Halloween Monster Bash!

This year's Halloween Bash was the most successful party I have thrown yet. I am so pleased with the turn out. Thanks to all who came and made it the success it was! It was fun to see everyone who came and their costumes. (This is a looong post... just warning ya!)

We had a "Monster Mash-tinis" complete with the "spare parts" bar. Guests were served martini glasses filled with mashed potatoes. Everyone was then able to put whatever toppings they wanted on them and eat them out of the glasses. (hence, the spare parts...)

The spread also included a few... "Dreadful Edibles" including "Purina Wolf Chow" (Chex muddy buddies with candy corn and peanuts), Fruit "ninja bites" (Ica's delicious fruit pizzas), a jello heart, and my mom's panna cotta brain.

Jell-o heart

Ninja bites

As this was originally a cocktial/mock tail party, we had a few drinks. There was pumpkin poison (which was actually a recipe for Butterbeer I found on the Internet), "sweetened swamp water" (hot chocolate), and "bug juice". The bug juice turned out to be my favorite... did you know that if you put a raisin (or in our case, raspberry crasins) into a carbonated beverage it will rise to the top and sink to the bottom? It was way fun to watch! I used the Berry 7-up that was purple and plopped them in. The picture doesn't capture it all the way... but we took video of it too! :)

We also had our traditional pumpkin bowling lane set up in the carport, but this year we decided to hold a graham cracker haunted house contest! Entry into the contest was a bag of a candy you could use to decorate with. We provided the graham crackers and the royal icing. (I found this awesome tutorial on the icing here.)

Tip: glow sticks in the water bottles made them easier to see.

can you guess who's house this one is? :)

After everyone had built their houses and voted on favorite house, and the three costume categories (Creepiest, Cutest, & Most Creative). We started the Ghostbuster movie and held an award ceremony for the winners. The party ended with the movie and the after party began (that is when the clean up happens so we don't have a pile of dishes for the next week and a half.)

we won the office "best family theme" prize at Bryce's work. just FYI.

I had so much fun this year and am already planning next year's bash! I have some crazy ideas and possibly an awesome new venue! So excited! :) Thanks for reading!

xoxo

one more, just because it makes me smile... :)

Witch's Tea Party!

Welcome to the first annual Witch's Tea Party!

Each participant competed for Creepiest, Cutest, or Tastiest treat. The selection was wonderful!

 Starting was a little rocky, but we had a bunch of witches and we had quite some fun! There are some ideas I have for next year... but this party is officially a success. Can't wait til next year!

Halloween Decorating

The month of October could not come fast enough for me. I was ready to decorate for Halloween in mid-September. I dutifully waited until General Conference weekend to commence the process. This year has been quite a process... as we are on a very limited budget and I have very little decorations... I was forced to use my creativity to come up with my decor using the Dollar Store and whatever I could create through my computer... With that said, I take some pride in those things that I have accomplished and wish to share them with anyone who cares to read this humble little blog. :)




Firstly, there is some great inspiration out there. I had ideas flying at me through Pinterest, Studio 5, and my mom's Halloween magazines. I also wanted my decor to correlate and fit with the parties I would be hosting this year as well. Rest assured, I have a stock pile of ideas and projects for next year too.

I started out wanting to make a portrait wall... but my wall turned out too big, and I didn't want to go find that many frames right now... so here is the beginning of my collection...

Sorry, I didn't get a very great picture of them...

There on the right... I found some images using trusty ol' Google. I just looked up "free Halloween silhouettes" and spent a little time searching to find the ones I really wanted. Then I found me an old book (one I had found at a yard sale earlier this year for this very purpose) and tore out a few pages that were full of text. I then inked them using my distressing ink to age them. With Frankenstein's Monster I tore the pages into littler bits and mod-podged them onto the back of the frame. With my lady, I used two separate pages but angled them slightly to give it a little character. (I still want to add something to the frame above her hand... just don't know what yet...) The little black frame that houses the Bride of Frankenstein is one I found in the $1 bin at Michaels. Total cost for this project: $3 for frames plus a little ink.

The other major Halloween project that I have been working on is what I like to call my "Witch's Corner." I have visions of this being pretty awesome in a few years... but for now my collection is just starting out. I have collected cool bottles and jars here and there (as I adore weird glass shapes) as I have gone to dollar stores, thrift stores, and yard sales. My husband has wondered about my affinity for glass objects... but what can I say? I need different shapes and sizes to get the effect I want. In my searching for inspiration I found out that I can dye my own paper with tea to age it. Who knew right?! So you know I had to try it... with a little trial and error, I got it to work for the most part. As I get time each bottle will be getting a label for the specimen or potion inside...





