All Things Halloween

It's been a busy weekend! Friday was Cole's classroom harvest party. Crepe paper pumpkins were filled with string cheese and grapes. Prize bags went to the winners of the dress the scarecrow relay race. The boys did a taiko performance at Case Western University Friday night, but I forgot to take photos :(

My only Halloween house decoration was the dining room chandelier. Picked up a neat decaying leaf swag, miniature red battery operated lights, and two cute flies at Suncrest Gardens. Chris carved the Dracula pumpkin for the centerpiece at last night's feast. The gift of HalloVine was a nice addition to the meal.

Upper left is the Steak on a Stake, followed by tomato-basil bisque and roasted garlic potatoes, crusty bread crucifixes, and topped off with Fluffy the Vampire Slayer mousse. I wished I had purchased the round mirrors to use as placemats. Ran out of time, but if we do a vampire dinner again, I will definitely use that idea.

I'm looking forward to being a bum tomorrow. Saturday found us attending two outdoor events. The first one was a naturalist-led hike at an area trail and the second was the coyote presentation. Very cool and the coyotes responded to the machine generated calls at two of the three outdoor locations. I sneaked a smooch with Mr. Scarecrow...shhh don't tell Chris.

Happy Halloween friends! I'm off to get Cole ready for trick-or-treating. Have a fun and safe evening.

Something to Sink Your Fangs Into

Last of the 2011 Halloween dinners. We're doing a vampire theme. Tonight's menu includes:

Steak on a Stake

Tomato-Basil Bisque

Roasted Garlic Potatoes

Crusty Crucifixes

Dessert

Fluffy the Vampire Slayer

A chocolate mousse concoction

Can you guess who is who??? I'll give you a hint. Chris is NOT Mina. Time to get going with the cooking and I'll post more pics tomorrow. Until then, bone appetit!

Niceville or Knoxville?

A box of Halloween goodies arrived last week from sweet Anne. The first box contained a bottle of HalloVine, which we will be enjoying this Sunday at the last of our themed dinners. The crystal skull bottle topper is a perfect spooky touch! We all enjoyed the Tennessee Walking Sticks, coffee, and cocoa. Love that Halloween wrapping paper!

I didn't realize you could personalize stamps at Zazzle. That Halloween stamp is a festive way to send a Halloween greeting. Thank you so much Anne for the thoughtful, generous gifts.

Last weekend's Halloween dinner was a mix of spare parts. Roast beef and cheddar sandwiches became fleshy monster heads. Fingerling potatoes were roasted and deep-fried nuts and bolts were petite mushrooms with zucchini. Apples were the monster mouths. JoAnns carries the candy eyeballs, so when I saw them I thought they would be cute in a fluff of whipped creme.

The big Halloween dinner will be on Sunday and it's something to sink our fangs into ;)

project upcycle

Isn't this a cute wrap sweater? I made it from an oversized sweater following along Betz White's fabulous online class at Craftsy.com.

The tutorial was clear and easy to follow. I'm not much of a sewer but I even managed to do the cute lettuce-edged sleeves...didn't they turn out great? There wasn't very much sewing involved and it all came together rather quickly.

I had planned to use a cozily shrunken cashmere sweater but there were two problems...one is that a moth got there first and the second is that it was too small to really work. This sweater was a wool/silk blend turtleneck style. You can transform any sweater but I think cashmere would be especially snuggly.

Go check out all of Betz's Project Upcycle class offerings and fashion your own upcycled clothes. And as a special incentive, you'll get $10 off the class price using this link.

Here's a cute outtake from our little photo shoot...

dem bones

Does this look like a bowlful of bones to you?

or a bowlful of mess?

We're going to a Halloween party after school tomorrow at a classmate's house and we're bringing these as a treat. They are stick pretzels with a marshmallow stuck on each end and then dipped in white chocolate. I found the recipe here.

Maybe they didn't turn out so great but we had a blast making them (and eating the mess ups!)

 

 

We were thinking about making these next but I don't know...those chocolate melts make a mess!

baggage, check!

This project is a part of Eileen Hull's super fun Sizzix Fresh Vintage Hop!

Welcome, Hoppers!

