The best idea. Ever.

"The first time you hear the concept of Halloween when you're a kid, your brain cannot even process the idea.
You're like, 'What is this?
What did you say?
Someone's giving out candy?
Who's giving out candy?
EVERYONE WE KNOW is just giving out candy?
I gotta be a part of this!"

--Jerry Seinfeld, Halloween

Hope there's lots of the good stuff in your bag tonight!

Snow-drifted jack-o-lanterns are just sad

SNOW DAY!!

While snow on Halloween is not unheard of in Colorado, I can't say that I've ever experienced a two-day blizzard just prior to the holiday. As of early this morning we had about 10" and it's still snowing steadily, but the wind is blowing so hard it will be hard to get an accurate measurement. School was canceled but The Mister had to go into work, which I'm still cranky about. We're staying inside where it's warm and getting a start on the treats for tomorrow night's big party.

On my happy list today (besides not having to take the kids out into the snow):My cute new ballet flats that I purchased on clearance at Wal-Mart (of all places) for $7.00, worn with the top that I just got on clearance at Ann Taylor LOFT for $4.88. Woo-hoo!

Halloween feather wreath, defined

One of my favorite and most versatile Halloween decorations is my black feather wreath. I bought it several years ago on post-Halloween clearance at Target after wanting one for several years but being too cheap to pay full price. You can make your own feather wreath a la Eddie Ross--but mine was cheaper and I didn't have to clean up feathers afterward!
This year I hung it on the back of my door and to dress it up I used tiny orange clothespins to attach some appropriately spooky flash cards that I found in a huge box at the thrift store a while ago.
The cards I used are apparition, ominous, ghoul, cadaverous, grotesque and macabre. It was an easy project--took all of about 2 minutes, including rummaging in my craft room for the clothespins, and neither wreath nor cards are permanently altered so I can use them in a different way next year. I think it's an especially appropriate decoration for my Haunted Library-themed Halloween party this year!

How to fix a mirror that has come out of its frame

Garage sale season is just about over here until next spring, but there have been a few stragglers the last few weekends. I had a little bit of time without Maren last Saturday so I headed to the new Dollar Tree to look for the crows that Shara found. No luck on those, but there was a garage sale on the next block so I did a quick drive-by to see if it was worth stopping.

The sale barely filled the driveway of the single-car garage and the items that the owners were still putting out didn't look like anything special, but one thing caught my eye and I stopped. Over to the side, leaning against the garbage can was an old mirror. Nothing was marked with a price, which is my #1 garage sale pet peeve and usually results in me walking back to the car empty-handed However, I wanted that mirror BAD, so I asked and was thrilled when the owner said it was $2.00. In fact, she said, she didn't think she'd be able to sell it because it had fallen out of the frame and the glass was so heavy and the frame so old it looked like junk. Well, lucky for both of us that's precisely the kind of junk I'm looking for, so I handed over $2, picked up the pieces of the mirror, frame and backing and tried not to skip all the way to the car!

The woman was right, it was in rough shape. The mirror is very old and very heavy--so heavy that someone had twisted a thick piece of rubber-coated wire cable on the back to use as a hanger. The weight of the mirror was such that it had overwhelmed the old nails, causing the entire backing board to fall off so nothing was left to hold the mirror into the frame.

However, I happen know how to fix an old mirror that has fallen out of its frame because I've done it before with this one:
It's ridiculously easy, all you need are these little guys:These are called glazier points and you can find them in the hardware store. There are even instructions on the back of the package to show you how to use them. They're pointy on one end and with the mirror face down in the frame, you just push the points into the sides of the frame. The back of my package shows a special tool for this purpose but I just used a wooden block! I tossed the backing board for this mirror because it was an old, dirty piece of wood and I didn't feel like it needed a backing, but if you wanted you could use a piece of matboard or thick cardboard cut to size and secured with tacks.
It's so hard to get good photos of mirrors but the silver backing is perfectly mottled and spotted with age. It makes a great spooky addition to my Halloween decor!

