I know, October is over

. . . but I still have a lot of pictures of it. . . so October recapping today.  Before I get to put up all of Jovey's birthday decorations we had to take down all of this. . .

The snake skin was made by wrapping my family members with packing tape, and then cutting them out of it.  The girls really enjoyed it.  And they also liked looking down the snake and finding where their bums were obvious.  ;)  Dave's made a nice head for the snake.  😂

 The post stopped bringing my packages up to the door during the month of October.  They were always left just inside the gate.  I'm not saying it was because my courtyard was super spooky this year, but they do come to my door again now that we're in November. . . . ;)

Dave is always super proud of his pumpkin creations.  Since I kicked him off of templates he now beams about his designs.  Like, whoa, enough already.  ;) Multiple pics of his own pumpkin, and maybe he'll take one of the girls if they beg him. ;)  He found his creative calling in life.

 Miley had to make a pumpkin from a book character that she had read.  She chose Ever After High, and the character of Cerise Hood.  She did it all by herself for the school competition.  I can't say the same for all the other ones that were brought in.  Whatever.  So proud of Miley and she had fun.

It's scary how little I post anymore

Hello October, oh and hello blog.  Life is busy.  I have a countdown to Halloween on my letter board.  Miley excitedly changes the numbers every day.  I think it's causing me stress.  I'm too busy for that kind of concrete reminder.

You're waiting for some scary pics or something right?  Hmm.

I believe this photo fits that description.  I didn't even take the pic, Dave did this all on his own.  What was he thinking?  Oh I know, he thought he looked awesome in Miley's wig.  Bahahahaha.  And he even took it on my phone.  He's getting old.  He forgets that I have no problem sharing these on the blog.  He may be the only one to wear it since Miley freaks out when she puts it on. . . I don't know why.  It just creeps her out.  Weirdy.

We successfully booed our neighborhood.  Well 50% successful.  Miley and Jovey both were caught once dropping off the treats on a doorstep.  We're working on their stealthy skills.  When Jovey was caught, the people started talking to her and then she just bolted away.  Deer in the headlights for a moment.  So funny.  It had to be explained to those poor people that she wasn't terrified of them.  Friends still, ok? ;)  This is what we get for sending the novices in on their own.

Halloween decor is up, only about half up though.  I left a good portion of my bottles in storage.  I was feeling like a minimalist this year. . . which you probably wouldn't even notice.

This is the skeleton that I hung up.  Good strong knots.  He's missing an arm due to a fall last year, and someone packed him back up without bringing him to me to fix so. . .

Doggie treat.  I don't know if the girls named the dog or not.  Hmmm.  Jo needed a pic with him cause she thinks it's hilarious that he has an arm in his mouth.  She laughs every time we go in the front yard.  What a goof.  ;) The girls love the dog and think we need another one, since we have two dogs in real life you know.

Here is the tree full of arachnids.

 And this is/was Scary Larry.  My first skeleton, hanging precariously from the roof.  Dave would not let me up the ladder to secure him.  He insisted it be him.  Poor Larry only lasted two days and then he fell to his second death.  Broken in half.  The girls were distraught.  They blame their Daddy.  Who doesn't?  ;)

I think I can use a metal rod and do some surgery on his spine (he'll have great posture), but for this season he has found a new place(s) in the yard.  I didn't take any more pics, so you'll have to take my word for it.  He's now wrapped up in webs and hung from the tree with the spider, and his legs are partially buried with a tombstone in the yard.  Poor Scary Larry.  It's been a hard year on my skeletons.  My flamingo skeleton is looking just fine though, but I didn't take her picture.  I am failing with that.

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni

The weekend. . .

First we found this Italian ice place in town.  And then we found out that they close for the winter, so we are totally bummed.  I could eat it year round!  Fine, we'll be back Kilo's.

 And then came one of Miley favorite holiday traditions. . . carving pumpkins!  She loves it.  Nobody is afraid of pumpkin guts here.  Ok, well Jovey opted to paint hers instead, but that was because I don't let her use knives.

 Everyone came up with their own design.  I suggested we all do self portraits, you can judge for yourself if we went through with that plan.  Miley sketched out a lot of options, as did Dave.  Jovey and I had a different approach, just hack into it.

 Jovey was very disappointed when she no longer had space to paint.  Should have bought a bigger pumpkin.