I had never really used a Sizzix Big Shot before but boy, oh boy, is this thing fun to use! It cuts through all sorts of things, including felt, matboard and chipboard! Maybe you guys already know about this, but, to me, this opens a whole new world of possibilities...

These tiny suitcases are fabulously fun to make...I just covered the matboard front and back with decorative paper (using spray adhesive) and ran it through the machine.

This is what it came out looking like...

Scored and cut...all you do to assemble is attach brads and glue in two places. Easy peasey!

I especially love the cupcake suitcase...



Now I think these boxes would be perfect for surprising someone with a travel gift...a trip to NY, etc. Wouldn't that be fabulous?

But I also think it would be fun to outfit these tiny suitcases with craft supplies to give as gifts to friends at a crafting weekend...

Something like this? Isn't that fun?

I found these tiny crayon and watercolor sets at World Market a couple of years ago in with their stocking stuffers. You can get tiny wooden spools from craft stores...just wind a bit of floss or baker's twine on. Add vintage treasures like a tiny doll, charms, etc. Tiny folded scissors come in handy when you're crafting on the go. 

You should go and see all the fabulous things people are making with Eileen's fun Sizzix dies...including more suitcases today! Click on the blinkie on my sidebar or visit Eileen's blog to "hop" along!

p.s. I'm still working on the Christmas issue...it's the home stretch and I'm so excited about how it's looking! Check back here next week for the release!

point of view

We just got back from a great trip to North Carolina. Rich and Alfredo tagged along with me for Jenn's super fabulous "Once Upon A Dream" event. It was beyond words...so magical and wonderful. I'll tell you more about it soon.

Alfredo took this sweet photo of us...I just think it's so adorable, don't you?

Back to work for me...I'm working like crazy getting the Christmas issue together. It's nearly there so keep checking back here for more news. (p.s. It's looking so wonderful! You're not going to believe your eyes!)

No Reservations Required

At the Afterlife Diner, spirits flow and the chef's special is whatever he digs up that day. OK, I'm a dork! I had a wild hair to make a surprise spooky dinner for the boys tonight. Still planning the menu for the big Halloween dinner...

MENU

Earthworms in a spicy dirt and maggot medley served over graveyard greens

Grilled sharp cheese on owls and ghosts

There's a Head in Me Cider!

Dessert

Must Have Brains cupcakes

Telley wins!

I plumb forgot to announce the winner of last week's Matthew Mead Jelly Jar giveaway...Telley, sweet thing, it's you!

Shoot me an email with your address and I'll forward it to Matthew Mead HQ!

Light-Up Lantern Festival

This has to be THE best street festival we have ever attended! The lanterns, costumes, displays, and performers were unbelievable. Chris and I were saying how much we are looking forward to next year's event.

little boys

Little boys love to watch big boys work.

Our neighbor is getting a new roof and evidently there is nothing in the world more exciting than watching the workers climb all over the roof.

It's beginning to look a lot like:

Matthew Mead's new Holiday issue is available! I'm so happy that I was able to be a part of it.

Check out this cool video preview of the issue:



You can order your copy of the special edition pre-release of the magazine by clicking here. And as a special gift to my readers, Matthew is giving away a set of 6 of these sweet jelly glasses.

All you have to do is link to the preview video above in your blog, facebook, or twitter and then leave a comment below with your link. Drawing will be held this Friday...good luck!

Weekend Warriors

Chris snapped this group photo before the show on Friday night. Of course, my melon is hiding behind Vergie and I'm on the step in front of Pam. Nice going Ansel.

OK, the Friday night table~ I'm smiling because the show is about begin and it's nice to have everything come together after months of creating.

Baby boy with our adorable neighbors, Angela and Adriana. They drove 3 hours to attend the show and finally see all of the Halloween goodness. Adriana is a Halloween girl and a budding artist. They thought the show was VERY cool. They have very good taste!

The show was incredible and it was so nice to see my sweet customers. Some of them traveled for hours, even days, to attend the show. That's folk art love right there! I wish I could have spent more time chatting with them, but I do appreciate their effort in making it to the show and seeing how Mill Race Village is transformed for two magical days. I hope they went home with many great pieces of art and wonderful memories.