funky witch costume

I made another witch costume, but this time it's a little more fun, and less traditional.  It's for a little girl in our neighborhood, who is the same size as Rora (we'll call her Little Miss.)

(modelled by Rora)

I still used the corset-style belt from Simplicity 4139, but this time I made it a little smaller than recommended so that the lacings would be more obvious and Little Miss' mom chose green ribbon for the same reason:

The tutu is a no-sew tutu, except I didn't like the idea of the waistband being stapled, so I sewed it.  I guess it's more of a "minimal sewing" tutu.  (If you don't know how to make one of these, just Google "no sew tutu" and you should end up with plenty of options.)

The cape is simple.  It's 36" wide, and the length that I wanted.  Then I gathered it into a length of extra-wide double-fold bias tape (make sure to cut it long enough to tie on either side of the gathering.)

And the true test of whether a costume/outfit/dress is a success: does it make her want to smile and twirl?

The hat Rora is wearing is the same hat from last year's witch costume.  Little Miss already has a hat, so there was no need to make her one.

my absence

I have been MIA for a few weeks now . . . not that that's uncommon, but this time I have a really good reason.

This November, Enos and I will be celebrating 10 years since the day we promised ourselves to each other.  To celebrate, we went on a cruise, and dragged our best friends, Ben and Tonia along!  (Thanks again for finding child care and coming with us amidst a move and job change.)

And now, I'm going to make you jealous:

We went ziplining in the Jamaican tree tops:

My beautiful friend, Tonia and her tolerable husband, Ben. ;)

After ziplining, we played on the ocean toys in Margaritaville, Jamaica.

In the Cayman Islands, we played with the stingrays and snorkeled:

And in Cozumel, Mexico we hiked the Mayan ruins while being eaten alive by mosquitoes:

We stayed up too late, got up too early, ate way too much, and had a generally amazing time.  We hope to do it again in less than 10 years.  Until then, I'll spend my spare time staring at beautiful pictures of sunsets and reliving the wonderful memories we created:

homemade salsa

It's that time of year when gardens are exploding with fruit and vegetables, and we start trying to preserve everything our garden is producing in glass jars so that we can enjoy it all year long.  Well, some people do, anyway.

I have just about the blackest thumb you've ever seen!  I inherited the ability to kill any plant from my mother, who also has a fairly black thumb.

Luckily, I married well, and my mother-in-law can grow enough produce for an entire neighborhood, which she doesn't mind sharing!

So, each year at this time, we steal tomatoes from Enos' mom and we make homemade salsa using Mrs. Wages seasoning packets.

 

They are the easiest way to do it!  Just prepare your tomatoes, add the packet and some vinegar,

(we also like to add a few extra peppers for a hotter salsa,) then cook for 10 minutes. 

At that point, you can eat, freeze, or bottle the salsa for later use.

 

There is even an option for using canned diced tomatoes!  We tried it that way once, but if you have access to fresh tomatoes, they tend to taste better.