Halloween!!!!

It's finally here!!! Halloween!! I really like this holiday, it's so much fun to decorate for and plan for and it's always so fun to see all the little kiddos who come to the house at night trick or treating in their costumes!

The weather here in Chicago is typical...cold, windy and icky, but I suppose it helps to set the mood for a spooky night of ghostly fun, right?

This year I was fortunate enough to be able to join in a swap, hosted by Christine Edwards. You should really take a minute and head over to her blog to see all the really fun stuff she has done and participated in this Halloween season! I swear, I don't know where she gets the energy or time to do everything she does, but it's all totally fabulous!! I have to shout out to my girl Luz for pointing me in Christine's direction and the Trick or Treat Swap! The idea was to hand make at least two out of three items that you sent to Christine. After all the players sent in their items, Christine swapped them out and send you three items back. Today, on Halloween, all the players and their blogs are posted on Christine's blog and we will go trick or treating tonight to see who got what and who created what as we sent in the items without names! I can't wait until after dinner and I can go trick or treating!

I made only 2 items as time got away from me (well, one of my items took a boat load of time to make!! LOL)...but I hope the person who received my store bought item thinks it was just as cute as I did when I bought it!

For my swap items, I made a Halloween journal, complete with hand stitching in the signatures into an antique book. Using a few different manufacturers papers and embellies, I created an altered journal that can be used for pictures, memorabilia, or just about anything you'd like. I really enjoy hand making books..hope to do more of that soon! I also made a glittery spider ornament! Taking a metal spider ornie, I painted, glittered, added eyes and ribbon to create it! Lastly was the purchased "boo" decoration...I just love the little ghosties!



These are the awesome items that I received back! I just loved how everyone had wrapped their packages, complete with cool tags!

My first item is an altered composition notebook with the coolest ghostly look! Whoever made this did an outstanding job. Not only is the notebook wonderful, but inside were a set of really great tags!! Thank you!!!





The second item is a really neat Halloween Wind Chime type decoration. I just love it! Made of muslin strips with cool embellies attached, it hangs proudly in my home! Very unique and creative for sure!!!





And last but certainly not least, a way cool Halloween garland! I just love the orange and black garland, adorned with letters to spell out "Happy Halloween" and the cute witches that hang from it too! I'm sorry, my picture taking skills stink and totally do not do this justice..however it looks really fun hanging on the staircase in my home! Thank you!!





This was my first time participating in a swap like this and I had sooo much fun. I just hope that I did it justice in my own creations! I want to thank Christine for all her hard work in putting this swap together and to everyone who played! For those that created the wonderful items I received, thank you!! I love them all and they will be displayed in my home for years to come on Halloween!

Hope everyone has a great night...don't eat too much candy and beware of ghosts and goblins!! To finish off one of my favorite holidays, I have to add my favorite movie and it's music! Yep, Halloween!! What would this night be like without my beloved Michael Meyers! Just a side note...Miss Mandi is once again donning her Michael Meyers costume to hand out candy to the kidlets!! Gotta love my girl...she loves Michael just as much as me!!

Happy Halloween!!!!