Spectacular September

This is my favorite time of year for so many reasons. I love hot weather. But even I grow weary of sweating and roasting in my own juices like a rotisserie chicken. It's always exciting when the temperature mercifully drops and things like apple picking and fall festivals are on the calendar. We turned off the a/c and flung the windows open and have been enjoying the breeze around here. Last weekend I took my daughter and her best friend to the cutest darn orchard I've ever seen, Mills Apple Orchard in Marine, Illinois. 

We picked 18 lbs of scrumptious apples, half of which are now jarred up and living their newest life as spoon-licking-good applesauce. The recipe actually said apple butter, but since I'm eating it straight out of the jar, we're going to go with sauce. What really is the difference anyway? 

The next couple weekends are going to be super duper busy. Saturday and Sunday I'll be vending at the Green Tree Festival in Kirkwood. This show has oodles and oodles of fun stuff for the whole family. It will be my first year there and I'm pretty darned excited. The following weekend, I'll be at the Strange Folk festival in O'Fallon, IL. This indie-style festival is tons of fun and has all sorts of things to do in addition to crafts, snacks, and live music. Check out the website for the full list of goodies. I hope to see you there!

November? Already!

Geez, time sure does fly. I can't believe we're already almost half way through November!!! That means the holidays are right around the corner and as usual I won't be getting much sleep. This weekend I'm doing a trunk show at Concordia Turners in south city from 9 - 3, then I'll be crafting 'round the clock until the first weekend in December when it's time for Big Ass Indie & Artropy (Dec 4 & 5). Somewhere in there I need to find some time to make gifts for my family. Anybody have an elf for hire?

Right now I'm feverishly working on finishing some felted coffee sweaters. Yes, sweaters for your coffee cup. They are made from upcycled wool sweaters and have needle felted designs. They're a great alternative to the disposable cardboard thingees - just toss it in your pocket or purse. Oh, bonus, they're way cuter and can also be used to keep your soda/water cup from sweating all over the place. Gotta love that! I've only stabbled myself with the felting needle 10 or 12 times so far. At lunch today, after I fed and trained my fake Facebook fishies, I did some work on these.



Oh! Oh! Oh! I got word today from my buddy Meg who works at St. Louis Children's Hospital that the babies are toasty warm with Needles for Newborn tiny hats! YAY!!!! Warm babies. Thanks again ladies!

Since Needles for Newborns was such a success, Paste and I are going to host another fun charity event for December, Crafting with Purpose. It will be the first in a (sort of) montly series of charity knit-along events. This time we're including scrapbookers and card makers too. The charity is The Haven of Grace, it's a shelter and rehabilitation center for homeless pregnant women and their children. It's a WONDERFUL organization. Join us Sunday, December 13, from 10 - 8 (Please RSVP to pastesoulard[at]gmail.com). We'll have some tasty snacks and lots of laughs. If you'd like to participate, but aren't particularly crafty, we'll always accept cash of course, but you can also donate supplies or bring a treat to keep the ladies energized - then hang out and play with us! Hope to see you there.

Later gators.