Are you going to eat that?

Do you have a dinner tradition for Halloween night?

In the past I've made mummy dogs, sloppy joe monsters and lizard gizzard soup.

This year we are eating left over 'AWARD WINNING' chili. 

I won the neighborhood chili cook off.  I want to make some fun breadsticks to serve with the chili.

I think these breadstick bones from Pillsbury might just be the easiest way to go.

Stocking Pattern Winners

The Winners Are...

Congratulations to the four winners.

Ladies, please email me at saltypineapple@gmail.com to claim your prize.

note to self

if you are going to break down and buy an electric can opener...
don't buy the cheapest one out there.  you will end up opening all your
cans by hand for three crock pots of chili.

Cookie Kit

The Winner is...

Wahoo!

Email me your address.

saltypineapple@gmail.com

A Big Step

Today I bought something I never thought I would.  

I am not a fan of having lots of unnecessary kitchen gadgets.  

I have a perfectly great hand crank can opener.  I have sort of

thought of myself as a purist, and never intended on buying an electric can opener.

A few weeks ago I made chili for something at D's school.  Because I am 

lazy and use canned beans, don't judge me, I spent forever opening all the cans.

I am making two crocks of chili tomorrow night and I don't want to spend

all afternoon opening the cans by hand.  

So I bought an electric can opener.  The purchase I never expected to make.

Howl At The Moon

It's National Howl at the Moon night.  The kids and I are totally going to do this tonight.

Before we do though, I wanted to share a few of my favorite Halloween crafts from around the blog world.

I love candy corn.  When I eat them, I bite off each color one at a time.  

These Candy Corn Trick or Treat bags, from the purl bee, are sooo cute.

I am a fan of cheese cake.  I'm thinking candy corn cheesecake would be great for a Halloween party.

I wish I knew how to knit.  I want these fun little candy corn to keep in my pocket.

I just discovered the blog diamonds for dessert.  Her little Domo monster cookies are calling my name.

I think Boo is a funny character.  I know my D will want this softie when he sees it.

Dana's bats are a nice, subtle, and non tacky way to decorate for Halloween.  I'm thinking it would be cool to have them flying throughout my house. 

This pumpkin pincushion is great.  I love the stem.  

Do you have a new favorite Halloween craft.  Please tell me what it is!

Maro Designs Winner

The Winner is....

Congrats !

Julie shoot me an email with your address and I will 'stick' the mustaches in the mail.

Party Paper Winner

The Winner is...

Niki email saltypineapple@gmail.com your address.

I will send the cute SEI paper on it's way!

Fall Accessories

The cold is coming to our house.  Time to bust out the warm stuff.

I think I need to make a new pair of my Hobo Mittens.

If you haven't made these before, you must now.  Super simple to do.

Check out my tutorial here.

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Don't forget to leave a comment on a giveaway post for a chance to win:

some photo props, a gift card to CSN, a little cookie pack, or a pattern from Made.

Dana-Made-It and you can too!

I would like to start out this post by thanking everyone that has helped my celebrate my birthday this week.  The blog world can be overwhelming and intimidating.  I love that I have a place to share my thoughts, ideas and record a little family history at the same time.  This is such a cool way to meet and learn about people, from all over the world, with similar interests and hobbies.  Thank you for reading my blog.  

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 One of my favorite blogs to read is Made.  I'm sure that's not a surprise to anyone that reads me regularly.  Dana is full of creativity, light and life.  Her photos and projects are fun and inviting.

I am so excited to tell you today's giveaway is sponsored by Made.

Christmas is just around the corner.  It's really never too early to get ready for this big holiday.  Just ask Joann's.  They already have Christmas decor and what nots for sale in their store.

Today is all about giving. 

I am excited to let you know today's giveaway

will have FOUR winners.

That's right.  We have four Sweater Stocking Patterns to give away!

Leave a comment on this post and tell me:

Have you started getting ready for Christmas?

The giveaway will start today 

10-22-10 and go thru 10-28-10 at midnight.

Giveaway Closed.

I will pick four winners with random.org.

The winners will be announced Friday October 29th.

Thanks to Dana for sharing and you have a great weekend!

A Treat For The Class

When I was in elementary school, I loved bringing my class a treat on my birthday.  This was back in the day when you could bring sweets that were homemade.

Every year my mom would help me make sour cream sugar cookies.  The cookies would usually be in halloween shapes like bats and pumpkins.  My cookie decorating skills haven't progressed much since the 6th grade.  

In remembrance of the old days, I have asked 

 Dawn from SugarChic to show us a cookie decorating trick!  You must check out her blog and peruse her oober cute cookies.  She really has talent.

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Happy Birthday to Nikki!  I’m Dawn from SugarChic and in honor of Nikki’s 30^th, I would like to share a cookie decorating tip.  First of all, I’m completely self- taught.  I’ve used various internet tutorials and books to learn “tricks of the trade.”  I’ve been at this for almost a year and I’m still learning as I go!  

One of my favorite shortcuts so far is the coffee filter!!!   One thing that my cookies are known for is the “little bit of sparkle” I try to include in each cookie.  When applying sanding sugar, I once used wax paper to catch the extra.  This isn’t always a good idea because sanding sugar has a habit of bouncing.  So…I now use a coffee filter to catch those bouncers.  Now my clean is so much easier. 

Here are my sanding sugar steps (please excuse the non-manicured hands):

Here are the items you will need…sanding sugar, frosting (I use buttercream), the coffee filter (large is preferred) and of course, a cookie.

This is s “SugarChic Petite” cookie for photo purposes. 

Frost the cookie.  Everyone has a different technique here.  Use what you know.  

You can use thin or thick icing.  It’s your call.

For this cookie, I am using a thicker consistency.  

