Happy Halloween!

Well today is the day! The day of my favorite Holiday!! I'm so glad it's finally here because now I can finally get back into my daily routine. Costumes are done and have been worn to parties. Now I can clean up my material and paint mess. I have successfully made a pie (HAD to be homemade) and a decorated cake (Pacen's 4-H group asked all the parents to make these) and will deliver them to the Fairgrounds during my lunch break for tonight's Halloween Carnival. Hopefully I am able to deliver them in tact. I have nightmares of dropping them.

I am planning on going to the carnival even though Pacen won't be with me. The kids didn't have school today due to an in-service/work day so he is in Harrison with my parents. He's planning on going trick-or-treating with his H-town friends. It will feel so weird not going with him.

Would you like to see our costumes and such? Oh come now, of course you do! :)

Quinn and I.  We won 2nd place!!!  Our parents beat us!  What the hell?!  :)

My little Harry Potter!  I think Pace looks so much like him!  He also looks a little frazzled...maybe he just got done fighting Lord Voldemort ... Umm, I mean "he-who-must-not-be-named".

Pacen's class.  I just now noticed Pedro!  Haha!  I knew there was a Napolean Dynamite, but somehow I missed Pedro!  Wow, I'm so observant.  :)

Now do you want to see the pie and cake I made?  No?  Well, tough.  If you don't want to see them then just close this window right now.  :)

I got the idea for the crust here.  There are a couple other crust tutorials there too so go check it out!

Do you like my little Jack-o-lantern?  :)

Before I show you my cake you must know this:  this cake is going to be in a contest.  Whether I like it or not.  Since it's going to be in a contest and since I'm freakishly competitive I had to make something that I knew would be different from everyone else's cakes.  Something that had a small chance of winning a prize.  I turned to Cake Central for some inspiration.  Oh boy was I inspired!!!  By many cakes.  Too bad I didn't have time to attempt them all.  I finally decided to make the Ouija board cake based on this cake.  I bow down to your awesomeness AmberStar1066!  Your Ouija board kicks my Ouija board's ass!  I don't know why I didn't attempt bottom corners like those! Well, here she is:

My cake.  My off-centered Ouija board cake.  My off-centered, not-very-detailed-bottom-corners Ouija board cake.  :)  Do you think I have any chance of winning?  Even a small prize?  *sigh*  I need to quit being so damn competitive.  :)  Psssshhhhht.  Yeah right. 

Well, if you want to know how I made this cake here are a bit of instruction: I  printed off a picture of a Ouija board and taped it under some wax paper.  I then piped melted chocolate on the letters and numbers and transferred them to the cake, which is two 9x9 square cakes covered in Cream Cheese Frosting (tinted light brown).  I dusted some cocoa powder over the cake like AmberStar1066 did to give it the "aged" look.   I free-hand piped the corners.  The bottom corners of real Ouija boards are very...ummmmm...cluttered?  Is that the word I'm looking for?  Detailed?  Anyway, I knew I couldn't recreate them very well so I just did some lines.  I guess tonight I'll get to see my "competition".  :) 

Well, I hope you all have a spooktacular Halloween!!!  Be safe and have fun!!

"Shadows of a thousand years rise again unseen,
Voices whisper in the trees, 'Tonight is Halloween!'" ~ Dexter Kozen

Chocolate Covered S'Mores On Sticks

One day I stumbled upon a cool Halloween treat over at Eighteen 25.  Chocolate covered S'mores on a stick!  I knew I wanted to try them, but I wasn't sure what I would make them for.  I mean, I could've made them just for home, but I knew I would eat them all and then my ass would grow even larger and that is just something I don't want.  Then the perfect opportunity to make these hit me!  Pacen's 4-H club has a monthly meeting and I was in charge of snacks for the October meeting.  Yessssss!!  I gathered all the supplies needed and set to work.  Pacen was in charge of the sprinkles.  :)  Here is how ours turned out

Well, these were a HUGE hit at the meeting...with the young and old!  Parents were asking me how I made them and kids were walking around saying, "Mmmmmm!  These are sooooo good!"  One parent (who wasn't at the meeting) sent me a comment on Facebook telling me her daughter got home and said, "Mom!  Pacen's mom made THE BEST snack!"  Haha!  I'm so glad they were a hit.  Luckily there were a couple left so I got to try one, and I must agree...AWESOME!!

