Happy Pumpkin Day

 

 

Hello Lovely Friends.  I feel as if I have been fast-forward-ed to the end of the month. 

 

 The gray, bleak sky today reminds me it's time to carve out pumpkins for our little family 'contest'.   Considering that I left town to visit my favorite Grandparents and returned home just in time to greet FrankenStorm Sandy, I've needed to play catch-up once again. 

 

Armed with a hot cup of apple mint tea to keep my fingers warm, I managed to help the little people make some ghosts to hang over our apple bobbing table.  I'm not at all a scary Halloween kind of girl.  No, I'm a silly pumpkin and candy kind of girl.  Nothing gross or scary here.  Just silly, sugar-filled fun to spin our memories with.   

 

We also put together some bacon fat/seed/fruit cupcakes for our feathered friends today.  It's been a fun, chilly, outside kind of day.  And once we had our birdie treats hanging around in the trees outside the Hearth Room, do you know what I heard?

  The hawk. 

 

And how about this late-bloomer?  One last little sunflower planted by dropped seeds at the feeder has opened her bright face just in time.  I'm afraid this lonely little bee is a bit cold.  It moves when I 'pet' it, but it doesn't seem to do anything more. 

 

Well, I had better be off to gather the carving supplies and cheat just enough to plan what we can do for Sweet P's pumpkin before Hubby gets home.  I'm sure he's got something up his sleeve for his pumpkin.  I know Young Man does. 

 

Boo to you!

xoxo

 

 

 

 



Crochet Christmas Ornament 1

 

 

Ok, it's a start.  It's a bit wonky, (no, it's really wonky!), and this prototype proves change is needed, but it's a beginning!

 

The 'tube' I crocheted was meant to be fairly slender, but then when it came time to 'stuff' it there was considerable difficulty.  I used a Tunisian crochet hook to stuff the filling, but it became too 'stuffed' and stretched looking.  Regardless, I now had a form on which to practice some leaves and berries.  But now that I can see all that's wrong with this one, it will make a great Christmas toy for Sweet Pea or a cat.  Maybe I'll dip it in some catnip. 

 

As much as I love the traditional Christmas colors, this leaves me craving some bright colors with a bit of whimsy. 

 

I'd better get to work!

 

 

 

 



It's a Bird Thing...

 

 

The Baby Bluebirds are still here!  I guess I really can't call them babies anymore...

 

They often come and perch near the feeders and take turns in the bath, (which I LOVE!), but recently we have had a hawk near the house.  In fact, while sitting in the backyard one afternoon watching the kids play, a hawk swooped in and took a little bird away...  So sad.  I think it was a dove.  I couldn't believe how incredibly brazen that hawk was.  It's been a while now since we've seen the hawk or heard it's very distinct cry. 

 

So now the pretty birds are back!  Young Man built another blue bird box for me and it's been leaning against the garage and often falling over.  I all but begged Hubby to put it up properly this weekend.  All joking aside, after he had the box securely in place, those bluebirds were sitting on the box and peering inside it within 10 minutes! 

 

Now as long as I can keep birdies on the outside and kitties on the inside we should all get along just fine.

 

Now on to work some more granny squares for that tree skirt...  I am also working on some new Christmas ornaments.  Wish me luck!

 

xoxo

 

 

 

 



 

Hey, Friends! 

 

I hope you have had a lovely week!  I have to laugh at myself for trying to participate in "Blogtoberfest".  It seems my posts have diminished since I started.  Sorry about that, but hey, I'm still here supporting all your "Bloggy" efforts, too.

 

We have had a busy couple of weeks here at the Hearth Room.  In fact, we had Nana here for a week.  The little people do love that!  We got a bit behind in our routine, so this week we've had to work hard to catch up. 

 

So it was super nice to sit still for about 30 seconds this afternoon.  Well, that's what it felt like....  And while I was sitting I  noticed how pretty the golden leaves were with the sun hitting them just so.  It seemed to match some of the colors in my fall/Christmas project basket. 

 

I'm sort of all over the place with my projects right now.  I'm making a very colorful Granny Christmas TREE SKIRT!  And I decided I needed a fall pennant for the door to go with my wreath.  I need to wrap these things up quickly so I can make some fabulous goodies for a swap I'm doing. 

