Is Thanksgiving Really Next Week?

I'm in denial.  I just put away my Halloween decorations this afternoon.  And since the trick'o'treat bags are still overflowing with sugar, I see no reason not to share just a few more tricks from this year's festivities.

The girls helped me make these CREEPY, but delicious spiders.  If only you could have seen mom's face when she tried to bring herself to bite into one of these furry little guys.  I used crushed pretzels for the fur and halved cherry jellybeans for the eyes - you can find the original recipe here.  Yumminess!

I tried out my carving skills on one of those cool carvable pumpkins to create a fun candy bowl.  Painted the inside black, added ribbons and ricrac and made some garland by punching images from House of 3 printables.

Finally...two of my favorite tricksters.  Aren't they cute?  Maybe next year I'll make their costumes....wink!

Countertop Creations

Olivia spotted a very sparkly, very pricey "haunted house" in a catalog a while back. I pinned up the picture with promises of making one ourselves. After painting a milk carton, a cracker box, and a couple cake boards with not-so-full-coverage paint, the wind blew them off the deck and I ran out and bought myself another birthday present, the Winter Wonderland cartridge for Cricut. Have you seen this thing? It is amazing. Not only does it have a cool font and some fun wintery pictures, but it cuts out the pieces to construct AN ENTIRE VILLAGE. A little black glitter paint, a little orange paper, a couple pre-made accents, and VOILA! we made our own sparkly Halloween village. This was so much fun. The houses I put together in the evening and the girls helped me paint the base board, the fences, and glue on the accents. Fun, easy, and really cool, don't you think? Now, if only I had the big Cricut . . .

A is for Addie.

My latest touch to Addie's room. I've been eyeing these paper mache letters for quite a while. I have no idea what you're supposed to do with them, but I wanted an A for Addie's shelf. This project took me just an hour or so. I traced each side of the A onto heavy scrapbook cardstock and cut out the pieces. Then I painted the whole letter pink (some of the cardboard bubbled a bit so I think I'll probably seal it before painting if I do another project). After it dried, I used Mod Podge to glue all the pieces into place to cover the letter. Then I just brushed the whole thing again with Mod Podge to seal it, added the flowers and button, and presto! it was done. It's perfect for her shelf.

What to Stuff in this Goodybag!

I have been so busy soaking in all the delicious eye candy on the internet with my recent creative spark rather than sharing. But, alas, I have a project to show you. I made this "marlo bloom handbag" using the pattern and fabric from http://www.heatherbaileystore.com/ I just have to tell you that Heather's fabric is gorgeous. The colors are so vibrant and yummy. I'm no professional seamstress, but the pattern was super easy to follow and I am in love with how the bag turned out. It is completely reversible and the flower just pins on, so I can put it on either side OR switch it out with a different one. Now I just have to figure out what to carry in it!

Today I am inspired.

I woke up today and I *knew* it was going to be a great day. I've been smiling all day, smiling as the girls smear tuna and candy cane across the house. It was fine, because I knew today was a great day and I was so very thankful that they were happy and pleased to have their cute little mittens on the snacks and on the furniture. I also made a craft with Liv. Since she's so excited to be turning four in just over a month, the inevitable "How many more days until...?" has been coming up quite frequently. Myself being quite visual, I decided that we should make one of those paper chains and begin the count down!! So Livi and I pulled down the calendar and counted the days until her birthday (did you know that she can read the number 27?) Cool, huh! Then I got out some scraps of paper in blue and green (to represent her mermaid party) and the mandatory pink, and we got to cutting 34 strips. Then, we did some patterning up at the island and, since I was having a great day, I was oh-so-patient as we practiced pink-blue-green over and over until we had 34 links stapled together and strewn over the kitchen chandelier. I reflected on how great I felt having done a craft AND managed to throw in quite a bit of enrichment, what with the counting, cutting (okay, so the cutting only produced three strips) number recognition, and patient patterning. Even Gracie was chanting pink-blue-green along with us. She also pushed Addie around the kitchen in the swing so that Addie could get a closer look and get enriched, too. Off to naps for everyone and I pulled my project for the afternoon - making a paper bird mobile. Tracing and tracing, I thought about how I wished that I had more activities to do with the kids. The planning and getting materials ready is really the tough part. I also thought about how awesome it would be if I could feed my soul with a little crafting and simultaneously enrich the girls' days! And it came to me in a big rush of overwhelming inspiration. I am beginning this dream of mine, it's me. Inspired. It is truly a great day.