A "Spook"tacular Celebration

We still have one full weekend to celebrate before Halloween arrives.  I love Halloween and all of the excitement surrounding and I especially love a party!     I thought I'd share a few last minute ideas for some fun and festive food and decorations in case you are either hosting or attending a party this weekend.  

Appetizers

A Yummy Mummy filled with Spinach Dip

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Mini Mummy Pizzas

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A Veggie and Dip Skeleton....crazy creative!

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And my personal favorite...a Cheese Ball Pumpkin.  

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Main Course

How about ribs (love the red pepper heart...lol) 

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with Whipped Ghost Potatoes

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Sweet Treats

Eyeballs...they look disgusting, but what kid wouldn't love them?  They are white powdered donuts, gummy savers, a chocolate chip and gel icing.

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Candy corn parfait...simply pineapples, mandarin oranges and whipped cream.

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Mummy Cupcakes...that are actually low-fat too.

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So sweet....no pun intended.

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Another cute take on chocolate covered pretzels.

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Every good gathering need some festive decorations and here are some super easy last-minute ideas that your kids can help with.

Origami Spider Webs- it sounds difficult, but it's really just folded and cut paper.

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Or maybe coffee filter webs...so cute!

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Felt bat garland...love this one!!  Felt is so cheap and easy to work with too.

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Or maybe just some spooky silhouettes....so cute strung on black string.

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And if you're still on the hunt for that perfect costume for either yourself or your kids, check out some of the great ideas I stumbled across when searching for ideas for my middle schooler.

For the adults...

Army man from Toy Story

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Rock, Paper, Scissors....so cute

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Tooth and Tooth Fairy

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For the kiddos...

LOVE!

Disgusting, but very creative.

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Raining Cats & Dogs

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For a group...so cute!

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Wherever your upcoming pre-Halloween weekend takes you, I hope it's "SPOOK"tacular!

Poshed Up

Halloween 2011

What a wonderful day and night we had this year.   Despite my son's allergies and inability to eat 90% of what is handed out...it remains his favorite holiday and I'd have to agree for good reason.   It was a day filled with smiles, treats, creative costumes, good friends and a nice fall night outside!

This year my children both picked costumes that really suited their current interests.

My little guy is all about movies with mystical figures, superpowers and anything that he can act out.  He has a particular affinity towards Harry Potter because the character himself is a little boy.  I myself have never been able to sit through the entire movie...guess I don't have the same caliber of imagination as he does.  He, on the other hand, has watched the first Harry Potter movie no less than 100 times (no exaggeration either) and he has a few favorite parts.

So it was very fitting that he chose to be Harry Potter himself...

He really got into the character and even thought that he was unrecognizable with his glasses on.  He kept taking them off to his friends and saying, "it's me, it's Ryan".  Very funny.

Here are a few of him at his class parade...he was filled with pure joy!

He had a HUGE smile the entire time.   He loves costumes and loves everything about Halloween!

My daughter plays soccer 5 days a week and loves everything about the sport. So...it was very fitting when she asked to be a soccer referee...


Here she is at her parade.

Unfortunately I only got 1 picture because she was too afraid to stop for the picture for fear of falling behind.      We did take a few cute ones before trick or treating though...

If you noticed our pumpkin in the pictures...we tried a new idea this year and we used cookie cutters to carve it and I have to say it was soooo much easier than the actual carving method.

First you cut the top and do the traditional digging out part.

That's definitely not one of my favorite parts, but since we love eating the seeds...there's no way around it.

Next we choose our cookie cutters.  We went for metal stars this year.    I don't know if this would work with the plastic kind because they make break.

We then placed them where we wanted them and gave them a tap to anchor them.

Then we just hammered away...

You want to hammer them until they are pretty far in.  You then use needle nose pliers to pull out the cookie cutter.   After that, we needed to use our cutting knife to finish going all the way through the pumpkin.  I guess you may not need this step if you carve more of the inside out, but as I mentioned, I hate that step.

And.....

Voila....we had to clean it up a bit on the inside after so you couldn't see the guts through the opening, but you get the idea.  

Here is our finished product...

I loved the way it came out and it looked great at night.  Of course I forgot to get a picture of it all lit up.

Another great tip I tried that worked....I applied Vaseline to the cut edges after carving it to keep them from rotting and changing shape.  It totally helped!

I hope you all enjoyed your Halloween as much as we did...until next year!

Poshed Up

Pins of the week....

I have become more than addicted to pinterest lately and find myself on it every free second both at home on the computer and on my phone.  I can't stand to miss out on a great idea, recipe, craft or fashion find.  It's truly pathetic!! lol

I have found some great things though in all seriousness and want to share a few recent finds with you.  If you happen to follow me on pinterest, you'll see that my days of pinning everything superhero are now over.  The party has ended and my little guy is now planning his 6th party...I hope I can top this one!   

