happy halloween!

Happy Halloween!

 

We survived Sandy...for us it was just a big, windy rainstorm. Even my parents who live yards from a river in Tidewater Virginia were spared any damage. Thank God. I'm so sad for those who were devastated by the storm and I'm sending up prayers for them.

 

We used the time off Sandy afforded us to do a little crafting...

 

 

We made these tiny goody bags for Alfredo's classmates. Each little bag has a set of Halloween tattoos and a super creepy glow in the dark finger with a sharp fingernail on the end or, as Alfredo calls them, "claws".

 

And then, with inspiration from Pinterest, we made these pudding cups for the class celebration...

 

 

Vanilla pudding colored with green food coloring...

 

 

placed in a cup with a Sharpie-drawn monster face on the outside...

 

 

And topped with oreo crumbs for hair!

 

Aren't they adorable? I used my Vitamix for the oreo crumbling, which turned out to be a bit overzealous in its crumbling. The oreos were reduced to dust. Alfredo tested one and he said it was super good.

 

I love making this kind of stuff. It makes me so happy! Crazy that something so silly, like making crazy monster pudding cups, can make a girl so happy. I love this life.

 

Oh and we installed an automatic light in the tiny room in the wall...

 

diiiiing dong

 

 

"Someone's at the door..."

 

 

"Who is it, Alfredo?"

 

 

"Oh, look! It's our blog friends!"

 

"Come on in..."

 

 

Welcome to our little hole in the wall...

Please excuse the mess...

 

We were just making some Halloween art
 

 

Looks a bit like a hurricane went through, with that footstool askew like that.

 

This little gemtype gets me....his expression is priceless. And to think that picture is smaller than a penny? How adorable is that?

 

Should I decorate for Thanksgiving or skip right to Christmas? What do you think?

 

Meanwhile, Happy Halloween!

 

p.s. Alfredo is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. No handmade costume for us. I know...for shame! But Rich is also dressing as a TMNT and is going to let me paint his face so at least I have that. Be safe tonight!

 

 

Celebrate Every Day...

Here's the stop motion animation I made to introduce my Big Picture 4Experts 2013 class. As part of the class, I'll show you how to make your very own Christmas greeting in stop motion, featuring your family! We'll also surely have some sort of stitchalong and many, many other fun projects in this 12-week long course.

You can sign up early by purchasing the 4Experts bundle here, which will give you access to a year-long expert extravaganza featuring Tracey Clark, Cathy Zielske, Ali Edwards and ending with my 12 weeks (October -December 2013).


p.s. A special thank you to Pick Your Plum for providing the giveaway of day 3 of my Boot Camp....A Plum Box filled with $100 worth of swank crafting, fashion, baking, and home décor swag! Check out Pick Your Plum on Facebook to get a headstart on all the amazing deals offered before the daily sale email is released.

classroom posters

A long time ago, I showed you these posters that line the hallways of Metro Hotel in Petaluma, CA.

 

They are French classroom posters and I absolutely love them. Well, happily, I found something ALMOST as wonderful. They are American and of a slightly later vintage, but I do think they are charming in their own way. I scored these on Etsy and they just arrived today. There are only 4 of them but they are 2-sided so I have some decisions to make. I think I will frame these and line our upstairs hallway with them. What do you think? Do you like them almost as much too?

 

 

This one is my favorite...can't you just imagine being that mom and coming home to all that chaos?

 

 

Anyone have any good tips on how to get the creases out of these posters safely? Or should I take them to a frame shop and ask them to prepare them? Do they do that?

 

 

 

p.s. Today is Day 2 of the awesome Boot Camp over at Big Picture Classes. A big special thank you to The Sewing Post for providing today's fabulous giveaway item. Can you even take how cute these rubber stamps are? I had to pick up a set for myself.

 

 

tiny door...installed!

Yay! The little room in our wall is ready. Well, nearly ready. We need to install a motion activated light. (It's awfully dark in there.)

 

I made a little wreath out of a fuzzy pipe cleaner. The jack o'lantern is a felt ball with a drawn-on face and a tiny bit of floss sewn through the top.

 

Isn't this doorknob beautiful? It's really a vintage metal button.

 

Some old tintypes make great scary Halloween portraits. I made the teeny tiny banner from decorative tape.

We made some new Halloween drawings that I just need to scale down and print out. And I'm thinking a trick or treat bag spilling out with candy will be just the thing.

These tiny crayons just kill me. They are impossibly small.

I'll show you more when the light is installed...I think the pictures will come out better.

p.s. Today's the first day of my section of Boot Camp over at Big Picture Classes. So exciting! A special big thanks to Riley Blake for hosting today's giveaway, a fat quarter bundle of their wonderful fabric collection, The Sweetest Thing!

All you need to do to enter is join in the fun over at the Boot Camp and post an image of today's project!

paper dolls

 

 

Look at these adorable paper dolls my friend Claudine whipped up!

 

 

 

I printed them out and then stuck them to magnetic paper (You could use magnetic paper that you feed through your printer). We've had a blast dressing up our "Alfredo and Amy dolls"...wouldn't it be fun to make them of your whole family? And how much fun would they be on your fridge?! With little thought bubbles...adorable!

Click here to score your own. They are available individually or as a family bundle.
 

Alfredo likes to mix them up with his dinosaur magnets and wage war...Who knew the general of the meat eaters dons such a cute cardigan? 

 

I think I'm going to print out another set in 1:12 scale for my little dollhouse room...

so tempting...

 

 

This is so tempting...

 

 

big picture

If you haven't signed up for the bigpicture Boot Camp yet, head on over. It started yesterday and it's so much fun. 10 minute drills designed to jumpstart your creativity...all hosted by next year's 4Experts...seriously, what could be better?

Here's a peek at one of my Boot Camp projects:

And be sure to check out the preview of my 4Experts class here. I had so much fun making this little stop motion animation. And guess what! As part of my 4Experts 12-week class, Celebrate Every Day, I'll show you how you can make your very own stop motion greeting! I can't wait. Registration opens next year, 8 weeks before the class starts. But you can reserve your spot by registering for the 4Experts Bundle, meaning you get a year of 4Experts classes (4 12-week courses), at a discounted rate. Click here for details.