Day 5 , 6, 7 - Halloween Countdown

Halloween is gone- BOO! BOO!

Things got a little crazy last week and I did not get a chance to post Days 5, 6, and 7. You can always use these ideas for next year!

Day 5 - Buy a Halloween music CD or make your own from iTunes. I just happened to have some on hand and created my own. Classic Halloween tune from the movie Halloween. There is always the fun ones too: The Munsters theme, Adams Family, Thriller, Ghostbusters, and Monster Mash. We had music playing last night when all the Trick or Treaters were out. We got great compliments on creating the whole theme of Halloween with music and decorations.

Day 6 - Host a party. It does not have to be over the top, simple parties can be created on a dime.

Day 7 - Carve a Pumpkin-and we did with all the neighbors. We hosted a pumpkin party on Sunday. Check out the creativity of all those pumpkins.



Spooky treats!

Day 4 - Halloween Countdown

See a scary movie or Halloween cartoon!

You can almost guarantee there will be a scary movie somewhere on TV Halloween week. If the kids are old enough to handle the scary movie make it a family movie night. If they are not old enough there is always the Halloween classic - It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown or The Nightmare Before Christmas.

One year we hosted a Halloween party and projected Monster House off our garage door.

If the kiddos are old enough, rent a Halloween classic. Halloween and Friday the 13th are always a favorite. We recently watched Case 39. If you are looking for a horror, thriller movie check it out. Our movie night will be Friday night. I will be checking out reviews to see what's new in the thriller/horror genre.

Day 3 - Halloween Countdown

Bake a festive Halloween dessert or make a creepy snack!

This time of year is a great time to bake, especially the creative things you can do that are simple.

I love to bake, but do not get the opportunity as much anymore. I do plan on making the graveyard cake I posted yesterday for our party on Sunday and a few treats for my co-workers on Friday. I have not decided on what to make for the office, but whatever it is it will be chocolate. Last year I made them chocolate covered apples with sprinkles. They loved them!

Even if your not a baker you can create and add to something store bought. Check out this link on desserts that you can embellish with store bought items. http://www.passion-for-parties.com/halloween-desserts.html.

If your not into baking, but prefer healthy snacks there is always healthy options. Word of caution, I have made healthy snacks for parties before and they did not go over to well. These are some fun ideas.


Here is another site for Halloween fun foods: http://www.craftjr.com/halloween-treats-party-food/

Half of the fun in getting in the spirit is creating, whether with food, paint, or costumes!

Day 2 - Halloween Countdown

Day 2 - If your planning a spooktacular party, do you have the ghoulish menu set?

My family and I will be hosting a pumpkin carving party on Sunday afternoon. I have been Googling recipes and ideas for the event. I think I have the graveyard menu pretty much set.

Mummy Dogs

Jack-o-latern Pizza

Graveyard Cake

Witches Brew for the little ones

Ghostini's for the adults (These are yummy!)

The pumpkin menu bash will be ready and waiting for the Ghoulish cast of characters to appear Hallows Eve to carve out their gourds!

The Countdown has begun!

A week to Halloween.

This week I will devote my blog to a Halloween countdown.

Day 1: If you haven't already bought your costumes, what are you waiting for? To be honest I have not bought one, but I always pull one together last minute. Sometimes it's more fun and cheaper to create your own than spend a fortune on going to the costume shops.

Here is a great site you can use to create some costumes of your own. http://www.costumeideazone.com/index.htm

I love the Rubik's Cube and Popcorn idea. Easy to create costumes! Plus you can use the box in front of the Popcorn costume for your candy on Halloween night.

Use what you have in your closet or in your home to create a great costume. I was Paul Stanley from KISS two years ago. I had all of the clothes in my closet the only thing I purchased were some fishnet stockings and the make-up for my face.

Don't forget local thrift stores too, those are great places to look for cheap costumes.

Get in the spirit! I will post next week which costume I have decided on.

Spooks, Goblins and Creatures of Hallows Eve

'Tis now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out contagion to this world. -William Shakespeare

I love Halloween! I love the colors, the spirit of the season, and the great costumes.

