I never thought I'd be eager for Halloween to pass...

Halloween, like for many crafters, has been my all time favorite Holiday. I have always taken great pride in creating my costume, and was always the one whose closets and trunks were raided to throw together anyone elses's costumes. I still have at least ten adult costumes I can throw together at a moment's notice, two baby/kid costumes, and about 7 dog costumes. I will continually throw one together from scratch regardless of my inventory, but I always hope someone out there will need to borrow something so I can air it out for the current year.

This year, as you may have seen in previous posts, I made a family of red superhero capes and gold lame belts. We dressed up four times! Sloss Furnaces Family Fun day, Boo at the Zoo, The Mom's League of Birmingham Halloween Party, and Trick or Treating at Whole Foods. Each event consisted of me in a cape chasing a one and a half year old, much energized by his cape. Chase, chase, lift. Chase chase lift. Each time followed by two days of couch to rest my pregnant, pregnant back. I am so pregnant, I needed a spare mini cape ready, just in case. So when trick or treating night, the ACTUAL Halloween came along, I looked at my kid, realized that not only does he not eat candy, but he has no idea it's Halloween and could care less if I threw him back into his pair of black tights and cape. So we picked up way too much candy at the drugstore and commenced staying in and avoiding the whole ordeal except for handing out candy to the six kids who showed up at our door. Yeah, I have a stomachache from all the candy.

My point is that even though I live for Halloween and dressing up, sometimes, you just have to recognize your limits and throw in the towel. I got the family in some pictures, the costumes were well worn in, and the memories are intact as far as the kid knows. So, success, right? Maybe next year I will not be pregnant. I doubt at 2 1/2, my kid will let me slide so easily!

It is November, and now I sleep. Oh, except for that having a baby part, I'm due in 2 days. So, sleep today, then never again I guess! I send a very special shout out to LaZBoy for my new chair. It was a really good sale and I am currently very happy in all regions relating to my back.
Happy November everyone!

The SuperTaylors!

Costumes Completed and Worn by the Whole Taylor Clan!

I have been pretty laid up lately with what I will call "pregnancy back." A lot of couch time, a lot of hot baths, a lot of diaper changes and meals served on the floor instead of lifting the kid into the highchair. I do it to myself, I know I should be slowing down, but I am very active in my Mommy group. It has come down to one hour of fun equaling two days of being laid up on the couch.

Worth it? Look at this picture of us at Boo at the Zoo and you tell me! I had Daddy do all the heavy lifting, (he even lifted my purse into and out of the stroller) I just pushed (leaned on) the stroller and followed them around. So worth it. Lincoln had so much fun and it was easy to keep track of him!

This was the final result of my backbreaking measly few hours ( oh probably around 8-10)making our Super Taylor Costumes. We decided that we were "Super Baby", "Super Beard", and "Super Pregnant."

My time has been spent mostly relaxing, but I have my bursts: the Super Costumes, about 5 Mommy events a week, (yeah, that is coming to a swift halt!) and I just this weekend for the first time, closed my etsy shop and sent all my stuff to the Albino Skunk Bluegrass Festival to be sold at the merch booth. I did pretty ok, considering the sales were slow all around due to the freezing weather. It is an outside all weekend camping event. I was also relieved that sales were on the slow side since I really let down my promise of Skunks, I was hoping to make around 40, and I only put out ten. (See previous posts about the great Polyfil Search of 2009, Skunks for Skyla, as well as many posts outlining my late pregnancy laziness) As of my last cell convo with my salesbooth helper, I sold about five skunks, nine robots, three stars, and a few postcards. I can certainly live with that, and since I didn't provide that many skunks, I am going ahead and donating 30% across the top from all sales to my fencing friend Skyla.

So, crafting has been slow but steady. I made a sale on etsy this week right before I sent off my stuff for the weekend, and after finishing the costumes, I got around to making beanbags for our Mommy group Halloween party. Those turned out very cute, I just finished them right before this post.

Allright, enough of this upright position, I am going back to my couch! Have a very Happy Halloween!

HalloCrafty!

Lazy bones is back! I have let go of my daily blog habit. I now blissfully relapse! I have been crazy busy lately, running all over town, hosting playgroups, planning parties, and spending my online hours doing Mommy group stuffs, it's practically a FT job. Plus, my pregnancy has officially slowed my butt way down. 3 more weeks...

My crafting has suffered. Immensly. I have an all new list of projects, all with pressing deadlines, which is exactly when my super procrastination kicks in!

Speaking of Super... Finally with hubby home all day yesterday, I peeled that cover off my sewing machine and went to town! I spent at least 8 hrs yesterday and made all three of our Halloween costumes. Yes, I opened that well organized craft box of materials labeled "Project Superhero" and made Taylor history. Well, I think it went well anyway. All I did was make three Superhero capes and three Superhero belts. I had to, since today was wear your costumes day.

I plan on embellishing further, since we have two more dress up events. I'd like to make some arm cuffs and maybe add some lightening bolts on the front of the chest or back of the cape. All in the gold, of course. But I really cannot complain with the minimum I finished, I mean just take a look at this baby in tights!

Now with the sewing machine dusted off, I must finish making beanbags for the Mommy group Halloween Party by Tuesday, and another assembly line of skunks by next weekend for the Skunkfest. Whew! Nothing like serious procrastinating to get some fire under your butt! Feels just like college.

