Halloween Goodness

Happy Halloween!



Yesterday I received a little mail love from one of my new vintage swap blog buddies, Camille Creates. I won a giveaway on her blog for an adorable handmade Halloween garland.



Look, it says 'BOO' in the center - so cute!



Thanks Camille!

I'm just starting to get into having seasonal decorations around my apartment, and I was so inspired by my new garland that I decided to create something for my apartment door.

TA-DA!



I made this with some construction paper, gift-wrapping materials that Camille sent and this cute downloadable Halloween card from the Black Apple. It's a little wonky, but such an instant gratification project. I am smitten. I am going to save it for next year and build upon it, possibly hanging in the center of a black ribbon wreath, which I've been wanting to make for ages.

Do any of you do anything interesting and festive for Halloween? Tell me about it :)

Gifts from Mexico

Matt returned in the wee hours of this morning from a business trip to Mexico - lucky ducky! He came home with gifts for the house.

First, he sweetly says, "I saw this, and I instantly thought of you." Aww, what a schmoopie!

A beautiful 3-D shadowbox with Frida Kahlo



When I was in high school, I did a major project on Diego Rivera, and thusly became interested in Frida Kahlo. I love the movie "Frida" with Salma Hayek, and if you have not seen it, I highly recommend it. Lots of interesting crafty elements!

Then, Matt followed up with, "Aaaaaaand this is a gift for me, well, I guess it could be a gift for the both of us..."



Meet Mr. Calaca.

I think this might be my husband's form of payback for all of the girly goodness I've been dragging into the house lately, HA!

He's not so bad though, this dude knows how to party down!



Hobbes is not quite sure what she thinks of all this though!



Oh. My.

***

My other highlight of the day was a visit from Mum. She came with DOUGHNUTS, mmm, and we had a grand old time. I introduced Mum to SUPER BURRITO, an amazing burrito place down the street from me, and we chatted and blog surfed and listened to music. (Now, Mum likes Andrew Bird too!) I absolutely miss living so close to my parents, so our less frequent visits are extra special bright spots. Thanks for driving down Mum!

Now...off to knit!

Thrifty Haul :: Part 3

This is the end of the magical thrift haul...

Little bit of damage...



But worth saving, for .23 cents



I stared at this at the thrift store for a good five minutes thinking "Fabulous? Fugly? Fabulous? Fugly?"



I went with fabulous!



I nearly fell over with joy when the vendor said $2 for this cake saver...



And what's a post without Pyrex, really? I spent a measly buck on this kick-ass carafe!



That's it, tout fin! I think I may have to impose that thrift diet again. Where am I going to put all of this stuff?

I *did* purge a little the other day...I put this together for a very sweet friend:



Homemade baked oatmeal mix inside - I hope milk glass makes her as happy as it makes me!

Thrifty Haul :: Part 2

*BIG* doily



Little doilies



Impossibly cute pot holders



.23 cents a piece!

Pretty fabric



from a frumpy, yet awesome house dress



Embroidered pocket



from another house dress!



And there was more...part 3 soon to follow.

(P.S. I think I need to go on another self imposed thrift diet again.)

Oh - and thrifting news aside, the Andrew Bird concert was the most awesome thing ever. I am *OBSESSED* I want every single one of his albums. I currently only own Weather Systems. (GIANT CHRISTMAS HINT TO WHOMEVER READS THIS, HA!)

Thrifty Haul :: Part 1

I feel like all of my posts are about thrift hauls lately. Hi my name is Sarah, and I am a thrifting addict. I have renounced cooking, crafting, knitting and now all I do now is thrift. Welcome to my blog and be jealous of my scores, HA! (P.S. Totally kidding about that whole renouncing business).

Not only was all of this Pyrex, and Blue Heaven priced for a song...but I had so much stuff at the counter that I don't think that the girl working bothered to ring it all up. She quoted me a price and I practically skipped out the door.



First row: Butterfly Gold 943-4 1.5 Oval Casserole, Snowflake Blue 2.5 Quart Oval Casserole
Second Row: Two Early American Cinderella Mixing Bowls, 442 and 444, Two (not Pyrex) Blue Heaven Dinner Plates, One handled platter

I'm not a huge fan of the Early American pattern, but these were in such great shape, and reasonably priced, that I thought I would pick them up, if any of my Pyrex Love friends want to make a trade somewhere down the line.

I would love to show you more of my fun haul, but I have to get ready for my big night out. I'm going to see Andrew Bird with the super talented Abbie from Theodesign. I'm so excited!

