Halloween Banner Swap

While I missed out on the Sweet & Sinister Swap this year, Shara at Monkeybox hosted a banner swap! Everyone was assigned a different letter. I got the letter H. And this is what I came up with.




I used those cheap plastic spider rings. I cut the ring part off and then glittered them with some Martha Stewart glitter. I used orange...

And black ones.

Originally I thought I'd use a crackle finish. I have two different types of crackle mediums. One is supposed to be "one step" but it doesnt work that well. Which I forgot when I used it on these. So in my attempt to try & hurry it along, I stuck them in the microwave. And the result was this weird texture.

Kind of reminds me of spider webbing, so I think it worked out!

I have been holding on to this textured paper since I started scrapbooking 10 years ago. I hardly ever use it, but for some reason I havent gotten rid of it yet, so I thought I'd try with this. For the letters I copied a stencil.

And now for the rest of the banner. Shara did the O.

Diane did the first L.

Laura did the second L.

Shara did the O.

Aimee Suzanne did the W.

Michele did an E.

Lyn did the other E.

And Dorothy did the N. Funny how the first & last letters are pretty similar, huh?

Thanks for hosting, Shara! It was fun!

Halloween Wreath

I can't believe how long it's been since I shared a project! I started this wreath back in the beginning of summer. But of course, I procrastinate, and never finished it! I managed to get part of the white wrapped. I had planned on making it summery, but since it never got finished, I decided to try again for Halloween.


This is the first wreath I think I've ever made, and the first time making felt flowers. But I think it turned out really cute!

I also added a little bit of orange yarn on the other side.

Still trying to decide if it needs anything else? What do you think?

ALSO! Would you like the chance to win a set of crayons from my Etsy Shop? If so, head on over to Making Lemonade for a giveaway!

Linked to:

The Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table & Dreaming, Sundae Scoop at I ♥ Naptime, Show & Share Day at Just a Girl, Halloween Spooktacular at Making Lemonade, Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Link Party #28 at Tea Rose Home, Look What I Made at Creations by Kara, Hookin Up with HOH at House of Hepworths, Transformation Thursday at the Shabby Chic Cottage, Get Your Craft On Thursday at Life as Lori, Fall Frenzy at Craftaholics Anonymous

A Few More Pumpkin Shots...

Since it's October already (!), I thought I'd share a few more pumpkin pictures. They have all been harvested now. It's almost the time that we could be selling them, if only the darn bugs hadnt done what they did.

But hey, at least the gourds made it!

We ended up with all different shapes & sizes. There are still quite a few that arent ready yet.

I do have a couple of projects to share, so hopefully they will be posted soon!

Blake's Dallas Cowboys/Bowling Birthday

I had known since Layla's birthday in April that Blake wanted a football themed party. He also happened to decide he wanted to have it at the bowling alley. Yay for not much to have to decorate, right? But I knew I didnt want bowling themed invitations. So I started browsing Etsy (my first place to look for invitations if I'm not making them!), and was very excited when I found these awesome invites by Magic Design USA. They were perfect!



You can't have a party without the goody bags!



I found these boxes at Walmart, $1.50 for 8. The Cowboys images also came from Etsy, this time from Stellar Trends Digital.

For the goodies, I made these delicious chocolate football pops.

And we also had Silly Bandz, football pencils, bouncy footballs, several types of blue candy and blue & silver beads. I also had the leftover tubs of beads on the table and the kids really seemed to enjoy them.

You don't get a lot of space at the bowling alley, but we did get this long table. Which of course I had to decorate! I whipped up the bunting the day of the party, so it isnt perfect.

Here is the cake! Pretty ambitious I must say. I'm not sure why I deciced to try the most complicated cake yet at the party with the most people! But everyone seemed to like it. This was my first time EVER using fondant! I used the Duff brand from Michaels and I like it. For the letters, I printed a Cowboys logo and used it as a pattern. The kids LOVED eating the fondant balls.

The helmet is made of rice krispy treats & covered in fondant. Mike made the facemask out of wire. This thing is definitely far from perfect!

Thankfully I found a Cowboys balloon on Ebay.

The kids all thought the candle I found was really cool. Of course, I didnt notice that it said OUTDOOR use only until we got there! We lit it anyway and did our best to fan the smoke, lol! (In case you can't tell, it's a 9).

I didn't get many good pictures of the kids. There was so much going on and it was kind of dark in there. Opening presents was kind of chaotic.

Here's Miss Morgan herself, drinking something she shouldnt!

And finally, here is almost the entire herd, I think we were missing two!

Whew! No more parties until March!

Linked to:

The Party Ideas Challenge at The CSI Project

Show & Share Day at Just a Girl

Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now

Last Year in the Single Digits

Somehow, 9 years have passed since this little big guy came into this world. He started out big (9 lbs, 14 oz!) and hasnt slowed down. He comes up almost to my chin! He is stubbon & headstrong, but also very sweet & silly. He loves football (Go Cowboys!), Silly Bandz, Legos, video games & snacking!

Nothing like a winning game (check out the scoreboard! And Blake is #27.) against your cousin...

and an awesome party full of football players...

to make your birthday weekend extra fun! Today we are celebrating with ribs cooked in the smoker. I will share the party details soon.

Happy Birthday Blake!!

Easy Finger Paint Art

I'm finally starting to be in a crafty mood again, so hopefully I will have more things to share soon! It's funny how one little project can totally get you motivated again. But first, I wanted to share a little project the kids & I did over the summer.

I didnt get any pictures of the process, but it was easy. All we needed was some wrapped canvases, acrylic paint & stickers. Just decide on your design, saying or quote, and apply the stickers to the canvas.

(Layla's)

(Blake's)

(Mine)

Then choose your paint colors (Blake used 2, Layla used 3 & I used 4) and start smearing! We didn't use any brushes, just fingers! And the kids helped with mine. Super easy, and I think they turned out really cute!

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted a craft! Feels good to be crafty again. Good thing I guess, because Blake's birthday is this weekend, and I am participating in a Halloween Banner swap over at Monkeybox. Thankfully, Blake's party is going to be at the bowling alley, so I don't have too much to do, but I am making chocolate football pops, a bunting and the cake.

Have a good one!

Linked to

Made By Little Hands Monday at delicateCONSTRUCTION

Make it 4 Monday at Cottage Instincts

Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime

Sunday Showcase at Under the Table & Dreaming

Look What I Made Day at Creations By Kara

Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts

Show & Tell at Blue Cricket Designs

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Show & Share Day at Just a Girl

Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now

Frugal Friday at the Shabby Nest

Look at Me! at It's Fun to Craft

Get Your Craft On Thursday at Life as Lori

Typography Challenge at The CSI Project