 I almost couldn't quit eating long enough to take this picture!  Haha!!

Head on over to Eighteen 25 to see the full tutorial!  One tip I have: when microwaving the S'mores, make sure the marshmallows are at the gooey/sticky phase before totally assembling and putting in the freezer...I mean really gooey...or they will fall apart when coating with chocolate. 

Here is one of my all-time favorite dialogues about S'mores and it's from one of my favorite movies, "The Sandlot"!

Ham Porter: Hey, Smalls, you wanna s'more?
Smalls: Some more of what?
Ham Porter: No, do you wanna s'more?
Smalls: I haven't had anything yet, so how can I have some more of nothing?
Ham Porter: You're killing me Smalls! These are s'more's stuff! Ok, pay attention. First you take the graham, you stick the chocolate on the graham. Then you roast the 'mallow. When the 'mallows flaming... you stick it on the chocolate. Then cover with the other end. Then you scarf. Kind of messy, but good! Try some!

Halloween Mantel and Decor

As I have mentioned once or twice or maybe even a few times, Halloween is my favorite holiday!! :)  I love the eeriness, the mystery, and the fun that's packed into Halloween.  I love to decorate the inside and outside of my house with all kinds of Halloween decor.  This year I didn't do anything outside because I didn't feel like dragging the homemade headstones and spiders down from the garage rafters.  Lazy, I know.  Also, my headstones have seen better days/Octobers.  I need to do some work to them.

The inside of my house is all decked out with pumpkins, spiders, webs, skeletons, skulls, etc.  The dining room portion of my living/dining room is really sporting Halloween spirit.  :)  Even more so this year since I moved my faux fireplace to that side of the room.  Here's a peek at what my dining area and mantel look like during the month of October (not the greatest pictures in the world):

 Here is the dining area.  The lighthouses and such look out of place, but oh well.  I turned my great-grandparent's china hutch into a sort of witch's work area.  There are specimen jars, a voodoo potion book (the real deal), and a picture of Marie Laveau, amongst other things. 

 Here is a closeup of the witch's work area.  There are spiders randomly placed on the cheesecloth, but for some reason you can't see any here.  Note:  This is the ONLY time I allow spiders in my house.  Yes, they are fake, but still really creepy.  Ick!

Here is a close-up of one of the specimen jars.  I made a bunch a couple of years ago using old canning jars and some empty drink bottles.  I used those little foam capsules that expand and turn into a creature when submerged in water.  I chose the bug ones.  I also had some little toy skeletons and rats laying around that I used in other jars.  I tried to make the labels look dirty and old using tea and food coloring.

My mantel!  I covered all the pictures on the South wall with scary pictures I printed off the internet.  You can only see one here and it's the creepy puppet from the Saw movies.  I put candles, fabric, a jack-o-lantern decoration, and some jack-o-lantern lights in the fire area of the fireplace.  The two black thing to the right of that are two vintage-looking frames with a black vintage-looking shawl draped over them.  

 Here is a close-up of one of the mummy heads that scattered on both the mantel and the china hutch.  My friend made them a couple years ago when we hosted our first annual Halloween party (no party this year).  She made them out of styrofoam balls, black tape, cheesecloth dipped in an Elmer's glue/water concoction, and scary-ish googly eyes.  Pretty nifty, eh?  :)

My Grandparents bought me some eyeball lights a couple years ago so I put them in a cloche stand by a skeleton. I made that stand using a cheese dome cloche and a candlestick from Hobby Lobby.  I actually made two.  The other is taller and on the right side of the mantel.  I put a skull and mummy head in it..

 

Close-up of the frames and shawl. 

So there you have it.  Most of my indoor Halloween decor!  Today I'm linking up to Home Stories A 2 Z  Beth is hosting a Halloween Mantel linky party!  Head on over and check out all the awesome decorations and mantels! 

"Halloween is huge in my house and we really get into the "spirits" of things." ~ Dee Snider

Wednesday Wishes!

I can't believe it is already the second Wednesday in October!  Halloween parties and such are only a couple short weeks away and it was only yesterday that I finally decided what I want to be this year!  I'm not telling what it is.  It's going to be a homemade costume and I hope I get it done in time.  Now Pacen just needs to decide on a costume.  He has a couple ideas, but he keeps changing his mind.  Go figure.  :)

Okay, on with the show.  Here are some more Halloween favorites that I pinned over at Pinterest.

