this is how we spent the wee hours of the morning

Sitting in the ER. Diagnosis: pneumonia in her right lung. Sheesh!!

it's been how long??

months since I've posted a layout? Really?? Holy cow, it's been a long time since I've gone that long without scrapping a layout. I guess I've been busy with holidays, fried computers, and other projects. Well, it's back to basics...for now at least. Next week is a whole 'nother subject. I've been stuck at home since Tuesday afternoon with a sickling. So in between fetching Tylenol, Motrin, Vernors, kleenex, rubbing shoulders & holding hair during puk....well, you get the picture...I managed to get a little scrappin' in.

Pumpkin Carving 101
Let's face it, sometimes scrapping the holidays can get tiresome because it seems like you're doing the same thing every year. So instead of "traditional" journaling, I opted to put some little notes on each photo (in Photoshop) and that was, in essence, was my journaling. No more had to be said!

Supplies from Studio Calico November kit. 

Added: button, string, stitching, green crystal

Now I just pray that the rest of us don't come down with whatever my daughter has. Fingers and toes double crossed!!

party in the USA

Go ahead and sing along. You know you want to :)

another successful year

It was another great Halloween this year. The weather was a lot colder and rainier than normal but my kids didn't seem to care one bit. It actually reminded me a lot of my Halloween's trick or treating as a kid. Usually you had to figure out how to put your winter coat under your costume! But back then a lot of the costumes were plastic so it wasn't much of a problem. Not the full suit costumes that they make today. 

We started off the day by carving our pumpkins. Yes, I waited til Halloween to do this. I told you the entire month zipped by for me!

The kids drew the faces that they wanted and even helped a bit with the carving. Of course, pumpkin carving wouldn't be complete without daddy acting like he's going to shove a handful of pumpkin guts into someone's face!

Even the dogs waited patiently for a pumpkin seed to fall...

Yes, I know that's a Christmas tablecloth. But it was the only plastic one I had handy! And here's the finished results...

I think the colored light inside the mummy makes him look even spookier, don't you??

And then, out of nowhere, a Jedi Knight fight broke out in the kitchen...

Not sure who won that battle, I'll have to let you know. But just be warned, Ben doesn't fight fair. He aims right for the.....well, you can figure that one out!

And then it was time for trick or treating. It was a Star Wars Halloween at this house. A Storm Trooper and Padme.

 

 

The serious face adds to overall look of the costume, don't you think?!

Now I didn't dress up, but I couldn't go out with at least doing something. 

I even put on pink eyelashes. I don't know how women wear those things...

At the end of the evening the kids were soaked. I told you it was raining!

But it was all worth it when they got to dump their buckets out and relish in their successful night of trick or treating!

Ok, is that my dog licking the carpet in the background?? God that dog is weird sometimes!

I hope you all had a fun Halloween this year!!

how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop??

Well, if your dog is helping you....not as many as you'd think!

Happy Halloween!!!!

how you know it's almost Halloween...

there are costumes, accessories, make-up, etc laying all over the house

the kitchen looks like a cyclone blew through it....then came through a second time and left bits of candy corn and spider legs all over the countertops

the mother of the house (aka ME) is staying up late getting treat bags ready for the kids' classes


last minute prep for classroom parties are going on, lists are being made, and momma is wondering how she's going to get all of this stuff into school tomorrow while climbing through hallways of kids in the morning rush


kids are finding it hard to sleep because they are so excited for all of the Halloween fun!
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Yes, it's been busy around here. I've made 20 spider cupcakes, 20 pretzel skeleton fingers, 18 treat bags, scarecrow crunch, Halloween punch, supplies for scarecrow cookies, yadda yadda yadda.


And because I can't do a post without a photo.....and I love sharing Halloween treats, I'll share a few of my goodies that I made this week.

These little guys were veeeery time consuming (20 cupcakes = 160 spider legs) but I think you can see they were worth it. Got the idea here. I couldn't find truffles so I used mini Reeses cups instead. And the eyes were some Wilton confetti sprinkles I had in the cabinet already. 

