2 Clever Blog

Halloween Photos

 Dear Think::

Happy Halloween!  I hope you have a fun day with E dressing up and passing out yummy treats.  You always have made Halloween so much fun.  I have always admired you for dressing up - something I just can't seem to do.

I thought I would pass on 3 photos we take every year to remember Halloween.

We take one with each of the girls with their candy. 
(Pippi Longstocking and her stash in 2006)

And one with the year marked with their candy.

and a Sister Power photo.  (remember the "wonder twin powers activate" - it is kind of like that)  

If you have any other great photo ideas I should remember for today, let me know.

Have a great Halloween!

Oh ya and a photo of me!

Pink::

Clever voting

Think::
Here is my clever voting tip for the year....

join the military and vote from home.
no lines
Woo Hoo!

Pink::

The lip gloss box was one of my Chicago purchases at Colorlab.  They sold lip conditioner (the best I have ever found) in two colors red or blue (why the photo is in b&w).  The other side of the box says the name of the candidate of who I voted for.  So the customers bought the lip conditioner of who they voted for.  So the only person that knows who I voted for is the gal from the makeup counter. 

My favorite use for Pumpkin Pie filling

Dear Think::
Caution when making this awesome fall recipe do NOT, I repeat do NOT put a wire wisk in the bowl with a moving mixer
Enjoy.  Let me know if you make them and how they turn out.
Happy Baking  :: Pink

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

3 cups of sugar

1 cup of salad oil

4 eggs, beaten

1 (16oz) can of pumpkin

3 ½ cup of flour

2 tsp. Baking soda

2 tsp. Salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp cloves

2/3 cup of water

1 cup of mini (trust me use the mini) chocolate chips.  Mix the Chocolate Chips with a Tablespoon of flour before adding to the batter.  This will keep the chips from sinking to the bottom of the bowl. (nifty trick huh?)

cream sugar and oil together. Add eggs and pumpkin; mix well. Sift together dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients alternately with water. Add Chocolate Chips. Pour into 2 well greased and floured loaf pans or in mini or large muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees. 1 ½ hour or so our until knife comes out clean for the bread and about 15 minutes for the muffins

If you do make loaves of bread mix cinnamon and sugar in the pan before you bake it and it makes a nice sugar coating for the outside of the bread.

Halloween Decor at your Fingertips

Please Pink::

Help. 

I can't seem to stop myself. 

I've gone crazy. 

I wander aimlessly around my house looking for places to use them. 

So glad it will be all over Friday. 

I'm referring to my Chalk Ink Markers. (I picked up a set or 4 at at Michaels) 

My initial reason for buying them was E and I felt 

that our new fish tank needed some Halloween decor 

so we used our white board markers to draw some things on the tank 

but they were hard to see. 

Too light. Too see-thru.

Enter Chalk Ink Markers

 

Now the fish have the holiday spirit right along with us. 

Then my front door need some help. 

So I added a "Boo" behind my bat wreath and some spider webs and such. 

But then it got out of control when I started in on 

my existing artwork and mirrors around my house. 

Ghosts and Bats started wandering into the landscapes. 

Spiders crawled across still lifes.

Moustaches miraculously appeared in mirrors. 

Loved ones suddenly became costumed super heroes. 

Others witches, pirates, black cats, angels or wedding day fairies. 

Saturday morning with a wipe of a slightly damp paper towel 

everything will be back to as before.

And I can sleep at night not dreaming of 

other places to leave a mark.

That is until Thanksgiving...:)

I love you Chalk Ink Markers ::Think

Text Message - Peanut Butter style

 

Dear Think::

Well, little CB turned 5 a few weeks ago.  I have never in my life seen someone so excited to turn 5.  This girl melts my heart these days.  You know, as I have told you many times,  that she has tried my patience more than any of my other kids.  Her energetic spirit is now becoming fun and enjoyable. 
I thought I would share with you one of our family traditions.  Peanut Butter messages are great for any holiday but especially fun on their birthday when they open the jar to smear peanut butter all over their chocolate chip pancakes (don't you love being friends with someone so healthy) and they open it to find their new number they get to claim all year!

Valentines is fun too!