Glamour Gourds

Make your own 'mercury glass' pumpkins? Oh. My. GOSH. Guess what I'll be doing this weekend?

Sweet & Sinister swap--sent and received

When I told The Mister that I had signed up for a Halloween swap with an Oct. 1 mail-out deadline, he thought I was nuts given my due date (and eventual delivery date) of Sept. 17. I thought I might be crazy too but I had such fun with last year's swap that I just couldn't pass up the opportunity, impending birth or not!

The color guidelines for the Sweet & Sinister swap are black and white with just a touch of orange. I already showed you the blingy black pumpkin I sent to my partner Julie, but I made a few other items for her as well:

--This black and white witch silhouette in the perfect, already-distressed thrifted frame:Want to make a Halloween silhouette of your own? Go here.

--A bouquet of black, white and blingy vintage button flowers:
that I loved so much I had a hard time giving away!

--And a beeswax collage canvas with another cute silhouette:I've been meaning to make another beeswax collage ever since I learned how last November in Phoenix. I bought all the supplies and they've sat in my craft closet ever since! This was a good opportunity to finally dust off my mini-iron and wax pellets and get to work. I had such fun creating things for my partner and I hope she liked them.

My partner Julie sent me a fabulous package. She knew that I am planning a Haunted Library-themed Halloween party this year and that I love crows, so she tailored her package to suit me perfectly!
She included Halloween cupcake mix and the most delightful box of fancy sprinkles & cupcake toppers, a big vintage-style black and orange lollipop decorated with festooning and a sparkly chipboard H, a package of darling party parasols, a very old copy of Poe's "The Raven" (I'd been looking for one of these but had given up!), and the beautiful sparkly table runner that everything is sitting on.

As wonderful as all of those things are, my very favorite thing in the box was this awesome decoration that Julie made for me! She used a box that looks like an old book and decorated it with a crow who is wearing a string of pearls and a sparkly party hat! I absolutely ADORE it and it will be the centerpiece of my party decorations!
Check out the neat detail on the black roses: She took apart the flowers, traced the petals onto the book pages, cut them out, curled the edges and punched a hole in the center. Then she reassembled the flower, layering the book petals with the silk petals. I love the look--perfect for a Haunted Library!

I'm so glad that I signed up for this swap and plan to do it again next year!

Estate sale finds: Dennison seals and ironstone

It is a source of much frustration to me that I don't often get to visit estate sales around here very often (especially when I see the goodies that Laurie finds at estate sales every week). I don't go because 1) four-year-olds and newborns don't make for very good estate sale shoppers and 2) I live on the edge of town in a very new area, and 90% of the estate sales I see listed are at least a 30-minute drive from me.

Last weekend I needed a junk fix and The Mister was home to watch the littles, so I headed across town to an estate sale that sounded interesting (the ad said something about three generations of collectors...enough to set any junker to drooling). It was a good 40-minute drive into the heart of downtown Denver but when I found these on the floor in the attic, I knew it was all worth it!
LOVE them. And serendipitous because I had been watching some of the turkey seals on eBay that very week! There are more that I didn't show, mostly duplicates and a few Christmas designs.

I also found this lonely china plate in the back of a basement closet:
Crazed and stained, just the way I like 'em!

The seals, the plate and about 10 packages of 1980s Muppet & Snoopy stickers for Maren set me back exactly one dollar. Now that was worth driving across town for!

Tuesday thrift finds

Some thrift finds from August that I never got around to blogging...

Silver baby cups (someday I'll have enough to do this)
Three little half-pint milk bottlesA delightfully crazed yellow planter with a sweet little bird on a branch

A turquoise Krispy Kan to match my red one. (I had no idea they came in this color; they were made in yellow too).

