Weekend of Witches

As you all know there are not many things Lady Hiva and I disagree on, one of those things is her love for Halloween. I just can't quite share her fervor for the gory holiday. One year, when she was on bed rest with one of her pregnancies, she asked me to get some Halloween decorations for the house. I came home with what she terms "Autumn Decor" not Halloween! haha. We have come to a truce over the years. My love for Christmas will not fully take over our lives until after 31 OCT (that being said, I was singing Christmas Carols in the car the other day with Lucky Dragon) and she will not decorate with skulls or anything gory. Seems to work so far.

This weekend she went into full Halloween mode. We bought stuff for her to do some crafty decor and then the highlight of the weekend was going to Gardner Village, a place we love anyway, for the first day of their "Witches." From now until Halloween all the shops take on a Halloween theme and sell items to help people like Lady Hiva on their quest to Halloween greatness!

Buying Fruit from the Farmer's Market

We had fun seeing all of the autumn decorations up and looking for all of the witch statues staged throughout the complex depicting many forms of witch activities. Some were playing baseball, one was jumping off a diving board, they were dancing, hula-hooping, brewing in a caldron and playing on their organ. Lucky Dragon loved watching for them and announcing when we found one.

We saw all of the Halloween decorations for sale and for display. You would have thought that these two people with me were in heaven. Lady Hiva found a fun witch hat that she loved (actually she found several, but we only bought one. She also saw several costumes that she liked, but there were really expensive.

That is when my creative thought process began. I told her I could make her one. So we went to the material store on the way home and bought the colors she liked.

This is how the outfit began...this and an idea in my head

This is my pattern...straight out of my head..haha

Four hours later the costume was complete! It is not perfect and it was hard to design it so she can wear it pregnant and also after she is not pregnant any more. It was fun to make. So she is all ready for Halloween. Tau'aho insists that he be Harry Potter--we have most of his costume ready. And he keeps telling us that I have to be Snape...hmmm...I guess that's who I'll be then. Not my first choice, but boss #2 has spoken hahaha!

Making the skirt

He was so interested

Finished product from the front

Finished Product from the back

Skirt from the front

I made her try on the outfit so I could see how it looked...

Showing off her 20 week bump!

Gardner Village--Some Quaint Old with New

The old mill now a restaurant and furniture store at Gardner Village

When I was younger I would go with Madre to see Gardner Village on our trips to Salt Lake City. I loved to see the history of the shopping area built around old homes that were brought from all over the Salt Lake Valley. I especially liked to go during the Christmas Season and see it all decked out in decorations.

I decided it was time to introduce Lady Hiva to Gardner Village a few weeks ago and she has turned into a Gardner Village addict! (Maybe I should have thought more about that introduction!) Since then we have purchased a bed, entertainment center, sheets, toys, books and other items from the many shops--they did well sucking us in and allowing us to spend all our money! HAHA

Gardner Village is owned and operated by a local Utah family. It was built around an old mill that is now a restaurant and a really fun furniture shop. Over the years the property has grown and they brought several family homes from around the SLC Valley to make a small village. Each building is home to a boutique or shop of some kind. There is a quilter, antiques shop, make-up, several decorating shops, candy, ice cream, restaurants and other house stuff.

Of course we ended up starting with the children's toy and book shop. Tau'aho loved this store because, wisely, they had a train set up in the back and he could play while we looked at all of the books (did I ever mention that Lady Hiva and I are addicted to books and can never leave a bookstore without one or two of them?!) After we finally convinced him we would by a "Koko and Wilson," two trains from Disney Junior's Chuggington we could finally get him to leave. We started in the next few stores and he made up his mind that the Christmas ornament shop was NOT as enticing as the trains so he waited at the door of the shop until someone came in, I thought he was just doing his business away from us as he usually does, and when the door opened he darted out. I ran out after him, he was on a dead run to the toy shop. What a good memory! He did not even hesitate, he knew exactly where we were going! I allowed him to play for a few more minutes but then needed to move on.

We fed ducks and he systematically went in and out of every store looking for their toys. Again, the shop owners show their business prowess by having a toy section so kids can play while parents spend all of their money! hehe, that is my fair warning. We liked to see that each shop had a plaque telling the story of the home--where it came from, when it was built, who lived there...

Gardner Village is definitely worth a visit or two. There is now a petting zoo and kids can ride the ponies. They have great food and two big festivals that we would recommend: the Witches festival in October when people come dressed as witches and the place is decked out for Halloween and of course, at Christmas time go at night to see all the lights.