Hellooo, my name is Sarah. I am a thirty-something pop culture fanatic and live in a suburb of Detroit (Royal Oak). I share a bungalow with my husband, two daughters, Q & V (ages 9 & 6), and my two kitty cats. I am a novice crafter with lofty dreams. You can visit me at www.girl-land.com or contact me at sarah[at]girl-land.com.
Hope everyone has a fabulous day full of tricks or treats! Take a look at these cool pics from Steve Chasmar's Flickr page. Above is just one example.
Reminds me of a scene from a really good Halloween movie we watched last night called Trick R Treat. I would highly recommend it. It was apparently made 3 years ago, and it was just released straight to DVD. Don't let that deter you, however, because this horror buff was very entertained. Plus, Anna Paquin is in it, and I adore her.
In other Halloweenie topics, did anyone else watch The Office Thursday? I was digging on Michael's dick in a box costume and Ryan the temp as Edward Cullen. No comparison, sir, no comparison!
I'll leave you with a pic of the dumplings as they were headed out to Zoo Boo last weekend. I give you........Pocahontas and Sacajawea!
Eek!! Halloween is almost here!!!! This will be a short and sweet post. We are doing laid back this year and are taking the kids trick or treating with my cousin, BUT we are doing some major theme food. I have to tell you that allllllll these things are super easy. Just wanted to share. I've never made the Mummy Dogs before, so I'll have to report back.
Preheat oven to 350°. Combine 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, sour cream, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, and next 6 ingredients (through spinach) in a large bowl; stir until well blended. Spoon mixture into a 1 1/2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella and remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Serve with tortilla chips or crackers (I like Triscuits).
Cider Cheese Fondue (via allrecipes.com)
3/4 cup apple cider or apple juice 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1/8 teaspoon pepper 1 (1 pound) loaf French bread, cubed
In a large saucepan, bring cider to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Toss the cheeses with cornstarch and pepper; stir into cider. Cook and stir for 3-4 minutes or until cheese is melted. Transfer to a small ceramic fondue pot or slow cooker; keep warm. Serve with bread cubes.Devil Eyes
Use your fave deviled egg recipe, but after boiling eggs, crack shell (without peeling) and place into separate bowl filled with 3.5 cups boiling water, 2 T red food coloring and 1 T vinegar.If not enough water, fill with just enough to cover eggs.This will make the eggs look like bloodshot eyes.After filling the boiled whites with your egg filling, top with a sliced black olive (the iris).
Pour vodka in a martini glass, top with Champagne and pour a little of the Chambord over the back of a spoon to make it float.Serve in dripping blood martini glasses.
Blood Drip Martini Glasses (via hostessblog.com)
1 c. Sugar
1/2 c. Karo Syrup
1/2 c. Water
Red Food Coloring
Combine sugar, syrup and water. Cook without stirring to hard crack stage – which is 300 degrees F. Add food coloring.Turn off heat. While the mixture is still hot, dunk the top of the cocktail glass into the mixture to create the red rim. If you need to do several glasses, keep the mixture hot so it lasts longer (instead of turning heat off, just reduce slightly).You can go anywhere from just along the very tip of the rim to part way down the glass – whichever you prefer. Flip the glass right side up to cool. The thick consistency of the mixture will cause “drips” as it hardens on the glass!
Bloody Popcorn (from Craft Magazine Blog & tweaked)
2 Bags Microwave Popcorn
1/2 Bag Wilton Red Candy Melts
Salt
Pop Popcorn, remove all unpopped kernels.Spread on wax paper lined cookie sheet.Melt candy melts in microwaveable bowl per instructions.Pour over popcorn, toss a bit with your hands or spoon and put in fridge for 20 minutes.I like to sprinkle a little salt before the candy melts harden.
So today was spent eating candy corn, unpacking my box of Halloween decorations, and listening to AOL Radio's "bloodcurdling, scary music". Halloween is pretty much as big as Christmas at our house. Sacrilegious, yes, I know. We also bought a strand of pumpkin lights this morning that plays the Halloween theme when you walk by it. Gooooooood stuff.
