Just three more days and Trunk-or-Treat ideas

Each day, Maren counts down the days until Halloween and squeals as it's getting closer--and I want to squeal right along with her! I've got work to do this weekend to put the last touches on our costumes, and I still need to hit a few thrift stores to see if I can find shoes for mine. We're going as a coordinated group again this year and I think our costumes will be really fun! For any new readers, here's how we dressed up last year:

Our church traditionally has a Trunk-or-Treat event on Halloween, which I have mixed feelings about. On one hand--I know there are people that go and distribute all of their candy during the Trunk-or-Treat and then go home and turn off their lights, which I think is NO FUN at all! I happen to think that one of the fun parts of Halloween and trick-or-treating is getting to know your neighbors, and you can't get to know your neighbors if you won't open your door! On the other hand, the Trunk-or-Treat is usually held early enough that the kids can still go out trick-or-treating in their neighborhood, so double the candy--yay!

I know some churches have car decorating contests and I wish ours would start doing that--I think it would make the whole event more fun because right now, it's little more than an organized but crowded grab for candy. I found this awesome car on Pinterest

Original source

and I think I might be making a run to the store this weekend for white poster board! The rest of the car is made to look like a giant whale to go with the family's costumes, but I think I'll just stick with the big scary teeth.

Last year at our Trunk-or-Treat there was one person who went all out and made a Honeyduke's Sweet Shop in the back of her van. We didn't get there until it was almost empty, but I still got a few snaps so I could remember how clever it was!

Be sure to click on the photos to enlarge them so you can see the neat tags she made with the candy names. It would seem like filling all those jars of candy would cost a fortune, but most of the candy was inexpensive (salt water taffy) or homemade (toffee) or store-bought candy, gussied up (Licorice Wands were individual Twizzlers dipped in candy melts & sprinkles, Acid Pops were sour Dots on a sucker stick).

The key to this was the presentation--all of the candies were individually wrapped in little bags and each jar had its own label, printed in the Harry Potter font. The car owner made a shelf with a piece of painted board that was held up on either end by a large gold-painted book. The whole effect was really impressive! Maybe she'll be back again this year and I can get some photos when the jars are all filled up.

And just in case you haven't settled on a costume yet, let me leave you with a few of my favorites from last year's Trunk-or-Treat:

Incredible papier mache Mike from Monster's Inc.

The blue shirt was an XXL thrift store find and he stuffed the front with fiberfill. Hat was made from felt-by-the-yard from JoAnn's.

My friend's two-year-old as a Toddlers and Tiaras winner. Hilarious!

Have a fun weekend! Are you doing anything fun to get ready for Halloween?

Pinned it and Made it: Fishnet stocking pumpkins and 2011 Halloween decorations

Once I finally finished painting the china hutch black, I could hardly wait for the paint to dry so I could load it up with my Halloween decorations! They'd been sitting in my front room for two weeks and it was already the middle of the month so it was about time. I do wish I could have gotten it all done sooner, but it was worth the wait--I love how my Halloween goodies look in my new black cabinet!

I incorporated a Pinned it and Made it project into my decor: fishnet stocking pumpkins, pinned here. Last year I bought several pairs of black fishnet stockings when they were 75% off at Target, where they had a whole endcap full of them.  The pumpkins were leftover from an unsuccessful project a few years ago and were already painted silver.

I used a pair of ladies' one-size-fits-all stockings for the larger pumpkin

and a pair of kids' stockings for the smaller one. Was I really thinking of putting black fishnets on my 6-year-old daughter? Sheesh. This isn't Toddlers and Tiaras, for crying out loud. I do like that pair better, because they were black with silver threads running through and they look really great on the silver pumpkin! For both pumpkins, I simply stretched the leg over the pumpkin, with the toe hidden by the underside. I cut them off and used a small rubber band to attach the stocking around the stem, and poked in a couple of vintage foil leaves. A real pumpkin with a larger stem would have made that a bit easier. I do love how they look! Easiest pumpkin decorating EVER.

Here are the rest of my decorations. Since I had already taken everything out of my hutch to paint, I left it empty and filled it with only Halloween, which I like. Normally I have to decorate around the stuff that's already there.

It's a pain to load everything in and out and carry it up and down the basement steps, but I think I'm going to clear it out for Christmas decorating too. There's just so much more space.

