This summer is almost half over, but it has already been beautiful and rich with tiny joys. (Minus the lost of our sweet doggie Skully to old age and a horrible flu/cold/hacking cough I just can't shake.) But let me focus on the many positives.

How is your summer going? Are you enjoying heavenly weather where you are as we are here in Boise? Any fun summer projects you've accomplished? Let me know in the comments below!

Update: Our Thanksgiving this year was so nice! I hope you all had as nice a day as we did!

Today I have a fun DIY project for you! I'm taking a short break from my doll making duties to make this for my house. I'm hosting Thanksgiving this year, and we're really in the mood. This is perfect for Thanksgiving decor, and you can customize it to any color scheme you like! It will take one afternoon or so to make this pretty leaf garland.

For this project you'll need:

-Several sheets of felt (wool or wool blend recommended, but acrylic is fine) in maroon, olive green, nut brown, butternut yellow, and orange (or desired colors).

-Scissors

-Sewing machine

-Thread

-Real Leaf/Leaves

1. Pick out a real leaf to use as your template. You can pick several sizes or types of leaves to use.

2. Begin to cut out your leaves in whatever variety of shapes and sizes and colors you like. I needed 18 maple leaves for my 80 inch garland. Yours may vary depending on the size of your leaves and the desired length of your garland.

This is the perfect task to do while watching a seasonal movie with your kids.

3. Decide the order of your colors. Lay the leaves out on a nearby surface in order.

4. Leaving a nice long thread tail (about 4 inches), sew with your machine down the center of your first leaf. When you get to the end of the leaf, lift your presser foot, pull the thread about an inch, place your next leaf under the foot, lower the foot and sew the next leaf. Proceed like this until your last leaf.

5. When you sew to the end of your last leaf, pull the thread several inches and cut, leaving a thread tail about 4 inches long. These thread tails are for helping to hang your garland (either tying, taping, or anchoring by putting something heavy on).

6. Enjoy your garland! And Happy Thanksgiving!

I'd love to see yours if you make one! Or share your ideas for simple Thanksgiving decor in the comments!

One of my favorite places on earth is in my little studio. It's where I create all of my handmade cloth dolls, stuffed animals, and develop my PDF patterns. I work in a spare room of my house, and it is packed to the gills. It is seldom neat as a pin, but usually at least partly tidy.

I usually have company, and my company usually brings his toys.

Things get a little stacked up sometimes. It's hard to have room for all of my inventory, ongoing and current projects, fabric, stuffing, packing supplies and everything else in a ten by ten area! But I shoe-horn it all in somehow.

I am seldom without tunes of some kind (okay, I admit to an inordinate amount of Journey) and I often stare out the window at the trees in my yard when I take a tea break.

Thanks for stopping by the Hen and Chick Studio for a visit!

Come back soon!

I am a gardener at heart. I haven't had the inclination to do the great big veggie gardens like I had in my childhood and the first few years of married/home-owning life, but I still get immense satisfaction from watching seeds that I planted bear fruit. To me, it is one of the greatest acts of hope one can commit.

Though my vegetable garden this year has been less than impressive, my strawberries and rhubarb have done well, yielding a batch of jam each. And I'm looking forward to making apple chips in the oven when the apples ripen up.

Are you growing anything green? Tell me about your gardening adventures from this year!