Because Spiders Need Webs

Because I thought we needed to make homes for all of our nifty spider decorations!

Place Mats from Eddie Ross :

Hurricanes from Martha:

And Cheesecake of course, but this is a first for my blog...it is from Reader's Digest:

I think we are going to make the hurricanes at our next craft day! And if I do I will need to buy black glitter. And if I buy black glitter I am going to have to make the place mats too! And the cheesecake will be made because it has the word cheesecake in it!

Lunchtime in the Laundry Room - Halloween Edition

Yes, you read that right! Even the laundry post today is Halloween themed! I thought finding something laundry related to post about would be hard. But I was wrong! All you have to do is type Halloween Laundry Room into Google and things ACTUALLY come up!

Seriously, what did people do before Google? I can't remember!

I found this fun guide for Halloween Stain removal. Great tips for getting out face paint, red punch, candy, and all of the other scary stains you might encounter!

And directions on how to make these really cute costumes:

A fun crafts for kids using recycled laundry detergent bottles:

And last but not least, this laundry room from Country Living:

Still not sure why THAT came up. Nothing scary about it at all! But it is the fifth link!

So there you have it. You can blog about Halloween and Laundry!

And remember there are two more days to leave a comment on my 'please help me win a washer and dryer' post. Thank you!

Laundry Room Link Up

Okay, this isn't about Halloween. You will find out that happens a lot around here! I will have my whole day blogged and then I will see something that I HAVE to share with you and will throw it in!

One of my new favorite bloggy ladies is Donna from Funky Junk Interiors. When we get into our house in Texas I am going to open her blog and decorate my house by copying EVERY project she posts!

Remember this:

Yep, that was here. And this:

Yep THAT is her too. Have I mentioned how much I love that headboard! Well this is her laundry room:

Okay, that is just the washer and dryer. But, aren't they pretty! You can check out the rest of her laundry room here. And if you want to show off your own laundry room or one that you love, you can join her laundry party here:

Halloween Arrangement

With October only a day away, I thought I would give you a sneak peak of what October will probably look like on my blog. So every post today will be Halloween related.

Those of you that are not Halloween lovers can take solace in the ideas that are basic enough to be considered Fall Decorations and the occasional soup recipe because once October hits I really just want to make soup every night for dinner, but it is still to warm.

Oh, and be warned that at least once a day there will be something that looks like either an eyeball, a spider, or a ghost. And there will be about a million pumpkins!

We are starting with a pumpkin right now!

This cute little Halloween arrangement Linda Albrecht at Simple Things. And the best part is she has a step by step tutorial on how to make the entire thing! From covering the stars with Halloween patterned paper to painting the teeth on Mr. Jack O. Lantern himself.

And you can see it all here.

Halloween Eggs

So Martha has all of these cute ideas for Halloween Treat Boxes made out of egg shaped pressed paper boxes:



And as a person that saves her Easter Eggs every year with the intention of using them the next year, but then ends up buying more anyways, I am wondering if I could make these out of painted Easter Eggs?

What do you think?

Am I the only one with enough Easter Eggs to supply Mr. Easter Bunny for the next 15 years?

You can check out the full tutorials for these cute boxes here.

Lunchtime in the Laundry Room - Sept. 29

This laundry room from Country Living might have the coolest ironing board ever.

It is in a drawer! And I bet it doesn't make the squeaky sound that ours makes when you unfold it! Someone remind me to spray it with some WD-40 (which you can actually use to get grease out of your laundry...but that is a different post).

I also love the laundry hamper. I wonder if it is actually meant to be a hamper of if it is some antique something or other that they are using for a laundry hamper?

You won't find the cool ironing board or the fancy laundry hamper in my current laundry room...but here are some things you will find:

When I first saw these 3 in 1 laundry sheets from Purex I thought really? Is it that hard to put your detergent, fabric softener, and dryer sheet in separately? That was before I had a husband that was living out of a hotel in Texas. Today he did his first load of laundry away from home (and maybe his first load of laundry ever). These are not only easy for him to use, but easy for him to store.

They would be great for college kids too or anyone that is using a laundry mat!

