Costume Supercenter!

 

A while back I was contacted by Costume Supercenter to do a product review. Needless to say, I was extremely flattered! I have always hated the idea of just grabbing some random costume from a seasonal aisle in a big box store, and here’s an opportunity to get a Halloween costume from people who really know their stuff! I pored over their website trying to decide what to review. There is SO much to choose from!  I looked at this fairy costume for Amelia. . .

. . . it lights up, for crying out loud!!! How cool is THAT???

 

I liked things like this for Reese. . . .

. . . . but, of course, he’d rather go as something like this. . . . . (boys are gross)

For Jillian, I looked at things like this. . . .

and things that nearly killed me with cuteness, like this!!!!

There are hilarious men’s costumes, like this. . . .

Please, Jay, please??? You and Amelia could be matching fairies! LOL! Seriously, how funny is this costume!!!!!

No? Well, I think he’d rather go as this . . . .

There is a massive selection of women’s costumes. Really cool ones like this. . .

Or cute ones like this one. . . .

I ended up picking this gorgeous women’s reversible red and black cloak.

I love the hood and the curling edges at the bottom! It’s very well made from a lovely velveteen fabric. I can tell I’ll be able to get many good years of use out of it. (Good thing a witch is a classic!) It’s thick and warm and makes me feel quite witchy. In a good way ;)

So, we’ve finally made our decisions on costumes. This Halloween I’m going as a witch and Jillian will be my little black cat! Jay will be Professor Snape, Reese is going as a skeleton and Amelia decided against an old school ghost (I was SO in favor of this! Easy! But alas, it was not to be.) in favor of a fairy, which will also be adorable. Just maybe a little cold!

Anyway, I can’t wait for the big day! I finally will be going in a comfortable and warm costume, as opposed to years past! Now, I’ve got to scoot and make an order so my costumes will be here in time! (I can’t believe the prices at Costume Supercenter! Amazing!)  Happy Halloween!

Something Witchy This Way Comes

 

I love Halloween! I enjoyed every minute of this summer, but I will admit that I get unreasonably excited when I see the Halloween merchandise start sneaking into stores in the middle of August. And I have to say that, in my humble opinion at least, Halloween seems to be celebrated with a little more panache here in New England than it does in other places I’ve lived! Maybe it’s because New Englander’s have an unfair advantage in that there seem to be far more cool and creepy old cemeteries scattered about, and that whole ‘witch trial’ thing they have in their past. Whatever the reason, Halloween decorations are everywhere and I want in on the fun!!!

This year I had planned to throw a Halloween party, but certain things have come up, so I thought that instead I would share a week of Halloweeny things with you. And to start off. . . . a little something I’ve been wanting to do since I made all those fairies for Amelia’s birthday party! See for yourself . . . .

 

For the witch, you’ll need: black pipe cleaners, a round wooden bead for the face, another (any shape is fine, I used a pear shaped one.) bead for the body, a scrap of velour or some other non-raveling fabric for the skirt, embroidery floss for the hair and a sharpie to mark her face, hot glue & gun

For the witch’s hat, you’ll need: cardstock, a nickel, stiff sparkly felt, hot glue & gun

For the witch’s broom, you’ll need: a brown pipe cleaner, thin twine, hot glue & gun

For the witch’s hat, cut out a fan shape from a scrap of cardstock.

 

I just fiddled with it until I got the right shape.

 

Roll it into a cone and trim the edges if needed.

 

Flatten the cardstock back out and trace it and also trace a nickel onto some stiff felt.

 

Here are the cut out pieces.

 

For instructions on how to make the body of the fairy/witch, please click here.

 

For the skirt, I just used a lid from a jar to trace out a circle of velour, then I snipped a small hole in the center and threaded it onto the witch.

 

Run some hot glue around the top of the body bead and press the skirt down into place. (otherwise she’ll look like she’s got on a poodle skirt, not at all spooky!)

 

Run some hot glue around the top of the head bead and press the hair down into place. Let your inner hair stylist out ;)

 

Roll the fan-shaped piece of felt into a cone.

 

Holding it by the point, dab a bit of hot glue onto the corner of the bottom edge of the cone.

 

Press into place. You shouldn’t need any more glue than that, but feel free to dab a bit into the tip of the cone if it refuses to behave.

 

Glue alone the bottom edge of the cone.

 

Plop it onto the base of the hat.

 

After it’s dried, take a pair of scissors and poke a hole in the bottom. Make it a largish hole so it will sit nicely on the witch’s head.

 

Speaking of the witch’s head, dab a bit of glue there and . . . .

 

Pop the hat on! Straight up or at a jaunty angle, it’s up to you.

