Wedding Pillows

Here are a couple of wedding pillows I made this last week for local customers. 
Both weddings were Saturday.  

























I love making these because I know they will be cherished by the couples. 






















Hope you had a great weekend. 

Looks like Autumn

Our region of Texas is in a severe drought.  All the recent rain has our grass green again. We haven't watered since mid August.   Looking forward to more color in the coming weeks.

Busy Weekend

I've been sewing but my time to post has been non existent.  This week I was responsible for our city's Drug Take Back Event.  It was a HUGE success but requires so much preparation. 

Here is a collage with a few pictures. 





























We had 38 bags/boxes of solid drugs. Incredible! We are recycled TEN 95 gallon bins of plastic/paper packaging and a small truckload of boxes. Plus... we managed to have only one half empty container of trash. Eight people really "Making a Difference" in McKinney today--- I couldn't do this without the help of volunteers,  the support of the Public Works Department and the Collin County Sheriff's Office.

Buying Handmade for Staff Appreciation

Last week I got an order for eleven zipper pouches.  Woohoo, it's my biggest order to date. 

Eleven ladies in Ormond Beach Florida have a really fabulous boss --This sweet lady purchased personalized zipper pouches for her entire staff for Staff Appreciation Week.  

The sweet thing was she wrote me describing each person and then I sent-posted pictures of previous pouches I had made for her to choose from. I thought it was thoughtful and the best thing was she didn't try to haggle on price and paid to ship over night!

Halloween Swap Items

Here are a few more items I have made for my partner for the Halloween Swap I am hosting. 

First...  This is tiny but I think they are so cute.  These are Hershey's Nugget candy covers I made out of felt.  This is a design from Embroidery Garden.  I think they can double as finger puppets.

Second...  This is a Halloween Zipper Pouch.  I've made this design before but this time I embroidered the name on the back. 

Third...  This is a bowl and fabric cover.  The bowl is a large melamine mixing bowl (like 12 inches in diameter).  I made a cover for it using some fun Halloween fabric. 

Here is a photo from the top.  Micaela our daughter thought it would work well as an old fashioned  Halloween shower cap too....lol.

So, these three items, plus the Halloween Pillow, the Owl Pin Cushion, and the 3 monster treat bags along with some spools of ribbon and candy went out to my partner who lives Northwest of Dallas yesterday.  I hope she likes everything!

Autumn Be Thankful Sewing Swap

We've had so much fun with the Halloween Swap, the ladies want to do it again.  Opening up a new swap.  This is for one single Autumn item due by November 15.  You can send extras but not necessary.

Use this link to register online.    Closing soon, don't delay.

Autumn at the Dallas Arboretum

Are you ready for some eye candy?  Friday I had a fun work meeting.  The location was the Dallas Arboretum (poor me).    While there I got a behind the scenes tour  and a look at the incredible Autumn display and the new Children's Adventure Garden!  I have been to the Arboretum many times but never during the fall so this was a special treat for me.

The Autumn display has more than 50,000 pumpkins, gourds and squash!  It runs through November 27.  You can visit the Dallas Arboretum website for more information. 

Here are a few pictures I took with my phone (they don't do the place justice, but you'll get the idea).

Isn't that incredible!  I'll share pictures of the Children's Adventure Garden in the next few days.  Hope you are having a great Monday!

Halloween Monster Treat Bags

Hope you had a great weekend.  On Sunday I stayed home most of the day and did some sewing.  I am still plugging away making things for my Halloween Sewing Swap partner.  She has children so I thought I would make a little something for the kids.  Here are some little monster treat bags I started last night.  They still need googly eyes, treats and bows but you get the idea.

After sewing these little guys, I kept feeling like they were looking at me...lol.  This is a design from Five Star Fonts and they are made in the hoop. 

Flan

My Mom is the Queen of Flan.  If you are not familiar with flan it's a Mexican dessert very similar to Crème Brule or custard. Mom makes several flans a week for family, friends and pot luck gatherings.  She makes different flavors and is very much a pro!

I've been trying to duplicate her recipe and success for the last several months.  To make a long story short, let's just say I've cracked a few dozen eggs in the process of getting it right.  After several tries with my own cookware, she gave me hers when we went to visit in August.  Then, two attempts ago, we did Facetime on the Ipad so she could coach me on caramelizing the sugar. My last three attempts have been close and this week I finally got it.

Tada, here is my perfect FLAN!

I made it to take to a potluck meeting I had with the Texas Daffodil Society and it turned out just like my Mom's.  I am so proud. 

I felt like it needed a little garnish and didn't have anything besides grapes and carrots in the refrigerator.  I improvised by thinly slicing grapes and using a "Red Hot" for the center of the flower.  I am so happy with this that I had to share! 

Now that I finally got this right, this will be one of my "go to" recipes for potlucks and gatherings.  Hope you're having a great weekend. 

Wedding Pillow in Red Damask

My good friend's twin brother married a couple of weeks ago.   I made a pillow in the Bride's signature color for the gift.

The "&" is appliquéd in a suede like fabric and the embroidery is in two different shades of beige and taupe.  I am happy with the way this turned out.

Hope you are having a great weekend.