Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Keep an eye out for scary beasts today!

Beautiful Barbie

Whatever your thoughts are on Barbie and her teeny, tiny waist, you have to admit that this is beautiful:

Found here

She oozes confidence in this illustration.  I absolutely love it.  Unfortunately, this print is not available in the limited edition prints set.  Boo!  I'd have to say this one is a close second, though.

I also love that this Barbie is a red head.

I must have a thing for pink and black.  Totally in love with these beautiful prints.  If you're a Barbie fan, check out the rest!

Puppy Love

I think I'm in love...don't tell my husband.

Wood & Faulk

I don't care if this is marketed for men.  It's so pretty!  I just want to hold it.  And pet it.  And rub my cheek against it.  Am I getting creepy? Maybe.  Do I have an unhealthy obsession with handbags?  My husband would say yes.  I would beg to differ.

Halloween DIY Porch Decor

I've never been a big fan of getting dressed up for Halloween.  I was never one to wear the tight, way-too-short costumes in college just because.  Sophomore year I threw on a black shirt.  Junior year was the closest thing to a "slutty" costume; a cute white dress that I jazzed up with gold jewelry to become a Greek Goddess.  Senior year I was Buttercup in the Power Puff Girls, while two of my good friends opted to gender bend and became the men of pretentious, hipsters' dreams.

"Honk if you love lattes!"
"My other book is a first edition!"

I still don't like to get dressed up for Halloween, but now that we live in an actual home, I have really enjoyed decorating for the holiday.  This year, I decided to do a few little DIYs for the porch.

I got this great, bloody idea from Muse Lodge.  Sadly, I had some trouble really getting the full effect of the bloody windows, but they look awesome in person!

The husband kindly supplied a knife to up the scary factor for this photo shoot.

This one was seriously easy: lay out wax paper, splatter wax paper with "blood" (I used acrylic paint), let dry, and tape to windows.

I got the idea for these "Spirit Jugs" here.  The "spirits" are empty milk cartons I saved (the husband goes through 2 gallons a week, so this was an easy one).  Just be sure to wash them out well!  No one wants sour milk smelling ghosts.

I drew faces on them with a permanent marker, which, with my limited artistic abilities, means that there's a disfigured ghost in the recycling bin this week.

Finally, I cut out a hole in the back of each and stuck some string lights in them.

The black cat was working on killing a moth that couldn't resist the siren call of the ghosts.  A black cat and a moth death only make for an even better Halloween-themed front porch.  Thanks, Puss.  On a happy side note, this is his first Halloween with us.  A friend and her daughter found him hiding under a car while out Trick-or-Treating last year.  He was barely a pound and had been out there for at least a week.  Now he's thriving, and eating us out of house and home.  And attacking my feet while I sleep, but I still love him.

So little once.  Happy (belated) First Birthday, Black Lightning.

We also have two 20 pound pumpkins and a few smaller pumpkins that will soon grace the porch, as well.  Sadly, it still gets a little too hot during the day for me to put them out in direct sunlight this far from Halloween.

Up Next:  Halloween Mantle Decor.  A few tweaks need to be done, although I'm not sure why I tweak since anything crafty that I do always looks like a 5 year old did it at summer camp.

Friday is for Flowers

I love flowers.  I'm having trouble committing to permanent pops of color in our house, so flowers are perfect.  I don't get them every week, but I have been on a kick lately.

While at the grocery store yesterday, I grabbed a few bouquets of fall colors.

I bought the red flowers last week, and they have held up very well, so they were included with my beautiful sunflowers and the purple flowers.  (Notice how in one day I've completely forgotten what the names of the flowers are...)

A glimpse at my Halloween mantle!

The sunflowers have really opened up since I took these pictures and look fantastic.  Everywhere I look now there are flowers.  What a day brightener!

For those who are super observant, the terrarium is down a plant.  I went to water it about 2 weeks ago, and the stem was brown and rotted.  Same thing has happened to 2 other plants in my larger terrarium.  I wish I knew what went wrong.  The aloe plant is thriving, so I like to think it's not all my fault.

Red Reveal: Chalkboard Frame!

Here it is.  The moment you've all been waiting for.  The red reveal!

I have been seeing a ton of great chalkboard revamps and creations on the blog-o-sphere lately.
Like this crib into a chalkboard easel revamp from The Red Kitchen

And this adorable chalkboard plaque from My So Called Green Life

After seeing these beauties, I decided to give it a shot.  Here's my DIY Chalkboard Frame:

Please note that I am currently the Dominos champion.

