High Stakes

I've had my front porch semi-decorated for a few weeks, but today I finally got in the spirit to get it all together. I love the idea of yard stakes lining the side walk to greet trick or treaters, but the generic ones for sale are too small for my taste. That said, I decided to whip up some of my own.

 

These Styrofoam glitter pumpkins I found @ Wal-Mart for $5/each (they have an LED blinking light inside). The glitter skulls I found @ Target for $2.50/each. Other supplies you'll need include an exact-o knife, yard stakes (Michael's...$1.79/each), ribbon and/or mesh.

 

First, spray paint both sides of your yard stakes.

 

Using the top of the stake as a guide, cut an outline into the pumpkin/skull with exact-o knife.

Next remove Styrofoam cut out as much as possible.  The pumpkins I was able to remove all of the Styrofoam and push the stake all the way to the top of the pumpkin on the inside; the skulls are thicker (thick skulls...maybe they're men, haha)

 

Now simply push stake through the space you created, and viola!

 

I attached mesh & bows with zip ties, stakes are pointed on the end and can be hammered into the ground.

 

 

 

 





Pumpkin Patch

It's time for the pumpkin's fifteen minutes of fame. Front porches are adorned with these gourds of different shapes, sizes and colors. Maybe the traditional jack-o-lantern isn't your thing; if you're passionate about your pumpkins, keep scrolling for some bright ideas.

 

No cleaning & carving for these pumpkins.

 

Paint over lace with black paint to give your pumpkin flair.

 

Glitter front door decor

 

Choose smaller glitter gourds for table-top decorations

 

Holiday fabric spruces up no-carve pumpkins

 





 

A spooky twist on the classic jack-o-lantern

 

Who gives a hoot about these pumpkins?

 

Now get your creative (pumpkin-flavored) juices flowing! 





 









Short and sweet

I am in super hostess mode right now, trying to clean and get rid of the real cobwebs!  So this post will be short and sweet.  While I was out at the farmers market over the weekend ( I love that place!) I found the cutest pumpkin cut out!  The best part was that it was only $5.00!!  I know, total score.

I loved it and couldn't wait to get some hay and stick it all in my front yard.  The only problem was that it was a little plain for my taste.  So, I busted out my silhouette cameo and some black vinyl.  Because every project I do lately seems to revolve around that wonderful machine!  Literally 5 minutes later I had this

Something personalized without spending a whole bunch of money!  I think I might add some black ribbon to the bottom.  I want to wait until we get the hay and I put everything out.  Also, since we are on the topic of decorating, I thought I would show you a little decor I put together this weekend.  

Forgive the picture, I am not a very good photographer, yet.  We were given the candle holders as a wedding present.  They each took a bag of candy corn and a black tea light candle.  Nothing really fancy, but cute and simple enough to make me happy for the day!  Now, I must be going.  I still have to make my costume for this weekend.  And no, I am not procrastinating, I am simply waiting until crunch time!!

Two witches walk into a bar...

Ok, no they didn't.  They flew in!  Ha.  Sorry, lame some what joke.  Halloween is fast approaching, and that means that our Halloween party is going to be here before I know it.  It's this Friday!  Eek!  So much to do!  I still don't have my costume, which will totally be awesome by the way.  But this post isn't about costumes.  It's another DIY decorating idea.

I wanted witches brooms to stand in a corner, like you have seen in every magazine and of course, on Pinterest.  But I am cheap.  I refuse to pay $15 for something that stands in the corner for one month.  Not gonna happen in this house.  So what's a somewhat crafty, not really Martha but kinda wants to be girl to do?  She is gonna make one.  A cute one.  One that when guests arrive at her house and see it they say "Oh my gosh, Missy, that is so cute.  Where did you get it?"  And I can say "I totally made it, because I am awesome."  Ok, I probably won't tell them that I am awesome.  I assume they already know.  

Any who, I bought a broom from the Dollar General.  $5 for a corn broom, not a bad deal.  And it would have been perfect, except for one tiny little thing.

It was blue.  Kentucky blue.  Not exactly the halloween theme I was going for.  Oh, and it had that soft cushion thing in the middle.  I guess thats to help your hands while you sweep.  I don't know a single woman who holds a broom that low, but maybe that's because most of us either use a Swiffer or a vacuum.  I am a vacuum type of girl.  Back to the broom.  We have to fix this.  So, I do.  I first take off the cushion thing, which was totally easy.  Just a snip with the scissors and you can rip it apart.  Next, we spray paint.  I really like spray paint.  Why?  Because it's fast, easy, and cheap.  I can change the entire look of something in a few minutes.  So, I whip out my cheap black spray paint from a few days ago, and start spraying!  And then I forgot to take a picture.  Oh well.  

I wanted my broom to have a little bit of a cuteness factor.  And what is cuter than stripes?  Polka dots.  But I am not painting polka dots onto a broom handle, so stripes it is.  But I don't want to paint stripes either.  What could I make stripes with?  Paper?  Ribbon?  Electrical tape?  Yes, electrical tape. 

We have a lot laying around our house from our re-wire.  So, I cut of pieces of it and wrapped it around the base of the broom. 