What about you, dearies? Any exciting thrift scores / plans for the weekend?

Crafty Nightmares aka The moment Geek+Nerd crossed the thresh-hold into crafty insanity

Last night...I had a crafty NIGHTMARE!

I did! It was so weird, that I just have to share it with you...

I dreamt that I had this bus...



And I was like a traveling saleslady crafty gypsy. The inside of my bus was tricked out a la Dottie Angel , lots of doilies and fabrics and craft projects in the works.

I stopped at a rest stop, and suddenly there is this crazy old lady in my bus!



And she was trying to steal my apron!

And I was like "Hey crazy old lady, that's not yours."

And she said "It is too mine."

And I said, "That can't be, I made it!"

Then an old man came on the bus, and said, "Sorry about her, she's a kleptomaniac." He made the old woman put back the apron, and I watched them walk away. Suddenly crazy old lady turns around and she's got handfuls of my craft stuff, aprons and what not, and is cackling and running away from me.

Then I woke up.

WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN? Thoughts? Anyone? Bueller?

Gloom and Doom (and Garlands and Knitting)

It has happened...first cold of the year, and it's a doozy! The aches and croaky voice started in on me yesterday at work and by this morning I had a fever, headache and a nose running like a faucet. Yippee!

To make today extra enjoyable it is gloomy and rainy here in Boston. Later in the afternoon, the already icky weather morphed into this:



SNOW! I couldn't believe it! Normally I would be the first to cheer for a first snow but a) It's October and b) It's crappy wet snow, not fluffy Christmas happiness inducing tra-la-la snow!

GRR, so that's my gloom and doom report for the day. Let's lighten things up a bit shall we?

After seeing many, many examples on blogs and Flickr, earlier this week I made a scrap paper garland for myself.



It's pretty cute, if I do say so myself! Bettie Page is hiding up there too!



I'm also back on the Holiday Handmade Crusade bandwagon. I'm ashamed to say that I've been a very lazy Craftastic Christmas Crusader in the past few months. Late with themes, late with prizes, but it's October people and it's time for me to get movin'! My October theme is Hearth and Home. Let me explain:

During autumn and harvest time, I get decidedly nest-y. I think something about my personality makes me want to prepare our little home and make it as comfortable as possible as we transition to spending more time indoors. So, therefore, I declare October's theme Hearth and Home. Make something that will spruce up someone on your gift list's home. This time of year is great for finding wreath making materials, or perhaps you could sew a pillow or create a beautiful piece of art. Anything to make a home more cozy! The sky is the the limit!

I've been working on multiple wash cloths for this very theme:



I'm going to purchase locally made bars of soap, wrap them in the wash cloths and tie them up with some scrap fabric. These will go to some of the ladies in my family. Hopefully they will appreciate a little hand made goodness to brighten up their bathrooms. I have three out of five done and luckily these knit up fast.

Have any of you been doing some holiday crafting in advance? I'd love to hear about it :)

Alright folks, back to guzzling tea, blowing my nose and sleeping. REPEAT.

Jaywalker Socks

I was going to show these off yesterday, but I learned an important lesson. Never take blog photos at 7:00 AM, before rushing to work. I *thought* the photo was fine, but when I went to upload in the evening I found it to be blurry and crappy. Unacceptable for rockin' socks such as my new finished pair of Jaywalkers...



Knitterly Details:

Pattern: Jaywalker by Grumperina (rav link)
Size: Small, I wear a size 7 US women's shoe
Needles: Size 1 US / 2.25mm
Yarn: Red Heart Ltd. Heart&Sole in colorway 3960 "Spring Stripe", roughly 1.5 skeins

The verdict a) It's very difficult to take nice pictures of your feet!



b) I have very white legs



c) I LOVE THESE SOCKS!



Detail:



If you try this pattern, which I would recommend, I would say this. The small is SMALL. Usually my socks end up a little loose-n-floppin'. These are very snug, and hug my ankles. If your feet are above a U.S. women's 7, then I would size up for sure!

I got second sock syndrome on these puppies big time, finishing the first in about a week in July and not finishing the second until now! HA! I'm glad that I persisted though, I'm happy with the result. What do you think?

Literal Videos

Last night the hubby and I discovered a previously unbeknownst to us YouTube phenomenon known as "Literal Videos."

Literal videos are music videos that have been dubbed with new lyrics to describe the action in the video. We watched a few. They were kinda funny. And then we found a gem. We laughed so hard we cried. Then we watched it again. This video is comedy gold.