I tend to gravitate towards crafting, sewing projects, organization and food.   I have tried a ton of recipes lately and I've really been trying to cook at least 3 nights a week and leftover the remaining so I've been in need of new recipes.  Overall, I'm not digging the recipes.  If you've found any that you love lately, whether from pinterest or not, please share.  I love new things.    

Also, I have been collecting some goodies to share in future posts about different holiday ideas and organization tips since these are 2 of my favorite things to do believe it or not, decorate and organize.  Sad, but true.  I am a true Aries, type A personality and need things in ORDER around here.  I've discovered some great tips, but I'm going to wait a bit to share.  If you have a topic you'd love to hear more about, please let me know and I'll see what we can come up with.

So on to the pins....

CRAFTASTIC

Not sure if this qualifies as a true craft, but more home decor of sorts....either way I adore these homemade lanterns.   Aren't they beautiful?????  They are simply cut out paper wrapped around a glass hurricane.

 And...because of my 8 years selling Southern Living at HOME, I have built up quite the collection of hurricanes!  I do already own a few sets that resemble the others, but I can't wait to try them in various fall colors for my Thanksgiving table!

FOR THE HOME

I love this idea from 'My Heart's Desire'

As I already mentioned, I LOVE to decorate and especially love to decorate for different holidays.  I don't go crazy with themes, but more change color palletes and add some seasonal touches.  I have done these many times in years past with different things include orange lentils and black beans for Halloween, green and yellow lentils for spring or Easter, candy corn for Halloween, red hots for Valentine's...you get the idea.

I currently have an assortment of cool gourds and mini sugar pumpkins in white and orange filling my hurricane and no candle.   Here is one of the ideas I used in the past.  Simple, but fun.  Just be careful not to let the candle burn too long with the candy corns or you'll be scraping gooey candy off the inside glass.   

FASHION FINDS

Believe it or not, I haven't pinned a thing in this category in weeks...hmmmm.  Not sure why.  Doesn't mean I haven't been e-window shopping!  I love to browse store website to see what's hip and what's out.  I've seen a lot of stripes this year layered under solids and sweaters.   I haven't been much for stripes myself in the past, but I'm trying to add a few to my wardrobe for fall/winter.  Here a few inspirations I saw.

Both from Ann Taylor Loft...a favorite of mine!

I've also seen a lot of boots...and boy do I love boots.  Here are a few cute outfits I did pin previously with boots.

What I love about both of these is that they are layered to allow for you to go throughout your day and deal with the ever-changing fall weather.  Also, you can either dress them down for daytime or dress them up for evening without a complete outfit change.  I'm big on that.  I myself want to look nice everyday even if my children and complete strangers are all I'll see.  I get dressed at 7am and don't change until late at night so I need this kind of flexibility!

FOR THE KIDDOS

Who knew that Disney would send an autographed picture of any character when you write a letter?  Certainly not me.  I wish I had known that when my daughter was OBSESSED with Jasmine.  I did manage to have a call made to her from a "Jasmine" for her birthday.  She was so excited.  

My son is beyond obsessed with Belle or "Beauty" as he has re-named her.  Look at the look on his face when he met her last year.  Smitten!

I think we might just need to send her a letter.  Just send your letter to:

 walt disney world communications p.o. box 10040 lake buena vista, fl 32830-0040

RECIPES

So as I mentioned, I've tried a bunch.  My daughter and I have been taste testing our way through pinterest.    I say only my daughter because my son has severe and limiting food allergies and my husband is a vegetarian.  So...we're the only 2 that can and will try anything.

We have found a few keepers, but I'd love for you all to share some favorites with us.  Here are a few worth repeating:

Broccoli and White Cheddar Mac n Cheese from 'The Craving Chronicles'

 I liked it..she didn't.  The pepper jack cheese gives it a little bite...no pun intended!

Lemon Chicken from 'Annie's Eats'

A true crowd pleaser...and hooray, my son could eat it.  They begged for seconds and there were no leftovers.  Very rare around here since I'm usually cooking for two at best.

Spaghetti with Chicken and Grape Tomatoes from 'Skinny Taste'

It is by far, my daughter's favorite.  It really is delicious.  We actually had it this weekend for the third time already.  Skinny Taste is full of fun and easy recipes.  In fact, I'm making their potato soup tomorrow...I'll keep you posted.

QUOTES TO LIVE BY

from 'Little Miss Momma'

AND A FINAL ADDITION THIS WEEK...

GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY...or in this case

GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY EDITING!

I could not stop laughing at this from 'Conflicting Heart'

Happy Pinning!

Poshed Up