Other fun birthday ideas we did that day....


The ride around the neighborhood with her birthday balloon tied to her bike and

of  course a crown!



Take Care
Pink::

My Goodwill Finds

How do you do it Pink? ::

So I ran to my Goodwill after I saw your Goodwill post but my trip was not a fruitful as yours. Never is. I don't think I'm as patient are you are. I don't want to dig through stuff. But here is what I did find:

Cute Target felt bags. Perfect for when E wanted to be a Bat this year so a picked up quite a few of them. But now she as moved on to something else. (of course) Still cute and at 25¢ each I couldn't make them myself any cheaper. Will find something to do with them I'm sure. 

   

Dwell Studio Crib Sheet.  I LOVE  Dwell Studio  and was thrilled when Target started to carry them. Even better to find this unused for $2.99! Whether I ever use it in a crib or not, cool fabric for 2.99 a yard is a steal and I can think of lots of projects to use this for.

 

Way cool hanging lanterns. Hold large pillar candles. Can hang or sit on table. $2.99 each. Perfect for next summer. 

But my favorite find this trip was this little guy: 

Isn't he cute? He was 79¢ and is about 6" tall out of cast iron. Has feet on the back of him so I think he was a trivet maybe? He has a rough part on his right eye like he was attached to something but broke. I think he is just darling perched over a door for halloween. But he might just get to stay out even after the holidays if he behaves himself.

Your Goodwill Understudy :: Think

Dear Think ::

Don't ask me how I got roped into being the room Mom again for the 5th year in a row.  Seriously next year I am coming up with a clever hat to wear to parent teacher night that is embroidered with bows that says "NO" across the front.
But such is life and I am.
I am in charge of doing little treat bags for the class. 
How do you come up with treat bags for 25 kids on the day of Halloween, knowing they will score the biggest treat bags of the year hours after school?
So, today I went to the local dentist office and asked if they wanted to donate 25 toothbrushes for the class with his business card taped to each one.  They were thrilled, but not half as thrilled as I was.
Halloween to do list:
make class treat bags - check!
make a witch costume
make a ladybug costume
make a ghost costume

One down only 3 more to go!

Have a great day!
Pink::

check this out: GOOP

Pink::

I signed up for an interesting newsletter. GOOP by Gweneth Paltrow. 

Could be kind of interesting. Here's a link. Let me know what you think...

Just a little morning web surf :: Think

 

After School Snack

Dear Pink ::

graham cracker :: ready made chocolate cookie frosting :: peachie-o's

Please tell me I am not alone in my love of Trolli Peachie-O's??? 

:: Think- lover of bad gummi candy

Wanna see some amazing cookies?

Pink::

Click here.

She made over 100 of them for 

the Mindy Gledhill NieNie Benefit Concert in AZ this weekend.

Seriously Wow :: Think

Two Weeks to Election Day - Need some Art?

Pink ::

Since you are in the D.C. area all things political probably just fall in your lap. But I wanted to show you this cool thing since Election Day is fast approaching. The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) encouraged their members to make posters to motivate people to vote in this election. There are over 266 posters that you can download and print out and spread around your neighborhood. I love that there is a poster for everyone's personal style. I'm going to frame a few to put out around my house every November. I just love fabulous art that is free!

Check them out here. 

 This is one of my favorites:

 

Vote safely  :: Think

Quick Boo Pillows

Pink ::

Made these last year. Found 2 black and white striped outdoor pillows on sale at Home Depot at the end of summer. Glued on sequin letters (from Hobby Lobby, I think) to spell BOO. Put them on my chairs in my front yard. They got tree gunk on them last year so I'm waiting for the holly berries to fall before I put them outside this year. Love the no sewing-ness of these since I don't have your skills.

:: Think

My Favorite Costumes: A Retropective

Morning Pink ::

I know that you dislike dressing up so I thought I'd show you some of my favorite past costumes to insprire you.

Award for The Easiest Costume: LIGHT BRITES

This one you might remember because I was visiting your house. Remember? I think you had just had your second so it might be a blur. We were traveling so this was very easy to do. Black clothes and a whole bunch of those circle office stickers. We were human Light Brites. My little E loved moving the stickers around and making shapes on herself. The only downside was I had to keep an eye on my husband since he keep rearranging the stickers on my back to say things like "kiss me." The upside was that all black is very slimming.

