The 31 Days of October- Day 21

What a glorious Fall day we’re having here in NC.  It’s an absolutely picture-perfect day.  We took advantage of this beautiful weather and an early-release day from school to head into Raleigh to visit the State Farmer’s Market.  It’s another of our October family traditions.  We like to go every year at this time to see the huge variety of pumpkins and gourds the farmers bring in.  Each year I see species that I’ve never seen before.  This time I saw some pumpkins that were pale green, lumpy and twisted.  Would have made perfect aliens, I think.

We walked the length of the market and picked up some home-made apple cider, North Carolina peanuts, tomatoes, spinach, and Indian corn.

For all you locals, if you haven’t purchased your Halloween pumpkins yet, I highly suggest a trip to the market.  The prices this year were the lowest I think I’ve ever seen there.  Amazing deals, for sure.

Hope you all are having beautiful days in your neck of the woods.  Thanks for stopping by!

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The 31 Days of October- Day 20

Hi everyone!  One of the things I love about the month of October, besides Halloween, is all the annual events and traditions my family participates in around this time.  We have our pumpkin patch outings and the gourd farm, Boo’ing and hayrides.  But when you think of October in North Carolina, another tradition that comes to mind is the state fair.  Many people might associate spring or summer with the fair, but for us, Halloween time is carnival time.

Look at that beautiful blue sky we had today.  So lucky to have the weather warm up a tad again after the frigid temperatures of this last weekend.

We stopped in the animals barns and saw all the rabbits and chickens.  Walked through the antique farm machinery building (just for you, Dad).  Shopped in the  rotunda of Yesteryear.  Saw a few freaks of nature in the sideshows (yuck),  and even rode a couple of rides.

The cheesiest of rides was this Haunted Mansion.  But after all……..it is Halloween!

My favorite area was the hobbies and craftsmen booths.  I love to see all the creative things that people have made, especially in the youth categories.  Here’s a photo of one of the “best in show” winners.

A cute jack o-lantern gourd and a vest made of soda pull-tops.  I just wonder where people come up with these ideas.  And of course I took a picture of the card-makers display.

And for day 20 of my 31 days of October, I have more photos to share.

This cool owl necklace was my grandmother’s.  Is that not perfect for Halloween?

Have a great evening everyone!

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The 31 Days of October- Day 19

Evening everyone!  I am so stiff and sore right now as I’m typing this that I’m having a hard time getting my fingers to move.  Nik and I carried out another of our annual Fall traditions this afternoon which has left me in a half crippled state.   Acorn gathering.  We spent 3 hours outside in the cold this afternoon, bent over double, picking up acorns at the park.  We’re gluttons for punishment, but we love it.  This is our 4th year of gathering acorns together, for making crafts and wreaths and decorating our home for the season.  I like to fill up hurricane jars with them, spread them around my dining room table decor, and put them in candle containers.  So many possibilities!  Even though I’ll probably not be able to get out of bed tomorrow, it was worth it!

Our secret hunting ground from last year was almost completely barren this year.  Such a disappointment to go and find nothing.  But then we headed to our neighborhood park, where the bounty was plentiful.  We filled two buckets completely, and could have had tons more.

Now to just figure out what fun things we can do with them all this year.  Here is the wreath I made from our gatherings last year.

Except for the acorns I used on this wreath, all the rest of our collection always goes back outside at the end of the season for the squirrels.  That way, we get to enjoy them for a time, and then the animals get a huge pile to stash away for the winter.

And now I have one more photo to share tonight for my 31 days of October.  This fun plaque hangs in my kitchen and is Peter’s favorite Halloween decoration this year. The humor is right up his 14-year-old alley.

Thanks so much for stopping by everyone!

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The 31 Days of October- Day 18

Hey everyone!  Today the kids and I did one of our favorite Halloween traditions, Boo’ing your neighbor.  For those of you who have never heard of this game, the idea behind Boo’ing is simple and fun.  Make up a couple of Halloween goodie/treat bags, pick out some neighbors to boo, place the bag at their doorstep, ring their doorbell, and run like the devil.  Adventurous types Boo their neighbors in the daytime or early evening, as it increased the possibility of getting caught.  We tend to wait until the cover of dark.

As you can imagine, this is Peter’s favorite Halloween activity.  This is the only sanctioned time the boy is allowed to “ding-dong ditch” the neighbors, and he really makes the most of it.  I get such a kick out of watching the kiddos pick out their intended target, slink up to the door, plan their escape route, coordinate their attack, and carry out their mission.  It is over all too soon.

Any type of treat and or goody bag is acceptable.  Nik and I try to put together a combo of small toys, stickers, or tattoos with a bit of candy. The Dollar Store is the perfect outlet for this.

