No Carve Lace Pumpkin

Pin rating: 4.5
Original Pin: www.pinterest.com/pin/241998179948381288/

Another Halloween related blogpost today!  I love love love Halloween.  Or maybe I just love the holidays.  I believe October kicks off the holiday season right?  Today's post is similar to last year's no carve pumpkin decorating I did.  Don't remember it?  Click the link to check out my Bedazzled pumpkin post.  I picked this no carve pumpkin design for a few of reasons.

Spekuloos Spread Cupcakes

Pin Rating: 5
Original Pin Here but it doesn't link to the original baker/blogger so if you want to check out the photos and step by step, go here: http://bakedbree.com/biscoff-cupcakes-with-biscoff-buttercream

I kid you not, I am eating one of these cupcakes as I write this blogpost.  They are delicious.  If you're a fan of Biscoff spread or cookies, then you'll be a fan of Spekuloos Spread.  My friend recently went to NY and brought me back some Wafels and Dinges Spekuloos spread.  Normally you would have some of the spread on top of waffles but I decided to look for a recipe to make them into cupcakes!  I ended up making them for my brother for his birthday rather quickly so I didn't stop to do step by step photos.  

However, I believe Bree did a fantastic job of the step by step process and this was too good not to share.  This is the perfect fall cupcake to have at your Halloween parties so be sure to check it out! Don't have Spekuloo? Use biscoff spread like they did in the original recipe. Also try checking at Trader Joes in your area if you have one. 

*Edit* Adding the recipe below for conveinence.

My Trip to JoAnn and What Should Be My Next Project?

My trip to JoAnn last week was a short but exciting one. If any of you follow me on Instagram you may have noticed I posted the add for 50% off Fiskars products during the Joann Labor Day sale and saying I was going to get it. Well, I did! I had to leave for a camping trip that afternoon so I made sure to go to JoAnn in the morning.

As soon as I stepped through the doors I couldn't help but notice the new spot for the licensed fabrics. Up front and plainly in sight. It definitely got my attention! I strolled through the aisle and was pretty giddy about what I saw so I snapped some photos because I really wanted to share with everyone the new selection of fabric that they had. I'm sure some of you may have already seen it since I'm not sure when the last time I was in JoAnn's was but I'm sure you can be excited about it again with me. :)

Haunted Mansion Photo shoot @ Disneyland

I'm interrupting the usual Pinspirational blog post with a special announcement today.  Do you remember when I blogged about my Double Rope Braid Bun for my photo shoot with White Rabbit Photo Boutique?  Well, the photos from the photo shoot are up today and I love them all!!  Check them out!

http://whiterabbitphotoboutique.com/blog/2012/11/when-hinges-creak-in-doorless-chambers/

Photo Credit: White Rabbit Photo Boutique

Happy Halloween from Vanellope von Schweets!!

Happy Halloween Everyone!!

Vanellope Von Schweetz Costume: Part 3

 

Happy Halloween everyone!!  Here's the final piece of my costume that I actually did myself.  (Other pieces are a brown skirt and green and white stockings I had/bought as is) For Part 1 & 2 of my costume blog post check them out here:

Vanellope Von Schweetz Costume Part 1
Vanellope Von Schweetz Costume Part 2

My $7 find at Good Will.  $7 is actually a bit pricey for a frugal unemployed person like me, but I figured it's not going to be just a costume.  It's going to be an investment for winter so it's not bad.  Love love love the color.  I was so excited when I saw this on the rack at Good Will.

It took me 2 evenings to pull the stitching off the GAP letters but it was well worth it!  After a good wash the sweater is good to go.

Pulled out some ribbon that I had and sewed it on and all done!

