I'M A DOUBLE WINNER!!

I think I need to head to Vegas because I am on a big lucky streak! At least when it comes to giveaways!

I won this darling guy from Alexa at The Swell and Spooky Life. When I first found her blog I saw a post she did on this guy and fell in love with him right away.

Then she had a giveaway for him and I won! He is so cute. Believe it or not, he is even cuter in person! I am so thrilled to have him.

Thanks Alexa!


Then I posted asking for help on how to fix up my messed up blog and Laura from Decor to Adore left me a message saying I should run over to April Showers as she was having a giveaway for a whole new blog makeover.

Thankfully I took her advice and ran over to add my name. I got in just under the wire. Now I never in a million years thought I would win but guess what? I did!

Yes, I'm getting a whole new blog layout. Can you believe it. I am so excited.

I may not be posting as much until it's all done but I will do my best.

Thank you so much April. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

I hope everyone has a great Halloween...what's left of it. Be nice and give the cute kids lots of candy. But, be sure to save some for yourself!

Hugs,
Joanne

I'VE BEEN TAGGED

Pat at Milie Fiori Favoriti tagged me. The tag was to go to your photos and open the 4th folder and then post the 4th picture and write about it.

So I did. The above photo was taken in 2005 and is a photo of my great niece, Trinity, with her daddy, my nephew Jason. We all went as a family to Dana Point CA and went whale watching.

This was taken shortly before Jason got custody of Trinity and she was out here visiting him. Four months later Jason got 100% custody of Trinity and she moved out from CO for good. I'm very proud of Jason stepping up to bat for her and making sure she is living in a safe, happy and healthy home. He is a very good Daddy and they both love each other very much.

So now, I have to tag four other people. So I tag:

Debbie at Garage Sale Gal

Kathi at Tray Bella

Donna at Party Wishes

Shannon at Bless our Nest

Hugs,
Joanne

A FREE BLOG BANNER FOR YOU & A GREAT NEW BLOG

Thanks to Laura at http://decortoadore.blogspot.com/ I discovered a new and fun blog.

April Showers is an enjoyable place to go for some good reading. But, there is even another great reason to go there now. She is having a wonderful giveaway. A free blog banner to anyone who signs up to follow her blog. The catch is you only have until 10/30/08 to get in on this great giveaway.

She is also having another giveaway for a whole blog make over. As you all know, my blog somehow got messed up and my whole right side bar is now below all my posts. I can't seem to get it fixed.

So I'm hoping I win that. But, if you need a new blog lay out also then go ahead and sign up for that giveaway too.

I bet you want to know how to find this great blog huh? Well, here you go, just click here http://aprildurham.blogspot.com/ Be sure to tell you I sent you there OK.

Thanks!
Joanne

HELP NEEDED WITH MY BLOG LAYOUT

Hello my fellow bloggers. I'm having a problem with the layout of my blog. As you can see, all the info that was on my right bar side is now under all my posts. I can not seem to get that right side back.

Do any of you know what I need to do?

I hate this layout. I've had so many problems with it since I've started. I would love to have a whole new blog look. Most of you have such great layouts. I just can not afford to pay for a blog make over so I have to make due with this one.

So any help on how to get my side bar back would be wonderful! I want to be able to start listing the giveaways I've seen so you can all join in them. No one will scroll all the way down to try and find them now.

Thanks blogger friends. I know someone out there will have the answer. You guys are always so smart!

Hugs,
Joanne

A HUMMEL COLLECTION

Do you ever notice how sometimes you have a collection of something that you never started out to collect?

Well, I noticed I have a collection of Hummel children. I've never been a big fan of these. However, as I get older I'm starting to love them more and more.

You may ask why I have this collection if I didn't like them. I'll tell you, it's because when my Aunt died she left them to me. She loved them. She collected them for years and years. Most she got from Germany when either she would take a trip there or one of my other aunts did and would pick her up some.

My Aunt wrote down which ones would go to which niece or nephew when she died. These are the ones I got.


This one is my favorite one. A little girl feeding her chickens. The look on her face looks like she really enjoys her chore of feeding the animals. I know I would too.

This darling little boy is a hunter. But, he doesn't seem to want to hurt this little bunny. So I think he decided to take him home to be his little friend rather then shoot him.

This little boy is playing a song for his puppy. Maybe he is playing "How much is that doggy in the window".

Little little guy looks like he was going out for a walk with his big walking stick. I think he went with his grandpa and is looking up to ask him a question about something they saw.

I think this sweet guy is playing his parents a song he just learned on his accordion. He looks pretty happy with himself.

This little boy seems to be walking home with his school work tucked away in his back pack. I wonder if he had a long walk? Can't you just picture him splashing in puddles as he makes his way home?

Yes, the more I look at these Hummels the more I fall in love with them. It's as if each one has a story to tell.

I don't know how much each one of these are worth, nor do I care. To me they are priceless. Each time I look at one of these they remind me of my dear aunt Pat. She has been gone for years now but I still miss her very much.

