Spooks -n- stuff......

I'm in Marcel's fun Halloween themed apron swap.

Here is what I made my secret partner, San-Dee.......she got it yesterday and says she likes it.


I also included a cute skeleton kitchen towel, some vintage style cones and some candy corn for her sweet tooth.

peace and love...

The other day, Curly Girl made me sit down and gave me this.......hmmm...a mysterious package wrapped up in a homemade envelope.....


which I unwrapped to find this....a napkin wrapped around something....


so I unwrapped it too...

and this is what was inside.....


and right side up...a "peace and love" ornament!



Curly Girl's class did this little project in science class and she decided to make ME something.....how sweet!
She was so excited as she explained everything. They used Borax to grow 'crystals' onto pipe cleaners. It took about a week to grow them.

Happy Birthday!

Today is Ginger's birthday.

She turned 7 years old....and she is such a sweetie!

Each year we take her to PetSmart and she picks out a special treat...which takes quite a while because all those choices overwhelm her! Its like an "all you can sniff" doggie buffett!
After she picks out her treat, Curly Girl and I "help" her pick out a new collar.

For her "party", we blew bubbles in the yard for her to chase....she was happily worn out after several minutes of the constant running.

Happy Birthday Ginger!

Happy mail!

Saturday I got the BEST surprise in the mail!

A little box packed with goodies for me from Lori! We were partners in Tangee's Halloween swap. I sent Lori her goodies and posted about it already....but LOOK at what I got in return!

Some gorgeous Halloween cards...much too pretty to use.

Oh! And a good mystery......she knows I love to read!

And a sweet set of tootsie pops for the kids so they didn't feel left out.

Sweet little Halloween blocks that say 'boo' and some lovely earrings which I can't wait to wear this week :



And look at these napkin rings!

They are the BEST! I have the perfect tablecloth and napkins for these.....can't wait to use them. SEE?

Plus a sweet little pumpkin with a "P" on it

I was totally spoiled!

Thank you again Lori!

SING WITH ME!

"Drinkin' in the rain......."



When you feed hummingbirds, you have to change the sugar water frequently or it will ferment.

Last week, the heat here was AWFUL....between the ever present rain showers, work, helping the kids with homework and dinner, I didn't change out the feeder mid week.
I waited until Friday.

Which brings me to Otis



I think Otis has a drinking problem.

I mean, LOOK at him in this next photo....kinda hunched over like he's about to fall off his barstool.....




Friday after work, I noticed he was sitting on this little hook and wouldn't MOVE.
At first I thought he was sick because he really didn't move AT ALL for a solid 30 minutes, he just sat there. I got a chance to change the water and realized he was just drunk.
The sugar water had fermented....it wasn't rancid but it was STOUT!

I got concerned because I didn't know how much Otis had actually consumed.

BOOZE ain't for birds, ya'll!

This hook is right outside our front door.
Kids came and went, the rain came and went, bees and wasps came and went.

Otis. Never. Moved. for 30 minutes, he just sat there.

But he never fell off his bar stool either, not even while bathing.....



To my relief, several other hummers came zooming in and Otis chased them off.
After chasing off the 'bad guys' Otis came right back and sat on that hook for another 4 hours, leaving only to run someone off.

At dusk, he flew off but he was back on 'duty' at 7 am Saturday...and stayed ALL DAY LONG on that little hook!




He would only leave to take a sip or to chase another hummer off.
He repeated this on Sunday too. It was too funny, he reminded me of Cliff from Cheers!

It got to the point that a couple of the kids' friends were asking "how is Otis today?"

He is still hanging around but he hasn't been sitting on the hook....

sorta makes you wonder if he misses his "special drink!"

some wicked crafting

Thanks to a VERY rainy weekend, I got my craft on....Halloween craft, that is.


I had such fun creating this.......ooooo, skulls and glitter and globes, OH MY!


and these......busy little hands and bottled little bugs......


and LOTS of these (my fingers hurt!)

What'er YOU lookin at?????



and something pretty too




So......what did YOU do this weekend? Any craftin?

Glamourously Ghoulish.....

I participated in Tangee's Glamourously Ghoulish Halloween Swap.

I was so happy because Lori was my partner!
Lori and I were partners last year in a children's book swap and have become good friends!
I've been wanting to be her partner again.....

Here is what I put together for her.......


Its hard to see everything so just click on the picture to enlarge it if you want to.

I sent one of the little Halloween plaques I made...the original post about it was here.
I also made a set some paper cones so she can put some type of goodie in them.
I made her a set of vintage cupcake toppers but forgot to take a close up of them. They are SO CUTE and I know she will use them for the girls.
I included some favorite family recipes, scrap booking stuff, a crow (I know she loves them) and a cute witchy sign....plus a little thrifted book I found that I think she will like.
As for the cute pumpkin tassel, I was so excited when I found it!
Lori loves tassels so I think she will squeal when she sees it. The store only had 1 or I would have gotten one for me too!

Since she decorates with pumpkins, one of the favorite things I made her was a set of place setting pumpkins.
I loved the way they turned out!


here is the top..the colors are gorgeous, sorry... my photography skills suck.


I made one for each member of the family...can't you just see these at their place setting for Halloween and Thanksgiving?

I struggled with making her an apron. I wanted to make her one but since this was a 'decoration' swap, I decided not to.

Then as I was packing her box up, I thought........WHY THE HECK NOT!

