Handheld Friends, Part 1 {Clutch Tutorials}

One of my all-time favorite things to sew are clutches, purses and wallets. They allow so much creativity and provide practicality. They make awesome accessories to an outfit as well as awesome gifts. You can NEVER have enough purses!! :)

First up...meet the Pleated Pouch!! 

 I got the pattern and directions for this cute guy from Skip To My Lou!

 

 For the bride-to-be...I chose to use a "Bride" printed white and pink bandana 

with some coordinating polka-dot pink fabric!

I added some stranded crystals for a zipper pull and it turned out adorable!

Next up is a mini wristlet...I used Anna's Lil Cutie Pouches Tutorial for the basic pattern and layout. I'm not going to lie--this is one of my FAVORITE "pouch" tutorials. It is a great "layout" in creating any style of clutch. I just added a strap and pocket,  a ruffle/ribbon accent to the front, a cute ziper pull and enlarged the dimensions.

 It is so stinkin cute I can hardly stand it--the fabric is adorable. I made this for Leslie at work who bakes yummy creations on the side from home. She wanted something to take on her deliveries to hold her cash, phone and some business cards. 

 

 

Stay tuned for other clutch/wristlet/purse/wallet tutorials that I may come across!!

Spooktacular Brunch and Dessert Party

This year for Halloween we had a Spooktacular Brunch and Dessert Party for the office. With the help of a co-worker, we got to planning and shopping! Our manager let us have free reign and he really wanted us to get into it! He even went as far as telling us to cut down the budget by getting real-life spiders and cobwebs from outside…but we weren’t going THAT route! Many people signed up for the lunch and dessert party and we were excited to see what concoctions people would come up with! 

Along with carving pumpkins, I spent the night before 

making chocolates for the admin's goodie bags!

 The girls goodie bags consisted of a "creepy critter" some chocolate eyeballs, 

gummy body parts and my chocolate.

 

Since we weren't aloud to dress in costume, I had made a hair clip especially for Halloween :)

 

One of our "friends" greeting you at the door when you walked into the party.

 Pumpkin shaped baked brie!

Bloody cream cheese dip--yummy!

 

My pumpkin that I carved with the company logo.

 

 Some of the food...and yes that is a vulture by the chicken :)

Our other door greeter :)

 

Time for dessert!

We had mummy cupcakes, dirt pudding and chocolate-peanut butter eyeballs!

Leslie's creations :)

 

The day of was a little hectic with setting up and prepping but it turned out to be a great success! The food was yummy, the décor was creepy and the dessert was delish! The room was even complete with scary music, dim lights and the life-sized talking mannequins, which was the PERFECT touch!

Right around the corner…a Thanksgiving lunch!! We’re looking forward to some turkey and yummy sides!