These Ghosts Can Hang...

around my door, that is! 

I made this wreath, along with 2 similar bat wreaths, using Lifestyle Crafts Nesting Ghosts and Bats.  The Batty Wreath was my favorite, but I sold them at my last craft fair and forgot to take pictures before.  Sigh.

I know it's hard to tell, but I used glitter white felt for the ghosts and wrapped a styrofoam wreath in grey yarn.  That was definitely the most time consuming part.

I cut a strip of black and white hondstooth and used it for my hanger. 

I love Halloween, I really do. 
See you later!
Andi

Monster Munch...

Hello!

I'm sorry that my posts have been lacking lately!  It's been a busy few weeks, but I'm hoping to start this week off right and concentrate more on my blog and keeping all of my readers inspired!

Friday night I was fortunate enough to be included at a Fall Boutique hosted by Sarah of Little Penelope Lane, which was a lot of fun!  I met some great, crafty ladies and was inspired by all of the talent that I saw!  Then, on Saturday I taught my 13 Days Of Halloween Advent Calendar at Page's From the Heart and had so much fun!  I had a fun and friendly group of ladies that made me laugh and laugh and I left the store feeling great! 

At the boutique I sold bags of my "Monster Munch" and at my class I gave the ladies bags of it to keep them energized on a candy high to work on their projects.  I was asked for the recipe, so I'm going to share it today.  This recipe is so yummy and it yields so much, it's a great item to bag up for a baby/bridal shower, give to neighbors and friends at Christmas... but don't just have it lying around because once you start, you cannot stop eating it!


{picture courtesy of Our Best Bites}

White Chocolate Party Mix

12 Cups popped popcorn (un-popped kernels removed)
3 Cups frosted Cheerios
1 1/2 Cup pecan halves (you can also use peanuts instead)
1 LARGE bag of M&M's
1 package pretzels
3 packages (10-12 oz ea.) vanilla or white chocolate chips
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Line cookie sheets (I typically use 2 large rimmed cookie sheets) with wax paper or aluminum.  In an extra-large bowl (I divide the recipe into 2 extra-large bowls for ease), combine the first 5 ingredients.  In a microwave or heavy saucepan, melt oil and white chips; stir until smooth.  Pour over popcorn mixture and toss to coat.  Immediately spread onto cookie sheets; let stand until dry (about 2 hours).  You can place in refrigerator to cut time.  Store in air-tight container or large freezer bags.

Tips:
- Use M&M's in the colors that match your theme.  If you're making this for Christmas, use red and green M&M's, for Valentines use Red and Pink M&M's and so on.
- We've made this for birthday parties that were pretty open color wise, so we used Fruit Loops in place of the Frosted Cheerios along with a multi-colored bag of M&M's.
- We have used peanuts to cut down on the cost a little, but the pecans are heavenly and my absolute favorite!

That's it!  It's super yummy, easily transport and you can put it in cute containers to give as gifts or thanks you's! 

Hope you all have had a great weekend!
Andrea

It's Been Too Long...

So sorry... it's been too long!

Alan and I had our 5th Anniversary last weekend.  We spent a few days without the baby... which was fantastic but I also felt like I was missing my right arm... Mommy-hood is so interesting.

Today I want to share a project that I made for the Page's Design Team.

It's a Boo-tiful and Spooktacular Carousel.  I loved creating this carousel using the Authentique Glowing Paper line, along with the Icons and Headlines from Authentique.  I used a hat box lid for the base, wooden skewers for the sticks and a toilet paper roll for the center tube that holds the top up!

I used a super fun ribbon that looked like a spider web and a scallop circle on the top with a fake spider.

I really wanted the top of the carousel to be awesome, so I alternated between a pinwheel and a raven to adore the top. 

I also used the nesting ghost and the bat from the Be Spooked Life Style Crafts latest Halloween line.

The fence is a Martha Stewart border punch.

I used different Icons and elements on the "ride" part of the carousel.

You can see more pictures and a better description of this project at the Page's blog! 

Don't forget, I'll be at at Little Penelope Lane's Home Boutique this Friday, and then teaching my 13 Day's of Halloween Advent Calendar at Page's on Saturday!