 Miley added some blood to hers after the carving was complete.  So now her pumpkin is happy about having a head wound.

Dave went with his trademarked tooth look and some scream eyes.

I decided to carve the side of mine and then couldn't put the scraper tool down. 

Jovey was disappointed hers didn't light up, so it has a candle sitting on top of it.  That satisfied her.

Loving our spooky house this year!



*Michelangelo was Italian and he carved things. . . you know so it totally works for a title on this one. . . just in case that wasn't obvious in the beginning.

Miley's Pinkalicious room makeover

So you may be wondering where the before pics are. . . yeah, I didn't take any. . . but if you go back and look at old posts I probably took some pictures in Miley's room at some point, OR you could find my original post about decorating that room for her. . . if it exists.  Yeah, I don't know.  I'm not going to look for it either.  Just enjoy this tour without the flashback.

Here we go, be warned, there is much pink coming. . .

 There are some pillows to be finished and some drawer handles to change out, but I'd say we're pretty much done here.  

I traded out Miley's pick of paisley sheets for a calmer chevron.  That way I could keep and still use the flowered pillow that matches an 'm' painting I did that now hangs above her door (not in any pictures).

Below:  The Dream Big is wire wrapped in yarn.  The yellow flower mirror was made by me and came from THIS tutorial I found on pinterest.  Spoiler, it's made of spoons.  

The Be Awesome Today print, which Miley complained should say BE AWESOME EVERY DAY, whatever, is hung by a pant hanger covered in gold glitter.

Brittany provided the cute pic of the cute girl.  Thanks friend.

I found these two drawers at Downeast.  I made the window seat with foam, plywood, spray glue, a staple gun and some awesome fabric I scored at Joann's for 60% off.  Boom.  Easy peasy.

Now about those curtains.  I wanted to hombre dye them, and the only white ruffled curtains I could find ANYWHERE were made of synthetic fabric.  Synthetic fabrics are a pain to dye.  It's possible, but it's a pain.  I've done it before and didn't want to deal with it again.  So, I had to make them.  Sewing is not my skill.  This was a big project for me, which thankfully I survived and so did those dang curtains. I may darken the bottom ruffle a bit more, or not.  Miley's happy so maybe I'll just leave it alone.

They make the light coming in her window a soft pink, so we're swimming in pink in this room.

Here is her little dress up rack.  It's been so nice not having dress up clothes all over the room.  She's been very good at keeping things hung up and pretty in her new room.  I wanted a big mirror for her to use instead of taking the party to my bathroom.  I found one cheap at Walmart, but wanted it a tad longer.  Two mirrors it is.  It turns out I like it this way better. 

 The frames have a quote from Alice in Wonderland and a pic of the St. George Temple.  I didn't take close up pics.

Miley painted a self portrait to display.  Yes, she painted it by herself.  All choices were her own.  Everyone seems to think I do it for her every time.  Believe me, if I did it would look a little different.  ;)  

I used the iron fabric on the wall for her name.  I did this in Jovey's room previously and possibly linked it to a tutorial when I showed her room decor.  I just used the bonding paper, cut out the name and ironed it to the wall.  There's the cliff notes version.

I broke one of these mirrors and had to improvise with THIS print.  I like it better this way too.

Miley wanted pink walls.  Miley wanted pink everything.  I gave her pink flowers on her ceiling instead.  It hurts less to paint on the wall, I learned.

 I added fairy lights to this M.  I want to add fairy lights to everything now!

The gummy bear is also a night light.  I heart it so much!

Did I mention that my girl wanted sparkly everything too.  Well, we added the glitter to the wall paint.  It's hard to get a picture of, because it is a subtle effect.  Subtle, but so perfect for our sparkly kid.  When the light is perfect the walls shimmer.

I loved The Borrowers as a kid.  I decided Miley needed a fairy door in her room, hidden in the corner.  Just for her imagination.  It opens.  I put a pic from the Arrietty movie behind the door.  Miley is disappointed that it doesn't lead for real into our walls.  So much for imagination.  ;)

There you have it, casa de Miley.  Now I want to redo Jovey's room.  It's been, like two years already.  ;)  OK, maybe I'll wait awhile on that one.  She'll be getting into a real bed soon though, so times are a changing and so the decor will have to as well.  That's what I'll tell Dave anyway.