For this year's Halloween treats I made Candy Corn Cookie Bark but didn't photograph it. I know you're heartbroken. (wink)
This candy bar wrapper is a photo from last year. (a) The only Halloween paper I bought last year was this eyeball paper ... because I only anticipated making a papercraft gift for my boys. (b) The candy bar wrapper was a last-minute idea because I hadn't gotten around to baking treats. (c) I had NO Halloween stamps with which to make a tag. So I'm not sure the sentiment matches the eyeballs, but hopefully the gesture still conveyed its meaning.
Brighton wore his Ant on a Picnic Table costume to school today. After the costume parade, he told me his costume got the most cheers and the big kids told him they wanted to copy his get-up. He totally ate up the attention. Becuase I was the cool mom who crafted said attention-getting get-up, my Mommy Coolness Meter is currently off the charts. Told ya' I was awesome. :) (Gosh, I don't know where he gets that attention thing...)
Brighton and I started searching for costume idea about two months ago. Somewhere (sorry, I don't remember where) we came along an idea for an ant on a picnic table. "Mom, look! That's so creepy! Ants all over! Can I please be that for Halloween?" No gore. No mask. I can probably make it. Alright, it's a go!
The costume itself wasn't hard to make, but it did take a while to find the supplies. (1) A box just the right size. It's only about 4" deep. The cloth hangs over longer. Brighton still has full use of his arms. (2) Fabric. Easy peasy. (3) Tiny ants. After striking out at several toy stores, I finally just bought some off the internet. (4) Toy food. Thanks, Target. (5) Helmet. This is a bumble bee hat that I painted black and bent the antennae to look a little more ant-like. I found it at Michael's. (6) Black balloons and pipe cleaners. Easy to find as long as you shop well head of Halloween.
The table is stablized with cereal boxes duct taped to the bottom. Brighton carries the weight of the costume on his shoulders, but there is a cereal box pressed against his chest and a box against his back to keep the table from wobbling too much. Again, his arms are free to move as needed.
The picnic food and ants are all hot glued. I suggest using traditional fabric as opposed to a vinyl table cloth because the hot glue was able to seep through the fabric, securing the food to box itself, not just to the tablecloth. I think the costume would come apart more easily if the tablecloth, weighed down with toy food, slid around.
Tomorrow Brighton has a school party, then we're going to a freind's party. Saturday is trunk-or-treat at the church, followed by trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. Phew! Hope you enjoy your weekend also!
You guys ready for some sugared up kids this weekend? My boys have been hopping for the past week. I'm almost finished with Brighton's costume - yay me!
My boys loved this foam Frankenstein, so I used it as the focal point on my cards to them. I love making cards for such an eager audience. No stress to impress, just something fun and always appreciated.
I'm not sure how well the photograph shows it, but the orange and purple really are vibrant enough to carry that green.
I'm off to make some Halloween treats for the neighbors. 'Night!
Supplies Paper: Bazzill Basics (black), patterned papers from the $1 section at Target. Foam face: $1 aisle at JoAnn's. Other: jumbo eyelits, thread, Fiskar's decorative edge scissors.
Apparently I've been missing the boat on this color challenge/sketch challenge thing. After playing along with Dawn McVey's challenge, my blog received a bazillion hits from all over the world. I'm not in the blogging "business," so to speak, so that's more of a nice to know tidbit. However, it turns out that for the i {heart} papers challenges, there are daily prizes! GOOD prizes. So I'm playing along again. :) I always have a list of cards to make - might as well try to win some free stuff while I'm at it, right?
I LOVE that felt tree. It's so warm and fuzzy and homey and fall-ish. Look at all those layers of fuzzy goodness - I just gotta touch it. Honestly, though, I don't think I've ever met a Woolie that I haven't liked.
Moving along to my next i {heart} papers challenge entry... This card was supposed to be about patterned paper and ribbon. I found these Amy Butler supplies on clearance at Fred Meyer, of all places. This little purse is a miniature paper version of the real deal. How clever is that!
I think the card is a bit busier than I would normally make, but it's certainly fun to try something new. Enjoy your day!
I love being the mother of a little artist. I love that my little artist makes gifts - for everyone - but mostly for me. I love that he supports my desire to share what I create with others. I love that he's equally proud of his creations - and also wants to share them with others. I love that he notices I take pictures by the window, in natural sunlight, and wants his projects to receive the same treatment. I love that he doesn't use a kit, or a picture to copy - he creates from within himself.
