Are you ready?

I'm not. I have a million goodies to bake, a dress to sew for my niece, and ALL of the giftwrapping to do.

So, in an effort to save time and make my husband do more than just pay for the Christmas gifts ;) I ever-so-nicely asked him to start the wrapping for me.

You see, he is a shift worker, and has been on the afternoon shift for the past 2 weeks. This means the kids and I leave the house at 9am, while he is sleeping, and he is alone in the house until he leaves for work at 2pm.

THAT IS PRIME CHILD-FREE WRAPPING TIME!!!

Just like most of you (women), I am the wrapper in the family, but haven't had the chance to do it this week. The kids have been sick with nasty colds, and have been light sleepers and get up with every cough, so I'm not able to sneak to the basement in the evenings. So, as I type this, Mac is fighting with scotch tape, and probably constantly moving the cat off the wrapping paper as he wrestles with the task of wrapping. I told him he could do all the "easy" wrapping a.k.a only the square boxes. (What nowadays is wrapped in a perfectly square or rectangular box without any hang tags or holes in the front to try out the toy?) Needless to say, he'll probably only wrap maybe 2 things. AND... they may just end up looking like this:

Oh well, any help is better than nothing, and I love him just for trying!

I think I should print some of these off to afix to anything he has attempted to wrap:

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU, and....... .......HAPPY WRAPPING!!!

FREE HomeSpun Threads Shoppe patterns!

I've discovered a new online pattern shop, and all the patterns in the HomeSpun Threads Shoppe are FREE. You'll need to click the link to go there and begin ordering your free downloads.

29 Patterns and pattern combinations to choose from...how?

All they simply ask is that you become a follower of HomeSpun-Threads blog and help spread the word. Seems fair enough to me!!! I ordered about 6 of their patterns, and they were available for immediate download. No waiting for an e-mail or anything!

Here are just a few favorites...

Pleated Ballerina Slippers


Make Up Bag Pattern


Even the HUGE Baby Shoe Pattern Set is FREE! and many more...


If you're in need of some supercute patterns, get over there soon, who knows how long they'll be free!

Amber H is the WINNER!!!

I absolutely LOVE the Sew Mama Sew giveaway days!!! This year, I was so worried I wouldn't be able to find the time to visit the hundreds of blogs to enter their great giveaways.
...But what do you know.... we got hit with a RECORD-BREAKING BLIZZARD!
It made international news, so some of you may have heard of it. I live in Lambton County, Ontario Canada. The closest large city in Lambton County is Sarnia (on the Michigan border). The storm started on Sunday night, and finally subsided Wednesday. A state of emergency was called, and the Canadian Army was brought in to help evacuate stranded motorists on our major highway and the country roads. It was very cool to see and hear rescue choppers and airplanes overhead, bringing people to safety. Many people were stranded in an area spanning 100 km's from east to west, many of whom stayed in our small community. It was an interesting 3 days of being snowed in, which gave me LOTS of time for blog surfing! I made it through the whole list, and entered millions of giveaways(at least it seems like millions!). I hope you were able to make it through the list too!
I am genuinely honoured that so many of you visited my little blog and commented! When the giveaway started, I had 91 followers. I now have 125!!!! Wow!!! I'm so happy to have 34 new friends!!!

Let's get to the good stuff, shall we...... I embedded the Random Number Generator in my post, and I could see the result, but it wouldn't show for me in the preview when I looked at my blog post, so I deleted it. You'll just have to trust me that I counted out the comments, and it ends up the winner is:

Amber H. , who said...
I'm now follower number 101! I hope you're ok with new followers...

of course I'm ok with new followers!!! It turns out her favourite colours are teal and turquoise - she knew how to win me over!!!!

I'll be contacting you this afternoon Amber to get your mailing address, and I'll get it off to you as soon as I get your details!

I hope all of you hear from at least one blogger that you have won something in this flurry of giveaways. Have a wonderful weekend, as we scurry to finish preparations 1 week before Jesus' birthday!

Giveaway day!!!

****THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED****

I thank all of you for your lovely comments!!!

Stay tuned for the winner post!

Welcome to the missbossypants giveaway!!!!!

This day could not have come at a better time! 2 weeks ago, I had my one year blogiversary. I wanted to comemorate the occasion by doing a giveaway, but didn't know what to give away, or how I would execute the whole thing. THEN... I found out Sew, Mama, Sew was going to do their twice yearly giveaway!!!

