Purple People Eaters

Halloween. My favorite time of year. Never have the colors orange, black, green and purple ever looked so good together. (Or tasted so good)

I’ve tried to figure out this ghoulish obsession. I think it is linked with the part of me that LOVES to be scared in the movie theater, but not in real life (which my husband STILL has not figured out and continues to sneak up behind me or lurk around dark corners – I might actually hurt him one day if he’s not careful).

I have a large box full of halloweenie things. I haven’t opened it since we’ve been married (2.5 years now) because we were always moving every 3-6 months. On October 1^st, this year, much to my husbands dismay, I pulled out the Halloween Pandora’s BOX!!

How I missed my friends!!

Home-made décor is always really fun.

These Jar-O-Lanterns were made from jarred artichoke heart containers. After washing I just poured some orange paint inside and rolled the jar around so the whole inside was coated and then let it dry for a day or two. Then I painted the black faces on the outside and used “rusted” wire to make the handle. Looking back, it would probably be better to paint the black faces first on the INSIDE (if you’re that good – I’m not, so I cheated) and then let that dry for several hours and THEN roll the orange paint around inside. I use the battery charged tea lights.

I kinda liked the idea of decorating my pumpkins differently

this year by covering them with black lace.

Use the leftover lace to make a creative centerpiece!

Okay, I honestly don’t remember exactly how I made this phantom face, but it’s one of my favorites. The head is a Styrofoam piece you can get at any salon supply store. Then I believe I took paper towels and dyed them with coffee or tea (I used coffee because I LOVE the smell. I got to smell it for hours since it was soaked into my skin after this project.) and let them dry. Here’s the part I vaguely remember – I think I made a thick, ever-so-slightly liquid sugar paste (just add a bit of water) and immersed the paper towels in there before molding it onto the face, covering it completely. Let the head dry out and it is as hard as paper mache. The hood-shroud is cheesecloth dyed in coffee also.

This too-cute-to-be-scary little guy was bought at a craft store

in the natural-wood craft section and then I just painted him.

I never get to do everything I plan, but that leaves more for the next year!

Oh, by the way, if you’re wondering about the layers of spotting on the windows that is all a part of the Haunted House effect, as are the spider-webs, dead flies in the window sils, and a light dusting of – well dust. I work on the effect all year :)

Polka Dots and Butterflies

Blogging is starting to feel like writing an article for the newspaper. Does anyone still read this thing? Is anybody out there?? I can't even remember the last time I wrote something. Sometime before Christmas I think.
Oh well, basically I've found more time on my hands since I've stopped guiding for the season. I didn't have much time to sew all Summer because of it, but I was able to get a few things done for my BFF.

This is my BFF: Hi Mindyn!!



Mindyn always has something cool to put in her mouth. Proof of her love for the color orange . . . an orange retainer. Oh no! ARROWED!! My Dad just disowned you Mindyn. He didn't see the tiny clover in the middle :(

This is my BFF and her HUBBY:
He's a Warlock, or WarCrafter or something. Very talented with a gun.
He talked to me about them in Cabela's one time.
While MINDYN is a force to be reckoned with - she's got fierce fishhook skills.

Last February I got some happy news that they were expecting (yay, babies!) I've known Mindyn since we were 18 and freshmen in college. We were roommates actually . . . ahhhh, the stories I could tell - hee, hee.Okay BACK to the baby! Shortly after the phone call I decided to make something for her little girl every month and send it to her. It's been so fun! Picking out fabric and creating something with a specific someone in mind, it's so much more fun than making them for the masses. (Okay, okay, so no one is knocking down my door to get to BabyDeer baby clothes.)

Here's a few of the things I've made and sent off:

Since she'll be born in November, she'll need something warm to wear!

Marsupial Pouches!
Holds everything you need on the go from diapers to boogie wipes!

One of Mindyn's favorite colors is orange so I had to match the pouches
with this oh-so-comfy baby changing pad.
I wasn't sure about adding the thick batting on this, but it turned out just right.

This last one is my favorite in the cuteness category. I have to admit - I didn't think of it, darn it all. I saw it on an ad and just had to make one and see if it would be as easy as I thought. I love how it's a plain bodysuit except for the one super cute addition, attached wings! Now I just have to think of what to make for a little boy. A tie . . . ?


I still have 2 or 3 things to make and send. A blanket, a rattle, and something else . . .
One thing is for certain, these things all turned out so cute and relatively easy now that I've gotten through the first creative draft, I need to make more to sell!

Ambucked

I was working in my room this morning by the window when I heard a noise I'd never heard before. It sounded like an animal, but I just ignored it. It didn't sound threatening; it was outside; and I'm too busy to investigate (probably doing something VERY IMPORTANT like checking my facebook page).

However my husband came running down the stairs and said, "Hey! Wanna see some deer in the yard?"

