A Spooky Package!!

It's getting close to that time of the month...yup HALLOWEEN!  

I've always loved the holiday and everything that goes along with it...candy, costumes, creepy decorations, candy...did I say candy yet?? LOL!  One of my most favorite memories was of drawing all kinds of fun Haunted Houses & coloring them...ohh I loved to color and draw when I was young...still do, hence the papercrafting & Copics!  I'm usually big into decorating the outside of our house too...fog machine, spooky noises, skeletons, bats...you name it!  

However this year we will be visiting Alexa at UofSC that weekend along with celebrating our wedding anniversary.  So I won't be doing too many decorations this year but I will have a few up...I can't resist!

The kids..ahem teens and I always loved Halloween. We'd rush to get them in their costumes every year, something healthy in their tummies before meeting groups of friends to go Trick-or Treating. When they were younger we'd have big potluck dinners beforehand with neighbors and friends and then the dads would take the kids out to go house-2-house.  I sure do miss those days!  Last year we had a Halloween Party (see HERE) for Alexa and her friends and that was a lot of fun.  Maybe I can talk Riley into having one next year when he's a Senior too..hmmm? 

So I decided that I would put a box of Halloween fun for Alexa & her friends/dorm-mates!  They may be in college but who doesn't like to decorate, eat treats and have some spooktacular fun right?
This was her box all packed up and ready to mail!

I like to call this the Halloween Spooktacular Fun Box...because that's its purpose. To give the kids some smiles and some Halloween fun.  I added more than what I've shown in the pictures but you get the idea of what kind of things are inside.

So what did I pack in the box?
I got some temporary tattoos in all different styles..including some fun mustachio's lol!
I also picked up son fun googly-eye glasses from the Dollar Spot at Target.
And a Martha Stewart Halloween banner to decorate the walls.

I thought the girls would like to have some fun decorating their nails & giving manicures as well.
So I bought some Orange (Essie-Fear of Desire) and Gray Opi-Exactly My Pointe) nail polishes along with fun Halloween Nail Decals.  My BFF Shannon also gave me a set of nail items from Mary Kay to include for the girls...including their awesome Satin Hands set. So these gal's nails should be Boo-tiful!  (yeah couldn't help myself)

And you gotta have the colored hairsprays and gels that last until you wash your hair.
Always fun right?

I also included items for them to have a Sugar-Cookie Decorating Party.  A couple Sugar Cookie mixes, Halloween cookie-cutters and things to decorate them with.  I also included a Brownie box mix...easy things for them to make in their dorm apartment.

Then for Alexa and her roomie Taylor I decided to make up some special tins filled with some of their favorite treats.  These little black tins are from Target's Dollar Spot and they are chalkboard-like so you can write messages on them in chalk.  I added some raffia mix and made fun tags for each of the tins.  I also added a bit of black tulle to the mix...just because I love it and it always adds a creeptastic edge to everything!  Alexa's tin is the one with the pumpkin :)

I apologize for photo quality...I took this with my iPhone and forgot to follow up with my camera.  But this shows them the best...I used a mix of My Minds Eye paper, accents and some fun pearls & buttons.  And you always have to add some Bakers Twine to the mix.  The edges were inked well to age them up a bit.

I also made up a few bags for Alexa to give to friends and tied them off with twine & burlap. I included a couple bags of candy in the box too..gotta have candy right?

3 Halloween Lighted Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkins
I also added these to the mix....cute LED lighted pumpkins.  Safe to use in the dorms and also not use a lot of energy (She's in the Green Quad so they are supposed to conserve & recycle).  And at $13 for all three I thought it was a good bargain too.

And I found this t-shirt at our Target for Disney-obsessed & Mickey loving Alexa lol!
It even glows in the dark...I know she will love it!

Then I packed it all up and added a bunch of foam bats that they can stick to their dorm walls as well.
And I added a fun card that included directions for how the box was to be used....for fun of course!

This was the front of the Halloween card I got Alexa...LOL!  It looks like our fatty cat Winston so I knew she'd get a kick out of it!

