Halloween Wrap-Up

How in the world is it Friday already??
How did that happen? Where did the week go?
I'm not complaining by any means, but this week has just slipped away from me.
I don't really have much to say and I still have a TON of Halloween links to unload on you. . .so, let's do it!!

Food

• Here's one Halloween food roundup
  
• And a spooky edibles gallery (7 items)
  
• Mmmmmm - a pumpkin spice cream cheese recipe
  
• Lastly, nummy-sounding pumpkin swirl brownies
  

Crafts/Costume

• Create costumes with household items for a more frugal Halloween
  
• And, here's some DIY Halloween projects for kids
  
• If you're not the 'pumpkin-carving' type, here are a few no-carve ideas. I really like the little ones with the ribbon wrapped around them!
• Craft you some paper pumpkin ornaments.
  

General Tip

• Use petroleum jelly to keep pumpkins fresher, longer.
  

Something fun for your Friday!

• These candy corn traffic cones were sighted in Washington DC

So, whether you're trick-or-treating with the wee ones, scaring up some fun at a party or local establishment, or haunting your own house -

Have a safe and heart-pounding Halloween!!!

Working Through It (Halloween-style TRT)

"As soon as you're born, you start dying; so you might as well have a good time"

~lyrics from 'Sheep Go To Heaven by Cake

I try to remember these words when I start feeling down about what's going on around me. They help me remember that I'm the only one who can make a REAL difference in my life. Yes, they may be morbid; but that's kinda who I am. I need to remember to LIVE and HAVE FUN doing it before I'm all out of time.

You may have read my POOR ME post yesterday, and I want you to know I'm feeling a bit better about life now. I won't apologize or give excuses for yesterday, because that's how I was honestly feeling THEN.

While I'm not all better, I realize that it was just a day. A day to be thankful for, a day I got to experience, and a day from which I can learn.

Now, to get back to the business of LIVING. . .
Here's some "Totally Random Tuesday" Halloween-style:

• Here are some festive ways to "kill" time: quizzes, lists, etc for Halloween/horror movie fans.
  
• Check out this Halloween fantasy mask tutorial.
  
• These Bloody brain shooters look awfully gross, but I LOVE the ingredients and how they turn out. You totally want to drink that, don't you?
• Look for something to give you the creeps, check out these seven haunted objects. I've heard LOTS of stories about the first one.
  
• Make some eyeballs in a jar - Halloween tutorial.
  

You getting in the Halloween mood yet??

Question: What quotes motivate you?
To end this post, let me share one other that really sticks in my mind

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
~Dr. Seuss

Birthday Review (and a Special Edition of Halloween MMSM)

What a very strange weekend it was . . .
LOML offered to take me out of town for dinner and a night at a hotel, but I chose to stay in town and watch college football instead. Fortunately - Alabama won. It was a nail-biter and an overall good game though. We tried to hook up with a few friends, but that never worked out. THEN, I got pissed at the place we went to watch some more football, because they changed the big TVs to games that held no interest (Iowa) and then to a UFC (fighting) thing. I was SO MAD!! We left early, me a bit downtrodden.
My spirits were raised on Sunday when we visited with my family. We carved pumpkins and ate gumbo. I got one of those AWESOME Margaritaville Blenders (frozen concotion maker) from my family. I can't wait to use it!! We also had a yummy Tirimisu cake that my mom ordered from New York. As soon as the cake was eaten, we got a call that a close family friend had passed. Seriously! LOML and I left soon after and went to see a movie before finally heading home.
It was a busy weekend, but definitely left my spirits dampened. Perhaps that's why I was having all those ill feelings about my birthday in the first place. It was destined to be. . .less than celebratory.
On the other hand, the outpouring of good wishes I received via twitter, Facebook, blog comments, and e-mail was overwhelming. A BIG HUG and THANK YOU to all of you for thinking of me, if only for a moment. It really meant a lot!!

The conclusion of my birthday, means one thing - the lead up to Halloween!!
I've saved a bunch of links from last year and a few this year to share this week.
Let's get this party started with some Halloween-Themed "Made Me Smile Monday"

• How about these owl cookies - they look good enough to, well, eat. They are also not completely Halloween specific and can totally be made any time of year.
  
• A gallery of Star Wars pumpkins
• Mmmmmm - vampire cookies!!
  
• Beer Fairy costume - LOVE IT!!

Lastly, does anyone have any great blended drink recipes for me to try in my NEW, AWESOME machine? I've got the bushwacker and margarita down pat (well, not for this machine, YET) and I can make a pretty mean smoothie. But, if you've got any other suggestions, recommendations, or if you wanna come over and try it out, lemmie know!! Ohhh - anything for Halloween perhaps???