And I am currently in love with this little diddy:

Again, another item that I thought was over simplifying a process, but I ended up really liking. I tried it only because I got a really good coupon for it and figured it was worth a shot. I have a habit of wasting dryer sheets because I throw one in before I toss the clothes in and then can't remember if I put one in or not, so I toss in another just in case. Now I don't' have to worry about it. But what I like the most is it works, but isn't overly fragrant. I don't feel like I am going to pass out from dryer sheet fumes when I open the box.

Confetti Invitation

This fun invitation would be perfect for a polka dot party, but I am picturing it with little ghosts or bats or witches hats inside for Halloween:

Image from Creature Comforts, as seen on P is for Party

All you need are vellum envelopes and the confetti of your choosing! Print the invite on the outside of the envelope (like a postcard) and fill the envelope with your fun confetti!

Laundry Room Walls

You may remember this little stain buster guide from Martha that I posted about back in January. (Was that really almost 10 months ago!!


Lots of good stain fighting advice that you can download here.

And you may remember these cupboards from My Sweet Savannah that I posted about back in April:

Where they painted their favorite recipes on the kitchen cabinets.

Well I am thinking of using the idea in the laundry room. But with stain fighting formulas instead of beef stroganoff.

Yes? No? Maybe?

Lunchtime in the Laundry Room - Sept. 28

Today's laundry room comes from Point Click Home:

I love how the wall color matches the washer and dryer. I love that that color is turquoise. And I love that the matching wall color makes the washer and dryer almost disappear into the background. A nice little camouflage. Not that I would want this pretty washer and dryer to disappear or anything!

I also like that they have made the most out of the space. And by having a desk and computer in the laundry room you can pretend you are doing laundry when you are actually blogging!

The only thing it is missing is a place to fold laundry. I think I would skip the pedestals and put a counter over the top of the washer and dryer instead.

What do you think?

Please stop by THIS POST and leave a few comments!

The race is REALLY close! Every comment counts!

And I appreciate every single one of them! You guys are so great!

You have until midnight (Eastern) on October 2 to post.

You can post as many times as you want!

Anonymous comments do not count

Paper Pumpkin Lanterns

I am always looking for excuses to buy big round paper lanterns. And I think these are a must have for the kids Fall Festival Harvest Party or whatever they call the Halloween party at school these days:

And we are going to pretend that I didn't find this cute idea in an ad for 3M. We will keep that our little secret.

Bakerella's Pumpkin Pie Bites

I love Bakerella. In that how could she be so talented/I am really jealous sort of way. My sisters, my mom and I tried to make Easter Cake Pops together and lets just say it didn't go well. We finally got them right after we were tired of making them. I don't think I am enough of a perfectionist to make Cake Pops. I am more of an Oreo Truffle girl.

But these, THESE I can make:

The are Pumpkin Pie Bites!!

There are about a million things that I love about them. The first being that she made them into jack-o-lanterns. I am a sucker for anything Halloween. And the second being that they use a cookie cutter! I love anything that uses cookie cutters too!

But the the best part is their size! They are small. I like pumpkin pie, but I don't love pumpkin pie. But I do LOVE Pumpkin Pie CRUST! Pie crust with a little pumpkin pie residue (and a LOT of whipped cream). The ratio of pie to crust in these little bites looks just about right.

You can get the recipe here on her site and see all of the great pictures of how she made them and what they look like if you want to make them for Thanksgiving instead of Halloween! (I know, we finally get to October and I am talking about November. You can hate me later!

Do you like pumpkin pie?

S'mores Pizza

Yes, you read that correctly. It says S'mores Pizza. And I think just the combination of those two words alone would make my song giggle with delight.

The recipe is from Pizza Coupons. I found it on The Finer Things. And here is it:

What you need:

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup sweetened condensed milk
9 full graham crackers (1 package)
1 grilled pizza crust
2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
One 7-ounce (200g) jar prepared marshmallow cream

What you do:

1. Melt the chocolate chips, stir in sweetened condensed milk. (this is a to die for frosting for cupcakes by the way)

2. Crush 7 of the graham crackers. You can use a food processor, but I find double bagging them in a plastic bag and letting the kids go at them with a mallet or rolling pin is fun for everyone.

