Happy and Happy

Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday that is:)! Yep, today we celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary and Matilda's 2nd birthday! Little one had to steal the spotlight I guess!

But we will start with a beautiful fall day six years ago...

The beautiful stairs of the Stanley Hotel.

My shoes embellished with my late grandmother's earrings.

Loved this toffee cake!

Yes, that is a real elk behind us:).

Then we end with a lovely joyful day two years ago...Matilda's birthday.

Even at 2.5, Charlotte knew she was in for it.

Fall has arrived in Colorado

Despite the 90 degree days we have been having for the past few weeks, fall is here! I can feel it in the air, even with the heat. The sunlight feels different and I see hints of yellow in the trees. It is no wonder why Autumn is the favorite of so many.

This weekend we traveled near Mt. Evans to Echo Lake and let me tell you, the aspen trees did not disappoint. Oh my, it was breathtaking. I say it every year how I have never seen anything so beautiful, and I said it again this weekend. Let me give you an idea of how pretty...

I was slightly obsessed with this floret of trees. We stalked it for miles looking for the perfect shot.

Notice the floret again?

We stopped at this little Idaho Springs cemetery on the way back home. Hoping to capture a ghost...no such luck.

Now before you go any further you should know that this is the point of the post where I show way too many cute pics of my girls. Consider yourself warned:)

Peek

A

Boo!

I swear she was a model in the past with these poses.

All her.

My woodland elves.

Oh what a hoot!

First I want to thank everyone for the kind compliments on the owl costume I made. I have to give credit to Tater Tots and Jello for all of the new visitors, due to the shout out!  Thanks Tater Tots!

I promise I am getting more done and taking more orders for the Owl Costume! Here is what my house looked like this past week, but don't forget to add a bag-eyed, loss of sleep, mom of two to that! How do moms stay at home AND run a business? I need tips! :)

Embroidered handprint art

I wanted to embroider something small for the longest time. I am not an expert, but I do find it therapeutic. There is something about sitting there with a hoop, needle and thread that is so soothing for me. I wish I had more ideas in my head as far as embroidering because I can see myself doing this quite a bit on fall nights.

Here is the idea that I had and it turned out beautifully. Which I realize I say pretty often on here. Which I guess makes sense because why would I post about all of the half-butt projects I messed up through the years or only half finished?

Anyway, I digress. Here is the art...it speaks for itself.

Pottery Barn inspired owl costume

Whooooo made the cutest owl costume for her adorable soon to be 2 year old daughter? Me! I loved Pottery Barn's owl costume but it is pretty much sold out everywhere and $50 is a bit steep for me so I raided my stash and came up with this:

It is safe to say that I love this owl costume. I may just leave the cape as the costume and add a turtleneck and pants underneath. Or I may make a coordinating dress for underneath, which is more likely.

I wish I knew how to make a pattern I drew up into a pdf file, I really want to share this with everyone. And I wish I had hours of extra time to sell them in my etsy shop (see update below)! I am going to try, especially since this fits my big 4.5 year old as well!

Happy Halloween!

UPDATE! I now have 10 available for custom orders in my Etsy shop:)  I can now take custom orders on these.  They will be available in my Etsy shop in the future as I sew them, so keep looking for Christmas!

Linked up to the Weekend Wrap-Up Party @ Tatertots and Jell-O, Sunday Showcase Party @ Under the Table and Dreaming, Motivate Me Monday @ Keeping it Simple, and Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch.

Thrifting warnings!

First warning is about bed bugs. Gross, I know, but PLEASE be careful when buying furniture, clothing, stuffed animals, pretty much anything cloth (and possibly more, who knows!). The bed bug epidemic is not just on the east coast, it is pretty much everywhere now. They knew this was going to happen with international travel and they don't see it ever going away. Plus this is very expensive to remedy and clean up, and awful time consuming!

And let's not forget the fact that they lay thousands of eggs at a time. Plus the bites, which I was told when they sense you are awaking by both movement and the CO2 in the air they take 3 bites out of you...for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's disgusting. Just the thought of it makes me want to go shower!

So please just be careful!

PS, this also applies to non-resale shops as well. Even my beloved Gap was hit! Poor Gap:( At least I still have Target! 

Halloween pipe cleaner ornaments

I needed something to spruce up our Halloween tree. I have been looking at vintage Halloween art on flickr and around the web. My original intention was to just use the illustrations for magnets and earrings (personal use of course!). Then I got an idea to put them all on a sheet and get a 5x7 printed at Costco and make ornaments out of them.

They turned out pretty cool, right? Plus the kids play dolls with them, so they work double duty.

PS, if anyone wants this 5x7 jpeg, let me know and I will email the file to you!

Linked to Blue Cricket Design's Show and Tell.