Diamonds Are a Gourd's Best Friend

Everyone loves "bling", right?!  Ok, not everyone.  But the cool people do.  I know there are those apposed to the flash and sparkle of bling encrusted shirts, jeans and jewelry but those are probably also the people whose favorite color is beige.  Not that there's anything wrong with that - but we can have a lot more fun!  The draw of bling is not lost on even the darkest holiday - Halloween.  And now that you can buy sparkles by the pound there is really no reason not to bedazzle everything within reach right?  That might be a little extreme.  But certainly there are some fun ways to add a little shine to your Halloween decor.  My 8 year old daughter and I found just what we needed at Hobby Lobby.  A pound of multi-sized sparkles and a hallow, black craft pumpkin.  You can choose the tubs of sparkles come in different shapes and you can also vary the pumpkin size and color.  But I do think the sparkles show up best on the black pumpkin.

This was a very easy and quick project.  The most important step is to lay out your design before you even plug in the hot glue gun.  Regrettably, I didn't take photos of the process of designing the pattern and gluing the sparkles on systematically but its not too tough to follow.  We chose to create a pattern that would vary the size and spacing of the sparkles so it looked like they were dripping down the pumpkin.  We then designed a script capital "N" for the front.  

Its also very important to glue side to side.  What I mean by that is, start one row going down the pumpkin then cross over the top and glue on the exact opposite side and work you way back and forth so that the sparkles end up evenly spaced.

Here is the final product:

If you are an 8 year old girl (or her *slightly* older mother) this project is a great way to bring a little glamour to your Halloween decorations.

I'm Not a Professional, But I Play One on a Blog...

The hardest part of this blogging business, for me, is the photography.  I LOVE taking pictures, as my kids (and probably my dogs if they could) would grudgingly tell you.  I whip out the camera every chance I get.  I immortalize every trip, event, and sometimes the usual Tuesday, with many a photo.  The problem is that I have no idea what I'm doing and I am pretty sure it's obvious in my pictures.  Don't get me wrong, everyone is almost always in focus and for the most part centered, but I know I am missing all the nuances of composition and lighting and all the other important things that professional photogs get paid the big bucks for understanding how to do.  Although, I am pretty darn good at close ups of things like flowers and cacti because my fancy Cannon does mostly all the work for me.  But realistically, how many close up flower photos can you have if you are not a botanist?

Whats my point?  Well, I tell you all this as a preamble to an apology and to ask you to bear with me as I stumble my way though showing you the objects of my posts.  And, because I am not that great at it (going back to the perfectionist affliction), most of the time I create something I am in love with, I grab my phone and snap a pic onto Instagram (which also does mostly all the work and hides poor photography with glorious colors, blurring and framing) which never seem to translate well into actual photos outside of Instagram.

But, as I said before we will muddle through and just do what's in front of us today.  If you have any amount of patience and can try to focus on the crafts and projects, I will work on my photography.  I am pretty sure I have the manual around here somewhere and that if I figure out what the knobs and buttons do, I can probably make them work.  If you are a photographer (professional or just a really darn good amateur) and you want to throw some tips my way, I would be grateful.  

Sample of my photo skills - my cute kids in Prescott, AZ

What's That You Say... You Want Me to Plan a Party???

For my family, Halloween is purely a social holiday.  My kids LOVE dress up - year round.  But on Halloween, getting to dress up full tilt, and go out with other kids who are all dressed up is a huge deal.  Both of my kids, especially my 10 year old son, are very influenced by their surroundings.  They appreciate the comfort of a cozy home with familiar decorations and good smells.  Having them take part in the decorating makes the holiday even more special and also becomes a time to make great family memories.

What makes better memories that having your friends over on Halloween?  We all love a good party.  However, if we step back and really think about it, parties are a lot of work.  We are not The Real Housewives with party planners and home decorators at our disposal.  Nor are we Martha Stewart with her warehouses of amazing decorations and party supplies. This means that really doing a party right takes some serious planning, effort and creativity to pull it off in a way that feels special.

One great way to build your party decor stash is to wait until the post Halloween sales and stock up on all the 75% off deals.  After a few years of that, you can have quite a bit to work with.  The second great way is to put your Creative Mama hat on and make some of your own decor.  Creating things as a family  makes them even more special and again, builds those wonderful family memories.

Last fall (after hacking down a large bush in my backyard), I had a lot of branches at my disposal.  Rather than sending them off to the landfill I thought they would make great, spooky, decorations - with a little prep work.  I stripped all the branches of their leaves and wonky twigs, and hosed them down, then left them to dry in the sun for a few days.  Now here is my disclaimer - don't hack down anything you really like.  This particular bush had to go and was not sacrificed merely for the sake of Halloween decor.

