Halloween Ideas

Like most of you I am searching the internet and the beloved pinterest to find some ideas for Halloween.  Since we have not moved into our house yet I have not tried them so I can show you.  So...I decided I would post some ideas I've seen here instead. 
If you try any of these I would love to see how it turned out!!!!


Halloween window decore by Studio 5
  
http://heartlandpaper.typepad.com/heartland_paper/2010/10/halloween-window-decor-on-studio-5.html

Halloween Wreaths


http://blog.thecelebrationshoppe.com/2012/09/10/10-spooktacular-diy-halloween-wreaths/

Pottery barn knock off ghost from Tip Junkie

http://www.tipjunkie.com/holiday-crafts/pottery-barn-knock-off-hanging-ghosts/

To call forth this gathering, use glue dots to stick construction-paper eyes and mouths onto white tissue-paper bells ($3.80 for two 11"H, $5.20 for one 18"H; partycheap.com), then drape them with cheesecloth.

 

Zombie Planter

 

http://sewwoodsy.com/2011/10/zombie-planted-hands.html

Make a door skeleton from paper plates...great progject for the kids!

http://www.remodelaholic.com/2011/10/paper-plate-skeleton-kids-craft/

BOO!

Tomato Gage turned upside down - Christmas lights - sheet = BOO!!!
You could also use a topiary if you put something at the top to round off the head.
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These lights look cool and weird at the same time so you know I HAVE to try it.  I am going to hang it from a tree so its either going to look spooky, like the pod people are coming, or look like a giant glow in the dark snot.  Either way when I do try it I will post it.
The link for this longer longer exists so I can not give credit for this picture or idea to anyone. 
All you need to do is put a water balloon with a glow stick on the inside in a stocking and hang from trees or ceiling.  I'm starting to think of a orange glow in the dark stick won't look make it look like snot.


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I have a ton more stuff on my pinterest page so you can check that out too!!
http://pinterest.com/dpw/halloween-fall/

Saying goodbye

We have been here for 3 and a half years. There have been things I did not like (like the freaking cold), but overall we have loved it and wished we could stay longer. ( actually we were hoping for England, but we were denied the motherland, lol.)

We said good bye to our landlord who has been awesome and who the kids LOVE! Today I drove by so the kids could say bye to these 2 beautiful black horses and their foal and get some pictures near the area (that did not go so well).

 

We move around, its the military life we learn to love, but this is the only place I feel a little weird about leaving. Maybe it is all the places we have been able to visit we other wise would have not. Or maybe the only home my kids remember. Although I can say I won't miss the Germans per say, but I will miss the country side, beautiful wildflowers, the forest, and the cool breeze on a hot day.

Not looking forward to the heat, but we will have AC!!! Trust me it has been no fun living without it. We will also be near the beach! So think of all the beach photos I will be shoving down your throat....I mean showing you how I learn to take photos of the beautiful ocean and sand. So time to enjoy our last week here and wonderful tlf (temporary housing).

Europe I will miss you, but this wont be the last time you see me!!
Ps..it really is a pain typing this on the iPad, man I feel old!
I can't seem to post a pic from my iPad or I at least don't know what I am doing

Classic ipod gift....funnygift idea

Okay I didn't get to give my daughter's teacher her gift on Friday due to a lot of running around..so It's going in Wednesday (last day of school) gift.


Today I thought I would try my hand at being funny

When she opened it she says "tell me you did not get me this" then i felt like crap thinking, oh no i got her hopes and now she is going to be pissed.
She opened it up and luckily (for me) she read it and started laughing-hehe
She got a kick out of it.


I just this time I think I pulled off trying to be funny

I had to put some Key Lime Pie Fudge in there too.  I couldn't leave her hanging on the "classic ipod" gift.

Teacher gift idea...take 3 or 4..I can't remember

School is almost out and I want to do a little something each day for my daughter's teacher.  Just to let her know how much I and my daughter appreciate her and how FAB she has been to {us} this year. 

I gave this to my daughter's teacher yesterday....yes I know this came out a little ghetto.  My printer ink is about kaput and since we are moving in a couple of weeks I am not buying anymore.  So the cute background I had I couldn't use.  So good 'ol construction paper and stickers came to the rescue.
Something simple, candy bar (i used the big one ) and decorate your wrapper.  You can go ghetto like me, but come on why.  Thinking about it I should have used ribbon. hindsight gets me every time..okay I'm rambling now.

 I had made a cute themed one to give tomorrow, but yesterday I saw another parent come up with sorta the same idea <yeah other parent thanks a WHOLE freaking lot>-saboteur hussy (not really).  So changing it to next week, but I think it will still make me look like a copy cat (hussy, no she isn't but it makes me feel better to say it). 

