Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween! What a fun holiday. This year we didn't really decorate very much for it. What we did do a lot of, is dress up.

Last weekend we attended The Crossing's Fall Family Fling. My daughter wanted to be Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's so we made it happen.

 My oldest and youngest decided to put their pirate day costumes on. I love easy!

I really love doing hair and makeup. This is one of the many reasons I am thankful for having girls, although I do think it would be fun to dress up a little boy. The Mr. says it's not going to happen.

We also went to our school carnival this past Friday. Taylor wanted to be Little Red Riding Hood so I whipped out her cloak on my new sewing machine the morning of the carnival. I was very pleased with how it turned out. I would've preferred a heavier material. Instead I went for budget since it probably wasn't going to get worn after Halloween.

My baby couldn't decide what she wanted to be so she dug out an old costume from the dress up box and made herself a witch. Again nice and easy, I love reusing old costumes.

Paige didn't want to be Audrey Hepburn again. Her best friend was going to be a Flapper and it just so happened that I had bought one from the Wal-Mart clearance after Halloween last year so they decided they'd match.

Then yesterday, my girls and their good friend Carson, took a break from building forts around the house to have a tea party.

They dressed up for the occasion.

And tried their best at pointing out proper etiquette, but by the end of their tea party were completely lacking in any sort of etiquette. Notice Paige's pinkie, she said sticking your pinkie out was the proper way to drink tea. Cute!

They enjoyed a nice meal of waffles and chocolate milk on my grandmother's china and I totally enjoyed watching and listening to them play. They weren't thrilled about "Mamarazzi," as they like to call me, but I couldn't pass up the cute little photo op.

Happy Halloween, not sure what my girls are going to be tonight, but last minute costumes are just how we roll. 

Stay safe and warm out there!

**Updated to add Halloween Evening Photos**

Well my girls figured out what they were going to be. Little Red Riding Hood, a dia de los muertos witch, which I thought was perfect since they learn about this in Spanish Immersion, and Mario.

Riley was torn between a witch and something spooky like a ghost, so we combined the two.

Paige wanted to be Mario, but as usual I didn't buy the costume in time, so I borrowed a pair of bibs from a friend, size wasn't an issue since we knew she'd be wearing her snow gear underneath. I stuck my red fleece jacket on her and whipped out her Mario hat, using this tutorial, a couple hours before they headed out to go trick-or-treating.

Not sure who had more fun, me or the kids.

It didn't matter that it was cold and snowing out, they were determined to get their candy.

And that's just what they did.

At the end of the night, Mario found his lost pal, Yoshi.

All in all it was a Bootiful . . . 

. . . and Spooktacular night

Next year I will try my very best to put together costumes ahead of time. In the mean time, off to raid their candy bags!

Recycled Pumpkin Crayons

I've been seeing so many fun recycled crayon projects in blog land that I wanted to give it a try myself.

We dug out all our broken pieces of crayons we've accumulated over the years, sorted them by color, and placed them into tin cans we had been collecting.  We placed the cans on top of a cookie sheet and in the oven at 250 degrees and baked them until the crayons were melted thoroughly.

I used craft sticks to stir each color before pouring them into the molds. The melted crayons dried on the stick, so the girls used the craft sticks to color with.

We carefully, using a hot mitt that wouldn't slip, poured the melted crayons into the molds one color at a time.

It's best to keep the tins in the oven until the melted crayons are going to be  poured into the molds. It's also best to pour each color after the previous color has cooled for more even layers. When we poured colors over other layers that hadn't cooled off yet, we got a neat marbled look on some layers and a blob of hot mess for other layers.

Overall we were pretty pleased with the end result. We only had large pumpkin molds, but I think I'd like the molds with the smaller shapes better. 

This is something we will definitely do again. It's a quick and fun project.

Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes

I decided it was time to get my pumpkin fix so I put my pumpkin scented warmers on and and I made these delicious pumpkin ginger cupcakes.

I found the recipe here, but I didn't have crystalized ginger so I used a little more ground ginger instead.

