Point of View and Orange Link Party

Welcome to this month's Point of View reveal! The theme for September is "Orange". Here are the "orange" ideas the members of Point of View came up with this month...

Gwen from Gwenny Penny (Click HERE to read more about my Haunted House Halloween Pillow)
Leanne from Organize and Decorate Everything

Amy from Ameroonie Designs
Jonie from Just Between Friends

Ashlee from I'm Topsy Turvy

As always, you can check out each of the projects by visiting each of the blogs listed above.

My project this month is a pillow (For the second month is a row. Don't worry... I have no intention of trying to steal Amy's "Pillow Queen" title ;) I saw these super cute house zipper pouches by A.casa.do.Guaxinim on Flickr and thought that it would make a great pillow design. Add Dracula and a little ghost peeking out the windows and you get a little haunted house pillow for Halloween...

Click HERE to read more about my pillow.

Now it's your turn. Do you have an orange-themed/Halloween project that you would like to share? We would like to invite you to join the Point of View "Orange" Link Party! It doesn't have to be a new project... If you have a project in your archives, link it up! We want to see what you've created. You can link up to the Point of View link party on any member's blog and your link will show up in the party on all five blogs! Add the Point of View button to your post so that others can join the party. And remember, by linking up you have the chance to be featured by one of the members of Point of View next week!

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.gwennypenny.com" title="Gwenny Penny - Point of View"><img src="http://i953.photobucket.com/albums/ae14/gwennypennyblog/SummerPoVButtonB-1.jpg" alt="Gwenny Penny - Point of View" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Haunted House Halloween Pillow

I've been trying to bump up the handmade Halloween decor around our house over the past couple of years (like this pillow and this embroidery hoop I made last year). When I started thinking about what to make this year, I remembered these adorable house zipper pouches by A.casa.do.Guaxinim that I had found on Flickr quite some time ago. I decided that this design would make a cute haunted house. I really didn't want to make a haunted house zipper pouch (because I wasn't sure what you'd carry in a Halloween-themed pouch), but a haunted house pillow would be perfect!

Let me add here that - thanks to my two and a half year old - I didn't get out of making a cute little non-Halloween house zipper pouch. I'll share that soon :)

The pillow is 12"x16". I absolutely love the Halloween fabric I used (Dracula, ghost, and pumpkin). It's Boo to You by My Mind's Eye for Riley Blake Designs. I've been hoarding it for two years. The little Dracula in the door window is my favorite character from the Boo to You print...

The little ghost had to make an appearance as well. I've said it before, but I can't stand the gross-out, gory, creepy side of Halloween. I'll take cutesy Halloween any day, thank you :)

The tree trunk is a birch tree print fabric I've had kicking around forever...

The back is solid grey, and I used a decorative stitch to hem the envelope closure.

I really wanted grey ric rac for this project, but I couldn't find any at Jo-Anns, and I didn't have time to order any, so I ended up mixing some black and white fabric paint and painting my white ric rac grey. It actually worked really well, so if you're in need of a specific color of ric rac, and you can't find it, try painting your own. I'm sure dying it would be the smarter thing to do, but I couldn't find any Rit dye for the life of me. I swear I used to see it everywhere, but it seems to have disappeared around here.

Anyway... fun pillow. It looks great with my Halloween pillow that I made last year. And did I mention that this month's Point of View theme is "Orange"? I added to our handmade Halloween decor and knocked out a Point of View project in one shot. Woohoo! The girls have decided that they are both going to be the same thing for Halloween this year, so getting costumes put together is the next order of business around here. I got out of making costumes last year... no such luck this year :)

Now it's your turn... Check out this month's Point of View collage and link up your past or present orange/Halloween-themed projects at the Point of View Link Party! We want to see what you've been up to!

Peg People

Over the summer, the girls and I made a fun little project. Liz from Simple Simon & Co did a really cute peg people video tutorial over on the Riley Blake blog back in May. I filed it away on my "someday" list, but then one of my readers emailed me (thanks Regina!) suggesting that it might be a fun project to do with my girls. So, "someday" became "right away" :)  These little dolls are super cute and a lot of fun to make.

It took us about three days to complete them. I wanted to make sure each step was completely dry before we moved on to the next. The girls needed a lot of help, but they were really proud of their little dolls.

We each made two dolls. These are the two that I made, one for each of the girls...

I bought my "naked" peg people online from Goose Grease. They sell all shapes and sizes of wooden peg people. And they come in a cute little muslin bag :)

The girls have been toting these little dolls all over the place. And for some reason they like to stack quarters on their heads... they call this the "Peg People Cha-Cha". Don't ask...

So if you're looking for a fun project to do with the kids this fall, I highly recommend this one :)

Pattern Sale and POV Feature

First, just wanted to let you know that Michelle Patterns (formerly Keyka Lou) is having a big Labor Day pattern sale this weekend!

 

You can take 20% off ANY purchase using the discount code laborday. Woohoo! The sale starts today and runs through Monday, September 3rd.

Second, thanks to everyone who linked up their "Family" projects at the Point of View Link Party last month. This month I am featuring this gorgeous window picture frame from Erin over at Kaminski's Creations...

Isn't it beautiful? I love how she used scrapbook paper and embellishments in each pane. It really adds a lot to this piece. Love it! Make sure you check out Erin's post for all the details on her fabulous project.

Enjoy your Labor Day weekend!