Favorite Things Christmas Gift

Last year my mom, sister-in-law, and myself decided to give each other our 'favorite things' for Christmas.  We decided on a $30 limit (which the shopper/deal getter in me pushed to the limit!) and other than that there no rules.  Whatever our favorite thing/things were, we just had to buy two of the same thing for the other two girls.  Not only did this make shopping easy, but it was fun to give things we've enjoyed and get new things in return!

Here's what I gave as my favorite things last year, still some of my favorites!

·      Trader Joe’s Shave Cream-Smells & feels great

·      Urban Halo Headbands-Comfortable, stay put, wash well, made in MN

·      Gunflint Trail Strawberry Jam-Serve with brie cheese for easy app

·      Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara-Makes make-up easier

·      Whole Food’s Milk Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels-Great with wine!

·      Simple Wine Charms-Something different & easy to store

·      Cities 97 Sampler-Acoustic mix CD sold every year for MPLS Charities

·      Sharpie Pens-Fine tip, permanent, won’t bleed through paper

·      Seche Vite Top Coat Nail Polish-makes any polish look professional, great to wear on bare nails too

·      Champagne-Self explanatory!

DIY Keepsake Ornament Gift Tag

Every year at Christmas we put up our white tree covered in snowflake ornaments.  We also give a snowflake ornament to each of our nieces and nephews so they can have a collection of snowflake ornaments of their own!  

I usually buy an inexpensive multi-pack of ornaments from Hobby Lobby and embellish them with ribbons and stickers to spell their names and the year. I use the ornaments as gift tags so they also serve a purpose, and look great under my tree until they're ready to give.

Simple Halloween Cards

These Halloween cards were inspired by Pinterest and SO easy to make! Just some strips of washi tape, a Halloween sticker, and 'Happy Halloween' stamped on the bottom.  Quick and simple if you need to make and get cards out before the 31st! 

Halloween Place Card Bats

When we needed some 'glam' place cards for last year's spooky dinner, I set out to Michael's to see what sparkly supplied would inspire me. As soon as I saw these glittery bats I knew they would make the perfect place cards!

Typically I'd buy some paper, get out my cricut and cut my own shapes but these bats were ready to go saving me a lot of work.  I picked up some glittery letter stickers for the name and that was it. Done.  More time to focus on decor and spooky effects!

DIY Halloween Kids Activities

Since it's no secret that I LOVE Halloween, I like to send Halloween treats to our nieces and nephews to share the love!  Here are a couple of easy activities I made for the kids inspired by pinterest! 

The bowling set was made with leftover craft paint and 2x4's we had in the garage.  I just had to buy an 'eye' bowling ball at Walgreens and the kids can enjoy this for years!

For  a more simple activity, I used a sharpie to craw on some paint chips and cut them up for instant Halloween puzzles! Perfect for toddlers since you can make the pieces big and easy to put together. Easy to mail too!

Simple Halloween Appetizers

If you're looking for some spooky Halloween appetizers, here's full spread that's tasty and easy to make!

Eyeballs
(Olives and Mini-Mozzarella Balls)

Worm Infested Apple Crossantini

(Sliced bread with white cheddar, green apple, and caramelized onion, baked)

Open Wound Toasts

(Toast crackers with brie cheese and raspberry jam, baked)

Vulture Brains
(Mushrooms stuffed with blue cheese and bacon, baked)

Spooky Halloween Trees

One of the easiest ways to add big-impact Halloween decor for NO money is with Spooky Halloween Trees! You don't even need the full tree, just some bare fallen branches.  We used our patio umbrella stands to keep them propped-up inside, so they weren't going anywhere!

Fake birds and bats make these trees even more spooky.

I purchased these night lights at the hardware store to shine on the branches to create spooky shadows on the wall. Although it's hard to see in pictures it looked great at night!

Scenes From Our Spook House

I love Halloween, and every year I love hosting our annual 'Spooky Dinner' as it gives me a chance to go all out.  Even though I have a few bins of decorations, a few witches in the garage rafters, and a few skeletons in the closet, I try to keep the actual decor minimal.  Ha! By that I mean that I like to do a lot with a little and achieve big impacts through lighting and by using non-halloween items, like candles and white platters.  Since we host the same group of friends each year I try to change things up and do something unexpected and different than the year before.  Our friends expect to see skeletons and witches but where they'll be is still a surprise!

Here are some scenes from last year's 'Spook House'.  Some highlights include swapping my living room and dining room to accommodate 12 people for dinner, rented candelabras to add glam without taking up my storage space, and a bathing skelly.  Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

Mummy Halloween Shirts for Kids

When I saw this tutorial for a mummy Onesie on Carolina Charm last year, I had to make one for my newborn Niece!  Since it was so easy I made one for my Nephew on a boys's shirt so they could match.  The strips are actually the bottom of my craft room curtains that was cut off when I hemmed them.    I love how they turned out!

Gothic Glam Halloween Dinner Party Invitation

We chose a 'Gothic Glam' theme for last year's Spooky Dinner, so I definitely wanted to incorporate the theme into the invitations to kick things off! 

Although they turned out fancier than most wedding invitations, they were actually pretty simple.  I found the glittery black cards at Michaels, printed the text on white cardstock, and added a gold vellum insert to make it more formal.

 

The Vellum Insert.

I used a Cuttlebug folder to create the textured Halloween Scene.

 

The Inside Wording