Jack O Lantern Jars

Last week was a week of sickness at my house. Monday Cash came home with a stomach virus, and was out of school Tuesday. Wednesday night Andre came down with it. To top the week off, it attacked me on Thursday night. Whew! Harsh.

Anyway, Saturday afternoon Cash was out running an errand with his dad, and Luc started to get restless. I still wasn't feeling 100%, so I wasn't super interested in going outside to play. (Or playing at all for that matter) Then I remembered this little project from the Family Fun Magazine! Luc loves to paint, and we could do it in a stationary position. Win/win!

Yeah, Luc desperately needs a haircut. BUT look how he loves to paint!

Here's what you need:

glass jars ( I recycled some old jelly jars)

orange acrylic paint

paintbrush

masking tape

Here's what you do:

* Cut out geometric shapes, to use for the jack o lantern face, out of the masking tape

* Stick shapes onto a jar.

* Paint the outside of the jar. (YES, paint over the tape)

* When paint is dry, carefully pull the tape off.

* Place a votive or battery candle inside jar

These were super easy, having all the materials on hand, and really cute.

Have a spook-i-lious weekend!-

Tracy

My Halloween'd Up House

Hey everyone! Long time no see...right? Yeah, I was trying to get back on track...still am...BUT there is still hope out there for me! I promise. Don't turn your back on me, 'k? :)

Seriously, now that September is over (super busy month) I am really planning on gettting my blog act together. Fo. Sho.

SO! Halloween! I pulled my decor out of the attic, and even though I didn't add anything new (boo hoo)

I did rearrange things a little bit, so it seems new-ish. :)

The pic above shows my mantle.

Still my mantle, but different view -of course. I love that sitting skeleton.

The quality of this picture leaves something to be desired, but you get it....

SPOOKY banner.

Close up of candles on mantle.

Again, same wreath as last year. For tutorial, see HERE.

Shelves inside the living room.

Even though I haven't been posting, I have been working on some things for Chatty Crafty.

I plan to share some of the little things I've made in the next few days!

Thanks for being spook-i-licious, and not forgetting about me!

Tracella

aka- My halloween name.

Halloween Good Times

This Halloween, the Crosby clan attended three different Halloween celebrations. We had a blast at them all. Here's a few shots from all three....

Creative Discovery Museum's Monster Bash
Boo in the Zoo at Chattanooga Zoo

Trunk or Treat at Tyner United Methodist Church

Caramelized Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

After carving our pumpkins (photo coming..) I like to bake the seeds. Andre doesn't like them, but I think they are yuuuuummmmy! Plus, pumpkin seeds have loads of health benefits. Read about the benefits here. Last year, I made on spicy batch and one sweet batch. This year, I totally went crazy and just combined the two!

I followed this recipe from Allrecipes.com, but I didn't use ginger. Ginger isn't one of my fav's, so I just left it out. :)

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 2 cups raw whole pumpkin seeds, washed and dried
• cooking spray
• 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.(I used freezer paper.)
   
2. In a large bowl, stir together 3 tablespoons of sugar, the cumin, cinnamon, ginger, and cayenne pepper, and set aside.
3. Place the pumpkin seeds on the prepared baking sheet, spray them with cooking spray, and sprinkle with salt to taste. Bake the seeds in the preheated oven until lightly golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
4. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, and stir in the toasted pumpkin seeds along with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Cook and stir the seeds until the sugar forms a coating on the seeds, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir the caramelized seeds into the bowl of sugar-spice mixture, toss to coat, and let cool.

This is a great snack! Enjoy!

A Trip to Burt's Farm

Since before Andre and I were married, we have been driving out past Ellijay, GA to go to Burt's Farm. I have never been to a Pumpkin farm as big as this one, and with such a wide variety of pumpkins. It's amazing to see. The kids love running in between the pumpkins, and of course, the hay ride on the big trackers! It's always fun, and a great place to take some fall pictures.

Check out the site, it's a super cool family trip!

Have You Been "BOO-ed?"

I came across this idea over at Whipperberry's blog, and had googled it when I saw it on another blog. Shockingly enough, it was posted on A Bird and A Bean. :) (We are always on the same wave length. Good thing we are Sakura sistas!) I hadn't acted on my impulse to "Boo" someone yet, because we dont have very many kids on our street, and I wasn't sure how it would play out. Then a stroke of brilliance came over me, and I thought, "I CAN DO IT AT SCHOOL!" Last week was Fall break, so I knew the teachers would come back a bit sluggish. This would be the perfect reviver, and would get us in the mood for the upcoming Ole Hallow's Eve. Plus, it would be fun to start a sweet treat movement among friends.

It's pretty simple to do...You can google the idea and find TONS of templates. Decide what kind of treat you want to give. I gave a threesome of chocolate chip cookies that I baked. I was going to give some of the caramel apples we made, but decided to keep those for myself. :) Erin gave a bag of mixed candy...it's up to you. Put it in a bag or container, and attach the printed "boo" and poem. It's also a good idea to include extra copies of the poem/boo so that the next person can put them in the treats that they make. This will (hopefully) ensure that the ball gets rolling, and people get to boo-ing. Put the treat packages on someone's doorstep, or in my case, teacher's desk anonymously...watch the magic happen.

This is the poem. You can go HERE to down load the templates.

I printed the directions on the back of the poem.

Here are a couple of other places to get your "Boo-ed" materials!

Ghost Boo-ed

Mulitple ghosts

Never Say Die part 2

Wow. It's been getting crazy busy this week with Ole Hallows Eve approaching! There's been trunk or treating, pumpkin carving, and seed roasting! Sorry if you've been patiently waiting for more printables, and I let you down. :) But I am here now! So do not hesitate...download now.

I used this one from Craftily Ever After on my mantel.

I think I will chant this little poem while I do my "witchy" dance this year...from Mrs. Adventure!

Of course, those ladies at Eighteen25 are always giving us something golden for holiday fun!

The Crafty Nest gives us this too cute cookie jar printable.

I love all of these fun sites!