Halloween decor...too soon?

I have a love of all things Halloween. It's my absolute favorite holiday and it's smack dab in the middle of my favorite season - fall. So imagine the utter glee and happiness that came over me when Martha (Stewart, of course) began talking about Halloween decorations and costumes. Sweet bliss. Some of the favors I'm kind of "eh" about, but some I love and one especially is my favorite - felt pumpkin people. So adorable and easy!

I did make some adjustments to this project, instead of using felt for the body I used fleece. The felt available to me when I went shopping was lacking in color selection. I know that she said to dye it, but really? I'm not going to do that. So I bought some orange fleece in a color that I love (bonus, the bolt was near the end so I got extra at 50% the sale price) and began measuring away. I didn't have a circle template that got up to 4", let alone 5 1/2" so instead I stuck a pin in the fabric and used a ruler to mark out 2" or 2 3/4" from the center and then connected the dots to make my circles. Success!

I digressed again from the instructions and filled my body and head with general polyfill. Excelsior? I guess I'm not up-to-date on my craft terminology, but I've discovered that it's essentially wood wool. If I didn't already have polyfill I might go ahead and buy the excelsior, but I liked the polyfill so maybe not. I know that when I make this again I will put some beans or rice or lentils in the bottom to make my pumpkin man sturdier. Also, I didn't want to buy some stiff hard wire so I just sewed the head onto the body.

I finished the project as Martha instructed and overall I'm pleased with it. Oh, except I didn't have pinking shears so I just went with a straight mouth. I don't think mine looks as happy as Martha's. I gave him a darling scarf to perk him up (plus it hides any misc. stiches from assembly).

So here he is - Publius Puck Pumpkin:

Bachelorette party decorations

My friend is getting married next week so she asked me to throw her a bachelorette party I was thrilled to put it together for her.

For the decorations I made the oft-mentioned tissue paper pom-poms from Martha Stewart in varying colors (white, pink, orange, green, and blue), you can find how to make these here. I hung these above the kitchen table along with garland made from yarn pom-poms and beads.

I used picture hooks to keep the garland suspended.

To make yarn pom-poms wrap yarn around your pointer and middle finger 75-100 times. Cut a separate piece of yarn, about 6" long, and wrap it around the yarn - going through your fingers. Cinch the yarn and cut the ends. For a larger pom-pom wrap it around 3 fingers 100-125 times.

I strung the pom-poms and beads using jewelry thread and a needle - next time I will use a clear thread. To keep the beads in place you have to go through the bead twice otherwise they slip all over the place. Be careful because they can become tangled quite easily.