Easy Halloween Center piece

Even though we are only a week away from Halloween - I am still decorating!! There are so many great ideas out there...if only there was enough time to do it all. Here is a center piece that I made in under an hour (including drying time!) How can you go wrong?

Here was the original concept of my table (which will be painted black pretty soon!). I thought that I would purposely let my flowers dry, wilt and die to create a "Mortica Addams"-like decor....well...it looks like I just forgot to throw away my flowers. No spooky, just sloppy.

Late last night while staring at my sloppy table scape I had in epiphany! 3 items. Quick to create. Can be done during nap time....I was going to do it!

You will need:

A vase

Sticks & twigs spray painted black

And these lovelies...

These mini pumpkins from Paramore Art Works I have been trying to think of how to display them and this was a perfect opportunity! Get some!!! They are GREAT!!

Place your spray painted sticks in the vase first and then fill to the brim with mini pumpkins (be careful they are delicate)

 Then display along side the rest of your Halloween decor!

Are you guys dressing up for Halloween? I usually do, but this year I'm sitting out - too focused on Baby S. and his costume. Let us know in our new poll! (up on the upper right side)

Linked Up to I Heart Naptime & The Sunday Scoop

Pinterest Halloween Inspiration

Have you heard of Pinterest?  We both joined a few months ago and have become addicted to it!!  Pinterest is a virtual pinboard where you can keep track of online ideas that you like; it's a little like bookmarking a site you want to remember, but it's much faster and more fun.  We use Pinterest to keep track of recipes, craft projects, home decor ideas, cute clothing, printables...and many other things that we want to remember.  You can organize your ideas by different categories and then refer back to your virtual pinboards whenever you want.  Even better, you can share your pins with your friends and see what your friends are Pinning, which gives you even more ideas.  With Halloween coming up, Pinterest has an abundance of Halloween ideas to get you inspired, help you decorate, and assist you in choosing a costume.  Here are some of our favorite Pins for Halloween!

Nan

How cute are these little fanged pumpkins?!

I love these mummy bars -- googly-eyed candy bars wrapped with crepe paper

This awesome milk jug skeleton was created by our amazing friend Anne of Floral Showers



Michelle

This wreath from Just a Girl inspired me to make my own spooky wreath for our front door

Growing up dinner on Halloween was always thrown together at the last minute (now that I'm a Mom I understand why). I love menus that reflect the holiday and there have been quite a few menu items on Pinterest to give you ideas for this Halloween. (photo credit: i.imgur.com)

You can also find some FANSTASIC costume ideas like this one from Pink Suede Shoe! When I have a little girl I know what we will be for Halloween!!

Have we convinced you of the Awesomeness that is Pinterest? Wanna join? Need an invite?
We are giving away 5 invitations to Pinterest.
All you have to do is:
Become a Follower of our She Said blog & Friend us on Facebook...that easy!!
Make sure to leave us a comment that you did both and leave your e-mail so we can shoot you your invite!

Are you ready to be addicted?

Paperback Pumpkins

Happy Soon-to-Be Halloween!! I haven't even started to get my decorations out - have you? You probably have, no one can procrastinate like I do!! Well I have seen these book-turned-into-a-pumpkin crafts all over Pinterest lately and have really wanted to try them out. Our local library here takes old books that they don't use anymore and puts them out for Free....so can you guess how much I paid to make these cute little pumpkins? NOTHING. NADA. $0.00....don't you love crafts like that?

The size of your pumpkin is based on the size of the book

A list of things needed: Old books (that you can take the covers off easily), Sticks/Stems, Ribbon, box cutter & mat, clamps & heavy cans, sissors, orange ink pad, pencil and glue....and I would like to also add a glue gun for one part of the project.

1. Take off the covers from the books. These were paper backs so it was an easy removal process. I used one half of the cover to create my template. Just like you are cutting out a folded piece of paper into a heart, you create the same half-shape for the pumpkin. A slight bend at the top and a flat bottom so it can sit up by itself. Trace your shape onto the book.

