This dish scrubber and dish towel are pretty and practical at the same time. They allow me to do the dishes while celebrating the fun of Halloween. Gotta love Target -- where else can you get this at 99 cents?!
For more practical things, click here.
NOW I'm ready for Halloween!
It had to happen sooner or later. My house looks like the Halloween fairy threw up all over the place, but my blog was still the same ho-hum-homepage. For weeks I've been enviously checking out blogs that are all decked out for Halloween, such as Hootin Anni's and Bridget's and wishing I could do the same. I knew I wanted to include Halloween-themed photos with each post I put up in October, but Halloween-lover that I am, I wanted to do more. And now, I have!
I don't have the time, knowledge or inclination to mess with my blog template, but fortunately the lovely and talented Gattina has made it easy for me to spook up my homepage --thanks, Gattina, for the great header!
I don't have the time, knowledge or inclination to mess with my blog template, but fortunately the lovely and talented Gattina has made it easy for me to spook up my homepage --thanks, Gattina, for the great header!
Fridays Feast #165
Appetizer : If you were a dog, what breed would you be, and why?
I don't know anything about dogs, so I don't know. I do know that I don't want to be one of those small lap dogs that yip and yap instead of bark, because then my husband wouldn't like me.
I don't know anything about dogs, so I don't know. I do know that I don't want to be one of those small lap dogs that yip and yap instead of bark, because then my husband wouldn't like me.
Soup : What does the color purple make you think of?
Right now, spiders, because I'm in the midst of getting the house all decorated for Halloween.
Right now, spiders, because I'm in the midst of getting the house all decorated for Halloween.
Our dining table centerpiece is all purple and black spiders....
(It looks a lot spookier when the lights are dimmed low)Salad : Approximately how long does it take you to get ready each morning?
Five minutes -- I get dressed, brush my teeth and wash my face. Mornings are all about everybody else but me -- getting the kids up and dressed, giving them breakfast, making the kids' and Alfie's lunch, getting The Pea to school. My breakfast and shower have to wait till the rush dies down.
Main Course : How many cousins do you have, and are you close to them?
Let me see...... I have 26 first cousins (children of my parents' brothers and sisters), and I've already lost track of how many second cousins I have (children of my parents' first cousins). We have big families in the Philippines! With that many cousins, how can you be close to all of them?
Dessert : Take your initials (first, middle, last) and come up with something else those letters could stand for. (Example: SFO = Sweet Funny Otter)
ALP: A lovely person
For more feasts, click here.
Crafting Mama wins the Candy Corn Costume Challenge
Success!! I've completed Pea's dreaded Candy-Corn Fairy Costume Challenge, just in time for our Halloween party. I did not want to pay $80 for the brand-new ensemble; I bid on a used one off Ebay but it ended up selling for $45, still out of my league. So we put together our own version, copied from the original but with little changes here and there. I think the result looks pretty good, don't you? Fortunately, The Pea thinks so; in fact, she says it's better than the original!
Here's a summary of how I did it (note: summary does not convey the effort/angst/mistakes I went through to get it "just right"):
Wings: Bend wire into desired wing shape. Cover wings with a pair of white pantyhose (you'll need stitch or hot-glue the ends shut). Color wings with fabric paint, diluted with water to get that "sheer" color. Decorate with glitter glue and sew on elastic straps at the back.
Bag: Take a square bag and turn inside out. Stitch a diagonal line from each top corner to the bottom of the bag, right in the middle, so it makes a triangle shape. Turn inside out. Use yellow. orange and white fabric paint to color the bag like a piece of candy corn.
Headband: Wrap antenna pipecleaners around headband to anchor (I twisted 2 pipecleaners together so that the antennae would be stiffer). Make candy corn shapes out of foam and hot-glue to the pipecleaners.
Dress and bootcovers: Buy used costume from Craigslist or Ebay (my sewing and crafting skills do not stretch that far).
Total cost: $7 for dress & bootcovers plus $2 for pantyhose plus $5 for glitter glue; the rest were materials we already had at home. Again, I say, Not Bad!
The costumes are here!
That is pure joy on their faces. They have been waiting so patiently all week, asking me every day, twice a day, if today was the day that their costumes would arrive in the mail. And today was the day.The best surprise was that even The Pea's costume arrived today. I wasn't even sure if the woman who sold it to me off Craigslist had even received my check. Truthfully, I wasn't even 100% sure if it was arriving at all -- see Craigslist's rule #1 for avoiding scams . But the woman seemed really nice on her email and even gave me her phone number. And I really, really wanted to get that Candy Corn costume. Fortunately, the woman was alright. I'm glad my fears were just fears. So to the woman who sold me the costume, I'm sorry for doubting you, and thanks for being a good person -- you've made my girl very happy!
Smelly or Sweet?
Witches fingers and toes sure are smelly, aren't they?
Today was an unbelievably rainy day, so to beat the "Mama, what can I do noooooooow?" syndrome, we practiced making these cute snacks for our upcoming Halloween party. It's super-simple: dip pretzel rods into green melted Wilton's Candymelts, then stick a sliced almond at the tip for a fingernail. I added swirls to look like knuckles, and voila!
The kids had a blast making these. The only problem was, 3Po kept absentmindedly sucking on his pretzel rod while waiting for his turn to dip. It was difficult to convince him that his pretzel would be considered more of a smelly old trick than a sweet treat if he were to dip it and offer it up as a party snack.
For more smelly things, click here.
Fridays Feast #164
Appetizer: When was the last time you were surprised?
My daughter's Halloween costume arrived in the mail today; I was pleasantly surprised because I wasn't expecting it until sometime next week.
Soup: Fill in the blanks: My eyes are ______, but I wish they were ____.