Easiest Honorable Mention: THE SHEETS

I don't have a photo of this one since it was so long ago. At least somedays college seems like forever ago and I didn't own a camera yet. My roomates and I needs some quick and cheap costumes that also fit into our "wannabe rebels" status. So we wrapped our sheets around us and each had a sign around our neck. One was "Holy Sheet", another "Pile of Sheet", "Oh Sheet", etc. You see where this is going. There were five of us. Went to a church party if you can believe that. Ah youth...

Highest "Awwwww" Factor: BIRD WATCHERS & BABY BIRD

One of my all time favorites. I have a picture of it up in my home all year. I sewed (I know! can your believe it??) about 6 pink feather boas on a pink hooded sweatshirt to make the bird part. Then I put green felt leaves on a pair of brown pants for the tree branch. Then I rigged up a grapevine wreath to hang around her middle for her nest. I had some yellow dish washing gloves to stuff and hang off the bottom of the sweatshirt for bird feet but they got in the way so I left them off last minute. Little Detail: Her treat bag was a broken egg shell. My husband and I were bird watchers with in khaki outfits with binoculars, bird books and geeky glasses. She was darn cute and wanted to wear it all the time. Downside: feathers everywhere!

Best Husband Award: CATERPILLAR, COCOON, & A BUTTERFLY

Last year E decided to be a butterfly so I had to work with that. I came up with a Butterfly Life Cycle. We handed out Pixie Sticks for our butterfly food. Here is my beautiful butterfly:

I was the "VERY Hungary Caterpillar on Saturday" with all my favorite treats glued on to my many legs which were gloves pinned in place. And no - I have not gained back that much weight. At least yet. This was a very sweaty costume for Texas. Would be great up north. Bags of quilt stuffing make great insulation.

Notice the pink Pop Rocks!

Now you know how patient my husband is with my crazy ideas and general nonsense. He took it too another level when he was willing to be the cocoon. He was stuffed with about 5 bags of stuffing and had a very long branch stuck on his back that made it impossible to sit or move around without poking people in the eye inadvertently. 

Behold... The Cocoon:

Best Husband Honorable Mention: Kittens

Year before last we were the 3 Kittens who had lost their mittens. A man in a cat suit. Enough said. I won't embarrass him further with a photo but here is how our car was decked out for handing out Kit Kats from a pet bowl. We had mittens on the ends of our tails. Notice the pie and the rat close by. 

Most Therapy Inducing: THE CLEANING CREW

E's first Halloween and what do we dress her up as? 

A pretty princess? No. 

A darling pumpkin? No. 

A cleaning product?  YES!

She was just learning to crawl around and it seemed that no matter how much I swept and washed my floors she was always dusty and finding little hidden treasures like dirty Cheerios. I joked that I didn't have to clean my wood floors because she was always doing it for me. Then it hit me...

She was a Swiffer Sheet!

So that's what she was. We dressed up in grubby clothes and wore dish gloves and carried brooms and mops. We filled a new rolling garbage can with quilts and put her on top and rolled her around. To make her onsie I put small smudges of glue and then took dyer lint and dabbed it on. (I figured that was pretty clean dirt, right?) Then glued on some cheerios and string where she couldn't reach it to pull it off. We thought is was pretty funny. She will seriously wonder what kind of parents we are at some future date I'm sure. 

Most Therapy Inducing Honorable Mention: MOVIE DRESS UP

This one wasn't technically for Halloween but for a church youth group activity for the Academy Awards where they had to dress up as a movie. My husband needed something quick to throw on that wouldn't embarrass him too much. So I made this for him. Sorry for the bad picture. I literally took it as he was running out the door.

Rear Window

Get it? Get it? 

Unfortunately most of the kids had not seen nor heard of the movie. Sigh. 

Thus ends the Retrospective

Can't wait to see what you and yours are up to this year. I've got my work cut out for me since E has decided what she wants to be and it is hard to work with. It may be a creatively quiet year...

