This week was Homecoming so that meant a new dress for Tessa. Instead of a new dress we found an old dress – a dress from the 1950’s at a local vintage store. It is so beautiful!
Day 299 – October 29
The dress fit her perfect!
Day 300 – October 30
The theme of Homecoming was Wizard of Oz so we thought the emerald green color was perfect!
Last night we hosted our second annual Halloweenie Roast for some of our neighbors.
If you happen to be counting, that is the third Halloween party at our house this week (Thespian Halloween Bash and Mummies Night Out) but who’s counting!?
Of course there were plenty of hot dogs/sausage to roast thanks to Johnsonville!
I made up a batch of JDawg Sauce because what is a hotdog without JDawg Sauce!?
And we even had Mummy Wraps (hot dog wrapped up in a breadstick, the canned variety)
The neighbors each contributed a dish and I made another batch of the amazing artichoke/spinach dip I served at Mummies Night Out. You are so going to want this recipe. It is coming soon I promise!!
And of course there was soda in a bottle. The straws looked great but they were a little too short for the bottles!
And the kids did bobbing for apples.
Last year we did a fun candy corn bar which the kids loved. I knew I had to come up with something just as fun and sugary.
This year we had a candy bar and the kids (and adults) made their own candy skewers. I saw the idea over at Red Couch Recipes.
Now that I’ve gotten a little sleep I wanted to share with you some of the photos from the party last night.
The photos aren’t great – let’s just say it’s hard to be head cook, hostess and photographer.
The food was served in the kitchen/family room area.
The kitchen table was covered in yummy appetizer type food (recipes soon I promise)
The Bloomin’ Onion made an appearance and then quickly disappeared!
And then there was the dessert table too with Oreo Cupcakes, Carrot Muffins with white chocolate cream cheese frosting and a yummy apple caramel bundt cake too! (Recipes coming I promise!!)
The food even spread into the family room – caramel apple dip and pumpkin spice dip.
We had two craft stations set up. My friend Karen put together this darling little box.
In the garage (you know I like you if I let you in my garage!) we put together a fun fall banner out of burlap (forgot to take a photo of the finished banner but I will!)
To carry out the mummy theme I covered some clear vases in cheesecloth and added googly eyes!
My very talented friend Karen also made these fun mummy cake pops for all the guests (they had red velvet cake inside!)
And I made some fun Oreo mummies for everyone to take home with them.
The wooden mummies I painted 20 years ago came in handy! Glad I kept them. I also cut letters out of black contact paper on my Cricut to welcome everyone to Mummies Night Out.
I covered the tables in white plastic tablecloths from the Dollar Store and then added some fun yardage from the fabric store for a table cloth. I topped it with some torn cheesecloth for a spooky effect. I also made a fun Halloween pendant banner that I draped on the front of the tables and then added some bows made out of tulle.
My candy corn lights added a nice touch too!
But the best part was having so many fun, wonderful women in my home!
And of course getting to see sweet baby Rylee is always a treat!
So it’s onto the next party – neighborhood Halloween Roast is tomorrow night!
Thank you to all who came to my Mummies Night Out tonight to help support Prayers for Megan.
Thank you to everyone who was not able to attend but made a cash donation.
Thank you to everyone who donated an item for our prize giveaway (a list of donations coming soon)
Thank you!
It was a crazy busy day. I started cooking at 6:30 a.m. and didn’t stop until people were coming through the door. It was so fun to open my front door at 7:30 p.m. and have a line of women waiting to come in!
It was so a pleasure to meet so many women I didn’t know – to put faces to names!
I’m tired but it’s a very good tired. I’ll be back soon to post pictures and recipes. I’ve got some great ones to share but before I go to bed I’ll leave you with just a couple of photos.
Here’s our special guest – baby Rylee who looks so much like her mother, Megan. Tessa loved getting to hold her.
And here’s a sneak peek at the dessert table. More pictures and recipes coming soon.
Now it’s time for bed!
PS – thanks to my sweet husband who is downstairs cleaning up so I can get to bed!
PSS – if you would like to make a donation to Prayers for Megan you still can. Donations can be made through Paypal to yourhomebasedmom@gmail.com or a check can be mailed to my home. Email me for address!
Some fun, easy and inexpensive Halloween candle ideas for your Halloween decor and party. They are so easy to make!
One of the easiest and quickest ways to add atmosphere and ambiance to a party for not a lot of money is with candles. I love candles and I use candles at all my parties.
Cute Halloween Candle Ideas
My dear husband carved these little pumpkins so I could put tea lights in them. There was an amazing amount of guts inside these little pumpkins!! Keep them in the refrigerator in between uses to keep them fresher longer. The little pumpkins were 50 cents a piece at the grocery store – cheap!
Inexpensive Halloween Candle Ideas
I pulled out these fun candy corn and jack o’lantern candle holders I made last year out of old canning jars. I just used tissue paper to cover them with – cheap!
I also picked up some of these tall candles at the dollar store – cheap!
