Halloween Monkey Business

Monkey Book...Monkey Toy...Monkey Slippers...

Monkey Socks for Mommy...

Monkey Baby!

Happy Halloween 2008!

Wii and Weights

McDreamy has a special day on November the 2ND! He treated himself to the weights and I treated him to the Wii-it's what he asked for! I also have a special home made little something for him that I know he will enjoy. My plan is to have the supper at the restaurant so I can enjoy his day along with him instead of bustling about the kitchen barking orders.

I am still waiting for home-depot to call me to set up an appointment to order cabinets. I keep my cell phone close at all times so not to miss that call! I really am so excited to have a space to work. The studio is so close I can smell it! Right now the dining room has all the installation fabric and canvases, the kitchen has trial pieces for the installation covering the island, the living room has toggle bracelet supplies everywhere and the computer room has everything else!

My Sweet Little Pumpkin

The Sprout and I had a nice visit with Yoda today at his restaurant. We stopped at Walmart to make copies of the pictures above for The Sprout's girlfriends at the restaurant. They were all thrilled with individual photos and the Sprout handed them out with his usual charming smiles.

Yoda helped me decide to go with white cabinets for the studio. I'm a little tired of all the wood cabinetry from the house, clean, bright and white might be nice to cleanse the mind and will offer great light if I decide to do photos out there from time to time too.

Here is the studio just 2 weeks ago, now the walls are all smooth and even have a few coats of paint! It is really bright with hanging fluorescent lights from the ceiling. I really wanted an open beam ceiling, it is white too.

I'll have to drag Yoda down to home depot to help me pick out counters later this month. Concrete would be my 1st choice but I like granite too. We have granite in out kitchen and it is indestructible so far......even epoxy peels right off, heh, heh... don't tell McDreamy!.

McDreamy and I started a new project tonight, I just love his artsy side. It will be an installation piece for our dining room. We saw an inspiring work of art when we honeymooned in Carmel this summer at Anthropologie. Anthropologie is a very trendy clothing store with great art work. I was just reading the other day about how a fellow blogger tired to photograph in the store and was promptly told to put her camera away or else! Check out her blog about if you like http://inspireco.blogspot.com/

Anyway here is the big empty wall and here are a few hints of what we will create, I will keep you posted with our progress.

Pumpkin Lattes, Pumpkin Carving, Pumpkin Cookies & My Little Pumpkin

Here is my not so secret recipe for the yummy Pumpkin Latte.

Steam 3/4 of a cup of egg nog until piping hot, add 1/4 cup strong black coffee, a pinch of cinnamon and pumpkin spice and top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

These make a great special treat when the gals come over or a yummy dessert drink for adults.

Mc Dreamy had fun with the kids last night carving a pumpkin. McDreamy was quite grossed out over the insides and made funny faces that the Sprout thought were hilarious as he scooped out the seeds and goo. I guess pumpkins insides are yuckier than people insides for McDreamy!

After a trip to home depot to look at cupboards for the studio the Sprout and I needed something to do. With party planning all finished the Sprout and I decided to make pumpkin cookies today. I added a little orange colour to the cream cheese icing, delish!

Recipe:
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, 1 stick melted, 1/2 stick softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon plus 2 pinches salt
1 2/3 cups flour
4 ounces cream cheese, chilled
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.2. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the baking powder, the baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour.3. Using an ice cream scoop or tablespoon, drop 12 generous mounds of batter, spaced evenly, onto each baking sheet. Bake until springy to the touch, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.4. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, cream the softened butter with the cream cheese. Add the confectioners' sugar and the remaining 2 pinches salt and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; mix on low speed until blended, then beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.5. Spread the flat side of 12 cakes with the cream cheese frosting. Top each with another cake. I made 2 styles - for the pinwheels I piped the cookie mixture in a spiral and iced the same way. The sandwich's are good if you are really hungry but I found 2 cookies is a lot to eat. Have fun!

And here is my little pumpkin helper. This is not his Halloween costume, just a super cute outfit we picked up in Florida. He is so sweet and cuddly in it I found myself holding and snuggling him just a little extra today.

The Baby Boo Party was a Blast!

Wow! What a great day today was! Today the Sprout and I welcomed over 16 of our little ghoul buddies for fun and fashion..Halloween style!

We started with beverages...a big thanks to Yoda who let me borrow these snazzy thermoses from the restaurant....I had an eye of newt tea at 7pm at it was still piping hot hot hot! ( I made the tea at 10 am!)

(thanks for the coffee maker Tam! Mine is apparently to fancy for me to figure out under pressure!)and a photo shoot.... Here are a few of my favorites. Thanks to McDreamy who suggested I use my new (just about finished!!!!!) studio that just had the dry wall and paint finished, for the pictures, the light was fantastic!

These sisters above are too sweet to be scary! I am so glad I finally got to meet their Mom! JL and I will be blog friends till the end! She is crafty, sweet and has 2 gals that any parent would love to have. These two sweeties have great manners and I sure hope they like to swim because the Sprout was already asking if they can come back again to visit!

After pictures we played a great group game of "Who stole the pumpkin from the pumpkin patch..." (Definitely one of my favorite games.....you may know it as the clapping rhyme involving a cookie and a jar, I just switch up the words to match the season!)

Then it was time for Frog eye, Bat brain and Cat Tongue salad...mmmm!
We also were treated to Quasimodo's Quiche, candy corn jello, buggy cupcakes and fresh cinnamon buns!

With full bellies we needed to wear off some energy so it was Monster Mash Time!

There will be no photos of the dancing posted due to several not so quiet jokes about the very nice and talented hostess' dance skills. HHmph...!

Hello Handsome! With the dancing out of the way it was time for some serious crafting! We made Frankensteins and filled them with candy.
And also made spooky glow in the dark ghosties! The Sprout made his few days ago and just LOVES his new friend. The paint takes 24 hours to dry so first thing tomorrow afternoon I will pop them into the envelopes and send these ghosts flying back to their creators homes just in time for Halloween night! Won't everyone be surprised to find a few photos of our great party tucked inside too!
Wow! What a great party everyone! Thanks for coming! Hey..wait a minute....it's me The Sprout. I have something to say now.Mom.......you were so busy today having fun you FORGOT to put on MY costume! The pumpkin bib and shirt are cute and all but I wanted to wear my......hey, maybe I'll leave it as a surprise until Halloween day. Any ghoulish guesses?

Zombie Jar Swap- My Very 1st Swap!

I know you have all been waiting to see pictures from my very first Zombie Jar Swap. Oliver Rain spoiled me with the jar she sent me not to mention 2 beautifully spooky hand embroidered pieces of art. The jar she sent was called "True Love Never Dies" and includes a skeleton bride and groom with hand embroidered veil and top hat...very nice detail and perfect for this proud newly wed! The big shiny bling on the outside makes me smile and I know I will proudly display this jar each Halloween season! Perfect Jar for this Sassy!

Here is my jar that I sent to Oliver Rain..."Blog Boo's" is a short history of her blogs from 2007-2008 that dangle spookily inside the jar on silver chain. I had a great time cascading the skulls, pearls and crystals down the outside of the jar. I just love the look of skulls and sparkles!I couldn't help but to include a charm toggle or two....some of my earlier and quieter designs.

What a great adventure this swap was! I can't wait to do another! If you have not tried a swap before, try it! It may seem a little scary at first but don't be spooked, dive in and have fun, I am soooo glad I did!