Glass Jack O'Lanterns

So during my kitchen deep clean I found six tall orange glasses we picked up at CB2 about three years ago for a decor idea that never gelled. They've been sitting on the counter for a week while I considered what to do with them.

It hit me last night:
[caption id="attachment_471" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Halloween Decor"][/caption]


Better late than never, I guess!

Halloween Costume: The Beautiful Bad Witch

The first costume I ever made!
[caption id="attachment_459" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="A little bit of everything, tulle, chiffon, satin, feathers, tinsel..."][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_460" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="And more feathers around the skirt"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_461" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="No More Photos, Mama!"][/caption]

Halloween Eggs

What do you do with all those temporary tattoos?
[caption id="attachment_451" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Tattooed Eggs"][/caption]

I use them to mark hard boiled eggs. I'd love to hear your ideas!

Link Parties - Check out all these creative types. I could spend hours surfing their blogs.

Kitchen Cure, First Week: Showing off a little

Remember this?
Now it looks like this:
[caption id="attachment_441" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Junk Drawer 2.0"][/caption]

I didn't show you this one:
[caption id="attachment_442" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Very Mess Refridgerator"][/caption]
(so embarrassing, right?)

And now:
[caption id="attachment_443" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Fridge After the Cure"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_444" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Fridge Door After the Cure"][/caption]

Okay, it's not perfect but if you know me, you gotta admit that's progress.

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Roasted Delicata Squash Salad

Do you love fall like I do? Do you have pumpkins and gourds in every color decorating your home? Have you been eating a lot of squash lately? Let me guess: butternut squash tops your list? Mine too, but trust me, you want to branch out. Delicata squash is not just pretty - it's delicious and you don't even have to peel it! Just chop it up, spoon out the seeds and you're good to cook.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="545" caption="Roasted Delicata Salad"][/caption]

This photo is from 101cookbooks.com where I got the recipe. For our dinner I used a lot more kale, sriracha sauce instead of harissa paste and gorgeous little purple potatoes that I chopped up a little more to get them "thumb size." Besides being a pleasure to look at, this fall salad was scrumptious. Stephane wants it added to the two week rotation which is pretty much his ultimate compliment.

Next week I'm going to focus on menu planning and finally reveal Coco's Halloween Costume. If only I could get FIVE WHOLE MINUTES to finish it!

Play Kitchen: After and Before

While we're talking kitchens, look at this sad thing:
[caption id="attachment_406" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="A little sad"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_407" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Sadder still..."][/caption]
It has been stickered and destickered. Our neighbor's baby used it as a crutch when she was learning to walk. The velcro keeping the oven door closed has given up the ghost not once, not twice but three times. You know I have issues with velcro so that last part is probably no surprise.

Here's how it looked when I first made it, using these plans on I bought on Etsy.
[caption id="attachment_412" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Homemade Play Kitchen"][/caption]
Wasn't she cute? Don't you want to crib my idea for burners? They're from Joann's in the unpainted wood section, around the corner from the $2 bird houses.


I love the sweet fabric that hides the sink and provides storage. Don't even ask how long that Italian vase lasted.


This was simple but NOT easy for me to make to make and I've never been more proud of myself for sticking with it. The cardboard was all free (flat screen TV boxes are best.) I bought the green contact paper at a thrift shop - it's SO cute and I have more - what do I do with it???

The whole thing cost less than $20 to make and lasted about a year. I mean, it's still standing and gets plenty of abuse love so I guess you could say it's still going strong but Grandmama has offered the princess a brand spanking new kitchen and I'm thinking that would be pretty cool.

I guess I'll try my hand and some of this stuff:
[caption id="attachment_415" align="alignnone" width="430" caption="DIY felt Lovely Cookie set and Kitty cups, kitty place mat"][/caption]

Or maybe this:
[caption id="attachment_416" align="alignnone" width="430" caption="DIY Felt Curry vegetables and casserole"][/caption]

Anything to NEVER have to cut through three layers of cardboard again.

