I wanted to share some projects with you all today. I saw this last year & really wanted to start it in my neighborhood this year. I got the flier from www.TheTomKatStudio.com printed it out and pasted the two sides together to consolidate the flier. I bought this spider web door hanger from the silhouette online store. Once i saw it i knew I wanted to use it for this! And i can always add a new design simply by separating all the parts of the pattern & adding a cut file on top. So come Christmas, Easter etc. i have a handy door hanger for the neighbors. These would also make great treats for a party. I also wanted to share this cute perpetual, spinning calendar. I'm always on the lookout for a great calendar that's easy to use & change. This one i found on the silhouette online store for $.99 so i bought it and used some ribbon i found at walmart along with some snowflake brads and my white ZIG pen. Enjoy

You've Been Booed!

Calendar

I really wanted to let everyone know how my dish went last night. I didn't make it exactly right but I improvised and it turned out great. My husband, who hates squash in any form actually said he liked it... since he couldn't really taste the squash. Here's the recipe in case anyone else wants to try it: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/country-squash-casserole/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=country%20squash%20caserole&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe%20Search%20Results

I forgot to add in the squash while cooking all the veges early in the recipe so I boiled the sliced squash, added it in when i was soft and then added the stuffing. it was delicious... also if you like meat (and I do...) you can always add some cooked chicken. I don't have a picture of this dish sorry. oh also, our local grocery store didn't have zucchini but they had a yellow looking thing that is basically the same as zucchini and it turned out really delish. My pickiest eater, Gwenna, didn't even touch her dinner but she also didn't complain so she put herself to bed hungry. Allison is not as picky as her sister but still kinda picky & she ate it all up... except the squash. The shell needed to be cut off though so I don't blame her.

challenges i'm entering:
Halloween party 2: http://decoratetocelebrate.blogspot.com/
My Crafting Channel: http://www.mycraftingchannel.com/2012/10/mcc-challenge-1-ghoul-times-dt_15.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MyCraftingChannel+%28My+Crafting+Channel%29

Crochet hook & Yarn Giveaway going on:
http://www.allfreecrochetafghanpatterns.com/sweeps/Red-Heart-Super-Saver-Yarn-Susan-Bates-Crochet-Hook#

follow the above link to enter!!

Here are all the details straight from the link above:

"Red Heart Super Saver Yarn and Susan Bates Crochet Hook

Patons Divine Yarn
Gifted By: Red Heart Yarns
Reviewed by: Nicola Trumbull, Editor for AllFreeCrochetAfghanPatterns.com

The winner of this giveaway will receive 1 skein of Red Heart Super Saver Yarn in Amazon and 1 Susan Bates Crochet Hook. The Red Heart Super Saver yarn is a go-to yarn for most crocheters. It's 100% Acrylic and is a durable yarn. This particular hook is a size J-10/6mm with a Bamboo handle. The handle is expertly crafted and has a lightweight quality that is good for crocheting for long periods of time.

Read the full review.

Win Red Heart Super Saver Yarn + a Susan Bates Crochet Hook!

We are giving away 1 skein of Red Heart Super Saver Yarn in Amazon and 1 Susan Bates Crochet Hook. The deadline to enter is October 30, 2012 at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time. We’ll send an email to the winner, so please check to make sure your email address is entered correctly. You’ll get an extra entry for EACH of the following (that's FOUR free extra entries):

If you blog about this giveaway at your blog or add a link to us on your blogroll or website, we’ll give you an extra entry. Send us the link to your blog post.
If you tweet about this giveaway, you’ll get an extra entry. Please see below to easily share this contest on Twitter and earn an extra contest entry.
If you add a link to us on your blogroll or website, we’ll give you an extra entry. Again, please show us that link!
If you post a link to this contest on your Facebook page on your wall, we'll give you an extra entry. Please see below to easily share this contest on Facebook and earn an extra contest entry.

Contest ends October 30, 2012. You can enter once daily, so return often to improve your chances of winning!"

Homemade Gifts Made Easy is having a contest:

http://www.homemade-gifts-made-easy.com/homemade-christmas-presents.html

"Share your homemade Christmas present ideas for a chance to win a $100 cash prize, with runner up prizes of $50 and $25!

Submit Today - Deadline Christmas Eve 2012"

I've been busy making Christmas presents for my family this year since we're both in school and going to be traveling 13 hrs. to get to a cabin in the woods with my whole family and their spouses & kids... :) eeep! So I really wanted to share my creations for this year. Last year I lost all my photos of the scarves etc. that I made for my family and was so bummed I couldn't show them off. But this year I don't expect my siblings and other family members to read this blog so i'll post what I'm giving them for you all to see. & hopefully you all join in on the fun!

home made gift tags

These tags are for my siblings & my mom & dad... basically the ones with spouses. I used paper, stamps & ink from my stash.

The "suitcases" of cards are for my youngest sister and hopefully my soon to be sis-in-law. (fingers crossed) I got the patterns for both projects on www.splitcoaststampers.com. I highly recommend you all check them out if you haven't before. Great ideas, tutorials, instructions etc.

Cards

I got the idea for this calendar from the lawn fawn blog & the stamp is from The Crafts Meow. I printed off the calendar pages from a free downloadable template from Microsoft and since I didn't have binding rings I used mutilated paper clips. this one is going to my baby sister, Lorraina, for her desk... it's actually really small so hopefully she'll be able to use it. I'm making a bigger version (& more masculine) for my dad for christmas but I really want to use those binding rings this time... my fingers were hurting from all that bending.

Oh and today I made some witch hat cookies but they didn't turn out right... I couldn't find any of the fudge shortbread cookies that the recipe called for so I just substituted the only shortbread cookies I could find so my first attempts look a little like thumb print cookies... so I added some chocolate body fondue (don't judge me; i did't want to make frosting) and then the Hershey kisses but then the kisses slid around too much... oh well they were yummy! Spent a half hour giving the kids a bath afterward but it was worth it. also, some of the kisses look old and gross only because the bag got left on the stove when it was hot. Here are my pictures:

My first attempt

Body Fondue attempt

I'd like to give a shout out to my followers & Blog friends who always leave me some love no matter what. I really appreciate it. I've been thinking of giving away something simple to a few of you (the way nana does over at My Crafting Channel) just as a thank you. I'd love to know what you guys think of this idea and any suggestions you may have as to what to give away. I want to make it myself so if you guys have any ideas i'd welcome them. sorry though i'm not going to be re-lining any more purses... these two are going to be it for me. I might be up for sewing some in the future but for now I think not. ;)

Anyway, All my love & happy crafting everyone!