VACATION,PACKING, CRAFTING...OH MY!

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a few days. It has been very busy around here as we get ready for our trip to Disney. I spent several hours in the ER on Sunday with my daughter. No "real" emergency. We thought maybe she had bed bug bites, which thank goodness they ARE NOT! Then it would have been a real emergency. She just is covered with insect bites. She must be really sweet because those bugs really loved on her. Speaking of my beautiful daughter, look what she made me at her friends bday party. She put every favorite color of the family on it. I have been drinking my morning cuppa Joe out of it. I just love it. I have a truly beautiful, giving family. I was blessed twice this week with gifts. My husband surprised me with an early anniversary/Christmas gift...a NEW LAPTOP. How wonderful is he?! The even more surprising thing is that we "don't do gifts" for each other. He is really the best!

So what have I been up to all weekend besides packing? Well, I'm making halloween costumes for one. And look what else...

These cute tshirts are for my kids and niece and nephews for Halloween. I got the idea out of the Family Fun Magazine









These were really fun to make. I wish I had done one for myself. I still may do that.

The next project I have been working on is for my son's class Halloween party. I am the room parent. So I am in charge of planning the party. I love doing this. However, I have had to plan early because we will be gone until just before Halloween. I am going to tell a somewhat spooky story that was told to me in Elementary school. I looked forward to it each year. I have changed it a bit to make it my own. But I need a prop for it. The next picture is not for the meek...I don't think it is bad but some may be grossed out. Especially if you don't like feet.

What is it you ask? Well, it's a HAIRY TOE obviously. The title of my story is called "Who's Got My Hairy Toe"
I LOVE THIS STORY. So fun! I told it to my daughter's class last year and they liked it. I had to make a new toe though because some people said my "old toe" resembled something else...that is not appropriate to write on this blog...you get the picture...well, I hope not mentally...ok....moving on.

The last thing I wanted to show you is from a challenge issued by Splitcoaststampers. This is a fabulous website with tons of inspiration. The challenge was to make a pizza box. I will be making these for all the teachers who didn't get my previous halloween treat. My kids wanted to make sure everyone of their teachers got a treat. I couldn't afford to do like 7 more of the spider vases. So they will get these cute boxes...not anytime soon mind you. Hello, I'm leaving in 2 days and my calendar is full of volunteer type things....ranting and raving done now. So here is the box. I have an idea of what I'd like to put in it but that requires some time too. This was my idea for a Halloween treats class that just "ain't" gonna happen. Bummer. But now for your viewing pleasure.....


You can go here to download the template and directions for the actual pizza box. I used the following stamp sets:Tasty Sweet, Halloween Frights (holiday mini in the top right of my blog) Paper: Basic Black, Ghostly Greetings designer paper, old olive and gray textured by DCWV.

Here is what I did. I made the actual box out of the black cardstock and used a sticky strip for ultra hold at the edges. I then scalloped edge punched the gray band that went around the edge. I cut a very slim strip of the reverse side of DP from the top portion and stamped the YUM YUM in black. The top DP has faux stitching around the edges. The little centerpiece is a piece of chipboard from the SU seasonal collection. I painted it white first. I find this allows my ink to show up better...but honestly I had other plans for it so it just happened to be white already. I then covered with pumpkin pie craft ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder. A small square of Old Olive lines the inside and then the cat is stamped in black craft and embossed with iridescent ice EP. I punched out a small orange circle from scrap and used dimensionals to pop the cat up on top. This really was pretty quick to put together. Give it a try. I guarantee it will make someone smile...even if it is empty:) Hope you all have a great one. I hope to post one more time before I leave for DISNEYWORLD...WHOOHOO
NIKKI I accidentally erased my signature:(