It's getting chilly!

Not sure about your area, but there's a chill in the air here. We're cozied up to the fire! We're eating all the squash from the garden and loving it!

I've been knitting like crazy, too. I finished these socks, a baby sweater, and a purse in a  matter of a month or so. If the cooler weather means I'll be more productive, I'm all for it, eh?

Here's the purse I made (and my modeling crew). Does the cooler weather make you more productive?

Look what I made: Fall display

Last weekend I was in Palm Springs. It was 107 the first day I got there. Today, I woke up and looked at the thermometer and it was 36. Thirty six. Like, a couple degrees above freezing. So, I guess that, and the fact that it literally is now fall, make me think more about picking pumpkins and eating apple pie than hitting the pool.

I gathered up a bunch of things the kids and I have been collecting around the house and neighborhood and threw them on a cute little tray I had stashed away. It took me about 6 minutes, and I think it turned out cute, right?

 (pictured here: a sunflower from our garden, a bird's nest that fell out of the tree, some cattails from down at our park, pinecones, a Delicata squash, and a mini pumpkin all on a cute vintage tray)

That's my idea of good decorating. It takes under 10 minutes, costs nothing, and looks like Martha Stewart lives here.

Got any other good fall decorating ideas?

Summer cleaning

We did a LOT of cleaning this weekend, like the insides, outsides and screens on our windows (so that's what the outside looks like...!). But the most fun was getting our car cleaned. We came across these girls, raising money for the cheer team. 

I'm a sucker for a good, old-fashioned car wash. It was cheap, and the kids got a big kick out of it. My daughter tried to play cool, but I could tell she was impressed. Can't you see it on her face?

I am so exhausted from the work and play this weekend, I'm about to fall right into bed. I hope you all had a good weekend, too!

Vintage embroidery

A few weeks ago I scored a few really old (40s?) embroidery patterns and this week I gave one a test drive. Spoiler alert: if you are a friend of mine expecting a baby soon, avert your eyes! If you aren't familiar with embroidery, you usually transfer the pattern onto fabric with an iron. The design transfers onto the fabric so you can stitch over it, but also washes off afterwards so what you have left is your finished product, not the lines.
Here's the result (close eyes preggo friend):

The photo doesn't totally do it justice. It turned out cute, thankfully, because I haven't done any embroidery for years. There are zillions of resources out there, but I bookmarked the Home Sewing Projects site because it gave me a good refresher on the basic stitches. For this project, I mostly used the outline stitch.

If you haven't ever done embroidery before, I highly recommend it. I was even teaching my 4-year-old and he really enjoyed putting the needle in and seeing the colored thread start to form pictures. It's great for kids to learn small motor skills and they get a kick out of seeing what they can make.

Greetings from our garden

We're in a severe drought here in Wisconsin, but we've used our water sparingly to water the veggie garden and keep some of the flowers alive. Here are some sneak peeks at what's growing around here.

Delicata squash

Heirloom tomatoes

Adorable black (HOT!) schnauzer

The whole she-bang

Sunflowers (taller than me)

Zinnia (mailed to us by a realtor in the area as a promo)

I also picked up embroidery this weekend after a long time away. I'm using a really great 1930s pattern I can't wait to share.

What's growing in your garden?