Halloween Costumes: Butterfly Fairy and A Snow Bird

Hey, everyone!

It's been a busy week.  I have been slowly working on a couple of Halloween costumes for my nieces.  One wanted to be a Witch.  She's been a Witch the last 3 years, so her Mother and I decided on a different costume for her.  My other niece originally wanted to be an Angry Bird, then changed her mind to a Snow Bird (Cardinal).

I took some photos of the process, but I must admit, they are not detailed.  I'll try to explain it as best as I can.

Butterfly Fairy Costume

We bought this butterfly wings and wand at Savors.  I fell in love with it.

I took some craft foam and craft paints and glitter glue and made a butterfly to somewhat match the butterfly wand.  After it was all dry, I folded the butterfly in half to make it look somewhat real.
 

We also found the dress, minus the butterflies, at Savors for 3.00 (SCORE)!  After making the butterflies, I hot glued them to the dress.

 How it looks with the butterflies on it.  Pretty awesome!

Then, I measured my nieces head and added 3 inches...her head measured 20 inches, so I needed at least 23 inches.  I created a circle and wrapped the ends with green floral wire.  Floral tape would be better, but I didn't have any, so used the wire.  I then tied purple and green ribbon to the part where the wire is and hot glued some glitter butterfly buttons all over it.  Then, I took some glitter spray and sprayed the ivy crown with it. 

It's gonna be a little cool and a LOT rainy here on Halloween, so I got some black tights for her to wear.

Snow Bird

 We found this red shirt at a thrift store for about 3.50!  We bought a red boa at Savor's for around 4.00!

 I took the boa and hot glued the boa along the shoulders and down the arms.  I bought another boa at Walmart for about 5.00 and hot glued the boa onto the back of the shirt.

 I took the left over boa and hot glued it to the bottom of the shirt for a tail.

I used red, black, and orange craft foam to create a mask. I cut red and black hearts, the black being smaller and hot glued them together and to the back of the mask. I added some glitter glue around the beak and the hearts.  I took red craft foam and cut out large thin 'S' shapes and hot glued them to the top and back of the mask, then using some of the feathers from the boa, hot glued them onto the "S" shapes.  I took some black craft foam and cut out tear drop shapes (not shown)

When I get a chance, I will measure where to cut the eye holes and put the black tear drop shapes around the eyes.  Punch a hole on either side of the mask and tie or hot glue the string so it can fit the face.

The girls will come to my house after school on Thursday and I will roll and spray hair and do their faces.  And I will be sure to take photos. 

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Sometimes life throws you a curve ball and you miss the hit!  1,2, 3 you are OUT!  But there is always "hope" that things will improve.

And this week is one of those weeks.  I have been battling a head cold.  So haven't done much posting here or on the Facebook page.  I go see the doctor tomorrow and maybe she will have some advice I can use to get rid of this thing!

http://fotoimagepics.info/2013/02/quotes-on-hope-and-love/

As promised, though, here is the BBQ Chicken Sandwich recipe.  Sorry, no photo's.  By the time I got the camera, it was gone.  The boys devoured it!!!!

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

This will feed about 10 people

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 large sauce pot/pan


In the sauce pot/pan, add water to about half way up.  Add all ingredients and boil until chicken is done, about 20-30 minutes.  Take the chicken out and allow to cool until you are able to shred it using forks or hands.  I used two forks and then decided it was faster to use my hands.

In a slow cooker or crock pot, add the shredded chicken and enough BBQ sauce to coat the chicken.  Add 1 cup of water if it is really thick.  Set on low and let cook for 2-3 hours. 

Sever on hamburger buns or rolls.


And remember, when you see nothing, there is always HOPE!

BIrthday Party

Good Monday morning, everyone! 

We had a blast Saturday!  My son's birthday party was a huge hit!  We had games, laughter, a lot of fun with the son, and made a lot of memories!

However, I got a chill Saturday night and I have yet to warm up!  Head is all clogged up and the body is achy.  After all the work I did last week preparing for the party, think I'll just take it easy this week and only do what must be done.

And sharing some of the fun of Saturday evening is just one of those 'must be done' things.  I will be preparing a few easy recipes to post over the next few weeks that we had at the party.  Enjoy the photos and have a great Monday!

The goodie table/cake table

The Food Table.  The food got gone, FAST!

My son said he wanted a cell phone for his birthday...so we got him on...I don't think he liked the 'joke'.

I'd say he really LOVED this gift!

And the REAL cell phone we got for him!  Tears flowed, people, tears flowed.

What My Son Has Taught Me

Our son will be 18 years old....our baby...on the 17th of October.  I remember the day he was born.  I was in labor for 36 hours before they decided to do a c-section.  I remember the problems he had as a newborn.  But, you couldn't tell it now.  He has grown into a wonderful, smart young man.  He can cook, do laundry, and sew. Just don't ask him to fix a car or mow the yard. Not that he couldn't, he just won't.  :) 

Our son has Asperger's Syndrome.  That is a form of Autism in case you didn't know.  I have taught him to never use this as an excuse or crutch in life.  I've taught him to use his brain.  To think.  He is an honor student.  He has plans to go on to college and major in Applied Math. He wants to be an Engineer of some kind.

Some people don't understand why he isn't very 'social'.  I do.  I try to explain, but they don't get it.  Some people, even within our own family, are just plain mean and hateful to him.  They don't see the hurt in his eyes because they are too focused on telling him what is 'wrong with him'.    Hubby and I see and it just pisses us off to no extreme!  People don't understand and when my son asks why they do the things they do or say the things they say, I tell him it's because people are heartless.  They are too busy to take the time to understand.  I tell him to not let those type of people get to him.   That one day, they may just understand.  He gets it, but the hurt is still there for him.   It breaks my heart.

