live . craft . learn

halloween invites

on the 29th we're hosting a halloween costume party and i've been working on our invites for the last two days and finished them this morning. i keep thinking that i should wait til everyone gets them before i share here {most went out today} but i'm not that patient. lol

for the last few weeks i've been planning and scheming, spending probably way to much time searching online for invite inspiration. i knew i wanted to do something with specimens and eyeballs and it all started when i saw this post at the martha site. cauliflower never looked cooler, right?

so i gathered the supplies yesterday {total cost for 15 invites was about 30. or about 1.87 each} and put them all together this morning in about 3 hours.

supplies needed : small spice jars {cost plus}; slimy eyeballs {local party store}; hair gel {cvs}; scrap paper {on hand}; vintage spooky girl pic {on hand}; sewing machine; pinking shears.

the one part that took the longest was trying to figure out what i should use for the embalming fluid so that the eyeballs would seem to float in the liquid. at first i was thinking tinted water or jello, then i had an epiphany and remembered "depp" hair gel and how awesome it was for 80s mall bangs, remember that? plus... it comes in different colors. perfect!

i used the cheapest hair gel that i could find in a mellow yellow hue. my local cvs has these HUGE bottles with squirts tops which helped make the jar filling super fast & relatively easy, thank goodness! i bought two bottles and used about 1.5 of them for 15 small spice jars.

the rest will go towards turning the little man into a mini max headroom.

 first i filled the jars about half way with the hair gel and then i added the eyeballs. i tried to place them so that they were pointing in the same general direction.

 then i filled the jars the rest of the way to the top, tap to get rid of any excess air bubbles, and add more gel if needed. seal.

 the invites are made with a photo-shopped picture of three little girls. i added blacked out eyes by simply creating a new layer and filling a small oval with black. then i duplicated the black oval 5 times and rotated it to cover each girls individual eye socket.

creepy, isn't it?

then i sewed the pic over the top of a piece of kraft paper that i printed the party info on & added the little saying banner to the top. the party info & our personal info is underneath {which is why i didn't take a pic} but it basically says :

we hope to SEE you ...
at the yeary costume party
october 29th
{blah blah personal info blah blah}
horror d'oeuvre, true blood & witches brew will be served
adults only please
children will be roasted & fed to the ghouls

i am so happy with how they came out!

happy wednesday!
xo

the bean

i found this in a friends facebook feed over the weekend. our sweet bean, 7 years ago.

the cheeks. the belly. the wrists!

this brings back so many memories of hanging at the kirk's, when co & i had only two little babes and wednesday mornings to fill with crawling babes and laughter. now our girls are in second grade and are followed around by little brothers with light sabers.

of course, now we also get girls night, so bring on the el cocqui & sangrias girls!!

happy tuesday!
xo

just a little bit more aware

listening:  just a little bit : maria mena
eating:  nothing
drinking:  newcastle
wearing:  paint splattered jeans + red gap boyfriend tee
feeling:  content + alive
weather:  perfect
wanting:  more afternoons like this
needing:  to get back to the art table
thinking:  about hosting a halloween masquerade
enjoying:  my quiet house
wondering:  when the hubs will be home

thanks sweetie, loved seeing this on your blog & being inspired to do tonight. xo

face painters are so cool

the little man. seriously one of my all time fav pics of him.

my unicorn loving bean.

 

me and my crazy partner in crime, t.

happy tuesday!
xo

parental downtime

A few weeks ago the man and I were invited to a surprise birthday party for one of his father's friends in celebration of his 60th birthday. It was a stunningly beautiful weekend in sf and we stayed in at the Handlery in the coolest room with a balcony {very rare in downtown sf!} about a block west of union square.

hello little people

It's been quite a few years since we've been away together and it was so wonderful. The birthday boy had over 75 of his closet friends surprise him at a sweet restaurant at pier 39. There were friends there that he met in grade school, high school, college, business, etc and we got to hear some really touching stories.

But the thing that i kept thinking during the evening, in between sipping my lemon drops :), was how amazing it must feel to have a crowded room like this to help celebrate the beauty of your life.  That is what it's all about. the relationships you build and hold onto. 

One Sunday we slept in, oh what a treat!, and then tripped around sf checking out the tulip fields in golden gate park with lunch at capurro's after a trip down lombard.

 

it was serious parental downtime and so what we needed.

happy thursday!
xo