3. Brush the pizza crust with the melted butter and then cover with graham cracker crumbs. Then add dollops of chocolate mixture followed by dollops of the marshmallow cream (in a checkered pattern, no need to spread)

4. Break the other 2 graham crackers into pieces and scatter them across the pizza.

5. Warm it up! Grill it to make it all melt-y and good. Or broil it in the oven if you want the marshmallows to be toasty and golden.

6. Plan to go to the gym everyday for a month to make up for the fact that you will probably eat the entire thing all by yourself.

Lunchtime in the Laundry Room - Sept. 27

Today's edition of Lunch Time in the Laundry Room is going to start a little early, and it is going to start with a little plead for help!

I would love if you could pop on over to THIS POST and leave like a million comments! Okay, maybe not a million, but what ever you have time to do on this lovely Sunday would be great. And Monday. And Tuesday. You get the idea!! ;D

The competition is getting GOOD! And it was really close until yesterday when a blog (who shall remain nameless but who has been featured on my blog before and who I really adore) got ahead of me by like 800 posts! You know who you are! ;D

But I know that I have THE BEST readers! So I am not worried. Just some reminders:

You have until midnight (Eastern) on October 2 to post.

You can post as many times as you can want!

Anonymous comments do not count

And also remember that when I win I am picking a comment at random and you are going to win a prize too!! Each of your comments on this post enter you in to win a laundry room goody box (or a gift card...or I will do a load of your laundry in my new washer and dryer...your choice!)

Okay, pleading over. Now on to the laundry room of the hour. I wanted to pick one that was completely opposite of the room from yesterday, so I picked a laundry closet:

See, it looks like a nice little closet. And it looks like a closet because that is what it WAS before they did this to it:

There is some GREAT storage in there! And there is even a counter top that you can use for folding! And drawers underneath (that would be easy to build and a great addition to your washer and dryer instead of buying the pricey stands they sell!)

You can check out the whole transformation of this closet at Fine Home Building. Or you could just go HERE and leave me some more comments!

The Fridge of My Dreams

I am not really a fan of fridges that look like cabinets. Not usually anyways. But something about this fridge from The Old Painted Cottage makes me giddy:

I found it was looking through posts at Nesting Place. And I figured it was a pretty expensive custom fridge. But I clicked on over to Jennifer's blog just to see if she would mention where she got it from so I could see how much the little beauty cost.

And to my complete shock, this is a Do-I-Yourself project! I am not kidding! The fridge used to be avocado green!!! I pinky swear!

You have to go to this post and scroll down to the bottom to read how she did it! It involves a hot glue gun!! I promise I am NOT LYING!

Amy Atlas is Out of This World

Most of the stuff I see from Amy Atlas dreamy, but her sons Rocket Ship Party was pretty down to earth.

This was my favorite part:

She turned paper cups into little rocket ship favors! So cute! And so something ANYONE can do!

She even posted a tutorial on how to make Papier Mache Planets:

Lunchtime in the Laundry Room - Sept. 26

Today's laundry room comes from Hampton Designs:


Isn't she pretty? But wait...where are the washer and dryer. Oh, there they are:

So I am guessing that is two dryers and one washer? Or do you think it is two washers and one dryer? Maybe they don't like to wash their whites and darks in the same machine. ;D

Okay first, it is all white! I kind of adore white.

Second, there is a farm sink. *sigh* I dream about having that in my kitchen!

The picnic table/counter in the middle. LOVE IT! A place to fold laundry that is also gorgeous!

And if that wasn't enough, they through in a few gorgeous apothecary jars just to push me over the edge.

Now in reality, I don't ever plan on spending this type of money on a laundry room, but I can take the pieces that I love (white paint, glass jars, a picnic table) and have a room that really makes me happy!

What is your favorite goody from this lovely little laundry room makes you happy?

PS - If you have a moment, please leave a comment (or two...or ten) over here on this post and help me win a gorgeous new washer and dryer!