How cute is that?  

But, do you notice anything about my broom?  Take a closer look.

Yes, the bands holding it together were blue.  Shouldn't be a big deal.  A saner person would have probably overlooked it.  I couldn't.  I had to fix it.  So, what did I do?  I got out my glue gun and one of the billion rolls of black ribbon left over from our wedding two years ago.  I put hot glue along the blue string.

And then laid the black ribbon on top.  Easy peasy!  And incredibly cute.

Now, I just needed to finish it off.  With more ribbon.  I have some what of a problem with ribbon.  I hoard it.  TLC is currently doing a show on me and my slight addiction to ribbon.  It airs in the spring.  Any who, I tied a bow to the top of my bow with orange ribbon.  This was not left over from my wedding but I am sure was purchased for some grand project I never got around to doing.  At least I got to use it.

Cute and cheap.  Things I love.  Now, if I can just get my husband to quit calling it my new car, things would be perfect.  Oh well, have a great day!!

It's Late!

Ok, so this post was suppose to be done last night.  Oops!  Please forgive us, we are still trying to figure out this whole two people blogging, working full time and not letting our homes look like an episode of hoarders!  Any who, today's post is a DIY post, and a bit of a gripe.  But first, the project.  I bought these two beauties at Goodwill awhile ago. 

The messy dining room table is all part of my halloween decor.  Scary, huh?  The candlesticks were an ugly two tone color, which is totally fine if you have some spray paint.  Which I did, at one point.  But I had forgotten that I went on a spray painting kick a few weeks ago, and used all of my black spray paint. And all of hubby's.  And I was to lazy to drive back to town to buy more spray paint.  So, I ran to Dollar General in the hopes that they carried spray paint.  And then did.  At a $1.25, I really couldn't complain.  It was cheap, and would probably peel off later, but I only needed it to last until after our party later in the month.  

A couple of coats later, and those two toned candlesticks looked so much better

I couldn't wait to use the next product I had.  I had seen it in Hobby Lobby a couple of weeks ago, and had a 40% off coupon, so I bought it.  What is it, you ask?  This

GLITTER SPRAY PAINT!!!  How awesome is that?  It's the little things in life, people, the little things.  So, I sprayed. A few coats of it.  And aside from the fact that my outdoor table has a sparkly side, the candlesticks looked awesome.  Aca-awesome for those of you that have seen Pitch Perfect.

How pretty are they?  And they will look so pretty when I insert some orange candles in them!  I cannot wait!

And now for the gripe, that cool looking Krylon glitter spray, well the can sucks.  I wanted the spray paint to be awesome, considering it's $7.99 a can.  But when I started spraying, the can wouldn't stop.  I held it upside down, pulled the nozzle off, everything I could think of.  But it just kept spitting out glitter and glue.  EVERYWHERE!  I had wanted to be able to use it on other projects, but I ended up throwing it away.  If Krylon ever happens to read this, which would actually be very awesome, I would like them to know that they should maybe re-design the nozzle and can.  Just so you can actually save the can!  

And one more thing.  Pitch Perfect is actually a really good movie.  I totally recommend it!  And yes, Fat Amy was my favorite!

No bones about it.....

Halloween is officially just around the corner, check out today's post for skeleton cupcakes! Whip up these cupcakes & add some Halloween flair to your child's next class party!

 

 

 First, you will need

Cupcakes; you can even buy them premade at the store, or use your favorite box brand.  If you make your own, let cool & decorate with icing. I used the orange holiday icing (but it came out kind of peach).

 

For skeletons you will need large marshmallows, white chocolate covered pretzels (buy or dip your own), lollipop sticks (find them in the wedding/candy making section of craft store) and black "write-able" icing.

 

Now simply slide the pretzels down the lollipop stick leaving a space in between (as the skeletons ribs). Draw faces on the marshmallows prior to putting on lollipop stick, let dry then apply. Simple & easy!

 

Here's a close up version made by someone more talented than me.

Spooky :)

 

 

Easy Apron

In today's post I'm going to share a quick & easy apron that my mom whipped up for me a few years back. When I pulled out my Halloween decorations recently & found the apron, I had to share this quick & simple idea.

 

 

Above is the apron that my mom made. The genius of this apron is that all you need is a dish towel, some ribbon & a sewing machine; and there's no pattern to cut!

 

 

Keep reading for a step by step tutorial.

First choose a dish towel. I purchased mine in a 2-pack at TJ Maxx for less than $5. Make sure the design will still look appropriate when the dish towel is unfolded vertically.

 

 

Gather the top of the dish towel in the shape of a semi circle and pin.

Next overlay with ribbon & pin.  Pin ribbon to each side to tie apron around the waist. This apron is customizable in so many ways. Adjust the ribbon length to fit you (or the recipient of this awesome gift) accordingly.

 

Now, simply stitch the ribbon to the dishtowel & you're done! It took longer for me to get out my sewing machine & set up than it did to put this apron together!

 

This would perfect to throw on Halloween night if, like me, you don't get home until it's nearly time for trick or treaters. You look festive in a snap.

