Showing posts with label halloween. Show all posts
Showing posts with label halloween. Show all posts

Monday, October 29, 2012

Halloween costume: garden gnomes

Looking for a last minute Halloween costume?


My darling and creative daughter-in-law, Ashlee, put together these garden gnome costumes for their annual "friends" Halloween party. I think they are fantastic! (*Ashlee, we want to borrow them next year!)

Sunday, October 28, 2012

my favorite [simple] things: Halloween 2012

I'm sharing a few of my favorite things about Halloween this year.


We have our own little "Vampirella". :) You gotta love the toothless grin of a six-year-old. When Ella brought home her school pictures, she scowled as she handed them to me, "I look like a vampire!" I smiled. She was right. I even regressed back to perfectionist-mode and thought about doing a re-take. Nope, this is just how we'll remember her.

Monday, October 15, 2012

simple halloween project | pumpkin heads



I had this simple little project in mind as part of our Halloween mantle decor this year. I let Ella and Madi choose which pumpkins went on each family members face and they squealed and giggled through the entire project. They couldn't wait for Patrick to come over so they could show him he had a mean face. And they chose the biggest pumpkin head for Dad/Grandpa because he has the biggest head. :)

Friday, October 12, 2012

out and about | witchfest at gardner village



For as long as I can remember, we've celebrated fall by visiting the witches at Gardner Village. Every year it grows into a larger event.

Kate and Madi were visiting from Idaho, and it's Ella's fall break, so we thought it would be a great little girls' date.

 

There are little vignettes with witches throughout the villages shops. They are all so darling!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

happy halloween 2011

My day was wickedly busy! Which makes me laugh, because I have friends whose days are like this every day, and it's their norm. I just don't function well when I'm over-scheduled and can accomplish more when I keep things simple. I also give myself one day per week--Thursday--that I schedule nothing. It's a free day and it's my day to do the things I want. I have Lynn pick up dinner on the way home, so I don't even cook. It's one of those essentials in my life.

I started the day with attending the Halloween parade at school--so fun. I worked out, checked e-mails (and yes, Pinterest, but only for 15 minutes :)). I picked up Ella from school, got her lunch, got dressed and we headed to play therapy. I went into the play room with Ella this time. We're starting a new thing called "relationship enhancement," hoping it will help her with an issue she's struggling with right now.


Then I was off to the United Way of Utah County to be taped for a presentation at the "In Her Shoes" Gala, which is a fund raising event hosted by Women in Philanthropy. They support some of the programs at the Family Support and Treatment Center. I shared our experiences with the programs at FSTC and how they have benefited us.

I was behind the camera on occasion when I worked for Creating Keepsakes and Making Memories, but it has been a long time! I was definitely out of my comfort zone on this one. But it's been awhile since I challenged myself to do something that made me nervous and even a bit fearful. It ended up being very rewarding. And Karen and John were awesome. That made a huge difference. Of course I got a little emotional at the end. I always do when I'm talking about something so dear to my heart.

Another reason I agreed to do the taping, was because I love the Family Support and Treatment Center. We would not have made the progress we've made with Ella if not for their programs and resources. We know that. I wish I had a million dollars to throw at them, but I don't. So instead I will help them in any way I can.


On our way home, we stopped to see this display. Yes, I know it's juvenile, but it's silly and imaginative and Ella thinks it's hilarious. She calls them "the pumpkin bums."

Friday, October 28, 2011

halloween fun: monster slime kit

I went visiting teaching this morning (yes, I know it's the end of the month :)). I wanted to take along something fun for Halloween. We had such a good time and got so "freaked out" making magical monster slime yesterday, I thought I'd put together a kit with the supplies so Cami could make it with her own little monsters.


Thursday, October 27, 2011

halloween fun: magical monster slime

There are a variety of recipes floating around Pinterest for Slime or Gak. My boys loved the stuff when they were younger. They probably still would. :) There's one special ingredient that the recipe we used forgot to add, which makes the slime "magical."

Ella, Gentry and Kate
 That's according to these three little monsters.

Ella and Kate wanted a play date this week. They both love to do crafts, so they dressed paper dolls with real fabric and made magical monster slime. Gentry (Kate's younger sister), hung out with us while her mom ran an errand.


Tuesday, October 4, 2011

an interest in pinterest: halloween goodness

A friend in my neighborhood posted on our Google group, looking for ideas her kids could make each other for Christmas. I suggested she look on Pinterest. Here's a follow-up to my reply:

I agree with Pinterest, but be warned, it sucks you in like a giant crafty black hole, never to be heard from again. Evil. Awesome evil.
Denise

I busted up. It's true. And yes, I was the one who shared the "awesome evil" with Denise. I'm so ashamed. :)

Yep, I'm officially addicted to Pinterest. I refer to it all the time in my conversations and a couple of times, I've even dreamed I was pinning--really.

I'm always surprised by how many people don't know about it. If you're not familiar, it's a place to gather the things that interest and inspire you and "pin" them onto boards you create.

pin + interest = pinterest.

