The Holidays are coming . . .

With this statement, you may attempt to do any of the following:
1) Run and hide under the bed
2) Run out and immediately start shopping
3) Run and start a baking flurry
4) Find lots of great holiday projects and get really inspired to be crafty and start a ton of said awesome projects and then find that you have no time to finish anything and get left with a big mess tied up with a bow.

I am firmly in category 4 currently. By having the Internet and exploring other people's blogs, I have found a slew of projects I would like to attempt. Luckily, most of these are cheap and chic and may even be fun to do.

I have many of these ball ornaments and have been making them into a wreath since last year.
Eddie Ross blog gives the really easy instructions for this. Now to find an old wire hanger...

On the Shanty2Chic blog, they have a fabulous tutorial for making an easy centerpiece stand for decorations. This seems a little more labor intensive, but spray paint would be involved. I have been scrounging yard sales for something similar for the past couple of years and been disappointed. Hmmm...

Lastly, Shanty2Chic did a guest entry on UCreate blog about an advent calendar. Again, this is something I have been craving for purchase, but never found the "perfect" one at the "perfect = cheap" price. I nearly picked a calender up from the Christmas Store the other weekend, but didn't want to fork over the cash. I think I would nix the Bingo and instead label with Christmas, but I like the simplicity of the project and the distressed look. Plus, the project involves spray paint AND power tools. Wahoo!

I'll keep you posted as to when and if any of the projects fit into my future :-)

Happy Halloween!

We celebrated our first Halloween with Tam this past weekend. This is one of my favorite holidays and I really enjoy decorating the entire house with scary/creeping paraphernalia. Cobwebs, animated pictures, creepy skulls...we had it all. And this year I was as big as a whale while trying to hang the stuff up on the walls. (Much easier, even with Tam's "help").

As to costumes, since Halloween was Wednesday, I didn't wear something to school. Then, on Saturday morning, I had to attend a local conference for undergraduate research and was sporting the professional attire. In the end, I wore orange and black, but no over-the-top swag for me. Tam, however, was too cute! I had picked up a cow costume from another mom last summer at a yard sale. The sleeper fit fine with its black and white spots and darling little tail. The hat was a little big, so the ears kept flopping in his face. Brian wore jeans, a flannel, and a vest - going as a cross cultures farmer.

We invited friends and neighbors to stop by through out the evening for chili, candy, and beer (depending on the age). Some of my students who attended the conference came for a brief time before hitting other parties. And our friends with small kids stopped by as well. This meant that Tam had plenty of playmates during the evening. Our doorbell rang intermittently, and I am happy to say that nearly all trick or treaters had costumes this year. More importantly, all of them said thank you :-) Our friends' son, Xander (2yrs), had a hoot saying hello and goodbye to all the kiddies who stopped by our door.

It was a fun evening spent socializing with good company. We were tuckered out from all the brouhaha by 9:30pm! Can't wait until next year!