Halloween Sweetness


I am so so excited to share with you
my halloween get up this year!


I was going to be a bunny
but I misplaced my ears...
there whereabouts are still unknown


Once I declared defeat it was onto plan B
ummm oops I didn't have a plan B!
The ol' clock was ticking
2 hours until we had to get on the road
and I was bound and determined
not to leave the house
still upset about my lost ears


It's amazing what you can come up with under pressure!
I was going for cupcake
but I was told I looked more like an
ice cream sunday.


I had a blast trick or treating with my family
the little mouse is my youngest cousin


My grandma said she hadn't had an
excuse to go trick or treating in years
lol it's not like she doesn't have small grandchildren
but I guess sometimes it takes your oldest grandchild
to get you in the spirit :)


Hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween!
~Chelsea Ann

Halloween Crafting


I've had this haunted house in the works for over a year now
last year I picked up a few after halloween clearance items
including the adorably frightful jackolantern from Target
However I wasn't going to bother putting it together this year
that was, until I was watching a Martha Stewart Halloween Special
and I thought you know what
why do I want to watch someone else be creative
when I can get off my little rump and go make something myself


I think for the most part
I find it difficult to stay motivated
when it comes to personal projects.
I don't have any issues making things for my shop
but when it comes to making things for me
I rather fizzle out
I think perhaps it's because we so seldom have company
which is half a blessing
because that means the house doesn't have to keep clean
yet I emphasize the half
because it's also nice to have a constant flow of company
to motive the little house wife
(that's me) to do her job!


Well thank you Martha
for inspiring me to finish my little house
I'm rather happy I did!


actions and textures

I wish I lived closer to my mother-n-law
she is a very crafty gal
oh what fun we would have together!!!
As an employee to Michael's Craft Store
she entered a halloween contest
for her store last year
and she won the national grand prize
for her flying witch!


I haven't been to a Michael's in quite some time
but I hear they have directions on how to make your own
(a bit simplified) flying witch.
How spooktacular!

Vintage Vagablondes


There are some really amazing people in the world
and especially in the fair land of blogging
I recently was shown such kindness from a fellow blogger
and today I would like to publicly say
THANK YOU!

Sheri and her daughter Ashlee
are two very stylish, vintage loving gals.
How lucky they are love the same things
and ultimately love each other enough to work hand in hand
searching out and selling vintage treasures.


Ashlee is a beauty
and a mega fashionista to boot
is full of vintage fashion and touching honesty
about her life and her many adventures
I really relate to her words
about finding ones self and dealing with loss.


Sheri is a hoot ~ Her blog always makes me smile
she just radiates happy go lucky goodness
She is a girl after my own heart
with her newly renovated 1961 Fireball trailer
in pink no less!


Oh man am I swooning over her trailers interiors
ours is still stuck in the 1970s


Thank you once again Sheri!
You are truly priceless!

~Chelsea Ann




A Busy Life

Charlie & Charlee

What a busy little life I have been leading
first I was in Portland visiting my family
and cheering my mom on as she ran the Portland Marathon
IN THE RAIN!
Then home for a night just to wake up
and get back on the road
to visit and help my grandmother
who is recovering from a massive surgery.
She is doing really good but still has chemo to look forward to.
On the way back home we picked up one extra passenger
my best friend from childhood let me barrow her 3 year old!
Charlee and I had a wonderful week together
and when it was time to take her back I was
very very sad to let her go!
But the next day we were back on the road and on our way to
Yellowstone National park.
Hubby and I had a great trip along with the pups and Big Red.
Poor Red hadn't been on the road since our move to Idaho


although I think Red is rather fond of his new home
perched in front of a white picket fence
how quaint :)


We've talked about selling ol' Red
classic story - we need the money
But I would hate to see him go!!!


So anywho...
what was it like having a 3 year old in the house for a week?
Pure JOY!!! but Yes, exhausting
which was a gift unto its self really
helped me see that I should truly value my ALL ME time
I have right now in life


It was also a treat to see how Jim and I
will handle a foster care child as a team
we still haven't gone through our training yet
we hope that the December classes will be a better fit
you need some 40 hours of class time
which isn't a problem for me
but for my hard working man it is near impossible


In January we will have been trying to get pregnant for 2 years
I wish I could say it has gotten easier
but it really hasn't... denial and bitterness are familiar friends
although mostly I feel numb
with our current insurance plan we seem to be in a rut
not knowing how to precede
On the one hand it seems like I should work on me
and some of the health issues I have
that may or may not be part of the problem
but are very painful and scary
but the doctors also have said if I were to get pregnant
it might reverse my symptoms
It's not easy to pick a path when even just consulting a doctor these days
will empty your pockets


I wish we were in the position to adopt now
Having Charlee in our home really helped me realize
that children don't have to be your flesh and blood
for you to love and adore them
I always worried too that adoption would be difficult for my husband
but even he was sad to see Charlee go.
Gosh I don't think I've ever smiled so much
watching Jim play with Charlee was such a treat
it reminded me of what a good man Jim is
and what a big heart he has!


Charlee love really wasn't into being a model for me
lol I felt like I was inflicting child labor on the poor thing
yes, shamefully there were bribes!
But what a darling model she was once she caught the bug
it only latest for about 10 minutes but it was enough!


