Did you know I CANNOT handle the phrase “outside the box”?

Well, I can’t.

I came across an old memory card the other day. It has a bunch of old projects on it. Some of them are worth revisiting. Some are not. :o) At any rate, I should have enough blog fodder to get me through getting my house back together. My floors FINALLY got finished yesterday and we had shutters installed as well. I think all the furniture can go back where it belongs now. Well, after I finish caulking and touching up paint and stuff.

Rambling…anyway…Halloween is approaching quickly. Sadly, 3 out of 4 children have opinions this year. It looks like theme-y public humiliation is a thing of the past.

This picture was on the old memory card:

This was the first year that I ever decided to think beyond a) store bought costumes or b) costumes made straight from a pattern.

Keller’s Jedi pants? Totally traced a pair of his pajamas.

The Jedi tunic? Not even a tunic! It’s just 2 strips of fabric criss-crossed on his body and another strip for the belt.

The Jedi cloak? I had him lay on some felt with his arms straight out and traced. The hood is just a rectangle folded in half with a seam on the top. Felt is fabulous for Halloween because you don’t need to hem it. It’s also CHEAP and comes wide.

Yoda? A bear costume pattern. I drew the ears by hand and put them on lower than the bear ears were supposed to go. Amazing difference when you make the jumpsuit green instead of brown and furry, ey?

Yoda’s tunic? A long felt rectangle that I cut a circle in the middle of to go over his head. His head is huge, so I had to add the little slit in the front. The belt is another strip of felt.

Yoda’s cloak? Same as above, but I did have to hem this one.

And if you’re considering the Mario Brothers, Toad, or a cute vampire…the details and how-to from last year are here.

Hi there! Can I just say….CHAR rocks! I’ve fallen for her and her blog! It was love at first sight the moment I saw her dreamy Blue Piano! I knew instant friendships awaited us. We are too much alike it’s almost scary! Over the last few weeks we’ve discovered we have a daughter with the same name, the same chair from IKEA and we live in the same city!

Coo Coo! Coo Coo!!!

The blogging world is fun that way isn’t it. We get to meet awesome new friends!

ok…to the matter at hand!

I’m Becca. The Creative Director behind Blue Cricket Design!

( do you like how I just gave myself that fancy title!)

Sewing group was last night. We made Phoebe bags.

My friend Casey wanted a little one for her daughter Paige.

We copied the pattern at 65%. I left the strap the same thickness as in the original, but shortened it.

If you’re in Utah, you can watch my sister on Studio 5 this morning.

You know who else is going to be on? Heather Bailey, aka the woman whose fabric made my sewing room what it is today (a mess — ha!). And I almost cried tears of joy the 2 times she commented on my blog. Seriously. I don’t think my sister’s nearly as excited about that as I am. Kids!

And, tomorrow I’ll be blog swapping. Look forward to meeting someone new here!

Look what we woke up to this morning:

Keller’s already informed me we’re putting it away for next year.

And happy anniversary to me!

Why yes I was a child bride, thanks for noticing.

We went to a resort on our honeymoon where anyone under 21 had to be accompanied by an adult at all times. Good thing we were so deliriously in love that I wanted to be accompanied at all times.

BC-

Thanks for knowing that when I’m 9 months pregnant and I trip on a book and yell “I CAN’T POSSIBLY HAVE A BABY WITH ALL THESE BOOKS LAYING AROUND!” that the right thing to do is take me to a furniture store to order book shelves (that won’t be in ’til the baby is 2 months old).

Thanks for coaching kids’ soccer teams, even though you don’t know anything about soccer.

Thanks for going on field trips and riding the smelly bus.

Thanks for indulging my need to make stuff and telling me that I’m good at it (even if you’re making it up).

And, perhaps most importantly, thanks for taking the poop covered kid still strapped into his high chair out into the backyard and spraying him off with the hose so I didn’t have to deal with it last night.

THAT is true love, folks.

Macy had a friend over today. We were discussing hand-me-downs.

I told them to be grateful they didn’t get hand-me-downs from their 6 year old brothers.

You know, just joking around.

They went upstairs and reappeared looking like this:

I think those pants Macy’s wearing might even be Campbell’s.

Remember my experiment in gardening?

Today, we harvested.

Recruit some extra kids to help. Make sure they’re willing to REALLY get into it.

Washing the potatoes off.

Even Ben got in on the action.

Not bad for a couple of garbage cans!

The question I get asked most often is whether or not the edges on the appliques fray.

My offical answer: Just a little.

The Wonder Under stops most of the fraying. The straight stitch will stop the rest.

You can do a tight zig zag (satin stitch) and enclose the edges completely, if you prefer.

Here are 3 examples from Bennett’s closet. They’ve all been washed repeatedly.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

So, what now?

Truth be told, I feel like I’m in a slump. Not a good time to be slumping, ey? (And now I’m singing Bobby Brown with slumpin’ in place of humpin’. I’m really, REALLY good at changing the lyrics to songs. Usually it’s dirty, though.)

I’m still making crap, but none of it is really blog worthy. I’ve made a couple of baby slings, some tie onesies, covered some wipes cases, and even made a bridesmaid’s dress for a neighborhood. Not a single picture.

And the computer’s wonky, too. It takes approximately 15 mouse clicks to get anything to happen.

I do, however, want to say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to all of you that have stopped by and commented and emailed and stuff.

To answer a few questions…

No, I don’t sell anything. I don’t have an Etsy shop (though I do have an Etsy shopping problem). Will that ever change? Dunno.

I added the followers gadget. It’s on the bottom of the left hand column.

I *only* have 4 kids. The 14 was a joke and/or typo. Can you imagine???

Anything else you’d like to know?

I’m the featured blog at Today’s Creative Blog!

And tomorrow, my bathroom light makeover can be seen on Mod Podge Rocks.

Go add both of these sites to your reader NOW.

Good stuff.