Just a fun way to include the kids at college during this Halloween Month!
(and yes I've started planning the Christmas box already)

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Entering in the following Link Parties:

Monday Funday Link Party

That DIY Party

Amaze Me Monday

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Wow Us Wednesdays

Fall Has Hit Virginia.....

Fall has definitely come to Virginia....leaves a'changin'...temps dropping. I like Fall & I like December but after that I hate everything till Spring comes back...literally. Not a winter fan here.

But I will enjoy Fall..something about the smells in the air, crunch of the leaves & warm colors everywhere...how can you resist it?

We live on Goose Creek which feeds into the Potomac River about 2 miles from my house.  Its always gorgeous in the fall even though the water isn't too high in the creekbed right now.  I walked Baylee down there the other day to check it out & take some pictures before the leaves start dropping.  Always so peaceful and my dogs get REAL happy to snuffle in the leaves and get their feet wet LOL!

Both of my dogs are Cairn Terriers so they love to go on walks and sniff out every frog, bug & animal within 5 miles of where they are!  Casey doesn't walk as far these days so she had to stay home but Baylee was on a mission and could not be stopped LOL.  She just cracks me up..the dog would walk until she could walk no more I swear!

I decided that Fall needed to hit the inside of my home too and pulled out my bin of fun :)

I love that the colors of my home complement fall colors so well...just warms it up that much more.

I love the lighter colors of my dining room now...if you missed the BEFORES you can check it all out HERE!

Paddywax Candle  
And this is one of my favorite Fall candles to burn....love the musky scent..reminds me of where I grew up near tobacco farms (not a cigarettes smell).  Its a soy candle and it comes in these beautiful amber apothecary bottles...burns for a longgggg time.

Out came the rusty colored pillow for the rockers and a matching mum for the front porch.  Like that rose photobomb there hahahaha...it couldn't help itself in all its beautiful glory.  The other bushes need to be clipped but waiting on a new blade for my trimmer...still not here...ugh.

New fall wreath on the front door and a couple of my pumpkins.  I didn't go all out this year because we are heading to South Carolina to visit Alexa at college over Halloween. Riley is staying home and I just didn't feel like decorating outside like usual...I will save that for Christmas!  But little touches always bring some Fall fun.

Have you decorated for Fall yet??

Don't Fight The Fall....

FUN FALL IDEAS 

I like Fall, I really do....I just wish it didn't lead into Winter...that's why I also hate Fall.  I am not a winter lover as you all know and it just makes me sad when I know its right around the corner.  And given the cooler temps we had in August, I'm kinda scared that winter may be here sooner than I'd like.

But I've started dragging out my fall stuff from storage and will get the house decorated a bit next week.  So I thought I'd share a few new & fabulous ideas I've seen around the web with you all...in case you needed to shake the summer sand out out of your shoes too ;)

Most of these are easy to create and inexpensive...certainly good things with all those fun fall and school activities on the calendar...oh and FOOTBALL!! (and pennant race baseball)

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Love this idea from Better Homes & Gardens...drill some holes in a real or faux pumpkin and fill with fresh fall blooms or silk blooms.  Would be pretty to do this with a bunch of different sized pumpkins and group them on the stoop or on a table.  Think I might try this......

www.thatswhatshesaid.net

Easy, breezy way to incorporate some fall into your home.  Buy some candles in different sizes at the Dollar Store, wrap with some scraps of burlap, faux leaves and twine...then group together on a pretty platter.

{via}

LOVE these floating cheesecloth ghosts.....easily made with some starch and bottles and wire.

Might have to try this too....stay tuned....

via BHG

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Duct Tape a pumpkin in fun patterns

via beadandcord.com

Love fun decorated pumpkins outside AND inside...so many different versions to create!

Via Pinterest

I love me some Christmas trees and I LURVE the idea of this fall tree...would look fab in my dining room. And those owls are too cute....fallish but not creepish..perfect to leave up thru Thanksgiving!

Love this idea using my favorite mason jars....paint 'em up white, distress and then stencil with letters.  Easy & beautiful!

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These would be SUPERcool to make...look a bit more involved but how cute are they??