       

                                                                   Source: prettykittyknittycity.com via Brooke on Pinterest

This is the most adorable infant costume ever!  Seeing this absolutely adorable baby in this absolutely adorable costume almost makes me want to have another child...just so I can dress him/her up like Candy Corn! 

                                                                          Source: instructables.com via Brooke on Pinterest

I love this simple, yet awesome, outdoor decorating idea!  It would be cool to use Zombies too!  Unfortunately, if I hung skeletons or zombies or anything from my house the Wyoming winds would have them ripped of and blown into the next state within a matter of days...maybe even hours.  Sad.

                                                                 Source: craftskeepmesane.blogspot.com via Brooke on Pinterest

I love this idea!  I have actually kind of started this project.  I have all the materials I need laying around the house and garage.  Mine is going to be slightly different.  I'll post pics when and if I ever get it done. ;)

                                                                  Source: lesscakemorefrosting.com via Brooke on Pinterest

I love this poster/picture!  It would be perfect for my Halloween decor!!  Maybe I can re-create it!  Probably next year.  If  you like this "Snow White" Halloween decor then check this out:

                                                                                    Source: None via Brooke on Pinterest

 
How awesome is this?!  It also looks pretty easy to make.  The tutorial is here.  Every year I set up a mad scientist's laboratory scene in my house.  This book would fit in perfect amongst the "specimens", spider webs, skulls, and other awesome things! 

                                                          Source: confessionsofacookbookqueen.com via Brooke on Pinterest

What an awesome Halloween snack!  The cauldrons are made from dipping a balloon in melted chocolate!  Love it!

                                                                      Source: chongas.com.br via Brooke on Pinterest

I'm absolutely diggin' Sugar Skulls.  I seriously thought about trying it this year, but I wasn't able to find the type of dress I wanted to wear.  Maybe next year.  This paint job was one of my favorites!  It is gorgeous and still somewhat creepy!  (The costume I have decided on requires zero paint, which is probably best.  No zits.  Well, none due to a bunch of pore clogging paint anyway.)

Source: vintage-witch.com via Brooke on Pinterest

Wednesday Wishes!

It is finally the month of my favorite Holiday!!!  Halloween!  I'm so excited!  The inside of my house is already decked out in Halloween awesomeness, but I still need to decorate the yard/porch.  Last night FWB came up to visit and after he was in the house for a bit he looked at me and said, "Ummm, you do realize it is ONLY October 4th, right?"  Little does he know I had most of the decorations out on September 30th.  :)  I want to take the whole 31 days to appreciate this awesome Holiday!  :)

This month, Wednesday Wishes will be all about Halloween.  I'll share costumes, decorations, goodies, etc. that I loved so much they were deemed "pinable" on my Pinterest.  Here we go...

                                                                               Source: 9gag.com via Brooke on Pinterest

How cute is this costume?!  Okay, it's probably the adorable kid and the expression on his face that makes it so cute, but I LOVE it!  It puts a smile on my face.  I always liked Edward Scissorhands.  I don't know why, but I thought it was a good movie.  I tried to talk Pacen into dressing up like this for Halloween this year, but he said no.  I still have time to persuade him to change his mind though, so I'm keeping my hopes up.  :)

                                                                                 Source: bhg.com via Brooke on Pinterest

I love this idea...putting a lace stocking over a pumpkin!  It is so unique and wonderful!  It brings a kind of romance to Halloween.

                                                                    Source: mcillecespot.blogspot.com via Brooke on Pinterest

I wonder if Pacen would notice if some of his toy snakes disappeared...and then reappeared...painted black...on a grapevine wreath on the front door?  Hmmmmmmm.   :)

                                                                 Source: eighteen25.blogspot.com via Brooke on Pinterest

Jack-o-Lantern in a jar!  What a cool idea!  First I need to work on my cookie decorating skills, which are very lacking.  :)  This would be a neat gift/treat for my nieces, nephew, and Pacen.

                                                                         Source: 1.bp.blogspot.com via Brooke on Pinterest

I've been trying to figure out what I'm going to be this year.  I have found some very cool ideas, but none of them seem to be falling into place.  I love this makeup and I love the idea.  I found a black pinstripe suit at the Salvation Army for $3, but I couldn't find a white one so I left it there.  Maybe I will find time to go back (1 1/2 hour drive) to see if I can find something that will work.

