Halloween Costumes 2009

Much work was put into costumes this year, but spread out a bit so as to not be so overwhelming. Here is the link to the costume pics on the other blog.

The top of my costume was made entirely by me and a combination of about 3 different patterns with multiple modifications on my part. The bottom was a repurposed skirt that used to be white and I never even wore once. It was also too big and rolled over 3 times at the top. I threaded the beads through the bottom and dyed the whole thing "sunflower yellow". I was not in the mood to make a skirt....but unfortunately I have now got 6 yards of yellow chiffon....just in case anyone has a need. Also, a shout out to silk velvet, just as a whole. The navy blue on the sides of my top was made with the $24 per yard stuff and it was sublime. I only needed 3/4 of a yard so I went for it. Feels sooooo good. I got the apple necklace and earrings marked down at Party City--I hate that store--but it was broken off the earring back and I had to remake them from scratch. They only cost $3.99 though.

Cinderella was also made by me. The blue satin has silver glittery sparkles on it and she picked it out herself as THE Cinderella blue. The shoes are her own, the velvet choker is a scrap held together by scotch tape and the headband is a ribbon. I bought a blue headband, but she said Cinderella had a "HEADBAND!!", which to her is a ribbon. So, we have a ribbon.
Goth Tinkerbell is a purchased dress we got at Ross for $14, wings that I have in my wing stash (yes, I have a stockpile of after-halloween wings. Dont you?), her own Doc Marten's that she wears to school practically daily and an exorbitant amount of eye makeup. Also, purchased skull wristbands and mesh arm thingies. The stockings are also from my stash....

For the boys, we have the Ninja Mickey Mouse which is a internet bought ninja outfit. I dont really understand how Ninjas work, but apparently there are real people who think they are them....and they sell outfits. It only cost like $25 and is very high quality cotton...like a karate uniform. He wore his Renaissance Faire boots instead of the weird split toe boots they sell for ninjas. And the Mickey ears were bought, obviously. It made for a hilarious silhouette.


Chris's Vampire Prince Charming outfit is a newly made vest from an old pattern I had. The fabric was originally going to be this gown when we were planning a Bram Stoker's Dracula theme, but when we changed to Disney theme, it got set aside. Perfect for the vamp vest though! I love the fabric. The rest of his outfit is his repurposed Snape costume and some white face paint.


We had a great time, everybody was comfortable in their outfits and I really didnt spend too terribly much this year. That is always good. Happy Halloween....the best holiday EVA!!!

Crock-Pot Cheeseburger Soup

I am on an endless quest to find more than 5 recipes that I can make in the crock-pot that everybody likes....okay, to find more than 1 recipe everybody likes. Really the only thing I have EVER made in the crock-pot that isn't met with disdain is the Pot Roast with Peppers. I have tried about a million other things--much to everyones distress--but to no avail. We eat most every possible kind of food and so do the kids, so you wouldn't think this would be so hard. We just universally don't like wet, tasteless meat and that is pretty much what I always end up with. We just have never gotten the "food is fuel" memo and still expect everything we make to taste like we worked all day at it. The best crockpot tip I was ever given was by a co-worker that told me I didn't have to add liquid at all. She was very right, and may I say that "her" crockpot bbq wings are always delicious. I have never had her luck with those, however....mine are always just slimy-ish.

So, as I was driving home from kid drop off this morning, I was already thinking about dinner. I had to stop at Walmart anyway and I REFUSE to buy meat there so I had to pick up just additions to what I had at home. I thought of some hamburger meat leftovers and thought I had been so creative by thinking of adding it to cheese soup for---wait for it----Cheeseburger Soup. But, alas, there are recipes for it all over the internet so I cant quit my job and write cookbooks for a living just yet. Bummer.

Anywhoo, I found one recipe without too much colorful stuff floating in it--that is always a deal breaker for the kiddos. I had to low-carbify it for our purposes and I have some mental block when it comes to "cheese food" and "velveeta", so I bought this stuff instead.

I like to feel, in my own twisted brain, like I am not l poisoning my children.....I probably still am, but at least this has the claim of being actual --though tasteless-- cheese.

So, this is really just a mismash of several recipes I found on the internet. I do not cook for low-fatness, just for taste and low-carbness so....here it is.....