Halloween craft: Swirly crystal pumpkins

When I saw the cover of the 2009 Better Homes & Gardens Halloween magazine I bought it immediately, purely because of the image of that pumpkin on the left with the swirly designs. If you look closely, the swirls are made of little gems, and since I'm all about adding a little bit of *bling* to Halloween I knew right away that I wanted to make one of my own. My mom saw it and loved it too, so we decided to make the pumpkins when she came here to help me before Porter was born. Because he took his sweet time in getting here, we had time to get our pumpkins completely done before I went to the hospital! I even made one to send to my Sweet & Sinister swap partner and now that the package has been sent and received I can finally post about it. This was such a fun, easy and satisfying craft project and I've been dying to share it with all of you! Here are some of the particulars:The pumpkins:
We used the fake pumpkins that you can purchase at Michael's as they were slightly less expensive than the Funkins brand from JoAnn's. We used both the large size and the smaller size. We wanted our pumpkins to be black and white rather than orange like on the magazine cover, so we used a can of black spray paint to spray some of the white pumpkins black (fortunately the painting went better than last year's attempt). We didn't initially paint the stems but after we were all finished we realized that black stems would look better, so we used black acrylic craft paint and a small sponge brush to touch them up.

The crystals:
The most difficult part of this project was finding enough crystals to use for our pumpkins, since we knew we each wanted to make more than one. The crystals we used are from Prima Marketing. They are self-adhesive and they come already placed in the swirl patterns, so all you have to do is stick them onto the pumpkins. The ones we used come on a sheet that looks like this:Each sheet is slightly larger than a sheet of paper and contains 4 large swirls, and will cost you approximately $7. The colors we used were black and clear (they also come in black diamond, which is really more of a smoky gray or charcoal). We bought out the stock at Archiver's and two separate Hobby Lobby stores to find enough packages of each color. Here is a link to buy the large black swirls on Amazon, and here is one for Ritz Camera (it doesn't appear they have the same swirls we used in clear, though they have a different design).
We found that it took approximately 6-7 of the crystal swirls for the smaller size pumpkin: 5 swirls to go around the top and then an additional swirl or two to cut apart and add in here and there to make the design balanced. Because the swirls are self-adhesive it's as easy as peeling them off the backing and placing them carefully on the pumpkin. On the painted pumpkins we had to be careful in our placement because the adhesive lifted off the paint if we tried to adjust the swirls once they were adhered. We also used larger single gems in both black and clear to accent the swirl designs. We purchased those at the Hobby Lobby as well and attached them with Glue Dots. I can't recall how many swirls the large pumpkin used, but I know I used more because I wanted them to come further down the sides of the pumpkin.

The leaves:
The pumpkins shown in the magazine didn't have any leaves, but I remembered that I found some awesome vintage silver foil leaves at a garage sale earlier this summer that would be just perfect for our blingy pumpkins! For the black pumpkins with clear crystals we left the leaves silver but for the white pumpkin with black gems we spray painted them black with a bit of the leftover spray paint. Then we simply hot glued them to the top of the pumpkins (this is when we realized we should have painted the stems. Alternately, you could cover the stems with coordinating glitter).

I love how the pumpkins turned out! My photos don't do them justice. They sat on the table for a few days after we finished them and every time I walked past them I think I mentioned how much I loved them...I think The Mister got sick of my declarations of affection for my silly pumpkins!

I'm linking this post to Kimba's DIY day!