I Survived Another Year (FGF)

Well, tomorrow is another birthday for me (I'm not looking for well wishes and congrats or anything, stay in your seats.) As I gain another year, I think about how birthdays affect me. . .

As a kid, I was constantly counting down to my birthday, checking out party planning books from the library, making lists of what I wanted, and on and on. I drove my mom and other relatives CRAZY with reminders. I did everything but send out Save the Date cards for it. Even when LOML and I started dating and into the first few years of our marriage, I made sure he knew exactly how many months until my birthday and reminded him of some of the presents I would want. Now? Now, it's. . . well. . .different. I feel like I'm less juvenile about the date of my birth. Yes, I still want to celebrate it, and I still look forward to it. But, it's just not what it was.

Now, a birthday is AGE, MORE AGE. I feel like it's New Year's Eve and I need to set some resolutions or something. I probably should. . . I feel like there's so much I should have accomplished by this point (age). At the same time, I'm thankful for another year - another year with my my wonderful husband, another year with my family and friends. I guess that's the attitude I should take instead of the "poor me without kids", "poor me without a definite career path", "poor me who's overweight" . . . GAH! My birthday should make me happy and make me want to celebrate, not wallow - RIGHT?

I spend so much time focused on my lists and plans and whatnot, I'm tired of planning and doing. I've asked LOML to plan the day for me. I have planned NO MEALS and have left it up to him. I only ask that we watch the football game at 2:30 and have some fun the rest of the time. Let's see what he comes up with. . . I hope I haven't dug myself a hole with this. He knows what I like, he should be able to do this. Right?

Alright, enough introspective B.S. - It's "Feel Good Friday" How about we find something to feel good about:

• This is such a cool shot of bubble popping
• Delve into the wonderful world of Tim Burton (I'm not sure if it's Tim Burton's style or his use of Johnny Depp that I like more!)
  
• How bout this lady who has been collecting cans for her community swimming pool. It took 30 years, but she got it done
  
• This bowl full of ferrets just makes me HAPPY!
  
• How about a "Post-it love video" to round out the week and make you feel good?
  

So that's it. . .I guess I'm off to celebrate my age. Or something.
Let me know - how do birthdays make you feel?
Maybe tomorrow I'll wake up feeling like a kid again - maybe that'll be my birthday wish!

Dropping In (TRT)

Don't think I've forgotten about blogging.
Last week LOML and I took vacation and stayed pretty busy.
This week, I'm sick. We'll see how that works out.
For now, let me throw some random (for Totally Random Tuesday) links at you:

• Top 10 how to cooking videos
  
• I just love optical illusions, playing with your mind through your eyes. Cool stuff. Here's a collection of video optical illusions.
• Meet the real life invisible man.
  
• Are you a nerd dork, geek, or dweeb? This simple chart can help you figure that out!
  
• They have a point - Are we seeing the general collapse of civility?

Hopefully, I'll be back to regular posting soon.

Starting to Re-Do the RV (ThTh)

LOML and I are still trying to prepare the RV for our upcoming camping trip. (I was going to link to the post where I mentioned our trip, but I can't seem to find it. Maybe I didn't mention it. We're taking the RV on a camping trip here soon. . .)
You have no idea how nasty an RV that has been closed up for close to a year can get. Blech!! It smells(ed) like old lady, mold, and I dunno what else. I've gone through almost a whole bottle of Febreze on the upholstery and mattress.
I'm also constantly jumpy while in there - on the lookout for any sort of too-many-legs-creatures.
But, it's coming along. The beddings have been stripped and washed, I've started wiping down surfaces, and now I'm envisioning ways to decorate the place. You know, really make it ours: re-doing the upholstery, replacing the cabinet handles with something modern, painting the brass pieces some other sheen, etc. . .
I was able to pull down most of the valances down from over the windows after I took these "before" pictures of the place. Here's just a sample of what I'm dealing with here (please overlook the cleaning supplies scattered throughout)

The Bedroom

The Dining Room

The Bathroom

The Kitchen

Now for some samples of what I currently see in my head.
Here's the first set of pictures I found of a trailer that was re-done in a warm, and cozy way. It really gave me an idea of some of the travel trailer decorating possibilities.

But WAIT, there's more!! Here's the one I love the most. It's absolutely perfect!! You have to go (NOW) and see how this rv was renovated. The colors and decorations are simply perfect. Even LOML likes this one. He says that he's not concerned with how the trailer is decorated, but he's already told me his opinion of color options. . .

