P.........ractice safe eating. Use condiments!

Two of our friends are known for their creativity and sense of humor. At no time of the year is that so apparent as Halloween when they create their new costumes. This year they've outdone themselves and decided that this would also be the picture on their Christmas card, (I think they may have a different sentiment on that card than their present "theme") and we were invited to take the pictures. You'll see them in full regalia to the right. With the help of the manager at our local JoAnn's store, they whipped these up much more quickly than you would imagine.

Then they insisted that I try on the mustard costume, so I'm in the second picture. DH insisted that he couldn't put on the ketchup outfit because he had to hold the camera....right....sure!

We're tempted to send these photos on to the Mustard Museum right here in Wisconsin. The "curator" there has a great sense of humor as well.

The photo shoot was done with much quipping and laughter, especially when the wind adjusted the mustard costume and their was some reference to Mustard Gas.

We feel blessed and certainly happy to have these dear friends!

S.........eeing Pink Elephants!

Amigurumi, small crocheted animals and other objects is one of the fortes of Melissa from http://madebymelissa.etsy.com She's the Etsy Blogger of the Month and it certainly is a great month to visit her shop! Besides darling amigurumi animals, such as this pretty pink elephant, and other beautifully crocheted items, she features hand made jewelry, including Halloween items. Besides, she's having a terrific sale on the "spooky" items, just in time for your celebration. Please take a minute to enjoy her shop; it's great fun!

H.........appy Haunting!

Halloween has always been one of my favorite times of year. It is, for the most part, a light-hearted, even humorous holiday, and I find it inspires universal creativity. So when the Etsy Bloggers Carnival suggested telling about Halloween at our house, I thought I'd show one of my greeting cards, an original design, just for this occasion. Here I made use of inky black silhouette paper for the carved pumpkin, with a base of other colorful jack-o-lanterns. My favorite part is the little spider hanging in the upper right hand corner. Hope you receive many cards, treats and a few chuckles this year!

T.........he Big Dig

Bang!! Bang!!! Bang!!!! I jumped about three feet at 7:30 am. I knew that construction workers had arrived but didn't know they needed to take a sledge hammer to the bricks on back of the house that soon. Our new kitchen had begun! After I had picked myself up, we ran out to see the first steps which included ther use of some very large and interesting machines. How they maneuvered that power shovel in such a small space was amazing and here you can see the first scoop and the finished trench. The last photo is of the workers beginning to frame up for the footings. The only glitches were a few unusual pipes that came up during the dig, which had long been out of use. Will the new kitchen/crafting area be done by Christmas? Stay tuned for more construction updates!

T..........he Scrapbook

Although my sister and I have always been close, distance makes it hard to get together as often as we would like. So I was thrilled when she invited me to her house for a few days to help her assemble a scrapbook of pictures from her retirement party. We had a great time laughing and cropping and laying out pages and you can see us with the results to the left. She's the younger, prettier one! Now we not only have memories of the party, but the joyful memories of making the book. Thank you, Jeannie, for this opportunity and for being my sister!