Old News

This is a really long post and by now this is all old news, sorry. I really wanted to document our great visit with my family here and the amount of pictures to go through was daunting, plus I didn't get one good one of the kids in their costumes, which I'm really sad about. But we had a great Halloween, the best ever! My parents came:





We played in the leaves a lot. We have A LOT of leaves. At this point, most of them hadn't even fallen yet. There were still a ton.











Kate was not at all sure about all of this...she stayed like this with her arms up the whole time. Pretty funny!







The weather was really nice and the girls had so my fun playing with my mom outside...









...and my dad inside.





{hiding in a bucket and playing peek-a-boo}









And then, Steve, Tina, Noah, and Seth came to celebrate our little Kate! The Baptism was in the morning and then we had everyone back at our house after. The whole family was here: All four grandparents, Uncle Mike, Aunt Carly, Uncle Jimmy, Aunt Lauren, Aunt Bonnie, Uncle Bill, Holly, & Little Luke!



Godfather Uncle Jimmy and Godmother Aunt Tina:



Kate's behavior during the ceremony was described by the priest as "spirited". That's an accurate description. She kept pushing him away when he tried to get near her! I guess that's why usually 2 month-olds are baptized, not 15 month-olds. We did it our way though and she was pretty funny.













The Baptism was on Halloween, so when it was trick-or-treat time, everyone suited up!

I made Jane's mermaid costume. My first attempt at making a costume! I didn't use a pattern, just winged it. I was very nervous that it wouldn't turn out and I'd be scrambling for something at the last minute, but it actually came out good!





And Kate....Kate was a gnome. I made her costume too. Very homemade-looking. We couldn't get any good pictures, she moves too fast. We were just happy that she wore the hat and the BEARD!!! HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!







This blurry shot pretty much sums up how much our gnome roams...everywhere...



Noah was the UPS man...hilarious! This is the only picture I got.



The kids had SO MUCH FUN trick-or-treating! Here's Jane with Holly in the Minnie dress.



I was so disappointed in the pictures I got because we were very rushed to get the kids dressed and get started, plus all the kids were so excited and didn't want to stand still for pictures. I really wanted to get one of all the kids together....but that probably wouldn't have happened anyway...they're 3, 2, 1, 1, and 1!!!

The next day there was more leaf-jumping:











We are very lucky that everyone could travel all the way here to celebrate our sweet little Kate's Baptism and Halloween too! It was so much fun to all be together. We are spending the week after Christmas in Michigan so we can't wait to see everyone again soon!

Easy No-Sew Halloween Party Flags*

*actually, I did sew them, but you can make them without sewing...I want my friends who don't sew to try this!

*and there doesn't have to be a party either.

Just so you know...this was not my idea. There are TONS of flag garlands out there in the blogosphere and I was inspired by one I saw out there somewhere. For lots and lots of inspiration, click here to check out the Flickr group, Ga-ga for Garlands. I have made many (will share more later!), they are so quick and such a cute and unique way to decorate for kids' birthdays and holidays, and also to hang in kids rooms. The possibilities are endless and you can obviously use fabrics to suit any occasion. I was walking through Pottery Barn Kids last week and saw this felt leaf garland for SIXTY dollars...



...and I think I can make something similar. I try to hang a seasonal one in the kids' playroom so maybe I'll try to copy this.

OK, so for the Halloween party flags, you'll need:
assorted fabric
bias tape
cardstock
pinking shears
sewing machine or fabric glue (I recommend Fabri-Tac or Liquid Stitch)



You can use as many different fabrics as you like. If you trace them close together, you should be able to get about 12 triangles out of 1/4 yard of fabric. I had three different fabrics, so with 1/4 yard of each, I could make a banner with 36 flags, or about 18 feet long (that's pretty long...mine only has 14 flags).

Cut a template from cardstock to trace your triangles with. My triangles are 6" across the top and 7" from top to bottom. To make a perfect triangle, first make a 6X7 rectangle, mark the midpoint on one of the short ends, and then draw a line from each of the opposite corners to the mark you made.



Trace the triangle on your fabric, alternating upside-down ones to get as many in without wasting fabric.



Cut out with pinking shears.



Now you'll need your bias tape. Use extra-wide double fold.



Sandwich the triangles in the fold of the bias tape and sew through all layers with a zig-zag stitch, alternating your flag colors however you like.





Or, open up bias tape and apply a thin line of glue to the bottom half and place a flag on top, working one flag at a time. When all flags are glued down, use more glue to glue down top flap of bias tape.

All done!

I also made a mini flag banner that I hung across the mirror in our entryway. For this one, my triangles were 2" by 3" and I used the thin bias tape instead of the extra-wide. It's little and cute!



Ohhh...let's get a better look at that candy...



Yum! I hope the Great Pumpkin brings you many treats this year. And speaking of the Great Pumpkin, LOOK at this fabric I found!!! I love it!



I think I'm going to make a tablecloth with green pom pom trim for the kids' playroom. They won't know who these characters are and when they're old enough to watch the Peanuts specials on TV, I will force them to watch and they'll probably hate it. So the tablecloth is really for me!!!

Anyway, back to Halloween...have a great one!!! Be back soon, hopefully to post pictures of my homemade costumes!