Ingredients:
6 cups broth (I did 1/2 chicken and 1/2 beef)
1 pound browned ground beef
1 tsp garlic powder
1 packet onion soup mix
1 head of cauliflower chopped (just use 2 potatoes if you must)
To add at the end:
1 cup half and half
2-16oz blocks of processed american cheese, cubed

Put the first 5 ingredients in the crock-pot and cook on low for 6 hours. Turn crock-pot to lowest setting or just off about 30 minutes before serving and add the milk first, then the cheese. You dont want it boiling when you add the cheese or it will curdle, so add the milk first to cool it slightly. It will still be plenty warm to melt the cheese over the next half hour or so.
Garnish with tabasco sauce, crumbled bacon, sour cream....whatever.
___________________________________
PS.
We made this just as it says. We didnt garnish with anything and it was very good. Kinda like Cheeseburger Macaroni soup without the macaroni....same kind of taste. I should have taken a picture, but i didnt. We will definitely make this again because it is very simple and quite good. We didnt have any (carbs dontcha know), but this would be awesome with a big loaf of crusty bread for dipping.

Homemade Play Clay

We used toake this for the other kids and I just thought of it today. Classic recipe, but I will post it anyway. Of coarse ours is kinda organic-y looking since all I had was whole wheat pastry flour and olive oil...there is room for improvisation, needless to say.

Stove Top Playdough
--from Vicki Lansky's book "Feed me, I'm yours"
1 cup flour
1/4 cup salt
2 tbsp cream of tartar
1 cup water
2 tsp food coloring
1 tbsp oil
(I made 1 1/2 times this recipe, held the food coloring out till the end, split the dough in half and did two colors)
Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat 3-5 minutes. It will look a globby mess, but as soon as it forms a ball in the middle of the pan, it's done. Flip it out onto the countertop and knead it until it is softer and cooled off slightly. ( this would be the point where I divided and kneaded in the food coloring. the paste kind makes darker colors. I also kneaded in some almond extract to make it smell less flour-ish.)
See, easy peasy. If you have the ingredients, it takes like 5 minutes and is much more pliable than store playdough.



-- Post From My iPhone

A Big Girl Room Remodel

The baby girl is getting bigger and bigger by the day, unfortunately. She is now completely potty trained--day and night. She has felt free to climb out of her crib and wander at her leisure for some time now. And, let's be honest, I never really "decorated" her room the first time. We bought one pack of vinyl pink sticker thingies to put on the wall and a fancy bedding set from Babies'R'Us and that was about it. We didnt even repaint the loft turned nursery for her arrival (LAZY).
So, it is the time!! On my first excursion to Atlanta to visit my sis, we hit the ever-fabulous Ikea. I had been looking for some color inspiration for this potential room and found a great comforter cover there. A few accessories to match and we were out of there for less than $50. Deal of the century. Add onto that another $35 in paint and about $20 in odds and ends and it brought me in just barely over $100 for the entire project....well, that and about 2 days of my time, but I will give her that for free.

This was the starting wall color with sticker things still in place. Obviously we had already started dismantling things. We are messy, but not quite this bad!


Now, I am going to start right here and now and say that I blatantly stole lots of ideas straight off the internet and particularly etsy. There are some of the cutest wall decals on etsy, for pretty reasonable prices, too. But, not within my budget and frankly it is easier for me to just wing it with a paintbrush than to actually take the time to order anything. I am a big proponent of "you can always paint over it".
So, here goes.
All things start with a proper tape job.

And a new wall color (BAM!!).


And so, we begin the design portion of our show.....
Gigantic branch coming out of the wooden wall.

Embellishment of said branch.

Add a little branch on the other side for symmetry....we MUST have symmetry...

Hmmm, perhaps i forgot to mention the red stripes on the back wall......oops.....we like some two-tone rooms around here...

Anyway, must tie the red stripes into everything else. The poppies were kindof an afterthought....also stolen from etsy....I was getting a little over-swirled with the branches. I had planned for some kinda graphic swirlyness under the window, but changed at the last minute.


Now this "over-doing it" portion of our show....the mural branch was lacking something. I decided it was a worm....and a crown on the bird.

A valance and some ribbon over the existing curtains.

And finally, some linens and a handmade bedskirt added to a bed made of two footboards so it is low and my baby wont fall far when she tumbles out in the middle of the night.

Oh, and a gigantic orange bolster and the cute night light lamp from ikea. And the handpainted sign from Aunt Katelyn.

Ta-daaaaaa....


Here she is trying it out for the first time....she seems a little freaked....

......sharing her spot with the big bro....

....oh, did I mention the awesome green sheets....oops.....

...fake sleeping....

.....fake sleeping only lasted for seconds, then the jumping began....


I know she is bad! There is no covering it up. But, she is like the cutest thing ever, so what am I going to do?!

The End!!