Here is the owl puppet. Created for me. By my little artist. With a heart on his belly. Because he loves me.
Papertrey Ink has the cutest stamp set - Everyday Button Bits - full of stamp images that you fill in with buttons. Click on the link - aren't they adorable!?
These little balloons are for a very special someone who was due a birthday card last month. Shame on me! I don't think she reads my craft blog (shame on her!), so this should still be a surprise.
I also decided to play along with another color challenge. One of Ben's Facebook friends is a stamper/cardmaker and was invited to host a color challenge earlier this week. Hi Sarah!The color scheme is celery, rose, light blue, and black - plus the project had to be birthday related. I fudged a little and used aqua - it's just so pretty! - hopefully that's close enough. :)
I needed to make some cards and decided to play along with a color challenge. Dawn McVey puts together some of the most vibrant and unique color combinations. It's fun (sometimes) to go outside of my comfort zone and see if I can make the colors work together. :)
That's another little cupcake from Martha Stewart. I cut out a tiny heart and put it on top to tie in the raspberry color. I've used this layout with these felt cupcakes before; it was fun to try to switch out the colors.
Supplies Paper: Stampin' Up! (Kraft, Whisper White, Rose Red). Stamp: Papertrey Ink (Everyday Button Bits). Ink: Stampin' Up! (Chocolate Chip). Ribbon: Stampin' Up! (brown felt), I'm not sure about the rick rack. Punches: Stampin Up! (Curly Label, 3/16" Corner Rounder). Felt Cupcake: Martha Stewart Crafts.
Have I mentioned lately that I love making gifts for girls? Brighton was invited to a "Magical Birthday Party." Here's our card for the sweet six-year-old.
All of the patterned papers are shimmery, paired with shiny foil chipboard Thickers. Love those sparkly, swirly letters! The patterned papers are actually Christmas papers - I just cut off the Christmas trees and reindeer and holly jolly stuff. Even the Thickers are from American Crafts' holiday Tinsel line. I just love it when I can multi-purpose things like that. Makes me feel clever - LOL. :)
Off to wrap a present...
Supplies. Paper: SU! (Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette), KI Memories (Joyful line of patterned papers). Stamp: PTI (Everyday Button Bits). Ink: SU! (Basic Black marker). Brad: SU!. Chipboard Letters: Cricket Tinsel (American Crafts). Ribbon: Offray.
(Pardon the non-craft-related post, but this was certainly a project!)
Okay, so really I jog/walked a marathon. But still. I made it through all 26.2 miles and crossed the finish line on my own two feet. I never, ever thought I could do that. I'm proud!
I've had over a week to process my experience - yet still my thoughts are all over the place. Here goes.
A marathon is 26.2 miles. I've been asked about this a lot. A marathon is not "a really long foot race." A half marathon is 13.1 miles. A true marathon is 26.2 miles.
Running a marathon is NOT like running two half marathons. There's something about topping 18-19 miles that's a game changer. It's called the wall. And like the Holy Ghost, you can't see it, but you can feel it, and you know it's there.
"Heart rate monitors, GPSs, and Heed! Oh my!"
The tempo of Whatever It Is, by the Zac Brown Band, exactly matches my marathon pace. Never heard of the song? I put it on the playlist of the iPod-look-a-like at the bottom of this post.
The hours after the marathon felt worse than the hours after childbirth. Seriously. I laid on my bathroom floor for hours, wrapped in my space blanket, unsure which I would do first - fall asleep or vomit. Fortunately I only fell asleep. And in case you're wondering, the day after the marathon was definitely better than the day after childbirth.
I {heart} cheerleaders. The three-foot-tall ones who hold homemade signs and yell, "Go, Mommy, Go!"
Over 10,000 people registered for the marathon. 8154 finished. Though I never want to celebrate another person's injury or failure, this tortoise beat 2000 hares.
I wore down a pair of high-quality running shoes in four months. I had my previous pair of running shoes for three years, if that tells you anything.
Dear Treadmill, we have battled. And I have won. I am not intimidated by you anymore!Neener.
This is the best picture I have from the marathon. It was taken after the finish, while I was wearing the ever-so-fashionable space blanket. After you run a really long distance (say, 26.2 miles), blood rushes to your legs to start repairing worn-down muscles, giving your upper body chills.