When thinking and thinking and thinking.....and thinking....... of what to give away, I was thinking I should pay homage to my favourite colour: TURQUOISE

Yeah, I know, it's a really popular colour right now, so I feel the need to clarify that I liked it before it was "in". So n.o.t. a follower! lol, just had to throw that one out there. okay, so....... yeah, let's get on with the goods....

To one of you lucky readers, you'll win 3 missbossypants creations:

The cup cozy protects your hands from hot drinks, insulates your drink from getting cold, AND makes a statement!!! Quilter's cotton one one side, turquoise flannel on the other, and fastened by velcro.

This little birdie would love to grace your Christmas tree! It has a fabric-covered button at the neck and a clear thread for hanging on that perfect branch.

Ok, ok, you caught me, I don't have the third prize made just yet, but imagine one of these felt dahlia pins in turquoise, and there you have it!!! It will be made this week, and maybe I'll even be able to photograph it and get it on this post in time before the giveaway ends! (this picture is of the pins I made for my son's pre-school teachers at the end of the "school year" last June - they loved their teacher gifts!)

So, I bet you guys are just waiting to find out how you can win the loot.... Ok, here are the rules...

1. Leave a comment below, telling me what your favourite colour is.

2. If you are a follower of my blog, congratulations, you get one more entry!!!! Please leave a message telling me you follow this crazy hairbrained blog!

The giveaway will be open until this friday at noon, EST. I'll use the online random number picker doo-hicky to pick the winner. PLEASE MAKE SURE I CAN CONTACT YOU!!! If your e-mail is not public in your profile, please leave your contact info at the end of your comment.

If you are the winner, I will contact you by e-mail to get your mailing address. I will ship internationally. All entrants from all corners of the world are welcome! The prize will be sent out on Monday, December 20th (provided I have been able to reach you to get your home address).

Once you're done entering this giveaway, visit the main listing of all giveaways on the Sew, Mama, Sew Blog. Good luck, and happy blog surfing!

Giveaway day is coming!!!

How convenient!!! I was trying to think of a giveaway to do to comemorate my 1 year blogiversary, when I came across the Sew, Mama, Sew blogpost, announcing their next giveaway day!!!

On Monday, December 13th, come back here to see what I've got up my sleeve! I'll be having TWO GIVEAWAYS!!! I'll have something from the missbossypants sewing room, as well as something from my sister-in-law's Etsy shop: Avery's Garden!!! Check out her shop here and have a little look around!

On Monday, don't forget to visit the Sew, Mama, Sew blog to check out the lists of other giveaways going on. There are so many, it usually takes me 3 days to get through them all! So, book some time off work, make some hot cocoa, get that lap blanket on, and lounge with your laptop. Feel free to surround yourself with good luck charms to win the giveaways you're lusting over, but it's not necessary - I even won something last May!

Off I go to my sewing sweatshop to decide just what I'd like to create and give away. Shall I cut into some of my most loved fabric to make something extra special??? You'll just have to wait and see.... :)

My belated Blogiversary

I suck. I can't keep track of other people's anniversaries (well at least I sent a facebook message to my bestie at 11:55pm on the day of her 13th wedding anniversary), let alone one of mine I should have remembered!!!



Saturday was my Blogiversary!!!! Yep, one whole year of you guys reading up on what's going on in my sweatshop (aka basement sewing room), and what my crazy family has been up to.

I really appreciate all of you who read, stalk, and even leave a comment or two. It's flattering to know that people actually read this crazy blog (although it's not really all that hard - I don't blog as much as I should!)

It's been one year..... 91 followers and about 60 posts (there may be one or two in there that never got posted though - I may have been too embarrassed of the picture, or the content - I am known to get on the computer after a good night with a few drinks in me!)

People usually do something to comemorate special days like these.... I'm just thinking of doing a little giveaway. Ok, keep that under your hat, and keep an eye out for a post from me announcing a giveaway.

It'll be a little after the fact, but, hey, it already is!

Halloween costumes

Halloween has come and gone, and now we are left with a MOUNTAIN of candy, chocolate and chips to deal with (ie: pilfer from the kids' bags while they sleep!)

It was a crazy weekend, filled with parties, events and trick-or-treating.