Little Nummie Witch Hats

So Little Nummies is a great site with a lot of fun snacks for little (and big) kids. And she also has some really fun Halloween projects! (The big egg eyeballs...those were her!) Yesterday she posted these fun witch hat treats:

They are my FAVORITE cookies (chocolate stripped shortbread) with a chocolate dipped Bugle on top. I now MUST know what a chocolate dipped Bugle tastes like.

Check out all of her fun Halloween Nummies here.

Bat Lamp

Construction paper bats hung from 20 gauge wire turn your regular lamp into a spook-tastic Halloween decoration!:

You can get the template and directions from Martha here.

Make Your Own Pennant Stamp

When things get crazy around here, my blog reading gets neglected. Instead of looking at all 700+ blogs I subscribe to throughout the week, I end up scrolling through them quickly or hitting the dreaded Mark All As Read button. *gasp*

A little while ago I quickly scrolled past a stamp on Just Something I Made. It was a really cute pennant stamp, but I figured it was something I would have to buy. I didn't realize that Cathe had MADE the stamp out of a giant rubber band and a seam roller (the kind you use for wallpapering:

Some adhesive and an Exact-o knife and you are ready to make one of your own. You can check out the detailed tutorial at Just Something I Made.

Luckily Jack and Izzy featured the stamp on their site a couple of days ago, when I had a few more minutes to actually see WHAT it was! And also to find this REALLY cute pennant card that she made:

I am now in the mood to make myself some Halloween pennants! How about you?

Lunchtime in the Laundry Room - Sept. 25

So, I have already changed the name! I think Lunchtime in the Laundry Room sounds more fun that Laundry Room Lunchtime.

Today's laundry room comes from Kari & Kijsa:

Really cute, ESPECIALLY when it used to look like this:

You have to check out all of the great picture on their blog! We are talking cute storage, a great bench, window treatments, a white board calendar, and a bulletin board made out of an old mirror frame. Oh and really cute hooks for your keys.

If the bench were a little bigger I might sleep in it and call it my bedroom!

And remember, if you have a second to stop by this other post and leave a comment I will be your best friend. I could win a new washer and dryer and then I could post my OWN cute laundry room!

Spiders and Blood and Webs, Oh My!

You always get great ideas from Martha, but I love when one picture gives you multiple ideas you can use over and over! Well at least over and over again around Halloween:

Okay, where to start!!!

The Votives: They used two sizes and put them inside each other. The spiders are squished in between the two glasses. You can use this same method and fill the space with anything that won't melt. It is also the same method used for this flower arrangement:

But vases instead of votives. Switch out the red hots for candy corns and the tulips for your favorite fall flower and you have a beautiful centerpiece!

The Blood: I didn't notice it at first, but there is actually some 'blood' in between the votives. It is made with 2 teaspoons of corn syrup and 3 teaspoons of water and as many drops of red food coloring as it takes to get your desired shade.

The Web: You need a transparent hot glue pad for this (or anything that won't melt and the hot glue can be peeled off of after it dries. And you need special glow in the dark hot glue. Who knew such a think exists? I bet you could use regular hot glue too. It wouldn't glow in the dark, but I think you would still be able to see it on the window.

Put a template for a web under the mat and trace it with hot glue. Let it set (cool) and then carefully peel it from the mat and put it on the window. It should stick to glass, so you could put it on a mirror too. Or spooky eyes instead of a web!

So many fun ideas! You can see full instructions for all of these projects here.

Circles (Also Known As Another Use for Embroidery Hoops)

I saw this picture on a friends blog. She was showing of the bedding that she is using for her nursery (which is from Glenna Jean). But what caught my eye were the circles in the background:

White one white. LOVE IT! Is it just me, or are those just embroidery hoops painted white? If they aren't, I think they could be!

DIY Pelmet Boxes

Okay, until I found this post on Little Green Notebook (I actually found the link on Design Dazzle..shocker! I know! Love that blog.) I wouldn't have known what a pelmet box was. The spell check on Blogger still doesn't know what it is. But it is a really pretty valance. And Jenny has a tutorial on her blog to make these really cute ones:

out of FOAM BOARD! Another idea I am adding to the list of possibilities for the girls room!

Laundry Room Lunchtime

Nina Patricia sent me an email with a picture of this laundry room from Saucy's Sprinkles:

Isn't it gorgeous! Love the tins for the detergent, love the bead board, love the cabinets!