Pour a generous amount over the wet icing while holding

the cookie over y  our coffee filter.

Tap, Tap…

 

Clean up!  

Easy Breezy!

Voila!

Sparkly Cookies!

Happy 30^th, Nikki!

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Thanks Dawn.  The sparkle on those cookie makes them so special.  I can't wait to try it.

For today's giveaway I have a fun little cookie decorating kit.
There are six mini cookie cutters. Eight different stencils for cookies or cupcakes, and sanding sugar in black and purple.


Leave a comment on this post and your will be entered into the giveaway.
Giveaway Closed.
The giveaway is from today 10-21-10 thru 10-27-10 at midnight.
I will pick the winner via random.org and announce the results on Wednesday the 27th.


Don't forget to stop by again tomorrow for one last fabulous giveaway.
Have a great day.

Wish List

Back in August, I decided to make a birthday wish list. I usually don't do this, but I was feeling particularly greedy this year. ;)  I kept the list as a stickie note on the desktop of my computer for two reasons. One so I could keep adding to it, and two so my husband and other loved ones could easily see it. My list consisted of some things that were practical, like nightstands.

How cool are these orange night stands found on CSN?!  I would love to have any one of them in my room.

I also had funny items on my list.  Like a big ice cream scoop for making giant cookies

But when it boils down to it, a wish list is just that.  It doesn't matter if you need it or not!

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For our giveaway today,

CSN is giving away a $45 gift card to use on any one of their 200+ websites.

Leave a comment on this post telling me what you want for your next birthday.  

Giveaway Closed

I will pick one winner via random.org.

The giveaway starts today 10-20-10 and runs thru 10-26-10.  

The winner will be announced Wednesday the 27th.  

This giveaway is for US and Canada residents only.

my party

I told Davis it was birthday after I picked him up from school.

He asked my what theme I would like for a party and I told him smiley faces.

Davis went out on his quiet way and put a little something together for me.

He labeled my seat at the table and presented my with a cake pop.  We played two games. Pin the smile on the face and balloon dodge ball.  Davis even made treats for the other kids.  Bread with peanut butter smiley faces.  I love my kids.

Today is the day

30 Years ago I entered this world.

AAHHH, What a gorgeous baby!

Birthdays have always been exciting for me.
Pics left to right:
5th birthday with the big mouse.  11th birthday.  Sorry Bre, I had to keep you in the shot.  It is so funny.  The last picture is on my 16th birthday.  I'm between my friends Jessica and Serena.  

Here I am today.  

Hooray for 30 great birthdays.

Today's giveaway 

is from the awesome Etsy shop, Maro Designs!

Maro Designs makes fun props for all your photo needs.

I love their motto: The place where everything is better on a stick!

The kids and pets, or in our case stuffed animals, really dig on the sticks.  

I am thinking I need to have a party with a "photo booth" area.  Can't you see it?  In the corner filled with wigs, colorful frames, an Instax camera, and lots and lots of Maro Designs on sticks!

One of you lucky readers can win this collection of Maro Designs.

Left to right:

The Trebeck, The Sweet Tooth, The Old English, The Clark Kent, and The Villain

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Leave a comment on this post to enter the giveaway.

Giveaway Closed.

The giveaway runs 

10-19-10 thru 10-25-10 at midnight.

I will choose the winner via random.org 

and announce the winner Tuesday the 26th.

Three more days of giveaways to come.

See you tomorrow.

The Birthday Party Begins

You can't throw a birthday party without proper invitations.  

How cute is this birthday paper from S.E.I.?!

 This line has the cutest colors ever.  I love all the graphics and glitter.

This paper is perfect for invitations, gift tags, and birthday memories.

S.E.I. doesn't stop with paper.  They have awesome paper accessories to boot!

For those that don't scrapbook, they have a mini photo album that totally matches.

Super easy. Just slide your pictures into the album, write down some thoughts, and you are set.

This awesome paper pack could be yours!

Leave a comment on this post and you 

will be entered into the giveaway.
Giveaway Closed.

The giveaway runs 

10-18-10 thru 10-24-10 at midnight.

I will choose a winner via random.org and

announce the winner Monday the 25th.

Good Luck and check back tomorrow for another great giveaway.

Collin is Officially 2

 I had so much fun putting this party together for Collin.  I apologize for my dark and grainy photos.  

 I am still working on my cake skills.  I never really have a plan, it's sort of work in progress.  

Left to right:

Cookie dough truffles, chocolate cake pops dipped in white chocolate

Cookie dough truffle puppies, chocolate cake balls dipped in milk chocolate.

The cups were filled with "puppy chow."  

You can't have a puppy party without some Scooby snacks.  I love those things.  I also ordered some super cute puppy cookies to giveaway with the little notebooks.

Some might say it's silly to put on a big shindig for a baby's birthday.

I absolutely disagree and love do these kinds of parties.  

Collin was interested in everything I did in the kitchen.  He couldn't wait to get his hands on those cupcakes.  The excitement Collin showed last night, as our friends arrived, was priceless. 

My heart was bursting with fireworks for this little boy.

Happy Birthday C!

It's party time

My birthday is Tuesday the 19th.  I will be celebrating the 18th thru the 22nd.  Be sure to stop by everyday.  You will want to see all the different giveaways!!!

Party for the Boy

We are celebrating Collin's birthday tonight.  

I have been busy in the kitchen using

 quite a few of these little m&m's.  

Yesterday I worked on a few more of these notebooks and other variations there of. 

I have so many ideas in my head when I plan a party.  I need to learn how to scale down.

After tonight, I will be glad to get a good nights sleep.  No more party thinking before bed, when I wake up in the middle of the night, and as soon as my eyes open in the morning.  At least until the next party.