I added a pair of orange and white polka-dotted melamine plates to either side of the big turquoise jack-o'-lantern plate and I LOVE how they look against the black and white checked background! I really wanted to emphasize the black and ORANGE with my decorating this year.

I kept things simple on the top of my aqua dresser. The Halloween lollies are another Pinned project that I may or may not get around to sharing this year. Those might have to be saved for 2012.

I added one of my big black sparkly flower pins to my orange and white striped pillow.

The display on my little ottoman is simple but again emphasizes the orange.

The family room got a little bit of decor, with a trio of estate sale vintage die cuts hung on Command hooks and a banner I made last year hung on the chalkboard. I have a display started on my sofa table but I got sidetracked so I'm not sure I'll get it finished at this point.

It took a little longer than usual this year, but I'm happy with how it all looks! Now my next task is to finish up our costumes...

Did you incorporate anything from Pinterest into your Halloween preparations this year?

Painted china hutch transformation

One of the (many) things that makes The Mister a saint for putting up with me is my propensity for getting hare-brained (but potentially awesome) ideas at the most inconvenient times, and I managed to keep up my track record with this project. Back in the first week of October, I dragged all of my Halloween boxes upstairs to the front room, determined to get things decorated so I'd be able to enjoy them all month long. I was on the ball! For once!

Enter the hare-brained idea: I remembered that I had been intending to paint my china hutch all summer long, but had never gotten around to it. I knew that if I loaded it up with all of my Halloween stuff, I wouldn't want to unload it all to paint, and if I waited until after Halloween was over to paint, it would be into November and too cold by that time. So I decided that I needed to get it done RIGHT THEN, because it was now or wait until next year.

Let me back up a bit--earlier this year, I decided that I have hated this hutch for so long that I was finally going to do something about it. I didn't want to pay big bucks for a new one, so I figured I'd find one cheap at a thrift store or on Craigslist and make it over. A friend asked me what size/shape of hutch I wanted, and I told her that I wanted one to be the same size and about the same shape as the one I had already. I like the flat top because I use it for decorating and to bring height to that room, which has two-story ceilings. However, I was having a hard time finding one that I liked that was the right shape, size and price. My dear friend, thank heaven for her, said, "well, why don't you just paint the one you have?"

She was right, of course. I decided to paint it black and change out the knobs and figured it would give the piece a whole new look. Last year I started the transformation when I put $5 worth of black-and-white checked scrapbook paper over all of the mirrors.

I knew that paper would look great with black, and most importantly, I knew my Halloween decor would look especially great in/on a black hutch! Priorities, you know.

My original intention was to spray paint this beast. I'm not so good with the brush & latex paint on furniture and Mandi over at Vintage Revivals spray paints furniture all the time with awesome results. I forgot one tiny little detail: this hutch is a monster and weighs about 5000 lbs. It comes apart into two smaller but still massive and heavy pieces, and in order to spray paint them, I'd have to find myself a couple of burly dudes with a furniture dolly who would be willing to haul these out to my garage, and then back into my house when I was finished painting. Plan B was to paint the darn thing in situ with latex paint and my mortal enemies, the brush and roller. I bought a quart of Valspar's Cracked Pepper latex semi-gloss and a quart of Glidden Gripper tinted primer on this recommendation, because sanding in my front room was not really an option.

Let's just say that I do not have a future career in furniture refinishing.

Because of all those pieces of trim around the doors, most of the painting on the hutch had to be done with a brush, and I ended up with crazy brush marks no matter how hard I tried to keep things smooth. The sides of the hutch where I was able to use a small foam roller are not so bad, but everywhere else is a hot mess. I tried sanding lightly between coats of primer & paint, but it just didn't help enough. I also made the stupid mistake of deciding to paint the interior ledges where the glass shelves sit. I wasn't sure that I would like the brown interior with the black exterior, but it was a ton of work because I had to do it all with a brush as well and it was tricky to maneuver inside the cramped space.

I'm normally something of a perfectionist, but this was one project where I decided it was better to be done that perfect. I do really like the final look--I think the black updates the piece to the point where I don't completely hate it and I love the contrast with the red walls and the wood floors. And I have to admit, it looks awesome filled with my Halloween stuff! I'm not saying I still wouldn't like someone to gift me with the perfectly-painted, distressed, vintage-style china hutch, preferably for FREE, but until that day happens, this will do the trick. Just don't look too close if you come over for a visit!