Use this idea for Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving; basically anything they make holiday dish towels for :)

 

 





 



 

Fail!!

Do you ever see something and think "I can totally make that!"  I do it all the time.  And since I have a Silhouette Cameo, I tend to go overboard sometimes.  But this isn't one of those posts where I failed at making something inspired by Pinterest.  Oh no.  It's one where I basically failed at folding paper.  Why can't the Martha gods smile down upon me sometimes?  Any who, I was browsing silhouettes online store for shapes for halloween.  I have two nephews who are having a joint birthday party, and I thought it would be kind of cute to have little halloween inspired treat boxes.  So, I find the shape.  This one, to be exact

How cute is it?  And so totally easy, since the machine cuts everything out for you.  All I would have to do is fold and fill with treats, right.  So totally simple.  WRONG!  I failed.  Now, don't get me wrong, it does look like a bat treat box, but not one where you could keep the treats inside the actual box!  Everything started out ok.  I got it cut out.

See, how nice.  I popped it out of the template, and started folding along the crease lines, so nicely dotted by the silhouette.

And then things went downhill.  Notice anything about the box?  Like maybe the sides aren't touching?  No big deal, right?  Slap a piece of tape on that sucker and call it a day.  Nope, every time I taped one side, the other came apart.

Ugh!  Just stay together!  What was suppose to start out as a nice little Sunday afternoon project, whipping out like 25 of these, turned into me getting in a mood because my undiagnosed OCD wouldn't let me be satisfied with the box.  That was for a children's birthday party.  That only my family was going to.  I may have problems.  This was the finished product.  Please excuse my unpolished finger nails.  Between planting mums and cleaning the house, OPI has had to wait.

It looks totally fine.  And my nephews will love it, especially because it will be filled with sugary goodness.  But, I can see the flaws, and they taunt me so.  Oh well, maybe I should try and youtube Martha's failures, if she had any, which I doubt, because she had a show.  And a magazine.  And books.  I have a blog with my best friend and severe problem with boxes not wanting to stay together. 

The Great Pumpkin (roll)

Now is the time for pumpkin flavored dishes. Pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin pie, and today:

Libby's Pumpkin Roll

 

You needn't set off to your local pumpkin patch, just your local grocery store. Libby's pumpkin roll is a quick (and delicious) dessert to bring to a fall party or bring in to work one morning & share a sweet slice for breakfast.

 

You will need (for cake):

3/4c all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp salt

3 eggs

1c sugar

2/3c pure pumpkin

 

(for filling):

8oz cream cheese, softened

1c powdered sugar

6 tbsp butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

 

Grease 15x10 jelly roll pan, line with wax paper. Grease & flour wax paper.

Sprinkle kitchen towel with powdered sugar.

 

Combine dry goods in small bowl. Beat eggs & sugar in large bowl until thick.  Beat in pumpkin, then stir in dry goods.

 

Spread mixture evenly into pan. Bake @ 375 degrees for 14-16 minutes or until top springs back. Immediately loosen & turn cake onto towel, peel off paper gently. Sprinkle powdered sugar on cake, roll up in towel starting at narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

 

Beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla, & powdered sugar until smooth. Spread on cake, roll up, wrap in plastic wrap. Enjoy.

 

Rolling the cake in a kitchen towel immediately after removing from oven gives it the "roll" look without breaking the cake.

 

 

 

 Please disregard the underlined words; I'm not sure what happened there :)

Spooky!

My husband and I throw a Halloween party every year.  And since we try and be nice to all of our friends with children, we have it two weeks before the 31st.  Which means, our party is in two weeks!!  Eek!!!  Which means I have to get a move on decorating our house!!  And making our costumes!  And getting food! Plus go to work, go to the gym, and oh yeah, spend time with my husband!  Totally doable, right?  I hope so.  

So what is up first on the list, you ask?  Bats. Vinyl bats to be specific.  I saw on Pinterest (love that site!) where someone had cut out vinyl bats and stuck them all over the house.  I loved the idea.  So much so that I stole it.  But my OCD kicked in while I was putting the up, and I can't decide how I want them to look.  I put some on the bathroom mirror.

I like them, but I don't know if I love them.  So, I decided to go to the dining room and put some on the light.  Again, I like them, but I don't know if I love them.  Maybe y'all can help me decide.

Should I just scatter them about or put them in a pattern?  And pay no attention to the bugs in the bottom of the lights.  They are there for effect.  

While playing with the bats, I decided to show you some pictures of my chargers I made!  I would show you my dining room table, but it's currently under a sewing machine, sale ads, various gun parts (hubs, not mine) and other random stuff.  So, I will just show you the chargers and let you imagine that my dining room table is impeccable and wonderfully decorated just like Martha's would be.

And how did I cut out all of this wonderful vinyl?  With my Silhouette Cameo, of course!  I have only had her a few months, but I love her!  

And pay no attention to the mess in the background.  My work space is always under construction.  It was clean once, when I set it all up.  But then 5 minutes passed and I had to make something.  Oh well!  Enjoy your Tuesday!  And don't forget to tell your friends to follow us.  We really want to giveaway the OPI nail polish pack!!