Happy Halloween!

Hope you all have a wonderful Halloween weekend!

Here are a few of my Halloween decorations that I'm finally posting. I lack in the Halloween decor department and hopefully will find some great deals on Halloween decor after Halloween. You know me, I love clearance items.

Oh, and we grew that pumpkin. I was very excited . . . although, next year I think we need to plant them later in the year so they aren't sitting out and waiting for Halloween for 2 months. Oops.

Photography Obsession: Embrace the Camera - Oct. 28

A few weeks ago, my friend did a maternity shoot for me. My husband was at school and so we made it a mommy-daughter maternity shoot. I think they turned out great. I love how this little girl loves her little sister so much - - and still yet to meet her.

Hopefully that won't

change . . .

Sewing Obsession: Tinkerbell Costume

The sewing project I've been working on is Ava's Halloween costume. She's going to be Tinkerbell and couldn't be more excited. Actually, she might be more excited that her daddy is going to be Peter Pan. You should see her face every time she tells someone. It's adorable.

I'm using the Tinkerbell Costume Tutorial from Make It and Love It. I'm just being lazy. I could be done by now, but for some reason I'm not. I bought the material almost a month ago!!! I'll be sure to post a picture of my cute Tinkerbell.

And me? Well, you guessed it. I'm going to be Wendy. A scandolous Wendy, I guess, being that I am 35 weeks pregnant.

Photography Obsession: Embrace the Camera - Oct. 21

This past Thursday we made the trek over to Disneyland. It had been raining the past few days and I was hoping that it wouldn't be too crowded. And I was right! Not bad at all. We came prepared with ponchos and luckily we didn't have to use them. This is the only picture we have of us together. Don't you love the top of Ava's head and my zombie like look?

Buzz Lightyear might be one of our favorite rides.

"What I'm Loving" Wednesday

What I'm loving today is something that makes me and my little girl so happy. Elated. Something you can't buy in a store. Rain.

Ava and I are suckers for rain. We love it! And this week it's been doing just that, especially today. Rain, rain. Please don't go away. Ava still sorta fits in her rain coat and boots and loves to put them on any chance she gets. Might be almost time to buy new ones. Ohhh. And maybe a cute rain jacket and boots for me too. Then we could puddle jump together.

These are pictures from Dec. 2009. Isn't she a cutie?

Decorating Obsession: free Halloween printables

Still trying to decorate your house for Halloween? Yep. That's me. Still in the process. Well, Jessica from Craftily Ever After has made the cutest, free Halloween printables. Just save on your computer and print! How easy is that. She just asks that you be one of her followers. That's easy. Right? I can't wait to see what she has in store for Thanksgiving and Christmas . . .

Decorating Obsession: hanging the wreath

I love to decorate my home for the holidays. I was disappointed that last year I couldn't do much because we were in the middle of putting the hardwood floor in our home AND still unpacking.

So, I'm really excited. Last year I bought this wreath on clearance at Target. It's not super fancy, but it does just say "fall" to me. I love this time of year.

Since we have a very tall front door, I needed a way to make it so it didn't look like it was too high on the door. (I'm weird about things like that.) All I did was get out my stash of muslin fabric and I ripped it (you choose the length and width). Then I tied a knot in it right above the top of the wreath. With a flat head tack, just push or nail it in at the top of the door (the part you don't see). You're done! Now I just have to decorate the rest of the house.

Photography Obsession: Embrace the Camera - Oct. 7

I love this little face that I get to look at every day. Even when I'm upset with her . . . she"ll look at me with those puppy dog eyes and say, "smile at me, mommy. smile." She's a little too smart for her own good. It usually does makes me smile and then laugh. She knows how to get me.

"What I'm Loving" Wednesday

Okay. So I know it's not even Halloween yet, but I found this packing tape at Michaels and thought it would be perfect for those Christmas packages I need to send in a few months. Aren't they cool? And the best part is that they're only $0.50 per packing tape. (I found them in the baskets near the check out line.)

Sewing Obsession: fabric scraps

Ava found a yellow minky blanket that I'd bought years ago and that was waiting in my gift stash. She took it out and said that it was her little sister's blankee (countdown: 8 weeks left). She would play with it and even put it on my belly. She wanted to make sure her little sister was warm. She's going to be a great big sister.

I told her that maybe she could give it to her little sister on her birthday. She seemed pretty excited about it. So we folded it, tied some fabric scraps around it that I'd sewn together, and we're done. All ready to go.

What do you do with your fabric scraps?

Thrift Store/Home Decor Obsession: empty frames

So, how do you feel about empty frames?

{easy living magazine/country living}

{apartment therapy}

{lund photo/mimi charmante}

I absolutely love them!

I had this same idea when I found some frames at the thrift store. I don't think I payed more than $3 for each of them.

1. I first painted them white. (the hubby is getting a little sick of everything being white, I think)

2. I then measured them and layed them out on the floor to see how I liked them.

3. With either newspaper, wrapping paper, or with whatever you have on hand, trace the frames and cut them out. Make sure once you cut them, you place the paper on the back of the frame to figure out where the nail hole is and once you do, with your pen, just poke a hole.


4. Then tape them to your wall. (using a level and the correct measurements of the wall)


5. You're almost done. Since you already know where the nails are going, nail them through the paper and then you can rip the paper down. Just have to hang the frames now.

I do plan on eventually putting up pictures in them (but not the exact size of the frame). And maybe a bench underneath it. This wall has been bare for way too long!

Some other ideas: (found on apartmenttherapy.com)

•Use an empty frame to highlight a mantelpiece display.
•Elevate a photo tacked to wall by surrounding it with a larger, empty frame.
•Use a cluster of empty frames to draw attention to a wallpapered area.
•A tall, leaning frame can bring height to a low furniture arrangement.
•Use empty frames to offset sculptural objects on the wall.
•Paint frames to bring color to an arrangement.
•String wire between the edges of an empty frame to hang jewelry or other objects.