Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Have a safe and fun time out there!

Halloween "Hike"

I took these photos this morning during C's and my weekly "hike" at Descanso Gardens. It is such a beautiful, clear fall day - it would be perfect if it wasn't so dang hot. It's been in the 90s for the last week and it was getting rather toasty by the time my cousin "C" and I had finished our hike/walk at 11:30. They were filming something there today and using a smoke machine which was nasty-smelling, but the effect it had on the rays of sunlight coming through the trees was spectacular! Lyrics from "Stairway to Heaven" came to mind ("..Rings of smoke through the trees..."). The trees look so pretty as their leaves are changing to their fall colors. I love this time of year.

They had decorated one of the trails with homemade Halloween decorations that were really clever using rakes, brooms and pumpkins. Toward the end of our hike we came upon the set that they were filming with the smoke machine - it was marked "Hunting". We could see some of the actors taking a break - they were dressed as cavemen! It reminded us of those silly Geico commercials. We came upon the other set marked "Garden of Eden" but couldn't get close enough to see what they were doing. Living so close to "Hollyweird" (as we call it), we see film sets quite often.

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween!

Flashback Friday

I'm taking a cue from various bloggers and posting a Flashback Friday photo since I don't have anything on the crafting front to share with you right now. I'm still trying to get a good picture of my beaded heart charm bracelet, but I haven't had any luck with the lighting. It's so frustrating. So, today I'm posting a picture from long, long ago! This is me and my cousin at her house. My uncle made the swing - I love the bright yellow color he painted it. I'm the rather unhappy-looking kidlet on the left. I never liked having my picture taken and still don't - that's probably why I'm not smiling.

I hope everyone has a pleasant weekend. I sure hope the temperature will go down a bit for Halloween next Friday. I mean, it's going to be 90 degrees today. Enough with the heat already! Sheesh.

Halloween Decorations

Here are a few of the Halloween decorations that I have put out this year. The little "ghost" candy container (that's what I call it - I'm not really sure what it is!) was one I got at Michaels last year that was on clearance right before Halloween. I thought it could use a little sprucing up, so I covered it with glow-in-the-dark glitter. You can't really see it in the photo, but the glitter makes such a difference!

I found the spider with the party hat and treat bag at my local Hallmark Store. I just cracks me up, even though I hate spiders. I have lots more decorations, but these are just a few of my favorites.

Bats, Ghosts and Glitter, Oh My!

I love glitter. I love glitter despite the fact that I find it on myself and on the table days later, no matter how careful I am.

I bought this Debbie Mumm "BOO" sign at JoAnns on Friday. I thought it was really cute and it was even 40% off! I thought that it could use a little sprucing up though, so I got out my glitter, glue, and paint brush, and went to work. I absolutely love Barbara Trombley's Art Glitter - it is the most beautiful glitter, the colors are just gorgeous, and there are a lot to choose from. (Martha Stewart's Glitter is a pretty close second though and you can find it at Michaels.) For the letters in BOO I used Art Glitter #156 Chartreuse Ultrafine Opaque. For the purple background I used #203 Eggplant Ultrafine Transparent, which has little flecks of green in it. For the ghost I used Martha Stewart Crafts Crystal Fine Glitter. It's hard to get the full effect of the glitter due to the fact that the lighting isn't the best and I had to use the flash on my camera, but I think you get the idea. Just know that it is much "prettier" in person, which I think is usually the case (at least with my photos!).

I love the added sparkle. I had glittered a plain wood BOO sign last year that I bought at Michaels and really liked how it turned out, so I wanted to do some more this year. I will be getting my Halloween decorations out and putting them up this week and I will share some of my favorites with you later this week.

What fun Halloween crafting projects have you done or have planned?