Pretty Paper Blog

Do you like Velveeta?  Do you like Prizes?

Click HERE and check out Candid Carrie’s Contest!

Things I love:

Flowers seem to be a major theme for me lately.  I can’t help myself, I love them, so I put them on everything!  Layouts, cards, altered projects…I can’t help myself.

The best thing about a homemade card:

P.S.  Today is an important day!  VOTE!

I’ve been admiring decorated Barn Stars for awhile now.  I’ve seen them painted, covered with paper,  distressed or stenciled…each very unique and beautiful.

For the past couple of months, every time I’ve visited a craft store, I kept my eyes peeled for Barn Stars.  I finally found a couple quality metal stars that were about 14 inches across.  There were only 2 left (around $5 each) so I snagged them both.

I thought it would be so fun to cover one of them with my beloved Graphic 45 paper as an altered project.

It was not as easy as I planned, only because it took me a little while to measure the sections that I wanted to cover with paper and then cut them properly.  Once all the pieces were cut, it was pretty darn easy.

I used Mod Podge to glue the paper to the star and then again over the top of the paper to seal the deal.

Now that it’s finished, I wish I would have sanded the edge of the paper and maybe added a little paint. Oh well,  I still have one more to experiment with.

Here’s the before picture:

Here’s the after picture:

What do you think?

The cuteness begins!  Above is my little niece Kayla the Pumpkin Witch.  She does not like her photo taken so I had to sneak one in while taking a photo of “The Pumpkin”.

This next photo is of my kids with their cousin…I took a few and in all of them at least one of the kids was looking away…in this one it was Parker.

Here’s one of Parker the Astronaut, complete with Jet Pack.  Izabelle was a Werewolf but could not wear her scary face around the little ones.  If you’d like to see her scary costume click HERE.

Kayla and Parker caught in a Halloween hug.

This is one of my favorites…My friend Carrie’s little boy Kade the Pirate.  In this photo he was saying: “Walk the plank!”

I finished up my Halloween with my Sista’s at Paradise Scrapbook Boutique:

Remember all of Grandma’s Costume Jewelry?  I do.  I spent hours with my cousins playing dress up.  We’d be so glamorous with our fake pearls and diamond earrings.

I found a fun way to use an old brooch on a scrapbooking layout.  Definitely not one to go inside an album (way too bulky) but perfect for a page displayed in a shadow box or on canvas.  Now this is some vintage bling with a new ring.

Have a fantastic Halloween!

Love, Christie

Gayla is having a “We Were the 80’s” day over at her blog “Where’s My Angels”.

I’m simply playing along…

In no particular order, when I think of the 80’s I think of:

But mostly, when I think of the 80’s, I think of BIG HAIR and BRACES!

My friend Laura and I…shameful but true.  It looks like I’m wearing drapes or wall paper. I think I had a bed spread with the same floral print.

And my all time favorite….I can’t believe I’m actually posting this photo…

To my credit, it was the fourth of July and I was trying to add “blue” to my red with the hideous bandanna.  But pay close attention to the bangle bracelets and very high bangs.  Sheesh.  I was totally the 80’s!  The only thing I had going for me in the 80’s was my naturally curly hair.  I never had to get a perm.

Now I’m truly embarrassed.

Hope you enjoyed the laugh!

Love, Christie

There’s nothing like a good swap, and Cyndy’s charm swap was no exception.  There is no way that I will be able to use all of these lovely charms by Halloween, so I thought, what better way to display them than to hang them on a Halloween tree?

My kids loved the idea and helped me hang them.  It’s kind of like a Christmas tree…but not.  I will say that after we were finished decorating the Halloween tree my kids wanted to watch the Nightmare Before Christmas.  Hmmmm…I still have the “This is Halloween” song stuck in my head.

I hope you have a lovely day,

Christie

These are delicious right out of the oven:

And if you like them steaming hot…they’re even more delicious with butter:

This recipe is also perfect for those mini loaf pans.  It makes a fantastic holiday gift.

This recipe made 20 cupcakes + 4 mini loaf pans.

As promised, a recipe for DELICIOUS Pumpkin Muffins:

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins (or bread)

3 cups flour

5 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2  teaspoons salt

3 cups sugar

1 (15oz.) can pumpkin

4 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup orange juice

1 cup cranberries (I used craisens)

Preheat oven to 350

grease and flour pans (I just used paper cupcake holders)

In large bowl mix together flour, pie spice, baking soda, and salt

In large mixing bowl combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, oil, and orange juice and beat until just blended - and pumpkin mix to flour mixture, stir until JUST moistened. Fold in cranberries.  Spoon batter into pans.

Bake for 30-35 minutes

Cool completely on a wire rack.

Note:  For the mini loafs, I cooled the oven to 325 and baked them for 65-70 minutes.

Enjoy!

Love, Christie

I’m taking a few days off my blog-sphere addiction to spend some quality time with these cuties:

And this cutie:

My husband has a goofy reputation on my blog (you are goofy honey).  Yes, those are candy corn in his mouth.  I better post a normal picture of him, that way he’s not too mad at me:

Seriously.  He’s not always goofy, only 99.9% of the time.

I think I’ll spend a little time with my K9 friend too…

His face just says “I need love”.

I’ll be back posting in a few days…I’ve got some new crafty ideas to share and a fun pumpkin muffin recipe too!

Be back soon!

Love, Christie

This is why I love the city I live in.  The trees.  There is rarely a street that is not completely lined with trees.  Trees, trees, everywhere.  Every shape and size.  I love living in this City.

I miss the trees when I go away…there are always here to welcome me back.  You can tell every season just by looking at the trees.

Fall is my favorite season, I’m sure because of this city and the gorgeous colors the trees produce.  The trees here define my hometown, they are glorious!

Go Check out CANDID CARRIE for more great Friday Photos posts!