Fall break

We've had six weeks of idyllic fall weather, ending in fall break for all of us. Leaves are just starting to fall, and our kids are thrilled to help rake. To them, raking leaves is play, not work.

Yes, Inga is still in her pajamas at 5 pm. And I haven't brushed her hair for 5 days. C'est la vie chez nous des fois.

Our attic looks like a leather bomb went off. I pulled out a bin of leather scraps and we've been thinking up all sorts of fun ideas for Halloween costumes. I made Dio a deerhide vest. He and Zari also have leather belts made of multiple pieces joined together (Zari's look like leaves; Dio's are rectangles with points on the bottom).

Eric made a pair of flip-flops for Dio this morning.

My newest fascination is riveting. I bought a pop riveter, but it doesn't work well on soft materials like leather. I really really really want to get into copper riveting....I could even make my own copper rivets if I bought this $50 jig (but then I'd still have to figure out how to make the copper burrs...drilling out a penny would work, but the penny is far too large). I might have to settle for buying pre-made copper rivets & burrs. I also NEED a small anvil. NEED!

In the next two weeks I need to make costumes for Zari and Dio, plus cloaks for the kids and myself. I'm trying to use up all my spare fabric and this should make a good dent in my stash.

We also made goo from Elmer's glue and borax. Cheap and hours of fun.