Goody Gourds

I have been missing my friends (big and small) over at GHS, but haven't had a chance to talk to most of them. So, I decided to make a basket of goody gourds to be surreptitiously delivered to the kitchen as a surprise for all my big friends. Each little goody gourd includes a handmade felt "kind soul" ghostie pin, a packet of sweet tarts and a packet of kisses. T helped enormously in creating the gourds. He did the actual assembly of the entire patch!

Goody Gourds Tutorial

You will need:
Orange cocktail napkins (tissue paper would work also, but rips more easily)
Green pipe cleaners
Goodies for stuffing the pumpkins
Green paper for cutting out leaf tags and hole punch (optional)

To make the pumpkins:

1. Open up a napkin into a square.
2. Place your goodies in the center. Pull up the edges and gather them at the top, creating a little sack.
3. Wrap a green pipe cleaner around the "stem" twice, leaving the ends unwound.
4. Cut out a green leaf tag, punch a hole in the top and thread it onto the pipe cleaner.
5. Using a pencil, wrap the loose ends of the pipe cleaner around to create a vine curl on each end.
6. Distribute to your friends!

Shop updated... finally!

Yep, it's true. After all of this time, I have finally added new goodies to the shop. Go over and check it out. Speaking of shop(ping), T and I have been working on our Holiday Wishlists, as requested. This year, we are both creating Wists (Wish + List = Wist) over at wists.com. You can see photos of my "wists" scrolling in the side bar over on the left of the page. You should start a Wist - it's quite easy. Let me know if you need help.

In other news, my sewing machine is back in the shop. This time it's in for a good cleaning. So I'll be working on cutting and carving again this week. I'll be able to pick it up on Thursday, but there will be photos of my other adventures until then!

If you're wondering, that's a Hot and Cold Apple up there. I made them Friday night before the fair, and am I glad I did! They were a huge hit. I only have one left. They are cute and compassionate too. You can store them in the freezer for use on bumps and bruises or you can heat them up in the microwave to warm your fingers and soothe sore muscles. I'll be working on a pear pattern once I get my machine back.

Pick a peck

We went apple picking this weekend. It was great to be out in the beautiful October weather. We went to an orchard just about an hour away where they had quite a few different types of apples. We decided to pick just Fujis, which turned out to be a good choice since the Fuji trees were just bursting with apples. The trees are not particularly tall to begin, and with the branches so full of apples, the picking was easy. We picked enough to give a bag to T's family, a bag to my family, a bag for ourselves and a bag for me to bring to school. Sneetch and I were picky about our apples and chose small (cute) ones with no spots at all. T looked for big honkers and didn't care about spots. Turns out the spots easily wash off, so they're all good. And they're certainly crisp, juicy and delicious.

In sewing news, I spent Sunday finishing up the Boo Boo Bumpkins I've been working on for my babies at school. I sewed up their final seams, gave them leaf hair and stems and filled them with flax seeds. Now I just have to make little baggies for them to go into and I'll be all done; two weeks early! Can you believe it? I'll try to get a picture of the lot of them tonight. :)