They didn't look quite done after 20 minutes, so I shut the oven off and kept them in the oven for about 10 minutes longer. . . big mistake! While they were still very delicious, I think they did dry out a little. Not so much that they weren't edible though and certainly nothing a little cream cheese frosting couldn't fix. I will admit though, I prefer them plain without any frosting. Don't get me wrong, I love frosting, but sometimes I just don't want anything to compete with my cakes. If you're looking for a yummy pumpkin recipe, be sure to try this out.

Oviedogirl's Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant butterscotch pudding mix
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• • • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
    • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
    • 1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger 
    • (I didn't have crystalized ginger so I just used an addition teaspoon of ground ginger)
    •  
    • 1 cup butter, room temperature
    • 1 cup white sugar
    • 1 cup packed brown sugar
    • 4 eggs
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • • 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

1. 1. 
      
   
   Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 24 muffin cups, or line with paper muffin liners. Whisk together the flour, pudding mix, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice, cloves, and crystallized ginger in a bowl; set aside.

1. 1. 
      
   
   Beat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Beat in the vanilla and pumpkin puree with the last egg. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups.

1. 1. 
      
   
   Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

Fall Inspiration

I can't stop thinking of all the beautiful colors and yummy treats Autumn has to offer. Something about this season really makes me happy. It could be that I absolutely adore earthy colors in a home, they really give me that warm and fuzzy feeling inside. Check out these great fall ideas I've pinned on Pinterest.

Pinterest

I love the combination of rustic and pretty. The contrast has always been appealing to me. I love how much the use of simple decorations has added to this place.

Pinterest

You may have seen these in Pottery Barn or on some totally talented DIY blogger's site, but mercury glass pumpkins look so classy to me.

Pinterest

Here's another warming fall idea. Love it.

Pinterest

Beautiful decor must be accompanied with yummy food. Doesn't this cake look absolutely delicious?

Pinterest

These totally adorable goblins would be great with some tasty pumpkin dip.

Pinterest

And what better way to cool your bottled drinks than with a large pumpkin! I think this is such a cute idea.

Pinterest

If you're not having or serving bottled drinks, this could be an alternative to serve adults during your fall festivities.

Pinterest

Pinterest

Or delicious apple cider for those who don't or prefer not to drink alcohol. Aren't those lattice cookies adorable?  I personally can't wait to try out the apple cups!

If you're looking for fall inspirations, take a look at Pinterest. If you're an avid www surfer, and you tend to bookmark things that get lost in the mile long list of bookmarks, this is a wonderful alternative. Everytime you pin something, the original web site will be listed so you always know what site you found your ideas on. Thanks Pinterest folks for making my computer happy as I lighten my bookmark load!

I'm Falling In Love. . .

. . . with the new season.  Every year I dread the cold weather season, but as soon as Fall hits, I remember how much I love the cool brisk air and beautiful colors.

Last week I went on a field trip to Pyrah's Pioneer Peak Farm with my daughter's class.

Not only do you get super fresh produce, but look at the view of the mountains! Even on a hazy day, they are quite magnificent. Be sure to click on the photos for better quality.

Oh and did I mention the beautiful mums they have for sale? They are absolutely gorgeous. Here's one up close.

So if you haven't been there before, and you live in Alaska, be sure to check it out. It's a U-pick farm and there is an assortment of veggies to choose from. You can't beat super fresh produce, clean air, and beautiful scenery.

And just because I can, here's a photo of the view I wake up to every morning. 

Embracing Autumn

I'm not exactly a huge fan of the dark and cold Alaskan winters anymore so I'm always sad when summer ends, but as the leaves change, I quickly remember how much I love Fall time and the beautiful colors that come with it.

Since I have been totally lacking creativity lately, I decided to gather my older girls up and go for a walk to collect some leaves for a project I have in mind.

Along the way, I talked them into letting me take a couple quick shots of them. 

And of course I had to take pictures of the beautiful colors. When I look at Autumn photos taken in the Lower 48, I have serious color envy.

 Our season is always just so . . . . yellow,  however, in the beginning of the season you can always find the Fireweed and a few other species turn into a beautiful shade of red. 

So we gathered a some leaves.

And I snapped a couple more photos of my girls.

We said goodbye to the few remaining things holding onto to summer and just enjoyed the rest of our walk. Now if I can actually follow through with the leaf project I have in mind, I'll have something to share soon.