With each goody bag, you need to include a Boo banner.  If you would like to start this tradition in your own neighborhood, here is a website that will get you on your way with free downloads and instructions.

Once it was good and dark out, the kiddos were busting out their best ninja moves.  They made me promise to not tell which neighbors we hit…..so don’t even pester me……..I won’t spill the beans.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing my 31 days of October!

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The 31 Days of October- Day 17

Hey everyone!  I just finished downloading all my photos from the gourd farm yesterday, and I have to admit to having a hard time limiting myself with all the pictures I would like to post for today’s 31 days of October share!  I said I would only post my favorites, but I’m challenged to narrow down the field.  As a scrapbooker, I love the idea of having so many new pictures to play with, but as a blog reader, you all might be groaning right about now.  “Oh mercy, not another family photo!!!!!” So I’ll warn you, this blog post is going to be photo heavy.  Run for your life now if you don’t care to be inundated!

We are lucky enough to have a small, country gourd farm just a short distance from our house, and for the last several years we have been sure to include a stop here as part of our annual Halloween celebrations.  It is owned by a cute farmer couple.  She loves to carve and decorate the gourds they grow on their land, and he loves to bring out the tractor and trailer to cart the kiddos around a small path on his property that he spooks up every year.  Nik just loves it, and I must admit to enjoying the ride as well.  This year, they’ve expanded the place to include a small play area and donkey rides, too. Nik and I were quite goofy with the ring toss and the bowling and the tunnels and such.

I get such a chuckle thinking about the groans and eye rolls I would have gotten out of Peter, had I dragged him along.

And now here we are on the hay ride.  Check out all the spooky stuff we saw.

Love, love the gourd farm.  Great place to take younger kids for a fun-filled family afternoon.  You can check out all the farm info here.  For anyone local, I can promise you lots of fun to be had there!

And now I will leave you all with one last photo from the ride.  Thanks for stopping by everyone!

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The 31 Days of October- Day 16

Evening everyone!  Are you all ready for the weekend? I know I sure am, but one thing I’m not looking forward to is the chilly temperatures we’re expecting over the next couple of days.  Highs in the mid 40′s to perhaps the low 50′s is all we can hope for.  Who turned on winter?  And who do I talk to about getting fall back?

I’m afraid the cool down is going to put a chill on our Halloween plans for the weekend.  We were hoping to do our local corn maze, and perhaps take in the sites at a popular area pumpkin patch and farm.  But with all the rain we’ve been having, and the frosty weather, I’m not sure these attractions hold quite the same appeal.  We did make it out to our country gourd farm this afternoon, though, and braved the spooky hay ride and played in the kiddie area.  I was hoping to share some of my favorite photos of the day, but my camera battery has died on me.  I must recharge before I can download the pictures to my computer.

Phooey.

So instead, for today’s 31 days of October post, I will share another crafty project.  I’ve been having the most fun with the bats this Halloween. I guess you could say that I’ve gone batty. ( Hardie har har!)   Here’s another one I altered from a plain wooden piece I got at my big box craft store.

I painted the edges and the back black and added some Martha Stewart Halloween paper to the front.  His eyes are green gems layered over white buttons.  I gave him a big bow tie made from May Arts silk ribbon, a bit of twine, and a Making Memories green bat brad.  Finally, I gave him a boo banner made from more twine and some old Foofala cardstock alpha stickers.  The original wooden shape came with the bell.

You can find this Boo bat, along with his other batty friends, at my Etsy shop.

Thanks so much for stopping by everyone!  Hope your weekends are off to a wonderful start!

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The 31 Days of October- Day 15

Hi everyone!  A new challenge is up over at the Creative Pandemonium blog to play along with.  You are to make a page using two colors of card stock, two tags, and one photo.  I broke out my new Webster’s Pages goodies to make my page.  LOVE the colors of the new papers and trims……….and alphas….and die-cut shape stickers……….and well, all of it!

For the challenge requirements, I used two colors of Stampin’Up card stock in teal and olive.  I made two tags that  highlight both a calendar image and a perfect quote to fit the theme of my page from Webster’s papers.  And I used a favorite photo of Peter when he was just a little guy.  Love that look on his face, filled with the hope and belief that he could catch that giant bubble right above his head.  That was such a fun age.

I used papers from several of the new Webster’s lines, including Nature’s Storybook, Winter’s Wings and Home for the Holidays.  I also used the Storyteller alpha stickers and the die-cut shape stickers from the Nature’s Storybook and Home for the Holidays collections.  The green trim is also new, from the Winter Trim kit.

I also used the new Days of the Week journaling cards in a subtle border around the photo mat, which coincides with the October  challenge at inspireME.  This month we are challenging you to use the Webster’s Pages journaling and calendar cards. There are lots to choose from, and I know you will be inspired by the amazing mini album design team member Hilde Janbroers created for his challenge.  For more details go here.

