Halloween in Pictures

Halloween 2010 was the best of my life.  Not because I went to some crazy Halloween party where we sang "scare-e-oke" and drank Malibu Witches Brew.  It was the best Halloween ever because I got to see a pumpkin patch through the eyes of a four year old.  I got to watch his face light up when I handed him his store bought costume.  I got to see my 17 month old twins dress up in matching superhero costumes and chase one another around (or, rather, watch my little girl run for her life as her hefty twin brother tried to tackle her).  

It was the best Halloween ever.  Here are a  few pics of our time together:  

I made Merrick's treat bag to match his costume.  I could have just handed him a used plastic grocery bag, however, and he wouldn't have cared as long as it was filled with candy by the end of the evening.  

I found that if you slap a piece of pumpkin face cheddar cheese on any thing during the month of October, you've got yourself a special spooky treat.  This is a whole wheat english muffin with an over easy egg and canadian bacon.  If the cheese were American, it would be quite the international event. 

Pumpkin blueberry pancakes!  By the end of the month, we were just sticking pumpkin into whatever we were eating.  Next year, peanut butter, jelly, and pumpkin sandwhiches...

Best treat of the month: Spice pumpkin cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting.  Holy smack. 

Pumpkin Patch Pictures...

My big little man was fascinated with the pumpkins.  He thought each one was a big orange ball ready to be thrown. 

Sawyer tried picking up pumpkins twice his size.

"You bested me this time, pumpkin.  But I'll be back next year...bigger, stronger, and ready to take you down..."

My princess stuck to pumpkins a bit smaller in size.  She looked beautiful in her pumpkin pillowcase dress.  

Merrick was super interested in funny looking, green, deformed looking pumpkins this year.

I like to think it says something about his heart...how he loves even those amongst us that don't look the same as the rest.  Typical mom, right?  Reading into every detail and making it about how my child is amazing...

Squirmiest bunch of little pumpkins ever. 

My boys helped take the pumpkins to the car in the wagon.  We learned the hard way that throwing them towards the car isn't a great idea.

I love this picture. 

Now time to carve those suckers.  Pumpkin carving is a serious matter in the Esparza casa.  Each year, we have a bit of a competition to see who gets the most compliments on his/her pumpkin.  Marcos, of course, insists that the competition is only in my mind.  I know on the inside, though, he's counting compliments when the trick-o-treaters come by.

Marcos chose the Texas-themed pumpkin, of course. 

In years past, I've done a puking pumpkin or ninja pumpkin.  This year, I decided to take the high road.  

I also tried out the Martha Stewart luminary pumpkin that you see in the back.  Surprise, surprise, it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped.  By the time I finally got the Christmas lights pushed through, half of the strands decided to die out.

Matthew 5:14  I was inspired by Pumpkin Patch Parable night

COSTUMES!!!

Wonder Twins!  I searched and searched for a tutorial or pattern online but never found one.  I ended up making these from scratch.  I'll post a pattern/tutorial later on for those other MoMs who need one. 

In case you're confused as to who the Wonder Twins are, they are cartoon characters from the 70's.

My beautiful girl.

I love this pic.  She looks like she's strutting her stuff.

Merrick showing off his guns

One of the grandpa's dressed up like Mickey.  I love it when folks make this day special for the kiddos.

One neighbor left out an entire bowl full of candy...just for us!

The loot!  

We are truly in the magical years with our children.  I am so thankful for this time.  Happy Halloween!  

My Halloween House - Part 1

I have been having such a blast this month preparing for Halloween.  Some of you (perhaps two of my three readers) may recall my Homemade Halloween Hope List over here.  I thought I'd give you a little update on how I've been doing...

Very simple painted white letters.

A spider pillow cover I made with some left over Halloween fabric.

Merrick acting terrified for the camera.

My homemade decals...which didn't turn out so well.

A yummy non-decor project: Mummy Pretzel sticks!  Find the recipe here.  I changed the chocolate to white almond bark and the eyes to red hots.

Martha Stewart Hang-Ups.  Find the how-to here.  I was going to make several of these, but they take too stinkin' long!

 A pic of the hang-up as my Halloween "wreath."

My disappointing banner!  I made it too long for the hearth!  An update on this is forthcoming as I can not stand leave it as is!

And, finally, I made my Lil' Pumpkin a little pumpkin pillowcase dress.

Happy Almost-Halloween!!!

The UN-Pillowcase Dress

I am very excited about my first attempt at a pillowcase dress.  I didn't use an actual pillowcase as per tradition, so I'm calling this my UNpillowcase dress.  I love the fact that I didn't have to use a pattern to make this dress.  I was able to use leftover fabric and ribbon from my stash AND it only took about 2 hours to make.  It's the perfect kind of dress to make for the poor, ADD inflicted, crafty mama.

I will definitely be making lots of dresses just like this for my Princess in the future.  I have seen many variations of this on different blogs and look forward to spicing it up next time with some ruffles or something. 

I know I'm her mama, but is she not the most precious thing you've ever seen?

Handmade Halloween Hope List

It's been a rough day.  I've got three sick kiddos, had to fill another $70 perscription (bye-bye fabric money), and have pancake flavored puke in my car.  My heart hurts for my children.  My nose and wallet are hurting pretty badly too.

However, I just got two outta three medicated munchkins down for the count, so I have a few moments to focus on something encouraging: my Handmade Halloween Hope List.  These are the things I hope to be able to make in the next week or two in order to have the most awesome Halloween decor ever.

One or two weeks, you say?!?  I know, I know...that's why it's called a "hope" list...not a "to do" list.

Normally, I would scour the internet looking for all sorts of  spooky decor ideas.  This year, however, Pottery Barn Kids did all the work for me.  They have such great ideas in their Autumn 2010 catalogue that I don't have to look any further (which is good, because I can use that extra time to de-odorize the car).  So, without further ado...here are a few pics of the things I hope to make while quarentined with sick babies:

I love the banner, the "Boo" letters, and black crows here.

It may be difficult to see, but I'm totally digging the painted white pumpkins with the black stars and spider.

Pumpkin laterns!  I think I might make a spider version of this.  Or, I might just buy these.  :)

Painted signs.  Sweet.  I love the idea of personalizing these to scare the snot out of my neighbors' kids.

What's up, cool cat?

Like the idea of making this then switching out the basket liner during Christmas.

Not sure if I'll have the time to make these.  But, if not, they're only $16 at PB!

That's it.  Now share your favorite handmade Halloween/Autumn decor ideas...

{images via Pottery Barn Kids}

Free Typography Art

I have been so into typography art lately.  I like how simple it is.  I like how many different ways one letter can look and how different fonts (or even sizes) can dramatically change the mood of the word.


Lots of folks are putting positive messages into their typography art.  It's amazing how uplifting a sentence in a frame can be.  Inspired by a few of the posters I've seen around Etsy, I decided to make a few and decorate different parts of my house with scriptures from the Bible.


Especially for the children, I thought this would be a helpful way to remind them of the few short scriptures that I try day and night to drive into their little brains.  It cannot hurt to have scriptures like "Love is kind," (aka. don't poke your sister in the head with that fork) framed above their beds.  I'm definitely, definitely going to make a super large print of "Honor your father and mother" in bold letters and loud colors with a little wooden spoon at the bottom just to drive the point home.


Any way, I just whipped up a quick little poster and thought I'd share it.  Feel free to print it out for yourselves (for personal use only, obviously).  Let me know if you need a larger file.  And, there will hopefully be more on the way.

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deut. 6:6-9