I heard deer. Deer have vocal cords???

I raced up the stairs after him and we stare out the kitchen window as two more teenaged bucks bound into the yard over the fence. Deer bounding is a beautiful thing. I love to watch deer bound.

They just went along delicately pulling and eating the grass.

Everything deer do - they do it delicately. Even if they mutated into a 30 foot-tall gargantuan Deerzilla and went crashing through Manhattan, it would be more like prancing through Manhattan and everyone would stop in their tracks to watch the graceful, delicate sight.

Then one got bored and they started to this:

Gracefully.


Elegantly.

I don't know who won. They just - stopped. And went back to eating . . . delicately.

Until one of them really wanted his Momma. And he made that sound again! I was stunned - I had come to the resolve that deer couldn't speak. It sounds like a nasally. . . mwah. mwah.

Mwah. Mwah.

After three attempts at jumping back over the fence and losing his nerve, Momma answered him back and that was all the encouragement he needed to do this.

The moral of this blog: Facebook is evil and keeps you from having beautiful experiences in your REAL LIFE!

A Tidbit

There is a tidbit about me I've only discovered recently the last few years I've had to live snow.

It's something I found I get a little pleasure from. So much pleasure, that it makes my mouth water a little bit.

Like when you're picking at a real big scab. (You scab-pickers know what I'm talking about)

I get so much pleasure from it that I try to find others to do it to. (But I only pick my own scabs. A girls gotta have limits).

It is this:

THIS is the wheel well of my car. As one drives around town snow and ice build up on the inside of the wheel well. In some cases I've seen it caked on so thick the ice almost touches the tire. (Insta-mouthwater)

I MUST kick them. I must!

I get SO much enjoyment out of kicking the sides of the wheel wells of my car and knocking those scabbies off that I have to do it to all 4 wheels. And I might get a little frustrated at my husband for kicking one or two. I mean, he knows I get some weird pleasure out of it - why take that away from me?
Is this too anti-climactic for you? Try it. Believe me, your mouth will water.


Sometimes, when I'm alone in a parking lot, I used to walk around looking for big scabbies to kick off. Until I realized one day I might set something else off and be sent to jail or something.

So now I just kick my own scabbies and my husbands scabbies. And sometimes my friends.

(This stuff just doesn't do it for me. I don't know why.)

Wintery Wonderwalk

Mike's been working a lot (graveyard shift - blech!) or else writing papers, studying etc. So we haven't seen much of each other lately. But fortunately he didn't have to work on Sunday . . . and church happened to be canceled, so I dragged him away from his computer claiming "Husband & Wife Time."

I wanted to mess up all that snow out there and make a snowman, but we remembered most of our stuff is still in Moab - so no gloves.

We went on a little walk instead. The temperature was nice enough. I still wanted a snowman, but Mike wasn't about to get his hands wet for that.
So I made . . .

Wait for it . . .

PUFF!
(he's a snowgnome)

Easily confused with the snowman. They have totally different facial features though. And he's mini. Look he fits perfectly on this fence post! PUFF likes to watch the river. (don't touch it.)

We found a few other things on our walk . . . a dandelion snow-puff.

When you blow on it, it spreads all around. This was really funny because it also spreads on your face! (the pic didn't come out) and I'm sure Mike wouldn't have done what I asked if he knew that would happen. It gave me immense ruptures of giggles though. (He did however make sure I got a taste of my own medicine - I won't go into detail, but has to do with fistfuls of snow and underclothing.)

Oh yeah another thing I've never seen before - a snowsnake! (dooon't touch it.)

Snowberries.
I slipped and almost face-planted in an ice puddle when taking these pictures, so I'm making sure to include it. Pretty though.


Anyway, I was able to enjoy the beauty in this unsummery season.


At least until I slid on a patch of black ice next to the car and landed ungraceful and non-ladylike on my back - feet up in the air.

Canceled Church???

So we had two snow storms come through over the weekend and just DUMP on us. (You can imagine how happy I wasn't) Thus, on Sunday, when we got up to get ready we were told - "Brother So-and-So called. Church is canceled."

Huh? They can do that?

So I texted members of my family to share the news.

And here is how each one responded. I think you'll find their personalities as funny as I did.


My original text: "Church was canceled. Too much SNOW!!!"

Meghan: "Omg. Why do you live there?? That's crazy."

Brandon: "What an excuse. Back in the day Mormons had to travel miles and die in the snow."

Dad: "Too much snow? How can there be too much snow?"

Sean: "So they decided to cancel everyone's salvation. That's cool."

Pardon Me . . .

I'm trying to fix the computer problem. As all of you have experienced at sometime in life, when the computer connections aren't working IT IS A PROBLEM. And you want to vent your frustrations in a fashion that is atypical to your usual character.

So now I impose upon all of you the problem of patience.