When I was little she would often tell me stories. She would look around the room at different things and then make up a story about what she saw. I'm sure several of the stories she told me came from these little boys and girls that used to sit on a big shelf in her living room.

Those were happy times. Now, looking at these figures I get that warm fuzzy feeling again. Just like when I was little kid listening to each word of the stories my Aunt used to tell me.

Hugs,

Joanne

Sunday, October 26, 2008

KIDS HALLOWEEN PARTY

By now most of you know that every year I give my great niece, Trinity, a Halloween party for her and her friends. This was the 4th annual party. The theme was black and white this year.

So the table was set for all the children. There were thirteen children this year that showed up. Four were unable to make it.

At the table each child was met with their own spider web plate and ghost cup. The napkin and straw were skeletons. They each got a black and white holiday cracker filled with candy and a Tootsie pop sucker ghost. I made both of these.

For lunch we had two kinds of pizza, three kinds of pasta, bread sticks, salad, fruit & veggies with dip. Along with "blood" to drink. OK, so it was punch but the kids liked to call it blood. LOL

We had spider web cupcakes for dessert and each cupcake had it's own spider on it. Scary! The cupcakes were served on a darling black spider web three tier server.

We even had candy bone and skull candy. These taste just like sweet tarts.

As the guest showed up we had everyone stand in front of the "Haunted House" to take a picture.

The back drop was painted by a coworker of one of the mom's. He made it for a school function and I thought it was so cute that I asked to borrow it and was lucky enough to get a yes.

The above picture is the guest of honor, Trinity. She is with her dad, my nephew Jason, who showed up in this crazy mask.

We printed out the photos so each child could take home his/her own photo to remember the day by.

Everyone showed up in costumes. It was fun to see all the kids dressed up.

But, before long, most had some, if not all, of their costumes off.

Each year we do some type of craft project. This year we made bloody fingers in a box.

Look at how Trinity scared her daddy with her bloody finger in a box!

We took little boxes and cut a hole out of the bottom. There was cotton inside and a hole was cut in that also. The finger of the child could be placed in the box and then fake blood was poured on top. The box had a lid that they decorated so it would look like a nice present. Then they would lift the lid off the box and inside would be a bloody finger that was sure to scare whoever opened the box.

The kids seemed to love making these. I made these once when I was a little girl. Only back then we didn't have fake blood so we had to use Ketchup as blood.

We played lots of games too. The winners got prizes. We played "Mummy Wrap".

Each child had to team up with a partner. One child would then wrap the other child with a roll of toilet paper like a mummy. The one who finished first won.

There were many laughs as this game was played.

We also played "pass the ugly pumpkin". The story was The witch turned one of the cute little pumpkins into an ugly one that brought with it bad luck. So as the music played the children, who were sitting in a circle, would pass the "Ugly Pumpkin" to the next person. When the music stopped the child left holding the "Ugly Pumpkin" was left with bad luck and therefore was out. The winner was the last one left.

Then there was "Witches Limbo". We all know how to play limbo right? You hold a stick up and then everyone takes turns bending backwards to fit under the stick. If you fall, your hands touch the ground or you hit the Limbo stick then you are out. The winner is the last one to get out.

Well, Witches Limbo is the same only the stick is two witch brooms tied together.

Then there was Halloween Bingo. Now you think bingo wouldn't be that big of a deal but every year the kids just can't seem to get enough of Halloween Bingo.

Maybe it's because they love to win prizes. Or maybe they are just tired by the time they get to sit down and play. Or maybe it's because rather then numbers they play with fun Halloween pictures, like witches, ghosts and monsters. It could be because the markers are candy corn and they get to eat parts of the game.

I'm not sure. I do know they want to play again and again and again. The only way we got them to stop was to go back outside for the Spider Pinata.

After it was cracked open and the candy came spilling out, only to be picked up by lots of little hands grabbing as fast as they could, the kids were tired, full and ready to go home. Well, maybe the kids weren't ready to go home but the parents were.

So each child was sent on their way with a Witches Cauldron full of goodies, toys and candy. Good byes were said and they were gone for one more year.

Tonight, the little ones will dream of the fun they had today and I, well, I will sleep like a baby as I'm one tired old lady who is ready to hit the sack.

Hugs,
Joanne

Friday, October 24, 2008

FIRST PIECES OF MY CIVIL WAR COSTUMES

I've been on the hunt to find items for my Civil War Costumes I'm trying to put together for the Victorian Tea Society that I belong to.

I've had several of you email me asking me to post when I find things. So here is my first post about what I've gathered so far. Cameos were very big back then. I had this one in my stash of jewelery I had. I found this at a thrift store years and years ago. I never knew what to do with it but now I do.

I also found this sterling silver heart locket. Lockets were often worn in Victorian times. This one opens up at the top and has a little pocket you can slip a note, a small photo or locket of hair from your loved one in there.

I also found this cute sterling heart with a black stone. I can slip this on the chain from the locket when I want a change.

This darling little gold with green stones bracelet came from my aunt. She passed away and I was lucky enough to get it from her. Perfect Victorian look as they wore dainty pieces like this.

