Propane Tank Monsters

 My daughter and I were headed out for a coffee and a day of shopping. When I turned down the next street from my house heading out to the highway, I noticed two tanks someone had thrown to the side of the road. One was an old propane tank and the other was a helium tank. My mind instantly went into craft mode and knew I had to have them. I told my daughter that if they were still there when we get home, I was going to get them. 

We visited a little coffee shop in the small town of Belmont and walk around town as we sipped our caffeine filled cups of goodness. I ordered the Maple bacon Latte. It was good. 

Before heading home we visited a thrift shop and scored a few good deals.

I hadn’t forgot about the tanks. As were turning into the neighborhood, the tanks were still on the side of the road so I pulled over. We jumped out, grabbed them, threw them in the hatch and headed one home. We giggled because It looked like we were stealing something as we grabbed them so fast not wanting anyone to see us. 

I gave them a little wipe down, grabbed some paint and brushes and we headed out to the porch to turn this trash into another Halloween project. I painted the white one and my daughter painted the green one. 

This was just as fun as painting or carving pumpkins but less mess and a lot cheaper!

They now sit on my front porch steps and I will dispose of them somehow after Halloween. 

Bead Ghost Garland

I’m sorta getting exited about Halloween. Not because of the goules but because of the fun things going on. It’s fun to see the little kids dress up and pretend to be super hero, presidents, princesses and little monsters. They go trick or treating door to door. If it teaches them anything, it’s that there are still nice people in the world that no matter how you look or portray yourself, they will always open the door with a smile and hand you a piece of sweetness. 

On Halloween, they want us to come into work dressed up. We will be doing a trick or treat time for our foster children. It’s always fun to see the smiles on their faces when they walk by our office cubes and collect candy. My unit has plans to all dress up like skeletons. We will call ourselves the “skeleton crew”.

I have been creating some little Halloween decorations during the month. The other day I made these cute little ghost garlands. 

I used some clay and rolled out and molded the little ghost. Once they dried, I strung them on some string along with some wooden beads. I added a little tassel on the ends and wha la, I had a cute little garland to drape around something. 

I have one draped on my mantle at home and the other one is draped on a piece of Fall decor I have in my office. 

I get a lot of complements on it. 

I got the clay from amazon and will post a link below.

The beads were purchased from the dollar store. Well, it’s technically called the “$1.25 store” now. 

Have you made dollar store crafts lately?

Shop: Amazon HERE

As an Amazon Affiliate, this post may include marketing links, 

 which means I make a small percentage on the sales 

 but it in no way affects the price a buyer may pay

Jute Ghost

I have decided not to bring out my Fall decorations this year. Orange is not my favorite color and the Fall is just Summer dying. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy the cool air, the smell of falling leaves and bon fires. However, I am not a pumpkin spice person. I am more of a caramel apple person. 

Instead of bringing out my old decorations, I’m keeping it simple in the house this year. I have bought some cute dishtowels for the kitchen, a few little decorations from the dollar store and having fun creating some of my own things. Thats just the minimalist in me. 

I recently created this cute little jute ghost.

I didn’t really plan on it being this color or material but here we are.

I went to the dollar (and a quarter) store in search of some white nautical rope for this project but all I could find was this jute rope. It took three bundles for this project. 

Using a cardboard box, I cut out a half circle, then used a hot glue gun to glue the rope together. I left the ends long enough so I could trim them and unravel the each strand. Then I cut out some eyes and a mouth from the same cardboard and the ghost came alive. 

I love how he looks but now realizing I could have just used the rope from a new mop head. 

Do you decorate for halloween? I throw in a few little ghost or jack o lanterns but that’s about all. It just brings back those childhood memories to have a little fun. 

AllHalloween

Happy Halloween!

Halloween- Also known as “Allhalloween, All Hallows’ Eve or All Saints’ Eve. It is a celebration observed in many countries on October 31st, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallow’s Day. 

Do you have any spooky plans for today? We do not really celebrate Halloween since our daughter has all grown up. I still love to see the kids get excited for candy and I like looking at everyones costumes. I remember having lots of fun on Halloween when I was younger and when my daughter was a kid. I remember the church parties with cake walks and bobbing for apples. I remember the school fall festivals and haunted houses. 

One thing I like to do a few days before halloween is search around the house for something to dress up in and have everyone on Facebook guess who or what I am.