In any case- in addition to all the other treasures I search out in thrift stores, I have now added decorations for the RV to the list. AWESOME!! I better get busy. I think I might even try my hand at sewing again to make curtains and seat covers. Watch out!!

But first, speaking of thrift stores, it's 'Thrifty Thursday":

• Here's some tips on getting started with canning. I am interested in this, but haven't progressed far on my research.
  
• I may go ahead and make this non-toxic cleaning kit for the RV. Hmmmmm
  
• Again, for the RV - turning old jars into hanging lanterns AND/OR turning tin cans into garden lanterns.
  
• Another tool to help you find and map garage sales in your area. This one is supposed to be better than yard sale treasure map.
  
• Check out how an 100 foot tall oak tree (that died) was turned into art.

It's time to get back to work on that trailer . . . Wish me luck!!

Thrift Mania (FGF)

I know this should have been posted yesterday as part of a Thrifty Thursday post, but I really did run out of time. I worked and ran errands and grocery shopped and made chicken stock and crafted and cooked dinner and did as much as I could without blogging. I did edit the photos for this post though!

Anyway, I've done quite a bit of thrifting lately and wanted to share all my fabulous finds with you!! Here they are in chronological order.

This first one was a weekend thrifting excursion several weeks ago. I found a ton of little baggies of embroidery floss. The ones pictured are only about 1/8 of what I actually bought. Some was already on cards and others were still new like the above. However, I've already put the rest on cards and into my floss box (until I filled it and can't fit these leftovers.) The stuff on the left is just some miscellaneous items from a 'grab bag' type collection.

1. Thrifty Craft Items, 2. Miscelleanious Thrifted Jewelry Pieces
This one was also several weeks ago. On the bottom is a set of matching vintage pillowcases. On top, a vintage daisy brooch, embossing supplies, cross-stitch pieces still in their small embroidery hoops, and a little bag of jewelry pieces. You can see the jewelry pieces better in the picture on the left.

Below are my favorite AND most expensive finds as they were in an antique store. However, I have to say I feel like they were worth it!!
1. Four Pounds of Ephemera, 2. Vintage Button Cards
On the left is four pounds of paper from an estate sale that they had all bundled together. On the right is a collection of button cards and loose buttons that were in a gallon zip bag.

1. Vintage Sewing Box, 2. Inside Old Sewing Box, 3. Wood Spools Found in Old Sweing Box, 4. Vintage Bufferin Bottle
Here's the best part - a old sewing box with all the notions still in it. My favorites were the wooden spools of thread and the glass bufferin bottle with grommets in it.

1. Sep 23 Thrift Store Finds, 2. Inside Vintage Cookbook/Magazine
The above were my goodies from this week: a collection of vintage McCall's cookbooks/magazines, a small glass jar, and a few jewelry pieces. On the right, you can see a sample of the pictures inside the cookbooks. Too cool!

I do have to tell you my "Tale of Thrifting Woe"
During lunch on Wednesday, I ran to the thrift stores and ended up not buying anything at all. I did spot a few things I considered snagging, but decided that I didn't want to bother with checking out right then. Instead, I would think about it until I got off and if those items were still on my mind, I would come back and get them. On the list were two apothecary jars (one large and one small) and a necklace. Sure enough, when I got off, I wanted to get those item. Most specifically, I longed for the large apothecary jar. Wouldn't you know it - IT WAS GONE!! Someone had purchased MY JAR in the 3 1/2 hours I had been at work. The nerve of that person!! I was distressed, but bought the other items instead (you can see those in that last picture.) A lesson was learned!

As you can tell, most of my thrift store purchases are crafty related. I hope to work some of them into my projects at some point. We'll see how that works out.

Now to distract me from the sadness, here's some "Feel Good Friday"

• Advice from a 90 year old
  
• Kaleidoscope - I just love them and have a few collected. I could just stare and stare at this. Fun stuff.
  
• Kitties can sleep anywhere
  
• If you didn't hear, 8/28/09 was the last day of reading rainbow on PBS (according to what I heard on NPR, they don't have the funding and this is not the best way to get kids to read. It's apparently believed that they should be teaching kids the basics of reading, not reviewing books.) It sucks!! That was one of my favorite shows as a kid. It def spurred my interest in books which continues to this day. But, most of all I LOVE the theme song. Watching this video and hearing this song gives me goosebumps and makes me a little weepy to know the ride is over. Enjoy!
  