I'll be back tomorrow with another post, I was tagged and need to get that ball rolling. Thanks to MAB for bringing me back to my blog!

Monkeys Riding Dogs

I am so tired and listening to rolling thunder, as my husband defines it, (he has a knack for the weather) while said husband watches Robot Chicken. Watched the Emmys, looked at Emmy dresses online, ended up linking to a "who wore it best: Thigh Highs" photo diary of 18 or so celebrities wearing boots, hose, whatever. Answer? No one! When will they learn, you are already hot, you don't have to "sell it!" (Special exception for Debbie Harry, whose boot tops were hidden by classily lengthed camoflauge dress, and she really can do no wrong)

I did some Halloween research online today on how to make a cape, which really needed no explanation, but I like to be overly prepared. I also looked to see which would be easier, making spandex bodysuits or ordering them? Oh the trials and tribulations real superheroes must go through.

I also decided that dinner tonight was going to go down like a Top Chef Challenge. The challenge? What can you make without going grocery shopping? I ended up with Penne pasta topped with sauteed zuchinni, kalamata olives, garlic, and chicken. It was ok, but a little feta would have taken it along way. The kid was not impressed!

Ok, I wrote, I did my duty, I hope I haven't bored anyone to tears. I leave you with this quote from our Alabama State Fair Commercial... http://www.alabamastatefair.org/

"Monkeys Riding Dogs!" The official Taylor family quote of the week.

Costumes and Doulas

Today was very productive on all fronts.

• Priority #1:

As I am delivering my second child soon, (six or so weeks) I have been trying to find birth support. I joined a local ICAN chapter that has been wonderful. I am trying to go for a natural birth after having had a Csection with my first. (Known as a VBAC) I found a doula today, which brought me great relief since I had no idea where to find a good one having just moved here mid pregnancy. I am thrilled that my Dr. supports the decision to have a VBAC and will allow a doula to assist in the hospital. So Yip yip hooray! I am stoked!

• Priority #2

Next up, Halloween costumes! I met with a Mommy friend of mine to hit the sale at Joanne's Fabric and get Halloween costume essentials. She is putting together an awesome Wild Things ensemble for her two boys, and I chose to be inspired by superflykidz (see a few posts back) to make some capes for the family. Found some felt backed satin in red and some gold lame which I hope to use for emblems and belts, maybe even wristbands and spats! The Super Taylors! I can't wait to get that going and show some pics! I can't think of a better way to showcase my hugeness than a spandex bodysuit!

• Priority #3

Getting out of the house! I officially ended the lockdown today now that we are all feeling better and there are no more lingering sniffs and runny noses. After racking up at Joanne's we went to continue our Mommieness with the kids at the Hoover Public Library. It has a huge kidroom full of toys and puzzles and such and they had a blast! We stayed until they cut out the lights on us. I had no idea we were the last ones out!!! It was a well deserved break for my little buddy, and he was an angel and played his little heart out with no fussing!

So that was my big full day, I feel accomplished, and can't tell you how wonderful it was to get me and my little guy OUT of the HOUSE for the first time in almost 2 weeks! (Nevermind that it was raining all day, we were singing in it!)

Hope everyone had an equally satisfying day! PS the Polyfil was still not on sale, it has no interest coming home with me until I finish my curtains and Halloween costumes!

French Toast and Fanmail

Woopsie, fell asleep before I blogged lastnight! Up too late watching Project Runway of course. And might I add that the Office was fantastic. The whole beginning where the idiot patrol all thought they were city jumpers was classic, brought me to tears. I watch alot of TV, and it interferes with my crafting.

Well I am sitting with my kid at breakfast reminiscing over the craftiness of yesterday. (We are having Banana/Strawberry Bread French Toast, I will be happy to give up the recipe if anyone asks!!) The day of craftiness definitely had its highs for a low productivity day!

I got an etsy convo (that's special secret etsy language for an on site email) from Kathy Cano-Murillo! yes, that's right, the actual Crafty Chica! For those of you not in the crafting community, she is a total Craft Rock Star, super duper famous! I had recently sent her a "fanmail" convo with some pictures thanking her for my wedding cake topper from 6 yrs ago. She convo'd me back a personal thank you! It was like writing a letter to your favorite celebrity and getting a REAL letter back, not just a spewed out fanmail autographed glossy! So big deal, at least to me!

I also submitted some photos to Craftgawker http://www.craftgawker.com/ . I have been dying to do this and I finally got around to it. When you submit your craft photos, they accept or reject with explanation of what's wrong with your photo. I haven't gotten a yeah or nay yet, but I did check my email before blogging this morning just in case! Undoubtedly I'll be keeping you posted.

The rest of the day was pretty much spent cleaning and sanitizing my house as we are all finally finished being sick, and brainstorming about Halloween. I think I may make some capes for the family, since I am jealous of the bday gift I sent my nephew. (See previous post) The Super Taylors. Yah! That's how you know you gave a great gift, right?

The photo above is from Halloween last year, I made the little avocado costume "The Avocostume". We were going to do another fruit or veggie this year, but my farmer overalls no longer fit! (You know you're at the end of your pregnancy when you have outgrown your OVERALLS!!!) Hope you are all getting geared up for Halloween, I'll be reading tons of blogs to see what the rest of the crafters out there are up to!