Halloween this year is a little crazy for us. Thanks to a dear friend, I just might survive it. So because tomorrow will be logistically crazy, we did a little celebrating early, which included costume pictures for Zoe yesterday.

I always try and do them a day or so before the festivities, 1. in case they turn out bad, I have another shot, 2. because she's more likely to stay still and pose, if we aren't headed to a sugar filled party.

Our cookie party is later this week, and Zoe was anxious to start packing up our goodie bags this weekend. So we ripped into the goodies and divided them up.

Here's what they included...


The confetti was found at Target and the treat bags were left over from my guest design gig at Pebbles (come back Thursday for more about that) The rest was from Dollar Tree and Wal-Mart.

To seal the bags, I made these circle labels, printed them on white sticker paper, and cut them out with my Silhouette Print and Cut feature ( hands down my FAVORITE thing about this machine!)

Isn't my friend's little boy perfect? I asked her to let me use these photos because they are the perfect candid pumpkin patch photos. The colors and expressions are just fantastic. She is my photography hero.

If you know me at all, you know I LOVE fall! Like probably an unhealthy amount. I've been to my fair share of pumpkin patches. I wanted to share a few of my tip for getting great pumpkin pictures.

1. Go during the evening, and during the week if you can. The less busy, the better. You can get great photos of the whole pumpkin patch, if there aren't other people around and the light is always better in the evening. Plus, you might even get a cool sun-flare photo.

2. Wear muted toned clothes. I love that the orange and green of the pumpkin POP against his brown and tan shirts. Also, avoid wearing orange. Orange on orange is a lot of orange.

3. Follow your kids while they are looking at pumpkins. My favorite photos are always the candid ones.

What are you favorite pumpkin recipes? Have you ever made your own pumpkin puree? I've been thinking about doing that this year, but I'm a little nervous to try.

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

Fabric: Too Cute Too Spook, Font: Chunkfive

I'm super excited about today's project. After I finished the Arrow Quilt, I had a bunch of triangle scraps leftover and this project is the perfect thing for a pile of unclaimed scraps.

I made two versions, both are no-sew, this first one is made from the Arrow Quilt fabric scraps. The scraps were already cut into triangles. I cut triangles from the Heat n' Bond (HNB) to match the fabric scraps. Then ironed the HNB to the backside of the fabric triangles. I trimmed the triangles to 3.5" x 2.5" x .2.5". I arranged them a few at a time and ironed them to the canvas bag.

I bought my plain canvas bags are Joann's with a 40% off coupon, and they were around $2 each, they were the medium size. I also bought the Heat n' Bond there, and it was on sale for a few dollars. (You get a piece that is 17"x 36", in the small package)

For Zoe's name, I used this method to cut the fabric with my Silhouette.

For another option, I used the pattern from the Jack-O-Lantern T-shirt. The cut file is available for download here. (Personal use only)

I'm wasn't sure if Zoe will be allowed to wear her costume to school on Halloween, and I wanted to make sure she has something festive to wear.

I purchased a plain black t-shirt at Wal-Mart for around $4 and I bought a fat quarter of orange fabric for the face. I made a Jack-O-Lantern face in Illustrator, and used this method, to cut the fabric backed with Heat n' Bond with my Silhouette. I ironed the pieces on by hand and will be sewing them down around the edge before I wash it.



You can download the free Silhouette file here. For personal use only.

If wanted to accessorize the outfit, and took some small scraps (1/2" x 1-3") from my arrow quilt, and tied them around a hair band, making the perfect scrappy hair tie.


Turns out Zoe will be wearing her costume to school and we actually just got the last pieces of her costume in the mail last week. she's super excited to already. Just two more weeks!

XOXO,
Holly & CO

For the cookie party this year, I wanted to make some goodie bags, with non-edible treats for the kids to take home. I have been wanting to try out this Silhouette Tattoo paper for awhile now, and this was the perfect occasion. I used dingbat fonts and Photoshop to create these simple graphic temporary tattoos.

Tips:
1. Cut as much white space off as possible - the way these printable tattoo sheets work, the white space is a tattoo as well. The less white space, the better the tattoo looks on. I cut mine out by hand, Alternatively, you could also achieve this by using the Silhouette print and cut feature
2. Make sure you let the ink dry. I left mine for 30 minutes before I put the adhesive sheet on top.



Download the free printable here. For personal use only.

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

I remember as a kid my favorite thing about carving pumpkins, was the pumpkin seeds my mom roasted and we snacked on for the next few days - if they lasted that long.

