Fun Festive Fabric Pumpkins!

Well, I admit it, Fall is upon us.  

While I'm not thrilled about the impending snow storms and the inevitable snowed-in days, I do love fall!
The cool weather, the colors, the leaves changing and falling off the trees, and the fun Fall decor!

Here is my first craft of the season.
Cute, festive, stuffed pumpkins!

Cute right?!  I whipped up two of these babies during an episode of What Not To Wear.

Want to make some of your own?  Here we go!

Start with whatever fabric you're going to use.  Make the width twice as long as as the height.

I made mine 11 inches by 22 inches. 

Next we're gonna ruffle the top and the bottom (the two long sides.)

On the sewing machine use the longest stitches and the highest tension.  Start sewing without pulling the fabric tight and the machine should do the ruffling  for you.  

(if it doesn't then just pull on one of the strings when you're done sewing to make it ruffle up.)

What we're going to do next is sew the two shorter sides together (11 inch sides) right sides together.

Now you'll have a tube with a ruffly top and bottom.  

Gather the bottom together and hand stitch it closed.

Next fill it full of stuffing. . .

Then gather the top and stitch it closed.

This is what it looks like at this point. . . a big round lumpy {almost} pumpkin.

The next step is whats gonna give it that pumpkiny look.

I just used some regular thread and a long needle. . . start at the bottom, and bring your needle up through the middle and then down around to the bottom and up through the middle again as many times as you want - I did it 5 times.
(does that all make sense???)

Now for the stem.  Super easy.
Cut two stem shaped pieces.  They don't have to be perfect. . . what stem is perfect???

Sew them right sides together, flip right sides out and stuff.  Now sew the bottom closed.  It doesn't matter what it looks like, the bottom wont show.

Last step, pull out the hot glue gun and glue on the stem and if you want to a couple fake leaves.
And Voila!  There you have your cute stuffed pumpkin!

Now all you have to decide where to put them!
On the kitchen table. . .

Maybe on the entryway table?

No matter where you put them they will look fab and make a great fall decoration!

Thanks for stopping by. . . Enjoy this beautiful season and happy creating!

Happy Salami Day!

Yes, you heard me right, happy Salami Day!  

What, you've never heard of Salami day before?

Well it has the unfortunate luck of being right around Labor day. . . Sept 7th to be exact.

This year we decided to celebrate!

So we had a Salami party! 

 Our party was complete with lots of different types of salami, eaten in lots of different ways.

I even made (what are supposed to be) salami cookies.  Maybe next year they will look better.  :)  They are tasty though!

One of my 101 goals was to celebrate an unusual holiday, so check!  That one is done.

Although I must say I checked out this website and I found lots of holidays that would be fun to celebrate. 

Any excuse for a party is good right?!

So, Take a look and see if there are any not-so-well-known holidays that you'd like to celebrate, and Happy Salami Day!