All the Small Things...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO bummed that I've missed half of my FAVORITE month, but I had such computer woes!!!  I'm not going to fret though... I kept taking pics and I'm just going to spend a whole day posting my guts out!  From my dinner party to our Disneyland trip to my decorating... I have SO much to share!!!  For now, here is a pic of my kidlets at Mickey's Halloween Party.  I'll post more REAL soon... promise!!!

Spooky Corner...

Here's a little peek at one little corner of our SPOOKY Halloween home...

This is our gruesome SKELETON CORNER!  Do you like my Spider Chandelier?  LOVE IT!

SUPER Cute Goodie...

Look what came in the mail today!

Are these cute or what?!?!?  Miss Scarlet on a stamp... love it.  They came from Stamps.com  I'm now going to do a set of family stamps and then a set for Patrick and one for Chandler.  How cute to write to friends, teachers and family and then use these for postage???  I think I'll also use them on my Christmas cards this year... how fun would that be? 

I wasn't sure how good they'd turn out, so I just ordered one set to start of with, but now I'm ADDICTED!

How cute would these be for baby announcements?!?!?!!  Or weddings?!?!?  LOVE them!

I'm so busy, but just had to post these!  Later...

I LOVE a Wand!

My FAB friend, Kathleen, introduced me to the world of wands and she hooked me!  She makes wands for her kids and for around her house every holiday and now I do it too!  They are SO easy and gorgeous and I can't tell you how many compliments I get on them!

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They are fun for the kids to play with and REALLY cute sticking out of planters, a grouping of pumpkins or baskets.

Scarlet will be carrying the spider wand on Halloween... it's PERFECT for her costume!

Instructions:

topper (anything with a foam core center)

dowel

acrylic paint and brushes

ribbon

glue

• Cut the dowel to a length you like
• Paint the dowel and add polka dots if you like
• Tie ribbons around the top of the dowel and glue in place
• Make a hole in your topper with the dowel and fill with glue
• Place dowel in hole and wait until it dries

Thats it!!!  These are EASY!!!  I'll post my other wands when those holidays come...

Someone Give Me a Hand...

or 75!

This is how I spent my Saturday night... in front of the TV watching Interview with a Vampire and making 75 popcorn hands for the kids in my church.  Each month I am in charge of having a  lesson for all the children under 12 in the church.  This month was calling for a creepy hand with a note on the finger telling them not to forget the lesson.  It was fun and the kids loved them.   

Not very religious come to think of it though...    lol

Tailgating...

On Friday night about 8 families meet up in the local High School parking lot for a good old fashioned tailgating get-together.  Nothing fancy... everyone brings their own food for their own family and we hang out and eat and the kids run around like having the time of their lives.  It was SO much fun and it reminded me how much I love my friends, their kids and our home town!

Fab Fabric Pumpkins...

Remember how easy the last craft was?  Well these are honestly just as easy... and fast too!

Instructions:

fabric square (any size, but mine are made with a square that's about 15"X15")

filling   (don't use expensive filling... you'd never know the difference)

needle and DMC floss (or thick thread or double your thread, but floss is easiest)

a tree branch for the stem

artificial leaves and flowers and berries (all or one or two... it doesn't matter)

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• leaving about 6" of thread at the start, sew a running stitch (that's simply in, out, in, out) around the entire fabric square (make your stitches about 1" apart and don't worry if they're even or look nice because you'll NEVER notice them again... I mean that!)
• leave another 6" of thread at the end
• remove the needle and pull both ends of the thread until a bowl of fabric is made with about a 4" center
• stuff the pumpkin with the filling (they shouldn't be too stuffed... just enough to have the shape of a pumpkin)
• pull the threads tight now, leaving a 1" hole,  and tie a super duper knot (just so it doesn't come undone)
• Stick the branch in the hole for the stem
• Stick the leaves, berries and flowers in the hole as you like
• You can glue all these in place with a glue gun, but I didn't...

Okay, how easy was that?  These look best with textured material, so hit the corduroys and the velvets, the brocades and homespun cottons.  Also, make them different sizes and shapes.  Have fun!

Flower Balls...

Okay ladies, this is literally the easiest craft known to man and I LOVE them! 

So, what do I do with these flower puffs?

Some I've arranged in a basket with a candle and an apple vine.

Then with the sunflower ball, I just put it on my mantle next to some other Halloween items and it looks adorable all by itself.

Instructions:

a bunch of fall flowers

Styrofoam ball (I used 5" ones)

• Cut the flowers from the bunch using wire clippers and leaving about a 3 inch wire stem
• Now stick the flowers into the balls and fill until no Styrofoam is showing
• You can glue the flowers in place, but I didn't (one step less is right up my alley)

Okay, I'm embarrassed I even gave you instructions for those, because they're SO easy, but I'm a girl who loves instructions, so you're getting them! :)

A Halloween Picture Frame...

A fun little picture frame I made... 

Instructions:

wood frame

2 different Halloween papers

a collection of different ribbons

Metal Tag

Rub-ons

Modge Podge

sandpaper

acrylic paint

• Paint all edges of the frame in a complimentary color and let dry
• Tear the bottom paper in half
• Apply a thin coat of Modge Podge to the bottom of the frame
• Place the paper on top of the Modge Podged frame leaving more than an inch of paper hanging over all 3 sides
• Rub the paper gently with a ruler or bone folder to remove all air bubbles (a small bit of glue will probably squirt out of the sides of the frame- wipe away this glue immediately)
• Tear the top paper towards you, so the tear exposes the white part of the paper
• Apply a thin coat of Modge Podge to the top of the frame and and onto the top inch or so of the bottom paper
• Place the paper on top of the Modge Podged frame leaving more than an inch of paper hanging over all 3 sides
• Rub the paper gently with a ruler or bone folder to remove all air bubbles (a small bit of glue will probably squirt out of the sides of the frame- wipe away this glue immediately)
• Wait until the glue is dry and take a small square of sandpaper and in a downward motion, sand the outer edges of the frame (you will first cause a crease in the paper, then the excess paper will simply fall off or you can GENTLY pull it off)
• When all the paper around the outer edge is gone, cut an X into the center square of the frame
• Sand this small square how you did the outer sanding (it's a little more difficult because you have a smaller amount of room to work in)
• After all paper is sanded off, touch up the edges with paint or sand paper as needed (I like a distressed look, so I don't do much unless I've torn the paper and need to do a little camouflaging)
• Now rub the letters on the frame according to their instruction
• Rub the number on the metal tag
• Tie the ribbons around the frame and secure with a double knot
• Place picture in the frame (you can make a backing for the frame with cardstock, but I just leave it as is)

Read This Book!!!

This was the book we read for Book Club last month and all I have to say is READ IT!  It was simply delightful.  SO different than anything I've ever read before and just so whimsical and funny and lovely.  Simply LOVELY!

I fear our next book will not be quite so lovely... I love that too!  I picked this month's selection, so cross your fingers that it's a good one.  There is a darling bookstore by my house called Mysteries To Die For (cute name, huh?) and I went in and told the owner that I had to have the ULTIMATE mystery for the October Book Club that will be held at my house (yes, another event I'm hosting this month!).  She quickly told me that the following book is the greatest mystery EVER!  I'll let you know what I think as soon as I start and finish it...

I'm currently reading and loving...

It's a series about Sherlock Holmes and his young wife, Mary Russell.  I LOVE this series!