She would rinse them and salt them with Lawry's seasoning salt. But this year, I wanted to switch things up a bit and try some new flavors....Can you believe my husband had never tried roasted pumpkin seeds until I started making test batches? Seriously, he's glad to have me around to introduce him to culinary delights like these.

Smoky Chipotle Pumpkin Seeds
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
4 tsp. Smoky Chipotle Tabasco
4 tsp. water
2 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. smoked salt
1 tsp. kosher salt
dash of black pepper

Mix ingredients together until seeds are coated. Spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet either greased or lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp. smoked salt on top. Bake at 275 for 30 minutes or until crunchy.

My husband is obsessed with this Tabasco sauce. I bought it for a recipe I found on Pinterest and he fell in love. What would we do without Pinterest? These seeds aren't spicy upon first taste, but it's definitely a building heat, the more you eat, the spicier they become.

I've already made several batches, I didn't even get a picture until my third batch, and I'm anticipating they will become a new household favorite.

How do you roast pumpkin seeds? Are you like my husband and have never even tried them?

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

Taking a quick break from Halloween posts, I saw this mood board on Pinterest this afternoon for Studio Calico's November kits. I love the color scheme and immediately got to work designing some PL cards.

image: Studio Calico

I hope you enjoy them.  You can download them here. I can't wait to see how they mesh with the actual Studio Calico kits.


XOXO,
Holly & Co.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I've had this idea for awhile but it was solidified when my grocery store started carrying Chocolate Brownie Marshmallows. I had previously purchase the Chocolate Mallow Bits, which are basically a lucky charm marshmallows, when they were on clearance at our local store. This concoction is for any chocolate lover.

I'm always a little hesitant to try new materials in my Silhouette. So far all of the various materials have worked out, but fabric was one I'd heard bad stories about.

I've seen the Silhouette brand interfacing and heat transfers, but I wanted to make a no sew project and Heat N' Bond has adhesive on both sides. You can get Heat n' Bond at Joann's or other crafts stores, or here online.

Before you start: 
1. Press your fabric with starch, so it's already flat and you don't risk creases.
2. Using a new/sharp Silhouette blade will make your cuts clean and crisp on the edges
3. I have tried this method several times with quilting weight cotton and it has worked beautifully. If you are using a thicker fabric, it may not work as well or at all.

Instructions:
1. Cut 1 piece 8.5" x 11" inches, from fabric and Heat n' Bond (HNB).
2. Iron HNB to the backside of the fabric. Allow to cool for a few minutes.
3. Place fabric printed side up onto Silhouette mat. Optional: Tape down the edges for extra security.
4. Load into Silhouette machine and cut. (My Silhouette settings: blade: 3, speed: 5, thickness: 33, double cut)
5. Unload mat and peel off fabric shapes from paper backing.
6. Place shapes, fabric side up, onto the canvas bag.
7. Iron shapes. Allow to cool. Check edges for any peeling, repeat ironing if needed.


For items that will get extra wear and tear, I suggest stitching around the edge with a sewing machine or needle and thread to ensure the item will stay without fraying/peeling.

Stay tuned in the next few days, I've got some awesome projects using this method.

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

Happy October! I'm so excited for all the fun things I have to share on the blog this month. Halloween never used to be my favorite holiday, but the last few years, I've had so much fun decorating and crafting for Halloween, that it seems to have worked it's way into one of my favorites.

I bought this quilt pattern months ago, just because I liked it, with no real project in mind for it. When I saw this fabric from Bella Blvd, I knew it would be a perfect match. I hadn't made a Halloween quilt yet, and after my monkey quilt, I decided I need a quilt for each holiday.

Thanks to my brother for the display.

The pattern is well written and easy to follow, a great beginner quilt. I had my blocks all cut and sewn in one afternoon, probably 2-3 hours.  I make quilts in stages. First, the cutting. Then, sewing the blocks. Then, assembling the top. I usually wait weeks before sandwiching it with the backing and doing the actual quilting. Sometimes, it takes me another few days to get the bindings on.
The quilt isn't very big, the finished size is 37 x 51, for a bigger quilt, you could double it. The pattern is  "Every Which Way" by GiGi's Thimble and the fabric is "Too Cute Too Spook" by Bella Blvd for Riley Blake. But the best part of this quilt, is all the leftovers! I've got 3 other projects coming this month that use the leftovers from this quilt. Save your scraps!

Whenever I'm making quilts, Zoe asks who they are for.