Halloween 2016!

Happy Halloween Candy Hangover Day! Yes, that's my official title for the day after Halloween. And I'm pretty sure I was in a candy coma all day today. And probably will be for the next several days, seeing as how we ended up having tons of leftover candy, on top of the candy Sully got while out trick-or-treating. I feel a little less guilty about all the candy I will be eating since I ate absolutely none prior to Halloween night!

Anyway, I feel like Halloween really snuck up on us this year and it felt like it was over in the blink of an eye with it being on a Monday and a work-night. We got out the door later than I had wanted and the hour and bit we were out there just flew by. But we had great weather for heading out, Sully loved his costume, and we had the pleasure of going door to door with our good friends and my aunt's husband again! Sadly, my aunt couldn't join us this year as she was still really sick.

It's fun to look back at the photos from last year to see how much Sully, and Kate & Dan's little girl have grown! They were both so into trick-or-treating this year, it was the most adorable thing ever. Sully said trick-or-treat at every house and "sanks-you!" every time someone put something in his bucket. Then we'd head back down the steps and he's exclaim, "let's go get more candy in my bucket!!". And here I was all worried that he'd be too scared to go out!

Of course, professional photographer I am not, and I never have my act together to get Sully in his costume during daytime hours for better photos, but these less than perfect photos still mean a lot to me. This time next year we will have a 10-month old along with us!

How did you celebrate Halloween? 

Did you dress up? If you have kiddos, what were their costumes? 

Weekending: Happy Halloween!

For the majority of our past Halloween's, we have always travelled to Red Deer (save for the year I was pregnant), to spend it with our nephews. Gone are the days of wanting to dress up and go to house parties, and I truly believe Halloween is way more fun with kids. This year though, now that Sully is a bit older, although still unaware of what Halloween really is, we thought it would be nice to spend it in our own home. I decorated for the first time in ever, even making some of the decorations myself, and we had a blast taking Sully trick-or-treating around our block.

But let's back up for a minute…Friday was spent picking up some last minute Halloween supplies, and then Sully and I popped into Kayben Farms for one last visit before they close for the season. It was fantastic because we practically had the entire place to ourselves. We got to jump on the big pillows for as long as we wanted and without the chaos of other children around, went down the slides a few times - Sully even insisted on going on his own! - but the best part was getting to pet the baby goat. When we were leaving the farm animals area, I noticed the small goat had snuck out of the pen and was digging around in the storage shed. I alerted one of the workers and then she let us hang out with the goat while he ate some feed from a bucket. Sully didn't wasn't that interested in petting him, but he was pretty excited about getting to stand next to him while he ate!

We headed home shortly before having to pick up Jim from the train station and then I dropped the two of them off at home as I had a movie date at the mall with Leigh. We watched The Intern, a really cute and touching movie and ended our evening with some browsing around Old Navy and chatting in the mall hallway. A movie and girl talk is always a great night!

On Saturday, we had my Aunt Max and Uncle Barry over, along with Barry's daughter, Kate and her husband Dan, and their daughter Gwendolyn. We ate a quick supper and then took the kids out trick-or-treating. Sully was pretty shy at first and then one house scared the crap out of him, but we wanted to end the evening on a happy note, so we continued on to more friendly-decorated homes. It didn't take long for Sully to catch on to what was going on, and eventually he was even saying "trick-or-treat" when prompted. I'm kicking myself for not getting any of it on video. I also failed to take any pictures of him in his costume in the daylight so of course, amateur photographer that I am, all of my pictures are pretty terrible and inconsistent, but I'm quite confident that his cuteness factor makes up for my shortcomings.  And yes, we totally let Sully dig into his trick-or-treating stash!

Once Sully was bed, Jim headed off to watch the hockey game with Dan and I spent the evening on the couch with candy and a horrible movie. Seriously, don't watch And So it Goes. Boring and an hour and a half of my life I'll never get back.

Sunday, we spent a good part of the day organizing and cleaning the garage in preparation for my new vehicle that arrived two weeks early! We won't be picking it up until the end of the week, but I'm so excited that it came ahead of schedule. We ended the evening with a few episodes of The Walking Dead and stomachaches from too much candy and chocolate eating. I'm not sure if it's impressive or embarrassing how fast two adults can get through a big bowl of Halloween candy!

How did you spend your Halloween? 

If you dressed up, what was your costume? 

DIY Floating Ghosts

I like to think I'm crafty, but the truth is, I haven't really crafted all that much in the last several years. But sometimes, the inspiration strikes and even I'm surprised with my results. I'm not quite sure how I stumbled upon the pin to make hanging ghosts, but I guess that is the rabbit hole that is pinterest. Originally, I just planned on making mini hanging ghosts because I thought it was something fun that Sully would get a kick out of, but then this post inspired me to be a bit more creative. Although, I will admit, a few things from that tutorial totally didn't work out for me, but don't worry, I've got easy, fool-proof instructions for you if you want to make your own floating ghost heads! I promise, if I can make these, so can you! No pinterest fails here!

Floating Ghost Heads

All you need:

-Styrofoam mannequin heads
-3 yards of cheesecloth per head
-mod podge
-paint brush
-E-Z Ancors #8
-screwdriver
-monofilament line/fishing line

I bought my Styrofoam heads for four dollars a piece at Value Village. I'm kicking myself because I did see them at the dollar store at the beginning of October, but I didn't have this project in mind then. The cheese cloth I bought at the dollar store, the monofilament line we already had in the garage, along with the E-Z Anchors. Mod podge can be found at Walmart or any craft store. You don't need a fancy paint brush, the one I used was a cheap one from the dollar store. The tutorial I had originally found on this says to use E6000 glue to glue in eyelet screws to the heads, but learn from my mistake here: E6000 glue cannot be used on Styrofoam as it literally eats away at it leaving a big hole. Luckily I had only used this glue on one of the heads before realizing my error.