On a disappointing note, I didn't get into the Detroit Urban Craft Fair this year. I am bummed, yet a part of me is a little relieved that I am not going to be inevitably forcing myself to make stuff last minute. And I also understand I couldn't make it in every year. Maybe next year.
It's been hit or miss on the creative front-- I'm either REALLY into something or REALLY not, and I find myself happier plopped down on the couch with a book or Wii'ing than anything else lately. I was even debating closing my Etsy shop due to lack of sales BUT some great friends encouraged me and also reminded me it's free to keep my shop open (Thanks K & T!).
SO I decided to pep up the Etsy storefront today with a new spooktacular banner:
It was inspired by the Girl Land song lyric, "Come on in, look about, you'll go in a girl, and you'll never get out (evil laugh)". You'll just have to check out the Girl Land shop yourself to see the few Halloweenie items I have listed and my matching avatar!
We had a fun, fun weekend. Friday, we hit the new Mezza Grill in Royal Oak and Goodnite Gracie's for drinks with our neighbors. Saturday, was the So You Think You Can Dance concert. T'was great!!! Wanna see what front row looks like??
Here is a little montage of creepy lovely Halloween-inspired pics for you all:
I can never get the stupid credits to work...bah.
Some more fun Halloween stuff include Cristin's ghost story, Hostess with the Mostess Vampire Martini, and this online Ouija Board! Not quite the same as going to a cemetery on Halloween night to play it (what was I thinking? Oh yeah, I was 15, I wasn't), but you may get the answers you are seeking!
Have a frightfully lovely night and a wonderful weekend. xo
So typical Monday. I get home, I'm tired and crabby. I feel like I live in squalor. Everything is in chaos. Quinn eats her dinner (crab quiche and grape tomatoes) and Ryan gives her a few orange segments-- she starts choking on a piece because she takes WAY too big of bites...and she pukes all over me as I'm eating my dinner. Lovely. All night long I got to hear, "Sorry I puked on your pants, Mommy."
I started making some glitter houses like last year's. Glad Amy nudged me in the right direction because my heart wasn't into it. Until tonight! I like this one, and I do think it looks better in person, but I'm wondering if it's too plain or too gaudy. I like that perfect mix, ya know? I owe the color combo to Sweet Jessie. And the little girl in the doorway came from some wrapping paper she sent me last Xmas-- I printed it on vellum. It looks cute with a little flicker LED light inside. I couldn't get a good pic of it with the lights off though. I feel like there should be something around the windows, but I don't want to overdo it. The windows are also vellum that let the light through and they do look less plain in person.
So I'll have two like this one at DUCF, two like the last year's, and one medium size that I'm not sure of the color combo yet. Maybe a red house with a white roof? Seems so crazy to be talking about Xmas since we haven't even seen Halloween yet!
Speaking of, we took the girls to Boo at the Zoo this weekend. We were hemming and hawing up until the very last second. Stopped at Pronto for some booze to warm our cockles (um, us, not the girls) and then proceeded to the zoo. Quinn decided she liked saying, "Here you go" instead of "Trick or Treat". Priceless. Vivian was just all around pissed. We had a snowsuit for her with ears on it as her costume was being altered, but she wasn't having it. So Ryan zipped her up in his jacket, poor baby.
Hope everyone survived their respective Monday. When you get puked on, the week can only improve, don't you agree?
One more thing-- I have a new term here in Girl Land bloggy world, COO (= Currently Obsessing Over). Today I'm COO the upcoming Twilight soundtrack. I thought I was too old to appreciate Paramore, but then I read the lead singer is 34 (Older than me! Yay!), and their song, Decode, is super catchy. I will be buying the soundtrack on November 4 after I cast my vote (EEK). Another nifty draw is that I read today that Robert Pattinson's voice (he sings a song on it) is like a young Jeff Buckley's. SOLD! Actually, I think the latter's songs Everybody Here Wants You or New Year's Prayer would have been lovely and fitting for the soundtrack. Or Fiona Apple's The First Taste. I told you...COO emphasis on the first O.
