The Weekend Report

Weeeeeeee! What a fun weekend!

♥

Hi everybody. Happy Monday morning to you! I know, I know, this is a bit chipper for me compared to the past several weeks of weekend recaps. Make no mistake, I super wish I could stay home from work this week and take care of more things around our new house, but that's the way the cookie crumbles these days.

But before I get ahead of myself and start rushing the work week, let's revisit the weekend, shall we?

We had Carrie and her crew over for pumpkin carving and pizza on Friday night. It was so much fun! Andrew and his little munchkin got to experience their first sit-here-and-smile-while-we-take-several-timed-camera-shots moments. I think they loved it as much as Doug always does. (ha) And Doug with the bunny years? :o) Ah - we had so much fun on Friday night!

Our weather was gorgeous this weekend so Doug and I decided to sit outside for a while to hand out candy on Saturday/Halloween night. We weren't sure what to expect in terms of trick-or-treaters in our new neighborhood (we had none in our old neighborhood) but we ended up having a whole bunch of them! It was so much fun to see the cute costumes and excited little kids. We loved it!

It was a very productive weekend around the house! Doug spent the majority of Saturday working on the stack of boxes and stuff in the garage. I am happy to report that my car is now parked inside the garage! Hooray for attic storage space and a hubby who moved all that stuff up there!

Sunday morning I cooked a big batch of breakfast burrito filler. We had burritos for breakfast, and then I rolled and wrapped the rest for the freezer. Hunting season is upon us so I've been stocking the freezer with meals for my hard-working outdoorsman. While I was wrapping burritos, Doug was hanging my little shelves. ♥

And this happened this weekend!!! Doors on our kitchen cabinets!!! :o) Oh my goodness, what a long, drawn out project this has been! Doug had painted the cabinet bases before we moved in but the painting and installation of the doors was a bit further down on the priority list. Ah! I am so happy to have all our stuff covered now.

Still a little bit to do on these... The drawers need pulls and the microwave/stove hood still needs to be installed, but we are getting there! Yay!

And this is growing in my yoga/craft space...

It's still in its very early stages, and I plan to add to this wall mandala little by little over time. Can you even imagine how much this calls to me every time I enter this room? Or walk past it in the hall? Haha.

Now comes November and I'm checking my mindset for the upcoming month. My to-do list is a healthy mix of house-stuff, yoga studies, work weeks, plans for Doug's birthday, Thanksgiving planning, breathing and staying calm.

Happy November, my friends.

Time to shift into an attitude of gratitude if you aren't there already.

I'm so grateful for you sweet souls who read my blog.

♥

Pumpkins get the mandala treatment

It started innocently enough. I had picked up a couple of small pumpkins to use as decorations and one night after dinner I caught a glimpse of the top of one and thought, "Hm...mandala shape..." One Sharpie marker and 15 minutes later...I was hooked!

A combination of my pumpkins mixed with Barbara's. ♥

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My sweet friend (and partner-in-mandala-obsession), Barbara saw the Instagram I posted and was all in. So last week when we met for Mandala Monday the canvas of choice was this:

My local friends who also know Barbara will not be surprised when I tell you that she arrived at my house last Monday with her art supplies and her stash included blue paint. Only Barbara would think to add blue to a fall craft...

Seriously? SO pretty! Made me want to put a dab of blue paint on every single pumpkin I mandala'ed after that!

I thought about creating a tutorial but every one of these pumpkins is so different. Here are a few tips:

* Wash and dry your little pumpkins before you begin drawing.

* I start at the top using the pumpkin stem as my center, then start drawing mandala-type designs this way and that.

* The pumpkins take acrylic paint really well, Sharpie markers not so much. We did use a Sharpie paint pen and the ink worked well on these.

* The white on these pumpkins was drawn with a chalk marker. It's nice and bright but rubs off if you try to rub it off. I won't try. ;o) Besides, these won't last forever anyway so the chalk marker did the trick. I did try a white paint pen but it wasn't as bright as the chalk marker.

* The pumpkins look better when they have lots of friends! After Barbara left my house that night and took her pumpkins, my little collection seemed sparse. I've created a few more since last Monday night, and so has she! :o)

* Last, and most importantly, there's no right or wrong way to draw a mandala so don't get too hung up on where your lines and shapes land. The beauty of a mandala rests in the process of creation, not in the final piece. Although, I'm pretty sure that once you're done you will love the piece as a whole.

Fun, yes?
♥

I'd love to see your creations if you mandala some pumpkins!
Tag me on Instagram (@paperturtle) and use #MyYogaFriendDeb

Disney Weekend Recap

Good morning, my friends.

♥

We had SO much fun this weekend! This morning finds me with tired feet from walking so much, sore smile muscles from smiling so much, and a happy heart from playing and laughing and loving so much.

It had been over 20 years since Doug or I had been to Disneyland. Carrie has been asking begging us to take her to Disneyland since we've been a family (12 years now) and this year she convinced us to take a vacation there for her birthday. She's such a smart girl, that one.