Thank you, MMW, for providing six months of encouragement. For running hundreds of miles by my side. For getting me into this mess in the first place. For waking up at ungoshly hours with me. Then for waking up at ungoshly hours for me - to cheer me on and serve as my pit crew - handling my germy water bottles and sweaty clothes without batting an eyelash (way worse than the early hours, I know). For getting teary when I crossed the finish line, because you knew how much work was behind it. I don't like getting all sappy here on the blog-o, but I'm really glad I'm on the list of people who can give you a hug without it being awkward. *hug*
Dear Ben, thank you for supporting me through all of this. For letting me be away every Saturday morning for six months. For financing a hobby that ended up being a much more expensive than I anticipated. For running races with me, then always waiting at the finish line to cheer me on. For telling me I look hot in my football pants. (There's nothing that ruins a good self-image like standing beside thousands of stick-skinny marathon runners.) I love you.
Dear body, you are amazing. The fact that you did this is a testament that you were designed and created by a knowing, loving Heavenly Father. I apprecaite your power and your ability to heal. I promise to take care of you. And I can't wait to find out what else you can do!
And since my iPod and I have become really good buddies over the past few months, I thought I'd post a handful of the songs on my exercise playlist. Get ready to laugh. :)
I got some happy news today. Getting my daily craft fix, I popped onto the Cards blog and saw that I am the lucky winner of the cute Ghoulies collection from Helen Dardik!
Aren't those little kids adorable? Brighton's already requested a ghost card. I have family visiting this week, then I need to make Brighton's Halloween costume. But hopefully I can make time to play with my new freebies. Okay, really, I'm sure I'll play with these before I do the things I supposed to do, but that's only natural, right? I can't wait to see what's in the box!
Many thanks to the folks at Cards magazine and Creative Imaginations for making my day!
Who doesn't love making baby gifts? And if you're like me and only have boys, the opportunity to make something for a baby girl is even better!
A family friend recently welcomed a new daughter. I happened to know when the happy family was coming home, so I hung this banner on their front door, ready to greet them. It reads, "one little baby - many happy hearts." You may have to click on the enlargement to read it.
Aren't those papers yummy! I bought nearly the entire line from My Mind's Eye knowing I'd find a use for them sometime. A week or so later - I get to make a gift for a baby girl! Congratulations to the happy family. :)
Supplies. Paper: My Mind's Eye (Deena's Penny Lane), SU! (Pink Pirouette). Punches: SU! (scallop circle, scallop border). Ribbon: SU! (Pretty in Pink). Other: Thickers, by American Crafts.
Who needs a craft room when you have an Ikea end table and a pint-size camping stool?
I've been working on invitations to an upcoming Relief Society dinner. I'm making over 100 invitations, each requiring five pieces of paper. So yes, mathematicians, I cut all 500+ pieces of paper while camped out on my driveway with this little set-up, watching my boys play outside. :)
It's times like these when I long for the industrial guillotine-style paper trimmer of my dreams - the kind that can cut through ten sheets of 110 lb. cardstock in one slice - smooth as butter. *ahh, Heaven* Still, this trusty little Fiskars fold-away has served me well for years, so I can't complain.
Check out my cute little helper. And in case you're wondering, the timer's there to tell me when dinner's done cooking in the oven. Some days I brought the phone out, too - LOL.
Last week was one of those weeks. When I thought I'd already had my share of all that could go wrong, something else piled on top. Thank goodness for good friends! Because my husband was out of the country, for an entire week - seven days straight - at some point I needed someone else to care for my children so I could tend to this and that.
To you good ladies, please accept this gift of love you can taste. There's something about the air turning cold that means there should be something pumpkin-y in the oven and a warm drink simmering on the stove. Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and apricot-apple cider - I tell you what - my house smelled goooood!
Thanks again, ladies! *big hugs*
Supplies for jar decorations. Paper: Heidi Grace Designs (pumpkin reverses to argyle), PTI (Spring Moss), SU! (Naturals Ivory), I don't remember where I got the leather-ish paper. Stamps: PTI (Rustic Branches). Ink: SU! (River Rock, Always Artichoke). Ribbon: tan twill by Wright's, ivory twill is leftover packaging from Pottery Barn Kids organic cotton sheets, linen thread by SU!. Other: Curly Label punch by SU!, rhinestone leaf from the $1 bins by the checkout at JoAnn's.
