Thursday, October 29, 2009

Cute spooks....



Had to post a picture of my favorite little spooks! The kids are all dressed up for their Halloween party here in town. Bobby made their costumes this week out of cardboard and paint....the cheapest, and best kind of costumes in my opinion! ;) We try to make the costumes every year for the kids.....the kids love it that we get involved, and it is fun to see them enjoy themselves in our handmades!

Happy Halloween!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Simple Fall Crafts with a Tutorial....or Two!



Well, I am relaxing this weekend and just enjoying being home with my family. I have so many projects that I am impatient to do, but here are 2 easy ones that I got done and were quite simple.
The first one is one that I do every year for fall....glitter pumpkins! These aren't very primitive at all, but they get so neat and sparkly that everyone always loves them. The kids like to do the more bright colors....green, purple, red, but I love to do the fall hues....golds, browns, nutmeg colors. These pictures do not do them justice at all....they are so glitterie especially in the light at night....they absolutely sparkle! They are very easy to make and I have made them now for 2 fall weddings that were used for table centerpieces.



Glitter Pumpkin Tutorial:
Here is what you need:
*Tiny orange pumpkins ("boo" size)
*All purpose (cheap)white glue that dries clear
*Foam brushes
*Wax paper
*Very fine glitter (I use the Martha Stewart glitter available at Michael's)

*First brush glue over 1/2 of your pumpkin (as in if you were cutting your pumpkin in half down the middle and be sure to get the bottom well too).

*Now over top of your wax paper, sprinkle the glitter on the glued half pumpkin and let dry a few minutes.

*Now, holding on to the pumpkin by the stem, paint the other half of the pumpkin with glue and cover that half with glitter. Try not to touch the glitterd pumpkin....this glitter is so fine that it will brush off! And that's it! I told you they were simple, and they are just so beautiful! I personally don't spray them with a top coat because the force of the spray could easily push away some of the glitter, I basically use them to just display around the house and I don't pick them up or move them around.





Now the second project that I wanted to do was to make some sweet potato garland. This is a much more primitive decoration that is sure to bring some great kitchenie smells to an area. Well, I finally got some made last night! This is also super easy and requires very little time.



Sweet Potato Garland Tutorial
What you need:
*Instant Coffee
*Water
*Sweet potatoes
*Cotton string/thread
*Spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and cloves (only need about 2 or 3 of them....not all)

Ok, first you cut up your potatoes into larger chunks, these will shrink down so make them bigger, atleast 1 inch.
Next boil about 1 cup of water, and add about 3 Tbsp of instant coffe....stir and let sit for a few minutes. Add your potatoes to the coffee and let them steep in that mixture for another few minutes...stirring them into the coffee really well.
Next, you want to get a ziploc baggie and just dump your spices in the bag and mix them up a little bit, using whatever smells good to you. I used a slotted spoon to get the potato pieces out of the coffee and put them in the baggie and shook them up really well to get them good and coated. I then put mine in the oven at 170 degrees and let them bake in there for a few hours, or you can just set them near a stove to dry out real well. They will shrink down quite a bit. I then strung them onto a dark brown piece of thick thread. If you don't have brown, you can use white or whatever you have,and you can just soak your thread in the coffee to stain that as well, just make sure the thread dries really well before you use it. I just tied small loops into the ends to hang. I am not sure where I will put it, but I just put it in my pantry for now so you could see it hanging.



Oh, it felt so good to craft today and it just so happened that it's a very rainy weekend here in Central Pa....some good weather to be crafting! ;)

Thanks, for all your thoughts and comments about making it through this difficult time....still not sure where the road is leading for me, but it is always good to know that I have support no matter what!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Still around.....

Hi friends! I just wanted to post quickly to say hello and that I am still around....just way too busy to barely get on the computer for anything other than school related work. I must confess that I am extremely upset, confused, and full of anxiety. I am barely making it through nursing school and I can't keep up with the full workload of that and being there for my children. This has been the hardest month of my life. I can't seem to pull myself up out of this rut, and I am afraid that the end of school for me is in the very near future. I need major prayers during this very hard time in my life from feeling inadequate as a mom, wife, student, friend. I just know that no matter how bad life is out there, I get to come home to the best place on earth! :) My cry is to just stay home and be a stay at home mom/wife....so we'll see how this works out. I try to check on all your great blogs, and I really missing blogging, crafting, and cooking too (also part of the problem). Hope all is well with you all and your families! Tarrah

Monday, October 12, 2009

Fall Foliage in Pa




Well, we made it back home safe and sound from a great trip up north. We had a blast, but let me tell you that the weather was COLD!!! We had a great time of sitting by the fire,eating, going to see the elk, eating, playing games, hiking, did I mention eating?! LOL!!! I think this was the coldest weekends we have ever been up there and we have been going since 2002. We love it at Parker Dam, and it has become a great tradition with our family. The colors are just gorgeous right now, they are a little ahead of us, as we are just starting to see some great color changes here. The only complaint is that we never want to come home. Being there is like taking a step back in time, kind of roughing it, and not having too much to really worry about while there. Who would want to come home from that right?! :)



There were lots of leaf piles made to jump into....and even though it was terribly cold and windy, we played a few games of Bocce Ball!




Here we are at one of the lookouts for the elk viewing, but the best elk viewing is done alongside the road, where they just meander up in to yards and fields taking everything in....they are such big, beautiful creatures!






But, needless to say....we are back to reality....and boy has that reality set in! Bob has so much pottery to do and make for this upcoming show on Saturday, and we need to get a supply to Patti and Tim at the Brickhouse too! The Christmas holiday is fast approaching and we are trying to get a lot done and made ahead of time, but we'll see how that goes. I can't even believe I am mentioning Christmas, but after being up there this weekend, and stopping at 2 little stores on the way home, it sure makes it feel like it is fast approaching. Lots to do...lots to do.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Mustard Seed

Good Morning Friends. Hope this post finds all of you well and enjoying this great time of year. I haven't had time to do any type of crafts other than making my wax bowl fillers, and I am disappointed that I am not really able to enjoy my favorite season to the fullest with nursing school right now. I am struggling just to get everything done with school and it barely leaves me any time to spend with the kids, yet alone sleep, crafting, baking, etc, etc.... but if I only have faith the size of a mustard seed that I will make it through it, God is still in control and we can still move that mountain, right?! RIGHT! So, the lesson for today is to not give up! ;)


My family and I are planning on getting away this weekend up at Parker Dam State Park! It is one of our most favorite state parks in Pa! It is gorgeous there and the fall foliage is spectacular this time of year. We have been going up for 7 years and we just have the best time! So, we are looking forward to some time to just do nothing but eat and have fun! :) I will share some pictures of our trip with you when we return....the kids are quite excited to go and I am too! I hear its going to be a cool weekend there, but thats ok....there is plenty of firewood!