special treats

if you trick or treat at our house you will get one of these special treats. i make these every year and the kids just love them. i am including a tutorial here on how to make them...it is so easy! a little late for this years goblins, but these also are beautiful for the holidays, party favors, teacher gifts etc.

you will need an assortment of pretty papers. you can pick these up at your local scrapbook store.

you will also need toilet paper tubes (or paper towel tubes cut down. i save these all year just for this project), tissue paper, scissors, tape, twine or ribbon, and the candy treats that you want to go inside.

start by cutting your pretty paper into strips. they should be a smidge smaller than the width of your toilet paper tube. for the length, wrap it around your tube and leave a little bit of overlap. cut each one to length.

you will want to cut your tissue paper a bit wider, on both sides, than your tube.

fill your tube with your chosen treats,

and then roll up the tube in the tissue paper.

carefully, not to tear your tissue paper, tie each end with the twine or ribbon.

next, wrap the pretty paper around the tube and seal with a piece of clear tape.

that is it....so easy! i think the most difficult part of this project is selecting the pretty paper. there are so many fun choices. good luck!

a little thank you giveaway

in september i hit my two year blog anniversary. i am amazed every day that there are people out there that actually enjoy reading what i have to write. this started out as a creative outlet for me and a way to stay in touch with long distant friends. i had no idea i would meet so many lovely people. and how strange it is that even though i have not met you all personally, i feel like i have known you forever.
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it is a joy to see my 'regulars' leave comments, and to hear from new and old viewers that i have in some way inspired them. hello to all you stalkers out there too! ;)
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so it is time for a giveaway! with halloween coming up i have chosen to give away this cute halloween tray. the tray is black with orange polka dot paper. it also includes two black kitchen towels and a cute halloween decoration.




leave a comment here to enter your name for the drawing. post this giveaway on your blog and i will add your name twice! i will take comments until thursday night at 10:00pm cst. the winner will be announced friday morning. my hope is to get this in the mail on friday so that the winner can have it in time for halloween.
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i thank each and every one of you for your comments, support and friendship!
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Good luck!

BOO! halloween decor

i just love halloween! i love the cool fall weather. the eerie sound the leaves make as they rustle when the wind blows. i love a big pot of soup cooking on the stove. i love to help the boys decide on what costume they'll wear and love making the costumes for them (most of the time i make them). oh and don't forget the pumpkin patch! we love to go there and pick our pumpkins right off the vine. so while my husband was away on business, the boys and i decorated the house for halloween. nothing too spooky here we just use what we have around the house and lots of black and white. we do have a halloween bin of decorations that i'll add to each year. once halloween is over, i hit the sales for good bargains and then have something new and fun for next year.
one of our fireplace mantels turned into a laboratory. glass jars we've had around the house hold skeleton heads and bones. i created labels on the computer to add to them and we'll remove them when halloween is over. some black crows and spiderwebs add to the creepy feel. the large velvet bat and tomb stones were bargain finds at the end of the season last year.

this skeleton sitting on a candlestick makes me laugh. it's easy to decorate when you pull from the things you already have. i use this candlestick all the time, for every season.

using a tray as a base we first added a silver plate , and then spanish moss, and a haunted house to this metal bowl. large felt bats flying out of the chimney add an extra layer of spooky-ness. scatter wood and ceramic pumpkins around the base for a splash of color. see, isn't this easy?

i love to hand out extra special treats to my trick-or-treaters. this year i used glassine envelopes, filled them with candy and then, on the computer, made the oct. 31 tags. stapled them shut and heaped them in a metal urn. then added the big black crow to keep an eye on them.

this black plant stand that i have was the perfect spot for a pumpkin. i love the green color of it with the harlequin diamond wall in the background (that was last years project while hubby was out of town!).

and then we also just have small pumpkins sitting on urns here and there. so just use what you have and add to it. black and white with a tiny bit of orange fits the look of my house better. pumpkins come in a range of colors now so use what works with your current decor. those beautiful white pumpkins go with anything. and you also don't have to spend a lot of money on decorations. hit end of season sales and just pull from what you already own. i'd love to see photos of your halloween decor! leave me a message here and a link to your blog.

happy halloween!!