You’ve seen what I do when I have to carve a pumpkin in a hurry, but this year I had plenty of time to make a nice jack-o-lantern for Halloween, and I did so this week. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve known that the first step to any pumpkin carving session was to cut a hole in the top of the pumpkin so you can clean out the seeds and guts inside. But why the top?

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My daughter went to the bowling alley the other day with her aunt and cousin and not surprisingly, came home with a few treats that she bought out of those 25 cent machines. We opened all of the little plastic containers and removed the prizes inside. I walked the containers over to the trash to pitch them and then stopped. Interesting shape, cute package but what could I do with them? Instead of tossing them, I placed them on my desk where they languished for about a week.

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I love fun foods, and I especially love any unexpected treat that I can use to surprise my niece or really get her mind working in overtime (like her 3-D princess cakes), so I was totally excited when I read about spaghetti ice cream.

Chrissy over at Chica Schmica (no relation!) shares the story of spaghetti ice cream, a childhood treat she recently tried recreating at home. Go check out her site and read the story behind the dish and how to make it for yourself. She also has a really fun idea about using it as a family tradition on a special occasion, which I love.

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I seem to have a slight obsession recently with vinyl wall art. It started out with a little fix in my daughter’s bedroom. Then, it grew exponentially when I found some adorable robots at the local craft store. The walls in my husband’s office were bare so I bought two of them and surprised him by hanging them on the walls before he came home. Being the geek he is, he loves his new robots.

After the success in my daughter’s room and my husband’s office, I hit the internet to see what else was available. I stumbled upon the site, vinywallart.com. I couldn’t resist all of the cute designs they had. I even did a freezer paper stencil with their adorable owl. I liked the stencil so much, I decided I had to have the real thing! The hardest part was deciding where I wanted the art and then what color. There are so many color options on the site, it’s hard to pick just one. I ended up with a white owl and white Russian nesting dolls. The image above makes them look grayer because I had to adjust the contrast so you could see them. Both of these are in my kitchen, which is a pale yellow like the Russian doll picture. When you walk in the room, you don’t immediately notice either of them. The owl is above the doorway leading out the the hall and the dolls are above the window looking into our sunroom. They make me smile every time I see them. Isn’t that what art is supposed to do?

The last one I bought, the cuckoo clock, is definitely not subtle. It’s on the wall directly inside our front door. I went with bright red because I wanted the high contrast and my front door is red. I had been looking for something to go there for quite some time and I am thrilled with my final selection.

I think my next one is going to be this tree I found on ebay. I can picture it on the wall in my mudroom with hooks placed on the branches to hang scarves and hats.

Jo and I have recently discovered a special type of glue that you can use to make your own notepads. It’s called “padding compound” and it’s a simple adhesive that you apply to a stack of paper to turn it into a notepad.

We have had endless fun making custom, personalized notepads and doing various fun projects with it, and are still coming up with new ideas for more. It’s so easy to use, too! Here are the basic instructions:

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We recently had my daughter’s Halloween party in our barn, and you’ve all been reading about my preparations for that party here on Chica & Jo. As part of the festivities, I wanted to let the kids “pick” pumpkins from a pumpkin patch I created in our horse pen adjacent to the barn. I placed medium-sized pumpkins all throughout the grassy area and then had each child go out to pick a pumpkin. I also thought it would be fun to let the kids decorate the pumpkins at the party. However, I knew I didn’t want them to carve them (way too dangerous) and just painting them has been done before. I wanted something slightly different but kid friendly. I found the solution in the kid craft projects aisle of the local craft store, Crayola Model Magic.

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