Crafty Halloween

I was MAJORLY inspired by my latest addiction, Pinterest. I had planned it all out: a Halloween wreath, other door decorations, candle holders, card-stock bats on the windows, and, as grand finale, the girls' costumes.

I assure you, I was inspired and motivated, until life kicked in. There were too many things to organize for the house, scarves for the holidays to be knit, and at some point I was just way to drained to realize the projects. The beautiful wreath? Well, all the supplies, including a beautiful root wreath are still packed up in my supply box. The decoration, candle holders and card-stock bats? Sorry, maybe next year.. People, I did not even manage to locate my pre-made Halloween garland that I had found on the give-away shelf at Leo Paper a couple of years back, that's how bad it was. But no matter what, I would not fail on the master project, the costumes.

The initial inspiration came of course from Pinterest, where I found a tutorial for a ballarina tutu. I thought that this could be turned a shade or two darker for Halloween; so I dutifully ran 1 mile one way in my lunch break to buy the initial supplies and set to work at night. And after about a week, I had two cute little witch tutus. After another run I was the proud owner of a whole load of fleece, which would partly become the ponchos for the witch costumes and another lot a blanket for baby Ava, who we hopefully get to meet this weekend. *yay*  At this point, our little Lily announced, that she would NOT as planned be a witch for Halloween but decided to be a dark fairy. *WOW*  Ok, let's change the plans and turn the "witch" costume in a "dark fairy" costume by adding wings to the poncho. Another trip to the fabric store (can you see me jump up and down in excitement??)

Lots of procrastinating ensued, and finally, on October 10th after the girls went to bet I enlisted Richard to help me draw two imperfect chalk circles on the fleece to cut out the ponchos.

The day of (I got out of work late of course), I stitched on the wings to the poncho really quick, bundled the girls up in layers of sweaters and threw the costumes on top. And believe it or not, it even worked out!! Given my record of failing miserably at crafts projects (the will is there, the talent sorely missing), I am honestly a little proud of myself.

Here are the results:

 

Witch costume (fits about 2-4 year old)

Skirt: about 1,5 yards of each purple and black tulle; slim elastic ribbon

Poncho: about 28 in. black fleece

Dark Fairy costume (4-6 year old)

Skirt: about 2 yards each orange and black tulle; slim elastic ribbon

Poncho: about 32 in. of black fleece

Wings: about 1 yard of black tulle; take double, twist in the middle like a 

bow and attach to the poncho with a few stitches

We sure had fun trick-or-treating this night! Candy anyone??

Ode To The Crockpot

It is official: I am giving up my resistance and going to ask the hubby for a crockpot as a holiday gift. Crockpots are something largely unknown in Germany, but during my 4 years living in the States, I just cannot live without it any more. Is there anything easier than throwing something together around noon or even in the morning on work-days and have a wonderfully smelling dinner at night? And Pinterest doesn't really help being crockpot-abstinent showing me delicious recipes or even ingenious make-ahead-and-freeze meals all the time. So yes, me, the post-modern woman, will ask her hubby for a cooking utensil as a gift. And be assured, I cannot wait for all the crockpot-deliciousness to be had at the Powell-home again. My kitchen, which is ridiculously tiny, will not be happy about having to accommodate yet another appliance, but we definitely have to prioritize here. yes, I am officially excited!!!!

Share your opinion:
What are your vegetarian and meaty crockpot favorites? Could you still live without your crockpot or do you consider the hype overrated?

I'm Back!

Yes, people, here I am again, re-emerged from the depth of my hobbit-hole hiatus. These past months I have not been idle but writing privately, thinking about new columns to be added and in which direction I want to go with this blog. A lot of new ideas have sprung up, starting with a new food column “Modern Cooking” with delicious dishes accommodating working parents with easy modifications for different kinds of diets (vegetarian / vegan, dairy-free, etc.); luckily, our family does only have to accommodate 2 kids of diets now, since Violet has outgrown her lactose intolerance. I have also become a member of the growing crowd of Pinterest addicts, trying myself (mostly unsuccessfully) on various crafts projects (pictures to come). Our family life has been fairly uneventful, even though radical changes have taken place in the extended family (sorry people, nothing to be discussed on here at this point). It is amazing how events that are supposed to be painful can still make you emerge relieved and stronger. Mostly, I am at a good place these days, even though shopping for clothes has me in despair at times (even though I love my body most of the time, the fashion industry certainly doesn’t). So, I am definitely looking forward to how this works out in the months to come. As always, feel free to comment, I am grateful for any kind of critique from my readership.