DIY ~ Halloween Washi Tape Pencils

Hi lovelies!  I've got a fun, quick, and easy DIY for you today.  It's great to do with the kiddos, too!  This is an update of my original, DIY Washi Tape Pencils, just done with some really fun Halloween washi tape!  {Click to keep reading!}

Artful Halloween: 31 Frightfully Elegant Projects

Hi lovelies! As you all know, I'm pretty obsessed with all things Halloween.  So when Lark Crafts sent me a copy of Artful Halloween: 31 Frightfully Elegant Projects to review, I was ecstatic!  The projects are spooky, yet have a Victorian elegance to them.  {More after the break}

DIY Glittered Pumpkins

Hello lovelies!  I hope you're all getting in the Halloween spirit!  I was recently sent some goodies from Aleene's Glue and Adhesives and was most excited to try the new Tacky Dotter (post to come soon, stay tuned!) as well as the Tacky Spray!  I've been a long time fan of the original Tacky Glue and Fabric Fusion and have used those in several projects before.  Here's what I got:  {More after the break}

DIY Spooky Skull Frames

Hey lovelies!  As promised in yesterday's post, here's what to do with the leftover brims from the witches' hats!  {More after the break}

DIY Spooky Skeleton Halloween Centerpiece

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!  I've been busy crafting up more Halloween decorations to add to the obscene amount I already have up!  I realized I needed something for my table, and a short trip to the dollar store later, I had everything I needed to create a spooky centerpiece!  {More after the break}

DIY Glow In The Dark Decorative Pumpkins

Ahhhh it's Fall, my fave!  I'm obsessed with Halloween and admittedly began putting my insane amounts of decorations up this weekend.  But I realized I had nothing for outside my front door and wanted to do some snazzy faux pumpkins.  What perfect timing, when iLoveToCreate sent me some fabulous glow in the dark puffy paint!  I knew it was time to get my DIY on.  {More after the break}

DIY ~ Halloween Decor Cheap and Easy

Happy Halloween!!  Do you love to decorate for Halloween as much as I do?  I love it.  This year I haven't gone all out as I did last year, but I did still decorate a bit!  You may have seen some pics of my spooky fireplace in some of my outfit posts, so here it is again :)

The skull on the pedestal is a plastic one I picked up at the dollar store, but thought it looked crappy.  So I lightly spray painted some silver over it and it looks fab now!

The best part of this decor is that everything cost about $1!  The majority of things came from the dollar store, and the rest I got on clearance at Target last year, the day after Halloween.  If you don't shop for the following year the day after, you are nuts and should!

My dining room.  Aren't the words so cute?  I'll give you the tutorial below :)

My jar of severed fingers, and my googly eye frame!  If you don't remember, here's the tutorial >> click here.  

There's three DIYs here :)  The zombie barbies are my personal favorite.  I used thrift store barbies, and followed these instructions.  The lanterns the kids made, using these instructions

Our little graveyard.  Super cute right?  I kind of wanted to put some trees in there but didn't get around to it.  The tutorial is below!

To make the graveyard, you'll need:

• Shallow box
• Newspaper
• Spanish moss (dollar store)
• Skull/skeleton necklaces (dollar store)
• Scissors
• Glue gun (optional)
• Gray cardboard for tombstones, and sharpie to decorate them 

Crumble up some newspaper to fill the box; I used three pieces.

Dissect all the necklaces for the pieces.  I saved the large skulls for something else.  I also chose to dissect one whole skeleton as well.

Spread the moss all over the top of the newspaper, and then decorate as you wish!  

For the words I hung in my dining room, I bought these glittered words at Target for $2.50 each.  I used a 3 foot length of this black sheer ribbon I had on hand for each word.  Thread the ribbon through the letters, as close to each end as possible, and then tie the ends up at the top in a bow.  Hang them up just below the bow!

Do you decorate for Halloween?  I cannot wait to live in a house again so I can decorate the outside as well as the inside!  I also know that I'll be stocking up on more things come November 1st for cheap cheap cheap!

xxooxoxo
Lia

On Shopping Lockdown.... and a Halloween DIY Craft!

Hey there lovelies!  Today's post is going to be kind of a brain dump, so if you don't want to hear it, don't say I didn't warn ya!

I make good money, at least by my standards I think I do.  I went to school, graduated with my degree in mathematics, and now work as a Data Analyst for Staples.  However, I epitomize that old adage 'the more you make, the more you spend'.  Plus I only get paid once a month (GASP!).  Once I get paid, I pay all of my bills, and rather than budget the remaining funds for gas, food, general expenditures, etc, and then put the rest in savings, I spend it.  So when it comes to a week, sometimes two or so weeks before I get paid again, and I'm flat out broke.  I have enough for gas and groceries -BARELY- and have to hope that nothing else arises.  I confess, I have no savings or retirement plan.  I know.  It's horrible. Now that my husband and I have reconciled and he is moving into my condo with me and the kids, it should help with finances.  We want to get back into a house; however, the whole no savings thing puts a big damper on that.

I've never been really good at admitting any faults of mine, not even to myself.  I am a strong, stubborn Greek woman who is never wrong.  At least that's what I've always told myself.  I realized that maybe I have a problem with spending. And maybe I can be to blame for things, at least partly.  (Hence the reconciliation with the hubs, but that is a story that won't be told here.)   The even harder thing for me to do is to ask for help.  I finally bit the bullet, let go of my pride, and went to the hubs last week and told him.  He's put me on spending lockdown.  My finances are now in his hands, until I'm out of debt and have a little savings.  He *may* give me an allowance, he's not sure yet.  At first I was upset, but now I really think that this is the best thing that's happened to me.

I have an armoire FULL of craft supplies.  I need to get my DIY on!  I have a walk in closet, 2 smaller armoires, and a large dresser FULL of clothes and shoes, the majority of which I do not wear.  This period of lockdown will force me to become more creative with what I have.  It will help me get rid of things that no longer fit or I just don't like anymore.  Finally, I think it will help me appreciate what I have rather than wish for and covet what I don't. Ok, I still may wish for and covet alot of things.  But maybe I'll get more inspiration to use what I've got instead of single-handedly jumpstarting the economy.

So, lucky ladies, you will see a lot more DIYs and refashions in the coming weeks/months.  You'll see a lot of wardrobe challenges, challenging me to wear what I've got.  Finally, you'll see my progress!  I need to hold myself accountable, and I'm putting myself totally out there!  I'll let you know how my debt reduction / savings increase is going :)  I get paid this Friday, so that's when all that fun starts!

On another note, I saw this frame on A Diamond in the Stuff's blog, and not only loved it, buuuut I had all the supplies, including the same frame on hand!  Follow her easy peasy directions, and for just a few dollars, you can have this too!  I love it, and can't wait to put my kids' pic in there :)

What do you think of my jar of severed fingers?  I bought 2 bags of the 'fingers' at the dollar store, and recycled a small glass jar.  I'll have more Halloween decoration DIYs coming up, I'm a little obsessed with Halloween!!

xxxoooxoxo
Lia