It's almost Halloween...

...so I threw a big party on Sunday night with my Hattiesburg friends. On the menu was chicken salad sandwiches on croissants (I put chopped pecans, granny smith apples and grapes in my homemade chicken salad), hot spiced cider, cheesy potatoes, pumpkin dip with apples and gingersnaps, and lots of food contributed by my friends.

I used to dress up every year, even as an adult, but hadn't done it for a while. Originally, I had thought about being a witch (not very original, I know), but then decided on a vampire after finding out my friend Sharon was going to be a witch (two witches at a party is nothing but trouble!) A vampire is, sadly, also not very original, but it was fun anyway. Steve was a punk rocker, Harrison was a Bavarian, and Graham was a zombie (although he didn't want any face paint.)

I wanted to come up with a cool centerpiece for the table for the party, but not spend a ton o' money on it. Paper boxes were on sale at Hobby Lobby last week, so I bought three hat box style boxes to paint like a Halloween cake (maybe $10 or so total?) Sunday morning I took a couple of hours and painted like crazy, not caring if I was sloppy (because this was supposed to look folksy.) Black and chartreuse and tangerine and grape paint and lots of Halloween motifs and patterns were topped with a dry-brushing of black and then a spray of glitter paint I found in the cupboard.

I think it really turned out cute, and as you can see, Ruby (who went to the party as a black cat, naturally) was all tuckered out the next morning after all the ruckus.

In other news, I bought a sewing machine. I've been inspired lately by a lot of the small craftsy projects that are out there (I just picked up a copy of Prims magazine last week -- so cute!) Alas, my sewing machine is 20 years old and gets all grumpy when I stitch (knotting up the thread, clogging the bobbin, stomping it's presser foot.) My mom has a Bernina, which she loves, and I wanted to get one that will last me another 20 years of happy sewing (and no foot stomping.) Very exciting -- I know these machines are high quality, and so although I will not be quilting (I don't do that sort of thing well), you will see some designs of mine for fun-finished projects now, as well as my framed pieces. Next on the agenda -- I want to learn how to make ruched ribbon for edging.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween week -- before you know it, we'll be singing Christmas carols!