Weekend Junk Finds

After a week stuck inside with a sick Maren, I dragged the kids 40 minutes' drive for an estate sale. I was obviously truly desperate, as taking them to an estate sale is generally just shooting myself in the foot, but The Mister had to work, I couldn't leave a sick kid with a babysitter, and I needed to GET OUT and look at some junk! The ad for this estate sale said the owner was a borderline hoarder, and I'd have to agree. There was more fabric in that house than in some fabric stores--no kidding! I was there on the 3rd day of the sale and it didn't look like it had even been touched, though it was priced to move. To give you an idea, they were going to have a second sale the following weekend of the upstairs of the house and two storage units, because they hadn't had time to even touch those while dealing with the main floor & basement.

I didn't buy any fabric because it was crowded, I had my kids, and the light was terrible in the basement. I did go into the dish room--a tiny basement room that was filled with stacks and stacks of old china, including one of my favorites: LuRay pastels. Since I got there the third day all of the really great stuff was gone already, but I managed to pick up a half dozen of these plates: 4 Sharon pink, 2 Persian Cream yellow, and a Surf Green bread plate.

I also found this vintage Christmas tablecloth wadded up on the floor in the basement room. I wish I could have gone back this weekend to see what treasures were upstairs and in the storage units at that house!

These were from the thrift store. A pretty, shabby Homer Laughlin bowl (headed to Etsy eventually),

A pair of plates with a mod leaf border decoration perfect for autumn (love the turquoise, yellow and gray!),

and some fun vintage books to use in decorating. I liked the bold black and red covers of the music books. The children's book originally had a pair of scissors attached to the cover in that funny-shaped red spot, and inside are several gummed pages of stickers that were meant to be cut out and stuck throughout the book. All of the gummed pages are still intact, so I'll have to keep an eye out for a little old pair of scissors to fit on the cover!

Meager findings this time, but I just haven't had the chance to get out much. I'm positively itching to get my hands on some vintage Christmas goodies and am anxious for my local thrift stores to start putting out their holiday merchandise!

Did you find any treasures this weekend?

Pinned it and Made it: Mars bars Rice Krispies

This week's Pinned it and Made it is from a recipe I pinned a couple of months ago for Rice Krispie treats made with Mars bars instead of the standard butter and marshmallows.

Did you know that it's nearly impossible to find Mars bars in the US anymore? I guess I never realized that they had disappeared. I looked at every store I visited that sold candy, and the only place I could find them was in a 6-pack at Wal-Mart.

What I failed to remember is that the author of the recipe is Canadian, and the Mars bars in Canada are different from the Mars bars sold here in the US! I should have known this, because I know from personal, delicious experience that the Mars bars sold in the UK are different from those in the US--they're better!

Irish Mars bars available on Amazo

The Mars bars I bought at Wal-Mart look like this in the middle:

Nougat, chopped almonds, and a little bit of caramel. Canadian Mars bars basically look like this:

Nougat, no almonds, and more caramel. The key factor in all of this is the amount (or lack thereof) of caramel in the candy bar, because that is largely what holds the Rice Krispie treats together in the absence of marshmallow glue. Because my Mars bars had less caramel to begin with, I knew I'd have a problem. Luckily, I happened to have a bag of these:

on my counter for a future Pinned it and Made it post. I took out the 1 cup of caramels that the other recipe required, and then dumped the rest of the bag into my melted Mars bars mixture. It still looked a bit dry, so I threw in a half dozen Stackermallows and a smidge more butter.

Even after all of that, once I poured the hot mixture onto the Rice Krispies and mixed it, there was not enough 'glue' to hold all of the cereal together. I grabbed my still-warm pot and melted about a dozen more StackerMallows and another tablespoon of butter and poured that into the cereal. That did the trick! I topped the treats with the melted milk chocolate chips as the original recipe suggested and put them in the fridge to set the chocolate.

They really were delicious! I took them to a gathering and they were a hit. One person commented that they taste like a candy bar, and I agree--they definitely reminded me of a 100 Grand Bar (one of my favorites!) because of the caramel, milk chocolate and Rice Krispies.