And finally, I can’t leave you all without a little bit of Halloween for my 31 days of October.  So here’s a photo of me and Nik that might bring a smile to your face.

Ghost matchy-matchies, because friends don’t let friends spook alone.

Thanks for stopping by everyone!

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The 31 Days of October- Day 14

Here we are, already at the half-way mark of my 31 days of October.  Where, oh where, does the time go?  For today’s Halloween post, I thought I would share a few more of my spooky decorations.  For some of you who have been visiting my blog for awhile, you might remember these beaded sticks I made with Nik and my mom last year.  They were fashioned after some similar branches we saw at Pottery Barn that Mom and I thought we could make ourselves for much less money.  But after spending hours picking apart beads and trying to get them to stick to the branches, I do believe it would have been much easier to just have bought the Pottery Barn versions and been done with it.  Gluing those beads drove me dern near crazy.

I did, however, break down and purchase the adorable Pottery Barn spiders for the branches.

For anyone who wants to try this at home, I really don’t recommend it.   But if you are going to anyway, here’s what I did.  It truly is simple in theory…..spray paint some sticks black and then apply white glue with a sponge brush and sprinkle beads over the glued areas.  Thicker branches obviously work better than thin, as there is more surface area for the beads to cling to.  Here’s what the branches look like up close.

Then I have this spooky guy hanging out with the spiders.

Looks like me first thing in the morning!

Hope I’ve given you some crafty ideas to NOT try this Halloween season!  Trust me…..you’ll thank me for it!

Have a great day everyone!

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The 31 Days of October- Day 12

Hi everyone!  It’s turned cold and gray and rainy on us today. Makes for a rather gloomy Monday, but a perfect day for hiding away in my scrap-room.  I’ve been playing with some of the new Webster’s Pages goodies, and have absolutely fallen in love with their new trim collections.  If you haven’t seen them yet, I will warn you……..you are going to WANT these!

These are the new Botanical Trim Collection and the Winter Trim Collection. Both elegant and amazingly detailed.  If you are looking for unique trims, look no further.

I also have a couple of cards to share today.  The first card is my Halloween share for day 12 of my 31 Days of October.

I dug out some oldies but goodies from my stash for this one.

Supplies: Patterned paper: Making Memories and KI, Acrylic fence and star: Making Memories, Scalloped border: Bazzill, Jack o’lantern: Jolie’s, rub-on greeting: DCWV, and ribbon.

And for the second card, I’m going to completely shift holidays on you and share my card for the current sketch over at the Sketch This blog.

For this I used some of my favorite new Christmas paper, Jolly by Golly by Cosmo Cricket.  The Santa image, along with the “special delivery” greeting come from the Jolly by Golly Creative Cards.  I made a scalloped frame piece using my Stampin’Up border punch and some Webster’s Pages cream paper.  I also punched 3 snowflake images from the patterned paper with my 1/2″ circle punch and added some Kaiser pearls to the centers.  Additional embellishments include a touch of satin ribbon and a printed flower from Making Memories.

Hope you will check out the blog and play along!  Hook me up in the comments if you do.  I would love to see.

Have a great day everyone!

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The 31 Days of October- Day 11

Hi everyone!  I’m happy to say I’m back on blogging track after almost missing not one, but two days of October these last few days.  In my defense, I must admit that I’ve been having a very packed and very fun few days, and have not been having near misses just because I’m a plain ol’ slacker.  Which is what I’m sure all of you have been thinking of me.

I’ll have you know I’m only a partial slacker…….

Today, I would like to fulfill a request from my dear mom for day 11 of my 31 days of October.  Knowing how much I love all things Halloween, Mom gave me this wonderful framed crepe-paper artwork piece for Christmas last year.  She found it at an antique show, and the crepe paper dates from 1920-30.  It’s truly amazing to me that such a delicate piece could remain in such pristine condition for all these years,  and  I love being the custodian of a piece of Americana culture.  So thank you, Mom, and here is a photo of my vintage treasure.

I hung it on a small wall between the living room and kitchen area, where I already had another picture that I could swap out for the month.  Then I draped a pair of Kleenex ghosties on the frame corner that Nik made for me last year.  The combination of these two favorite things makes me smile every time I walk past.

Here are a few other Halloween things making me smile right now.

The jack o’lantern night-light I surprised Nik with on Friday.  The light actually flickers like a real candle.

And here’s my bench near the front entryway.

I have a floral arrangement in orange and black, a felted wire-stemmed pumpkin, and Mr. Bones dressed up in his formal finest offering to all guests a tray of delicious bones.

Pretty spooky, huh?   Thanks for stopping by everyone!

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