Our {not-so scary} Halloween Mantle

BOO! Did I scare you? No? Hmmm...Then our mantle won't either. I wanted people to know that Halloween had certainly arrived in our house, but not at the expense of frightening the bejezus out of a toddler! Now, before we get to the pictures, let me warn you that there is one scary element to this post which is my photography skills. I hope you don't have nightmares but if you do feel free to call me, I will sit up with you!

Here she is in all her glory. I tried and tried to get rid of that glare and it just wasn't happening! I used the tutorial from Crafts and Sutch for the spider web and the spiders are cut out of black cardstock. The sign is from the dollar store, I cut off the string that was on it and used ribbon instead. My "Spooky" banner is treat bags from Wal-Mart, and green scrapbook paper. I'm kinda ghetto and don't have a printer right now, so I traced the letters right off the computer screen and traced them backwards onto the scrapbook paper and cut them out. Then I just punched holes in the corners and tied it all together with ribbon. And stuck it up, quite literally...yeah... so... I seriously just taped it up there ;) You can't tell though right? Ok, nevermind, I don't want to know.

I call this "Ode to Dollar Tree"

The skeleton in the jar was whole at one time, but I took out some aggresion on him, he said it was ok. I threw in the spanish moss to keep him warm at night. The candles just have scrapbook paper wrapped around them and they are sitting on top of upside down martini glasses.

The blocks are from last year, but you know the drill... cardstock, modge podge, yada, yada, yada. Daddy, Mommy, and Baby mummy are candle holders wrapped in gauze. The candle holders came in a pack of 3 for $1, and the gauze was $1. I glued beady eyes on and pulled some of the gauze over to make them look a little more "mummy-ish"

These happy pumpkins are perched on candle sticks, they light up but there was already enough glare going on in these pictures I figured I should quit while I was ahead. The witch is one of those sun catcher things that I painted when I was in junior high, I tied her to an empty frame and stuck her on top of some books for height.

This sweet little spider is a pom-pom made from leftover yarn I used for the spider web and pipe cleaners, but don't tell her that, she thinks she's a diva! I curled some orange ribbon for her to rest on and stuck her in a martini glass. (I don't know why I have these martini glasses, but I found a box of them when I was cleaning my craft room! Who knows what I was thinking when I bought them ;)

What do you think? Want to see more? Well...okay, since you asked so nicely.

This is the shelf above our tv. Nothing really to explain here, just cuteness!

The candle holder is a glass vase glued onto a candle stick from the dollar store. I added some faux leaves to the bottom and tied a scrap of fabric around it.

Finally the coffee table and end table. Don't you love my orange silk scarf? It was my grandma's and I just can't bear to keep it in the closet, so she moves around alot!

That's about it, Happy Tuesday!

Taylor Funnies

Here are a few conversations Taylor and I have had over the past few days. It's hard to believe that little lady is only two and half sometimes! She's too smart for her own good!

Me: "Taylor, what do you want to be for Halloween?"
T: "I don't know mom."
Me: "How about a princess?"
T: "No, I want to be a black man."
Me: "Batman??"
T: "No Mom, a black man!"
Me: "Ooookaaaayyy?!?!"
(After a few minutes of hysterical laughter, I had a plan :)
Me: "How about a black cat?"
T: "Well....okay....I guess."
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Taylor: "I want some chocolate milk, please."
Me: "We don't have chocolate, Daddy is bringing some home after work."
Taylor: "Can I have pink chocolate?" (strawberry)
Me: "Yes you can."
T: "I want to put the lid on my cup."
Me: "Ok."
(I made her milk, handed her the lid and held her cup down for her.)
Taylor: "Is that pink chocolate milk?"
Me: "Yes."
Taylor: "Oh, isn't that just too precious?"
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Taylor: "Kitty cat, do you have a boo-boo?"
Cat: "Meow"
T: "What happened to your foot, kitty cat?"
Cat: silence
T: "Were you being ugly?"
Cat: more silence
T: "Oh well, your fine. Walk it off kitty cat, your tough."
(She patted him on the back and ran off on her way!)

Oh boy, she is such a nut!

In other Taylor news:

We have been having "Taylor School" the past few weeks. She is really enjoying it and it is great quality time for us to have when Jaxon is napping. We focus on one letter, color, and number each week. I will do a more detailed post about this later, but basically we practice the sounds of the "weekly letter" and words that start with that letter. She practices writing the letter and number. We also do crafts each day, which would work out alot better if the girl wasn't so darn independant! But she has so much fun, and announces to everyone we see what letter she is learning and what sound it makes! And when her Dad gets home from work she always drags him to her latest project and says "Look Dad, look what I made!"

Taylor already knows her ABC's and recognizes the letters. She can count to twenty, and knows her colors. So most of these activities and lessons focus on writing and recognizing that letters make words. As far as colors go, we focus on which ones are primary and secondary. And which colors mix to make other colors. We are having lots of fun, I will try to get some pictures and keep you all updated on our progress!

Lovin' my little big girl,