I've had this Alexander Henry fat quarter since last year (well, with white background). I made a few appliques out of it. Made this bag for my shop:
And then I got on a roll. I started these bags with embroidered name banners for the girls. Please excuse the wrinkles and the cat hair! Need to finish up V's:
Sure, Vivian won't be trick-or-treating for a couple years, but if I don't do it now, I never will. I must say that Heat N' Bond and a glue gun are a non-sewing crafter's best friends! What great inventions.
Going to a doozy of a flea market this weekend, and I'm taking my mom. She lives 90 miles away. I tried to prep her-- told her we may need to bust our umbrellas out. She looked at me like I was nuts. I told her to grow a pair (I really did!). Be back Monday to show you some loot!!! A teaser, if you will, for the vintage portion of my upcoming Giveaway Bonanza... xo
Oh! Any of my local peeps know of any good kid's photographers?? I had a lady in Berkley who COMPLETELY closed up shop, no forwarding info, no nothin'. I liked her because she was simple and cheap. No stupid props, no weirdo backgrounds, just PLAIN kid's pics. Anyone, anyone??? I refuse to go to Penney's/Target/Walmart/etc. We had a bad experience when Quinn was 1.
OSB Update: Down 5 total lbs! Ugh...soooooo many more to go. :( This buttercup is going to try to keep her chin up though.
Halloween's less than 3 months away. I can’t wait! I’m searching for the *perfect* duo costume idea for Q and V. Q will basically be 3 by then and Vivian will be about 6 months. I’m planning on an Etsy Alchemy listing to get the costumes actually made. You’d think I’d have learned my lesson, but I have had some great experiences, so I don’t want to give up on it. Currently I'm thinking this:
Quinn/Vivian:
and again Quinn/Vivian:
Oh, the possibilities!!!
I have also determined I have cubular tunnel syndrome. I can't feel my ring finger or pinky on my left hand!!!! I need to go to the doctor stat, but I just returned to work, and I hate to have to take more time (that I don't have to spare) off. I'm going to fashion a splint McGyver style to straighten my arm whilst I sleep. Did I just say "whilst"? Anybody know anything about this? It's uber annoying.
OSB Update: I didn't weigh in today because I forgot before I left the house and then I was thinking I really don't want to get on the scale until my WW weigh in (on Friday). Is that ok??? Better be...don't F with me though because here I am right now...
I bought some kid's records for Quinn and received them yesterday from eBay. Some of my faves like Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, The Little House, and 3 Little Pigs were included. Plus, this darling (love the cover art):
Oh, and to show you my love of LRRH must have originated from when I was a kid, here's a pic of my at Halloween circa 1979 (I was 4) with my bro, "Robin":
Now on to some serious dance business. Do any of you watch So You Think You Can Dance? I, along with my cousin, am a fanatic. It has been great this season. I have watched the show from Season 1. My faves have been Ryan from Season 1, Donyelle from Season 2, and Lacey from Season 3. This season, my fave so far and BY far is JOSHUA. He is so darn cute and humble and talented. I really really hope he keeps it up. Watch this number from Week 1. It gave me chills!
I do not care for, on the other hand, Jessica, Will (what's all the fuss about??), Susie, or Marquis. And I love that Wikipedia has a whole grid matrix of who is in bottom three, who is eliminated, the songs, the choreographers, etc. Verry comprehensive (they should hire me to do this, ha!).
Should also tell you that I'm feeling very satisfied in the techy department. All of a sudden, I couldn't receive or send mail via Outlook Express. Googled the error code and found a post that someone blamed the problem on Norton Antivirus software. So I uninstalled it. Still didn't work. Then I found another post where someone mentioned an extra step, that you have to install a Norton uninstall tool (weird). So I did that too-- it now works! Downloaded AVG antivirus freeware instead of the damn Norton. Poop on them. I shoulda been an IT geek!
