{pinterest, you failed me . . . }

After looking over a few Halloween Pinterest boards, I decided to try two of the ideas.

The first one - empty toilet paper roll spooky eyes.  After saving A LOT of toilet paper rolls, cutting out a variety of spooky eye shapes, spray painting some of them black (my second mile effort), sticking glo sticks inside of them and clothes-pinning them to my bushes, I was left with a "That's it?????" feeling.  They fell extremely short of my expectations.  As Elf would say, "Pinterest, you sit on a throne of lies."

But . . .

The second idea turned out stellar!  I present the black garbage bag spiderweb.  My first attempt looked more like a giant black snowflake but once I got the hang of it, I was cranking out spiderwebs left and right.  This was a great addition to the Orange Dinner this year.

From now on when I look at Pinterest ideas I will remember - If it's too good to be true . . . 

it may not be true (or at least not as cute/easy/clever as someone makes it look.

{along came a spider . . . }

{along came a spider . . . }

The back is a black print from Hobby Lobby & leftover orange wedges  

I love quilts!  I've always wanted a cupboard full of them.  Large, small, pieced, quilted, it didn't matter.  I started collecting patterns and fabrics, gizmos and gadgets but my fear of the end result not being 'good enough' kept me from cutting in to my growing fabric collection. 

Quite simply, I was frozen by fear.

One day, as I was admiring a quilt that Mr. W's grandmother had made, I realized that all of her seams didn't match perfectly and that she had actually run out of one fabric and finished with another.  I didn't love her or her quilt any less because it wasn't perfect.  Truth be told, I loved her and her quilt even more because she had not let perfection rob her of using her God given talents to bless her family and express her creativity.  Why was I holding myself back?  

I thought "For Pete's sake Nancy, it's fabric not heart surgery!"  Go for it and enjoy the process!

Can't go wrong with a stripey binding!

And you know what . . . not one person that I have gifted a quilt to has refused it because it wasn't perfect.  That love, that imperfection, that ME that is in each of my quilts is what sets them apart from 'store bought'.

Inspiration for the quilt's name

I am enjoying the process and along the way I am 

making a dent in my goal of a cupboard full of quilts.

In honor of all things Halloween, I present my

'along came a spider . . . ' quilt!

I used this as my inspiration.  

I didn't want a H A L L O W E E N quilt with novelty prints.  Instead, I opted for more graphic blacks, whites and oranges.  I cut 12 inch wide strips and then sub cut them into wedges.

(Unfortunately, I made this before the chevron craze because I think a little chevron would add a lot of zip! - 
I guess I'll just have to make another one :)

I still have the quilt label to make 

but in the meantime, enjoy!

{boo to you!}

{a purrfect pair}

It is impossible to keep a straight face 

in the presence of one or more kittens.  

Cynthia E. Varnado

{witches hats}

For one witch hat you'll need:
  
1 Keebler Fudge Stripe cookie with stripes facing down
1 Hershey Kiss, unwrapped
1 piece of shoestring licorice
Frosting, Karo syrup or honey to act as glue

Glue your Kiss on the center of the cookie.  
Tie your licorice in a bow and place it 
where the Kiss meets the cookie.  
You could even embellish with colored frosting.

{candy corn pudding}

A fun variation of 'Ghost Pudding'.

The bottom layer is Jello Instant Vanilla Pudding.

The middle layer is Vanilla Pudding 

with orange food coloring.

The top layer is Cool Whip.

{ghosts}

Inspired by Martha . . . Ghost Pudding

Melt a few chocolate chips in a glass bowl.

 With your fingertip, make ghostly faces

on the INSIDE of your clear plastic/glass cup. 

Fill the cup with vanilla pudding or ice cream.

Top off with whipped cream.

* You could use orange plastic cups and 

make jack-o-lantern faces.

{scones}

It wouldn't be our Orange Dinner without Aunt Kathy's Scones!  I add orange food coloring to the mix before I add the flour when I make it for the Orange Dinner.

{pairs}

Some of my favorite people come in pairs!

Jason, Kelli, Brad & Jensen West

{the tin man}

 Where would Dorothy be without the Tinman?

Unfortunately and just prior to this Halloween, I had broken my tailbone and sprained my wrist when I caught my high heel in a gap on my brother's driveway.  After a VEERRRY LOONGGG ride home from Denver in my dad's Buick and a trip to the ER, I started on the Tinman the next day.  It goes without saying that sewing on silver pleather (and finishing Dorothy & the Cowardly Lion) with a broken tailbone and sprained wrist made for a interesting and memorable Halloween that year.

I've got to admit - one smile from the Tinman made it all worthwhile!  The thing is . . . the Tinman always had a heart!  Who needs a wizard?!?

{dorothy}

As seen at the Smithsonian

 Dorothy (Vanessa squinting because 

she has her dad's sensitive eyes) & Toto.

Pleasant Grove, Utah

{tarantula}

A Fancy Nancy Original - Take a black sweatshirt, black sweatpants, black gloves, brown fur, fishing line, red beads for eyes and a little sewing and this is what I came up with for a grandson's request to be a tarantula for Halloween.

Inspired by this found a block from my home.

{move over Martha}

When it comes to holiday decorating, 
I try to be as authentic as possible . . .

A spider enjoying the Candy Corn Soap

{are you my mummy?}

1. Glue two wiggly eyes to a glass.  I used a low temp glue gun and different sized eyes.

2. Tear a 1 1/2 inch mummy colored piece of fabric the width of the fabric (approximately 42").  Put a dot of glue on the back of the glass at about the same height as the eyes.  Stick one end of the strip to the glue.  Wrap the strip so that it falls above and below the eyes.  Secure the end with a dot of glue.

3. After the party, pull off the fabric and pry the eyes off with your fingernail.  If they won't come off easily, fill your glass up with hot tap water to soften the glue.

I think he's my favorite.

Bezzant Boo Juice

1 pkg Cherry Koolaid

1 c sugar

1 lg can frozen orange juice concentrate

2 quarts of water

Mix until the Koolaid, orange juice and sugar are dissolved.

Right before serving, mix equal parts of punch base

and Sprite together in a pitcher.

Allow a little extra space in you pitcher

because the punch will foam a little

when you first mix it with Sprite.

{boo-tiful memories}

New for our annual 'Orange Dinner' (more about that in future posts) is our BOO window.  

I printed pictures of some of my favorite memories and (with the help of my assistant, Vanessa) I taped them to the window to spell BOO.  I think the adults had more fun reminiscing about them than the children.

{halloween yo-yos}

I started my Halloween YoYo Quilt years ago.

It's still a work in progress.

It's nice to have a project that you can enjoy

and display as you work on it.