DIY Happy Halloween Banner

We're gearing up for our 3rd Annual Thompson Family BYOP Party in a couple weeks (that's Bring Your Own Pumpkin), and I'm crafting like crazy!  As promised, I'll be sharing everything "BYOP" with you!

Today, I want to show you the Happy Halloween banner that I made (with a little help from Marley).  So, enough with the chit-chat...on with the DIY!

I started with several Halloween-y pieces of cardstock:

I grabbed all my scraps from previous years, too:

I decided to make the main pieces of the banner in the shape of a basic tombstone, so I cut each piece of 12x12 cardstock down to 4x4 squares:

Marley's protractor was the perfect size, so I used it to trace the curve at the top to give each square that "tombstone" shape, then started cutting.  (Marley was determined to get that little spider in as many pictures as possible.)

Here's all of our pieces cut out (and the little spider, of course):

For the next layer, I used some of my scraps of paper to cut rectangles to add to each piece, and I rounded the edges of the rectangles:

The final layer was made using the same card stock as the tombstones cut into scalloped circles.  The letters will go on these circles:

I measured my circles, then created a Word document to print all of my letters.  This was a little tricky, but not too bad.  I inserted text boxes in the size I needed, then typed each character in its own text box.  Since some of my circles were black, I needed some of my letters to print in white.  The gray background allowed me to see the letter so I could cut it out.  The ghost, owl, and pumpkin are designs to be used at the beginning, middle, and end of my banner:

I cut out each letter and picture very carefully and placed it on its own circle:

See?!  It's starting to take shape!

I used twine to connect it all together.  I punched two holes in each piece, then fed a loop of twine through each hole and tied it in a knot:

So far, so good.  I hung it so I could work easier on the next part:

To dress it up a bit, I added pieces of Halloween ribbon and black and purple tulle:

And there you have it!  My very own Happy Halloween banner!

This was really simple, and fun, too!  Keep checking back for more Halloween ideas.  I have two weeks left until our BYOP Party, so I'll be sharing game ideas, craft ideas, more decorations, goodie bags, and, of course, food!  If you missed the invitations, you can check out that post here.

By the way, in case you haven't heard - I'm hosting my FIRST EVER LINKY PARTY!  That's right!  Beginning next Tuesday, October 4th, you can link up to {Not So} Tough Tuesdays right here!  Mark your calendars - and for the full details, check out my post with all the 411 here.

See you tomorrow!

Linking up to these fabulous blogs:
Somewhat Simple's special Halloween linky party

Ginger Snap Crafts
The 36th Avenue
Nest of Posies

Weekend Recap - Fall Fun!

Friday was the official FIRST DAY OF FALL!  I'm am really looking forward to Fall this year - cooler temperatures, beautiful colors, Halloween and Thanksgiving!  I love it!

Saturday Marley had a lacrosse game, and when it was over, we got out and enjoyed the Fall weather.  It was a beautiful weekend here, so we went to the Chattahoochee Nature Center.

The butterflies and bumblebees were very active, which made for a gorgeous display.

The Chattahoochee Nature Center is a certified bird rehabilitation center, so every bird in their many aviaries is either in the process of being rehabilitated or is too hurt to survive on their own.

There are two ponds at the Nature Center as well.  The fish and turtles are so acclimated to people that they swim right up to you when you walk out to the dock.  This little guy really liked Marley.  :)

Also this weekend, Marley made a card for our sweet friend Jordan who I mentioned last week.  He is moving to the Shepherd Center today to begin his own rehabilitation.  He has a long road to recovery but his faith and his will are strong, and his support system is HUGE!  So I know he'll do very well.  Please continue to pray for him and his family.

And my mom stopped by to visit for a little while.  She is leaving Wednesday to travel for almost three weeks with her best friend, my godmother.  They are driving across the country and back, stopping in various locations along the way.  The only stop they scheduled is in Albuquerque for the Hot Air Balloon Festival.  I'm so jealous!  We'll be skyping along the way, and I know she'll take TONS of pictures!

We had a relaxing weekend over all - much needed after the stress of last week.  Marley and I worked on our Halloween party banner so you'll be seeing that in the coming days.

Also, in case you missed it, I mentioned in a previous post that I will be hosting my first ever Linky Party very soon!  Look for more details tomorrow!!!  And spread the word!

See you tomorrow!

The Simple Things

This is what happens when Marley and I start crafting....

We were working on decorations for our upcoming Halloween party, and we noticed that some of our scraps looked a little like mustaches...  Then Marley decided we needed matching unibrows!  :)

I love this kid!  She keeps me young!

Linking up to this fabulous blog:

Simple As That

Broken...with A Ray of Hope

In our internet environment, while browsing cute blogs, I think we sometimes forget that the people writing these blogs are real people, with real problems and real stress.  We get so caught up in the cute-ness of the blog that we easily forget that there is a real life being lived in the background.

Allow me to be transparent.  Honest.  And yes, at this point in my life...broken.