Is it over yet? Now don't get me wrong-- you all know how much I love Halloween, but this year, I’m kinda ready for it to be over. I think it’s because we started with the cider mills a bit too early, and we have exhausted all the kid’s Halloween activity options. I was so happy that Q was actually old enough to be at least a *teensy* bit interested in spooky festivities that we went a little overboard. If I see one more Disney princess costume (specifically those filled with mean little girls who stick their noses up at my Strawberry Q), I may puke.
So how were your weekends? Ours was lovely. Friday was dinner with friends and their daughter, Ramona, who is Quinn’s buddy. We went to a chaotic Halloween event at the local YMCA. There really wasn’t too much for them to do besides steal cones from some of the games like little mice and stack them up on the floor. We didn’t stop them because there was no order anywhere else anyway.
Saturday, my parents came over. My mom brought ground bologna. Are you familiar?? I’m sure it will sound appalling to those who are not. It’s ring bologna ground up and mixed with pickle relish and mayonnaise. It’s like ham salad with bologna instead, and it HIT THE SPOT. At night, last minute we decided to run over to a Halloween event in the city where I work. It was drizzling a bit, but it was still pretty nifty. She got a little scared, but she reallllllly likes Nerds, so that helped mitigate her fears.
Yesterday, I finished up her trick or treat bag. The pattern’s based on a Martha Stewart owl clip art craft in the October Living. I just drew on the bag with a temporary ink pen and stitched over. I thought I should maybe fill some more stuff in, but eh. If I have time tonight (between making Halloween cupcakes for work potluck and frosted sugar cookies for daycare), I may stitch Quinn’s name on. Not perfect, but very Girl Land. Whoops! Looking at this pic, I definitely need to iron out my hoop crease a little better.
Oh, I also tried this. One word—ugh.
Last thing—Girl Land merchandise is now available for sale in-state at Red Shoes in Ann Arbor!!! That makes 4 stores which makes me very very happy and proud. Sigh.
That's right, kiddies, the Girl Land household is giving out FULL SIZE candy bars this Halloween. I'm obviously pulling out all the stops so I can get more than 10 stinkin' trick-or-treaters on my dead end street. Tell your friends!!! Ryan thinks they'll be mostly gone before Halloween, but I disagree. I can justify eating 10 snack size bars in a row, but to eat a full size candy bar???? To shame! That's my screwed up sense of logic for you.
The first year we had the house, I decorated with corn stalks, pumpkins out the wazoo, mums, pumpkin lights, and blared spooky sound effects out the window. I was unaware that kids just don't come down our street. Walter (my single dude neighbor across the street with the cutest Corgi, Goebel) and I used to sit in our respective enclosed porches and occasionally exchange the sheepish nod. He decks his house out with a fake graveyard and owls in the trees. Now I sit inside with the door cracked open and yell, "HOLD ON!" if they knock one too many times. I got a little lazy with my decorating this year. I'm waiting for my peach and greyish black pumpkins to get stolen (my white ones spouted legs and walked away last year). But I still did do the lights. whooooo. hoooooo.
We had one dude in our neighborhood growing up who did the full-size Snickers. Dr. Boulter. He was (wait for it) a dentist. Good career builder, Dr. B!
Anywho, hit another cider mill this weekend. Sixty degree weather=much better cider mill weather than 90 degree weather. T'was fun except neither Q nor myself drank any cider (unpasteurized). Although I eat/drink everything else I'm not supposed to while PG (deli meat, nutrasweet, caffeine, soft cheese-- all in moderation)-- I know, EVIL MOM. But something about the floaties on the bottom of the cider carton make it seem just so much more, I dunno, bacteria-filled. Another example of my screwed up logic. Hope everyone else's weekends were lovely!
