Pumpkin carving

I love Halloween, and I especially love dressing up and pumpkins. Layton and I made a goal this week to watch less TV so we have been filling our time by doing projects etc. Last year we weren't very festive. We only really celebrated at Tiahna's awesome Halloween party. Here are some photos from her super cool blog. Click here to be directed to more of her cool pics.

Ms. Frizzle & Bille Nye

Spookie Treats

Rosie the Riveter & Soldier  

So to get in the holiday spirit, and to begin being more festive, we began by decorating the house and carving pumpkins.

The aftermath

This weekend we got to go over to make pizza and carve more pumpkins with our friends!! Pumpkin carving the best. Unfortunately the photos I have a really low quality (from my cell phone), so I didn't post any here.

Utah Trip

This last weekend we drove down to Utah to visit with friends and family. It was packed full of visiting, walking, talking, eating, and laughing. We spent the first part of the weekend with all of Layton's wonderful sisters, and finally got to meet our beautiful new niece Lyla :)

We had tons of fun exploring Wheeler farm, the weather was gorgeous and we enjoyed every minute.

Tiahna took all of these lovely photos, to see more click here.

A big family dinner at Goodwood BBQ, during our Our first night in UT.

My little cousin's hadn't met Layton yet. I told them he is my prince charming so he graciously demonstrated his princely talents by carrying us all out to the cars.

Towards the end of our stay we had the opportunity to visit Grammie. We had a lovely time looking at old photos, and keepsakes from her incredible life. She even gave me a few yards of fabric that she wove herself while at school.

On our last day we visited Grampie's farmers market stand, lots of yummy fresh produce!

To finish off our visit we had the opportunity to attend the LDS Temple in Provo with my uncle Randy for the first time. It was a wonderful and special experience and we were to glad to be a part of it.

Other highlights from the trip: staying at Dad's house and hot tubbing! Visiting our dear friends Becca and Ian and meeting their baby Leo. Hanging out with Max. Eating Lunch with Kevin. Finally. sunday dinner with the Conrad's. It was a very full trip and we were so grateful to spend so much time with family and friends!

Fall is here folks!

I'm so happy that fall is here! The leaves are changing but the days are still warm, and I can still ride my bike to work, and go for walks with Layton on Sundays. Here are some of the decorations we've put up, they just make the whole house seem more cheerful. 

I've also been baking up a storm, I have a great bread recipe that I make a couple of times a week. And oh the apples!!!! The orchards here at BYUI are awesome and it is so fun to go and pick you your own.

Sonnet 73

by William Shakespeare (1609)

That time of year thou mayst in me behold When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. In me thou see’st the twilight of such day As after sunset fadeth in the west; Which by and by black night doth take away, Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest. In me thou see’st the glowing of such fire, That on the ashes of his youth doth lie, As the deathbed whereon it must expire, Consumed with that which it was nourished by. This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong, To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

T-shirt Challenge

I'm sure all of you noticed a trend on all my Instagram: T-shirts. I love the feel and fit of a basic t-shirt, however they are just too casual for where I work. So I decided to dress it up a bit, and I challenged myself to make a different variation on a t-shirt everyday for a week, just to see what I could come up with. I didn't buy any fabric for this project, I just used what I had in my stash!

Here are the final results!

Monday ^

Tuesday^

Wednesday^

Thursday^

 Friday^

Saturday^

And a couple of bonus shirts just for fun!!

The basic t-shirt tutorial

Here's a quick "how to" for the most basic form of the t-shirts I've been making. I'll have another post later on the patterning I did to create all the fun variations from this last week, as well as a modified version for woven (non-stretch) fabrics later on! This tutorial works best for knits and other fabrics that have a bit of stretch.

Step 1: Grab a favorite t-shirt or one with a fit that you really like.

Step 2: Lay your old shirt on top of your fabric or paper (if you are making a pattern that you  can reuse), along the fold like this.

Step 3: Cut or trace around the t-shirt, leaving about '5/8-1' seam allowance as you cut. If you're nervous about potentially cutting your old shirt, use a pencil or some marking chalk to draw around the shirt first. (The pink lines represent the tracing around the shirt)

Step 4: Repeat the top step for the back of the shirt. (Blue lines are the tracing of the back)

Step 5: Place the two pieces together and sew along the shoulder seams. (Orange lines are where you will sew)

Step 6: Sew side seams together (once again, the orange lines).

Step 7: Neckline

This is my favorite tutorial for a t-shirt neck band, so, instead of re-inventing the wheel, click here to access the tutorial.

Here's the equation if you already get the general gist of it.

Neckline x .15 =X                   (Total neckline)-X = the length of fabric you need for neckline

Step 8: Hems

You will be finishing your sleeve edges and the bottom of your shirt. I recommend using a double needle to finish off your shirt, as it's easy and looks professional. You can use this fabulous tutorial for detailed instructions!



Ta da! Now you have your very own basic T!!!