Our Annual Pumpkin Primp!

Well, it was a fun (but hectic) weekend, and the weather was just PERFECT here, which only added to the enjoyment. 

Prayers though for all my friends and family living in hurricane Sandy's path, who have a lot more on their minds than Halloween tonight. {Hugs.}  I hope the rest of you were able to get out and soak up some Fall too!

One thing that didn't get scratched off our annual Halloween bucket list over the weekend was painting our pumpkins!  As I've mentioned before, we steer clear of carving around here . . . so painting it is!  Besides, my kids love anything that involves getting messy and is mom-sanctioned too!

I really do love to watch my budding Picasso's at work.  So much so that we've actually hosted a pumpkin painting party every year, sometimes for friends and more recently for classmates.  I've always loved Halloween.  And most moms are more than happy to let their little Picasso paint a pumpkin at someone else's house.  Last year we had about 15 (!!) first graders painting pumpkins on the porch.  I'm crazy - I know!!

Anyway . . . we've had our pumpkins for a couple of weeks already, but haven't managed to find one night to even have neighbors over for an impromptu pumpkin primp.  So with Halloween only 2 days away, it was time to just 'get 'er done!'

Snacks knew just what to do and within minutes had his first masterpiece ready to display!

We use tempera paint our pumpkins, which makes for easy clean-up - though I suggest investing in one of those plastic-backed tablecloths from the dollar store for this project, especially with little ones!  I also put them in paint smocks to protect their clothes.  These were actually party favors from Sheep's birthday.

I have several old muffin tins that I keep handy for paint projects and they work great for keeping the colors separated!  They are also easy to clean afterwards!

The best part of using tempera paint is that if you make a mistake (Who, me?!) you can simply 'erase' it with a damp paper towel and start again. {Smile}

CAUTION:  That also means these designs are not waterproof so they will not last in the rain, unless you spray them with a sealant afterwards.  Otherwise, just make sure that stay on the covered part of your porch!

It was a lot of fun painting this year with just myself and the kids - I was able to actually join in on the fun too!  Sheep and I decided to make angry bird pumpkins (Thanks for the inspiration Rachel!) and then I decided to make a monogrammed pumpkin to greet our guests on Wednesday night!

Cute, huh?!

 

I had everyone (available) add a thumbprint and then I added their names in small lettering.

I did say no to the idea of adding the puppies' paw prints as well.  Even I have my limits - ha!

They all look wonderful at the front door.

 

And the kids (and I) are mighty proud of them too!

 

Making memories is what the holidays are all about and I am so thankful to have taken this afternoon to do just that.

Happy Halloween Y'all!

 

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Foam-tastic Cupcake Toppers!

 

Why not trick out your Halloween treats with these Cah-YOU-t cupcake toppers?!

 

 

They're so easy (and cheap!!) that anyone can do them -

no printing, no punching, no nothin' required!

 

Well, that's not totally true . . .

you will need some toothpicks and some foam holiday craft stickers, but THAT'S IT!!

 

 

I grabbed this package of 110 stickers with a 40% coupon a few weeks back and will have plenty-o-toppers for many Halloweens to come!

 

 

Simply peel back the paper (partially), add your toothpick, and re-stick the paper backing!  I used two toothpicks on the cats - one on each leg - rather than one in the middle, so you wouldn't see them.

 

 

These over-sized toppers make such a bold and FUN statement atop my Halloween cupcakes that they are sure to be hit at the school carnival's Cake Walk tomorrow!  I am not-so-secretly hoping to win these beauties back for myownself {Grin} because I love, love, love this recipe!  Though it never happens, a girl can dream, right?!

 

 

We have Fall Festivals and Halloween carnivals on just about every corner in our town this weekend and the weather has (finally) cooled off, so it should be a GREAT weekend to enjoy them all!  I hope you and your family are doing something fun this weekend too!

 

Happy Fall Y'all!

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Ghostly Greetings!

 

Who will be welcoming your guests and goblins next week?

 

Why not treat them to a Ghooooostly Greeeeeeeting this Halloween?!

 

I ran across these cute tomato cage covers at a Fall Festival last year and KNEW I was going to need (at least) one of my very own!  Luckily, my mad Internet skills led me straight to an awesome source at Desert Saints Magazine that has complete instructions, so head on over if you're interested in whipping one of these up for yourself!

 

 

The instructions were very easy to follow and the whole project cost me less than $10 to BOO-t!

I used a blanket stitch to apply the mouth and eyes, but you can't really appreciate it like I thought you might, so I wouldn't bother!  You could certainly glue this entire project as well, but I think sewing will end up being more durable over the long run.

 

 

Here he is lit up at night - I chose to use a small spotlight, but I've seen other sites that have used white Christmas lights underneath, so whatever you have handy!

