Spooky Halloween Stories for Kids (with happy endings)

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I had the BEST day at work on Friday telling spooky Halloween tales to the kids in the After-School Program! We dimmed the lights, sipped hot chocolate and spooked and giggled ourselves silly.

I had searched for Halloween stories that would be appropriate for 3rd through 5th graders, but found that everything labeled "scary stories for children" either ended with severed heads or dead bodies.  I don't think so.

I searched for "spooky stories for kids with funny endings" & stumbled upon this site: Bare Bones for Storytellers that labels each story by funny, scary, etc. and found the perfect mix to share with the kiddos. Spooky story time was a HIT! And definitely the highlight of my week. Also makes a great family night activity!

Spooky / Funny Halloween Stories for Kids

*successfully tested out on 3rd - 5th graders 

**can be adapted as needed

***some stories were adapted/embellished (see the link above for the originals)

THE GRAVEYARD VOICE
John and Mary were an ordinary couple, and their children, Jimmy and Jeannie, were also ordinary, except for the fact that they lived beside a graveyard.

John walked to and from work through the graveyard every day, and never worried about a thing. When daylight savings time kicked in, and it was dark by the time he came home, however, he stared to feel very uneasy. One night as he was walking home through the graveyard, he heard a voice in the darkness saying, "Turn me over, turn me over!" He was so scared, he ran all the way home. His wife and children laughed at him and told him there was nothing spooky in the graveyard, nothing to fear.

The second night, he heard the voice again, moaning in the darkness, "Turn me over, turn me over!", and ran all the way home. And again they laughed at him.

The third night was Halloween. Clouds covered the moon, and the night was pitch black. This time, when he heard the voice, he followed it. Through trees, past bushes, down a dark graveyard path, he saw a huge marble crypt, surrounded by a wrought iron fence. He pushed the gate (cree-eeak). He walked down the steps (13 of them).

The voice was coming from behind the huge metal door. "Turn me over, turn me over." He put his shaking hand on the doorknob and turned it slowly, cree-eak . . . and looked inside.

He saw a pile of red hot coals. On top of that was a metal grill. And on top of the grill was a hamburger, done on one side. He picked up the spatula, and turned the hamburger over.

It said, "Thaaaank youuuuuu."


THE BLOOD-COVERED VAMPIRE aka THE BLOODY VAMPIRE
The vampire went home to his castle one night, flying in through the window to find a bunch of vampires waiting for him. When they saw the blood on his face, they began to get thirsty and asked: "Where did you find the blood?"

He answered: "I can't tell you - it's too embarrassing!"
The other vampires said: "Please, tell us! We are so thirsty!"
The vampire said: "Okay, follow me!"

He led them into the dark nights sky and suddenly off in the distance there was a big dark tower.
The vampire asked: "Do you see the tower?"
The other vampires answered: "Yes, we do."
"Well, I didn't!"

RUBY RED LIPS 
(somewhat more scary than the others - adapt as necessary)
Once upon a time there was a girl named Lucy who was very excited about moving to a new house. She was going to have her own room for the very first time in her life! Lucy loved her bedroom on the first floor near the back of the house by the old, oak tree. The first night her parents went to bed. Then Lucy went to bed.

She was in her room...all by herself..in the dark..when she heard a tap, tap, tap, tap outside her window. She looked outside too see a woman with long, wild, black hair, a pale white face, long boney fingers, and long red fingernails. The woman cried out, "Lucy, do you know..what I can do..with my long red fingernails...and my ruby red lips?" "NO!" said Lucy. "And I don't want to know!" She slammed the window shut and jumped in bed and pulled the covers over her head. She did not move all night.

The next night when she went to bed she heard the tap, tap, tap, on her window again..and the same woman was there "Lucy, do you know..what I can do..with my long red fingernails...and my ruby red lips?" "NO!" yelled Lucy and slammed the window. She stayed under the bed all night.

The next night when she went to bed, she heard the tap, tap, tap on her window..."Lucy, do you know..what I can do..with my long red fingernails...and my ruby red lips?" Again she yells, "NO!" and slams the window. She stayed in the closet all night.

