Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween!  Do you have trick or treating plans tonight?  Mike will take Landry out and Abie has decided to stay home this year... sigh.

While I'm on the subject of Abie, I made these little 3x3 cards for her to fit inside her treat bags for her friends.

I totally snagged the layout for the cards from the back of an Archiver's flyer!!  I love these little owl ghosts, they crack me up!

The googly eyes kind of do it for me too :)

Well, that's it for the Halloween projects this year.  I'm not ready yet for Christmas.  Christmas crafts that is.  Will you start on Christmas crafting or do you have Thanksgiving projects you'll work on first?

I hope you have a fun and safe night tonight.  I'll be back next week, so have a wonderful weekend!  Thanks for the visit today!!

Test tube treats!

I'm so glad it's Wednesday!  Tonight is our only night home for the week and we have errands to run and a dress to find, for Abie's first dance!!!  I'm hoping to get the errands done right after school and then be in for the night :)  I have a little Halloween project to share with you today!

I made THESE treat bags for Abie to give out to her friends this year since she's in Middle School now and they don't have big class parties.  That way she's still getting to celebrate too :)  We filled the bags with different candies and then I also made these:

I bought the bottom three test tubes at Hobby Lobby in a package for $3.99.  The top one I got years ago from Oriental Trading.  BUY THE ONES FROM HOBBY LOBBY.  Why you ask?  The lids screw on and you won't lose your candy :)  These were super simple to decorate.  I wrapped a bit of washi around the middle and then tied some twine around the bottom of the lids with a die cut Halloween shape.

The die cut shapes were from an old Cuttlebug die I had.  These test tubes are just a few inches tall so I had to use the mini M&M's.  I think they would have looked more festive with black and orange candies though :)

Thanks for popping in today!  I'll be back tomorrow with my last Halloween cards for the year.  Then it's on to fall/harvest/Thanksgiving!!  See you then!  Have a beautiful Wednesday my dears!!

Some new crafty stuff!

Happy Monday everyone!  Did you have a good weekend?  Ours flew by.  Dad came out Saturday to help Mike withe basement and Mom and I went shopping with my sister and one of my nephews, he was less than thrilled.  On Sunday I spent the day cooking, cleaning, washing sheets/towels, taking Dirk to puppy class and crafting while Mike sheetrocked all day :)  It was a busy, but GREAT Sunday!

On Friday I was able to run into Hobby Lobby for a few minutes, I never go in there anymore since Michael's is just up the road and I'm so glad I did.  I found some great deals!  Way at the back of the store they had a whole section of stuff on clearance.  This is what I picked up.

I was looking for an album to use for our trip to Chicago.  Mike has a bunch of memorabilia that I'm going to include so this Snap Studio binder will be perfect.  It was on clearance for $10.79.  I also grabbed a package of folders for $3.99 and two packets of the 2x3 cards for $2.99.  Even if I don't use them in this album, they're great for Project Life and I love to use them on cards!  The best part about this, when I went to Michael's, all of this stuff was regular price!  Ahahahahahaha!  I also picked up a Smash book.  It was $8.39.  I'm not sure what I'm going to use it for, but I figure for that price I couldn't pass it up.  Plus it was pink :)  Then I grabbed two of the 4x6 pads of the Pebbles printed cards.  Again, great for PL and cards.  I fell in love with the sayings in these!  They are so awesome!  They were $2 or $3.

I finished up the girls Halloween treats over the weekend so I have a couple of more things to show you later this week.  I'll be back Wednesday with some fun treats!!  Until then, thanks for stopping by and have a great Monday!!

Chicago Recap.

Good grief, the time has sure gotten away from me.  I apologize.  We got back late last Monday and then I honestly don't know where the week went.  I couldn't get myself motivated to get this post up and I sure didn't have the motivation to craft (lazy).  So here it is a whole week later and I'm posting.

We had an absolutely amazing time in Chicago.  Not only because it was just the two of us and we had never been to Chicago TOGETHER, but because this was Mike's first marathon and it was pretty emotional for both of us.  Something really cool that we got to share together.

