I looked around this morning and found a few spots that needed a little last minute Halloween sprucing up. It’s not too late!

Oh, the other rooms were ready for the day but that one wall in my room was just a bit too…hmmmm…boring. Yes, that’s the word.

Not acceptable!!

There were just enough scraps from Lily and Beckham’s Halloween bags to toss together a pretty little banner and believe me—it was incredibly simple.

All you do is:

Cut Halloween scrap fabric into strips about 1 inch by 7 to 9 inches. The length wasn’t perfect science–just approximate measurements were fine.

Loop each strip around a piece of cord, rope or in my case–clothes line. I used about 4 feet of it.

Carefully pull the two ends of the fabric behind the rope and through the loop…

then gently tighten it like a tiny little neck tie. Ohhhh…sooo….cute!

Keep adding the knotted strips until you have the length of banner you need.

And POOF!

Previously boring wall–cured!

:} Oh, and the sweet “Happy Halloween” banner with the spooky skulls? Why, it’s from my clever little daughter’s blog–Prairie Grass Patterns.

How’s that? Two cute things for the price of one! Oh, wait…they’re both free. Bonus.

Happy Halloween my friends!

We thought about making the trip to a real, live pumpkin patch this year…

but Lily and Beckham went with their Pre-school class last week.

So I had to wonder if they’d think our funny, little- bitty patch was…you know…lame.

After all, what could possibly be exciting about 4 or 5 pumpkins growing in the backyard after seeing one of the real true Linus type pumpkin patches?

As it turns out, there just seems to be something magical and lovely about stomping around in a nearly forgotten, spent garden…

to find just the right pumpkin. The one that feels like it has always been yours.

The one that feels like it already has your name carved on it…somehow.

Kinda made our patch feel very, very real…after all.

:}

EVER.

Feel free to swipe it.

:}

Once again, the Halloween Party was a big hit!

Click on any of the pictures to make them bigger.

What are you going to be for Halloween…hmmmm?

:]

Now, if you’re an old timer to Gracious Rain you may be sayin’ “Whoa, Nellie–you already made this sweet, little garland a couple of years back!”

And I would say back to you–”That’s right…sort of.”

First of all, the last candy garland got eaten by “woodland creatures” so a new one was in order.  This time, it’s much easier to make. Seriously, took about 20 minutes start to finish.

Just a simple crochet chain stitch and every 10 stitches I wrapped the loop around one end of the taffy, pulled it tight and kept right on going. Cinchy.

However, if you have a house with little people in it, like we do, you’ll have to either hang it up high or just be ready to have it nibbled on by the critters.

This time–I’ll take my chances with the outdoor squirrels.

:}

When the Bald Kid was in 8th grade, he decided to shave his head–as a joke–for the last day of school. He liked it so much that he kept it shaved for the next 5 years.

People asked me if he’d been sick and all his hair fell out, or if he was in the army or something–all the time. I’d have to tell them that he was just a kid and he was healthy as a horse, but that he just liked having no hair. It was a certain look he was going for, I guess.

For him, the look meant basketball shorts, huge T-shirts, colored high tops…and being bald.

Always…and everywhere.

What I didn’t know, however, was that he was becoming quite well known for his…look. So well known, in fact, that when Halloween came around…

one of his good friends came to school, dressed up…

as HIM–

shaved head and all!

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” or in this case, a good excuse to shave your head.

Silly, silly boys.

:}

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Happy Birthday Jacob!

This moment.

A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from our lives.

A simple, special, memorable moment.

A moment I want to pause, savor and keep close to my heart.

If you are inspired to do the same–leave us a link in the comments.

Happy weekend my friends.

These–warm one minute–snowing the next–days of Autumn have called for some sweet little additions to the baby girl wardrobe. Something that works so well with layers and tights and fluffy boots, but also would look simply smashing with just a T-shirt was in order. Once again, I give you…

another installment of the Lazy Days Skirt from Oliver and S. It’s the same one we used last Halloween because it’s just so darn simple. So simple, in fact, that I made two at the same time. One for the baby of the house with black ribbon on the bottom…

and one for Princess Peach (aka Lily), with cream ribbon on the bottom. They work up so fast and look so adorable, that I’m rummaging through the fabric stash with big plans for Thanksgiving…and Christmas…and Hanukkah…and New Year…and Valentine’s Day…and Easter…and 4th of July…

and Halloween. I want to be ready, you know?

:} To download your own free copy of the Lazy Days Skirt just click right  HERE

This Halloween moment…

A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from our lives.

A simple, special, memorable moment.

A moment I want to pause, savor and keep close to my heart.

If you are inspired to do the same–leave us a link in the comments.

Happy Halloween weekend my friends.

————————

Only 2 days left to enter our giveaway over at Sarah Jane Studios–where Lyndi’s Shop (Somebody’s Stuff) and my shop (greenWinkle) are being featured!! Enter-enter-enter!

Oh, it is indeed an adventure to carve pumpkins with big kids. Think what you like about what it is to let a child work on their own Jack O’ Lantern for the first time—pumpkin seeds and bits and slippery insides everywhere–I know.

But let me just tell you–all these little kids in great big, grown up bodies can indeed make the same mess if they set their minds to it. And sometimes…

some of the mayhem looks…um…dare I say…deliberate. It also seems that every year the pumpkins themselves get way bigger. You know what THAT means…

so. do. the. knives.  Now there’s spooky.

Oh, how do I leave these people unsupervised?!!

Fact is, once the nasty, really sharp things were put away and the little carving tools came out–these people were quite fascinating to watch. Everyone was concentrating so hard on what they were doing, that it was easy for me sit back and observe a bit.

Funny–isn’t it, how kid’s, even big kid’s personalities really come out…

when left alone…

with a great big, silly, old pumpkin?

:}