Take care, have a great week!
Andrea

Sew Funky, New Friends, New Products!

Hello!

I hope that everyone had a great weekend!  Mine went by way too fast! 

Sew Funky was great!  There were a TON of people there, I saw some old friends and made some new ones!

Here's my booth - I had so much inventory to put out that I didn't have anywhere to put my business sign! 

My garage sale bench (thanks, Vanessa and Mrs. Annaguey!) that I sanded down and debated about repainting but ended up LOVING the rustic look of it!  I put all of my Chevron pillows, and Halloween Eye Chart pillows on the bench.  Perfect!

My Halloween Subway Art - can you tell that I go batty over Halloween?!

The best part of the event is that my booth was next to Sarah's from Little Penelope Lane, who was super fun to talk to and gave my crafting ego a HUGE boost every time that her and her Mom exclaimed over something that I'd made!  And, after becoming kindred crafting buddies, she invited me to participate in her Fall Boutique on October 21st!  Super excited!!

I was looking at her pictures from her boutique last year and there were great vendors with adorable goods to sell and a full house!  I hope that you can come out, make a fun day of it, grab some yummy dinner and maybe hit up the Ribbon Barn as well? 

And if you remember my last post, I was talking about my zipper experience - take a look at my pillows that I have my Etsy shop - I LOVE the Halloween Eye Chart ones!  Thank you, Silhouette, for your awesome software and amazing heat transfer!

But, just in case you LOVE the fabric patterns but don't necessarily want the Halloween Eye Chart, I made a few plain ones.

{Black Chevron 14" x 14" Pillow}

{Brown/Cream Chevron 20" x 20" Pillow)

Well, that's it for today!  This week we're announcing the NEW Page's From the Heart Design Team!  I'm super excited about our new team and cannot wait to share the previous teams October projects!

Happy Monday!
Andrea

My Sewing Machine's on FIRE!

No, not really.  Don't call 9-1-1, I just meant that I've been sewing like a mad woman to try to get ready for the Sew Funky Craft Fair tomorrow!

Yikes!  Tomorrow!

My exciting news is that I sewed my first zipper the other day.

Actually, I sewed 9 zippers and had a rip out a few and re-sew, so I think I ended up sewing 15 zippers but only have 9 pillows to show for it!

I also made a few canvas banners with my Silhouette Flocked Heat Transfer Material.  Take a look.

I LOVE love L-O-V-E the black and cream chevron patterned ribbon from May Arts on the BOO banner.  I know it's a little hard to see, but it's super cute and a little modern and a little retro at the same time!  It's bipolar ribbon, I guess!

Please drop by and say "Hi" if you decide to get a jump start on your Holiday shopping!
Andrea

More Layouts

Hello!  Good morning!

I'm not sure what the weather is where you are, but it's cold and damp here and I'm loving it!  It feels like fall, finally, and I cannot wait till we can go to Oak Glen and pick some apples and go to a local farm and pick pumpkins... the best time to take a photo is when it's overcast, so I shouldn't have any excuses now!  The only thing holding us back from all of the fun fall activities that we have planned is... we're sick.  Again.  Both Adam and I.  Again.  Preschool germs are the worst! 

Anyways - I wanted to share another "almost" layout today and a few other things that I've been working on.

This layout is missing it's title, but I think that's it.  I don't plan to journal on it because it's one of 3 consecutive layouts and the other layouts will have journaling.  I used October Afternoon and Cosmo Cricket for this layout, I love the soft and bright colors mixed for this spring time layout. 

All of the flowers are done by hand with either scraps or circle punches, nothing fancy here!  My grass is cut with the Martha Stewart Fringe Scissors. 

It's a super cute, springy layout... which doesn't really fit in with my weather report, but that's okay!  We'll take flowers rain or shine!

Here's another project that I finished last week for the Sew Funky Vintage and Handmade Market, which is this Saturday, October 8th from 9:30-4 pm at the Downtown Riverside Marriot.  Come and see all the great Holiday flair for sale!

I painted this trick or treat subway art with autumn orange and a glitter black - super boo-tiful! 

Hope you're enjoying the weather wherever you are!
Andrea