My family and I have been through a lot in the past year.  We are still dealing with a lot of stress, some of which I hope to see come to an end sooner rather than later.  And when it's over, I promise I will share that story.  For now, though, I simply ask for your prayers.

My faith and my family are truly the only things keeping me going on a day-to-day basis.  You always hear people say that God will only give you as much as you can handle.  And every time I hear that, my immediate response is, "Well, I wish God didn't think so highly of me."

Over the past year, I can honestly say that I have all but given up on more than one occassion.  I have literally collapsed to the floor, fallen on my knees in tearful and heartfelt prayer.  Do I feel better afterwards?  Usually not.  But I know my prayers are heard.  And I know, without a doubt, that all of this is a means to an end - a plan that God has for me and my family. 

I may not see the big picture now, and I may never see it, but I know it's in the works.  His plans are greater than my own, and He is so much stronger than I can ever hope to be.

I read my devotion today and it was so perfect, so allow me to share a little piece of it with you:

"I always find hope in the fact that God promised that He would always be with us. When we come to Christ, He fills us with His Spirit, and that Spirit of the Lord will be sufficient in the day of the crisis. He does not give us strength for tomorrow's crisis today. He gives us strength for the crisis when the crisis time comes." - Right From The Heart

I never really thought about it that way, so I welcome this new perspective.  God will get me through this - day by day.  I don't need to worry about tomorrow or even 6 months from now.  I just need to focus on today, and rely on the strength that God gave me to get me through it. 

For His grace is sufficient.

And in case you could use a little blessed reassurance - these verses have helped me so many times.  I've saved them in my memory, and repeat them whenever I feel myself getting overwhelmed.

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may life you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.

Be alert and of sober mind.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standind firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast.  To Him be the power for ever and ever.

Amen."

1 Peter 5: 6-11

One last prayer request please.  I have a dear friend who has fallen from about 30 feet up while working Monday afternoon, and he's very badly injured.  He's only 22 years old, and his vitals are strong.  However, he suffered a broken pelvis, a broken L1 vertebrae, several broken ribs, and a ruptured spleen.  He has undergone 2 surgeries already - one to stop the internal bleeding from the spleen, and the second to fuse 6 vertebrae together.  Tomorrow he undergoes surgery #3 to pin his pelvis together with a plate and several screws.  Please pray for him and his family - they are an extension of my family and I love them dearly.

This is my friend and his "baby" :)

God bless, and forgive me if this is too negative for some of you.  This is me.  In all my honesty and transparency.

I hope to see you all tomorrow - with sunshine & lollipops.  :)

Pantry Organization Part 1 - Lunch Station

So, I've decided to take on the task of organizing my pantry, piece by piece.  This all started out of my guilt at the horrible snack/lunchbox choices I made right before school started.  I was so excited about the deals I got at Costco that I neglected to make the healthiest choices.

See what I mean?  Chips, cookie assortment...  Some of it was OK - fruit cups and gummy fruit chews, but still....

I also didn't like those big huge boxes from Costco, so I started thinking about how to make it more aesthetically pleasing and filled with healthier lunchbox snacks.  Here's what I did:

First, I measured the space I had to work with so I could buy containers to fit it.  I also took into account exactly how this space would be best utilized.  Marley makes her own lunches now so I wanted to make sure everything for lunch was in one spot - bread, plastic utensils, etc.

Then, I shopped.  I found these great containers for less than $6 at Wal-mart:

They are meant for shoe storage, but I like them for my purpose, too.  They have drawers to make it easy for Marley to get to her snacks, and they snap together.

Once I got my new snacks and new storage ready to go, I cleaned out the pantry.  It's always good to have a helper, too:

Dakota took the boxes to the recycle bin after she made sure I got all the food out of them.  :)

When I stocked up on snacks, I also stocked up on Ziploc bags.  Here's a sample of what I got:

Since part of my problem with my pantry before was with all the boxes, I got rid of those - hence the Ziploc bags.  I poured all the Goldfish into one big gallon bag and grabbed a 2/3 cup scoop - perfect size for the snack bags.  I separated all the Goldfish into snack-size Ziploc bags to make lunch prep easy and quick.

I did the same thing with the graham crackers.  The portion size is 2 whole crackers, so I put 2 crackers in each snack-size bag.

I'm also going to put some peanut butter into little plastic containers to send with the graham crackers - just haven't gotten that far yet!

I put all those individual bags of healthy snacks into my new storage containers, put plastic spoons and forks into big cups, and set up our nice, new, organized lunch station!

See!  Bread - check!  Fruit - check!  Snack-sized bags of lunchbox goodies - check!  Utensils - check!

Soooo...much better.  And much easier on the eyes :)

(And yes, we have 3 trash cans.  One holds our 40 lb. bag of dog food, one is trash, and one is recycling.)

As you can see in the title of this post, this is Part 1 to my Pantry Organization posts.  I inspired myself with this lunch station re-do, so I will be tackling the rest of my pantry in small sections, and I'll be posting those in later posts.

Maybe this has given you some inspiration - for healthy snacks AND organization!

See you tomorrow!