I have only one more work day, then I am off with my friend to an Urban Planning conference upstate where Ryan and Q will join me Friday. The colors should be at their peak. We used to stay at the most BEAUTIFUL B&B B.Q. (Before Quinn) called the Wellington Inn. Seriously, if anyone is traveling to Traverse City, I'd highly recommend it and get the tour. This couple has taken painstaking measures to restore the home back to its original state looking for photographs and clues to show them how each room looked back in the day. And Barb is the best cook! Mmmm!
I received my decals from Ebay today. I knew the price was too good to be true. The woman had made them herself, and the print quality was pretty bad. She was nice though, and she's refunding all my money and said I could just keep them. I was pretty excited to know, however, that you can buy inkjet waterslide decal paper to make your own! I think they would work best on clear glass. I tested one of them out on an orange surface, and it didn't show up too well. Anyway, kinda neat to keep in mind. You can buy the decal paper by the sheet on Ebay, but I'm sure you can find it elsewhere.
I decided to just make my own stick-on decals for the treat pails myself. I think they turned out ok-- I definitely like the owl one better. They are in my shop. I'm so into the Halloweeny mood. I changed my shop banner for the occasion as well. Tee hee!
P.S. Check out my crafty friend, Cyndy's, new Etsy shop called Candy Buttons! Adorable stuff!
...silver shamrock! Finally, the 90 degree weather has moved on! Today was great-- 60 degrees and rainy. Ahhhhhhh! It's supposed to clear up for the weekend but maintain a wonderful high of 58-60 degrees. Now THAT'S cider mill weather.
Dave loaned me this cool book! I cannot believe all the nifty stuff inside. I want it all to decorate my house, well, sans the hefty price tags. Yikes! I love all the paper lanterns with silhouettes. Aren't they great? This little lovey on the right is-- can you see?-- $900! Wow. Seems like all the German diecuts are the big ticket items. Dave said lots of this stuff is even crazy expensive at flea markets too. Waiting on some retro repro Halloween decals to come in the mail so I can finish up my treat pails. Cutting it kinda close, I know. But I did make another Boo Garland (finally) which is in my shop! Also, my weirdo Halloween diorama dude is there as well.
Have I told you how much I love Halloween??? I do, I do, I do! Well, not as much as a co-worker who got married on Halloween in costume (she's now divorced), but pretty darn close. Did you know that it's only 41 days away? I've been buying things left and right to make some Halloween projects, but just have been too lazy to start. So I just made something little tonight...it's in my Etsy shop. It looks so cute across my fireplace, so I won't be *too* sad if it doesn't sell.
My friend, Dave, also bought some bags o' stuff at the last flea market we hit. He rifled through the bags and gave me a few odds and ends he thought I might appreciate. This guy being one.
He really scares the poop out of me. I believe he's daydreaming of chocolate treats. Or drinking my blood, I'm not sure. I think he will look smashing in a mini Halloween diorama, no? I picked up some black tinsel trim at my favorite dollar store today to line said diorama and also to adorn some treat pails.
Oh, one more thing to round out my Halloweenish post. I was birthday shopping for my niece today at Borders, and I came across some books I remember fondly from grade school by Alvin Schwartz, however I will NOT be getting them for her because they were rather disturbing (they would probably even disturb YOU, I'm not kidding), but I may end up buying them for myself. Last year, I bought Q a book called Tailypo that I loved as a kid, but I will wait a few more years before I freak her out. It's about a man who chops off a creature's tail, and the creature will not rest until he gets it back...even though it's in the man's stomach!!!! Wait for it.........MWAAHHHAA HAA HAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaa.....
**I'm so excited! The lovely Naomi bought my banner! I will have another in my shop in the next few days in case anyone is interested**
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My friend, Dave, also bought some bags o' stuff at the last flea market we hit. He rifled through the bags and gave me a few odds and ends he thought I might appreciate. This guy being one.
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