Mummy Gum

Nancy from Acorn Cottage posted these REALLY cute treats she found at a craft fair:

They are all really cute, but the pack of gum wrapped like a mummy is MY FAVORITE! And how easy. rip some paper (or light fabric) into strips and then glue them around the gum wrapper. Glue on a couple of googley eyes and you have a VERY cute mummy!

If you want to make the cute polka dot wrapper, use a fun size candy bar and wrap it in fun patterned paper. Then glue the ends down and use a paper crimper to make the fun edge. If you don't have a crimper, find someone you know that has scrapbooked for 10+ years and I PROMISE they will have one!

Witch's Brew

I have found a new party idea blog that I love, Blonde Designs. These two talented ladies Angie Gubler and Kristin Rees both worked for Martha, one for Living and one for Weddings. So you know the blog is going to be GOOD!

They posted a template for these labels:

They have spiders on them too! And although they look really cute on water bottles, I think they would look fun on mini bottles of soda with a fun color! Like Fanta or Mountain Dew. Not that I would want to DRINK any of those things...but the color would be fun!

Autumn Flower Box

So I found this cute flower box from Martha a while ago and had it saved for November. Isn't it CUTE:

image from Martha Stewart

Doesn't that get you in the mood for Fall? No? Well it was all set and ready to go for about a month from now, but ever since I got home from Texas my computer has decided that it hates me. So I am going to be spending the night trying to get it to fall in love with me again.

Wish me luck, and enjoy Martha's pretty Festive Fall Flower box. Or Amazing Autumn Arrangement. An alliteration always makes me feel better.

Creepy Egg Eyeballs

Kacey, I wanted you to know that I think of you every time I see a scary eyeball themed Halloween decoration!

For those of you that don't know, last year I was a little obsessed with the eyeballs. They were just popping up everywhere. So I was posting them...a lot! I am pretty sure you can do a search for eyeball and there will be more posts than you care to look at. Kacey sort of called me out (in her sweet and loving way) and told me I might have a problem! ;D So I worked on the problem and have now replaced it with spiders. I kid you not my youngest went to bed with a Halloween spider shirt on last night.

She calls it her 'bitsy bitsy bider'

But back to the eyeballs...Kacey, this is for you:

All you need are boiled eggs, black beans, and beat juice. And these instructions from Little Nummies.

Ribbon Bed Skirt

Such a fun idea from Better Homes and Gardens that I found on JCaroline's blog:


A plain white bed skirt and lots of fun ribbon. Just stitch it on and you have a very fun bed skirt. I am pretty sure I need to start buying this magazine!

This Kitchen Makes Me Happy

I love kitchens and dream of having some big gorgeous traditional kitchen with gorgeous cabinets and expensive counter tops, not to mention state of the art appliances. But really, I could be very very happy with this kitchen from Better Homes and Gardens:

White cabinets! Have I mentioned that I LOVE WHITE!!

A red counter top! Does ANYONE have any idea what type of counter top that is? I think I may need a red counter top!

Did you see the open shelving in the background. I know it would never look that cute in my kitchen, but I am in love with it!

And do you see the wall behind the open shelving! Chalkboard paint! Honestly the idea of chalk dust in my kitchen would freak me out in real life, but it looks pretty in a magazine pictre!

And the best part! The three glass cookie jars filled with three different types of cookies.

I think the only thing I don't love in this picture are the stools!

The Witch is In

Curious Sofa and this picture:

are being featured in the Kansas City Star! This idea was just too cute not to post, so I thought I would show you and say congrats to them on their feature! You can read it here.

Chair With Flair

,div>If you scrapbook, then you know that you always end up with random letters, either stickers or chipboard, or some medium, that you just don't have a use for. I am pretty sure there have been a million magazine articles written about how to use them. Well I think this idea from Better Homes and Gardens (the 100 decorating ideas under $100 issue) is my favorite use for old chipboard:

Glue it to a chair and spray paint over it! Beautiful! But probably not fun to sit on! I think it would be REALLY cute on a frame! Or a framed mirror!!