We drove to northern California on Friday and spent a few hours in California Adventure, and then Saturday morning we hit Disneyland. The weather was absolutely perfect, and for the most part the crowds weren't all that bad (until later in the day/evening).

I'd forgotten how much I love Disneyland. Or maybe I love it even more now that I've been there with three adults(-ish) and no toddler to accommodate. We had the best time!

This is Disneyland's 60th year anniversary! The park was decked out in sparkly diamond decorations, and the electrical light parade is "bigger and better than ever" except that I didn't see that part. Too many people by that time of the day, but I did catch a glimpse of a few floats over the top of the crowd of people. Carrie and her beau stayed late enough to catch the second showing and she said it was fantastic!

So yeah, Carrie has a boyfriend ♥, and when we invited him to join us at the last minute (Friday night) he moved mountains to make it happen. He drove from Arizona that morning and met Carrie at Disneyland's gate and the four of us had the best time. By the end of the day we all agreed that it was the most fun any of us have ever had in Disneyland. :o)

 

We rode a whole bunch of rides, including the Buzz Lightyear ride where you shoot little laser guns at targets. Carrie and Andrew beat our combined score by 100 points...because everything is a competition, you know. ;o)

All day long I kept seeing little kids with these really cool battery operated bubble guns. I wanted one! So on our way out of the park we braved another long line and purchased one as a souvenir. It lights up and shoots out lots of bubbles and came at a time when I was so tired I couldn't take one more step. Totally perked me up for the walk back to our hotel. :o)!!!

~sigh~ Awesome, awesome, AWESOME weekend. I really should have prepared this blog post last night, but I fell asleep on the couch at 7:30 p.m. At some point I made it to bed and woke up at 2:00 a.m. fully clothed, on top of the bedspread, with my contacts still in. Sheesh. I was tired! Deliciously tired.

Time to switch back to work mode and maybe eat something healthy today. Maybe.

Have a great week, my friends.

♥

Just a Quote for Halloween

My precious little Carrie as Peter Pan

"When you come to the edge of all the light you have and must take a step into the darkness of the unknown, believe that one of two things will happen to you: either there will be something solid for you to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly."

~ Patrick Overton

Fall Crafting with Friends

Last weekend Carrie and I had the pleasure of spending time with a group of our crafting friends. It's always such a treat to spend time with these ladies, and our hostess, Barbara, went out of her way to make it a special time for us.

I told Barbara she wouldn't be in clear focus and I was right. Now I wish I'd changed my aperture so you could see her better!

Barbara loves Halloween, and her home was decorated so beautifully. It was so fun to walk around and look at all of the lovely details around her home.

I told you I was going to put your photo bomb on my blog, Carrie!

Barbara's daughter Summer did the witch painting when she was little. I love that Barbara has it in a frame!

Barbara had made kits for each of us and we spent some time covering matchboxes with a fun selection of papers. It was so much fun to be making something with a Halloween theme in the company of our creative friends.

Hot air balloon paper is Graphic 45's "Steampunk Spells" collection

Ghost paper is Little Yellow Bicycle's "Graveyard Ghosts"

Hooray for fall!

Hooray for Halloween fun!

Hooray for creative friends to love.

♥

The Princess and The Ghost

Ok, so my title might be a bit of an exaggeration,

but here's my not-so-spooky version of

A Princess and a Ghost.

♥

My story for Sian's Storytelling Sunday this month isn't much of a story. It's just a photo of my eight-year old Carrie dressed in a Belle costume I'd made for her that year, standing in front of a ghost we created as a decoration for a small Halloween party we held. I made all of Carrie's costumes when she was younger, and she will tell that this Belle dress was her all-time favorite.

The ghost was made of a bed sheet draped over a Styrofoam ball, strung up with fishing line and suspended in the corner of our fence. It made a fun backdrop for photos that night - an unknowing successful attempt at an early photo booth.

Her friends from school came dressed in costume too, and each brought a bag of candy to be used in a candy exchange. The girls played games, ate snacks, and giggled a lot.

I'll admit to feeling very nostalgic when I see photos of my sweet little girl in Halloween costumes I made for her, and I dream of the day that I'll be called upon to fashion a small costume for a grandchild. Someday...

* ♥ *

Storytelling Sunday is a monthly meme hosted by my friend

Sian, From High in the Sky. Click here to read more stories.

Boo! It's Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween!

♥

I had a whole different post written and ready for today about how we were doing nothing for Halloween this year. Doug was away on a deer hunt, and I have about 50 things to do before leaving for California again this weekend {for something fun this time: my nephew's wedding!}.

October 2012 was a bit of a bust for me. I had a few Halloween packages made up, envelopes addressed, and they never made it into the mail. These little goodies in the photos are a few that did make it out - I made Halloween treat bags for my grandma and uncle. I wonder when was the last time either of them wore a spider ring? ;o)

Unfortunately for Doug, {and fortunately for the deer} he returned from his hunt two days early empty handed. Well, except for a cool antler shed he found, and three heart shaped rocks - which makes it a successful hunt in my opinion. 

