Pumpkin Spice for Halloween

 Ever since I took that cake decorating course this summer I've been thinking about making mummies for Halloween. I finally got my chance yesterday!

I started with this recipe for Pumpkin Spice Muffins from AllRecipes.com (I get a lot of recipes from that site!).

They baked up nicely.

Next I made the cinnamon cream cheese frosting and mixed up some colors.

(yes, my oven is that small)

The first step was the face. I didn't think my mummies would look as good if you saw a delicious pumpkin color under their bandages. I tried to make black, but it came out more like an army green.

Next I piped on the bandages.

This step took some time, but it was fun.

I made a spooky day-glo green color for the eyes.

Here are my finished mummies! The lighting in my kitchen is pretty bad, sorry. I think you get the idea anyway. Pretty cute little guys, no?

This morning Nick took the mummies to work. Bye bye yummy mummies!!

Are you making any special treats for Halloween?

Fall In

It's time for Fall, hooray! This is definitely my favorite time of year. I changed my computer wallpaper over yesterday (check this out if you're a Peanuts fan like me) and thought I'd better get going on the Fall festivities around the house.

I dug through some boxes in the garage for some Halloween decorations. My friend Sue makes these Halloween snowmen. Isn't it great? She made my wedding cake topper too.

I'm all set to watch some holiday films while sewing. I love The Nightmare Before Christmas! I was in art school when that movie came out. I still remember how excited we all were to make our own stop motion animation films when we saw it. ha!

I've got my bag of candy corns and the Fall place mats are on the table.

And of course, I'm ready to use some of those earthy, warm colored fabrics again. I made a new handbag the other day with one of my earth toned fabrics and the Halloween bibs are a hit again this year at the market.

Are you getting ready?

Too Early for Halloween

I mentioned a while back that I'd like to add simple and affordable Trick or Treat bags to my shops. Well, I made a couple and put them out at my booth last week. I just had to say that a lady came by and made a somewhat rude comment about it being September, then I sold both of them a little later. All I can say is..."whatever"! I'm going to make some custom bags with kids' names too, so there! It's so funny what people feel the need to say when you're selling your handmade things. I didn't do Halloween in July, it's late September. hmpf

Harry Potter Knits

Now that I'm mostly caught up with monkey orders, I thought I'd take a minute to tell you about this cool book I got last weekend while at my knitting class. "Charmed Knits", by Alison Hansel. It's full of Harry Potter inspired (it's not affiliated with J.K. Rowling or anything) knitting projects. This book is great! Nick & I had already decided to be Harry & Ginny for Halloween this year, so a pattern for a house sweater is just what I needed.

I've already started making our Gryffindor scarves. The yarn I'm using is really cheap stuff from Michael's, and it shows, but hey! I'm only wearing it one night. There are patterns in here for all kinds of house knits, some great hats, a robe and even Errol. I'm going to attempt a pair of socks next, just for practice. I think I can handle it, even though the pattern is for Ordinary Wizarding Level and I'm only a First Year. There's even a pattern to make a mini Weasley sweater for your Christmas tree. Not as cute as the ones Fluffy Flowers makes, but still worth checking out. So, if you're a knitter who loves Harry Potter, go check out this book of patterns. It's a good one.
And while I'm on the subject of Halloween (in July) I'll show you some cool prints I picked up yesterday on a scouting trip to Berkeley. There's a fabric store there that I had to go check out. I got the Denyse Schmidt print on the bottom and the orange diamond print for 50% off! The others are from JoAnn Fabrics but just as cool and all on sale. Love that. I'm planning to make some inexpensive Trick or Treat Totes for Halloween this year. I was going for a Pottery Barn Kids Halloween look. I might applique "Trick or Treat" on the orange fabrics. What do you think? I think they'll be fun to make, and who can argue with a cute, washable and reusable bag? For now, I'll stick with monkeys though, it's too early to add Halloween to the shops.
Have a great day.