a trip to the pumpkin patch.

Halloween is in 6 days.
Six days!!
And luckily, between everything that has been keeping us quite busy, we did fit in a trip to the pumpkin patch. And for those of us who live in Southern California, the gray and cloudy weather has made it the perfect time to celebrate fall. {As opposed to the beastly heat of other years!}

Bates Nut Farm is the perfect place to enjoy the autumn season. A huge patch to pick out the perfect pumpkins, lots of farm animals to feed, and a darling little shop to stock up on candy and goodies for the season. It was such a treat, as it is every year, and we are so in Halloween mode. Now we've just got to get these pumpkins carved for Sunday!
{Oh yeah, and I need to finish Andrew's costume, eek!}

Back to work, back to work.
Happy Halloween week, friends!
xo!

what i wore wednesday.

So I admit, I've been bad about taking photos.
I've been busy, which has gotten the best of me in some areas.
However, I've snapped a few in the past two weeks that I will share with you! :)
{PS. Do you follow along with The Pleated Poppy's fun Wednesday feature? Go here to find out more.}


Sweater: Urban Outfitters
Tank Top: Walmart
Jeans: Jolt jeggings, Nordstrom
Shoes: Minnetonka Boots {amazing, I love them!}


Sweater: Target
Top: Walmart {It's a Miley tshirt, love it!}
Jeans: Jolt Jeggings from Nordstrom
Shoes: Old Navy Flips Flops
Headband: Allora Handmade! :)

And of course, Andrew is wearing an cozy shirt from Walmart and pants are from Old Navy last year. :)


Top: JC Penney {It was $1.97, woo!}
Jeans: JC Penney Jeggings
Shoes: Steve Madden Flats
Watch: Walmart
AND newly bleached hair, woo! So long, crazy dark roots!

Happy Wednesday!
Now I am off to work in Andrew's class and then decorate for his Halloween party at our house this Friday after school, eek! Lots to do, lots to do!
xo!

skipping rocks.

We went for a day trip up to Idyllwild, California last week
and it was so beautiful there.
On the way home, we stopped to skip rocks at the most beautiful lake.


It was one of those days that the light was just right,
and even though I was snapping photos with my phone,
I adore what I captured.
{And notice another missing tooth?!}


It was a perfect time of day. :)

Happy Tuesday, friends.
xo!

happy birthday to me!

Today I am twenty-eight years old.
{I like even numbers, so this age seems quite nice.}

On the agenda today for the birthday girl?
Lots of birthday hugs and kisses from Andrew.
Lunch with momma at my favorite cafe in Coronado.
Cake.
Cake.
Cake.
Feelin' special. :)

Tomorrow I will be celebrating with dinner & presents, since I have a very busy family this year! :) Andrew wasn't too happy about waiting a day to open gifts, but I am a big girl and can handle it. After all, I am twenty-eight. :) And on Saturday, my sister and I are headed downtown San Diego to shop, drink fancy cocktails, dress up, and stay the night in a funky little historic hotel!

Birthdays are the best.
Happy 28 to me!
xo!

{image via}

winners!

With the help of random.org, here are the winners from this past week!!
{Sorry I didn't get this up yesterday. We went to another showing of Pinkalicious!}

Mommy Holly
$15 Shop Credit
Winner: Dixon Family

The Pleated Poppy
$25 Shop Credit
Winner: Jocelyn

Good Day Shop
Halloween Card
Winner: mianpian.net

Bringing Up Burns
Haute Ruffle Tanks
Winner #1: Polka Dot Moon
Winner #2: Heather - AFD Jewelry

Too Silly Sisters
Posh Posie Necklace
Winner: im zoe

Haus of Girls
12 month Pumpkin Onesie
Winner: LMShunk

Wild Olive
Printable Pattern & Banner
Winner: mysteryhistorymom

Congrats to you all!!
Email me to claim your prizes, yay!! :)
{ hollyndevlin [at] gmail DOT com }
Happy Sunday!
xo!

{Now it's back to work for me. I've got a slammin' Halloween costume to sew. More details soon. :) }

Homemade Halloween... A Giveaway from Wild Olive! :)

I am so in love with today's giveaway! {And it's the last of the week, eek!}

I discovered Mollie's blog recently and immediately was hooked. She makes the most adorable embroidery patterns and offers them in her shop in printable form.. so easy and convenient!! :)

This is how Mollie describes herself...
"I'm Mollie, a graphic designer who loves to create. Making doodles into crafty projects is a favorite pastime, and I love sharing them with others. Find more about my creative pursuits at wildolive.blogspot.com!"