 

 

This project also whipped up quickly - under an hour, so you've still got plenty of time to knock one or BOO! of these out before the trick-or-treaters arrive!

 

Happy Halloween Y'all!

 

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Skirted Wine Stems!

 

Aaaa-ooooooooooh!!

Can you tell that I am excited about Halloween?!

 

It kicks off the Holiday Season for me and I just love it - especially with Sheep and Snacks around to enjoy it with!  But every now and then, mama needs to howl at the moon {grin}, so I invited some friends over for a Girl's Night Out, complete with food, WINE and shopping - so fun!!

Imagine that - a "31 Party" with a Halloween theme  - am I clever, or what?!

So in addition to a few frightful foods, I decided to spruce up my wine glasses for the occasion as well.  I saw these clever Pumpkin Wine Stem Labels by Shannon at SMC by Design and for some reason it got me thinking about how I might do these more easily by simply using an orange cupcake liner for the base instead of card stock.

I couldn't find any orange liners while I was out and didn't have all day to shop, but I did come across these liners with a spider web design.  Anyhoo, one thing led to another, and before I knew it, I had these cute little numbers instead!

Aren't they adorable!!

 

And the best part is that you could literally do this easily and inexpensively for almost any occasion!

I snagged these wine glasses at Wal-Mart BTW, in a boxed set (easy storage) that came out to only $1 per glass!  Perfect for party at the house with wall-to-wall tile (mine) and a bunch of moms getting silly!  They're not as nice as my 'good' wine stems, but there won't be any tears shed if something happens to them either.  Just sayin'!

I had already purchased the spider rings for some other fun Halloween projects and had plenty more than I needed, so a simple snip was all it took to add these babies to the glasses for some more spooky fun!

I decided they would also make great holders for name tags too.  All that took was some card stock, a hole punch and a Sharpie to add the names!  Easy, and important when all your stems start to look the same!

Some kept their tags on the rim, which worked great!

I moved mine down to the stem.

I just love how simple and cute these came out!

Cheers  . . . and Happy Halloween Y'all!

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Burlap Candycorn Bunting!

This is another fast, fun Halloween craft you can do with your kiddos.

 

And unlike the paper plate bunting (which is also way cute and fun to do with your kids BTW), this burlap swag will last for years to come! 

We simply cut triangle pennants from burlap and painted them using tempera paint.  I did this project last year with Sheep and it was very simple for her to do.  I just love the vibrant colors of the candy corn!

The paint will bleed through to the back side, but we simply waited a few minutes for the front side to dry and them flipped them over and painted the backs.  And the bleed-through actually made it very easy to see where to put the colors on the reverse side.  The paint also seals the cut edges of the burlap and keeps them from fraying - BONUS!!

I used a simple zig-zag stitch to attach the triangles to the jute, but you could hot glue them or punch holes across the top if you don't (or won't - ha!) sew!

Depending on where you plan on hanging your bunting, you might want to do some measuring beforehand to figure out how long you want your swag and then work backwards to figure out how many/what size you want to make your triangles.  I'm a visual person, so the simplest way I have found to do this is just to swag a string across so you can actually see how far down you want it to hang, mark it, then measure your string!  Don't forget to add some length on the ends for tying!

Last year we used it out on our porch for a pumpkin painting party.

But it looks great on the fence as well.  This year it's actually ended up on the banister and it looks cute there too!

 

Happy Halloween Y'all!!

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Fab Fall Mantle

October has already gotten away from me . . . it's half over and I'm still getting out my decorations!  I guess my birthday celebration in Round Top last week was a bigger bump in the road than I anticipated - but oh so worth the trip!  Can't wait to share with you all of my "fall haul," but this quick mantle I put together last week will have to do for today! 

I made the burlap wreath last year for my door outside, but I've also got an awesome Halloween wreath as well, so I decided not to wait and use it on the mantle now.

It will carry me through to December it looks so great! 

For instructions on how to make your own burlap awesomeness, go here!

I like to add seasonal pictures of the kids.  These two are some of my favorite from Halloweens past.

Sheep in a sheep costume - How CUTE is that?!

 

 

On the other side I added some candy corn in my hurricane glass for color and placed on a stack of old books for some variation in height.

The books came from Round Top (Warrenton actually) at my friend Winnie's, who always has rooms full of vintage to comb through.  most of these I bought just for the color of the covers since I was doing a fall mantle, though I must admit 'Man Alive: You're Half Dead!' seemed apropos for Halloween!

Finished off with a few small pumpkins and . . .  I think I like it!

And I hope you find some inspiration from it too!

 

Take a good look at this mantle though, because that big, bulky (weird) chunk of wood you see hanging over my fireplace won't be there much longer . . . . yippee!

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