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.