 

For the broom: take a length of brown pipe cleaner  (Maybe a half a pipe cleaner), and a wad of twine (wrap it around your fingers several times to make the bristles of the broom.).

 

Bend it in half and catch twine in the center.

 

Twist the pipe cleaner together tightly at the base to catch the twine.

 

Finish twisting the broom handle. I like to fold over the tip and pinch it down so there’s nothing sharp and pointy sticking out.

 

Cut the loops of the twine to form the bristles. Dab some hot glue in the center and  . . .

 

Pinch it together and hold it for a second while it sets.

 

Cut a small length of twine and dab some more glue at the base of the broom handle.

 

Twist the twine around the glue, making sure to get the end down tightly. Trim the ends of the bristles.

 

Lay the broom on the end of the witch’s arm.

 

Fold her ‘hand’ over and pinch tightly.

 

Fold over one more time to make it secure.

 

Draw a face on with a sharpie.

 

She’s done! Isn’t she cute!?

 

If you do make a witch, I’d LOVE to share your pictures here! Just email them to me and I’ll add them to this post! Happy Witching :)

Yummy Mummy in the Tummy

It’s become a running joke between Jay and I about all the cemeteries here in New England. But I’m obsessed! I love spotting some of the tiny little family cemeteries just placed randomly around. And the bigger ones all seem to have some gorgeous ironwork. Some of the headstones are just amazing. So I thought I’d post one, just in time for Halloween.

I haven’t been posting much since the cross country journey and moving in with my in-laws. Bad blogger. I apologize. And I do realize it’s the day before Halloween, but you could pick up the stuff for these today and make these with your kids tomorrow!  All you need is a pack of hot dogs and a tube of crescent rolls.

Well, that and a baking sheet, pizza cutter and some mustard.

So, unroll the dough and spread it out. (Do those cans scare the crap out of you when they pop? Gets me EVERY time!)

Press all the seams together.

Use the pizza cutter to cut about 1/4” strips.

All cut up.

Start wrapping around a hot dog. Just press the end onto a bit of the wrapped strip to close it.

Keep wrapping. You don’t want it to look real even.

Use another strip to go the other direction.

Don’t forget to make a head wrapping.

Let your kids at ‘em!

Look at her go! Do you like the post-nap hair? I’m thinking ‘bed-head’ isn’t her look.

Hee hee hee, aren’t they cute? A few years ago I would have straightened up all the wrappings when the kids weren’t looking. But now I love seeing their handiwork and they are so proud when they get to eat their mummies!

Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown and delicious. About 15-20 minutes.

In the meantime, feed the kids some chocolate cake to keep them happy while they’re waiting. Yep. I’m that mom!

Use the mustard to dot some eyes on.

I happened to have some black confetti sprinkles from a Halloween mix, so I put those on top of the mustard. You know how much I love my food to look back at me!

Reese’s mummies!

I want my Mummy! 

 

Okay, I have something I want to share, but certain people can’t see it. So if you live in the same house I do, STOP READING.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I mean it. Don’t go any further. You’ll just ruin it for yourself anyway!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, I think they’re gone now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, the other day I was passing the dollar spot at Target and saw a pack of rubber mice for $1. Somehow they just popped right into my cart. I wanted to put one in the tub of coffee beans my in laws use, but thought I’d run the prank past Jay first, just to make sure I didn’t get myself into trouble. We use whole beans that aren’t flavored, so we have our own stash of coffee beans. I put the mouse in our bag and asked Jay to brew us a pot of coffee. He found the mouse right away and wasn’t fooled at all. He was just confused and wanted to know if Peet’s was putting prizes in their coffee beans like Cracker Jacks. Nice.

He did think it was funny and thought we should put it in the in-laws coffee tub. So we did. And later when my father in law went to make some coffee pretty much the same thing happened. FAIL! Dang it! Stu, my father in law, thought it would be funny to put it in Marie’s, my mother in law, lunchbox. She wasn’t taken in either. Bummer.

This morning I came downstairs to find this. . . . .

It was in a darkened corner of the kitchen and I hadn’t had any coffee yet. So, yeah, it got me. My own mouse made me scream like a little girl. (By the way, I have an extreme, uncontrollable reaction to a live mouse. It’s embarrassing. Thought you’d like to know.)

So, it’s payback now. (even though I started it.)

      

This is some ham salad that my mother in law is fond of.

 

Removed a scoop and inserted mouse. (that I cleaned thoroughly first.)

Replaced the ham salad.

               

And put it in a prominent location in the fridge, so someone will see it and eat it soon. I like my pranks to be discovered fairly quickly, otherwise I tend to make stupid, obvious suggestions and the prank falls flat.

Stay tuned for the reaction, lol!