Happy Costuming :: Think

Smell my feet

Think.
Here is a quick, cheap way to send Halloween cards where it does not matter if anyone smiles.
We sent these out this year to the young women in our church group. 
Here are my 5 easy steps to do this.

1. stand in a circle, have the tallest person or the one with the longest arms hold camera in center and take a bunch of photos.
2. my suggestion is to photoshop photo to black and white as to hide any gross feet things that may be present in the photo.  (the black and white hid my horrible not manicured toes)
3. email photo to Costco.com and pick one of their darling Halloween premade cards
4. done in 24 hours.  pay Costco only $14.99 for 50 photo cards and envelopes.
5. Send cards. easy

This can be done with a kids classroom, office staff, family, church group.  Any other ideas to make this oh so clever.

I also like this current $.42 postage stamp to use on the outside.  the colors speak Halloween to me.

Have a great day.
Pink

Dear Think.

So I made this obnoxious hat for AK's teacher last year and put it on her desk on Halloween day.
It was covered with little notes telling the teacher how much we love and appreciate her. 
Here was the note.

Thank you for all that you do

for our little Goblins!

Love the parents of your

wonderful,

exciting,

loving,

happy,

attentive,

cute

and oh so obedient

third grade class!

October Computer Wallpaper

Hey Pink::

Here is a file for wallpaper background for your computer for this month. It has an october calendar on it and everything. Let me know if it works for you.

(Anyone else who wants to download the file just click on the file below and then select it for your computer's background.  I'll try and post one for every month so be sure to come back at the beginning of each month and download it.)

Download oct_o8_wallpaper2.jpg

Enjoy :: Think

Good old Goodwill

Dear Think,
Since I used to love to always show you my deals and steals from thrift stores (my favorite place to shop) I am excited to be able to share with you what I found the other day.
This great Smith & Hawken wreath from Target for $2.99.  Did you know that Target donates many unsold and unused items to Goodwills.

Had to get this yellow dress for SJ - she is my yellow gal.  $3.98 - little pricey but could not pass up polka dots

CB will be getting this new gingham dress with cute fish applique.  $3.98


I was most excited about my new rug for $9.99 - brand new and the perfect thing to catch all my spills by the sink.

Seriously when is the last time you checked out your local thrift shop...

See ya.  Off to run my second Marathon.

Pink.

My Halloween Door

Dear Think,

I love this idea of sharing our Holiday Doors.  Yours is so you and mine is so me. 
I also bought a grapevine wreath at Michaels (no coupon of course - I can never keep track of them)
It was a round wreath and I mushed and smashed it into an oval.  I am such a craft rebel.
I then bought some berry wreath like thing they had tied it in the middle with brown ribbon.
I bought their $2.99 metal sign that said "Yikes" and tied that on with this cool pinkish (shocker) orange ribbon.
Can't wait to see what you come up with for Thanksgiving.

Happy Haunting
Pink

One of the Sounds of Autumn at My House

Pink:: Try this with your 3 

I give E one of my old cutting boards and a small size hammer and tell her to find out what is inside all the nuts and seed pods outside. Keeps her busy for hours! And I am always just as curious as she is to see what is in those strange brown and green shapes too! Only downside is the occasional finger injury from over-zealous pounding. I can only imagine what cool things you have back east with all the trees and green stuff in your neighborhood.

Hammering Away :: Think

Clever Crafters

Hey Think,

Next year you must fly out East the first weekend in October.  Today the family went to Waterford, Virginia and went to the most amazing festival I have been to.  I have heard rave reviews about it since we moved out here from Nashville, but had no idea they were all true.

I could go on and on about it but will show one of the many clever items of the day. 


A simple chalkboard advertising
Wizard Sticks
$13



Dogwood Branches
With glass marbles on top

They were selling like Crazy!! Every other kid had one.
They even cut them right there to size
We bought two and one magic wand (smaller marble on a hand held stick)

Oh and one more thing.  The tickets were on pink (yea) paper with colored string that you had to wear on your belt or button on your shirt.  clever, clever (and can you believe my nails -  20 months no biting)

So put it on your calendar and I will see you next year. Waterford Festival.

