Halloween Party Invitations

How to make toe tag Halloween invitations, or, I could very easily start this post out  "It was a dark and dreary day.....".  The sun is not shining, the clouds have gathered and are dropping rain on my parade.

Pisses me right off.

I've got things to do outside and not enough time to do them.

Tape from Target, Scrap-booking isle

So instead I decided to finish up invitations for a Halloween party.

I had the black and white part of the invitations printed at Office Depot - .18¢ each one sided and I had two on a page.  Cardstock.  I needed 55 copies.  This party has 5 hosts, everyone invites friends and family.  Office Depot was better than printing all those copies at home, $10 bucks divided by 5, very reasonable.

And my labor is free, I assembled them all.

Office Depot wanted $1.29 a copy for the tag part, considered "color copy" which has seven on a page.  I needed 16 sheets and decided to print those at home on the card stock I already have.

Cheap.  Yes that is me.

I can't take credit for the whole idea of making toe tag invitations, but I did have my own ideas for how I wanted mine to look.

First find some feet and a helper to make the foot model laugh while they are suppose to be holding still, because even though there are feet photos on the web, I didn't want to pirate them.

I needed authentic Bliss Ranch feet for my invitations.

My foot model will remain anonymous, because you know she hadn't washed and smoothed her piggies and was basically mortified to have photos taken of them.

It was the foot models idea to use one of my hammered tin platters to mimic feet on a cold metal gurney.  I added a black blanket to cover her as well as the headboard on my bed, and an old sheet, then I snapped away.

I ended up with this.....

Because two sided printing costs more, we wanted to keep the lettering and photo on one side, and opted to just fold the info into the inside.  The folds all needed to be "scored" in two places, and I did all those suckers myself, but it was worth it because it creates a nice crease for folding.

I used the exacto knife blade-up for scoring, and blade-down for cutting around the big toe.  I wanted the tags to actually hang on the toe, I like the 3-D effect.

The most tedious part of this whole process was tying the tags on.  I used dental floss, the waxed kind so it was stiff and easy to put through the tag, then a piece of regular tape on the back side to keep the floss on the toe.

They were each folded and sealed with the tape.

Stuffed into envelopes I picked up last spring at a garage sale that was selling office supplies.  250 for a buck, and I sized the invites around being able to fit in those envelopes.

I like how they turned out.  I stamped on a spider, because I like to use ink pads. Really I do - I like the sound of the THUMP onto the paper.

The tags have info on both sides.  Host names, details on the front, and address and phone numbers for questions on the back.

And "Trick or Treat Smell My Feet"

 is just funny.

Treasure Hunt Thursday @FromMyFrontPorchToYours
Halloween Blog Hop @ TheHappieHousie
Wildly Original Party @IGottaCreate 
Halloween Spooktacular Party @MadeInADay
Link Party Palooza @IHeartNaptime
Halloween Project Parade @OhMyCreative

Junk in the Shed

At this time of year there is a lot of outdoor chores to do before the snow flies.  And when we decide to have a Halloween party, well that ups the chore ante.

Brawn had me wander with him back to the out-of-sight out-of-mind shed at the edge of our woods to "discuss" the upcoming party and the "junk".

Previously the shed was used to store the boat, lake stuff, lawn furniture, a camper, and the sawmill boards Brawn has on hand for building new things.

2 years ago it was his shed.......

Before I started hauling home every free item I saw.

A bucket at the end of a driveway marked "free", full of dusty bottles and greasy insulators.  I think there were about 8 of each.

It was before people started telling me about free stuff they found.....

Like a roll top desk my son spotted by a dumpster at a business.  First he told me about it, then went and looked.  After he checked it out he called and said he didn't think I'd want it. 

Some stuff is from garage sales like this old headboard.  Five bucks........

I have a buggy seat?  Hey I forgot about it since it went to live in the shed when we cleaned the garage.

A friend brought over the copper tub a couple years ago saying she thought I could do something with it.

Old cabinet doors Brawn hauled home for me before my addiction became serious.

Half a door and an old table top.  