I have another plan for tomorrow, but can't post it since she follows my post and I have no clue if she will see it before tomorrow. (like the plant idea, yeah i posted it before i gave it to her and she just happened to see my post the night before., yes, I am a genius)

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day.  I hope you have plenty of ties, socks, and underwear!!!!!!!

Another teacher gift idea

Another mom and I wanted to do something else for our kids Preschool teacher.  So I had this idea about putting kids pictures on flower cut out and hanging it on a plant.  Once again..It came out okay.  Not as quite "neat" looking as I would have liked.  My printer was running out of color ink so all the kids either have a purple or yellow tint to them.  Which could be an artistic spin on it (I say that to make me feel better).


Anyway.....

I found a flower template online and used that to cut out the flower shapes then took all the kids photos (that I had from school events) and cut them out and glued them on the flower.

I used fishing line to hang them, but noticed that I could not get the knot to stay on some of them, so I just used twine on those.  You could use a nice pot, but I opted for tissue paper and ribbon.  I've noticed people are picky about pots (i know, that is odd to me) so this way she can plant it or put it in a pot that will match her decor.
I will find out tomorrow how she liked it.

Before

After

Unicorn....It's what's for dinner

Just when I didn't think you could find weirder things to eat I find this. Is this fun food or just odd??
A conversation could go two ways with your kids




kids: what's for dinner tonight?                                
you: unicorn burgers!                                              
kids:  awesome, how did you catch a unicorn??      
you: I'm Super Parent and all animals bow to my will

Traumatized kids
kids: what's for dinner tonight   ?
you: unicorn burgers!
kids: AAHHH, no!!! why??, why??? (followed by a bunch of tears)






Just think of all the happy kids we could have if we just added a little unicorn to our diet. So if you don't mind being responsible for killing innocent pure creatures of fantasy then just click on the link below to order a can of fictional creature for your next meal.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/e5a7/




Oh and an added bonus Radiant Farms also turns the unicorns magical horn into a delightful candy.  Sure to give all kids smiles and happy thoughts.
http://neverchill.com/5447/candy-unicorn-horn

ps. I thought I would break this to you after you read about the yummy goodness of unicorns.  The unicorn is inside the can, but in one piece.  Don't worry use your handy dandy shrink/enlarge ray gun to restore the unicorn to it's normal size and begin to skin the meat off, or as the website suggest take it to your local butcher and have him to it for you (saves you the mess).
Word of warning to you ......do NOT let your kids play with the unicorn before you take it to the butcher or your kids will fall in love and your stuck with a mystical creature living in your backyard.


ps.s just found this....to end your meal just put on some silky Unicorn Fart Lip Balm.  Unicorn farts smell and taste like peppermint/cotton candy.  It will make your lips soft and leave you with a sweet minty scent!

Doors of Rome

I am a little behind in getting my blog about Rome, so while I get my act together I thought I would post this for you.  Once again....only a fraction of what I actually took.

Just playing with some textures here

Ettal Monastery

The town Ettal is known for it's monastery and Linderhof Palace.  

The town itself is small but being in Bavaria you can't beat the beautiful setting.

Here are a few pictures of Ettal Monastery.

 

For the history of the monastery, which is was to long for me to think about writing, check out the links I posted below:

http://larsthompson.8m.com/page8.html

http://www.brennendes-herz.com/index.php?id=ettal_abbey

http://www.tompgalvin.com/places/de/bayern/ettal.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ettal_Abbey

Linderhof Palace

Linderhof Palace is the extravagant villa of King Ludwig II.  It is best viewed during the spring and summer months due to the gardens being closed in the winter.  We went and September and the gardens were still beautiful.

We were not allowed to take any pictures inside, so you will have to look online (link below) to see it. It is small and the tour is short (which is a plus if you have kids).  We did not have a long wait (we toured some of the grounds while we waited) so it wasn't bad.  If I had to wait a long time with my kids I think I would have been disappointed.

Here are just a few shots of the outside.  There are more things to see on the palace grounds, but with 2 kids and 2 castles to still see that day we didn't wander around to see all of it.

This is the grotto that Ludwig had made on the grounds, I had to stop myself from laughing...its so gaudy, but I guess back then it was great place to relax and "woo" the ladies.

This is the river that runs in front of the park /entrance to the palace.  I  loved the clear clean water.  The kids had the most fun here as well, walking in the water, trying to skip stones etc.

http://www.schlosslinderhof.de/englisch/palace/history.htm
gps address:
Linderhof 12
82488 Ettal