Halloween Weekend

Tyler and I had an eventful weekend. Friday night was out church's annual Simply Fun Fest. This event is open to the entire community and the admission is only the cost of one bag of candy per family. It's a pretty sweet gig for families. I was a ladybug.

Then on Sunday night, we had our Halloween Party with the high school students. There was a gigantic bonfire, costume prizes,  sugar cookies and s'mores. Tyler was a Tonka Truck (costume made by his lovely wife).

We also had a photo booth where the kids could get their picture taken by my friend, and professional birth photographer, Stacey (she did not photograph any births at the party; mainly just non-pregnant high schoolers). You can check out Stacey's website here. I had fun making all sorts of props for the students to use in the photo booth. Here are a few of them:

 

Even more exciting than the photobooth and sandwich sized s'mores, was the sermon Tyler preached about how we don't have to be afraid of evil things, because the enemy has been defeated and Christ has risen victorious. Holla! I had the lyrics from "Shout Unto God" by Hillsong playing in my head all weekend:

The enemy has been defeated
And death couldn't hold You down
We're gonna lift our voice in victory
We're gonna make Your praises loud

Shout unto God with a voice of triumph
Shout unto God with a voice of praise
Shout unto God with a voice of triumph
We lift Your name up
We lift Your name up

I love that the psalms of David tell me that I have nothing to fear, because God restores me, leads me and comforts me (even after I watch movies that give me the heebee-jeebees, like the Exorcism of Emily Rose). Isaiah writes, "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mind. When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned' the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." (Isaiah 43:1-3). Yes Sir! - That makes me feel so good!

How was your Halloween weekend? Did you score some delicious treats? What was your costume?

Pinecone Garland

For the past few weeks, I've been admiring some lovely garlands and buntings on Etsy and I got the creative itch to make my own! I already had most of the supplies I needed to create the garland I envisioned, except for pine cones. I scoured my block for pine trees so that I could snag some fallen cones, but I couldn't find any. There is a lot of foliage in Champaign, but not so many pine trees. So I headed to Walmart and found a bag of cinnamon scented (bonus!) pine cones for $4 in their Christmas section. I love that Walmart already has Christmas stuff out. I perused each aisle slowly, taking in all of the sparkly ornaments and shimmery ribbon. Eek! I love Christmas!

To make my garland, I used some tweed twine, scissors and five similarly sized pine cones (although, I think the next one I make will be all different shapes and sizes). I wanted to hang my garland from the hutch in the living room, so I measured the width of the hutch and multiplied it by two - that way, the garland would have enough room to be draped from one end of the hutch to the other. Then I cut my twine and started with my first pine cone by simply tying a circle around the top of it. Next, I spaced the next pine cones by about five inches and looped the twine around it and continued to do the same with the remaining three cones. Last, I tied little knots in between each pine cone because I thought it would add a little more texture to the twine. To hang it, I stapled the twine to the top of the hutch (I know that sounds ghetto, but the staples are hidden).

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with how simple this project was and how cute it turned out. Pine cones are nice, because they are seasonal and I can hang them all winter long. Here is the finished product:

Craft Fair

Next Saturday (Sept. 12), Tyler has to drive the church bus to Chicago to pick up a team from our church that went on a mission trip to Ecuador. I have decided to go with him so that we can make a trip out of it! We are going to leave on Friday and go to the Renegade Craft Fair!!!

Yay, yay, yay!!! I love craft fairs! It was tradition to go to the War Eagle Craft Fair with my mom and Aunt Julie when I lived in Joplin, but now that I am a "grown-up" and I have a real life job, I haven't been to the fair in two years. Fiddlesticks. Since my mom and aunt can't take me, my sweet sweet husband is going to embark on the wonderful adventure that is the Renegade Craft fair. Isn't that the sweetest? He doesn't much care for crafty things, but he knows that it will be a wonderful treat for me. I hope that we see some neat-o bookstores along Division Street in Wicker Park (where the fair is), so that he doesn't hate his life all day. I will be more than happy to let him buy all of the books his heart desires. Thanks for taking me to the fair, Sweets!

Mom's Latest Creation

Check out my crafty mother's latest creation:

They are cupcake pin cushions. Ahh! I just love them!