Happy "Home-made" Halloween

When I was growing up (back in the dark ages), we never bought Halloween outfits.  We always made our own.  This year, that's the path we traveled.  Matter of fact, Nikolai did not decide to be a zombie until last night in church! 

Here's my boys for Halloween - a zombie and a hippie!

Nikolai cut his outfit himself.  He made the zigzag cuts for his pants and shirt.  The shirt was too little for him and the jeans were in the worn out, play pants pile.  His cost?  0$!!  We had everything on hand for his outfit.  He even used my make-up for his face.   This suits him, don't you think?  He was careful NOT to smile because, "Mom, zombies do NOT smile!"

Deniska wanted to be a hippie, a love child.  Now, I do admit that we paid a little for his wig and glasses but not much - under $5.  He had tie-died his t shirt at a birthday party back in August.  He is very proud of his outfit.This suits him as well.  He was born about 40 years too late!

And, finally, their sweet daddy has taken them for Trunk-or-Treating at one of the local churches tonight.  Tomorrow, they go to their daddy's office for trick-or-treating.  They do not want to go out tomorrow night because they say they will have too much homework to do!

Since this was all made with supplies on hand, I am linking to Heidi's Make Do and Mend Monday!

Happy "Home-made" Halloween everyone!!

Fall Cinnamon Stick Candles

What's a girl to do when she wants new fall decoration but does not want to spend the money on new items?  She makes something new out of the things on hand.  I have seen these candles on the internet and honestly they are not hard to do.  You gather your supplies - 

For this project, you will need candles, cinnamon sticks, raffia or ribbon or twine, a glue gun, and a little furry cat to help you!

 You simply hot glue the sticks to the candles and tie a string of some sort around them.  Hard - huh?!

 

I am linking to Heidi's Make Do and Mend today.  

 and to ...




Happy October everyone! 

Blogging Friends are the best!

 

I have made the best friend in the blogging world.  Jane, Cottage at the Crossroad, gifted me this sweet award, The Versatile Blogger.  Is she not sweet to do that?!  Thank you Jane.

There are some rules associated with accepting this award:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass this award along to 10 recently discovered blogs.

 I'm not sure there are seven things about myself to share, but I will try:
1.  I have been teaching Special Education for 28 years. 
2.  I am planning on retiring at the end of this year.
3.  I married a big city boy and converted him to country living.
4.  I am the proud mama of 2 ten year old boys.
5.  I am a homebody - there is just no place like home!
6.  I love to craft using different medias.  There is always a new craft that I want to try. 
7.  I have been sewing since I was old enough to thread a needle.  I could sew and play a piano before I could read. 

Now, I need to pass this along to 10 recently discovered blogs:
This will take some time to ponder on since there are so many good blogs out there.  Perhaps, if you are reading this and you would like this award, just feel free to take it and let me know! 

Make Do & Mend Monday - Crocheted Coasters

I started crocheting Sunday on these cute little coasters.  They take no time at all and perfect for TV watching.  I am making them for gifts.  Each Peaches & Creme ball will make 6 coasters.

They are addictive....

The boys like this one the best since it has so many colors in it and will match anything.

Glad you could stop by.  I am linking to Heidi's Make Do & Mend Monday.

With fond stitches,

Make Do & Mend Monday - Spray Painted Candlesticks

Welcome to another fun project!  I have seen these painted candlesticks all over the web and thought they were so pretty.  So, I rounded up all of those old, brass candlesticks and my spray paint for a fun project.  While I was at it, I also spray painted a lazy susan that need a face lift.

Let's start at the beginning.  Here's a before picture of what I spray painted.

I took it all outside and spray painted my heart out.  It was only 102!!  Needless to say, I was hot!

The good thing was, since it was so hot, it did not take long for everything to dry!

Hmm, I am not sure that I like the "family" painted yellow.  I might need to change that to another color.  Maybe red?  First I need to decide where I am going to place it inside.  See the pool?  Deniska and I got in and played while these were drying!  Smart - huh?

Here they are on my table.  I just need to add candles, or maybe not.  I kinda like them just as they are.  See my chair covers?  I did those on Saturday.  You can read about them here.

I am linking to:
Heidi's Make Do and Mend Monday

Thanks for dropping by!  I would love to hear what you think about this project.

Make Do and Mend Mondays - Battery Storage

Batteries everywhere!  Not any more!  For my project this week, I would like to show you how to store your batteries.

Yesterday, I reached into my refrigerator to get an onion and ended up organizing and cleaning out the refrigerator.  What prompted this task was when a battery fell out of the onions.  I decided then it needed some attention. 

I keep my batteries in the refrigerator because I had always thought it would extend their life.  According to the research I did yesterday, it does for 5%.  While not a huge amount, I suppose every little bit helps!  I can't take credit for this idea - it comes from Better Homes and Garden.  I saw it on Pinterest and thought it was so clever.  Dennis had some old pill boxes in his closet that was not being used and they became the new keepers of the batteries.  It would be nice if the batteries would stand up like the original post, but this works just fine.  We use a lot of batteries in this home! 

I hope you can use this tip for your home.  I am linking to Heidi's Make Do & Mend.  I think this is definitely a Make DO!  I am also linking to My Junk Drawer. 

and, to:

Thanks for dropping by!

Make Do & Mend Monday - Re-Furbished Mouse Pad

Don't you just love this sweet mouse pad?  This is my Make Do & Mend project for the week.  When I was cleaning out my closet yesterday, I found this mouse pad.  Look at the picture below.  As you can tell, the boys really liked this mouse pad as well.  *grins*

As you can see, it has seen better days but I couldn't bear to throw it away because it is one of those really thick, nice mouse pads.  So, I decided I would just give it a new life by a make over!  I found a scrap of material that I loved (with cats on it of course!). I traced around the mouse pad on to the back of the material and cut it out leaving about an inch margin all the way around.

After I cut it out, I ironed the material on to wonder under (any type of fusible web will work).  I then ironed it on to the mouse pad and trimmed around the mouse pad to get my new top!  Easy as can be!  This took me about 10 minutes to do.  How simple is that?

Just be careful not to cut the mouse pad as you are trimming the material.  I just love it!  Best of all, since I had all the materials on hand, it didn't cost me a thing!  That's a good thing!

I am linking this to Heidi's Make Do and Mend Monday.  (I know, I am one day late - as usual!)

Thank you for dropping by!