 

Lot's of making going on here.  I'll be back to share!

 

In the mean time, my little fam has a tent up outside and I need to get out there to go 'camping' with them.

 

Happy Weekend!

xoxo

 



 

 

 

 



Fall Wreath DIY Style

 

 

Was it a "Moment of Whimsy",  a sign of desperation, or am I just plain cheap?

 

Actually, it's a result of ALL 3!  And  the fact that I love to make things myself!

 

Everywhere I go lately I find myself looking at wreaths and other decor items to place on our doors here at the Hearth Room.  From little tin signs to plastic pumpkins and vine wreaths covered in fake leaves...   Nothing was grabbing me and it was all over-priced. 

 

Finally, I came to my senses and realized I could make something myself that would show a bit of whimsy, would definitely be handmade and best of all, FREE!

 

Out to the backyard I went on a search for some vine.  As I coiled my vine into a wreath shape it instantly took on the look of a pumpkin.  I didn't know where this whole decoration thing was going at the time, so I pondered this naturally-occurring pumpkin shape and went with it.  Of course, the second naturally-occurring thing to do would be add some yarn to it, so out came a tiny bit of left over 'pumpkin' colored yarn.

 

Now this is where I might lose most folks in my handmade rustic wreath attempt, but ever since those elementary years of childhood, when you draw a pumpkin it has those slightly curved, vertical lines to show it's dimension...  Right?  So my orange crocheted chain became those lines.  Next I made a little 'bow tie' of green to tie on as leaves.  I then scavenged around in the "fall decor" bin for loose leaf and flower leftovers.  Hot glue is my friend. 

 

And Ta-Da!  I have a very handmade, very whimsical, rustic fall wreath to adorn my Hearth Room's back door.  I suppose I could have invested actual time in planning and material gathering, but the children were quiet, Hubby was watching football and I wanted instant gratification. 

 

Maybe I will plan for the next door.  And maybe I'll plan ahead for some Christmas decorations.  But today it was all about winging it fast and it was fun. 

 

So can you see that it is a pumpkin wreath?  Or as Young Man suggested, do you see a web?

I see every school aged pumpkin drawing I ever made in the form of a wreath on my back door. 

That's cool.

 

xoxo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Granny Christmas

 

 

Hello!

 

I'm back with another glimpse of my new Christmas project...

 

Do you know what it is?  Any guesses?

 

I'm headed for my yarn right now to add (hopefully) several rows of interesting colors!

 

I'm excited and can't wait to get to the next part so this will start to feel like what it really is!

 

Ahhh...  I do love some Granny Goodness!

 

xoxo

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

Hello... Did you have a good weekend? 

 

Last week was a little busier than usual for us so Sunday was a wonderful day to catch up and stay close to home.

 

We actually did a few things around the house while we listened to the constant 'hum' of the football games on television. 

 

I have had some sweet little curtains sitting quietly in their box, waiting desperately to be hung in the Hearth Room windows...  Some of them finally made it up!  Since the temps are dropping rather quickly and we had a nice chilly rain for the past few days it seems that there is finally some sense of urgency to get these windows covered! 

 

And I'm still on a sour dough bread kick.... and after feeding the starter once a week you are supposed to make bread.  Every week...  It's a really good sour dough and the family always enjoys it, but there always comes a time when you haven't eaten all the bread you've made and it's time to make more!  So I decided to cube the left over loaf and bake it to make sour dough croutons for salads or casseroles.  You know fall is casserole time, right?

 

And then I offer up this picture of a very tangled looking Christmas crochet project.  It's funny because the colors are so fall-ish right now, but it really is a Christmas thing.  I promise to come back and share what it looks like for real.  I won't even use the Hipstamatic App!

 

It is going to consist of some deeper, jewel tone colors, (I think), and I think it will make Granny proud.  Honestly, with all the pumpkin, maize and dark blue I would be willing to scrap the whole idea right now - but I've seen the pictures of the finished thing, so I will hook on!

 

Fingers crossed, Granny...

 

xoxo