I have a yellow rain coat that I used a couple years ago. I put on the coat and added some knee socks and black shoes. Then I grabbed a black umbrella and container of salt. I was the Morton Salt Girl. 

 

This year I used he same yellow rain coat, added a red balloon and just like that I was “Georgie” from the Steven King horror movie “IT”. 

I have never seen the movie but have heard enough about it to know basically what it’s about and what the characters look like. It did not take long for my facebook friends to figure out who I was dressed as. Some called me brave. 

But as for today, we have something to do this mornig. Then we have a few errands to run this afternoon. Nicks brother is in town so we plan to spend some time with him and his new girl friend later. 

Who knows, maybe we will get into a little mischief. 

🕰 DON”T FORGET TO TURN YOUR CLOCKS BACK TONIGHT! 

“IT” a Steven King Novel

Halloween Snack Ideas

Halloween is only three days away and you need to come up with some spooky snack ideas for the little monsters in the house or the goblins that are coming over to visit. If you are crunched for time or don’t have any idea what to make, don’t get your bandages in a wad. I have three simple ideas your can do that are not only delicious but healthy too!

👻 👻 👻 👻 👻 👻 👻 👻

MUMMY PRETZEL STICKS

Chocolate dipped pretzels are always my quick “go to” treat to hand out to the kids. They are easy to make and have several possibilities for any occasion. 

They started out as ghost but then my daughter added more detail and they became mummies. 

-Large Pretzel Rods

-Chocolate Bark.

Melt the chocolate in a glass microwave safe bowl in 30 second increments until melted and smooth.

Dip pretzels into the chocolate and place on wax paper until dried.

Use melted dark chocolate or morsels for the eyes.

                                                            👻 👻 👻 👻 👻 👻 👻 👻

APPLE FALSE TEETH

My daughter wanted to make these when she came over. While I dipped pretzels, she made apple false teeth.

She giggled every time she completed one. Each one came out different and had its own personality. We had some good laughs with these and had fun eating them. They were delicious too!

-Red Apples

-Peanut Butter

-Mini Marshmallows 

Slice apples into wedges and remove any core.

Spread each wedge with peanut butter.

Line one wedge with mini marshmallows and place another wedge on top.

                                                            👻 👻 👻 👻 👻 👻 👻 👻

CLIO SNACK MONSTERS

Clio snacks are chocolate covered Greek yogurt bars that come in a variety of flavors. They now come in “mini” size and are the perfect treat to hand out at parties or showers. They can be left out at room temperature for four hours if they have to. They are also good frozen. They are healthy and taste just like little cheese cakes. So you will love these even if you are not a yogurt fan. 

-Clio Snack Minis

-White Chocolate Bark (they are already covered in dark chocolate).

Melt the chocolate in a glass microwave safe bowl in 30 second increments until melted and smooth.

Dip each bar into the chocolate and place on wax paper until dried.

Use melted dark chocolate or morsels for the eyes.

Hint: Use food coloring to color the melted white chocolate to make different color monsters and decorate to your preference. 

                                                           👻 👻 👻 👻 👻 👻 👻 👻

Are you trick or treating this Halloween or having a Halloween party?

We do not usually hand out candy because of where we are located.

I will usually make little treats like this or small bags of candy to hand out to the kids close by or family.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

ClioSnacks.com

Cliosnacks can be found in the yogurt section at most Walmarts, Targets and other select stores. 

You can find more flavors and less sugar options on their website at ClioSnacks.com. 

You can also shop online and use code: Lisa10 at checkout and get additional 15% off until the end of November. (10% after that).

Black Cat

Are you superstitious? A lot people are superstitious and will stay away from black cats. Not me. I think they are beautiful and just another one of Gods magnificent creatures. I do not believe in superstition, luck or karma. It’s all just silly nonsense. Jack over at Shipslog would agree as he has taken on a couple of these black beauties. 

Black cats are often associated with Halloween because they have been associated with witchcraft. They were also burned at the stakes with the witches. Medieval France and Spain believed black cats were objects of superstition and were convinced the were bringers of bad luck.

It feels like I see more black cats running around in October that any other time of the year but that is just a coincident. Some people will make sure to keep their black cats inside on Halloween night in fear of them being taken or killed.

There is a black cat in our neighborhood that I have seen once in my yard and other times roaming around for a couple of years now. It is a stray. 

