Random happenings...

Lots going on at my work. Fall start-up always runs me ragged running between campuses. Our niece is attending my University and it's so nice to have her on this side of the state. She even let us visit her dorm room. We love you, Jenny!

Chris is back at his elementary schools and Josie is back at her preschool/daycare full-time. I always love it when she brings home finger paintings. We got busy this evening transforming her painting into a pumpkin. It' never too early to enjoy a Halloween pumpkin.

Emma starts junior high next Tuesday. I'm still in denial that I have a 7th grader. Eek!

Chris has been sneaking in construction on the tree house as much as he can. It helps when my father and our neighbor are available to lend a hand.

I decided to let my hairdresser cut my hair short again.

I think I like it.

Everyone hanging in there?
I'm definitely living for the long Labor day weekend.

Junk in my trunk...

Over the weekend (which didn't include my monthly Allegan Antique market shopping excursion...I had too much going on at home & work) I took the girls to several stores to finish up Emma's back to school shopping. I also managed to squeeze in an appearance at my University for a few hours too, but I rewarded myself later to a trip the Dollar Tree. Would you like to see a few of the items that ended up in my trunk? It just so happened my cell phone camera accompanied me into the store.

Let's take a peek, shall we?

A few of these harvest doilies are on my office door bulletin board but the rest of them will be used on a fall garland project.


The foliage at the Dollar Tree continues to surprise me. What a big selection and I have BIG plans to give my current fall wreath a make-over. Stay tuned for makeover pics.

I realize the skulls and the grave stones are creepy, but I simply couldn't resist bringing home a few. With a bit of glue and some very fine glitter, they are going to be fantastic at Halloween. Pics to follow later.

While we're talking about Halloween, I'm going to be honest. I was disappointed in Martha's 2010 Halloween magazine. Sorry, Martha.

As a Halloween fanatic and an devote collector of all her special edition magazines, there were simply too many recycled projects in this issue. I wanted more "new" ideas. The magazine came home with me, but for $9.99 - I seriously think they need to put ME on their staff...hee hee.

Wanna see what I'm really excited about? Paper Glitter has an adorable Halloween party kit now available. I've used Paper Glitter for Emma's birthday party, as well as Josie's birthday party, and her kits never disappoint.

I can't wait to get started with this for our upcoming Halloween festivities. I can already tell my Labor day weekend is going to be filled with lots of orange and black crepe paper.

Happy Crafting!

Windows....CHECK!

I'll let the latest tree house construction pictures speak for themselves.

The roof and siding are next on the list. Eventually, you'll also see a safety railing along the wrap-around deck . Chris starts back with meetings at his elementary schools on Tuesday. Thank goodness for the upcoming long Labor day weekend. This tree house/guest house has turned into a something "extra" special.

Have a sweet week ahead!

Life is definitely more FUN with a sister...

Tea party
November 1977

Thank you God... for sisters!

~ A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost. ~
Marion C. Garretty

The wheels are turning...

Because you know how much I love pumpkins and Halloween, I just had to take a walk around my local JoAnn's store to see their new Halloween products. Truth be told, I don't buy anything full price, I love their weekly 40% coupons and buying merchandise at the end of the season when it's on clearance.

Shall we take a walk together?

Who would have guessed that peeps would come in so many Halloween characters?

Because I have a "thing" for owls, I really do think this creature has a pretty good chance of ending up in my house within the next couple of weeks.

I just love the graphics on these Martha cupcake paperliners. Cupcake decorating stations are always big hits at our parties.

Speaking of cakes, this 3-D skull mold is pretty darn creepy, but I love it!

If you'd prefer a traditional round cake, these Martha stencils are delightful.

Speaking of Martha, just look at all her new stuff for Halloween. Be sure to click on the image to enlarge the picture. I seriously think I need to go work for her...hee hee.

So there you have it! A small glimpse of just a few items that "may" eventually find their way to my house this fall. In the next few weeks, we'll take a tour of the Dollar Tree (along with my cell phone camera) to see what items can be repurposed for Halloween.

PS. I understand the new Martha Stewart
2010 Halloween Magazine is out.
I need to get my hands on one this weekend!!


Happy crafting!

shhhhhhh.....she's sleeping....

We've found a trick to get Josie to sleep at night.

A furry bed partner.

……you are getting sleepy…

verrrrrrrrrry sleepy…..

ahhhhhhh…that is it…….

close your eyes…..

shhhhhh….

relax….

Sleep tight...zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Tree house trusses & wall progress...

With just a little more than a week before Chris returns to his elementary schools, the pressure to finish up the tree house is on BIG TIME! Chris has been known to recruit anyone to help...even my father who isn't quite dressed for construction.




The trusses are in place but I don't even want to think about how he's going to get finish the roof and have a ladder long enough to reach the top of the roof.


Some days, it's hard to watch him work on the tree house (I'm fearing an injury with the electric nailgun) and I'm glad our neighbor has been helping out so much with the heavy lifting.

Go Chris GO!!

Ready for Autumn?

I really don't want to think about packing lunch boxes, early morning alarm clocks so that Emma can catch the 6:40am school bus, Emma starting junior high (eek), juggling my crazy work schedule with everything that needs to get done at home (goodbye Mr. Mom...I'll miss you), but I'm soooo ready for the cool, crisp fall air, and all the crafting and fun that comes along with the big holidays (especially Halloween).

Over the weekend, I put away all my beach/summer decorations on top of my china hutch and switched it over to fall. The pumpkin images you see in frames were available on the Graphics Fairy blog and I just printed them off and put them in black frames that I picked up from the Dollar Store. I just love using her images for crafting projects.

In between housekeeping and working at the University this weekend, I picked up these orange containers at the Dollar Tree.

Don't they just scream Halloween? They are currently sitting on the counter in my craft room and I can't wait to jazz them up with some crepe paper ruffles, ribbon, glitter, and fill them with special Halloween treats.

I also used my Michael's coupon and picked up some translucent paper to make candle covers.

The Graphics Fairy has all kinds of wonderful skeleton and Halloween clip art that I downloaded and printed onto my translucent paper.

I then cut out the graphics and taped it around my candle holders.

So creepy...and I can't wait to cluster a bunch of them together on the mantle.

My blogging artist friend Lee, has double dared me to start decorating for Halloween. I'm so tempted.