in my shoes.

wanna see how i spent my crazy yesterday?

camila invited me to be part of her 

"in her shoes" feature.

thank goodness i wasn't home all day sorting 

socks in my pajamas and reading blogs!

that would have made a very boring post...

check it out here!

oh, and by the way, i DID sleep in today.

until 9:20.

don't you think i deserved it?

*smiles.

today i'm at...

finding fabulous is all about getting fabulous 
design and products for less. 
ahhh...right up my alley!
i have a post on using felt to make chic, anthro-insprired 
gift adornments.

thanks for having me jane!
check it out here.

trick or treat

i'm still trying to figure out what to hand out for trick or treaters on saturday.

last year i made 60 of these:

what was i thinking?!

 i was completely insane.

but not as insane as i was when i sewed over 75 fabric bags for

my kids to give out on valentines day!

(you can see them here.)

anyway, i am still thinking that i might have enough time 

to pull off something cute.

 i was thinking of making a sleeve that wraps around a

candy bar...like a flat hershey's bar. 

i don't know. 

i messed around on the laptop last night while 

i was laying in bed.

here's a preliminary draft of what i am thinking of:

(i got the image from the graphics fairy)

i would love to do a reverse print...

where the skull and the

text are white and the background is black.

of course, that would drain my printer of ink 

faster than bunnicula would drain a rutabaga.

not sure if i can pull it off.

i'll keep you posted.

i'll probably wimp out and just hand out something lame.

halloween decor

a little peek at halloween at my house...

happy halloween!

all of the containers were purchased at thrift stores for between .50-$1,and then spray painted black. 

the paper mache pumpkins and skull were bought on clearance 

last year, and painted by me. 

the large metal pumpkin bucket was a gift.

the large silver urn is fom z gallerie.

spooky+ cheap halloween wreath

this wreath cost less than $10 to make!

the ingredients:

one grapevine wreath ($3 on sale)

dollar store "happy halloween"sign ($1)

crows and other black birds purchased on clearance last year 

(.20-1.50 each)

cheap black ribbon ($2)

black spray paint (already had)

clearance christmas picks 

(already had, but i usually have a stash on hand for 

adorning christmas gifts)

i spray painted the wreath and the christmas picks,

and then started gluing!

i cut the ribbon in thin, jagged strips, and then scrunched it to look tattered and worn.

i'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

it's just spooky enough, and i love that it is all black with just a touch of orange.

plus, it was cheap and easy!

i'm linking to:

the diy showoff

the girl creative

halloween pennant + an easy template

i made several of these fun pennant banners last year for halloween,

in fact, it was one of my very first posts!

we are enjoying them again this year, and hopefully for many years to come.

i have seen many templates online for these pennants, but couldn't find the exact shape that i wanted.

 i like a slightly pointier pennant... i just think the proportions look nicer.

so, i made my own. and you can too.

it's suuuuuuuper easy, i promise!

do you have any 81/2 x 11 paper in your house?

yeah, i thought so.

here goes:

i bought fat quarters and just folded them in half lengthwise.

i believe that i got about a dozen triangles (front and back)

from each fat quarter.

circle of inspriration

remember my halloween inspiration post from a few days ago?

well, candace, at crafty sisters, saw one of the images i posted,

got inspired, and cranked out this lovely:

and these:

isn't blogging and the circle of inspiration amazing?

it's one of the main reasons i love blogging.

you can see exactly how she did it here.

don't forget...

about design with kids in mind at

6th street design school.

there was a great post wedensday about dealing with

the "tacky" things that can sometimes invade

kids rooms, and todays post is all about balancing 
kids with blogging/running a business.
it's good stuff.
check it out here.

halloween in black + white

some lovely halloween inspiration in

black + white.

images found at:

family circle, good housekeeping, 

country living, martha stewart