But this cat is not a regular feral cat. This cat is a “Scottish Fold”. Nick says it’s earless but actually it’s ears are folded down to his head. These types of cats can be expensive. This is also the kind of cat I wish to have one day. I want a gray one but if I could capture this one, I would make him mine. 

The other day while we were on our walk, I had a feeling that something was staring at me. I looked over at the neighbors yard and there he was. Sitting pretty and gave me a growling meow. He was beautiful and he was huge! 

I began to walk over to him and he did not move. As I got closer to him, he fell over on his back and started rolling around like he wanted some petting. Well, that is exactly what I did. He got some loving pets from me and then I went on my way. After getting close to him, I was afraid to catnap him as my own because he looked happy and well fed where he was. I think that neighbor has already claimed him. I hope that is the case. I have not seen him since this day but I know he is around. He looked healthy and that made me happy. 

Maybe he will show up in my yard again one day.  Maybe Halloween night. 👻

Pumpkin Carving

I was going to title this post “Jack O Lanterns”, but I don’t think all pumpkin carvings are actually Jacks unless they have the triangle eyes and nose. 

My daughter called me up to say her work place and her apartment are doing a pumpkin carving contest so she wanted us to carve pumpkins together. 

I had just seen large pumpkins at my local Food Lion grocery store for 1.99. That was the cheapest I had seen them all year, so I snatched up a couple of them before they were gone. 

It was also my husbands birthday so my daughter wanted to spend the day with him. We had a nice dinner and birthday cheesecake to follow. After dinner we prepared to carve our pumpkins, but first we each guessed the weight of one of the pumpkins. The one who was furtherest way from the actual weight had to do the dishes. 

My daughter decided to make her pumpkin into a Frankenstein. It was her first time carving a pumpkin so it was quite a challenge for her. 

I think her Frankenstein turned out great. 

We usually opt to paint our pumpkins each year so they will last longer and a lot less messy.

I carved mine into a VW inspired camper van. I thought I was never going to get that outside layer off and almost gave up several times. Once I had it skinned, I cut out the windows. I will never try to carve such a big pumpkin again. Wheew!

While we did the carving, we had the seed from each pumpkin baking in the oven. I do not like to see them go to waste. The aroma of the roasted seeds filled the air. They turned out delicious and make a great snack. 

It’s always fun when my daughter comes over and we do the kid like crafts we used to do. 

At the end of the night, she had to go back to her place and..... I had dishes to do. 

Do you decorate for Halloween? 

I do not usually decorate for Halloween but do decorate with a Fall theme and may add a little ghost or spider to the decor as is gets closer to Halloween night. 

Do you carve or paint your pumpkins?

Do you like the creative carvings or do you like to stick to the traditional Jack O Lanterns?

Halloween at the Campground

We are spending some time at the beach. The weather has been nice. The sun has been shining bright each day with temperatures ranging from 75 to 85 degrees. I have done a lot of walking along with lots of relaxing. The crowd at the beach this time of year is at a minimum and that makes it nice when we go out.

The campground was pretty full this past weekend. People flocked in with their RVs and campers to enjoy the Halloween festivities here. On Friday night, the campground hosted a pet costume contest along with food and drinks by the new Tiki bar. We walked up to see the pet costumes and met a couple new friends. The funnel cake stand was a hit as well. 

Saturday was also a big night at the clubs around the area with costume contest and drink specials. We are not big fans of the club life so we opt to stay in the campground for the night. There was a kids costume contest, trick or treating, special music, and judging of the best decorated camp site. 

We did not decorate our campsite other than a little pumpkin on my picnic table. 

We walked around viewing all the campers decked out for Halloween and tricks for the kids. I’m gonna end the post with a few photos of some of my favorites from Halloween at the campground. Enjoy.

Hope everyone has a safe an happy Halloween!

A Birthday and Pumpkin Painting.

This weekend we celebrated my sweet husbands birthday. His birthday was Sunday but I started it off on Friday by making reservations at a new upscale restaurant in town. The name of this restaurant is Barristers at the Esquire.

Barristers is located in the center of our little town, inside one of the oldest and tallest buildings. This was the old Lawyers building. It had been empty for years until it found a buyer who has spent a couple years making something out of it. 

This is my favorite building and I have always had this goal to get to the roof of it. There is just something about the size and architect of this building that makes me want to visit the top.

Well, so far I have made it to the first floor. That is where the new restaurant is. The rest of the floors are still under construction. It will soon me an upscale hotel called the Esquire.

