Holiday #1 of The Big Three down. Two to go.

My own little super reader.

Easy pumpkin applique bag

I've never been one much for Halloween (I loved it as a kid, but as an adult, I've never gotten that into it). But it was fun to see Max sort-of understand what Halloween was this year. Of course, after we put on his costume and went outside, it took me 10 minutes to convince him to get off the swing-set and go trick-or-treating. But once he got the hang of (and saw candy bars getting dropped into his bag), he was into it.

I'm happy with how the SuperWhy costume turned out, except the mask (which I couldn't even get him to wear anyway). And as an added bonus, while searching for inspiration for the various parts of the costume I discovered a T-shirt pattern (Simplicity 5317) that I really love and will definitely use again (sans cape and SuperWhy logo). I've been struggling to find a good T-shirt pattern for Max all summer (my own attempts to draft one from existing shirts never worked, and the few patterns I tried weren't quite right in the neck). But I love how this one fits.

I also whipped up a fun pumpkin trick-or-treat bag (made from denim, with orange pin dots for the pumpkin and craft felt for the face). It reminded me that sometimes it's okay to just make a cute little bag without lining or finished seams or fancy details.

So I've declared tomorrow the start of my baby-weight-reduction plan. But the bowl of leftover candy begs to differ . . .