It's the perfect organizational tool. I used to have a million posts and websites "bookmarked" on my computer. But trying to find them again was a daunting and time consuming task. Now I simply go to Pinterest, open my boards, and the information is all there, attached with a photo. It's pure genius.


Wednesday, September 28, 2011

tutorial: halloween thumbprint tags

 This one's for Allison. She's a reader who e-mailed me and asked if I'd be willing to share my template for the Halloween thumbprint tags we made for Ella's preschool last year.


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Halloween word art printable update

You might remember this fun Halloween word art printable I created last year.


I still have a lot of people e-mailing me for it. To make things simpler, here are the three color combinations for you to download.



Monday, November 1, 2010

rain, rain go away!






































I've never seen Tinkerbell carry an umbrella, but this one did. It rained like crazy Saturday night when we went trick-or-treating. We went to about eight houses and Ella was ready to come home. The last house we went to (the Wagoners) had Halloween mini note pads and pencils. Ella was so excited about them that when Rachel said she could have a candy too, she said she didn't want any! This girl has a MAJOR sweet tooth, but she loves, loves, loves art supplies and office supplies.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

happy halloween!


Here's hoping your Halloween is a "hoot"! (cupcakes are from one charming party.)

around the house

I thought I'd share a bit of Halloween decor from around our house. It's certainly not a designers dream, but it's simple and we love each piece.



I wanted some small sparkly pumpkins for this tall glass jar. I found them at Hobby Lobby--half price for the grand opening.  

Thursday, October 28, 2010

ella's preschool halloween party

The first words I heard Ella yell Tuesday morning were, "It's been two days!" Translation: it's the preschool Halloween party! The first words I yelled were, "Are you kidding me?" Translation: there's six inches of snow on the ground. Dang!


I lucked out on Ella's costume this year. She really wanted to be Tinkerbell and Grandpa McMurphy bought her this outfit back in February. I just bought sparkly shoes and we were done. Grandpa also surprised Ella with a Tinkerbell jewelry making kit this summer, so she wore an authentic Tink necklace and bracelet too.


Ella was so excited to bring her special "treat" for her friends.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

no tricks... just a treat!

I'm laughing as I type this. The whole purpose of this week was to encourage my lurker friends to comment.  I did get some great comments, but according to Sitemeter I now have more lurkers! Welcome to all of you. I'm very grateful you take the time to check out my blog whether you comment or not.

As promised, to those that did comment I have a special treat for you. And I love it. I'm very pleased at how it turned out and I hope you are too. They look so much better in real life, I wish you could all see.




Sunday, October 10, 2010

wicked fun no. 6: decorating indoors and outdoors

INDOORS
I've had this in my idea file forever. I tore it out of an issue of Better Homes and Gardens.


I love garlands. And I love how the designer spray painted these dog biscuits white. There's also big plastic spiders, acorns and dried citrus fruit. They drilled holes through each item and strung them on 22-gauge wire. It's not super simple, but just the dog bones in an apothecary jar might be a great decorative element.

OUTDOORS


There was an entire article about this porch in Home Companion magazine a few years ago. I've taken some of the details as inspiration for my own porch over the years--the pumpkin lanterns, mums, pumpkins, etc. Obviously I haven't staged my entire porch like this, but I've been happy with it. There's a black chair again. Hmmm.

Friday, October 8, 2010

wicked fun no. 5: paper pumpkins & pumpkin bracelets

Time to play catch-up. Here are a couple of projects to do with the kids I thought were both simple and darling.


I remember making these as Christmas ornaments from green and red paper when I was in elementary school. I like them much better as pumpkins. I read that someone suggested making them from foam sheets instead of paper so they would last. Great idea. They'd make a fun garland tied together too.

They were designed by Vicki Shields for the Hostess with the Mostest blog. You can find the tutorial here.

wicked fun no. 4: word art

I'm late getting this posted. After seven days of feeling like I was hit by a bus--and not getting any better--I went to the doctor yesterday. I have influenza. You know, the bad, bad flu. I got an antibiotic for secondary infections and some magic cough medicine that actually helped me not cough at all last night. (Though now I have a massive headache.) We all got our flu shots while at the doctor. (Lynn has stayed home three days to take care of Ella--thanks, hon.) So stay healthy!

Now the fun stuff.


Shelley Smith from House of Smiths was featured on eighteen25. Love. love, love her style. It's very clean and fresh. To get a closer look at each of the decorative elements, go here. You'll be glad you did.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

wicked fun no. 3: halloween play dough & fall recipes

I'm not a fan of loading kids up with tons of goodies for Halloween, so I'm always on the lookout for fun things for preschool or friends that don't involve massive amounts of sugar.


I saw this idea from Ashley at Under the Sycamore on my new favorite blog eighteen25. (I LOVE Ashley's blog too--gorgeous photos.)

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

wicked fun no. 2: simple monograms

I love anything with monograms. I think I'd do this with vinyl letters though.


I love the different colors and textures of these pumpkins. One year I'm also going to drill big holes in my pumpkin and make polka dots. I saw Martha do it and it was totally me. Loved this chair too. I found this photo on the Better Homes and Gardens website. My magazine subscriptions come and go, but my BH&G always sticks around.