Homemade Halloween.....

Just wanted 

to wish 

everyone 

a 

Happy Halloween!

Just had to post this picture

of my sister and I

from a few years ago...

(insert sarcastic laugh here)

Do you have any costumes from Halloween you just

absolutely remember the most?

These are two of ours...

My category was pretty much always

Witch or Gypsy

my sisters

were

Clown or Princess

 (See me in the background...same costume but with my moms wig!)

We never had store bought costumes...

we always used stuff we had 

and 

made it more elaborate...

Mom always did our hair and makeup for us.

My son has had mostly store bought costumes

because thrifty mommy always goes and gets one when they 

are 75 percent off!

Plus what kid doesn't want to wear an astronaut suit 

occasionally during the year?

Boys I am finding like to dress up just like

girls...

Maybe next year we will go for a full on homemade costume?!

Wishing everyone

a 

Happy Halloween!

Stay safe and warm!

 

 

Weathering the Storm.....

We survived Hurricane Sandy...

just a lot of muck to clean up at this point.

Usually after a Hurricane it is warm...

of course this crazy storm turned into a

Nor'Easter for Halloween instead.

Hope my fellow East coasters did o.k. too.

I was sitting yesterday watching

my little guy play ..

(school was cancelled)

 Hard to believe this was four years ago....

Here he is today

on a hayride with his grandpa...

I never imagined during these years

all the things I would learn from him about myself.

Hope you are having a great week so far.

I'll be sharing a few items I managed to find

when I went out thrifting the day before the storm

tomorrow.

Until then - 

stay warm wherever you are!

Friday Funny...on Saturday!

Howdy everyone!

I spent a good part of yesterday and will be today

prepping for a good ol' fashioned

East Coast Nor'Easter...
(update that - now they are calling it a Frankenstorm!)
the power of a Hurricane with effects like a Nor'Easter and snow on one side!

so

I saved the Friday Funny for

today..

gosh knows we need something to lighten the mood!

A bit of Mommy Humor....

 

Hope you have a good weekend

and 

keep the East Coast in your Prayers!

Fall in Love with Buttons - my swap....

Today I'm sharing

the tin that I made for my

swap partner DeeDee...

 I basically used Mod Podge for everything...

I tried to get some Fall like colors with the oranges, brown and green.

 I decided to distress the bottom to give it some age...

this was a 3 part process...

 I lined the inside with

this alphabet fabric from

The French General

and

filled it with as many buttons as I could fit!

 I decided to throw in some extras because I know

only other crafters can really appreciate these types of things..

A spool decoupaged, some brass charms and a ribbon necklace,

and I made the ring with the vintage red-glass button in the center.

I also gave her a few other Fall/Winter themed goodies...

and packed them all up

like so

I had so much fun wrapping it all

and trying to make it feel special for her.

I was glad to know that she received

it after going through a rough week

and it was a bit of a bright spot for her.

Now that the fall swap is over...

onwards towards the Christmas Swap!

Peek in at

Button Floozies 

to get info on the new swap and to see some of the other

tins that were created!

 

Happy Thursday Ya'll!

Fall In Love with Button Swap!

I participated for the

2nd year 

in the

Fall In Love With Buttons Swap

at

Button Floozies 

Today I'm going to show you
 the lovely little tin
 I received from

 Dee Dee

 Isn't it just adorable?
These tins are so wonderful for storage of all types!
The buttons are just such a  fun bunch of
treasures to sift through...

These were my favorites...
The light does not do the colors justice!
The big one is a bronze sort of color with a greenish patina...
I'm thinking of using it in a necklace because it
just has that lovely time-worn look.
The green one looks like Bakelite?
and the blue one with the starburst is pearly.

I love doing these swaps.
I'll share the one I sent to Dee Dee next.

Thanks again to my partner for such a 
wonderful swap!

Head on over to Button Floozies
to see some of the other swaps!

Happy Tuesday all!

Thriftshare Moday - Halloween style!

Happy Thriftshare everyone!

I have been trying to save some money for a 

trip we are going on.

Sadly

(for me)

that has also involved trying to not shop!

I decided to take some ideas I had seen on Pinterest

and then use things I already have in order to decorate a bit for Halloween this year.

The  focus of the decor

are these thrifted vintage paper Halloween cutouts.

I got them 2 years ago at our neighborhood yardsale.

They were marked .10 cents each!

I could NOT believe it!

The family hosting it was raising money for

cancer research so I gave them $2.00 instead.

 They have a little bit of tape still on them

and a few creases but are in pretty good shape.

I remember having this set when I was a kid.

I even think we had a black cat too.

We made the spiders from pipe cleaners and I just wrapped our candles in ribbon

I already had.

I didn't want to put anymore tape on them to hang them

and actually like the mantel display much better!

 The jar on the end has our black Beta fish in it!

 We made the wreath with a section

of a swimming pool noodle

(that idea I saw on Pinterest)

we taped it and wrapped it in ribbon and then I pinned on 

the leaves.

I got them at our dollar store last year.

The witch still had a little twist tie on her hat so I attached her to the door

with that over the wreath.

So total cost for Halloween decorations this year was $0...

I put to good use the items I have collected

and some things I never would have thought of.

It is so tempting to go out and buy

all the cool,shiny, new sparkly stuff in the stores.

After we did this I was so glad I didn't do that!

Yardsales are some of the best ways to find vintage items

in my opinion.

As they say

"One mans trash is another mans treasure!"

This was definitely one of those times for me when I found these cutouts!

head on over to

Apronthriftgirl

and see what everyone else found!

Happy Monday!

Thriftshare!

Happy Thriftshare everyone!

I found these little cupcake toppers a few weeks back

and have been saving them to show once it was October.

You know we all feel like the Holidays are rushed upon us in the stores?!

I had to buy them because 

my mom used a set just like this when I was a kid.

I only paid $1.00 

for all of them.

I thought that the little Keeper and I will use them for our

Halloween gathering before Tricks or treats!

I have been trying to stay out of the stores because

we are going to Chicago next month

and I want the extra money to spend there!

Little keeper is doing better finally!

Now I am just keeping my fingers crossed I don't end up with what he had!

 In the next few days I will share our bit of decorating we did to our mantel

with some thrifted finds from years past... 

Head on over to

Apron Thrift Girl

to see what other goodies were found this weekend!

 

Friday Funny....

Time for some much needed

Friday Funny

'been nursing a sick Little Keeper ALL week....

 Via

Hope You all have a great Friday!

I'll be back on track in a day or so

after the little guy feels himself again!

Is it really true?

It is a bit dreary outside today...

and 

I think

Indian Summer here is over now.

It really feels like Fall today...

Finally feeling like pulling out the Halloween

and

 letting the Little Keeper help me do some decorating.

The Witch above 

is a piece of plasterware

I found in a Goodwill in West Virginia 

while we were visiting a few years ago.

I got it for .25 cents and it has become one of my favorites

to display for Halloween on our mantel.

So

 we are going to fire up the coffee pot ,

 get out the craft paper and glue ,

and just have fun today!

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!