We created this beauty for our (soon-to-be) games area.  It was extremely easy!

Here's what we used:
plywood
trim
chalkboard spray paint
spray paint
finishing nails & screw eyes (for hanging)
The most expensive item was the chalkboard paint for $8.  The whole project cost around 20 dollars.

I tasked my husband with cutting the plywood and trim to size for me.  We wanted it to be a bit large since we play a lot of games, so ours is 17"x24".  You can make one larger or smaller depending on your preferences.

I then went to spray paint town.

Population: Cool

I first gave everything 2 light coats of primer.  Then I gave the trim 2 light coats of red paint (Valspar Classic Red) and the plywood got 3 light coats of chalkboard paint (Rustoleum).

After a 24 hour drying period, the helpful husband nailed in some finishing nails, twisted the screw eyes in the back, and we hung her up.  We (foolishly) did not sand the plywood enough, so the chalk dust collects in a few little nooks.  If you do attempt this, make sure you sand really well (and leave a comment with your project)!

Sadly, the games area is pretty empty (the space below the frame used to house my pile of waiting-to-be donated clothes).  I am currently scouring Craigslist and will be hitting up garage sales this weekend to hunt down a small bookcase to fill the corner.  Get excited!

Sad, empty corner.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on our chalkboard frame, so please leave a comment!

Red Sneak Peek

I'm really excited to show you what we made this weekend, but it isn't finished yet!  Here's a hint at what's going down.  Can you guess what we're creating?

Hint: It will go in our board game area.

I've also got a great Halloween decor diy that I'm prepping now to show you later this week.  It is sort of awesome, so get pumped.

Perfect Way to Start Your Day

Why does this not happen to me every morning, afternoon, evening, and night?

Currently, my dog hates me because she's spending her time either in a Cone of Shame and Sadness or with a sock taped to her foot.

She's not speaking to me at the moment.

That's what she gets for stomping on a fire ant hill and gnawing her foot to the point of infection.  On a serious note, she will survive and has been spoiled with rawhide (as evidenced by the above photograph).

The Patience of Upholstering

About 9 months ago, I decided I was going to learn how to sew.  I convinced my always supportive husband that we needed to get a sewing machine, and excitedly signed up for Sewing 101 at Joann Fabric.  The class was fantastic.  If anyone is looking to get a beginner's lesson in anything from sewing to cake decorating to jewelry making, I highly recommend going there first.  I left the class feeling empowered and ready to be the best crafty housewife I could be.

Let me back this up a little bit, the reason I decided I wanted to learn how to sew was because I had ripped the upholstery off of my favorite reading chair without even buying it a drink first.  I started with great gusto, immediately reupholstering the ottoman by wrapping it up like a lovely Christmas present.  After looking at the construction and old upholstery, I realized that the only way to finish her off and make her look like a classy lady was to learn how to sew.

Before: Dirty on  the outside, but gloriously comfortable on the inside.

Flash forward to 5 months after she was ripped of her dignity and 4 months after my Sewing 101 class.  There she sat, naked on my back patio, untouched.  The patient husband had been quietly (and sometimes not so patiently) trying to get me to straighten my act up and bring her back to full lady status, but I had lost momentum and knew I would never get the chair done.  I did not take any pictures of her in her compromised state on the back patio.  No lady should have pictures on the internet looking like that.

Here is one of those moments where all I can say is "Wow, I really got a good one."  I went to visit my grandma up in the Great Northland for Fourth of July (everyone "aw" at what a great grandchild I am), and the patient husband took matters into his own hands.  When he leaves me alone for a week, I sit around and eat junk food.  When I leave for a weekend, he spends 3 straight days sewing and reupholstering my naked arm chair.  Hero cape, anyone?

After!  Isn't she pretty?

I love her.  I love my husband.  I'm spoiled.  He opted not to add a skirt because it would have been too difficult and he just wanted to get the chair done.  No complaints from me.

Chair   $0 (hand-me-down from my great grandma)
Fabric   $6/yard  (a steal at a shop that was closing)  We bought 9 yards, which gave us a lot of leftovers
Staple gun & staples    $20
Blood, sweat, and tears    Priceless

As usual, it isn't perfect (the patient husband may have sewn the zipper to the outside of the cushion case), but it was far less costly and a much better story than if we had paid someone hundreds of dollars.  She's a classy lady again!

I have been working on my sewing skills, and a post will follow to show off my pillow case making skills.