Favourite Things Friday

Happy Friday Friends.
And Happy Halloween!! Who's going Trick or Treating tonight?? 
Can you believe that mid term is almost over already? I'm not looking forward to early mornings and homework again. Boo! We've had a busy week here. Crafting away and decorating for halloween. I'll be sharing all out decoration next week. I've got an exciting link up/ photo challenge on the blog this month called #30thankfuldays2014. All the details will be up on the blog {here}. If you don't follow me  on Instagram or Facebook be sure and do now. The link up/photo challange will be happening on my social media sites over the next 30 days.

Here are this weeks Favourites!

They're all Halloween themed this week.

Favourite Party Games

Favourite Decoration

Favourite Link party

Favourite Lunch Idea

Favourite Pumpkin Carving tips

Now, I'm off to bake some Halloween goodies and get ready for a little party and Trick or Treat night.

Happy Fright Night Friends!

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#30thankfuldays2014 photo challenge/link up

Did you guys see my Thankful Tree in yesterdays post? If not head on over now and have a look { here }. Keeping in line with being thankful, I decided to run a little photo challenge/ link up, where I will be sharing photos on my social media sites of what I'm thankful for. Starting tomorrow, October 30th, I'm going to be sharing and using the hashtag #30thankfuldays2014, so I can see all the things you lovely people are thankful for.

When the 30 days are up, it will be Thanksgiving in America. I know we don't celebrate the holiday here in Ireland but I thought it was a good idea to do it at this time of year. In my house we have lots of birthdays and Christmas in the next 2 months. That is alot to be thankful for but it also alot of stress. So, I'm hoping that this challenge will remind me of what I have to be thankful for. 

At the end of the 30 days, I'm going to have a link up on the blog. I will do a post, where I'm going to share my favourite photos from the challenge. Which ones meant the most to me and made me the most thankful. It could be all of them or just one. It's totally up to you.

So, spread the word and join in. The more people we have, the more fun it's going to be. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and lets share all the amazing things we have to be thankful for in our lives.

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Thankful Tree. A New Tradition

We don't celebrate Thanks Giving here in Ireland.

We don't have a history with the holiday.

But I've decided this year we're going to have our own kind of Thanks giving in our house.

{Sorry about the bad photos, I really need to get my big girl camera out} 

It's very easy to get lost in the every day run of things and forget what we have.

To forget that we have a lot to be thankful for.

We forget the small things, like family, friends, our health.

These are all things that I am very thankful for.

I collected some branches before Halloween last year and I've been using them all year on my seasonal table for different holidays.

I'm going to use these branches to make our "Thankful Tree".

What you'll need:

Branches

Coloured paper (to make leaves)

String/ribbon

Hole punch

Get your coloured paper, I used autumn colours, and cut out leaf shapes.

Use the hole punch and make a hole in the leaf.

Take a piece of string or ribbon and tie a loop on each leaf.

Get a sharpie or pen and write what you're thankful for on each leaf.

I'm going to try and write something on one everyday and see at the how much I have to be thankful for. The kids will get involved too but I'm sure most of there leaves will have toys written on them. Ha!

******
 I've got an exciting new link up/ photo challenge starting wednesday called #30thankfuldays2014. All the details will be up on the blog tomorrow. If you don't follow me  on Instagram or Facebook be sure and do it this now. The more people that take part, the more fun it is. The link up/photo challenge will be happening on my social media over the next 30 days.  At the end of the 30 days I will have a link up where you can put a post together with everything you've shared. It's a great way to remember. 

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Top pumpkin carving tips & templates

In preparation for our carving day next week, I'm putting together a few of my top tips for making your carving time as stress free as possible and ways to make your pumpkin last longer.

Top pumpkin carving tips:

Top or Bottom? Choose whether you want to cut a lid at the top of your pumpkin, or cut a hole at the bottom. I prefer cutting a keyhole in mine. It makes it much easier for kids to scoop them out.

source

Use a big spoon or an ice-cream scoop to scrape out the seeds and guts. 

Draw your design using washable markers. It can be removed easily later using a baby wipe.

A small, serrated blade is best to cut your design with.

Don’t panic if the kids get a bit excited and cut off the pumpkins nose by accident. You can use a toothpick to stick it back on.

Vaseline will stop your pumpkin from drying out, so rub plenty around all the cut edges.

Rub the inside of the pumpkin lid with ground cinnamon or my favourite, cloves, to give a lovely smell as the candle heats it.

If your  putting your pumpkins outside, put your candle in a glass so that the wind won't blow it out.

Place an opened packet  of silica in your beautiful carved pumpkin and it’ll make it last about a week longer without getting flimsy and old. Who would have ever thought, it’s perfect!

If your not great at free-handing faces on the pumpkins, you could use a template. There are loads on the internet and Pinterest. Here are a few of my favourites. Here and here.

Do you have any tips that I've missed? Don't be shy! Share them in the comments so that we can all learn the secrets.

If you like what you see, be sure to pin it or share on Facebook or twitter.
I would be ever so grateful.

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Autumn Paper Plate Wreath

I promised you all a quick and easy craft today and here it is.
{A little later than I hoped}

"Autumn Paper Plate Wreath"

This was so fun to do. We had so much fun collecting all the pretty leaves. Trying to find as many colours as possible and learning all about autumn and what happens in the season. I love how you can make an everyday thing into a learning experience for kids.

We had planed to do this with the leaves that we collected but it just wouldn't work for us. I think our leaves might have been too dry. We decided to use some colourful tissue paper ( Tesco for €3) instead and the kids were much happier. Happy kids = Happy Mom.

All you need is:

Leaves/ Tissue paper

Paper plates

Glue 

String

Cut the center of the plate out so it looks like a wreath.

Attach the string to the wreath.

Let your kid go crazy with the glue and stick the leaves/tissue paper onto the wreath.

Let it dry and your done.

Hang you kids awesome wreath on the door or window and admire nature indoors.

Make sure to click the link below for more beautiful paper plate wreaths.

Click here

Make sure to keep the middle of the paper plate. I'll have another craft later in the week that you'll need it for. 

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Favourite Things Friday

Happy Friday Friends!!

It's been awhile. I've been pinning away like crazy and I just to sit down and share some of the amazing things I came across. In other blog news, I'm going to be sharing a cute craft on Monday and all you need are some colourful fall leaves and a paper plate. Can you guess what it is?? Check back Monday to see what it is or follow me on Instagram or Facebook to keep up with all our ramblings. Anywho, Enough chit chat, here are this weeks favourites.

Let me know your favourites in the comments below. Don't be shy! :)

Favourite Kids Craft

Favourite Table Centerpiece

Favourite Printable

Favourite Look

Favourite Halloween DIY

Favourite Laugh

Have an amazing weekend friends.

Spend it with the ones you love.

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