• Share a little comfort with Kraft Mac & Cheese- Click the button and Kraft will donate a box of the orange goodness MMMMmmmm, makes ya feel good to give!!

What have you been thrifting lately? If you haven't - go on out there and discover all the wonders that exist in your local thrift store, just don't take the stuff I want!!

Have a fab weekend!!

Furniture and Lists and Craft Bags - OH MY!! (WWWW)

The title is a homage to The Wizard of Oz's 70th Anniversary (which I think is today)Not really much to say today.
Last night LOML and I picked up the other dresser (chest of drawers) and placed it in the only open spot in the bedroom. He now thinks we may need to rearrange the bedroom. That's an undertaking I'm not sure want to engage in. It's not that we have a lot of furniture or anything. I just can't fathom another way to set up the room that'll satisfy me as much.

I do have to admit that I'm simply insanely happy that we now have a place for me to put all the clean laundry, instead of storing it in the laundry room until it was worn and dirty again. It's such a relief!

Let me mention that on the way to get the chest of drawers, I was amazed to realize that my husband doesn't know me at all. He mentioned that we need to make a list of all the tasks we need to get done before we take vacation with the RV (like get the new tags, finish cleaning it, make some bank deposits, etc.) I looked at him like he was crazy and informed him that I've already made the list. If anything, I am a list-maker. I may not refer to the list, complete ANYTHING on it, or remember where I put it; but I sure as hell am going to make one. Come on!!

What else? Ummm- I haven't reported on the content of my craft bag recently. For those of you just joining us, I craft (hence the Crafty Hope blog name.) Since I'm always on the move and I never know when the crafty urge or some spare time is gonna hit, I carry some sort of bag with me most of the time that contains the supplies for at least one project. I've been carrying around the current craft bag/supplies for several weeks now without mentioning it yet. I even took some photos for your pleasure!Let's see. . .it's a beading bag. Basically, it's an old purse with several spools of wire, 4 pairs of pliers, and a bunch of beads. The beads are mostly loose in plastic bags. Sorry the picture's so bad, but I didn't have much time to snap the shot and couldn't risk them rolling away.
So that's it.
OH WAIT - It's "Wild, Wild Web Wednesday":

• dating video from the 80's. Oh dear- this is just awesome and awful at the same time
  
  Dating Montage
  by smithy00101
  
  
• New Nintendo DS game sounds awesome and inventive. Getting to use your imagination to work the game is pretty cool -
  
• If you haven't heard about the trend of deciphering music videos into their literal meanings, you should def check these out to get a better understanding of literal music videos.
  
• fancy fast food
  
• This what a trailer for Ghost Busters would have looked like in 1954
  

I'll close on a positive thought: We're halfway to the weekend now!!

Grocery Store Randomeness (TRT)

Do you ever pay attention to what other people are purchasing at the grocery store or take a long hard look at what's on your own list? Does it ever seem just WEIRD? I wonder what the cashiers think when I buy all the ingredients for a certain meal. Do they figure it out? Are they all 'I guess someone's having tacos tonight. . .' Do they see the mass amounts of chips and sodas you buy for a party and wonder what kind of party it is?

I stand behind people in line and do this constantly. I LOVE to watch what people buy: the elderly men with their cans of soup and box of quick grits; the mid-life ladies with all the organic fruits and yogurt; the soccer moms who have carts piled high with frozen pizzas, sugary cereals, juice boxes, and fruit roll-ups; and the ones who just ran in the store for a few things. THOSE are my favorite!! They're like puzzles. They're there just to purchase a little of this and a little of that. Wal-Mart is the best place to take a look at the purchases. LOML and I joke all the time about it. You can get an axe and a jumbo amount of toilet paper all in one place, at one time. And, most people won't look at you funny (I will, but I'm not most people.)

But, I've done it too. . .gone to pick up just a few items at Wal-Mart and realized that the list was just strange. My favorite was when my mom and I were out of town with the nieces. I needed some things and mama needed me to get some stuff for the girls. I know juice boxes were on the list and so was some other stuff that wasn't kid-related. But, the icing on the cake of that list was the little girl panties. I felt weird just buying them in correlation with the other items. You know- I felt like I was also buying candy and petroleum jelly. To clarify, I was NOT also buying those items, but I felt creepy just buying them.

Just recently at the dollar store, in front of me was a girl (about my age) buying feminine hygiene spray and denture adhesive and THAT'S ALL. Use your imagination, I've wracked mine for an explanation.

So, take a look sometime at what the people in front of you in line are buying at the store and see how weird it is. Let me know the weirdest combination you've bought or you've seen being bought.