Sewing machine base I was gonna do something with.  The same friend that gave me the copper thing brought two chairs and left this for me too.  

One window or 20..... 

Below the Electric Chair, are two dressers waiting for a redo.

What?  You don't have an electric chair? 

I stuffed a jailbird body and people stuck their head through the black fabric and we took pictures of them at night.

The head model is one of my sons. The one that hates all the old junk around.  I think some of those old belts are now on his little brothers Rock & Roll Dresser as handles.

Not all the junk is IN the shed.

We have piles outside too.

Don't ever tell my husband you want some old wood, because he will get your some.  And don't ever walk on this pile or you'll end up with a rusty nail in your foot.  Then we'd have to cut your foot off and use it as a Halloween prop.

Speaking of rust, there is rusty stuff besides nails around too.

If you came to our house you would never know all this junk is lurking. THANK GOODNESS!!!!  Keeping it out of sight helps our property not look like the Beverly Hillbillies moved out and left us their stuff, and it keeps my addiction on the low down from friends.

Really the back shed is a treasure trove of junk waiting for its moment.  But the moment will have to wait till after October.  For now junk will get hauled out so the shed can be transformed into something with a Halloween atmospfear.  I'll be flying in on a broomstick.

(Hi Dii, hope you are up and around soon.  I need more junk!)

Mum's The Word

I needed to thank someone who thanked me for something.  You know... the thank you thank you type thing.  I did something for someone last Winter not expecting anything but a thank you, and instead I received a $50 gift card to a nursery.

I decided when I used it, I would also get something to thank the thanker.  I waited till the mums were plentiful and bought myself some and one to thank her.

I didn't want to just send it like it was, I mean after all it's a thank you for a thank you.  A bare pot wasn't gonna cut it.

Big mum's fit nicely in big plastic caldrons, and I happened to have one sitting at my feet that I picked up for .50¢ at a garage sale last week. 

I grabbed some left over burlap coffee sack scraps (why didn't I throw those away?) from the torture I put myself through making coffee sack pillows, then knotted the pieces together and just tied it along the top.

The tag is printed on an encyclopedia page and secured on cardstock.

DONE! 
The best part is she is not expecting to be thanked for thanking me, so she will be surprised.  Now I hope she doesn't think she has to thank the thanker for thanking her as the original thanker.

My son is suppose to drop it off for me but he goes out the other door and forgets about it so it has been ready to go for two days.  Maybe tomorrow.

And look what my son in law brought me. Two spools.  What shall I do with them?

Celebrating Everyday Life Magazine

I was given the opportunity to have a peek at the Fall digital issue of Celebrating Everyday Life Magazine from Jennifer Carroll.

There's some pretty awesome stuff inside the covers.

Stuff like... the cover itself!  The cover gave me an idea to add chicken wire to my next wreath.

There are photos that remind me I want to host an outdoor dinner on the patio this fall.....

It also reminded me to tell Brawn I want an outdoor fireplace just like that one.

Photos that show me I can put together crafts that are simple enough for me to do, with big bang for little buck.....

And I've been collecting plastic pumpkins the past two weeks.  Sometimes they are in the free bin at garage sales, and just look what they can be turned into.....

The magazine photography is really beautiful and has everything from warmly decorated rooms and ideas, to interesting interviews.  You can have a preview yourself by clicking right HERE.

Inexpensive Kids Wall Art Collage

This post was originally a guest post over with Kristin at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia,  back in the olden days of summer of '12.  When I had been blogging but a mere 6 months.  Seems like forever ago actually.

Today I received an email question about this art so I decided to just do a post about it.  

Heather G., this posts for you!

My kids are not exactly little anymore.  For the most part they have quit blessing me with art made in elementary school.  13 years ago we had company coming and empty walls with emptier wallets.  I needed something to fill space that I didn't have to take out a loan for. 

Like FREE was what I was thinking. 

With six kids the one thing I have is kids art.  They wonder why I saved the stuff, but I see not only their memories, but my memories when I look at the crayon drawings, tissue paper butterflies, and self portraits.