Walking in, I immediately got a 1940’s vibe.  I have never been inside this building in my life but could feel the history all around me. With the smell of new paint, chandeliers and oldies music, we took our seats. It was quiet and only a few other tables were occupied. After looking at the menu, I was ready to make my tastebuds smile and my pocketbook cry.

I ordered the Ranch Steak with fingerling potatoes, mushrooms, and horseradish ham crumbs in a Demi Glaze. 

Nick ordered the Carolina Coastal white fish. Maui Maui was the fish of the day. It came on a bed of glazed sweet potatoes and Carrots. 

It was all delicious and we had a wonderful evening. 

Saturday, My Daughter came home and we all went to my moms for a big birthday dinner with Country style steak and gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, pasta salad, biscuits and lots of desserts. Nicks request was pound cake. She never lets us down on a good meal and dessert. We left stuffed and it was a lot better and more satisfying than the fancy dinner the night before. 

Sunday after church, my daughter and I made cookies and painted pumpkins. 

She painted hers a Disney theme. I opt to paint a butternut squash instead of a pumpkin. 

Scary huh?

Jack-O-Lantern Fun

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

My daughter came home to spend the night this weekend. I think she knew I’d have her some Halloween treats waiting for her. Ever since she out grew trick or treating, I make her a treat basket. 

Before she came, I wanted to have a pumpkin to carve. The past couple years, we have painted little pie pumpkins for Halloween but I decided to have the fun of carving one. I waited last minute to find one. I did not know stores ran out of pumpkins but I went to two Walmarts and a Food lion looking for one. No luck. 

On the way home I asked Nick to stop by another Food lion on the way home. “If they do not have any pumpkins, we will just not do one”. I said.

He pulled up to the door so I could jump out and run inside. When the sliding doors opened I saw the best looking pumpkin sitting on the floor like it was was waiting on me. I was so excited, I snapped a photo before snatching it up and taking it to the register. 

Before my daughter arrived, I went ahead and cleaned out the insides and prepared the seeds for roasting. I knew it would be late when she comes in and I wanted to have it ready to carve. She was so excited when she came throught the door and saw ole Jack O waiting on her. We could have printed out a cool stencil to use and got realy creative but we decided to go with the traditional Jack O lantern face. 

Well, Sort of. 

I let her do all the carving this time. Nick got nervous when he saw her cutting with a knife. Me and her are both left handed so it freaks right handed people out when they see us use a knife. He left the room. His nerves could not handle it. 

I stood watching as she carefully brought the pumpkin to life. She played around with it then said, “It’s throwing up”.

 

We did not let him stay sick. We added some battery tea lights to make him presentable at night. 

Meanwhile, we snacked on some candy corn and peanuts to add to the fun.

Do you carve a pumpkin or paint one? 

I’d love to hear how you create pumpkin fun during Halloween. 

Cheese Pumpkins

Today your getting a short repost of and old post. I have had a busy weekend and simply too tired to come up with anything else right now so your getting a cheesy recipe.

 Grab a block of cheese and lets make something Cheese Pumpkins. Lawd have mercy! These little boogers are delicious!

They were really easy to make. Other similar recipes tell you to put the dough in the fridge a few hours to firm so its easier to work with but I didn't. I just whooped up a batch and stuck them in the oven. The dough didn't know it was not cold. [smh]. I mean after all, the ingredients had just been in the fridge for days.

Now I’d love to share this spicy little recipe with you. Here it is...

Cheese Pumpkins

1 Cup plain flour

1 Stick butter (softened)

1 Block (1/2lbs) Sharp Cheddar Cheese (Grated)

1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

1/4 teaspoon Salt

Pecans 

Preheat oven to 350

Mix flour and butter, then add cheese and seasoning. Mix well.(use your hands).

Pinch off about 2 inch balls and place on ungreased cooking sheet. 

Use a spoon or your thumb and slightly mash each one and place a pecan piece in the center. 

Bake for about 20 minutes or until set.

[Makes about 60].

Here are a few options.

1. You don't have to make pumpkins. You can just make wafers by pressing each ball with a fork and laying a pecan on top.
2. You can also mix chopped pecans in the dough. (I'm going to do this next time because I love the taste of the toasted pecan).
3. You can also make in the shape of sticks then you have the famous cheese straws.

To me, they taste sort of like sausage balls without the sausage but the cayenne pepper makes up for that. wowza! These will be great for fall festivals, Halloween parties and more. 

Enjoy!