A golden Saturday in October

Last weekend was a perfect example of why I love autumn in Colorado: lovely blue skies, warm sunshine, crisp air and gorgeous colors all around. This weekend is a perfect example of what I don't love about autumn: the schizophrenic weather that gave us snow yesterday, cool sunshine today, and more snow (and high temps in the 30s) on tap for tomorrow. Sigh.
We took advantage of the lovely weather last weekend to drive north to Loveland to a pumpkin patch. The Mister was out of town so my mom flew in to help me out for the weekend, and we packed up the kiddos and set out for an adventure.
We had such fun! The farm itself is quite small and the whole event was delightfully low-key and uncrowded. While Maren enjoyed the pumpkins, hay rides, barrel train and petting zoo, my mom and I enjoyed the antique vendors, visiting with friends and the beautiful fall scenery. Here is my loot from the day:A great old glass jar (to go with a few others I have), a pair of cream ceramic urns (only one is shown), rhinestone sparklies, and a couple of fun old spice cans for Thanksgiving decorating. Not shown is the old Almond Joy candy bar box that I scored for a song for my mom's growing collection. The one that got away: a huge old metal canister in the perfect shade of orange for Halloween decorating. It was cheap and awesome but I didn't want to haul it around and when I went back for it, it was gone. Serves me right for being so lazy!
Beautiful weather, friends, junking and my family--what a perfect way to spend an autumn day!

Wardrobe refashion: Freezer paper stenciling

Most of September is just a blur to me. I spent so many days in limbo, waiting for Porter to be born that the days all ran together and before I knew it the month was over! I've been meaning to post about these since the first week of September, when I did my class on wardrobe refashioning (previous posts here and here).One of the reasons I volunteered to teach the class in the first place was that it would give me a good excuse to finally try out freezer paper stenciling, a technique I've been reading about throughout blogland for a couple of years. I've long been acquainted with crafting with freezer paper, ever since I taught my roommates how to make tissue paper envelopes back in our freshman year of college. In case you've never used freezer paper before, it can usually be found in the same grocery store aisle as the foil and plastic wrap. It's wide white paper on a roll that has been treated on one side with a coating that makes it glossy and water-resistant. The neat thing about that coating is that when ironed, it melts and becomes adhesive, opening up all kinds of crafting possibilities.
Complete instructions for the freezer paper stenciling technique can be easily found through an online search, but the premise is this: draw or print a design on the paper side of the freezer paper and cut out a mortise (reverse) mask. Iron the freezer paper onto your fabric, glossy side down, thereby adhering the stencil to the fabric. Paint as you normally would with a stencil and when the paint is dry you can simply rip off the freezer paper to reveal your design!For my designs I used a mixture of sources. The crow was the outline of a clip art illustration from a book, the toadstool was hand drawn, and the black cat and owl were clip art from my Microsoft Word program. You can use any kind of design, but it's important to remember which parts of your design will be positive and negative space! (Ask me how I know this one.)For the owl, cat and toadstool I used regular opaque fabric paint. For the crow I used really beautiful silver Lumiere fabric paint that I bought at JoAnn's. It didn't photograph well but it's a beautiful metallic silver! I haven't washed it yet so I don't know how it will hold up but the shirt itself cost less than $5 so it won't be a huge tragedy if it cracks.

I found freezer paper stenciling is just as easy and addictive as all of the other bloggers said. What a great way to hide a stain or a flaw or just to spruce up an existing (but boring) piece of clothing!

Vintage style that fills me with GLEE

In addition to the snappy writing, Jane Lynch's hilariously snarky one-liners and the spontaneous musical numbers, one of the things I love best about Glee is Jayma Mays' character's awesome vintage-inspired wardrobe! In case you haven't seen the show, Mays plays Emma Pillsbury, the high school's guidance counselor. I don't know who is in charge of wardrobe on the show but I'd like to send him or her a big ol' sloppy kiss! Even though Pushing Daisies has gone the way of the dodo, I can still get my fix of fabulous vintage style through Glee!The buttoned up, ladylike vintage style is a perfect fit for the character of Emma Pillsbury, a germophobe who is secretly in love with Will, the (married) Glee club advisor.
While searching the intraweb looking for photos of Emma Pillsbury's ensembles, I found this awesome blog post that details some of the outfits worn in the show's pilot episode and gives sources for the pieces. Looks like many of the items are from J. Crew and other fairly accessible brands. I wish there was an outfit-by-outfit breakdown like this for every episode! The comments for that post have some good info in them as well. Here's another blog that is cataloging the jewelry she wears (unfortunately without sources, although many of the pieces appear to be vintage).