We got into town Friday afternoon/evening and didn't do much so I'm starting with pics from Saturday morning (and just giving you the highlights because I don't want to bore you.  Haha!)  We picked up Mike's race packet Saturday morning and walked around the Expo for awhile.  Nike had this really cool wall set up with these giant letters that said #ownchicago and everyone was signing their name.

This was the view from our hotel room.  It was awesome.  I could have sat there all day long and stared at the water.

And what trip wouldn't be complete without a lame selfie?  I know, Mike looks constipated, but in his defense, he always has to press the button, because his arms are longer and he has issues with that :)

We walked FOREVER on Saturday.  The one thing I wanted to see while we were there was The Bean.  When I told Mike that, he said, "what's the The Bean?"  Let me tell you, if you haven't seen it in person, it's MUCH smaller than you think.  At least it was smaller than I thought.  I can mark it off my list though.

We had dinner with his co-workers Saturday night and on our way back to the hotel, we took a detour from the group and hung out on one of the bridges that crosses the river.  I could have stayed there all night :)  But we had to get up SUPER early on Sunday so back to the hotel we went.

We were up at 4:45 AM on Sunday and made our way down to the south side of Grant Park.  It was kind of exciting to see all the racers getting ready.  I gave Mike a kiss and left him at the entrance to Charity Village, he was running for Ronald McDonald House, and we weren't allowed inside until 9AM.  One of the other wives and I headed to get some coffee and hopped on the train to follow the guys around the course for the next couple of hours.  I kept missing Mike and we were headed to mile number 20 to see him when we calculated his time and realized by the time we took the train there and then back to the finish line, I would miss him!  So I hopped off the train and ran over to Charity Village where I was able to find Mike!  I was yelling for him, he couldn't hear me he had his headphones in, and was on the other side of the street, but it was great to see him!  (he's the one in the white shirt, black shorts and orange shoes!)

After, what seemed like a lifetime, Mike made his way from the finish line to Charity Village and that's where I got to see him :)  I don't think I'll ever forget that moment for the rest of my life.  He had a beer in his hand and just looked so relaxed.  Seriously, after running 26.2 miles in 3 hours and 20 minutes.  So awesome :)

After hanging out and waiting for the rest of his team to arrive, for a couple of more hours, we finally walked back to the hotel.  I snapped this picture of the Adventure's in Babysitting building :)  Isn't it weird that it's white?  We hung out at the hotel for a few hours and then around 5:30 PM headed out to dinner.  We walked and walked again :)  I don't think either of us wanted the night to end, since it was our last.

Monday morning we headed over to Lou Mitchell's for breakfast.  See where it says they serve the world's finest coffee?  Guess what?  They serve Mike's coffee, the company he works for.  How funny is that?  We had a delicious breakfast here and were sad to go back to the hotel and check out.  We still had a long drive home ahead of us.

I couldn't help but think about KATIE over and over again while we were in Chicago.  What an awesome city to live in :)  

We were so grateful for my parents staying at the house with the girls and Dirk, he was a handful.  It really put our mind at ease knowing they were here.  The next couple of weeks are really busy here.  Volleyball, school conferences, school programs, Halloween, etc.  I know my posting will be hit and miss and I apologize for that.  I have kept up on my Project Life, but it looks the same as it always does and I think it's kind of boring :)  So other than that, I don't have much to post until I make something. 

I'm hoping to get some things made in the next few days and have a post later in the week!  I really appreciate the visit and I'll see you as soon as I can!!  Have an awesome Monday :)

Another Halloween card

Hello there! I'm trying to get through this day as quickly as I can!! Mike and I are heading to Chicago in the morning and I'm so excited!!! He's running the marathon Sunday, his first one, and we are super excited to get away for a few days, the two of us.

Today I wanted to share with you another card I made using the same cut apart sheet from Authentique. I just love these vintage images!!

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have a great weekend and I'll see you guys soon.

WOYWW

Happy Wednesday to you! I was trying to link up over at Julia's blog today to share my work space, but I'm posting from my phone, because my camera batteries are dead, and I can't get the hyperlink to work :(

So, I'll just share with you guys. Still working on the bookmarks. Then there are the guts from some Halloween cards. That's about it.