Today, Mollie is offering two printables for you all!! A super cute printable banner to add to your Halloween decor...


And the most delish embroidery pattern ever!


Want to win?! Here's how:
1. Visit Wild Olive and become a follower! :)
2. Visit the shop and tell me your favorite thing.

Good luck!! Winner will be announced tomorrow along with all the other giveaways as well. Have you missed some?? Read my previous posts, friends! You won't want to miss a single thing. :)

And of course,
thank you ALL
for reading along with me this week for the
Homemade Halloween special!!!
I have had the best time. Thanks to all the guest bloggers and giveaway-girls!!! You all ROCK. I've got lots of fun posts planned for next week as well, but I might be writing about something besides Halloween, who knows! :)
Happy weekend, xo!

Homemade Halloween... A Guest Post & Giveaway from Haus of Girls! :)

Our last guest post comes from the fab Marta from Haus of Girls!! :) She is teaching us how to make an adorable Halloween banner. I am thinking I'll need to whip one of these up before Andrew's Halloween party, right? And of course, pop back over at noon for the last giveaway as well! xoxox Holly

-------------------------------------------------

Hello to all you Mommy Holly fans! My name is Marta and I am stopping in from Haus of Girls where I can be found documenting my crazy life as a Midwestern Momma of three girls.

I am a fabric stalking, antique loving, diet coke chugging, treadmill running, daycare providing, pig tail making, sporty spice type of girl who has recently tapped into my creative side. I taught myself how to sew and make almost anything I see. I now create, sew, and make things on a daily basis. Today, I am so very excited to share a super fun and easy project that I did a few weeks ago.An easy (no sew option) Halloween Bunting.
Boo! Enjoy and please let me know if you make one of your own.I'd love to see your fabulous creations!

And in honor of Halloween, I would love to give away one of my "Polka Dot Pumpkin" tees that I currently have in my etsy shop. I have a size 12 month onesie all ready to go to a new home! Thank you and good luck!

Last Sunday it was rainy and yucky outside so I decided to make the most of our day stuck inside and create something fun to add to our Halloween decor.

Using random scraps I already had lying around the house, I whipped up a Halloween bunting for our front door.
Nothing fancy.
Just simple and cute.

Our black front door makes for the perfect backdrop for some spooktacular orange fun and I’m sure yours would too.

Take advantage of your next rainy day and make one for yourself.
Here’s what you do.

Grab two different fabrics. One for the “flags” and one for the letters.

Measure out your three triangles for the flags.
I made mine approximately 6 inches across and 7 inches long.
(I am not precise. Ever. I eyeball everything and it always works out fine. Perfection is not the goal, but more of the act of creating!)

Cut out three flags.

Iron them and re-cut any parts that look crazy.

While ironing, glance up at your fave family picture from last year and ponder when you can get them taken again this year.

Next, take your letter fabric and cut out a little bit smaller size of strong heat and bond.

Iron the heat and bond onto the wrong side of your letter fabric.
Easy peasy.

Next, trace your letters.
You can easily do this by printing off your choice of letters, cutting them out and using that as a template.
Trace the letters BACKWARDS onto your heat and bond paper that you ironed onto the fabric.

Cut out your letters.

Then you should have something spooktacular like this.
Boo!

Lay the letters down onto your flags where you want them.

Then iron.
Remember, I’m all about simplicity.

End result.
No sewing required!

Finally, I pinned the flags reversed and upside down on top of a striped ribbon. I found it worked well to line the flags up with the bottom stripe.
I’m all about finding tricks to make sure I sew in a straight line.

Here it is pinned ready to be sewn.

Start on your first letter, mine was the “b,” and sew your way down towards the last “o” until all three flags are sewn on. (If you don’t sew, just hot glue the flags on! Even easier!)

String your fabulousness across your front door welcoming Halloween with a hint of homemade creativity.

Spooky!

Halloween countdown: 16 days.
Crazy.

------------------------------------------

Thank you so much Marta!! :)

If you would like to enter to win the adorable 12 month onesie, leave a comment on this post! For an extra entry, follow Marta's blog! Or visit her cute Etsy shop and let me know what you love the most!! :) Winner will be announced tomorrow!