Who cares that this was a decorating swap? Right?
Can't you wear an apron WHILE DECORATING? YES YOU CAN!
(besides, I was DYIN' to make her one....)

It turned out so cute!
I used a fabric that wasn't 'too' Halloween....it has cute pumpkins on it and the colors are wonderful.
You can't tell in the photo, but the orange fabric has a wheat pattern on it which looks great with the other fabric.
I love the big bow! And the rick rack!
Oh MY, I used the REAL stuff......the real COTTON rick rack, not the crappy poly blend they sell nowadays. I got it in a swap and have been saving it for a special apron. I had just enough to do the bottom of this one. (I know, enough about rick-rack...)


For Lori's sweet tooth, I added a teeny little jar of candy corn to snack on.......and these cuties for her 2 little 'ghouls.'
Of course, they looked MUCH cuter (and creepier) when they were totally inflated...but you get the idea!



The little bugs in each one are actually water bug squirts....too fun!

Mama Mia revisited!

I was the 'angel' for Angelic in my Mama Mia swap.

Since her favorite was 'everything' and her favorite colors were 'lots of color' I didn't have to work too hard!

I wanted to create a 'worn' looking apron, like you saw in the movie. I couldn't find anything for awhile.
Then, I found a beautiful bed sheet in goodwill and KNEW it would be perfect. It is SO soft.

Here is how it turned out, and yes, the fabric is more vibrant, I still can't take good photos...in ANY light!


here is the rest of the package....EVERYTHING had a purpose....


the boa and beads represent 'Donna and the Dynamos'
the 4 heart pins represent Donna, Bill, Harry and Sam
the tea is for Donna for after the wedding...she was sooooo stressed out
the shells represent the sea
the note cards represent Donna and her hot friends (they are SUCH Hot Mamas!)

the recipes, kitchen towel, cocktail napkins and kitchen gadgets fulfill the swap requirements.

Remember

I didn't lose my husband during the attack on 9 11
I didn't lose my son or daughter
I didn't lose my parents or siblings.

I didn't pull people from the rubble, nor did my Lab act as one of the rescue dogs to help with any rescues. No one in our family became a hero that day, nor did anyone in our family lose a loved one that day...or since due to 9 11.

Today I fly my flag and I wear my pin to honor those who did.
Today, I say a prayer and I give a moment to those who died... and for those who worked so hard in the aftermath.

Curly Girl's Cartoons

Curly Girl is on a cartoon kick.
One of her friends likes to doodle and makes funny little pictures.
Curly Girl never really got into 'cartooning' before meeting her. She doodled, a lot...but never did cartoons. It is fun to see what her little brain dreams up.

Here are 3 that she did the other day, sorry for the poor lighting.....it was raining outside!

This one is my favorite!



this one she did for a friend...


and this one is just a 'because.'

Mr. Chunky and Ms. Funky...

Mr. Chunky and Ms. Funky were made for the latest crafthope project: preschool aged burn victims. You can read about it here.

I had such fun making this little couple and planned on shipping them off to California together.

Unfortunately for me, the couple had other plans.

You see, Ms. Funky decided her long hair was NOT the best idea for such small children and decided to try her luck in NOLA.
So, she changed her name to"Madame Singe La Rue" and has become a crystal ball reader down in the Quarter.
Since today is Labor Day, she is modeling a demure apron in a patriotic themed fabric.......except for the garish blue eye shadow, you'd never KNOW she was such a FUNKY MONKEY!



Here she is awaiting her first customer....I hope someone comes along soon, it looks like rain.


As for Mr. Chunky, he was understandably devastated at the lose of his soul mate. He jumped into a box and flew off to California by himself.
He didn't even give me a chance to pack a banana for him to snack on!
All that being said, I feel certain he will find some small tot at the burn center to love him dearly.

Crafty little witch.....

Ripstick Boy has been home sick for 2 days. (in fact, he is STILL sick, poor thing....nothing serious though so don't freak out....)

Anyhoo, he is NEVER sick but he has the whole high fever, chills, cough, runny (I mean, come ON) nose....his nose looked like your knees do after falling off your bike and landing on gravel.
I mean, REALLY! Talk about ground beef....yuck.

But, I digress.....

Since he was sick, he slept A LOT.
So I got to craft A LOT!
Yea! (is it bad to say 'yea' in a post where you just mentioned your son was home sick?)
Hope not!

So.......look what I did!

I finished up these little "skelepins"......... I crocheted the roses using a pattern I found here and then added the little decorated skeleton heads and pins to finish them off.




and here is how one looks on April



I made up a small batch of "Beetle Juice" for a Witches Cupboard I am creating....




I altered a teeny cigar box....




here is the inside...




Remember this post?
Well, I managed to add a 'finishing' touch to one of the little plaques...creepy, huh?



I won't pull out the Halloween decorations until the last weekend of September, but wanted to get some fall decorations up.

I put some flowers in the letter holder by the front door.



Mr. Crow looks mighty snug!



and I added some fall garland to the grapevine I keep around the front door......kind of funny to see the happy ferns still there.....but they are about 200 pounds each and I refuse to kill 'em off!
I'll add some 'fall' stuff to them later....



a close up of the garland......it is VERY pretty but hard to see at a distance.




Now, sweet readers don't forget about my little Halloween swap!
Sign ups end today so grab a badge and send me your info, you won't want to miss it!