Nothing about DivaSkyChick Implies Good Housekeeper

Anyone who knows me knows that this whole mommy, sewing, cooking, homemaker thing I've been doing for the past few years is SOOO not me. Or at least not pre-mommy me. My gourmet chef / fab decorator / amazing mother of two honor-role and drug free kids/ step sister kept saying during a recent visit that I am becoming her. Kind words and I can only dream of being so together. But when it comes to housekeeping, I don't think I'm exceeding anyone's expectations.
[caption id="attachment_389" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Lovely countertop, n\'est ce pas?"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_390" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Our Junk Drawer. I swear I didn\'t stage this. Who would do that to themselves?"][/caption]

Enter Apartment Therapy's Home Cures. Their sister (or daughter) site is The Kitchn which is plum full of recipes, kitchen tours, product reviews etc. The photography is gorgeous - presentation and design are taken seriously but the content is fun. This is porn for foodies.
[caption id="attachment_393" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="TheKitchn.com "][/caption]

The Kitchn is hosting their semi annual, Fall 2010 Kitchen Cure, which is a follow along program designed to to get your kitchen clean and organized. "The Kitchn Cure has four assignments. Each is designed to motivate you to de-clutter, clean, and make your kitchen a more fun and healthy place to cook. You follow along at home, and we give you tips, encouragement, and community support."

Obviously I need the support. I invite you to check out The Kitchn and join in the Cure with me. And I triple dog dare you to show me photos of YOUR junk drawers.

Baby Gifts and Dolly Diapers

One of Coco's best friends became a big sister this week. Never has a three year old girl been more baby crazed than Emma. She's had her own baby doll, Sophie, for ages. She feeds her, diapers her and carries her around in a doll sized sling. This child was ready!

Of course I had to make something for the baby, that's what you do, right? But I had way more fun making a little blanket and dolly diapers for Emma. I guess it has something to do with the new baby being unable to get excited about her gift. Emma will be thrilled and that's what I live for.

For the new baby I made burp cloths. No pattern, just cut a fat quarter in half, cut two pieces of chenille to match, sewed right sides together, pulled right sides out through a two inch hole at one end and then topstitched all around. Easy Peasy.

[caption id="attachment_359" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Burp Cloths"][/caption]

Emma's gift required lace, of course.
[caption id="attachment_360" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Lace trimmed baby blanket"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_365" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Dolly Diapers"][/caption]

I made the diapers using this awesome and easy tutorial from the fabulous Cindy at Skip to My Lou. The only thing I changed was to sew the velcro on before putting the pieces together. And while we're talking velcro, can we just agree that one must not use the sticky backed type for sewing? I still don't know how much damage I did to my machine but let's just say I lost two sewing needles in the malay and I'm pretty sure there's some sticky thread up in the works somewhere. I broke two more needles hand sewing the remaining velcro bits and the final, victory needle needs to be tossed.

Now Coco wants diapers for her utterly ignored baby doll and I'm thinking snaps. Anybody know how to do those?

I'm linking up today.

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and Fancy Nancy

How do you put those two topics in the same title?

A dear friend of mine recently found out her youngest has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, an uncommon and fatal degenerative disease that affects mostly boys. Darcy McCain is only four years old.

[caption id="attachment_350" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Darcy MaCain"][/caption]

I can't write about Darcy's prognosis without crying. Some amazing people - friends, neighbors and community members have come together to raise funds to make Darcy's home wheelchair accessible and to contribute toward therapies not funded by Canada's national health insurance. At the end of the month they'll hold an auction of art, gift items, vacation home stays, dinners out, etc. My little contribution from afar is a couple of Fancy Nancy dress up skirts and trinkets in matching drawstring bags. Here's a photo of the first ones I ever made as birthday gifts for Coco's twin friends' fifth birthday.

[caption id="attachment_351" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Fancy Nancy dress up skirts"][/caption]

I'd be happy to make a skirt for anyone who contributes $50 or more to the cause. They're a huge hit with little girls who love all things twirly, shiny and lacy.

I can't get the pretty Paypal button to work for some reason but you can donate here.
Email me with your receipt to request a skirt!

When Sewing Velcro onto Fabric...

Let me give you this advice. Do NOT try to sew sticky back velcro onto fabric.

Trust me on this.

Quick Share: Summer Squash Couscous with Sultanas, Pistachios and Mint

Five stars to this amazing dish, again from Food52.com.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="694" caption="Summer Squash Couscous with Sultanas, Pistachios and Mint"][/caption]

I used Israeli couscous because we like that better. I didn't chop the zucchini or yellow squash as finely as suggested. Mine were closer to inch and half inch chunks. I also used minced garlic in the dressing, forgetting that you're supposed to discard the garlic before serving. As I'm fairly sensitive to raw garlic, this should be interesting!

Without question, one of our favorites. This is in two week rotation although I'm pretty sure we had it last week, too. I think I used butternut squash last week instead of yellow squash. Slightly hardier, a little taste of fall mixed in. Yum!