See you all at noon! :) xo!

Homemade Halloween... A Guest Post from Blessed Little Nest! :)

Hello again friends, and happy Friday!
Today is the last day of my Homemade Halloween week!
I have had such fun, and am walking away from this week with so many fabulous ideas for the coming weeks to prepare for a spooky and handmade holiday! :) I am so happy to share with you another few guest posts for the week from Heather at Blessed Little Nest, Marta from Haus of Girls at ten o'clock, and come back at noon for the last gorgeous giveaway from Wild Olive! All winners will be announced tomorrow, so good luck!!
xoxox Holly

PS.

If you are looking for the Follow Me Friday post, it's here. Link up- and we will be back to normal next week! :)
-----------------------------------------------

Hi there Mommy Holly readers!

My name is Heather from Blessed Little Nest and I am

so excited to be hanging out with you guys today.

I adore Holly, and her love of Halloween and paper
completely inspired this easy DIY project.

...Supplies...

Vintage book pages
Straw wreath
Stapler
Scissors
Sewing Pins
Wide ribbon for hanging
Embroidery Floss or Twine (yarn would work, too)
Random Bits for Embellishments- buttons, tags, etc.

1. I used pages from a vintage book and cut then into sections
that were 2" wide. Then I folded them in half.
2. Next I cut the folded paper into 1" sections.
3. With the fold of the paper in my hand, I cut the corners off
the other end so I could create a triangle. I made eleven.
4. Then I slid my string into the fold of the triangles and used
the stapler to secure them. I placed mine about an inch apart.
Tada! You just created mini vintage paper buntings!!



Use your pins to attach the bunting to your wreath.



Add a loop of ribbon for hanging and embellish as you like.
I decided to add orange buttons to my pins and jazzed up my office
tag with a little black marker and a hand cut pumpkin.

Simple. Graphic. Festive.

Thank you so much for having me over Holly!
I loved being a part of this fun week.

follow me friday.

This has been a busy week.

I mean, a freakishly busy week.

Lots of orders.

Halloween costumes to make.

Parties to plan.

Errands to run.

Volunteering at school.

You get the picture. :)

So my Follow Me Fridays photos got left in the dust.

Only two photos were taken this week, both on the same day.

But it was a fantastic day, so I am sharing anyways. :)

I snapped these photos with my phone last Friday when we took a little day trip up to Idyllwild. It was seriously beautiful there. A bit on the chilly side, but still bright and clear. A perfect day for a little mountain air. :) The photo on the left is when we stopped by a big lake and took some pictures {more to come!} and the one on the right is in the middle of town while we were shopping. I even got some Christmas shopping done for Andrew at a darling little store. :)

What did you do this week?

Can we follow you as well? :)

Grab the button, link up and now it's time for the conclusion on my Homemade Halloween week, so please check back all day today!!

xo! :)

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list...

Homemade Halloween... A Giveaway from Too Silly Sisters! :)

Today's giveaway is so super cute!

Lori from Too Silly Sisters has made a necklace especially for the Homemade Halloween event! I have one of Lori's button bracelets from her darling shop and I adore it. She makes beautiful jewelry and is a seriously delightful person! :)

This is how Lori describes herself...
"I am a home schooling Mom that loves the Lord, my precious family, ice cold Pepsi, chips and salsa, photography, eating veggies from my garden, staying up late watching movies, handmade quilts, laughing till I cry, creating jewelry, having my hair brushed, margaritas, the beach, and not camping. :) "

Want to enter to win this fun Trick Or Treat Posh Posie Necklace?

Here's how:

1. Visit Two Silly Sisters and let me know your favorite item!

2. Pay Lori a visit to her blog and become a follower!

3. Let me know in the comments on this post what you are planning on dressing up as for Halloween this year! Or possibly what you are dressing your kids up as? I love to hear new ideas for costumes! :)

And guess what else?
Lori is offering 20% off your purchase in her store until October 19th! Mention you are a reader of Mommy Holly in the message to seller section :) Yay!

Good luck- a winner will be announced on Saturday, along with the other giveaway winners as well. Here are links to the open giveaways that you might have missed:

Mommy Holly

The Pleated Poppy

Good Day Shop

Happy Thursday, friends!

See you tomorrow morning for another fun guest post from Heather at Blessed Little Nest and the last day of a Homemade Halloween! xo!