See ya
Pink

 

Simple Halloween Bat Wreath

Pink :: What's on your door these days?

Here is what's on mine. My bat wreath. Got a spastic wreath from Michael's {used my 40% off coupon, of course}. Spray painted it badly with some white spray paint. That's why I love Halloween crafts...the worse job you do making it the better/more spooky it turns out. When the paint dried I tied on black sheer ribbon in simple knots to be my bats. Here's detail of bats:

Less than 15 minutes total to make. I was going to add some other things like wood letter that said "boo" but you know me...I like simple. So I left just like this. I've had it for a couple of years. I intentionally store it out in the open in my garage so spiders will make their webs in it for an additional scariness. 

Feeling Batty :: Think

Pink: Sale Alert!!!

Hey Pink::

Check out the Olive Juice Sale. Not much left but they might have stuff in one of your 3 girls sizes. I love their stuff so much! Extra $5 Off Sale Items. Ends Tuesday. I ordered a few things. 

Cape Ann Skirt for next July 4th:

And the August Top for next summer:

Happy Shopping!

Think

Do you Remember This?

Dear Pink:: 

Remember this necklace you made me soon after we met? You had invited us over for a fabulous dinner. Linen napkins and everything. So yummy as I recall. After eating you were showing me your craft supply collection and I admired your selection of grommets in various colors. {A rare find in those olden days} As we were driving home, I said to my husband: "I think I have finally found some one who is as geeky as I am."  As in someone who gets so excited about silly little things like I do. Someone who gets a rush from a good idea. Someone who can dwell on the tiny details. The next time I saw you, you had made me this necklace with the 2 green grommets on it. I suddenly felt like Anne of Green Gables and I had found my "bosom friend." 

The best part is that while you are the same as me you are also very different. You have taught me so many things.To be aware of others in entirely new ways. To be more outgoing and make conversations with anyone, anywhere. To keep going and doing even when things are tough. To make crazy goals then actually do them. To appreciate my family. To really believe that I can do it all if I really want to. To be a real friend. 

If I had never met you I would not have known that my husband can sew Christmas stockings. Never found Mammoth Cave. We might not have ever filled out our adoption paperwork. Never had such sweet memories of the day we brought our daughter home. Never had my dream baby shower that I thought would never be. Never thought quilting was cool. Never bought my nice camera. Never realized that my spirituality and creativity were so linked.  Never watched a hippo play with a red ball. Or learned that I needed to be a better friend. Never learned that blogs were a great way to keep in touch...

And to quote Anne Shirley {with some alterations}: 

"You know something Diana {Pink}? We are rich. We have sixteen {thirty-seven, yikes!} years to our credit and we both have wonderful imaginations. We should be as happy as queens." 

And I am.

I'm so excited to have this new way to share our imaginations long distance. 

Here's to our creative conversation!

Love ya :: Think

Here we go!

Dear Think.

I can't believe it has been 8 years since I first met you in Nasvhille, Tennessee.   I will never forget meeting you for the first time and what a blessing it was.  Who knew that we had lived in dorms at the same college states away and 11 years earlier but never met.  We were meant to be friends, don't you think.  I look forward to sharing ideas, photos, steals and deals.

I have been walking down memory lane setting up this blog and thinking about what you have done for me.....

• You taught me to appreciate walking the isles at Target & finding a great deal at TJ Maxx.
• You taught me that Home Depot is really a craft store in disguise. 
• You gave me the best recipe for broiled potatoes. 
• You let my husband spend Christmas day with your family when we had to be apart. (he still talks about the syrup covered bacon) 
• You inspired me to finally stop biting my nails.
• You almost made me want to dress up for Halloween. 
• You gave me great mothering advice. 
• You gave me a new appreciation for Mary Jane's.
• You inspired me to sew even though you didn't sew.
• You found joy in office supplies just like me. 
• You lost weight and gave me all your cool fat clothes. 
• You made me wish I had a football team to root for and love as much as you.
• You were very gentle with me and didn't give up on me while I was growing up.

I can't wait to share my ideas with you even though we no longer live down the street.  I can't wait to share with you the Halloween costumes I am working on for the littles- you would be proud.

Love,
Pink