My eyes are nearsighted but I wish they were blessed with 20/20 vision.
Salad: If you were a Beanie Baby, what would you look like and what would your name be?
I'm not really into stuffed animals but if I had to choose, I'd probably be Mama the Mouse because my kids would love me and cuddle me anytime.
Main Course: Name two things you consistently do that you consider to be healthy habits.
I eat a good breakfast every morning and walk my daughter to school every day.
Dessert: What brand of toothpaste are you using these days? Do you like it? Why or why not?
I use Crest. As long as the flavor is minty, I don't really care which brand I use.
For more feasts, click here.
My daughter's Halloween costume arrived in the mail today; I was pleasantly surprised because I wasn't expecting it until sometime next week.
Soup: Fill in the blanks: My eyes are ______, but I wish they were ____.
My eyes are nearsighted but I wish they were blessed with 20/20 vision.
Salad: If you were a Beanie Baby, what would you look like and what would your name be?
I'm not really into stuffed animals but if I had to choose, I'd probably be Mama the Mouse because my kids would love me and cuddle me anytime.
Main Course: Name two things you consistently do that you consider to be healthy habits.
I eat a good breakfast every morning and walk my daughter to school every day.
Dessert: What brand of toothpaste are you using these days? Do you like it? Why or why not?
I use Crest. As long as the flavor is minty, I don't really care which brand I use.
For more feasts, click here.
A Virtual Halloween Treat
I've received my first Halloween candy of the year -- over the blogosphere! Hootin' Annie sent me this yummy candy apple in this virtual version of You've Been Boo'd. I like the "Pay it Forward" nature of the game, so I'm going to play along. Hootin' Annie urges us to move out of our blogging comfort zone: "DON'T just choose your friends making this cliquish and 'just groupies'...Make NEW friends by choosing random visitors!!!" So I am distributing my treats around the world:
Rachel @ Celtic Sister (US)
Lutchi @ Gwapasila (not sure?)
Bibik Nyonya @ Bibik Nyonya (Malaysia)
Soy @ English Karadjaw (in the UK)
Shabem @ Shabem (US)
Hope you play along!
You want to be whaaat for Halloween?
I should have known it was too easy. I asked the kids three weeks ago what they wanted to be for Halloween, and the answers were quick and firm: spider (Pea), ghost (CleanBoy), Buzz Lightyear (3Po). No problem. The Pea already has a long black unitard; all I had to do was stuff some black socks with tissue or stockings and sew them on the unitard for legs. We have a white cloth with a hole in the middle that we use when cutting the boys' hair -- perfect for a ghost. And my sister sent us her son's old Buzz Lightyear costume. I thought we'd be all set.
That was before they started changing their minds. First 3Po wanted to be a Ninja Turtle. Then he and CleanBoy started fighting over the lone Buzz costume. I told them they need to decide and stick with it because we need time to find costumes. So now they want to be Power Rangers, green (3Po) and blue (CleanBoy). That wouldn't be too bad except the blue Power Ranger costume currently being sold at the Disney Store is for girls. I've tried bidding on old blue boy Power Ranger costumes twice on eBay, only to be outbid both times. I'm currently trying to convince CleanBoy that Red Power Ranger is just as cool as Blue.
At least Pea's costume is easy, I consoled myself. No such thing. She has decided that a spider is too boyish, and she's afraid her friends might think her spider costume would look weird. She decided she wants to be a guinea pig (like in the Fluffy Easy Reader series). Whaaat???? I don't even know what a guinea pig looks like! Google "guinea pig costume", and the only hits you get are costumes for guinea pigs. She said she would wear orange pajamas, glue a white circle on her front, and paint a white stripe down the middle of her face. She's creative, I'll give her that.
Alfie, wise as ever, suggested she take a deep breath and thumb through some of the Halloween catalogs that seem to make their way to our house this time of year. Now she wants to be a candy corn fairy. Costume Express is the only place I can find it, and it costs $80 for the whole ensemble. I found just one used costume on eBay; again I was outbid. Maybe I'll give her more time to change her mind.
That was before they started changing their minds. First 3Po wanted to be a Ninja Turtle. Then he and CleanBoy started fighting over the lone Buzz costume. I told them they need to decide and stick with it because we need time to find costumes. So now they want to be Power Rangers, green (3Po) and blue (CleanBoy). That wouldn't be too bad except the blue Power Ranger costume currently being sold at the Disney Store is for girls. I've tried bidding on old blue boy Power Ranger costumes twice on eBay, only to be outbid both times. I'm currently trying to convince CleanBoy that Red Power Ranger is just as cool as Blue.
At least Pea's costume is easy, I consoled myself. No such thing. She has decided that a spider is too boyish, and she's afraid her friends might think her spider costume would look weird. She decided she wants to be a guinea pig (like in the Fluffy Easy Reader series). Whaaat???? I don't even know what a guinea pig looks like! Google "guinea pig costume", and the only hits you get are costumes for guinea pigs. She said she would wear orange pajamas, glue a white circle on her front, and paint a white stripe down the middle of her face. She's creative, I'll give her that.
Alfie, wise as ever, suggested she take a deep breath and thumb through some of the Halloween catalogs that seem to make their way to our house this time of year. Now she wants to be a candy corn fairy. Costume Express is the only place I can find it, and it costs $80 for the whole ensemble. I found just one used costume on eBay; again I was outbid. Maybe I'll give her more time to change her mind.
Curvy
Alfie loves motorcycles. Although I'm not a fan, I've begun to appreciate the beauty in their shining chrome and graceful curves.
Alfie loves watching motorcycle races. Here are some sharp curves on the Laguna Seca racetrack.
Here are some other types of curves you can see on the racetrack (Alfie doesn't mind watching these, either).
For more curves, click here.
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