The ear rings they wore were mostly like these. Small stones set in either sterling silver or gold. They had the hooks like these. Posts were not around back then.

I also had picked these two broaches at thrift stores years ago. They too are perfect for the Victorian look I'm going for.

This is one of the skirts I picked up from eBay. Now I need to find hoops to go under this.

I also won this skirt. Cute for spring or summer looks.

This is so fun hunting for items to use. I can't wait until I have a whole outfit and can finally put it all together.

My sister, Maureen, is also a member of the Victorian Tea Society with me so we can always swap items. That will be great because then it's like having access to double the items to use.

We have volunteered to help out at the Christmas Tea they are putting on. I can't wait. It's going to be a blast.

Who would have ever thought that even as an adult you can play dress up and have fun.

Hugs,
Joanne

Thursday, October 23, 2008

TWO EASY HALLOWEEN CRAFTS FOR GIVING CANDY

We have all seen those pretty English crackers at Christmas time right? Well at Tray Bella last year she made some in black and white to use for Halloween.

I fell in love with them and knew I wanted to make them for my Halloween party this year. My theme is black and white so her colors would be perfect for me. But of course you could make yours in any colors.

These are the colors of mine. I think they would be darling made with copies of vintage postcards too.

Of course you could make these for any holiday or any party.

I made these to put candy in but you could put a little gift in them too.

So come on, I'll show you how to make these.

First go to the scrap booking store or Michaels or anywhere that sells scrap booking paper by you. Pick out the papers you want to use.

The above shows the ones I picked out. I really wanted more Halloween looking ones but they didn't have black and white Halloween paper at any of the place I went to.

Get toilet paper rolls. I've been saving ours for months. But of course you could ask friends and family to help you out by saving them for you too.

You will need some tissue paper. I just went with white as it was much cheaper then color tissue paper.

You will need some ribbon to tie the ends with. Again, get something that matches your theme. Michaels is a good place to pick up ribbon as they always have ribbon on sale.

You will need something to stuff these with. Again, I used candy but you can use whatever you wanted.

First wrap the toilet paper roll with the tissue paper and tape it so it stays in place.

Tie one of the sides. It's OK if you can see through the tissue paper because we are going to cover it up later.

Once you have one side tied off stuff it full with candy.

Tie the ribbon to the other side so the candy doesn't fall out.

Then take your paper and wrap it around the tissue paper. Glue or use double side tape to hold it in place and then you are finished!

Pretty easy huh? You could always add a tag to it if you wanted to use these to double as a place card on your table. Or if you are giving a little gift you could put a gift tag on it.

My only real advice is to just have everything cut and ready to go before you start. It will make it much quicker to do these projects.

Now for another little quick project. Most of us have seen these a thousand times but on the off chance someone hasn't I thought I would add it here.

For this project all you need is a tootsie pop, a square of white tissue paper and some ribbon. I happened to have some Halloween ribbon that says Trick or Treat on it but you could use any kind.

Just fold the tissue over the tootsie pop and tie with the ribbon. Then draw on eyes and a mouth and you are done.

Little ghost suckers. These take all of a minute to make.

So there you have it. Two quick, cheap and cute little crafts to do so you can present your candy to your loved ones.

Hope you enjoyed these.

Hugs,
Joanne

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

QUICK, EASY & CHEAP PIRATE INVITATIONS

I went to my friend, Sandra's, house today and helped her make invitations for her son's upcoming birthday party. The theme is Pirates.

I thought they came out really cute so I wanted to share them with you in case you would like to make them for a party you have.

Pirate theme is great for birthdays but also a fun Halloween theme too. I think I'm going to do a Pirate theme next year for Trinity's Halloween party.

First, you take a water bottle. Wash it out and let it dry. It can take several days to get all the water out so you may want to start to make your invitations early so they have plenty of time to dry out.

Take the cap off and don't forget to cut off the little plastic rim that stays on the bottle.

Get some scrap booking paper and cut it into strips. Something like the above pattern was perfect for this project.

Tape the strip of paper over the water label. You could remove the label but why bother when you can just cover it.

Get some little skull head beads. Sandra added little red rhinestones to the eyes just to give it a little some extra.

You can get these skull head beads from Oriental Trading Company. You can find them on line and they also have a catalog.

If you have children this company will be able to help you plan all your parties. They have tons of party themes and their prices are great.

Tie the beads on with some jute

Print out your invitation on paper. You can also tear it and/or burn the edges to make it look worn and old. Or easier yet, just add some brown ink to the edges to give it the same look.

Roll up the invitation and put it in your decorated bottle.

You can also add some sand, a few shells or jewels to the inside of the bottle. Then give it to your friends.

You can see in the photo this bottle still needs to dry longer. But this was just to show you what it will like finished.

It's best if you can hand deliver these. But if not, you could put them in a little box and mail them or you could even write the address on a sticky label and mail these through the mail.

If you do mail them that way be sure to keep your cap and put it on tight.

Then wait for the calls. Because, you will surely have everyone saying yes to a party that starts out with such fun as these invitations.

Hugs,
Joanne