last-minute pumpkin carving

Have you ever had a kid beg so much to carve a pumpkin? No? I did. On Halloween night, my oldest's eyes welled up when I told him carving pumpkins was too messy and that we wouldn't be doing it. 

oh great. just give me the worst-mom award now.

I put on my big girl panties, set out some wax paper on my new table, got all the tools out and hoped for the best.

I told him to bring in the pumpkin from the front porch and instantly, I made his entire world all better. He grunted and groaned putting that sucker on the table. Then I told him he needed to sketch the face before carving into it. And he did. All without my help (I love independent kids, don't you know?) 

So I drew the face on the pumpkin, made beginning marks with the knife and let them have a go at it. The cleaning really grossed them out so I helped a lot on that step, but they wanted to do it all. They're big boys now, I suppose. 

Andrew hated cleaning out the seeds, it was terribly disgusting he said. 

But after it was all said and done, they both loved looking at their handy-work light up on our front steps. Jonah thought he needed a glowstick as his hat. 

This bending-over-backwards business of being a mom, isn't so bad. Just look at those smug-heads. 

the all-seeing door

A few weeks after move in day, we received a package of boxes at our doorstep. They sat on the dining floor about a week before I opened them. They were padded boxes for a receiver from the previous owners I guess. And there they sat, on my dining room floor, for forever it seemed. I would always forget to take them with us when we recycle on the weekends and I was just tired of seeing them there. So, unpretty.
One weekend morning, Andrew woke up talking about eye-clops because he had finally seen the inside of the boxes. I've no idea what the child really meant, but it ignited a genius idea in my head. Why not make something out of them? And what better way to reuse such useless things than to decorate my house with them for Halloween?
So I introduce you the All-Seeing front door of the Witty house!

Like I seriously threw out the boxes and did. not. take a picture to show you these boxes. I've never seen any like it. I just spent 15 minutes searching for a pic of what one would look like. But no. Only the weird happens to me. 

But imagine a box full of these blue squishy, half-spheres surrounding each of sides of the box. It would be fun to walk on them if they covered my floor. 

And since they were all blue, I imagined it was ok to spray paint some green and yellow to change up the iris a bit. Then, I cut out a circle from a flat piece of cardboard and used it as a stencil to make the black part (pupil). Andrew helped me with this project so it was pretty easy.  

Next, I cut out 10-inch circles from white cardstock and glued the eyeballs on to them. 

And then came the installation. The boys loved sticking them onto the door with my perfect guidance for their layout. Because if they had any say in it, there would be random eyeballs all throughout the house. No thanks, guys. 

The boys brag to everyone they see (even strangers) about the eyeballs on our front door. Everyone that has come to the house has raged about them too. I think they're pretty great. Not bad for a free Halloween project, huh? 

The house even has magical Halloween powers, you guys! It makes cobwebs complete with its own spiders! 

And you guys, nobody is more critical about my front steps than me (I?) But to put it in perspective, we've only been here 4 months and eventually the time will come when the front door gets a good makeover.

Can you say green door and freshly stained steps? I sure can.
Halloween is coming! And this week I finish our costumes. Yes, we will ALL be going as something this year and I can't wait to show you! 

halloween at the witty house

you guys, let it be known that i love this holiday. it's my favorite month too. in fact, my 7 year anniversary is coming up in about a week. but really, all the kids care about is that halloween is coming. the boys were so ready with their costumes the first week of the month!

and since we have a neeewww house, i figured it was the perfect time for the holidays to show up so i can decorate it! :) nothing too fancy, nothing too pinterest-ey. you know, easy peasy stuff that the boys can help me with.
so i cut out some bats, strung some lights, and bought creepy stuff for a dollar at the dollar store.

it is not cohesive or impressive by any means, but we love it and that's what counts. i want them to remember that their home was decorated specifically for them. at night, they comment on the fake bats. and that blasted skull on the window sill has heard me squeek every now and then.

and for two weeks straight, we have had dinner by candlelight. it has been amazing! 

if you didn't know, we didn't have a dining table for two years. after moving into this home, we were handed down a table and we have yet to find chairs for it. we make do with what we have but i'm just grateful we have a table! maybe one day i'll blog about that beautiful bench (not pictured) my handy husband made and the quilttop cushion my MIL sewed. 

but right now, if you have a table, gather some candles and light them up at dinner time!

ah! see!! there's that bench, quilt top cushion and matching table runner!!! oooh and a clean table!

and i got my cute little skeleton body out of storage again. last year, the boys decorated some fake pumpkins at Michael's. i spraypainted them black and white this year and then hand-painted a sugar skull design. now they look decent and presentable. now they'll last forever. and now La Catrina stands at my front porch in between the real pumpkins! i think she needs a head dress though. some color would look nice, me thinks.

and moms, wanna try something fun for your kids lunchbox? scare them to giggles with a juice box mummy! (sorry, i didn't mean to sound like an infomercial) i made these last year and the kid still loves it! easiest project, i swear. just get some athletic tape + juice box + and a pen! (don't forget to detach the straw before you mummify it!)

i'll post again this weekend for a look at my front steps. you wont be able to take your 'eyes' off it. haha, you'll get it...

so, do you love decorating your house? do you do it for yourself or for your kids? i love seeing how people decorate their homes on their Instagram! let me see yours!