The Big Bang Theory

So we are a completely obsessed house when it comes to the "Big Bang Theory". Seriously, if you are not watching this show, you are missing out. Well, in one of my favorite episodes, Sheldon needs to return his Star Wars sheets to Pottery Barn because they are far too stimulating for sleep. Well, today I purchased a set of these sheets for my husband, and he loved them. When I was at the store the very nice clerk said "well, I don't know how old he is, but we do have matching pajamas". I kindly let her know they were for my husband, and I don't think they would fit a 28 year old. They laughed.

Blood Tapers

Here they are and I love how they turned out. They took me about 5 minutes to do. All you need are plain white tapers and 1 red taper. Use a lighter to melt off the red wax and drip over the white taper. Easy smeeshy.

Spooky Table Runner

Well, it seems like even a shopping trip with mom gets us all crafty these days. We see something, and then we are determined to make it ourselves. Pottery Barn Kids had the most adorable table runner, but we figured we could make it for a fraction of the cost. So here is my table runner. It cost me less than $4 to make and it was pretty fun to do. It also goes with my decor much better than the $25 version.

craft time...

This last weekend I finally got to try out some of the halloween craft projects I have been wanting to do. A couple of years ago I fell in love with the paper flower poms that Martha came out with. There is a picture of the green ones my loving mother made for one of my bridal showers. LOVE THEM! Now I found that Martha did sell the black & silver poms for Halloween, but it must have been previous years. So, I decided that I could make them, with the help of my mom, out of black tissue paper. By the way, the best place to find black is at a party store. Target, no, dollar store, no, party city, YES! They were a bit of a fuss to get down the complete technique, but after some fun and floral wire I was able to make 5 poms in various sizes for about $4. If I would have bought the Martha pack at Michael's we would be talking more like $25. So, I am super excited with the project.

I also found I had some small odd sizes pieces left over when I cut down the square tissue paper to a rectangle (a totally necessary step in order to make the sphere shape, trust me, I tried). I tried using these scraps to make mini flowers and to my surprise it totally worked. The next day I bought a small foam floral sphere and stuck in the paper flowers into it using some floral dowels. I used some dried red flowers and leftover ribbon from my wedding rehearsal bouquet, and wa-lah, I think I have one pretty rocking decoration. Have fun checking out the evidence! Next step: blood candles & maybe more poms.

Oh, and thanks to my loving husband, more crafts will be tried soon. He brought me home an awesome halloween magazine last night. I'm so thankful he is ok with this whole mad early decorating.

Our Own "Giving Tree"

So a few years ago I was given the idea by a friend and co-worker at Bel Air that stuck with me. She had gone to her son's back to school night and told me about a "Giving Tree" the teacher had made and attached different classroom supplies onto the branches. I decided to try this out this year. After reading the story to the kids they cut out "hand leaves" and then I wrote on them different supplies such as hand sanitizer, clorox wipes, kleenex, etc. At back to school night I invited parents to take a leaf off the tree if they would like to donate to the class. It has been a huge success. I am now pretty well stocked on the necessities!

Now it was time to transition the giving tree. We are using the tree as a way to give compliments to fellow classmates. Again, we practiced cutting (which is going slowly!) and then each student was invited to write a compliment to a classmate, and then write one for themselves. Here is the final product, I think it worked great. I would like to change out the compliments every week or so to keep up positive morale among them. Here are also a few extra pictures of the room finally coming together.

It's Never Too Early...

Here are some pictures of the house so far. I will add more as we get closer to Halloween. Next week I am going to attempt to make my blood tapers, we will see how that goes. I'll give you some before and afters. Enjoy, I went for a very gothic chic look this year and I'm really happy with how it is all coming together.

Halloween Inspirations

Seeing as Halloween is my favorite holiday, and that I cannot plan my wedding every year, 

I find that planning my Halloween party starts very early.  This years party will have a few adjustments, more food and less Everclear!  Here are some of my current inspirations for decorating, and Martha Stewart is the master of my kind of All Hallows Eve!  

Party planning=my one domestic talent!

Today I am determined to find the black & silver pom poms.  I had green ones at one of my bridal showers and they pretty much turned into my favorite thing!  

I will also be trying to create the "blood candles".  Now that Illuminations is out of business, and they were the only place I had ever seen them, it will be craft time for sure.  And last but not least, I will be turning my wedding candy buffet into a halloween version, which makes me giddy.  I obsessed over planning my candy buffet, and then when it came down to it at the wedding, I was so busy having fun, I completely forgot to actually visit it.  So, here is the one thing I have left of my candy bar from the wedding.  And I can't wait to make a halloween version!  Thanks to Sarah of Sarah Maren Photography for capturing all of my favorites from our wedding!  

                             

New Favorite

The last couple of weeks have been crazy. Teaching a 2/3 combo is something I never envisioned for myself. I have been challenged everyday by my kiddos. I'm always trying to figure out what they already know, what they are capable of, and where we need to go. After several days of tears after work (I have the makeup stains on my pillow as proof) I am starting to feel a little bit better about the situation.

So, the one thing that I have learned in the past 2 weeks, my kids loved "The Giving Tree". We listened to the story before Back to School Night and made our own giving tree for our room. When families came to BTSN, all 6 of them, they were able to take a leaf off the tree. Each leaf was made by a student by outlining their hand and cutting it out, which was CHALLENGING! Each leaf had a classroom supply they could donate. This is something I will do for years to come...even in my beloved 6th grade!

If you haven't read this story, or heard it in a while, I recommend this book for all ages.