2. Take your box cutter and start following your line. Over and over and over again

3. You will have rough edges. If you want you can sand them down with some sandpaper, but I like the rough edges.

4. Once cut. Take the two books, glue one side and place the other on top. Weight it down until the glue has dried.

Once it has dried, pick up the pumkin and connect the other side together. If you like the fullness of it move on to the next step. If you want your pumpkin a bit fuller add another book. (In my pictures it took 2 books for the large pumpkin and three for the smaller)

When you are ready open the book so the spines are open and up. Hot glue your stick into the spine. (I used regular glue and it didn't really stay put). Once the stem is in you can glue the other side together and weight it down until dry. Once dry set your pumpking up to look at the fullness. If you see any gaps, take those pages and glue together securing with binder clips and weights as needed.

Take an orange ink pad and rub the edges of the book with the ink. For the life of your ink pad I suggest inking the pumpkin across the pages instead of up and down. Ink until you are happy with the color.

Tie a cute decorative ribbon around the stem.

And there you have it! Your paperback pumpkin. The best part? You can keep these up the entire fall season if you want to. Let me know if you tried it, I would love to see your own paperback pumpkins!

So what is your most hated candy? Come on, we all have one. I fondly remember coming home Halloween night and organizing all of my Halloween candy by type. I would trade all of my Tootsie Rolls (including Pops) with my brother for his one Reeses peanutbetter cup. Look on the upper right and vote for your most hated Halloween candy.

List of Three...Halloween Costumes!

It's officially October!  This is one of my favorite times of year...I love the cooler weather, the shorter days, and the crisp autumn-y smell in the air.  Although Mr. W and I currently don't do much to celebrate Halloween and don't yet have children to dress up, we still have fun wandering the Halloween aisles in the stores and checking out the decorations and costumes.  For those of you who may be in need of costume ideas, here are some of our favorite Halloween costumes from the past!

Nan
1 - Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band -- Michelle, Anne, Natalie and I decided we wanted to the the Fab Four for Halloween in eighth grade (I was George); luckily for us, we have awesome moms who miraculously agreed to make our costumes.  We had so much fun going around each other's neighborhoods and ended up singing in several people's living rooms.  It was one of the highlights of that year.

2 - Witch -- I know this is a pretty common one, but we went all-out when I was six or seven.  I had a wig, a giant fake nose that my mom glued to my face, and green makeup on my face.  I looked pretty dang spooky.  My friend's mom didn't recognize me when I showed up trick-or-treating; considering that I played with that particular friend nearly every day, that was a pretty good indication of how well-disguised I was!

3 - Morticia from The Addams Family -- This was another costume that my mom sewed for me.  It was a great dress and I loved the black wig, but the thing I remember most about it is the makeup.  For some reason, my mom couldn't help me get ready and my dad did my makeup.  My dad is a mortician and has only done makeup on people who are dead -- so I had to lie down for him to do it.  My mom laughed SO HARD!!


Michelle
1. Forever and ALWAYS will be the Sgt. Pepper costumes - I don't think there will be another costume to top it!

2. Second Head. Mr. S & I (as well as Nan & Mr. W) are BIG fans of The Office and the second season Halloween episode where Micheal has a second head inspired us to make our own. We did it old-school with paper mache and balloons and had a blast. We worked so hard on them that we still have them so we can use them again. In fact, Halloween 2009 Mr. S was sick and couldn't help pass out candy at the trick-or-treat parade in our churches parking lot so I wore his head so we were passing out candy "together".

3. Punk Rocker. It was hard to narrow down my third costume, but I think my punk rocker choice embodies one of my favorite reasons to dress up - you can be something/someone totally different than yourself. I would have to say that a punk rocker is my total alter-ego. The teased up hair, black nailpolish and layers of goth-like clothing (which also can keep you warm on those cold Halloween nights) - it's fun to mix & match everything in your wardrobe to create a really fun look.


What are you dressing up as this Halloween or  what have your favorite costumes been in the past?