Countdown to Halloween- Last Minute Pet Costume

This beauty saved the day! This is the kid sized sewing machine I gave my daughter for Christmas about 5 years ago.  My 20 year old Singer is no longer working, and I had to finish Kara's costume.   I remembered that we had our mini machine (that has not been touched in years) and decided to give it a try.  I was thrilled when I worked, and I was able to finish more of the costume.  Today I need to add a drawstring to the pants and make her ears and then I am done..WOOHOO!  

While I am busy finishing my long to do list today, I felt the need to share a last minute pet costume because it is just too adorable!!

How awesome is this Poop Factory costume on Barb's dog  from Turtle and Tails.   Being a pet owner, I know how truly funny this costume really is. We have three cats, who are also poop factories.  It would be so fitting for them to wear this, if they  would only  keep a costume on for longer than 30 seconds.   Barb has a wonderful picture tutorial on how she made it here, so why not take a look.  Thanks so much for linking this up Barb!


Would you like to be the Dare to Share Feature of the Day like Barb?  Link up all of your favorite posts on Dare to Share here, and you could be featured too!

Countdown to Halloween- Halloween Cupcakes

I could be that I still have cake on the brain from my birthday yesterday, but I absolutely adore these Halloween cupcakes from Phaedra's Adventures.   She shared not only one  of her Halloween  cupcake recipes with Dare to Share, but three! Since I could not chose my favorite, I am featuring all of  three them.    You can see how to make these spider cupcakes HERE.

Her cute and fun witch cupcakes HERE.

and her not so scary ghost cupcakes HERE.
Any of these cupcakes would be perfect to take to a class party ot serve your little goblins.  Thank you so much for linking up Phaedra! 

If you would like to be the Feature of the Day, but sure to link you your favorite posts to the the weekly Dare to Share party.  Be sure to link up HERE.

Last Minute Prep

It seems to happen every year..

I plan to get things done in plenty of time..  Which of course, never seems to happen.   Again this year I have long to do list that has to be in done in  next approximately 24 hours..

I need to redecorate the porch.  The very strong winds we got all the way in Michigan from Hurricane Sandy  blew down all of my decorations.  Frankie is now missing his hair, mouth and stitches.  The hair is long gone, but I did have the other things.

We need to finish our pumpkins. We gut them last night, but it was too late to carve.  We will finish up after Kara's dance class tonight.

I need to finish Kara's raccoon costume with a broken sewing machine. Yep, I said broken.  I pulled out my oldest daughter's small one, and I am praying it works.  I need to sew the side seams on the too, finish the tail and add a drawstring to her pants.   Oh and make her a headband with raccoon ears.

I need to decorate the front entry.  I have several plug in pumpkins that light up the hallway to our front door.  I also put the plastic pumpkins on our stairs with mini tea lights inside. It looks really pretty all lit up.

I hope to make the glowing eyes for the front bushes.  I am going to wait on this to see how the weather is going to be. If it is wet and windy I we might not put them out.


I also have to do some general cleaning of the house.  We have invited several friends to go trick or treating with us. I might if I have time, make something fun for the kids to eat.  

So what is on  your Halloween to do list??

It's My Birthday Post!

Today is my birthday!   This is one of my cake's from years past.  My teens are getting ready to make this year's cake for me now that they are home from school.   Both like to cook, and both have had basic foods in Home Ec.  I hope I am in for a treat and really look forward to see how it turns out.  


If make cake does not turn out, that is okay...   Again I am going to share why it is worth having a reward card or be on a mailing list..   Check out all of these great offers that have come in my In Box in the last two weeks in honor of my birthday.

Free Sandwich at Red Robin
Free Rooty Tooty Breakfast at IHOP
Free Burger, Salad or Sandwich from Bennigans
Free Burger Ruby Tuesday

Free Dessert at Carinos
Free Dessert at Buffalo Wild Wings
Free Brownie Sundae at Chilis
Free Brownie Dessert at Fridays
Free Dessert at Olgas
Free Dessert at Outback
Free Shake at Arbys

There is just no way I could eat all of that in the few weeks the coupons are active.  A few of the freebies expire on Wednesday.  A few just showed up today and are good through November.   Have you signed up to be on the mailing list of your favorite restaurants?   Free food is always good!

Even more Halloween Treat Boxes

Nothing like waiting until the last minute, but I finally got the rest of my Halloween treat boxes finished today. I am quite happy with how they turned out..     Today I made a witch, owl and vampire

Crafting with Kara-Pet Memory Box

R.I.P Sonic the Hamster,  October 28, 2012

  Today's craft came about because of something sad.  We had to bury Sonic the hamster.  A few months ago he started to get a small tumor on the back of his head/neck.  The vet was able to drain it and he was doing well for about two months.   In Sept, we had to drain it again. The Dr felt Sonic still had some life in him, but we would need to keep a close eye on him.  A week later, the tumor was back again. This time it grew so big and so  fast that it was more than our little drawf hamster could take. Today we knew it was time because it was affecting his eyes, ears and balance.   