More to come... Yay!

What a wonderful life!

General Conference is one of my very favorite things. I love the very idea that God is speaking directly to me, my family, and everyone in the world. He communicates what he would like us to know about our situation here on earth through his prophet. There is nothing but love in my heart for these men who dedicate their lives to serving the church membership and citizens world wide in God's name. They declare a bold, un-apologetic, testimony of Christ, His atonement, and His Gospel. They do so with authority, fierce loyalty, and nothing but unconditional love for all men. And twice a year we are able to sit at their feet and feel that spirit of love, concern, and redirection we can all use once in a while.

I enjoyed the whole thing... there were so many messages and topics I know I could do much better on in my life. My home teachers gave us the challenge to prepare for conference by praying for certain answers. I have had a few questions and feelings that I wondered about and I did so. I wrote down what I would like answers to, and put Heavenly Father to the test.

My mom invited me to go with her and a couple other sisters from her ward to the conference center for the Relief Society broadcast. I was there, thinking about those questions I had and then the meeting started. President Uchtdorf spoke to me... or so it seemed. There was so much for me to learn in that talk that I was mesmerized by the profoundness. Not to mention the love he had in his tone, and the analogy of the little, seemingly insignificant flower. Even as he was talking I knew I wanted something for me to put in my house to always remind me of the feelings I felt when he spoke to me. I though I would share it with anyone who would be interested too.

If you click on the picture, it should give you an image you can save and print. 

Among my other favorite talks were Elder Bednar's talk on Family History (Bryce and I are the ward Family History consultants and have just recently caught the Spirit of Elijah fever...), the talk on "Looking up", and the talk to the fathers about raising a daughter. President Monson's stories in his final talk regarding the speaker at the temple were inspiring. I really felt a theme through the conference could be Service to each other & your prayers, no matter how small, will be answered. And I testify that I know the things that were said were straight from heaven.

Here is my other little inspiring image for ya'll to enjoy. Click them, print them, enjoy...





Brayden is now officially 7 months old. He scoots around on his belly with his left big toe to get anywhere he wants to. He's actually forming a little callus on his foot where he pushes himself. He's pretty speedy. His new favorite activity is to hold onto my hands and pull himself onto his knees and then to his feet. He looks so triumphant when he succeeds. Smiling with his two new front (bottom) teeth.

Bryce came home for lunch a week or so ago and on his way back to work he was hit from behind in a school zone.  Bryce was hit, pushed into the car in front of him, then the next car, then the next... Everyone was fine, and our car was the one hit worst... Bryce is fine. Our car on the other hand.... lets just say the worst place to be in a mulit-car accident is in the middle... It was totaled. Bryce called me and said, "So... I was hit... but... we can get a car you can drive!" HA! So, as weird as it sounds, this is great news for us. We have been doing our first car shopping and are proud of our result. It is an automatic (*wink*) Hyundai Accent 2006. It's a pretty sky blue color and fits our little family well. It drives well, is safe, and gets awesome gas mileage. We call it the roadrunner because its horn sounds like the Warner Brothers' cartoon... :) *meep*

Bryce is studying hard for his final interview... the test in his company to see if he can remember enough about health care to keep working at KLAS... he's pretty stressed, but I know he will do well. He works so hard and is always coming home to tell me the latest thing he learned. It all goes over my head, but I try to keep up with all the jargon and lingo...

I spend my time with my darling little boy. We play, clean, watch Studio 5 and the news... and plan parties, projects, and crafts that I want to do. (P.S. The Halloween season is upon us and I am soooo very excited!!!)

We are redefining our plans for my future (school-wise) and they are still in progress... but I will probably enroll in a few independent study courses sometime in the near future to complete my core credits. That way, when I can apply for the General Studies program, I will only have to focus on the emphasis courses. We shall see what life hold for us until then!

Can you believe that Bryce and I have our 2nd anniversary this next Monday?! It seems like forever ago... and yet, it hasn't been that long. Wow. Bryce is taking me to the circus! I am pretty excited as I have never been to a circus before...

That about sums up our 2 years right there...

Well, that's about it for now! I love you all!