If you don't have time for five minutes and thirty-three seconds of solid hilarity at the moment, SAVE THIS POST, come back and settle in for a good belly laugh.



Please, favorite moments in the comments, discuss!

Tomorrow - finished crafts!

Penny Pinching with Pizza

Like every one else on the planet, I am in serious penny pinching mode. Payday (Thursday) can not come soon enough! Until then, I'm making pizza for dinner with odds and ends in my refrigerator.



This weekend we had an old favorite, Apple Onion Cheddar Pizza. Tonight I made up the following concoction. This recipe is by no means exact - so if you give it a go, substitute with whatever you have on hand!

Barbeque Harvest Pizza

1/2 recipe of amazingly simple pizza dough
Approximately 1 cup of Stonewall Kitchen's Roasted Tomato Grille Sauce (or a barbeque sauce of your choice)
Leftover bits of roasted acorn squash
Leftover bits of roast chicken
Frozen corn
Shredded Cheddar

Compose pizza in the order the ingredients appear. Bake at 425 F for 20ish minutes, or until crust looks tasty. Eat. Be Merry.

The verdict? It was fairly delicious. I might give this one another go and add some black beans into the mix.

Do you have any fun pizza ideas? Or penny pinching meals? I'd love to hear about it!

P.S. I cannot stop drinking apple cider. Mmm, I love autumn!

Fall Fun Fix

This weekend was filled with fall-themed fun.

Saturday morning I ran a Giselle Story Ballet Program in downtown Salem, (yes as in Salem Witch Trials, Salem), then I went to see a performance of the ballet in the evening with my friend Jess. Jess slept over and in the morning we met up with her husband, Alan at the Topsfield Fair. The fair was AMAZING, but alas, I don't have many pictures to share with you, since the battery in my camera pooped out soon after we arrived.

I took this photo for Matt, as this would likely be in his fantasy kitchen:



I loved this sweet strawberry crewel work:



Mmm, canned goods



I ate a delicious pulled pork sandwich from this stand...but I do find their slogan a little odd:



Even pigs love it? Really? Are these cannibalistic pigs? I'm confused, HA!

That's it for fair photos, but others things that filled the day were:

• baby chicks


• all different varieties of chickens, ducks and geese


• a sleepy stretching kangaroo which was too damn cute


• baby goats


• free kettle corn samples


• pulled pork sandwiches


• cute older crafty ladies who were surprised that I knew what redwork embroidery was


• yo-yo's


• food and fruits and veggies oh my!


• cider


• local honey


• lavender lemongrass soap


• FRIED DOUGH


• baby piglets and their huge 550 lb mama pigs


• a 1400 lb pumpkin - wow!

This morning, I used my day off to drive up to New Hampshire to visit my buddy Allison and go to Applecrest Farm for more autumnal goodness.



Today I bought:

• sugar pumpkins


• honeycrisp apples

• maple candy


• hot mulled cider


• cider doughnuts, YUM

This donkey was so preciously cute!



Look at that face!



The drive up north was so peaceful and beautiful. The foliage is gorgeous right now. It was nice to get a New Hampshire/fall fun fix this weekend...helps to ease the homesickness a little bit.

How was your weekend?

First Massachusetts Thrift Haul

I made my first thrifting trip a few days ago in search of goodies for my Vintage Swap partner. Why, oh, why did I join this swap?! Did I find anything that I thought my partner would find appealing? Not a single thing. Did I find a whole ton of crap to bring home for myself?

YUP.

Bad swap partner.

Here's the loot:

Awesome, handmade dress that fits me like a dream and makes me look like I walked off the set of Austin Powers



Two pillowcases, 79 cents each



Wool blanket, with a few minor stains, that I can cut up and repurpose



Two twin fitted sheets



Nice green cardigan



with a fun label!



Nice Gap shirt for work



I love the print, such pretty soft colors!



A single-serving Dynaware (fake Pyrex) casserole dish. This one matches one that I already have. Now my kitties each eat out of matching Pyrexy bowls. I have a disease...haha!



Lastly...



Doesn't look too exciting, eh? But...



It's made of a gorgeous soft wool/cashmere blend. It does not fit any of the men in my family, but I had to have it. Do you think the fashionista gods would hate me forever for cutting it up for the fabric? I see soft cashmere-y pillows or scarves in the future. What do you think?

How about all of you? Any fun thrift scores lately?