happy halloween

  Happy Halloween!

I thought I would share some of our treats I made for my little guy's preschool class. 

I made the broom stick treat bags from Martha Stewart found here.  Super easy to make...handy husband thought I went a little over board.  It was all things I already had...just a different and clever way of putting candy in a bag.

I found these cute free Halloween hang tags found here. 

Of course he needed to get into the stamping fun. 

My girls needed (and I desperately NEEDED) Halloween gluten-free treats for school and for a party later in the day. 

Of course he tried to finger a lick whenever my back was turned.  And he was also constantly scrambling to find the loose jimmie that had fallen.  Aw-who I am kidding - I was constantly scrambling to find the loose jimmie!

I'm excited for tonight!  The weather is beautiful and should be a great night for tricks and treats!

Thanks for stopping.

Bye for now!

burlap tackboard

Today I thought I would show you my burlap wrapped tackboard.  I got the idea here and knew that I wanted to do something similar.  The woven strips of burlap add interest to a basic tackboard.  I have a small area above our phone in the kitchen that I haven't found anything interesting to put up. 

I remember reading about a Martha Stewart framed bulletin board found here using homasote board.  I really didn't know where to find this so I basically walked around Menards until I did.  It's a 3/4" thick fiberboard that came in 2'x4' sheet.  It's kind-of soft but firm enough to pin into.  I didn't want to use cork board mainly because it's a little thinner and most boards have a frame.  I didn't know how that would look with the fabric weaving over the frame and onto the board.

I had my handy husband cut me a piece to fit.  I barely used any...I think I will make another one for the girl's room to hang special things.

I basically followed the tutorial I linked to above.  One thing I did differently was that I covered the entire board with burlap first, paying close attention to covering the corners.  I didn't want to see the board underneath when weaving the strips of burlap. 

I added a bunch of fall things...a grouping of small orange ribbon flowers, artwork and class picture of my preschooler,

a spooky black Halloween flower,

of course I had to add a "G",

a leaf cutout book page from one of my Grandma's frig books found here,

and a school calendar with important dates, parties and snacks.

For the longest time I didn't have anything on it.  My handy husband asked, "So what are you going to put on it...post-it-notes?"  I looked at him and laughed "Post-it-notes!  I think not!"  I simply can not have bright neon colored post-its hanging on my board - it would ruin my design.  Later I informed him that things need to be written down.  We need better organization of upcoming events.  But I also need it to look good too!

Thanks for stopping.

Bye for now! 

 

glitter pumpkin {and a Jennifer Rizzo giveaway}

  Glitter pumpkins are all around us this season it seems.  And of course I needed to make some. 

Who doesn't love a little glitter?

I didn't take before and during pictures of this project just because it's so easy.  All you need is a faux pumpkin, glue and glitter (I used Martha Stewart glitter because it's so awesome).  I did make a twine stem similar to those of my sweater pumpkins found here.

This project was completed in no time and would have a big impact in a grouping of pumpkins or in a stand alone pumpkin display as I did.

Just so cute and sparkly...I love it!

Onto the giveaway that I will share with you going on at Jennifer Rizzo's blog right now in honor of her new fall line "The Vintage Tea Collection".

"The Winter Nesting Kit" includes:

3 collage tea towels

3 french tea towels

3 tea time towels

1 white linen la Parisian pillow cover

1 in flight pillow cover

1 hat and matching fingerless gloves

a set (4) of vintage tea plates

a set(2) of vintage ironstone mugs

organic tea

lavender sugar

and a vintage book.

It will all arrive in a vintage picnic basket and the winner also receives a $100 gift certificate for jewelry in her shop. It's a $500 value.

Jennifer Rizzo

Jennifer Rizzo

Thanks for stopping.

Bye for now!

the pumpkin patch

  My husband's work hosted a gathering at a local pumpkin patch on Sunday.  We had a blast!

The past couple of weeks the weather has been warm.  It just didn't seem pumpkin patchy to be wearing shorts.  This weekend was perfect; cold enough for pants but warm enough to go without a jacket.

This pumpkin patch had a ton for the kids to do. 

They poked their heads through imaginary characters.

Climbed on hay bails...

and jumped into soft beds of hay.

Tried to lift a gazillion pound pumpkin...

and made corn angels.

Jumped on big, bouncy pillows...

and took a hay ride to the pumpkin patch.

Climbed on top of big tires...

and crawled underneath them.

Roasted hot dogs by campfire...

and slid down a bumpy pipe slide.

Got lost in a cornstalk maze...

priceless!

There were plenty of haunted houses with haunted ghoulish figures, but they were all too scary this year. 

Great fall fun!

Thanks for stopping.

Bye for now!

spooky halloween scene

We sent our oldest daughter to heritage school today.  It was fun dressing her up!  Each student needed to where period clothing and take their lunch in a pail with a cloth cover.  She will be experiencing a typical day in the late 1800's.  I can't wait to hear about her day!

Today I thought I would share my spooky Halloween scene I created above the TV area in our living room.

  I was inspired by Pottery Barn's haunted house candle holder and the scene that surrounds it. 

I was NOT inspired by the house's price of $99.99. 

What I think I liked about this is that it was not so Halloween commerical looking.  Children and adults can appreciate and enjoy looking at this.

Could I make something similar?  I could do it....I took several architecture classes and I built a lot of models.  I collected several cereal boxes and started to cut and then spray painted a few.  But then I came across these....

found here and they were cheap! 

I decided to give it a try. 

I didn't like how they were so uniform looking and definitely NOT at all spooky.  They needed some work.  I started with the little one thinking if it didn't turn out then it wouldn't be a big deal.  I cut and I ripped paper and I glued and I folded paper and then glued some more.  I was thrilled at how it turned out and decided to do the same technique to the middle sized house. 

I must say this took quite awhile!  Several days during several nap times.

And finally here's my spooky scene in our living room....

I did cut the backs off the houses so that you could see through them.  It lightens it up.

I did spray paint the tea lights also.  They were originally orange and really stood out.

You don't need to be perfect in your cutting of the windows and door.  It makes it look more haunted when it's not so symmetrical.

I made book covers out of coffee stained freezer paper.  Super easy project...I will post about that soon.

I had fun one weekend burning all these candles so that they looked old and creepy.

And finally the bat banner was just a bat shape found on the internet, traced on black foam, and a string hot glued to the back.

Originally I included pictures like those found in PB's theme behind my scene.  But since my space is a lot smaller it looked way over crowded.

Enjoy making your scary Halloween scene in your home! 

Thanks for coming.

Bye for now!

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