Final costume picture of everything to come shortly!  Putting everything on right now to get ready for the trick or treaters to come by tonight.

~~~

UPDATE: I used a seam ripper to pull the stitching off of the GAP letters.  Just flip the sweater inside out and start "ripping" the threads.  The front lettering will come loose as you rip more stitches off.  Alternate between ripping the stitches on the inside and the outside but be careful not to rip the actual sweater.  Hope that helps.

Vanellope Von Schweetz Costume: Part 2

Candy Hair Clips

Here's the pin that was pinned on the Vanelope von Schweetz board: http://pinterest.com/pin/147422587773391960/

This blog post is my own little tutorial on how to make a candy hair pins with actual candy pieces.  I know these items will not have a long life of use beyond this Halloween and the movie night, but I really wanted to use real candy pieces to give my Halloween costume that nice little extra wow factor. 

• Felt
• Bobby pins
• Candy! I used Smarties, Skittles, Spearmint Candy
• Sealer (I used Martha Stewart Decoupage Glue & Sealer with Brush - bought it with a 50% off coupon at Michael's :D)
• Hot Glue gun

Vanellope von Schweetz Costume: Part 1

Photo Credit: Disney's Wreck-it-Ralph

So I'm pretty excited for Disney's Wreck-it-Ralph coming to theaters November 2.  A Disney movie about video games?  Yes please.  :)  So after watching a few trailers I decided that for my actual Halloween costume I'm going to be Venelope Von Schweetz!  I'm also planning to reuse the costume for opening night at the movies.

While looking around I actually discovered that someone has made a Pintrest board for this costume!  http://pinterest.com/brermatt/vanellope-von-schweetz-costume-wreck-it-ralph/  Great ideas on the board, but just looking around online for a sweater everything seemed to be out of my price range so I decided to rely on my good ol neighborhood Goodwill.  I also put my own little personal touches on the costume.  The next couple of post will be dedicated to how I put together my halloween costume.  Almost must apologize since the camera ran out of battery and I took most of these photos with my phone.  Hope you enjoy the read regardless.

Candy Cane Nails using The Beauty Department's Tape Trick 

Pin Rating: 3

Duration: 30-40 min

• Painters tape
• Wet n Wild White nail polish (.97 cents)
• Wet n Wild Clear Coat (.97 cents)

Remember my red nails from last week?  I decided to repurpose them into candy cane nails to go with my costume.  So I believe this is my first 3 pin rating.  I'm not sure if it was the nail polish, the tape or just my nail polishing skills, but the final results came out a little runny and the lines weren't clean.  It's possible that it could have been a little bit of everything but I'm satisfied with the overall results for my Halloween costume.

I cut up tiny strips of painters tape and lined them up where I wanted them on my nails.

Paint the nail with the white nail polish.  Wait about a minute and peel off the tape.

And after that touch up and top coat and you're done!

Click below for Part 2 & 3 of my costume.

Vanellope Von Schweetz Costume Part 2

Vanellope Von Schweetz Costume Part 3

Bedazzled Pumpkin!

There's only 5 more days until Halloween!  Today's Fast & Simple Friday post is a bedazzled pumpkin.  I got pinspired by this pin here.  There were plenty of other ways to bedazzle and dress up the pumpkin but this one seemed the easiest.  The original pin used a crystal gemstone sticker design which would have been way faster than my method: Glitter glue!  I had some glitter glue laying around after my DIY Spider Web blog so decided to put it to good use.  The pumpkin is still drying so I don't have a final product photo yet.

Pin Rating: Seeing as how this isn't an original project on pintrest, you be the judge :)

• Pumpkin
• Glitter glue (Crayola Glittler glue highly recommended)

The pumpkin my sister brought home from Safeway.  It has a nice layer of dirt on it that needs to be washed off.

Shower time for the pumpkin.  Nice and clean after a good scrub.  Then I let it sit outside to dry for a bit.

DIY Autumn Holiday Wreath for $3

 

http://pinterest.com/pin/231724343298389048/

Pin rating: 5
Duration: 15-20 min
Cost: $3.00

Granted the pinspiration and final product don't look exactly alike, but sometimes you're inspired to do something of a similar sort and not to make an exact replica of what you see.  And the results still look great!  After seeing the holiday decorations on the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland (and not to mention my sister repeatedly asking for a holiday wreath for our door) I knew I could use it for inspiration for a wreath for our home.  I really  loved the bow on the Haunted Mansion decoration and was aiming to make something similar.  Since I'm on an unemployed budget I knew the dollar store was where I would have to go to find my inspiration.  When I walked into the dollar store I was looking for any sort of material that I can make a holiday wreath and I actually saw them well stocked with Halloween, Thanksgiving & Christmas decorations!  I decided to go with an autumn theme instead of a Halloween and/or Thanksgiving wreath.  This way we can keep the wreath up for October & November.  :D

• Grapevine wreath
• "String" of fall colored leaves
• 1 roll Wired ribbon - the wired is a must in my opinion ($ store had 1 roll of 9ft wired ribbon.  I bought 2 just in case but I could have done fine with just 1)
• Hot glue gun & glue sticks

Loop the string of leaves around and through the grapevine circle.  Make sure you wrap it tight so that the leaves don't sag.

Double Rope Braid Bun

 http://pinterest.com/pin/231724343298182755/

Photo credit: The Beauty Department

Pin Rating: 4.5

Duration: ~15-20 min 

Sorry I've been MIA for a week now but I've had quite an exciting weekend.  I've been busy working away on some Halloween Costume for Mickey's Halloween Party at Disneyland.  In August one of the blogs I follow (Budget Fairy Tale) had a blogiversary giveaway and I was lucky enough to win the free photo shoot with Jenna at White Rabbit Photo Boutique!!!  So I decided it would be a great idea to have the photo shoot in costume at Disneyland!  A couple of friends and my boyfriend and I attended the photo shoot as Haunted Mansion Ballroom dancers.  This hairstyle that I found on Pintrest was the perfect solution to a quick and elegant up-do that the girls can do for the photo shoot.

The pintrest photo does a great job of breaking down the instructions.  I don't have any pictures of the step by steps I did, but I have to admit, it's a little hard to do this one by yourself so I gave it a 4.5 rating.  Also if you have layered hair (which I do) it gets a little bit harder to manage as well.  Luckily I had my friend there to help me so we did each other's hair for the night.

What you'll need:

• Hairspray
• 2 thin hair ties
• 2 small elastic hair ties - black or clear depending on hair color ( I like using Goody's ouchless elastic bands) Note: These small ones should be as big as the width of your fingers.  It will make it easier to tie the ends of your hair.
• Standard sized Bobby pins (if you happen to have larger bobby pins like I was lucky enough to, use them!  They help out a lot)
• Brush

DIY Halloween Spiderweb with Glue

http://pinterest.com/pin/231724343297799520/

Pin Rating: 4

Duration: ~45 min (varies depending on drying time)

I think I've had this pin since the beginning of Pintrest and now it's finally time to give it a shot.  So this pin calls for some Elmer's glue, wax paper and glitter.  I took all kind of short cuts on this one and just gathered the items I already had around the house.  (Also, I apologize for the poor pictures since I did this project at night and there wasn't any good lighting.) 

• Glitter glue (purchased a 3 pack previous from the Dollar Tree)
• Parchment paper  - (Thanks to my sister who bakes a lot - www.bakedbyjen.com)  I used parchment paper instead of wax paper not sure if it would make a difference.  So let's find out!