At the time there was no internet for me to get any great art display ideas, I had to use what was on hand.  I told my husband I needed something BIG that I could make a collage on and fill the walls.  He returned with large pieces of sheet rock from the garage.  I sat on our bedroom floor surrounded by my kids art making collages, 5 big boards of years worth of art. 

13 years later I can't bear to take them down, although I need to add a sixth board somewhere since the youngest couple of kids don't have any art on the walls. 

Stairway Wall Art

This hangs in the stairway.  There is no rhyme or reason to the way the art is arranged, other than it had to cover the sheet rock.  If it hung over the edge I trimed it off.  As each piece of sheet rock was filled my husband screwed the rock right to the wall and then attached some trim around it while it was already on the wall. 

No rocket science involved, and nothing drastically creative, we had to be quick, remember?.....company was coming!

As the years went on these paper mache masks started to appear.  My kids all had the same elementary school art teacher and she never deviated from what she had them make.

I think the green one must be a mouse, but I have no idea what the one below is.  A purple pig?   A purple bald clown pig?  With white furry eyebrows?

One by one I started adding the masks to the wall.

Deep, Dark Hallway between kids rooms

 Look at the bottom left of the photo above, that is a dog butt!  This photo bombing of Mo's is really starting to be distasteful.   You can also see towels folded in the distance which is an improvement over the photo I used for Kristins post - she got a sheet hanging up to dry!  

You all know I am such a princess I never do laundry right?  HA.... wrong.  

Family Room

This collage ended up becoming part of the wall in the family room.  One daughter made all her people with heads shaped like hearts and the other daughter always gave her people belly buttons.  My oldest son was a Ninja Turtle fan.  He also colored a picture of his daddy's new truck when he was 5 years old.  It looked just like it and we thought it was pretty good for a kindergartner.

#3 kid, (#2 son) made a self portrait in 2nd grade.  

Rather disturbing that he was an armless jail bird.

The hall way between rooms is long and dark and I've never even considered taking their art down to hang something else.  I guess I should thank our company for planning a trip when they did.  If they wouldn't have been coming to vacation with us, the walls might still be empty, or worse yet, not have my memories hung to admire every day.

The frames below are made from inexpensive cove molding around the sheetrock. The cove was mitered and attached right on the wall after the sheet rock was hung. 

I see there is one paper mask among the others -  must of been a substitute teacher or low funds at school for that kid.

The paper mache masks have all fallen off the wall a time or two.  Not because my kids ran willy nilly down the hall wielding swords or throwing balls or anything like that of course. 

All the frames have a piece of plexiglass over them to preserve the artwork and that is what makes them look like a giant frame.  We used plexiglass instead of real glass for the same reason the masks may have fallen off the wall a time or two!  We had to protect the whole thing from any Superman, Spiderman, or Hulk that might pass by.

Yes my kids were allowed to run and play and at least the glass in these frames could never break!

Bed Spring Bulletin Board

What do you get when you cross a crib bed spring, a rusty meat hook, and some old pieces of chippy painted wood?

Wrong.... not some sort of horror movie!

You get a bulletin board for a teen boys bedroom.

I am not taking credit for the idea of using a bed spring as a bulletin board, you know who you are that provided me this concept.

First you re-spray the bed frame from the bronze color that you sprayed it last fall when you wanted it bronze and never got around to making the thing, to a silvery tone.....

Then, you have someone who is faster with a screw gun, drill screws from the back of  random sized different colored pieces of chippy wood scraps right through the frame of the newly silver bed spring and attach all those pieces of wood.

(*The whole time knowing full well this idea is all in your head and you might have to say something like, "I don't like it, now take all the wood back off".)

* Note; I liked it.

And then you end up with a bulletin board the perfect size for the new Rock & Roll dresser you painted and plopped in your teen son's room.

As you start gathering his treasures from around the room - laying on the nightstand, the floor, inside the closet - you ask yourself if he is starting a sunglasses collection, and why the cowbell isn't on the drumset?

But you end your thoughts by contemplating that if you were a 14 year old boy you might just have bragging rights, because really.... do you think anyone else in your class at school has a bed spring hanging from a meat hook in their room?