Sunday, November 2, 2014

Halloween 2014

I might have mentioned this in a previous post...but I gotta say, it was no accident that I was born in October because it really is my absolute favorite month of the year. Halloween is so much fun for me and it's even more fun with the kids.

This year we went with the Egyptian theme because of Lizard's school project. Little Bird got to dress up three times in three different costumes and loved it.


This is The Chief dressed up at our ward trunk or treat. I made his costume out of a sheet (Egytian cotton of course) and fabric I found at Goodwill. His collar, arm bands and waist thing are hand painted.


Little Bird striking a pose in her princess dress from last year. It still fit so she wore it again.


Lizard in her Sekhmet costume.


We were asked to have a carnival game at our trunk so I put cups on a board and had the kids try and throw ping pong balls into them. Some of the kids were really good. I had candy and prizes. It was a fun activity.


I decorated a hat for a Relief Society Activity. I got an award for the most work put into the hat because of the wire and beads.




I made this costume last year for Little Bird and forgot when it came time to decide on this year's theme. She ended up wearing it to her preschool party and the hat I made for RS was perfect. The Chief wanted his picture taken too.



It was a little warm for the baby costumes I have so we went with cool outfits during the week instead.




They did Boo Grams at Lizard's school but I never could make it over there to buy one for her so I made her one instead. There is coiled wire behind the ghost so that it's springy. His arms are a little wonky, but I was in a big hurry when I made it. It's the thought that counts right?


We hosted a pot luck for our street in our driveway on Halloween. It was something fun our neighborhood used to do in California. Considering that all the houses aren't occupied and it's our first year doing it I would say it was a success. Five other families came, and we also invited my sister and parents.




My sister asked me if I wanted to paint some "Face in the Hole" props for the elementary school's fall festival this year. The theme is super heroes so I decided to paint Lego Minifigures.  I love these things and will stop and get my picture taken whenever I see one. I think there will be more of these in my future now that I know how to make them.

 






I wish I could have taken pictures while it was still light outside. It gets dark really early here because Arizona doesn't do daylight savings (no complaining). Little Bird's cape was made from a shower curtain I found at Goodwill and the collar is made from the same fabric as The Chief's but it's hand beaded instead of painted.

What do you do when the kids are sleeping?

Work on an art project that's what.
I found the idea for this cool work of art on Pinterest. Where else right? I had been looking to buy something for my walls and couldn't find anything just right. Then I stumbled on this idea. My father-in-law built us a table and bench with a herringbone pattern so I thought it would be cool to make art to match. I need to post pictures of the table, it turned out awesome.


All the pieces of tape had to be cut to the same length.


You paint whatever colors you want on canvas and then apply strips of paint in a herringbone pattern.


The pattern didn't turn out as straight as I wanted, but I wasn't about to start over.


 Then paint over the tape with white paint.


Here they are finished (they measure 24" x 36"). Sorry, I don't have a picture of them hanging up.

Hubby is "another year older and wiser too!"

We were huge slackers when it came to picture taking this year. Hey, at least you get to see what the cake looked like.


 6" Ding Dong Cake
It's what he requested and tasted way better than a ding dong.


Yes, these are different photos. See, The Chief moved.


You like the birthday plates? For years I've had tons of leftover birthday plates and finally ran out...just in time for our birthdays.

The Chief Turns 2

The pictures of The Chief opening presents were taken at an early party we had with my parents. I only have video from the party on his birthday, but I haven't downloaded those yet. You might get to see them later. :) My sister came over with her family and it was fun.




This was his birthday cake...free of eggs, milk, flaxseed, peanuts and tree nuts (though he can have coconut).
 It's a vanilla cake with a whipped coconut cream frosting and we sprinkled toasted coconut on the slices. He took two bites and was good, but the rest of us enjoyed eating it for him.





Birthday - Birthday - Birthday

You'd think with six people in our family our birthdays would be spread out a little. Nope, check out the dates.

July 27
Aug 1

October 11
October 14
October 21

March 21

Little Bird is the special one with her birthday being far away from the others. For the rest of us it's a lot of cake and presents all crammed into a short period of time. We still have fun though...good thing I love making cakes.

I couldn't decide which cake to make for my birthday (yes I made my own cake, I can't help myself), so I made three in the week leading up to my birthday.


                                                          Somoa Bunt Cake


                       Pistachio Cake with a Honey Buttercream Frosting






Chocolate Cake w/ cream cheese Mint Chip Frosting
I love that it looks like it's frosted with ice cream!