I love this one!
I wish I had had more blue dresses in her size
because as Charlee's favorite color
she was much more eager
to show off how adorable she looked


I always joke that I hope I'll be a better mother
than I am a doggy owner
but my boys were wonderful all week long!
For the most part they took all of Charlee's smothering
and well I think they were just as sad to see her go
especially, they are missing her endless table scraps


I've just listed 10 new YoYo headbands in my shop
many for the fast approaching Christmas season



Halloween Decorations 2010


It's hard to believe we have been living in Idaho
for almost 7 months
I visited Portland for the first time sense our move
a few weeks ago. The trip only made it more clear in my mind
that Portland was never the place for us to call home
although LOL our home is still technically there.
Until we can sell our home in Ptown
we are renting here in Idaho
The home is a castle compared to our place in Portland
But I miss my little home so very, very much
while our rental has room and closets to spare
I miss my little nooks and small cozy spaces
The issue that drives me the most mad
is that our landlord wont let us hang anything
NO nails, NO tape, No nothing!
There are just a few nails already in the house
most in very odd places.


Thank goodness there was one nail in the living room
but I really miss having all my family pictures up.
what I do love about this house
is all the natural light!


There is an adjacent living room to this one that has nothing in it
except our dining room table
The walls in the room are a red-burgundy color
and there is also a fireplace
but we chose this room because it was the only logical place for the tv
plus you can keep an eye on what is going on from the kitchen
Maybe we will switch things around before Christmas?
Either way this house has room for a Christmas tree
in almost every room!


My Miller dog and Charlie dog love living here in Idaho;
Just like their momma
they were both not fond of the rain
plus having a giant fenced off yard doesn't hurt either!

Well there you have it - after 7 months
I have finally shown you a little peak of our home.

Trick Or Treat? Either Way You'll Get Something Sweet



Another great find from the Portland Library Clipping files.
Oh how I miss the Portland Libraries!!!

Moo

paper bags are so handy and fun!
Here are just a few fun ideas I found throughout blog land
oh heck while you're at it why not make
a whole paper bag city or town.
Make an Owl, or even a whole zoo
or how about making a book
and reading it out loud to someone you love?
For goodness sakes... why is there not a book called
"100+ things to do and make with Paper bags"

Paper Bag Masks - 1953Paper Bag Masks - 1953


I can't wait to have children to dress up for Halloween
The ideas are as endless as your imagination
and a good costume can go a long ways...
proving your children with the tools for
good ol' fashioned fun and play


I'm really into animal costumes this year
If all goes as plan I hope to be a bunny rabbit this year.
How about you? Do you still dress up
or as my little second cousin recently informed me
"mommy, is being a mommy!"


There are so many adventive and well made costumes
available on etsy
and I think it's relatively safe to say that within the United States
there is still time to order and have your costume in time for
trick or treating.


A good solution perhaps,
if your diy project didn't quite come together
or that must have costume has been rather elusive to tack down.


I wish I could look this cute dressed as a chicken!
Love those rubber glove footsies!


One last Halloween treat from the clipping files before I go.
Spooky Sweet and salty treats!
I especially like the kitty at popcorn ball


96 reasons to Love Etsy

Can you believe October is already here?
I really can't, but it's one of my favorite months.
I'm so happy to be back in Idaho
where the seasons truly do change right before your eyes


I thought it would be nice to end (or in this case, rather start)
each month by showcasing my favorite etsy treasuries
that i've made throughout the last month
I've become quite addicted to making these
sometimes even making two a day.
I know that might sound pathetic but I justify it
by saying it helps generate traffic for both my blog and shop
hopefully that to is not completely a pathetic notion.
This month I landed once on the front page
it was called "breath" and it came about right after hearing
that my grandmother had cancer.
She had major surgery a few weeks ago ...
she is perhaps to come home in the next few days
and I plan to go visit and help her for as long as she needs
We still don't know a lot about what the future holds for her
but she is the toughest gal I've ever known.
was only about 5 years ago she burned a good majority of her body
in an accident involving a blow torch.
If anyone can survive this I know she can
but it has been difficult news to swallow.
Life in general has been dosing out its fair share of bitter medicine
I don't know if it's a case of bad luck comes in threes
but we have sure have had our fair share it seems

I loved the treasury up top. I actually made it twice
I accidently clicked out of the browser the first time
sadly many of the items I had chosen I didn't have saved
but in a few days I collected a new batch of items that made me smile
and while this one didn't make it to the top it has generated over 2,000 views
Treasuries are a funny thing
you never know what will catch peoples attention and what will not
I think it's more a game of luck and timing...


I've always been a sucker for gold.
I really wanted a gold wedding ring
I ended up with platinum
I love and adore my ring
but there is a little part of me that thinks
I would love it even more in gold.
Of coarse pink is my favorite color
so it's no surprise that I picked this treasury
as one of my favorites.


Most of you know I suffer from a bad case of sweet tooth
from the moment I wake I start craving the sweet stuff,
my just before bed snack is no exception.


Halloween treasuries have been mad popular
I thought it would be fun to explore a single costume theme
-makes me want to read Wicked all over again.


Of coarse fall and autumn is a popular theme as well
I think today I might go dig out the fall and halloween decorations.


This last treasury was inspired by the movie Ondine
I love tales about mermaids...
but I wouldn't exactly put this movie on any must see lists
but I did watch Charms for the Easy Life twice in a row this last weekend
I could really use my own lucky charm right about now ^^