I'll be back tomorrow with another card. Thanks for stopping by today!!

Halloween card

Good morning! I have a quick post today, wanted to share a fun Halloween card I made. In the back of the 6x6 Halloween paper pad I picked up this year there was a cute piece of paper that I decided to cut apart and make into a few cards.  This is one of them.

Hope you have a great day!! Thanks for stopping by!!

Big girl Halloween goodie bags.

Yay, it's Friday!!!  Even though this was a short week for me, yesterday just drug on forever!  So happy it's Friday :)

The other day I shared the mini goodie bags I made for Landry's class.  Since Abie is in middle school this year, and they don't have class parties and I would make her way un-cool if I sent in treats for everyone, I asked her if it would be okay if I made a couple of treat bags for her close friends.  She said yes!!

Here's what I came up with.

I started out with the bigger black polka dotted bags.  I sure wish I could remember where I found them, because I'm really loving them and can see using them a lot!  I added a bit of Halloween washi, some Martha Stewart Halloween doilies, that I've been hoarding, and then finished them off with some fun Authentique patterned paper.  I love how these turned out and can't wait to fill them with yummy Halloween goodies for Abie's friends!

Thanks for the visit today and I hope you have a beautiful Friday!!  Enjoy your weekend and I'll see you all soon!!

Meal planning notebook.

Good morning!  Today I wanted to share with you a meal planning notebook that I've been working on.  I have always planned our meals out, every week, since we first got married, nearly 15 years ago.  For awhile I've been thinking about putting together a notebook to keep my grocery lists, coupons and a few recipes all in one place.

I picked up this fun notebook at Target for about $5 or $6.

I also purchased these dividers and...

These pockets.  After I make my menu for the week, I've been filing it away in the pockets.  That way if I'm stumped for a meal idea, I can flip back and look at one of my old weeks for some ideas.

Target was out of the memo pads that fit this size of notebook, so I purchased a package of small legal pads and punched them with my Crop a Dile.

You know how I talked about freezer meals?  Well here's what I've decided to do, at this point.  Right now if we make a meal, like a big pot of soup, we will freeze the leftovers and use it later.  IF we remember.  Rather than going all out and making 30 meals in 3 hours, like I've seen on Pinterest, I think I'm going to take my neighbors lead and make a double batch of certain recipes and we will eat one and freeze one.  She gave me several recipes last night to try and I'll let you know what I think!  So in order to NOT forget about what's in the freezer, right now we have two pork butts and I was getting ready to buy two more because they're on sale this week, I'm going to use my notebook and make a list of everything we have.  Then cross it off as we use it and add to it as needed.  That way I'm assured that we'll be using the food that's in the freezer AND I'll be using my notebook too!  Win win!

Thanks for popping in today.  I appreciate the visit :)  I'll see you guys tomorrow.  Have a wonderful Thursday!!

Bookmarks

Hey Wednesday, where did you come from?  So glad you're here though!  You know those mini Halloween bags I posted yesterday?  Well I'm making a couple of things to go inside of them.

Bookmarks.  Have you ever made bookmarks?  Me either.

I bought a package of bookmarks at Michael's and stamped the word read on each one.  Now one side of these bookmarks was shiny, so I used black Staz On ink.

These were my cast offs.  I thought I would color the letters in with primary colors and then punch a hole in the top and add some string.  I'm just not sure though.  What do you think about the colors?  Any suggestions?

That's about it for me today.  Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!  Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you guys tomorrow!

Mini Halloween goodie bags!

Hey there!  In honor of October 1st and all things Halloween, I wanted to share with you some mini  Halloween bags I made for Landry's class.

I bought the mini bags from Michael's and added two different types of washi.  Then I stamped a black cat from an old Hero Arts Halloween stamp set and added googly eyes.  I popped up the cat and was finished!

I love how these fun mini bags turned out!  I'm going to add bookmarks and a some candy to them for the kids.

What fun Halloween projects do you have planned this year?

Thanks for stopping by today.  I'll be back tomorrow with the start of my bookmarks.  I've never made them before and I have a couple of questions...  Have a great Tuesday!