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Have some extra wood laying around?  These are perfect for scrap pieces of wood and so whimsical to add to your fall decor.  You could even hit up Lowes or Home Depot and ask for some scraps that they have laying around...usually a lot of them are triangular shaped too.  Then paint and distress...easy & inexpensive..nothing better.

A super easy way to decorate your doors....would be cute with FALL as well.  Hobby Lobby & other craft stores have large wooden letters pretty cheap...spray them in fall colors, wrap with twine or other ribbon and add a fun burlap bow.  Or buy it on Etsy and support a local crafter.

tutorial here

And my own DIY Metallic Pumpkins from last fall...in case you missed it!  Easy to create and use every year with faux pumpkins and some metallic spray paints!

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Yup another mason jar project...I couldn't resist...how cute is this??

Perfect for a desktop or gift for a great teacher...I LOVE IT!!

Might make this for my niece who just started her first teaching job!

FYI:  MASON JAR PAINTING tutorial for the OUTSIDE if you need one here.  You can also paint them from the INSIDE, see here.

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And last but not least...fall pallet signs...I love them...the more rough & distressed the better.

Don't have a pallet...attach a few boards together or pickets..distress and paint and ta-da!

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!

Halloween Bash Recap!!

Halloween Bash Recap

So my daughter sprung the news on Monday night that she wanted to have a Halloween Party...great warning huh? LOL!  Well since I knew this is her last Halloween here <sniff sniff> I couldn't say no since she's off to college next fall.  So in two days time I managed to pull the makings of a fun bash together for 20 teenagers.  I used a few of those Ghoul Decorations that I made HERE for the table..they came in handy Best part?  That they were safely ensconced at our house away from any crazies...having fun and enjoying each other.  I made Caesar Salad, ordered pizzas, got dips and chips and the girls had made cookies, cupcakes & brownies.  And of course candy...lots and lots of candy :)

I spent a good part of the day cleaning the patio...this is something that we have to do regularly.  Blowing off the debris, dirt & leaves and then wiping down furniture and counters really good.  I had to rearrange furniture so we could seat more under the cabana (since they called for rain & it did drizzle).  Some pumpkins, candles and music of course too.  And I stocked the fridge under the bar with sodas and water....that's a case of soda on edge of bar in pic...I forgot to move it before I snapped this LOL!

(real life pics folks)

Some Halloween lights on bushes, strobe light and tombstones in the gardens for added fun!

Alexa was a Hula girl...she came home from school at 4:30 and announced she couldn't find her hula skirt. So that meant mom had to run her to the party store at 5 pm...height of rush hour traffic...on Halloween..to make sure she had her skirt (can you tell I was thrilled...not).  So there is the Hula Girl and her BFF Sophia was "The Basic Mom"...yoga pants, Uggs & Starbucks LOL.

Alexa & her buddy Clay....Hula girl in Mexico?? 

Here's half of the group...some of the others hadn't arrived yet when I snapped this. We have 2 Mexican compadres, Sexy Librarian, Minnie Mouse, Chick Magnet, Hippie and Ghoul-Alien.

The guests enjoying the party and laughing & talking about who knows what those teenagers talk about.  I'm just happy that this group of kids are SERIOUS about school (some left early to finish AP essays unless they were like Alexa & had finished it the day before lol), don't drink, smoke or party and just enjoy the fun in life...without all the drama!  They will do good things in life I know :)

We did old school style games...always fun...and the prizes were iTunes & Restaurant Gift Cards.

So that meant bobbing for apples, Pin-the-Face-On-the-Pumpkin and Best Costume Voting!

The bobbing for apples was hilarious!  I was laughing so hard I barely got any "non-shaky" pictures LOL.  I had labeled each apple with a number from 1-5 with my Sharpie.  They each had 1 minute to get as many as they could and the person with the most points won.  The boys were putting their entire head in there...and the water was COLD...it was a riot!  Good times!!

Alexa & her friend Owen (aka Hippie)!

That's all folks!  Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween or Fall's Night!

Enjoy your weekend!  I'm pretty much a zombie today but plan on finishing some projects tomorrow to share!!