Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a holiday celebrated in Mexico and other Latin countries which honors and celebrates friends and family members. Every year on November 1st and 2nd, All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day, alters are made to honor loved ones in which favorite food and drinks are set out in honor of the deceased. Decorations are bright and vibrant to truly celebrate life and not mourn death. Flowers, candles, brightly colored sugar skulls as well as favorite music is all a part of the festival.

Being that the celebration is such a colorful and beautiful event, there are great craft projects that use the colors and fun sugar skull images of the festival.  I have made an easy tote using some fabric featuring the sugar skull image.  It is a large tote that would be great for taking books to and from the library or some light grocery shopping.  When putting this together don’t be afraid to use bright colors that mix n’ match.  The Day of the Dead celebration is all  about the vibrancy of life.

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What super sewer doesn’t have piles and piles of fabric scraps? Why not turn them into cute pom-poms! They are super easy and can be used in a few different ways.  Use them to embellish knitted hats, hang them from the ceiling to make an adorable mobile, or add wire stems and arrange in a vase like a bouquet.  The possibilities are endless!

Here is a link to tutorial on how to make these easy crafts from one of my favorite blogs, Molly Chicken.

Click here, we have a treat for you!

Taking clothing from a thrift store, or even your own closet, and making it something new can be an exhilerating and exciting project.  This Halloween, take something old and make it a great old-time costume.  This dress was a basic, peach-colored, 1980s prom dress made into an 1880s gown.  By taking bits and pieces from a few sources, you can create something new (and old) for a great costume that will leave people speechless.

About a month ago I participated in a contest at the American Sewing Expo called Passion for Fashion. It is a lot like project runway where you get a challenge and sew in front of an audience in a limited amount of time. This is the dress I created, I used parts of a basic strapless Simplicity pattern and used an exposed zipper in the front. The exposed zipper was the easiest part of the dress! Instead of putting the zipper in the back I added a seam to the front and attached the zipper in the front. The fabric is a metallic finished tweed, the top bodice is the wrong side of the fabric with no finish. I embroidered the design on before it was sewn together. Check out www.americansewingexpo.com for more information on the expo.

Being a working, busy mother of two small kids, I love to use clothes that mykids already have, and other materials from around the house to make their Halloween costumes. That’s what my parents did when I was young, and that’s what I do. I made this outfit with that in mind.

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I have tried to use many diffrent types of taylors chalk in the past to trace my patterns onto fabric.  I have found one that is just great to use. A must have in my sewing room.  It is a chalk machanical pencil.  It comes with an array of diffrent colors of chalk.  Im sure you can find it at any sewing store in with the other taylors chalk .  I use mine when I am tracing patterns, marking patterns, and making appliques.  It works great without worring about ruining your fabric.  Usually by the time my project is sewn the marks from the chalk are gone.  I use mine all the time.

I have collected so many buttons over the years. Between my mom, grandmom, and mother-in-law, I have a drawer full of them. Does that stop me from buying more? Nope! And just like my taste in fabric, I am drawn to vintage or vintage looking buttons.

Buttons make such cute and pretty embellishments for many different projects.  For one purse I made, I added a collage of buttons which gave the purse a wonderful texture.

There are a lot of different crafty projects with buttons.  You can even stitch some on to ring forms to make fun (and easy to make!) rings.

La Mode has a great line of vintage inspired button that you can find at Jo-ann Fabrics.

The internet, especially Ebay, is a great place to find true vintage buttons.  One great site is http://www.vintagebuttons.net/

Beautiful faceted amethyst ring from http://www.vintagebuttons.net/

One of my most favorite types of buttons is Czech Glass Buttons.  They are so beautiful that you can use them to make necklace pendants, bracelets or really fancy purse closures.  On a trip to San Diego years ago, I bought the prettiest wire wrapped bracelet with a Czech Glass Button as the center piece.  The shop I have bought from and has a great selection is Crazy Cakes on Etsy.So pretty!

Every girl dreams of being a ballerina. This Halloween make her dream come true with this adorable skirt.

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This buttonhole cutter is a very important notion to have. I LOVE mine, it allows you to get a precise opening without going through your stitching. I couldn’t tell you the amount of times I have sewn in buttonholes and then went just a little to far with the seam ripper and ruined them. This is an important tool for any sewing kit. These can be purchased at: http://www.nancysnotions.com/product/supplies/handy+notions/buttonhole+cutter+3+pc+set.do