As I child I remember gathering with my school friends in town (I lived out in a rural area - where houses were miles in between) to go out trick or treating. The costumes were not fancy like they are now. They were pretty much plastic faces with flamable made clothing, not safe, but I don't think safety was the concern.

I'm older now and still love the dressing up and decorating for the season. Every year we add new decorative additions outside and inside to our home. The theme outside this year was to make a spooky graveyard. I think it's getting pretty close, we just need a fog machine now.

Inside the house I created mantle of potion bottles from bottles I found in Round Top. Love the look, but I need some creepy spiders. Our house is officially ready for Halloween!

Countdown to Round Top & Warrenton

It's just around the corner and time to go visit my most favorite happy place - Round Top/Warrenton, TX.

I have been making a list of things I am on the hunt for. I know I will not be able to buy it all, but it would be great to come home with some of these teasures.

Most of my finds are props I will be using in my photography shoots. First on my list is looking for an old rustic Radio Flyer Bike and vintage toys. They add great prop backgrounds to children set-ups. I've seen lots of bikes around Warrenton, but they always want crazy prices for old worn ones. I just don't understand it! Maybe one vendor will be forgiving and give me a break.

Next on my list is a vintage or rustic chandelier. I would like to add some charm to my front porch and I think this would be a great piece to replace the ugly outdoor lighting that we currently have.

HalLOwEen stuff - particularly apothecary jars. I would like to create a table display like the one below. I've seen alot of apothecary jars and antique glass bottles in Warrenton. I think this is going to be an easy find!

I would like to find one of these beverage carts to display the apothecary jars and later to use in my foyer for display.

Overall, I'm just looking forward to visiting Warrenton and seeing all the goodies, even if I don't buy anthing. My Happy Place!

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

I think a photography class should be a requirement in all educational programs because it makes you see the world rather than just look at it. ~Author Unknown

My daughter, Samantha is taking an art class this year. The other day she was telling me all about the things they have planned for the year - sculpting, photography, abstracts, pottery, and drawing techniques. The first week in art their focus was on photography. She wanted to borrow my camera to take to school, but I just could not take that risk. Luckily the art teacher had a few cameras around and he let the students use them.

Over the weekend I saw Samantha taking pictures of nearly everything inside and outside of our house. She said, "Mom, I can see why you like photography so much. It really makes you look at things differently." OMG!!!!!!!!!! She has finally seen the light! Okay it took another person to show her the beauty of photography but she finally understands why photos are so important.

Photography is an art, preserves time in family history, provides an outlet, and makes the viewer and photographer smile.

Within the past few weeks, I have gotten a couple of request for photography quotes. If they all take place, I am going to have a busy Fall! Which is not a bad thing, because I love my hobby which has turned into a great side job!

Below are some pictures I recently took of Winnie Kate Bryant. She was a referral from a friend. Her mom wanted pictures to create for her first birthday invites and then decided let's just do family pictures while we are at it. The day we took these it was a scorching day and I sweated my hind off, but little Ms. Winnie was a trooper considering the heat.

This was her invite that her mom created. I love how she picked the invite background to match her outfit.



I always like creating one out of the ordinary photo. I like the frame shot, but think they could have been a little closer.

Cyber-Site Tuesday

I found yet another site to keep my idle mind preoccupied on the computer forever!

The site is called Pinterest, it catalogs any ideas, likes, home designs, recipes, etc.. You can also follow your friends if they are using it. Some of my FaceBook friends were commenting about it and I was thinking what is all the interest in this site. Well one day I started playing with it and that is all it took, I am hooked!

Pinterest allows you to create your own wish list or catalog recipes or design ideas you would like to use in the future. You can also repin (tag) some of you friends ideas or other users on your board. Some boards I have created: Favorite Places and Spaces, Books Worth Reading, For The Home, I'd Wear That, Yummy Foods, Photography Ideas and Interest, and Halloween (my favorite holiday).

Here is a sample of some of my friends pinboards:



Enjoy pinning and don't get upset with me if you get hooked too!

Cyber-Site Tuesday

As promised after my photography challenge I would bring Cyber-Site Tuesday back.

