One Last Boo-Rah!

This is my mantel these days.

I know it is kinda plain, but I haven't been much into Halloween decorations until this year.  Still haven't actually bought any, though.

I actually made this banner for the lounge at work.  Someone took the time to completely redecorate this year in a vintage style. 

I thought this sign went with the look pretty well.  It was inspired by the burlap banners by Miss Mustard Seed, only this is not burlap.  It is a light taupe colored cardstock printed with a LARGE ornamental font that I downloaded for free on www.houseoflime.com.  I just distressed the edges slightly with Tim Holtz distress ink (which was half off at Hobby Lobby.)

Linked up at lollyjane.com.

Cat Pumpkin

(Scene:  Pumpkin Decorating)

Me:  What are we going to use for whiskers?

Her:  Maybe we could use some of those long fuzzy things we used last year for the antennas on the Lil' Pet Shop Pumpkin.  What are they called?  Toilet plungers?

Me:  (Thinking.)  You mean pipe cleaners.

Her:  Oh yeah.  Let's use those.

Pumpkin Light Night is fast approaching and we needed to decorate a pumpkin or two quickly. 

This year, the theme was book characters.  We chose the book by Laura Numeroff, "If You Give a Cat a Cupcake."  We had to have some sort of sign or poster to display as well, so we made ours look like the book cover (complete with real sprinkles.)  We already had red letters from a Christmas scrapbook kit (thanks Aunt Sandy!)

The pumpkin we chose for the cupcake was a little too big, but I thought tiny pom-poms (thanks Mom!) were cute as sprinkles.

Note to self:  Next year, buy black foam sheets MUCH earlier than the week before Halloween, cause they run out in stores and buying a huge multi-colored pack when you only need two small ears is not my idea of cost effective, plus now I will have to store it probably for years, cause I cannot throw something out that I MIGHT use.

(We never found anything to use as whiskers.  No black wire.  No clear fishing line.  Just not gonna use toilet plungers.)

Halloween Treat

Here is another easy Halloween teacher gift.  Or BOO treat for your neighbors.

I always keep clear cellophane treat bags for things like this.  (Found these at Michael's.)  The labels were from Target.  Inside?  Cocoa Roast Almonds.  Dark Chocolate Flavor.  If you haven't tried these, you are definitely missing out and I am not getting paid to say that.  They are in a green plastic canister by the peanuts at Target.  I like them because they are a healthier snack and I never know when someone is watching their diet.  Six grams of protein with one gram of sugar per serving.

Plus, they look kinda like crow's feet or something crowish, don't they?

BOO your neighbors!

At the school where I work, its sort of a tradition to "BOO" each other.  I know lots of people who do this in their neighborhood during the Halloween season.

You sneak and secretly put a treat on someone's door.

The treat doesn't have to be in a cone, of course.  But I saw these

here and thought they were cute.  She's even got a cute free printable on her website.

So I decided to make my own to put treats inside.  I tried to find things that were Halloween themed or at least Halloween colors.  Since I work in a school, I put colored pens and post-its in there along with the candy corn scented car freshener from Yankee Candle (got that at Cracker Barrel-one of my favorite places for gifts.)

You also put a BOO! sign on their door, so that others know that they have already gotten treats and don't BOO! them again.  I used my Cricut machine to cut the letters out of guess what?  Shelf liner!  I found it at Michael's for $1 a roll (maybe even 50 cents).  I thought the lime green was cute on spider web scrapbook paper (that I snatched from my daughter's stash.)

There is a piece of polka-dot paper rolled up in there and tied with baker's twine.  That is the poem that tells your recipient about this tradition and directions for what to do next.  (Like choose two people to BOO! within 24 hours.)

Get to know your neighbors (or coworkers) with this fun Halloween tradition!

sWITCHeroo

This was an easy Halloween scrapbook page to make.  (I glued down the orange paper before looking at the brand name on the back.  OOPS!)  I don't often buy expensive paper, but this one was too cute to pass up. I think those are Christmas letters, but I don't care.  It works for me.

First pic:  The "I am only sort of smiling cause my mom is forcing me" face.

Second pic: The "ha-ha I got my way" face.

I wrote right on the page for the journaling on this one.  Makes it easier.  You should show your handwriting anyway.  People will want to see that in forty years.  I like to see my grandmother's handwriting on her old recipe cards.  Back when people actually practiced cursive writing.  Do kids even learn that in school anymore??  What are we gonna have-millions of old text message saved on some sim card somewhere that we have no way to access?  Too weird for words.  Literally.

Crib Spring Bulletin Board

I have been wanting to do this, but I can't always get into my attic, because my husband's boat is in the way.  But I finally got him to move it and convinced him that it would be a good idea to hang a big, rusty, metal spring on the new walls of my studio.  (Not easy.)

This look is not for everyone, I am sure.  Some of the springs are rusty.  It takes up a lot of space.  But those are things that I like about it.

I like having a place to put all of those little tags and such that I think are too cute to throw away.  Sometimes, they inspire me to make my own tags. 

But, it can also hold a whole catalog if I want it to.  Love that!  See that Anthropologie catalog?  That was our (my sisters and mom) inspiration for the vintage circus themed baby shower for my sister. Coming Soon!!  Wait until you see the invitations!  Sooooo cute!

I used Tim Holtz mini hinge clips.  I had a hard time finding hinge clips.  I found big ugly plastic ones.  I found expensive ones with magnets on the back.  Didn't need that.  I thought Tim made some, but couldn't find them at Hobby Lobby or Michael's.  I finally thought to check Amazon, and there they were.  Perfect!  I love the color, love the size, love the price. Not a bad deal at all. 

October Coaster Scrapbook

Halloween is one of my favorite times of year. I think it is partly because the weather is finally cooling off around here. 

I thought I would share my October coaster from my scrapbook.

Cinderella:  I know how to draw a wermaid.

Me:  Oh.  Where did you learn to draw a wermaid?

Cinderella:  I just thunk of it myself.