Source: google.com via Brooke on Pinterest

Pumpkin Patch

Today I went on a field trip with the 4th graders. We went to the University of Wyoming Ag Research Center and the Harvest Home Pumpkin Patch. Pacen has been on a field trip to the pumpkin patch every year since 1st grade and I've never been able to join him. This year the field trip was on my Friday off so I jumped at the opportunity to go. I've never been to a pumpkin patch and I always thought it would be fun. The pumpkin patch that LEMS goes to also has a corn maze. This year the maze is a soldier with a flag and it says "We Support Our Troops". Last night Pacen said, "Mom. Last year I ran through the maze with Cole (running through the maze is not allowed). I'm not doing that this year because the maze is a soldier and that is disrespectful to soldiers." I asked him if a teacher told him that and he said, "No." I was so proud of him for wanting to (on his own accord) respect the military.

Pacen led Mrs. Wasserburger and I around the maze and then we got to choose our pumpkins. Pacen picked a pretty large one. Surprise, surprise. :) I picked a medium sized one and I also bought a few itty bitty white pumpkins, some tomatoes, and a few squash. I can't wait to eat the squash (with a little brown sugar and butter baked into it). All-in-all it was a good field trip. We learned quite a bit at the UW Ag Rearch Center, ate lunch in the park, and had fun at the pumpkin patch. I hope I get to go again next year.

Pacen with his pumpkin

"We fancy men are individuals; so are pumpkins; but every pumpkin in the field goes through every point of pumpkin history." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

My little Pumpkin Carver

Halloween is over and today I took down all our spooky decorations. It was a good Halloween and the day was perfect for trick-or-treating. I was afraid it would be so cold, but it was actually pretty warm. The only problem was the slush! I can only imagine how wet all the little trick-or-treaters got. A few nights ago we carved pumpkins. I will admit at first I wasn't into it like I have been in the past. I wasn't looking forward to cleaning up the gooey, slimy, seedy mess. I was planning on doing a real simple design and at the last minute I got a little more excited about it and chose a design that was a slightly more difficult than I had planned.

Pacen, on the other hand, was very much into carving pumpkins this year. He carved an itty-bitty one and a very large one earlier in the month and this time he carved another large pumpkin. He carved a cute face into his itty-bitty pumpkin and a moose head into his first big pumpkin (I drew it and he cut it out). He turned his second big pumpkin into a murdered pumpkin. The funny thing about Pacen carving pumpkins is the fact that somehow he ends up in his boxers during the process. First the shirt comes off, next thing I know the pants come off, and a little later off come the socks, and then he's just carving away in his boxers! It's pretty funny. I guess real men carve pumpkins wearing only their underwear. :) I'm actually very grateful that I don't have to worry about washing pumpkin goop out of his clothes!

My Ghostly Lava Lamps

"Only the knife knows what goes on in the heart of a pumpkin." ~ Simone Schwarz-Bart

Halloween

Halloween is by far my most favorite Holiday! I don't know why...maybe it's the mystery that surrounds the Holiday or maybe it's the fact that we get to dress up and pretend to be somebody else. I honestly can't tell you why I love Halloween so much...I just do and I always have. This past weekend a friend of mine and I threw a Halloween party at my house. It took us a couple weeks to plan it all and get everything prepared, but it was so worth it. We made many of the decorations ourselves and created a list of nasty looking food. We also made the invitations and that alone took us two nights and two bottles of hard booze! :) We had fun planning and preparing, but I must say that I'm glad it's all over with (I think she's glad too) as it was a lot of work and took up a lot of time.

One of the best things about preparing for the party was the fact that I had no choice but to get off my lazy rump and thoroughly clean my house. I've been needing to do it for a long time but I just haven't felt like conquering it! :) Unfortunately, some major cleaning had to be done the day after the party too. :) Okay, actually, all that really had to be done was some major mopping...my kitchen floor was so nasty! My friend, Alex, did a pretty good job of picking up stray beer cans/bottles and cups the night before! Raine, Dawn, and Sham helped me sweep and pick up the rest of the trash. It's so great to have friends who are willing to help with the nasty, not-so-fun aspects of such things as a party! :)






"Eat, drink, and be scary." ~ Unknown

"When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers, 'tis near Halloween!" ~ Unknown