Just an FYI, if you make these keep the legs refrigerated before assembling. That way the chocolate stays stiff and they won't fall apart. I only had 3 leg casualties :) hehe


I also made these cute skeleton fingers

Again, if you have to make a lot they can be very time consuming. Ideally I would buy multiple molds and that way you could crank out a bunch at once. But I'm cheap and only bought one! And I used one of those squeeze bottles for the chocolate. That made things go a lot easier. But a hint...don't try to melt the chocolate in the bottle (by holding it in a bowl of hot water) as the directions say on the back. It takes fooooorrreverr. I melted mine like normal and then put it in the bottle.

So what kind of spooky concoctions are you planning this Halloween??

fall tote bags

Well, it's 4 days until Halloween. Can you believe it?!! I certainly can't. Somehow I lost the month of October...not sure how. Remember that pretty fall looking material I showed in a previous post? Well, I made some fall tote bags with that pretty fabric. And oh how I love it :)

excuse the coloring in the photos...rainy & overcast weather for days leads to yucky photos

I've had a lot of fun making these tote bags. I made 2 large ones and, of course a mini-tote.  

 

 

I made those cute flower using this Heather Bailey tutorial. I just didn't layer mine cause I found those cute buttons. I really like these bags because they're perfect for throwing a few things in and running out the door. And, of course, I will have my bags in my etsy shop soon. Still trying to finish up Halloween projects so it may take me a day or 2 to get them up.

And speaking of my etsy shop, right now all Halloween items ship for free. I have one more of the Halloween wall hanging kits left along with some embellishment sets.

Once those are gone I'll be switching over the Christmas. Can you believe it's coming in less than 2 months?!! The link to my shop is on the right ------------>>>>>

happy haunting

Happy Saturday :) I've been busying sewing a bunch of fall tote bags but I thought I'd drop in really quick and share a cute little Halloween card I made the other day.

I used a Sizzix scallop square die for the front along with some Halloween papers & Home is Where the Haunt Is stamp set (Stampin' Up). I used my circle & scallop circle Nestibilities for the haunted house and I used a pop dot for the moon to make it stand out a bit. 

At first I used a smaller circle punch for the moon but then realized I liked it better with a little white around the edge.

And that's it! Hope you're all having a wonderful fall weekend!

like I need another hobby

I've had a sewing machine for about 5 yrs. I had every intention of learning how to sew. And then I just never got around to it. I've made a few little projects here and there but nothing major. I guess the sewing "bug" just hadn't hit me yet. What's funny is that I ended up using my sewing machine more for scrapbooking than sewing projects! 

But lately I've been a sewing fool. I made a few little tote bags out of this material that was just screaming for me to buy!

This one is pretty basic. Cute pink, flower & paislee pattern on the outside & a coordinating black pattern on the inside. And what's cool is that the bags are reversible :) The pattern on the handles is the inside pattern, too.

Pink ribbon tied in a bow to finish it off. This next one is my favorite...

Those flowers were just calling to me in the store. Aren't they fun?!

And here's a cute little mini tote bag. It measures about 9x9. I'm thinking it'd be really cute to put an altered notepad and some personalized notecards for teacher gifts. Yes, thinking ahead to Christmas.

Instead of the sewn handles I thought it'd be fun to use black & white polka dot ribbon. This size would also be perfect for a little girl's purse :)

And next? Well, this fabric was also screaming at me in the store...

Reminds you of fall, doesn't it?

having clean hands doesn't have to be boring

Now, if you have small kids I'm sure you have multiple bottles of hand sanitizer around the house like I do. But there's no reason they can't be dressed up for the holidays just like everything else, right?! 

I found these bottles of Target brand hand sanitizer last week and remembered how Virginia had decorated some for teacher gifts earlier this year. And with the orange caps they're perfect for Halloween!

I used some of my leftover scraps of My Mind's Eye Boo To You papers & cut-outs, some ribbon and Voila! Cutie patootie hand sanitizer bottles :) And don't forget to decorate the back, too. These would also make great teacher gifts.

(By the way, if you're wanting to make these with the Target bottles, the measurement for the front and back is 2 1/8" x 3 1/8".)

Keep your fingers crossed for me...having internet & cable issues again. So far it's working again but we'll see...technology, such a pain sometimes!!