We brought him home to bury in the backyard underneath our big tree.  Kara decided she wanted to make him a special box. She designed a box that looked like her  hamster.  While she used this box to bury him in,  we both felt this might be a good way for kids to remember a special pet.  They could store their favorite memory, a favorite pet toy, drawing or pictures in their animal themed box. 

While she was making this marker under the tree, Kara had a very surreal experience.  Do you remember the cranes that live in my neighborhood?  Kara said she saw them fly overhead.  They then turned around and landed in our yard.  She said they stood looking at her  about 10 feet away with their heads bowed for a few moments like they were paying their respects.  When she was done, they quietly flew away.  She said it was something she will always remember.    

Countdown to Halloween- Dryer Vent Pumpkins

Today's feature of the day is actually a craft that can be made for two holidays...

A dryer vent can be turned into a  pumpkin for Halloween

and then  a turkey for Thanksgiving.

 Both of these wonderful  ideas are from Turtles and Tails.  You can see the tutorial for the  festive pumpkin HERE, and the Thanksgiving turkey HERE.   These both  are super cute, thanks so much for linking up!

If you would like to be a feature of the day be sure to link you favorite posts on Dare to ShareHERE!

Last Minute Decor-Door Monsters

If you are on Pinterest, you have seen some really creative Halloween themed doors.  I loved the idea, and today decided to dress up our front door.  I had considered making a Vampire door but I did not have enough black craft foam. This is such a fun and simple craft, I can see making a different monster every year.

There are several ways you can make the eyes. You can use craft foam, cardstock or even paper plates.  I used craft foam and traced a cardboard circle that was the perfect size.

I used a Pringles can for the black pupil

To make his hair, I cut a piece of black craft foam in half lengthwise and cut out various triangles. I then tape it together so that it was the width of the door.   I have seen some doors with crepe paper hair on Pinterest as well .  I think that way  looks really cool too, I just didn't feel like digging out the party supplies.

    I made his mouth  and stitches out of scraps of white craft foam.

After adding the bolts on the door frame and taking a few pictures, I realized something was missing.

He needed his brows..  much better.   It was kind of hard to know what to do with the half window.  I guess I could cover it up, but I like the light we get in the house.   I might cover it for trick or treat night.. time will tell.. For now, it kind of looks like he is wearing a hat.

Countdown to Halloween-Fudge Peanut Butter Treats

It could be that I have candy on the brain this week,   

but doesn't these homemade peanut butter cups look delicious!  Reese's cups are a favorite type of candy for my family.    We even have a cat named Reeses. (she a brown and tan tortie)   But now with the recipe for Homemade Fudge Peanut Butter Treats  cups shared  by Winnish.net,  we can make our own at home.  YUM!!!  Winnie's blog is not written in English, but she does have the translate button so you can see how she made such beautiful treats like these, and many others.  Thanks so much for linking this recipe up! 

If you would like to be the feature of the day, be sure to link up all of your great ideas on Dare to Share!

Dare to Share #31 with exciting changes

Welcome to this week's Dare to Share..   This week has been quite busy as we are in the final stretch before Halloween.. I still have to sew Kara's raccoon costume, and finish up a few projects.

Here are some the fun things we did this week..

Last weekend, I had a special weekend with Kara. We got free food, and free movies.  You can read how we got over $30 of freebies on my Fun and Frugal Weekend post.

On Monday I did a guest post on  Pamela's Heavenly Treats and shared my recipe for Caramel Apple Crisp Pie.  My kids LOVE it.

On Tuesday I shared three of my Halloween treat boxes, that are the perfect size to take to class parties. I hope to have three more posted this weeekend. You can see how to make Frankenstein, Spider and Mummy HERE.

Last night Kara and I made some Colorful Caramel Apple Treats by adding some of our favorite candy and cereals to our caramel apples.  It was a lot of fun, and added a some extra yumminess.   

Countdown to Halloween - Pumpkin Pinatas

Are you having a Halloween party this week?  Are you looking for last minute entertainment ideas.

How about a make your own pumpkin pinata by my friend Susie at Earning my Cape.  She gives a great tutorial on how to make one that will be the hit of almost any party.   All you need are  some basic supplies that you might even already have on hand.   Definitely check out her blog  to see how she did it.

Do you want to be a daily feature..  Make sure to link up to Dare to Share each Friday night.  I would love to see you there.

Caramel Apple Treats

While caramel apples are not a new treat, there are some  fun ways to make them even yummier.

