Mummies and More

Last night I came home to a surprise in the mail which is always delightful. My Aunt Kimmie painted this ceramic mummy and shipped him to me all the way from New York. He arrived just in time for Halloween and pairs perfectly with my witch. Note: Take time to randomly send someone something nice in the mail - it's the best feeling to receive something unexpected and know a sweet person was thinking about you.

I spent the evening 'skulpting' my signature skelly trophies for our costume contest at work tomorrow. Best in Show definitely deserves gold glitter. These are broken down and reconstructed from Dollar Tree garland then spray painted, embellished and placed atop dominoes. {Tags by May of All She Wrote Notes.}

Tonight I finally carved my pumpkin. Hank cut the lid (with a knotch of course!) and cleaned out all of the guts for me. I went with a goofy fella' and that's that.

Tomorrow it's all about hopping into costume, candy and watching Hocus Pocus and maybe some pumpkin spice s'mores (traditional s'mores but with pumpkin spice marshmellows by Jet Puffed - I found mine at Wal-Mart). 

Happy All Hallows' Eve EVE. 

Cemetery Tour

Last night I embarked on a cemetery tour with Hank and a bunch of Carolina alumni. We enjoyed bites catered from The Root Cellar in Chapel Hill (formerly Foster's) before touring Historic Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh... at night... with flashlights! Perfectly spooky for Halloween week. I had to break out these happy lanterns for the occasion.

We took in a lot of history about the many notable Carolina alumni buried there. We even sang the fight song together at the tombstone of Ragsdale, the man who wrote the tune. We heard a tale about an angel tombstone who lost her head at some point a couple years back. The cemetery posted missing notices and one day they randomly got a call that if they looked in the dumpster behind Winn-Dixie, they would find the head of a stone angel. They believe a couple N.C. State frat boys had her head on their mantle for a few years. In any event, the cemetery is a fascinating piece of Raleigh that I encourage you to take a tour of, and it's beautiful by day.

Oh! And we passed this insanely decorated house in Historic Oakwood that got me all levels of excited about Halloween and watching Hocus Pocus tomorrow night. 

It's getting awefully spooky around here.

Costume

As I countdown to Halloween, I've made a plan for something fun to do each night. Tonight was all about the costume. 

I crafted away so stay tuned for the full view of my 69 cent ensemble on Friday.

Halloween Week

I love a good holiday. With it being All Hallow's Eve week, here are a few of my latest Halloween happs around the house.

Fall tassel garland by Studio Mucci on Etsy.

Glass-blown pumpkin from Mom.

Cutest paper witch cups by Meri Meri. 

Skeleton needs a party hat. Hat by oh joy! for Target. Skeleton from Michael's and painted gold by me. Cheers!

Fried Everything

Oh, how I love the N.C. State Fair so. Here's my recap from today including three money-saving (and making!) tips. 

{tip one} First things first. No way to paying $15 for parking. And my favorite parking is closer than the $5 parking, so I'm all for parking near Carter-Finley Stadium where it's free. It's nearest my favorite entrance - Gate B - so I'm fine to walk but there are also open-air shuttles available. Gate B is closest to Yesteryear. I like this entrance because it's typically calmer, and you walk into an area that eases you into the madness ahead (complete with flamingos). 

{tip two} My Yesteryear journey begins at Grist Mill. It's quaint and they give you free hushpuppies. So there's that. Right near there is the Duke survey mobile where I took a 10-minute survey and made $9 (that translates to a free fair snack). And when the fair is all about 'doing this and doing that,' why not help out some college students. Back to Yesteryear: I love the fireplaces at the Tobacco Barn, the gardens all throughout that area that include Mrs. Barrell Monster and Smokey Bear, and the John Deere-made ice cream is pretty great too.

The Village of Yesteryear crafts are always good for a lap. The glass-blowing guy is my favorite. He makes awesome octopus necklace charms that look just perfect on a gold chain, but I don't know from experience or anything. 

{tip three} As for food, I'm all for whatever I can only get at the fair AND what is new, and then a tried and true. For lunch, my Dad and I hit up some of the stands near Kiddieland and had the deep-fried barbecue on a stick with dipping sauce. We were all for it. For dessert, I knew my Dad had to try the deep-fried Girl Scout cookies so we did just that. You'll probably be thirsty from all this right? Right! I threw one of my favorite big water bottles in my purse because many of the vendors offer $1 refills on any cup, any size, whatever goes. So I enjoyed my Diet Coke for just $1 (which was really free - remember that survey). Yes, yes to that. 

There is so much to see and do. We looked at pottery, produce (giant pumpkins!), animals: if it was there to be seen, we saw it. If we weren't looking at something, we were enjoying free entertainment. We got a kick out of the 'K9s in Flight' as seen on ESPN, NBA half-time shows, etc. They are dogs with skillz. Then we turned right around to watch the Pig (and duck!) Races behind us. Back to back cuteness. All of this worked up an appetite so we enjoyed a tried and true as our snack: jalapeño cheddar Wisconsin deep-fried cheese with ranch. And it was free! Yep, that survey again. We were all snacked up and ready to ride. We hopped on the adult two-person swings, Vertigo, which gives you a great view of the fair but with more of a thrill than the sweet Ferris Wheel. 

I'm always good for a souvenir from the N.C. Pottery Exhibit. Last year I got the pumpkin, this year the boo ghost. Seven hours of fair later and that's a wrap. Happy Fried Everything!

My Fall Crew

I wanted to add a little holiday whimsy to our home and after seeing these mini party hats at Target, I knew they were just what I needed to make it happen. These hats by oh joy! for Target are currently on clearance for $2.50 (set of eight). I had some fun at our local pumpkin patch picking out tiny pumpkins and gourds at 50 cents a pop. I made sure to find the gourds with flat bottoms so this trio would play nice (not wobbling around bopping one another over). I hot glued my favorite craft accessory - google eyes (from the Dollar Tree) - and this whimsy trio came to life. A $5-ish project ready to party!