the box got full, Annika took over as Wagon Driver. She very happily pulled the wagon back to the check-out station. I kept asking her if she'd like me to relieve her and she adamantly said NO!

One last photo of my cute Girlies under an apple tree.

What are we going to do with all those apples? We'll turn most of them into applesauce. Some I'll turn into apple pie filling (and freeze for future use). Yummy!

AK Trip::Flattop

On Friday morning Mark visited his old workplace to catch up with some old friends. While he was away the Girlies and I had a relaxing time at our host's house.

Here the Girlies are making a big, luxurious bed for Kitty Kitty (notice the bowl of food in the middle?).

The Girlies then made a House with all the pillows, blankets, and chairs they could find.

Ava put a bag on Butterball's (or whatever his current name is) bottom. Reminds me of a diaper. Beverly and I had a good laugh at this.

After lunch at Arctic Roadrunner (they have great burgers & shakes plus a truly unique Alaskan decor for your viewing pleasure), Mark and I got to hike up Flattop sans the Girlies. Thank you so much Beverly for watching them for us! I'm pretty sure we would not have made it to the top of this hike with them...perhaps you can see why....

It goes UP and UP and even more UP.

Looking down from the trail...can you see the bull moose wayyyyy down there?

Here's a close-up....

The stairs going UP. And Up. And UP. Actually, I so much appreciate having these stairs. These stairs were put up by some very kind volunteer workers many years ago. You should have seen the trail BEFORE these stairs were put into place.

Is that steep or what? (the answer is: YES, it's very steep!). Just before you reach the top you even get to do a little bit of rock climbing where you're using your hands and feet. I mean, it's not difficult but don't look down!

Me at the top. Yes, it really is a plateau up there.

Cute flowers on plateau. It's much colder and very windy at the top. Most of the flowers are extremely tiny. Almost need a magnifying glass to view them. You'd certainly miss them if you weren't looking for them.