Sweetie had a Halloween party at a classmate's house Saturday afternoon, and the local "Purple Pumpkin Party" was held on Saturday night. The Purple Pumpkin Party is an event hosted by the churches in our small town. They fill our local hall with game booths, treats and halloween decor, all for a donation to the local foodbank. It is usually held on Halloween night, but since Halloween was on Sunday, they moved it to Saturday night. The classmate's party and the Purple Pumpkin Party meant both kids would be dressed up and busy both nights on Halloween weekend!

Sweetie decided a short time ago that she wanted to be Frankenstein's bride for Halloween. She had never seen any of the movies, so she was not aware of what Frankenstein's bride should look like. She had it in her head that she would be green (like Frankenstein), with wild hair and some sort of formal dress suitable for a monster wedding.

I think we pulled it off quite well.....

Our local Salvation Army store had racks of costume ideas, so it wasn't hard to find what we were looking for! This dress was probably made in the late 70's for a short, plump lady attending a wedding or "classy" New Year's eve party. It was a sparkly gold-ish fabric, with a black chiffon overlay, and black chiffon batwing sleeves. It was the perfect find! The second hand store had it matched with a fake flower bouquet, featuring white and black roses. PERFECT!!! The dress had been enlarged with black panels added at the side seams, and had been taken up at least 5 inches (hence the reason why I feel it was for a short, plump lady!) I pinched the panels and sewed a quick seam back where it had originally been. I was unable to make the dress any narrower because the chiffon batwings were in the old seams. It would have been far too much work to fit it perfectly. Besides, Sweetie had no qualms about it being a bit big. Rather than create a perfect hem at the bottom, I just took my rotary cutter and hacked off the bottom of the dress at the right length we needed. Sweetie was happy with it, because it frayed and made it look more "monster-ish". A few minutes of hairspraying, back-combing and
applying face makeup completed the look. She loved it!

Monkey has an overabundance of superhero play costumes, so I was hoping he would just choose one and make things easy for us. OF COURSE NOT. He decided he wanted to be a mummy. Bring on more sewing for mommy!

I remembered an old white sheet that I had worn as a toga at a Halloween party about 13 years ago. Good thing I'm a "saver" (nice word for "hoarder"), and I still had it. I ripped the whole sheet up into strips, and then went on the hunt for white clothing to attach them to. Do you think I could find a pair of white or off-white pants at the second hand store? Ummmmm, no. So, being the resourceful mom I am, I bought an off-white men's sweatshirt and MADE some pants for him! I bought a white turtleneck (that miraculously had no stains on it - SCORE!), and went to work. I tacked the strips onto the clothing, planning to take the strips off later and use the pants for pyjamas and the turtleneck in his regular clothing rotation. It took no time at all, and only used about 5-6 strips of the sheet! I felt the outfit needed a hat of some sort, so I made up a quick beanie-style hat with extended sides and back, and put a strip of sheet on it as well. It kind of turned out conehead-ish, but he thought it was perfect. Some white paint on his face, and black to outline his eyes (to look super creepy), and he was done, and super comfy.

The next day, we pulled out the outfits for a second wearing, only this time with multiple warm layers of clothing underneath. Fall has taken hold lately, with temperatures in the evening around 5 degrees celcius. Pretty chilly!

They weren't up for as much makeup this time around, so we opted out of the black around their eyes. They still looked spooky and scary, and were wonderful trick-or-treaters!

I went to a Halloween dance Saturday night with some friends (sans the hubby - he was fulfilling firefighter duties for Devil's night). I wanted a costume that was comfortable enough to dance the night away, and not be too hot or bulky. I came across this awesome idea:
Instant Ghost costume by Laura Koniver

I dug out what tulle I had left from our wedding (8 years ago), borrowed some more from my sister-in-law, used up some of the leftover mummy sheet strips, and concocted my own version of Laura Koniver's witch costume. I wore a white flowy skirt and white t-shirt underneath, and had a great time dancing. BUT DO YOU THINK I GOT A PICTURE OF IT? Ha, ha, not a chance (always the picture taker, never in the pics!) The local reporter took a picture of Monkey and I at the Purple Pumpkin Party, I'll have to see if she'll e-mail it to me.

So, that's my round up of what went on in our family over Halloween weekend.

Did you enjoy your spooky Halloween?