I chose to use the branches as is - but they would have also looked great spray painted black.  I had enough branches to use in several places in the house.  My first idea was to make a Photo Booth Backdrop so that, prior to Trick-Or-Treating, all the kids (and OK, all the grown ups too) could take some fun photos.

I chose a place in my house with enough room for several people to stand together.  I used a large mirror that is leaning against a wall to support the branches but you could use a fireplace mantle, large terracotta pots or even galvanized buckets/French flower market buckets filled with rocks or sand for support.  I arranged the branches so that they were evenly spaced and overlapped slightly - you can mess with them until you get a good arrangement  I strung orange twinkle lights throughout the branches so that at night it looks a little spooky.  Next, I used a package of cobweb cotton to cover them - the trick with that stuff is to make sure it is very stretched and thinned out so it looks authentic.  The Happy Halloween banner is from Target but you can make your own with card stock or even burlap (remember you have your Creative hat on so you can do whatever you like). The finishing touch was to add bats - some are black and though they are hard to see in the photo, some are glow in the dark - hanging from the cobwebs.  I didn't want the mirror to reflect the photographer so I draped it in mummy cloth.

This display became a focal point at the party and everyone, literally EVERYONE, stopped by to take pictures of their kids and themselves.  The gorgeous kids in the photo above are mine ;-)

The next place I used the branches was to make what I aptly named the Trick-Or-Treat Tree.  Now, I know how most people (moms) feel about party treat bags.  Usually they are full of junk that ends up under the car seats or couch or falls apart immediately.  On the other side, as the person throwing the party, the stuff in the bags isn't cheap and you know where it ends up so it seems like a total waste.  But my kids think treat bags are the end all, be all of a party and an essential component that cannot be skipped.  So rather than doing big bags full of crappola, I chose to use tiny drawstring bags with just a couple items (vampire teeth, sticky hands and poppers) that were very inexpensive in bulk from Oriental Trading Co.  I figured if we were going to do the treat bags we should do something different and fun with them that the kids would enjoy.  The tree started out as just a display by the door because I had a copper umbrella stand there and thought the branches would work perfectly to give a spooky forest feel to the entry way.  Again I strung the branches with twinkle lights, cob webs and bats.  Then decided that it would be really fun to hang the treat bags as well as a convenient place for kids to grab one on the way out of the party.  Here is the final product:

I did use the branches in a few other places through out the house but in more of a "Fall" display than Halloween.  My goal was also to save them to use on the front porch at Christmas time but that never panned out.  Maybe this year?

Starting again...

This is my third attempt at a blog and I vow (hand over heart) to give it a real effort this time...I think I can, I think I can.  Let me back up.  I am an elementary school teacher and a mother of two young kids and a wife and dog owner and home owner and, and, and... and lets face it, we are busy. Kids get sick, husbands travel and well, life just happens and suddenly its been 10 years and that great idea you had seems like fairy tale without a happy ending.  For me, the biggest problem is follow through.  I am great on the front end!  I have fabulous ideas and tons of enthusiasm up front - then time goes on and something happens to all that optimism.  I think this is true for lots of reasons but I have finally pin pointed the biggest one.  The affliction of perfectionism.  The thought that - if I cant do it PERFECTLY, then why do it at all?  I'm not alone here right?  I cant be, because I know a lot of type A people.

So, how do we rectify this?  Think I have it figured out.  We just do it and let it be what it is.  So instead of having delusions of grandeur as, my dear friend Jennifer's dad use to tell us, we humble ourselves to just doing whats in front of us today.

Today what is in front of me is starting this blog.  As a wife, mother, teacher... I need to be crafty and creative.  Its my outlet (and its better for me than eating or shopping).  It allows me to let go of lesson plans and worries and lose myself in something that, when I am finished, gives me a sense of accomplishment and a way to stand back and say "Heck ya! I made that!".  It also allows me to show other people how much I love them because, as we know, everyone loves gifts.  And for many of us, myself included, its a love language.  My other love language is words of affirmation.  Though I would love to be like my husband and not give a rats patooty what anyone thinks, I like hearing that I've had a good idea or I've done something to please someone.

So here we are.  I have claimed our guest room - which is blue and lovingly called the "blue room" - as my craft room and decided to name it Studio BLU.  I designed it to be a place where I can start projects and not have to put them away.  Where I can create and make a mess (and of course as someone with mild OCD, clean it up) on a journey to creating things for myself, other people and maybe (hopefully) you, whom

ever you are.  I will show you how I, on a teacher's salary, created this studio and some of the projects that are born in it.  I hope you will come back and visit and maybe take away some ideas that will allow you to lose yourself and your worries in your own way.  Without feeling like it has to be perfect.