Today's feature is about food. The other day my family and I were having a conversation about food and the process of creating a great meal from a list of ingredients. After that conversation my conclusion is cooking is an art itself. I have quickly learned that you either have the ability to create or cook a great masterpiece or simple art piece or not. My idea of a great masterpiece is a well layed out 3 course dinner - appetizer, meal, and dessert. A simple art piece is just a simple meal - i.e. tacos.

If I had more time, I probably would experiement more in the kitchen. I love to cook, but hate the mess!

My ideal of a great masterpiece - gorgonzola salad, stuffed shrimp, and chocolate/chocolate cake. On a recent family trip I made my famous gorgonzola salad. I recieved a lot of backlash in the beginning, especially from the bigger kiddos in the group and the picky eaters. I have to say that after the meal was over, every one said I want that salad by itself tomorrow (even the doubters).






Cooking can be stressful for some and I am one of those individuals that can stress about it. What to cook for dinner, changing up the pattern of our meals, and creating great meals for a special function.

Below are some recipe and meal planner blogs I found while blog hopping. I found some great recipes to use and most importantly plan out the meals before getting in the kitchen.

Recipe Blogs:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe-finder/
http://paisleypassions.blogspot.com/2011/05/fun-w-food-friday-linky-party_27.html
http://www.theperfectpantry.com/

Creative Play

A couple of week's ago was the annual girls scrapbook retreat I attend every year. Unfortunately, due to Samantha's NAM pageant I had to miss it.

I told this year's hostess, Alisha, that I would like to send something to add to the goodie bag. Every year the hostess(es) put together a little bag of fun scrapbooking and non-scrapbook items for the incoming guest.

I was not up to creating a scrapbook related item, I wanted something they could decorate their scraprooms with. Since I have recently gotten back into my art, I decided to create a small canvas piece with the theme of this year's retreat which was Gerber Daisies. The canvases were quick to turn around once I got them going. Luckly I only had to make 6.

Below are my created pieces.

I am currently working on a giraffe picture to add to my safari craft room. I will be posting in the next coming weeks.

Family, Fourth, and Fireworks

4th of July turned out to be better than expected. Texas has had such a draught this year, fireworks were banned nearly everywhere. I honestly can not remember a year in my life where I have not popped fireworks personally - this had to be the first year.
Although, I do enjoy the big firework shows.

We started out the day with a cookout-hot dog, hamburgers, and cupcakes. Below was my contribution to the fun fooderie. I found some cute cupcake liners to wrap around cupcakes.


Samantha, her cousin, and some of the neighbors started a game of water balloon toss.



Night fell and the family headed to La Centerra for the local firework show. It was a little shorter than last year, but after seeing the grass fires around the firework explosion area, I could understand why.



Our annual 4th of July picture to add to my scrapbook.

Day 26 - Close Up, Day 27 - From a Distance, Day 28 - Flower(s)

The 30 Day Photography Challenge is winding down and I am still catching up. Tomorrow is the last day I will have to create something, instead of pulling from my photo library.

Day 26 - Close - Up

I love this stool display holding sewing threads and wires. I took it at an craft shop hoping to duplicate it. Only thing is I don't sew, but cute idea.

Day 27 - From a Distance

I took this picture at El Morro in Puerto Rico. I love the replication of the series of doors. It looks as though your are looking through a mirror.

Day 28 - Flower

My favorite flower - The Sunflower. I took this picture a couple of years ago in my back garden. I tried to grow some this year, but the seeds decided not to grow. Maybe next year.

Day 18 - Your Shoes, Day 19 - Something Orange, Day 24 - Animal

Day 18 - Your Shoes

These are actually my daughter's shoes, but I love the flip flop picture taken 2 years ago for 4th of July. She just mentioned to me a couple of days ago she loves 4th of July because she loves to dress patriotic.

Day 19 - Something Orange

This picture was taken 3 years ago when we went to Puerto Rico. The architecture there is very colorful. I had just purchased my camera that year. I am glad I did too! I would have not been able to capture the beautiful scenery of Puerto Rico.

Day 24 - Animal

My hippo picture was taken at the San Antonio zoo. They have a new exhibit named Africa Live. I can remember as a little girl, the San Antonio zoo always being my favorite zoo.