I'm so excited.

Look at what UPS dropped off for me yesterday:

IT'S MY NEW SEWING MACHINE!  It's the Brother XR-7700.  I've had a little envelope in my sock drawer for about a year now where I've been squirreling away money for a sewing machine.  I wanted a Bernina or a Pfaff, but at the rate I was going it was going to take about a million (or at least 5) years to have enough for one. My mother-in-law sent me a link to this machine on the Costco website and I got it the next day. 

I don't anticipate it lasting me the rest of my life, but for $150, I don't mind.  And now I have a decent machine to work with while I start saving again for my dream machine. 

All weekend I was obsessively watching the tracking website, refreshing every hour or so.  Whenever it was scanned somewhere new I would announce it to my husband, who thought I was being silly but was still happy for me. 

So, here's the biggest reason I was so excited:

This is the machine I was using.  It's my mom's backup one.  Very sturdy (it's old and all the parts are metal), but also very basic.  And very finicky.  The tension has been crazy since I got it, as has the stitch length.  Lately the bobbin has been tangling and stalling the machine almost every time I start sewing.  Needless to say, I haven't been sewing much lately.  I did these and this at my mom's house, on her lovely Bernina. 

So here's my new little beauty:

I finally got to try it out last night and so far it's been awesome.  It came with 10 feet, including a free motion foot and a walking foot!!  I can do my own quilting now!! 

There are also 70 stitch options, which is fun.  I'm mostly excited by all the feet, though.  I've never used a buttonhole foot and now I just want to make things with rows and rows of buttons on them. 

I can't wait to sew knit things, either.  Doing that was almost always a disaster with my old machine.  But now... The possibilities are endless. I'm going to make leggings!  And refashion shirts! 

I've been cutting stuff out all weekend to sew, and I think I'm in for some more of that today.  In fact, I think I'll get to that right now.

More leaf art

Here's my fall mantle:

See the empty frame?  My plan was to get a print of some fall leaves for it.  That didn't work out, because as it turns out, my Costco photo account had been cancelled because I hadn't ordered any pictures for a year (whoops).  So I emailed them and they emailed back saying it would be 2-3 weeks before my account was reinstated (really?).  So I came up with something else.

I did these last year and I still really like them.  My idea for the mantle frame was similar and first involved going on a walk with my girls to collect leaves.  It was fun.  Then I pressed them.  Then I glued them to a 5x7 sheet of paper (I actually used the paper that came in the frame):

I did a few layers and made sure the paper was covered entirely.

Then I trimmed the edges:

Then I put it in the frame:

I love it- simple, natural, and it adds a bit of color to my kind of bland mantle:

Spiderweb Soup

A little late for a Halloween-type post, but whatever.

Two years ago I was watching Rachael Ray and she did a black bean soup with sour cream that looked awesome.  The thing that really caught my eye was how she did the sour cream- she had it in a squeezy bottle and did a swirl on top of the soup, then used a toothpick to pull from the center to the outside edge in a bunch of places, like the spokes on a wheel.  Then and there (two years ago) I decided that I wanted that to be my family's traditional Halloween meal.  I also decided right then that I would call it "Spiderweb Soup" and be the coolest mom in the world.

I finally made it this year, although I'm not certain the recipe I found here is the same as the one I saw on her show.  I seem to remember that one being darker than the one that resulted from this recipe.  I made it on Wednesday but next year I am DETERMINED (all caps-it must be true) to actually have it on Halloween.  I will also make the sour cream lines thicker, so you can the "web" better.

Woot for new traditions!

Baby booties!

This last week was full of sewing for me- I did the baby's costume as well as a few little things I was making by hand for our family pictures.  One of those things was some baby booties.  I had initially planned on crocheting some, but then abandoned that plan when I realized we only had a week until pictures and I still hadn't bought a pattern.  Luckily, I saw this pin on one of my sister-in-law's boards.  The pattern is from her other sister-in-law's Etsy shop.  I bought it almost immediately, because I can't crochet baby boots in a week, but I can definitely sew some in that same amount of time. 

No tutorial, since the pattern isn't my original to share, but here's how they turned out:

 

I used a brown faux velvet for the outside uppers and wool felt for the lining.  I love how they kind of look like spats.  You can see a bunch more fabric combinations here, at my sister-in-law's sister-in-law's blog. 

My unsolicited opinion of the pattern:  It was great.  There was one pdf with just that pattern pieces and another with step by step instructions with lots of pictures.  I will definitely be making more of these for my little one.

Here's how many pictures I tried to take of them on my littlest's feet:

Two month olds are so wiggly. 

My new favorite headbands

My "tutorial:"
Buy a half yard of crocheted lace.  Tie some ribbon around either end.  Put it on your head. 

Seriously, I love these.  They go with everything.