 Kara unwrapped the caramel, while I got together our toppings.  I opened a few of our Halloween candy bags,  I pulled some of our favorite cereals out of the pantry.

We washed and dried our apples and placed them on a butter sprayed piece of parchment paper.

The toppings we ended up selecting were Count Chocula, Reeses Puffs, M &Ms, Skittles, Nerd and cut up Snickers.  I got out the Reeses Peanut Butter topping but we ended up not using it.

I dipped the apples, and then gave them to Kara to add the toppings.

They might not be pretty and perfect, but they sure are colorful!

Karas'sSkittle and Nerd apple

Our Count Chocula apple

Another colorful apple with M&Ms and Nerds

I had a little bit of caramel left over so I drizzzled it over some banana and made some caramel banana bites.  Delicious!

We can't wait to eat them, but they are in the fridge chilling.  It's bedtime, so I think they might have to wait until tomorrow.

Countdown to Halloween-Pumpkin Pretzels

Today's feature of the day are these quick and easy pumpkin pretzels by Phaedra's Adventures

Don't they look so festive!  These pretzels would be great to take to school parties or a for your little trick or treaters to snack on when they want a sweet snack.  You can see the direction on how Phaedra made them HERE.

You can see the other wonderful crafts from Dare to Share HERE.

Countdown to Halloween-Scarecrow

Today's Halloween is how Sweeping Mama and her family made a scarecrow for their front porch.

During the day he is just a sweet, happy fellow..

but at night.. he is SUPER COOL!  I never thought about using a plug in pumpkin as part of a scarecrow.  That is such a great idea.  Read more about Mr. Scarecrow and meet Hiliary Sweeping Mama here.

Please stop by this week's Dare to Share to other great ideas and link up your own.  You can find the party HERE

Must Read Ebook for a More Disiplined Life

As many of you know from past posts, I was diagnosed about a year or two ago with adult ADD.  I found out this information after two of my children were also diagnosed. Throw in my thyroid issues, and I am lucky I remember anything. There are times when things in my life are a bit chaotic. (okay I will say it, my life is chaotic pretty much all the time.)  I will never claim to have a super clean house with everything organized.  My house is far from it,  especially with 3  children who seem to have gotten the unorganized gene from me.    I was very excited to learn that Crystal Paine, a writer/blogger who I have followed for several years, is coming out with a new  Ebook, that might give my chaotic, unorganized life some order.  

Click to Order Here

You may know Crystal from the blog MoneySavingMom.com.   I have followed her blog for several years, and she always gives such great advice on how to be more frugal.  I am sure I have saved hundreds of dollars by reading her site. I respect her opinion, and I know she lives what she teaches.   If she is able to help me be more disciplined and in charge of my own life instead of it being in charge of me, I am all for it!    If this sounds like you too,  now is the time to buy this Ebook.   It will be on special sale for only .99  until Oct 26th.  After that day, it will go up to its full price of $6.99.   By buying now, you will not only save $6, but will hopefully  have enough time to learn something by the holidays.

Halloween Treat Boxes

It is almost time again  for class Halloween parties.  I thought it would the be the perfect time to add to my treat box collection..  

Do you remember these?  I came up made my Bunny Treat Boxes  for  Easter 2011, and they quickly become one of my popular posts and most pinned ideas. 

Then last Thanksgiving, I added my Turkey Treat Boxes, and they too were well received

To make Frankenstein, I cut a green rectangle from cardstock to fit the top of the dollar store treat box.  (They come in packages of 10 or 12 so they are .10 or less each.)   Glue on whatever eyes you would prefer. I thought he would look good with the small eyes. You can find a large bag of google eyes in various sizes in the craft aisle at the Dollar Tree.  

I glued on hair and bolts with  more cardstock.  (you could easily substitute craft foam)  I then drew on the mouth with a black fine tip sharpie. 

I cut a black circle out of cardstock for the spider body.  I than added the larger size eyes. It just seemed more fitting to me.  To make the spider legs, I used two pipe cleaners and folded them in half twice.  Folding it that way makes 4 equal size legs with each pipe cleaner.  

I glued on the pipe cleaner legs using a hot glue gun. I tried to make sure they were evenly placed, and then allowed them to cool before trying to bend the legs.  

I cut strips of white card stock to make the mummy. 

The first step was to glue the eyes onto the lid of the box.  I then glued on the strips of paper so some of it overlapped.   I did not cut to size quite yet.  Each of the strips hung over the sides of the box. I allowed the glue to cool, then trimmed around the box so that paper was even.  

I filled them with candy, and then had them pose for pictures.   These Halloween treat boxes are the perfect size to bring to those class parties, or really  to hand out at Halloween parties of any kind. 

If you are not able to find these mini storage boxes at the dollar store but still want to make this craft, I found the same boxes online at Amazon (these are affiliate links)