Halloween Raven Porch

 This last weekend, I worked on my Halloween decor for my front porch. It's funny, a few years ago before blogs and Facebook, I was perfectly content using the same decor year after year, adding a few pieces every now and then. Since I have been exposed to SO many amazing ideas from you amazing people who are so generous to share your ideas, I am FORCED to come up with new decor that is also easy on my wallet. :) So this year's theme is Edgar Allen Poe/The Raven theme.

 Last month for my beach theme, you may recognize the white frame. I swapped the burlap subway sign for a home made chalkboard and added a quote from the famous poem.

 I made the raven wreaths from some fabric I found at WalMart. I made the rosettes from scrap fabrics and the black eyelash yarn and feathers are from JoAnn's and the ravens were 50% off at Rite Aid so they were only $1.50 each.

 The flower on the checked pillow is made from book pages that I got at The Dollar Tree. I punched the pages with a 2" scalloped punch, aged the edges with scrapbook ink and then glued it to a circle of cardboard. Another blog idea.

 Since I cut the chalkboard wood a tiny bit smaller than the frame opening, I added gingham piping to the edges. Of course, I learned how to use my piping sewing attachment from a blog...thank you!

My doorbell is a bit hard to find since it is tucked behind the bench a little bit so I made a sign for people to find it easier. I got the plain wood frame from the Dollar Tree and painted it with Krylon Glitter Blast paint...so cool! Yes, I found out about it from several blogs. Again, thank you! I used my Cricut and Storybook cartridge to cut the letters and swirl.
I made the bench dust ruffle from and old sheet and I have a few more things to add but I needed instant gratification in posting it now. Check back for some new additions next week!

Star Wars Party

 I hosted a Star Wars party for a wonderful 6 year boy and 7 of his energetic friends on Saturday. The weather threatened to rain and even hail was reported in some areas, so we held the party inside.

 I used the weather to my advantage by telling the boys the menacing weather was brought about by Dark forces and that we needed to train very hard to defeat the Dark side.

 As the guests gathered, we painted Rock Buddies. This is always a hit with the kids. I love to see their creativity come out! We balanced balloons on our light sabers to have control and patience. We played Jedi Bingo and I asked to boys to concentrate on the figures on their cards to conjure them up. They would bow their heads and close their eyes tightly to make their cards come up. I gave them Pop Rocks for each Jedi Bingo they got. Also part of their Jedi trianing was to play Pin the light saber on the Jedi. The blindfold is a Darth Vader mask blacked out so they can't see and they needed to use the force to guide the saber to the correct position.

 The highlight of their training was to defeat Darth Vader. 2 boys weren't quite sure about their Jedi skills and hid behind the others. After the other Jedis had their turn at Vader, I told the 2 that we really needed their help to defeat him. It was so cute to see them muster up the courage to face the Dark Lord. They were so proud of themselves and what they had accomplished. When we were packing up, the weather had cleared and the Jedi training was a success! The Force was very strong with these young Jedis!

The Star Wars Deluxe party includes table decor, Jedi training by Jedi Master Donna, a visit from Darth Vader, invitations, Jedi robes to wear during training, favors that include a light saber, photo with Darth Vader, custom chocolate C3PO lollipop, rock buddy, etc and birthday boy/girl gets a custom Star Wars t-shirt.

Disneyland 5K

 On January 2, I signed my family up for our 1st Disneyland Star Tours 5K. It took place on Saturday and we all had so much fun! We only live about 70 minutes from the Happiest Place on Earth but we stayed in a hotel because we had to be at the start line at 6:00am.

Hubby and I trained using the Couch to 5K program and it really helped. There were about 5000 racers for this fun run so it was slow going. It wasn't a timed race so people were taking their time. It took us about 6 minutes to cross the START line after the race started.

 We ran though Disneyland and California Adventure as well as the back lots. They had characters that you could pose for pictures with along the route.

 Some runners even dressed up in costume...LOVE Tink and Capt. Hook!

It was so much fun to train with our kids. They ran circles around us but they were very supportive. Now we are ready to run our city's 5K in November together.