Happy Halloween!

I wanted to wish all of my lovely readers a very Happy Halloween! Our family tradition is to have my parents over, eat some delicious taco soup (an amazing recipe from my best friend's mother, Lori, who unexpectedly passed away a few years ago), and hand out candy to the throngs of children that flock to our neighborhood.  Last year we had well over 200 kids! Isn't that nuts!? On a side note, candy is EXPENSIVE!!!

We don't dress up to hand out the candy, but we did go to a costume party over the weekend at my amazing friend Christy's house.  It's their annual party and she is crazy creative with all of her themed food and decorations.  The hubby and I went as bikers from the movie Super Troopers (if you haven't seen this awesome comedy, DO IT NOW).

My friend Christy's husband Chad is crazy creative too and decided this year to unleash Battleshots! A play on the classic Battleship game where instead of pegs you have shot glasses (which we filled with beer, not hard alcohol).  It was crazy fun! Here is a picture of Christy (who was a princess) and I kicking the boys butts at it!

I hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween this evening! I'll post some more pics tomorrow of my exterior design.  I'll also give a final tally of the kiddo count for tonight (yes we are super lame awesome and tally the kids as they come)! What are you doing tonight? Leave a comment and tell me!

Halloween/Fall/Thanksgiving Decor Part 2

I am so pleased with how my holiday tree turned out! I got this lovely tree courtesy of the Junior League of Riverside.  I was actually a part of the construction of the tree which we used for centerpieces for our ball 2 years ago.  It's simply Manzanita branches secured in a pot using Plaster of Paris and then spray painting the entire thing silver.  Quite easy.  At the end of the ball we had an option of a donation for the centerpiece.  You may recall I used these for my friend Caitlin's Bridal Shower which I hosted.

Anywho, I decided I will revamp the tree for each holiday (as I post them I will tag them all with the "Holiday Tree" label which you can access on the left).  This is my Halloween version! It features beads from Michael's, flower balls (you can view my past tutorial here), black paper bats made on the Cricut, spider webs from the dollar tree, black paper spiders made on the Cricut, white raffia to cover the base, pumpkin ornaments that my mother passed down to me, and some cool skeletons that were actually on a garland I got at the dollar tree.  I just cut the garland apart to make them individual ornaments.  Oh and the cool raven at the top, also from the dollar tree.  I love it so much and couldn't wait to share it with you all! Thanks for looking!! I love to read your comments, so please let me know what you think by commenting below!

You can now subscribe to my blog by email!

I know I haven't been the best at keeping up with my blog, and as a result have lost a lot of followers who were (I am sure) sick of checking back and never seeing a new post.  Well, I have 2 tidbits of good news for you! First, I am working at blogging more, so I am hopeful that there will be new material more often to keep my followers coming back.  Secondly, you can now subscribe to my blog by email (sign up by adding your email on the left) so that you can be notified when I do post something new.  This way, you won't have to keep checking back and you'll never miss a post!

I do appreciate those of you who have stuck with me.  I read each and every comment I receive and I just love getting comments.  It keeps me motivated to post more, so a big thank you to everyone reading this!

XOX
Elizabeth

Halloween/Fall/Thanksgiving Decor Part 1

My living room is all ready for the upcoming holidays and I just couldn't wait any longer to share some pics!

My mantle is all ready for Fall/Thanksgiving.  I finally finished the 3D paper pumpkins that are on top of the finials.  

And finally, the shelves over my couch have received a spooktacular makeover for Halloween! Funny story about the purple tilted candles.... those were normal purple candlesticks that I packed away in my Fall bins and put in the attic after taking them down after last year's season.  I put them in the Frankenstein vase (which you can also see in the photo).  Well, silly me didn't even consider that because it gets hotter than Hades here in Southern California, that they would melt.  So when I unpacked them the vase was on its side with the candles melted to the side of the vase and leaned over the top of the vase.  I thought it was quite perfect for the Halloween holiday.  However, I am quite worried that it won't be nearly as awesome for my Christmas candles which have also been in the attic for nearly a year.  Sigh.  LOL.

The shelves over my TV have been revamped for Fall/Thanksgiving.  Here is a before and after shot.

Most of my decor were garage sale finds, some of it was handed down to me by my mother, and very few of the items were actually purchased by me at a store or handmade.  Thanks again for looking and check back soon for more Holiday decor!

Bootinis with Friends

My husband and I are so lucky to have our dear friends Justin and Caitlin moving in just 5 houses up the street from us.  I have known Caitlin since I was born (literally) as our moms were (and still are) best friends.  We can't wait for them to be so close and are looking forward to some fabulous get togethers in the very near future!

We decided to celebrate them getting the go-ahead on renting the place with an impromptu cocktail party at our place.  Tim made some scrumptious pumpkin muffins and Justin and Caitlin were in charge of the cocktail.

Justin, a former bartender, decided upon the gourmet Bootini! It included vanilla vodka, Bailey's, Pumpkin creamer (which was a substitute for Pumpkin Liquour which couldn't be located) and some Oreo's and Gummy Worms to add a lil' pizazz! They were amazing, a must try for your next spooktacular Halloween get-together!

Yummy pumpkin cupcakes courtesy of my amazing hubby!

 Bootini!!!

All of our Bootinis ready for consumption! Thanks Justin!!

Me and Caitlin enjoying our midweek cocktails!

PS: I really just love any excuse to use my adorable Lolita martini glasses :)

Halloween Crafts

Been working on decorating the house and some fun Halloween/Fall crafts of late.  Hoping to finish them up this week and get some photos up ASAP.  Here is a sneak peek - hoping to turn this into some sort of wreath. 

I can't believe it's October already! What kinds of crafts are you guys working on for the upcoming fall holidays?