Random enough for you? Ehhh, let's add to it with some "Totally Random Tuesday"

• Speaking of stuff to get at the store here are 5 must have tools for any kitchen.
• 
  
• Check out this guess the google game. Basically, you're shown 16 pictures (images), and you have to guess what the search term was. It runs a little slow, but is fun for word and search lovers like me.
  
• Learn how to slice and dice an onion like a pro.
  
• If you traval much or any at all, or even if you just live in a large city, this tool might be great for you. It help you find cheap parking in major cities and airports.

I really do want to know some of the craziest combinations of grocery store items you ever seen/bought. I know you pay attention too!!

What Can I Say? I've Had Lots to Do (MMSM)

So. . . I've been busy. I can't say exactly what I've been busy doing (because I can't quite recall that information.) But, busy I have been.

I know I last blogged before Labor Day weekend. LOML and I took a four day weekend and rented a condo at the beach (predictably so.) My grandmother, mom, step-dad, and the nieces even came down for two days and night. It was fun.

I've also done a bit of thrift store shopping. I'll share some of that later in the week.

This weekend I do recall:
Margaritas on Friday with some friends and then home to sleep them off (the margaritas, not the friends.)
Saturday was spent in a college football stupor. LOML and I are really getting into watching the games. We even watch teams other than Alabama now to try to check out the competition. It's weird, but we like it.
Sunday, we wore ourselves out cleaning and working on the RV. We plan to take a little trip in a few weeks, and the thing really needs some work. We started by scrubbing the dirt off the outside and trying to kill the hornets/wasps hovering around different sections. We went through two cans of hornet/wasp spray. That exertion just about took us out for the count. After a quick break, we were ready to venture inside the trailer. I forced LOML to go in ahead of me to check for bugs and critters that may have been lurking. Instead, he found a light fixture filled with some brown liquid. It was also splatted on the floor below the fixture. SWELL!! After that was emptied, we let the camper air out for a bit before checking out the places where we had found some of the hornets/wasps. Opening up one panel revealed THREE LARGE WASP NESTS. Ugh. I wish I had taken a picture of them for you, but we were acting as quickly as we could on this. Fortunately, all the spraying earlier had resulted in lack of hornets on the nest. We got those suckers out and quit for the evening. Whew!! It really makes me glad that we're doing this work on the RV. I would hate to have pulled that trailer out to a camping spot and not had the supplies to take care of the flying, stinging bugs.

Since getting some work done on the camper, I feel a sense of completion and weight off my shoulders today. I've made a list of some of the other tasks I need to take care of this week (including cleaning the INSIDE of the trailer.) Hopefully, I'll get some, if not all, the tasks done on it. That would be awesome to relieve some of the stress and panic I feel daily.

Moving on, let's get to some "Made Me Smile Monday"

• Here are some of the weirdest resturant names I've ever heard. Some of these names make me wonder if I really want to eat there or not, but they're funny in any case.
  
• Not to offend anyone, but I really like this shirt. It's funny, that's all. I'm not trying to make a political statement or anything.
• I know I've posted before on homeless guy signs. And, some of these are old, but some are new.
• What makes this even better is that it's on the back of what looks like a white Bronco!! HA!
• I LOVE this. If you need a laugh, this is the site.This guy totally provides a laugh for you. Click on each box to hear a different one individually, type or bang on the keyboard to get a mixture. I listened to each individually 1st and like W, U, and C. But, H is above all the best one. I can use this for a smile anytime.
  

That's all for now. I've got a long list to get to. I promise blogging is on it (it really wasn't, but it is now!!)

Another Crafty Weekend with The Nieces

Before another weekend slips away, I want to share with you some of the fun I enjoyed with the nieces this past weekend. First, I have to tell you what their requests were for the weekend: crafting (painting and soap-making) and a movie (snuggling up on the couch with big bowls of popcorn.) We didn't get to soap-making but accomplished their other goals and so much more. Take a peek.

These are Bug Catcher Necklaces (follow the link for the tutorial)

Some toenail painting was done. Each girl picked two colors and we went to town.


For lunch, we made mini pizzas on english muffins. (spread sauce, add topping and cheese, then heat in oven at 350 for 10 mins, and DONE) I found that having them work on aluminum foil kept the mess down as I could just put them on a cookie sheet (foil and all) to cook.

We played in my button stash and made some button flower bouquets.

Not pictured: jamming in the car with the windows down, climbing trees, exploring the back yard, playing the Wii, painting, making cinnamon twists for breakfast, catching bugs (for the bug catcher necklaces of course). It really was a blast!!