We weren't going to carve pumpkins this year, but as soon as Carrie knew that Doug would be home in time, she insisted that we do it. So, I bought a couple of pumpkins so that each of them had their own to carve, and I sat out this year. {Dumb shoulder issues still, and I had a cake to bake last night.}

 

So, this is my random Halloween post, quite a bit different than I originally planned, but that's alright by me.

It's been a very different kind of October, indeed.

But November? Well now that's gonna' be a different story.

Ima 'bout to make it amazing!

♥

Cupcakes with Witch Appeal

Good day, friends!

♥

I was so happy when my SIL suggested a family dinner last weekend. I needed a dose of hugs from Doug's family {plus there's babies over there!}.

I had made some witch hat cupcake toppers several weeks ago, and this little outing was the perfect excuse to bust out some cupcakes to take along. I used a devil's food cake mix, and this canned frosting that you add a flavor packet to ~ I used orange cream. It was pretty good stuff.

Here's a simple little tutorial for those who would like to know...

From left to right in the photo above:  I used punches to make two circles, one small and one a little larger. The small circle is the base of the hat, and I used a paper piercer to poke a hole in the base for the toothpick to go into later on. The larger circle gets cut in half - one half gets rolled around and I used a glue dot to adhere the little cone shape. I traced around the cone onto the small circle/base, used that as a guide for squeezing my glitter glue, then squished the cone into the ring of glitter glue. Technical, eh?

If the broom fits...

♥

Trick-or-treating in our new hood.

Right.

Turns out that the new neighborhood isn't real big on trick-or-treating.

There's a reason why,* but I really thought we'd see more than...

oh...

I don't know...

ONE trick-or-treater?

{image credit}

October 31, 2011, 7:20 p.m.

tap-tap-tap {no ringing of the doorbell}

Me {opening the front door}: "Hooray! We have a trick-or-treater!"

Mario: "Trick or treat!"

Me: "Since you're our first trick or treater {thinking: possibly our last} you win the grand prize and I'm going to give you a whole bunch of candy!" {thinking: I don't want Doug to eat this stuff all week.}

Mario: "Do you like my costume? I'm Mar[w]io."

Me: "It's awesome! How old are you, Mario?"

Mario: "Six." {pause} "My name's not r[w]eally Mar[w]io, but you can call me that tonight."

Me: "Ok. Cool. Have fun, Mario!"

Mario: "Thank you!" {his dad smiling at the end of our walk...}

{image credit}  **

I loved Halloween at our new house.

:o) ♥

* Some of the houses in our subdivision have tall gates/fences that must be entered in order to approach the front door. That's not cool if you are trick-or-treating.

** And I didn't realize until I searched for these Mario images that what should have been Mario's mustache was actually attached to the chin of our Mario tonight. So cute!

What a weekend!

Boo! Happy Halloween everyone!

It was an awesome weekend here in Arizona.

The weather was beautiful, and we were busy doing fun stuff.

Wanna' see?

♥ ♥ ♥

Doug had to work on Saturday, which meant an early get-up. I'm so glad I was up with him and got to see this amazing sunrise. Wow!

Since I was up so early I decided to make pumpkin coffee cake. It was so delicious - I had to wrap it up to keep from eating the whole pan myself! These are for my co-workers {they'll be happy this morning}, I took some to our neighbors, and saved a piece for Carrie.

Here's a look at our entry way...note the spiders on the screen door... {and Fancy Jane at the bottom of the shot...}

 Eek! Scary!!!

Pumpkins waiting to be carved. {I almost hated to carve these bad boys last night - I have loved seeing them sitting by our front door this past week...}

The jelly bean filled pumpkin I made on Saturday didn't really turn out as planned, and I decided quickly that I didn't want to make 24 of them. I found this idea on a friend's blog and decided to go this route for Thanksgiving table favors. I'll post more about this project in the weeks to come...

I managed a little more sewing yesterday afternoon. With company.

And we had a little over-night visitor on Saturday. His person-friend had a big ol' Halloween party on Saturday night so Marcus spent some time at the grandparent's where it was safe and quiet.

Last night we had our annual pumpkin-carving-and-chicken-and-dumplings family night. No photos of the dumplings as my family was anxiously waiting to be served...

After dinner we carved pumpkins. {From left to right:  Carrie's, Doug's, Mine.}

And now it's Monday morning.
It's Halloween!

♥ ♥ ♥

There's a pre-school in the same strip mall where I work and they're having a Halloween parade this morning. We'll have treats for the kiddos as they come by our office front. And tonight we'll experience Halloween in our new neighborhood. We have no idea how many trick-or-treaters we'll have here, but we are prepared with a bunch of candy {hidden from Doug until after tonight so we'll be sure to have enough on hand!}.

I wonder what this week has in store for us.

I'll bet it's something good...

♥ ♥ ♥