I think they are the kind like they use in churches etc. I didn’t want to spend money on vinyl so I just used black contact paper and cut it using my Cricut machine. If you don’t have a Cricut machine (not cheap) you can just print the letters on paper and then wrap the paper around the candle.
And last, another inexpensive candle holder idea.
I have lots of old canning jars so I filled a bunch of them with candy corn and tea lights. They look great scattered around the house and serving table. I used different sizes of jars so I could do groupings of them (usually 3.) Someone’s been eating the candy corn though and it’s not me!!
Do you have a favorite way to use cute Halloween candles at your house?
This was a crazy busy week getting ready for lots of fun parties!
My friend Cathy hired me to help style a bridal shower for her daughter Nicole. Cathy wanted it to be soft, feminine and pink! All the things Nicole loved. One thing I have learned about life and party planning is that it is all in the details. So for this week’s pretty I want to share with you some of the fun details from the bridal shower this week. This next week I’ll share more photos from the party and of course the menu and recipes!
Day 288 – October 18
I borrowed my neighbor’s 1920 vintage typewriter for the guests to leave a message for Nicole.
Grandma’s hands leaving her grandaughter a special message.
Day 289 – October 19
Pretty candy for the cupcake decorating bar.
Day 290 – October 20
A simple doily banner added a soft and feminine touch
Day 291 – October 21
Of course, there were lots of beautiful flowers in milk glass vases.
Day 292 – October 22
A personalized touch – the bride and groom’s names
Day 293 – October 23
Tea cups and antique books
Day 294 – October 24
More pink!
Just remember – it’s all in the details. Enjoy a pretty week!
I found a whole week’s worth of pretty in one day this week. It was my friend Marsha’s birthday, so to celebrate we headed out to an estate sale and then a yummy lunch over in the Hawthorne area.
Not only did we find treasures in the house at the estate sale but we also found some pretties out in the backyard – for free!
Day 281 – October 1 1
One of the treasures I brought home from the estate sale was this old recipe box full of recipes. I felt bad that no one in the family had wanted grandma’s box of recipes. I couldn’t just let it go unloved so I bought it – all for $1.50!
Day 282 – October 12
As we were in the house at the estate sale, my friend Marsha looked out into the backyard and saw these pretty chinese lanterns. We asked if we could cut some down and they said to take as many as we wanted – they were going to be mowed down!
Day 283 – October 13
They are now in a vase on my mantel.
Day 284 – October 14
I fell in love with the white picket fence and gate in the backyard too.
Day 286 – October 15
The lady who had lived in the house loved Halloween. Her backyard gate had at one time been covered in cobwebs for the holiday. It’s looking rather spooky!
Day 286 – October 16
After we purchased our various treasures we headed down to Pour Que No – one of my favorite Mexican places in Portland for tacos and chips and salsa. A very fun and funky place with great food!
Here it is – finally. Thanks to all of you who have requested this and then waited so patiently for me to do.
I am excited to share my first YHM}Fashion Find video tutorial! After my trip to Europe this summer when I shared pictures of some of my outfits I had a lot of requests for a tutorial on how I tied my scarf.
This past week a woman stopped me on the street to ask me how I did it and I got another email from one of my readers requesting it so I finally got it put together this weekend – thanks to Tessa for helping me out!
I have an exciting announcement to make in regards to YHM}Fashion Find later this week so stay tuned!!
So you know about my love affair with candy corn. Has there ever been a cuter candy? I don’t think so!
A few weeks ago my friend Meg and I got together to get a little crafty. Look at the cute candy corn banner we made!
The candy corn are cut out of natural color burlap (burlap now comes in all kinds of fun colors). We used acrylic paint and a sponge brush to paint on the yellow, orange and white paint.
I used some jute twine to string them all together.
I then added a little orange and yellow ribbon I had in my Halloween ribbon stash. Yes, I even had ribbon with candy corn on it – are you surprised!?
The banner cost next to nothing to make since burlap is so inexpensive – just a couple dollars a yard!
We cut out a candy corn template from some thin cardboard and using a pencil traced the shape onto the burlap. The individual candy corn measures about 7 inches across at the top and is about 9 inches tall.
Fall has definitely arrived here in the NW – there are signs everywhere!!
Day 274 – October 4
Have you noticed an overabundance of spiders this Fall? It seems I am finding them everywhere. Tessa is terrified of spiders and when we found this amazing spider web woven across the front of our house she refused to go in or out the front door. I just couldn’t bare to knock it down so she just had to use the garage door! The rains came though and so it is now gone.
Day 275 – October 5
A sign of Fall…
Day 276 – October 6
Loving the color!
Day 277 – October 7
What remains….
Day 278 – October 8
The pumpkin patch is a little bare this year. A total of four pumpkins!
Day 279 – October 9
Candy corn is not just for eating!
Day 280 – October 10
On my morning walk I found these lovely, pretty acorns. They looked just perfect in my little leaf bowl.
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