To make the heads look even creepier, I cut off the necks. A sharp knife (not a serrated edged one) will get the job done in minutes with no mess. You do not need a special tool to do this.

Then, take your long piece of cheesecloth (all cheesecloth I've bought comes in a package of 3 yards), and cut it in half. Drape one piece over the Styrofoam head and then apply mod podge to the face area. This will help the facial features pop and the overall effect will be much creepier. It will also keep your cheesecloth in place. I applied the first layer to all three heads and then went back and applied the second layer, adding a bit more mod podge to make sure the second piece was secure. You don't need to let the mod podge dry in-between layers. The mod podge will dry clear.

Afterwards, take a long piece of monofilament line and knot it around the E-Z Ancor (make sure you use a good knot, one that won't accidentally unravel as you don't want your line to slip out - I used a bowline knot). I used anchor size #8 because that is what we had in the garage, but also because it had a large enough thread. Then take your screwdriver and screw the anchor into the middle of the top of the head. It will go in easy (make sure you screw it in and not push it in). The threading on the anchor will ensure it stays in place. So much easier than trying to glue an eyelet screw into the Styrofoam! This way you won't have to worry that your glue won't hold, and I really liked that it makes the anchor part invisible.

All that's left is to hang your ghosts wherever you wish! Super easy and I'm positive I will be making more next Halloween!

Mini Cheesecloth Ghosts

Along with my floating ghosts, I also wanted to make smaller ghosts for our tree in the front yard. These little guys were even easier to make and I think they are pretty darn cute.

All you need:

-Small Styrofoam balls
-cheesecloth
-white thread
-sharpie
-eyelet hooks
-monofilament line/fishing line

For these ghosts, I decided to draw eyes on them just using a black sharpie. Then I cut a big piece of cheesecloth into smaller squares. I didn't measure, you can easily eyeball it, but I did choose to double up the layers. I used white thread to secure the cloth underneath the Styrofoam ball. I attached the eyelet screws into the tops of the ghost heads with mod podge which actually holds well. You could also use the E-Z anchors as I did above, but they are a bit pricey so I only did one mini ghost with an anchor. Either seem to hold up well as the mini ghosts are super light. Attach some fishing line and hang your ghosts where you like! Incredibly easy, and I really like the way the cheesecloth blows in the wind. Sully got a big kick out of helping me hang these "ghoosts" on the tree!

Happy Halloween! 

Sullivan's First Halloween

Growing up, Halloween was a big deal in our house. My mom would go all out with the decorations, both inside and out. We had this long, covered walkway up to our front door, and she would effortlessly turn it into a haunted house of sorts. Little kids were scared to trick-or-treat at our house. It was awesome, and I looked forward to each and every Halloween in that home. Somewhere along the line, my sister and brother and I grew up, we all moved out of the house, and gone were those days of embracing Halloween to the fullest. Since then, I sort of lost interest in Halloween, save for the odd party here and there.

But this year marked a change in my feelings towards Halloween and the Halloween's to come. Because now, I'm a mom, and this year, I've realized just how much more fun Halloween is when you have a kid. I didn't go all out - no decorations this year since we weren't home for Halloween anyway and I didn't make him a costume like I thought I might be inclined to do - we have many years to get super creative in the costume department! This year I chose to dress him up in one of those super cute puffy costumes. Seriously, is there anything cuter than a baby in a costume?! I don't think so.

A few days before Halloween, my mom's group had a little Halloween party for all the babies and it was pretty much the funniest thing ever. There seemed to be a lot more crying than usual and I think it's because the babies didn't know what to make of the other babies in costumes! The puffy style costumes are also a little "top heavy", so at any given moment there was usually a "baby down".

On Halloween day, we stopped in Red Deer on our way home from Calgary so Sully's cousins could see him in his costume. We also took Sully out trick-or-treating with them. While he had no idea what was going on, (or that he was collecting candy for his mom), he was a trooper, staying up way past his bedtime.

Hard to believe that this time last year Sully was just a bun in my oven. And next year he'll be able to walk up to the doors holding my hand! I should probably start costume brainstorming now! I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween weekend!

Halloween When You're Pregnant

As I've gotten older, the novelty (and desire) to dress up for Halloween has worn off. For one thing, Halloween always seems to just sneak up on me, leaving me no time to get a costume together, and secondly, the thought of having to think of (and possibly make) a creative costume often feels like way too much pressure. And I'm not even going to get into the whole slutty costume epidemic that's out there. But this year, I knew I wanted to celebrate Halloween and incorporate my baby bump into my costume. Who knows, this could be the only time I'm ever pregnant (and showing) during Halloween.

At first, I wanted to order one of these baby bump skeleton shirts for my costume and one of these ones for Jim's costume. But then I decided I didn't want to spend $60+ dollars and still have to make skeleton pants. So this is what we came up with instead - (note: I honestly thought I had an original idea. Until a little search on google told me I am not original at all.) Original or not, I'm pretty proud of how well we executed the idea though!

{Mr. Baker and Mrs. Bun in the Oven}

I cannot remember ever having made a costume before, but I can say this won't be my last! Jim and I had so much fun making my little oven (even if it took us all day!).  Plus, I now have endless future Halloween costume options: microwave, Easy-Bake oven, Jack in the Box, time travel machine...

With a little craft run to Michaels, a shirt from Walmart, a cardboard box, white duct tape and some cooking props from home, we had the makings of our costumes.

And of course, we couldn't leave Saigon out of the fun.

Jim and I are already excited and brainstorming for Halloween next year, and can't wait to dress up Baby Fraser!

Tell me: What did you dress up as for Halloween this year? 

I'd love to know!