Happy Halloween

I am sitting here dressed as Cleopatra, with a Hot Dog at my side (literally- my dog, dressed up as a hot dog) waiting for trick-or-treaters before we go to a church Halloween party. I can't help but think about how cute my mantel finally turned out for this spooky season. Here are a few photos of what I am looking at. A detailed explanation of the "31" picture and the white pumpkins I made will be coming shortly.

Alas, it is hot here in the Egypt desert, so I will keep my loyal followers waiting no more. Not quite a soaring pyramid, but totally awesome nonetheless.

White Pumpkins

They are finally done! Just in time for Halloween! I am completely intrigued with white pumpkins. I absolutely think they are adorable and whenever I see them at the Farmer's Market, or in the stores I want one and I want it to love forever. I first saw them become immortalized at Shanty2Chic. And I love the way mine turned out!! (Thanks for the idea, ladies.)

Paper Arrived Via the Post

Pleasant surprise when I got home from work today! My personalized notecards from Traylor Papers were waiting to greet me at the door! I LOVE paper (maybe that's why I'm a teacher??)!!! I can't wait to send some notes via snail mail.

Tulah wonders what is in the envelope...


It's from our old friend, Traylor Paper


Three beautiful notecards!


Blue and brown...


Pink and green...


Blue, brown, and cream plaid!

Time to "Kraft" Some Food

I have been dreading going to the grocery store, and so I have put it off for 2 weeks. We have been eating frozen pizzas, and using up other hodge-podge food items from the cabinets. This morning when I woke up, I was slightly disappointed when I realized we had absolutely NO cereal.

I am a creature of habit, so when I wake up and get ready for work, I want my cereal. And, to make matters worse, we had absolutely nothing that I could make into a breakfast- no bread, no pancake mix, no eggs, nothing! Needless to say, after a long day at work, I was famished.

I ended up finding a recipe online at Kraft Foods, and headed to the store for the ingredients. I may be a good crafter outside of the kitchen, but inside the kitchen, it's a different story. I can't craft a meal to save my life! Normally, my hubby and I will slave over a meal only to have me sit down and absolutely hate it. We struggle to find different things we can make, that we both will enjoy.

I can finally tuck my napkin in because tonight, we krafted a new meal that is sure to be one of our favorites! Sweet-and-Spicy Chicken Stir-Fry! Here is the recipe, and it certainly was as easy as it claimed to be.

Here is the Hubby, hard at work cooking for me. Hey now! Before you get all 1950's housewife on me, I helped by chopping all of the vegetables!



Mmm... almost time to eat!



The final taste testing before dinner... (This is Tulah's contribution to cooking.)



Looks like our meal passes the final inspection! Let's eat!

Fall is Spooktacular

I love the fall. It might just be my favorite time of the year, solely because of the decorations. I love to watch our tiny house transform to a hauntingly awesome habitation. This year I decided to start decorating the second the calendar hit October. I feel like if I wait any longer, the month (and season) is over before we know it.

I climbed down to the dungeons of our basement and found my window peepers and box of assorted Halloween decorations. I was especially excited to use my runner that looks like it was made for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). And no Halloween is complete without those adorable, tiny pumpkins and gourds that you can buy at the store. Mine make me smile every time I glance their way.


Here is a picture of the house all decked out with the window peepers- my favorite decoration.


Check out the creepy moon the night I went out to take pictures.


My tiny harvest items make a great centerpiece.


These spooky spiders are dangling from our kitchen table light.


My $2.50 cornucopia that I will most likely paint for the Thanksgiving season.


An adorable Pumpkin Man watching over my spider cupcakes.


A closer image of my Day of the Dead table runner. I love it! I bought it. You could totally make it!


My table and chairs all decked out for Fall.


Close up of the table. I love the bright orange, not a color I would normally use much, but it's Halloween!

Free Paper? Yes Please!

Why does paper make me so happy? It doesn't matter because it just DOES! So, when I found out I could get truly adorable paper for free (read it- FREE), I decided to jump on it. Now you can get free paper too!

Traylor Papers is offering free stationary and here's the deal:

"Send us an email to VIP@traylorpapers.com with your name and address and we'll send you a free customized card with your name. Tell us your favorite colors and/or style (i.e., whimsical, classic, girly ..., etc) and we will try to make you a match :) BONUS: post this offer on your blog or wall, send us a link, and we'll send you a few extra! Good thru 10/28/09!"

Headboard Heaven

For the past year and a half, I have blissfully entered Slumber-Heaven with nothing to lay my weary head upon. My bed sat against a cold, hard wall, and was just a simple frame. There was nothing to it, and I never really thought much about it. In fact, do we really know why things like headboards were created in the first place? I decided to do a little research about my next craft project and here is what I found out:

For years the primary purpose of the headboard was to help keep pillows in place while in use. (Finally- a justification for our designer pillows, ladies!) The headboard can, however, serve several additional purposes. A headboard may include shelves that can be used to place decorations or lamps to use while reading in bed. A headboard may include cabinetry and other storage areas.

In addition to being used in the home, a headboard is often included with hospital beds as well. In this case, the headboard serves as an area to store vital medical materials that need to be accessed easily. Similarly, the headboard may serve as a storage area for hygiene products or items nurses may need to access easily when cleaning the room, such as extra linens for the bed or napkins and other items the patient may need.

Now, I don't know about all of you, but when I lay down at night to fall asleep, the last thing I am thinking about is why God created headboards. I guess we will just chalk it up to that fact that while a headboard and a footboard are not necessary pieces of a bed, they can both be useful. In addition, both the headboard and footboard can help transform a plain and ordinary bed to the centerpiece of a bedroom.

My bedroom needed a centerpiece. My back needed a back rest. My pillows needed a catch-all. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to thee my homemade headboard.

(Much love and credit to my mother and fellow RedHeaded crafter, who continuously teaches me to never quit in the middle of a craft project. She was the brains and brawn of the project, with a sweet staple-gun technique.)

Adventures in Blogging

I love my husband. I especially love my husband because, like all good husbands, after only a year of marriage, he has perfected the pretending-to-listen-and-care technique. Sometimes it comes across in the form of a nod. Other times, it is a pensive "uh huh." Whatever the case may be, I thought to myself that I would love my marriage to last forever, so I will spare my husband the endless chattering about my crafting projects, and instead, start a blog so that the whole world can access it and save him some much valuable time to do other husband duties (like washing the dishes).

I think this blog will be a combination of ideas, inspiration and follow-thrus. (Definition of a follow-thru: a craft idea that manifested in my head and I bought the supplies, sat down at a table and actually followed-thru to do it.) I also like to beg, borrow, and steal. If I see something I like, I will most likely post it so that others can enjoy it too.

So, here's to happy blogging and crafty crafting! This adventure is going to be fun!