If I made these again, I'd forget the Mars Bars and use Milky Way bars instead, and I think I'd use 7-8 to make sure I have enough to glue the cereal together. These might be a fun treat to make if you're trying to use up leftover Halloween candy--you could throw in Milky Ways, Snickers and maybe even a 3 Musketeers or two!

Impromptu Etsy Halloween Sale!

I've decided to have a little sale in my Etsy shop from now until 11:59 pm Mountain Time on Wednesday, October 19. All Halloween items are 15% off when you use the coupon code SPOOKY15 at checkout!

Halloween platters 2011: Round two

I posted a while ago about the upcycled Halloween platters I made for my Etsy shop this year, but I didn't stop there! I made a few more and wanted to show them off because I love the silhouette images!

First is the Spooky Silhouette Family Gallery, all of them on vintage china platters:

Dracula

Frankenstein

Witch

Skeleton

I also found these two really neat orange dishes. They're not vintage, but they're the perfect color for Halloween!

Dracula on orange

Spooky crow on tombstone on orange

I also found one more of my favorite USA pottery oval shaped plates. I used these last year and I love them!

Spooky crow on tombstone on white

This pair of vintage white pottery urns got spookified with the addition of a pair of spindly-legged spiders.

Spidery white vintage urns

I didn't make these plates, but I love the black and white and I think they'd look nice in an arrangement with some of the silhouette platters.

Vintage Glastonbury Abbey plate

Vintage Italian villa plate

I can't resist vintage aluminum cookie cutters when I am out thrifting. Christmas designs seem to be the most common, but I've come across a few Halloween shapes so I glittered them and made Halloween tree ornaments out of them.

Glittery vintage Halloween cookie cutter ornaments

I've had so much fun crafting for Halloween this year! I've been so busy crafting, in fact, that I haven't decorated for Halloween yet. Eeek! Now that's scary. The boxes have been in the front room for a week, but I decided (once I'd dragged everything up from the basement and made a huge mess, naturally) that I really wanted to paint my china hutch, a project I've been meaning to do all summer long.

I got started on Monday and I have to admit that it isn't going as well as I'd like. Next time I decide to paint a piece of furniture with a brush and roller and latex paint, somebody slap me, mmmmmkay? You'd think I'd have learned my lesson, but apparently I'm a slow learner. Or an optimist. Or just really forgetful. It's spray paint from here on out, baby! Hopefully I'll have a finished project to show you soon. Hopefully, because I need to get the decorating DONE and the disaster that is my front room back in order because it's giving me the itchies. Time to man my sanding block!

Pinned it and Made it: Thick and Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes

Time for another installment of Pinned it and Made it! This week's scrumptious Pin is from the blog Baking Bites. When I saw that glorious stack of pancakes, I knew I would be making them ASAP!

Thick and Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes from Baking Bites, via Pinterest

The other morning I made them for my kids, and they were a big hit. They were indeed thick and fluffy and had a really great flavor from the pumpkin and the spices and maple syrup in the batter. I had to add a few extra tablespoons of buttermilk to my batter because it was just a bit too thick.

My un-expertly styled pumpkin pancakes

I have lots of respect for food bloggers that post beautifully styled photographs of the food they make. I stood in my kitchen, camera in one hand and plate of pancakes in the other trying desperately to find a clear spot on the counter where I could snap a quick photo. The butter kept sliding off and really, all I wanted to do was quit fiddling with the camera and EAT! I would definitely make these again.

A pancake recipe I will NOT be making again is this one for Sweet Potato Pancakes. We love Bruce's sweet potato pancake mix, but the commissary quit carrying it and it's pretty darn expensive everywhere else so I'd love to come up with my own version. I had a leftover baked sweet potato in the fridge and quickly Googled this recipe this morning. It looked great but did not taste at all like the Bruce's pancakes. Maren wouldn't eat hers, and I ended up throwing out the rest of the batter because I didn't like it either! The Bruce's pancakes are just sweet enough on their own that you don't even need syrup, but these pancakes were barely sweet at all and had a yucky flavor.

I may still be on the hunt for a sweet potato pancake recipe, but the pumpkin pancake recipe is a keeper for sure! Have you made anything this week from your Pins? Do tell!