But when I look back on the last 18 years, I am happy with what I have taught him, and what he has taught me.  My son has taught me to be more understanding when it comes to people who are 'different' than I am.  My son has taught me to be more compassionate.  My son has taught me what unconditional love really is.  He has taught me to be creative and to live in the present; the moment.  He is a grown man to the world.  But, he will always be my baby boy!

So, Saturday, the 19th we are having a big party and yes, there will be lots of photos.  He wanted me to make BBQ bologna sandwiches.  I had to do some fast talking to convince him that a lot of people don't like bologna, BBQ'd or not.  So, we settled on BBQ chicken sandwiches and coleslaw, chips, dip, and trail mix.  He is having a few friends over and of course, the family will help celebrate.

When this is all said and done, I will be posting all the recipes for you.  Here is a list of what to expect:

BBQ chicken sandwiches
Coleslaw (Semi-homemade)
Trail mix
Punch

And while you're at it, why don't you head over to my facebook page and hit the 'LIKE' button!  Lots of great posts, awesome ideas, and DIY. 

Monkey Bread?

Have you ever woke up and thought, "Today is a good day to bake up a bunch of goodies"?  I do.  And today was one of those days.


NOTE: There are no exact measurements for this Monkey Bread.  As I have stated before, I do not measure, I eyeball everything. 

 My son has been sick since Sunday night.  So he's been home watching a LOT of TV and just trying to get better.  He is much better today.  Anyway, today was a good day to bake.  My dad, who has dementia, loves sweets.  I think it's the German in him.  So most of what I baked up today will go to him.

I decided to make dad's favorite, banana pudding 

I also had a box mix of Orange/Cranberry muffins, so I whipped that up with a few changes...I put a powder sugar glaze on top.  Soooo goood!

I found THIS RECIPE at Taste of Home and had everything but the brown sugar, which I sent hubby after this morning. Yeah, I'm good like that.

Then, I thought, 'Some monkey bread would be good, too."  SO, I took out my bag of Rhodes dinner rolls, opened the bag and let them sit for about 20 minutes to soften up a bit.

I melted some butter in one bowl, combined some sugar and cinnamon in another bowl.  I dipped the rolls in the butter, then in the sugar mixture and placed them in my Spring form pan.  After one layer, I added about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and continued to add the sugar dipped rolls.

I took my melted butter and added another tablespoon or so to a sauce pan.  I took the sugar mixture and added some brown sugar and mixed really well, breaking up any clumps and added it to the melted butter and let that cook until it began to bubble.

Then, I poured this on top of the rolls and this is where the 'ooops' happened!  Somehow, the pan sprang a leak!  Sugar juice was going everywhere, so I grabbed a 9x13 pan and poured everything into the pan.  Hubby attempted to find and fix the Spring form pan with no luck.

I arranged the rolls in the pan, covered them up with a towel and set them aside to rise!  About 3-4 hours later, they had risen and I popped them into a 350 degree oven.  I went to check them about 15 minutes later and some had popped out of the pan, but they were done.  I put down some foil and mixed up some powder sugar glaze and drizzled it all over the rolls.

Not sure I would call  this monkey bread, but it is really good.  And I am sure my daddy will LOVE it all.

Maybe one day I'll perfect the monkey bread recipe, but for now, we'll take it.  

Trash Bag Ghosts

Hey everyone!  It's been a trying week already and it's only Wednesday!  I am determined to have a good second half of the week. 

We've been working on our Halloween display for about two weeks.  I was looking at it today, while the dogs played and thought, "It needs some ghost."  We have one little ghost, we bought a few years ago at the Dollar General Store and it was all alone!  So I set out to make some ghosts.

Funds being low this week, I had to figure out how to do this and make it look somewhat like a ghost.  Not an easy thing to do.  I went into the storage room, aka: my office, and found the Christmas ornaments.  And the light bulb went off!!!  No, really, the light went off.

I grabbed the bag of ornaments and after ripping the bag open, I found some fairly larger, round ornaments. "PERFECT!"  Then, I got my bag of Walmart bags, the duct tape, some yarn, the scissors, some tulle and went into the kitchen for white trash bags.  I then set out to create some friends for my one lone ghost.

I took a Walmart bag, and cut out the part with the lettering and leveled the bottom. (As shown in the photo above.)  Then, I found my center and poked a hole in the top.  I took my ornament and put the hang-y thing in through the hole.

I took the corners and pulled them as tight as I could and taped them together.  I gathered up all the left over bag and took one of the strips and tied a knot as close to the under side of the ornament as I could get. (See photo above).

I took the tulle and again, found the center and cut a very small hole in it.  Threaded the ornament through the hole. I took two white trash bags, and did the same with the white trash bags.  I took another plastic strip and tied it as closely as I could under the ornament.  I now have one layer of tulle, and two white trash bags on the ornament.

I fluffed out the bags and took the top white trash bag and my scissors and starting at the bottom, cut all the way up to make strips.  There was no right way, except to stay as straight as I could. 

Then, I used black paint to paint on a face, took them outside and tied to a tree limb.  Easy, cheesy!

It's not yet complete, but it is getting there.  We have one more item to put out and once FedEx delivers it, we'll put it out and it will then be done for all to enjoy!