Going Batty

When i started getting excited to decorate for Halloween i first of all had to watch my favorite Halloween movie, Hocus Pocus with Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker to get more inspiration. Then i searched online for awesome exterior Halloween ideas. I'm not into the blood and Gorey Halloween decorations i like more simplistic. That's when i came across this picture of the bats on the front door. Which i fell in love with but wasn't sure if it was gonna work on my front door.

 But of course i had to try. So here's how i started:
I first purchased 4 sheets of black bristol board at dollarama 2 for $1
then i printed out this bat stencil http://painting.about.com/od/freestencils/ss/stencil_hallown.htm
Then i simply made 4 different sizes of bats and made 20 copies of each size of bat.

I then added double sided sticky tape to the backs of each bat. This project was very time consuming but well worth it for the finished product.

Yesterday Kane and i worked on putting up Halloween decorations outside. We bundled up in our hats and sweaters and went outside for some fun. It was the first day without rain and it turned out beautiful. The wind wasn't as bad either so it was perfect for putting up these bats. I started out with all the littlest ones and worked my way up the biggest variegating them in between.

 The next thing we did was hang some ghosts in the tress. This was a great project for Kane to help me with. I had used 2 double sized white sheets that i had purchased for $2 at the local Sally Anne for moving. Then i simply cut each sheet into 4. Then Kane helped me place the 4inch Styrofoam ball (that we had purchased 2 for $1 at Dollarama) under the sheet and fasten with a piece of twine (which we had also purchased at Dollarama for $1 a roll). We do have only 2 pumpkins but its a start. Both Kane and i love the decorations.

My First Halloween Wreath

I'm really big into wreaths now that i have my own front door. Ive made some beautiful ones for my moms house but i have never made a Halloween wreath before. So here's what I've come up with this year:

Black Feather Boa Wreath with Glittery Orange Ribbon

 All you need to make this wreath is:
- 4 feather black boas (i purchased mine at dollarama for $1 a piece)
- 1 wreath frame ( i used this wickers frame that i purchased at a yard sale for $2)
- Ribbon of your choice (i purchased my glittery orange ribbon at walmart for $2.50 for 9ft roll)
- 1-3 twist ties to secure ribbon to wreath.
- Hot glue rope ties at each end, so i just fasted it around the wreath and tied a knot.

After i secured one end of the boa i then simply wrapped the boas through and back around the wreath working my way until there was no more boa. Then i tied the end of the next boa to the boa already wrapped around the wreath and continued on until it completely covered the whole frame.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving

Sorry for the late post but working almost 40 hrs the week before thanksgiving and then driving 2 hours to the parents then rushing back for another 40 hr work week has left me with no time to do a blog post. So better late than never.......

This year we had a nice small dinner on Sunday at Craig's mom and dad with his sister and nanny (grandma Betty). We had lasagna, ham, scalloped potatoes, Ceasar salad, dinner rolls, carrots, broccoli and i had made 2 lemon meringue and 2 pumpkin pies for dessert with vanilla frozen yogurt. Of course i ate to much but dinner was delicious. We are very thankful to be able to get together with both side of the family as we went to my parents on Monday. We had turkey, dressing or stuffing, gravy, cranberries, 3 different kinds of dinner rolls, broccoli casserole (i made), turnip, parsnips, squash, yams, 5 cup salad and I'm sure I'm forgetting something. We also had pumpkin pie, lemon meringue and peanut butter pie. Dinner was amazing but way too filling. It was a real feast. i even got pictures of the table.

I am soo thankful for my family on both sides, But the best thing that made my thanksgiving this year was my Dad. I got to see my dad walk for the first time in 4 years. I had to choke back some tears because it was sooo breath taking. My mom even cried too. I am soo happy and proud of my dad he is doing amazing. The other thing that i really enjoyed was sitting at the table looking at my sisters wedding magazine with him. I loved having his opinion and realized we both have similar tastes in dresses. Hopefully one day Craig and i will get married and my dad can walk me down the isle.

one of the things i wanted to share with everyone was Hot Apple Cider. My family doesn't usually make apple cider but my sister and i decided to try it this year and it was amazing. Its like Hot apple pie in a cup. DELICIOUS.

i purchased a 2L jug of organic apple cider already made at the independent grocer
then we dumped it into a large pot
added 2-3 tablespoons of maple syrup
the peeling of one orange and one lemon
added 3 cinnamon sticks
and brought to a boil

then we poured it into our cups and added whip cream on top
fantastic and definitely gonna make again soon.