Can't wait to see what she'll be wearing tonight!

Ten for Tuesday: Likes & Dislikes

First the Dislikes:

• Nursing bras. Unflattering, lumpy, shapeless. I'm not a super big fan of breastfeeding in general and I attribute that largely to having to wear nursing bras that don't exactly..er...lift and separate (separate yes, lift not so much) and make getting dressed in the morning even more of a challenge. Add in nursing Gs for my Mo friends and you have a sure-fire recipe for serious body-image issues.
  
• Bedtime. What used to be such a delightful relief now just signals the beginning of eight hours of sleepless frustration that leave me a zombie until at least 10:00 a.m. the next day. I know it hasn't even been three weeks yet but things need to start improving soon or I'm going to go nuts. I need sleep! And naps during the day don't really help.
  
• Cute fall clothes in all the stores...none of which I currently fit into and don't want to waste money buying "in between" sizes. I miss my old clothes.
• A messy house. Feels like I'm fighting a losing battle. Also in this category: Trying to keep the dog hair under control, another battle which I cannot win.
  
• Post-partum hormones giving me the complexion of a 13-year-old. I need to make friends with a dermatologist.

Whew, that list was a downer! Let's get to the things making me happy today:

• This rolled fabric flower tutorial to learn how to make the flower bib statement necklaces I see all over blogland & etsy these days. I can't wait to try these out! I hope it's as easy as they make it look. I'll keep you updated.
  
• This cute ruffled tank from Target. My store was out of the purple so I hope I can find it at another location. I think J.Crew might have had something similar earlier this year, but you can bet it cost a whole lot more than $15.
• Buying smaller "in between" pants yesterday than at this same point after my last pregnancy. They're still two sizes larger than what I normally wear but buying smaller pants is always a good thing, right?
• My cute new $13 leopard-print ballet flats from Target. First leopard-print item I've ever owned, actually. They're pretty comfy for cheap shoes and they make me feel kinda sassy.
• Finally figuring out how to make a 3-column template for ye olde blog. Feels like I can finally stretch out a little! I used this tutorial and I'm so pleased with how it turned out.
  

Easy Framed Halloween Vinyl Decor

During the week or so before I delivered Porter, I had several days of nothing to do. I had nothing scheduled because I didn't know when I'd actually go into labor, and I was too physically awkward to be moving around much, so I returned to my default setting--if all else fails, CRAFT!

I had this very cool Spooky Brocade vinyl Decor Elements from Stampin' Up! and was looking for a fun way to use it in my Halloween decorating. My mom and I tossed around some ideas and came up with the idea of placing it on the glass of a picture frame. (I also thought it would look neat on a framed mirror, especially if you could give the back of the mirror a cool antiqued effect.) It just so happened that I stopped by a garage sale the weekend before and found a piece of framed art that was just the right size! Here's what it looked like before:
My transformation wasn't very complicated but it was satisfying! I used cheap black acrylic craft paint to paint the frame itself. I could have used some of the black spray paint I had out for another project that I'll share later, but that would have meant removing or taping off the glass, and at that point I just wasn't up for anything that took more than the minimum of effort.
Initially I had thought about leaving the frame empty, so the wall color would show through the glass. However, I felt like the brocade design got a little lost so I found a piece of Halloweeny patterned paper in my stash that perfectly fit the frame. I applied the vinyl decal to the front of the glass (so easy, it's just like a big sticker), and added the Making Memories velvet sticker letters below it. The glass is just standard thickness but I like how there is a bit of depth separating the vinyl design from the background paper. And because I can't just leave well enough alone, I embellished the brocade design with a few small adhesive gems (eyes on the bat, the large spider's body and the swirls at the sides).
I reassembled the frame and added a black grosgrain ribbon bow at the top with my hot glue and staple gun (those don't show in the photo). Now, to find the perfect place to hang my new piece of Halloween art!