The next night when she went to bed, she put the pillow over head, but soon she could still hear the tap, tap, tap at the window. "Lucy, do you know..what I can do..with my long red fingernails...and my ruby red lips?" Well, Lucy was TIRED, Lucy was UPSET, Lucy NEEDED to get some sleep, so Lucy opened the window and yelled, "What, what, WHAT? Every night you come here. Every night you say, "Lucy, do you know..what I can do..with my long red fingernails...and my ruby red lips?" Well, I don't know! I don't know! And I don't care! Answer the question yourself. What do you do with your long red fingernails and your big red lips?"

The creature looked at the girl, smiled hideously and slowly reached up with one of its long, long red fingernails, and reached toward its two big red lips and went "B-b-b-l-l-b-b-b-b-l-l-l-l-l-l

SHORTEST SCARY STORIES IN THE WORLD

1. A boy sat down on a park bench next to an old woman. She turned to him and asked, "Do you believe in ghosts?" "NO!" said the boy. "Well, I do," said the woman, as she disappeared.

2. A man awoke in the middle of the night, and terrified, he reached for a flashlight. It was placed in his hand.

3. The last person on earth was alone in a house. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

THE MUMMY
This is a story told by a man working late at the St. Louis Art Museum. One night, as I was closing up the mummy exhibit, the guard was called away. I promised not to touch anything and to lock up when I was finished. As I was about to lock the door, I noticed a piece of the white mummy wrapping coming loose, and reached over to tuck it back in place. Suddenly, the mummy sat up and reached toward me. I jumped and backed away, but he stood up and began to follow me. I ran out the door and he was there. I ran down the hall, and he was there. I ran over to the closet, and he was there. In a final desperate attempt to get away I crouched down underneath the staircase. I was trapped. I had no where else to go and covered my head with my trembling hands. There under the staircase, as the mummy slowly approached me, I could hear him dragging his long wrapped legs behind him. Slowly, he reached out toward me and touched my arm, and said, "Tag, you're it!"

THE GHOST WITH ONE BLACK EYE

Once there was a baby who lived with her family in a little house at the edge of town. Her favorite drink was apple juice. One stormy night, when the electricity was out, there was no apple juice left in the kitchen. 

Baby: I want my apple juice, and I want it NOW!

Father: Okay, I’ll go to cellar for your apple juice.

Father walked down the dark, creaky steps with his dim flashlight to the even darker cellar. As he opened the cellar door (creeeaaak) and began to walk inside, in the blackness he heard, I AM THE GHOST WITH ONE BLACK EYE

Father ran upstairs as fast as he could! "I don’t want to go down there any more!"

Baby: I want my apple juice and I want it NOW!

Mother – I don't want to go down there!

Big brother – I don't want to go down there!

Big sister – I don't want to go down there!

Baby gets down from her highchair and says, Fine! I'll get it myself!

Baby walks down the creaky steps to the dark cellar. As she opens the cellar door (creeeaaak) and begins to walk inside, in the blackness she hears, I AM THE GHOST WITH ONE BLACK EYE

Baby: Well, I’ll give you two black eyes if you try to stop me from getting my apple juice!

The ghost was never heard from again

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If you love reading kids actual hand held books, here are 

A Few of My Favorite Halloween Books for Kids

(Contains Amazon links. As an Amazon Affiliate I earn a small percentage of each sale)


Too Many Pumpkins

Room on the Broom

The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat: A Halloween Book for Kids and Toddlers

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

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Sew Inspirational: Great British Sewing Bee Review

I was introduced to the most fantastic sewing show, The Great British Sewing Bee, from one of my dear reader's blogs, Janlynn- Sew More and I just had to share it with all of you!

GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE

A bit similar to shows like Project Runway or Fashion Star, but a little closer to "home", the Great British Sewing Bee features home seamstresses / sewers (hobbyists, grandmothers, mothers, every day men and women), competing with one another to see who sews each project the best. And oh my, if you adore English accents (and maybe I'm also hearing Scottish?) you'll love watching the show just for the conversations!


SHOWS CREATIVE PROCESS

I've watched Great British Sewing Bee Season 1 Episode 1; Great British Sewing Bee Season 1 Episode 2 on youtube, and so far, projects have included refashioning a neckline, sewing men's trousers, making an A-line skirt, creating pockets, blouses and dresses. I love the fact that the show highlights details and the process of creating through completion, with helpful tips, instead of just showing the idea and end result.


RELATABLE

The coolest part about it, for me, is that these are real people you can identify with. Headline: Talented People Make Mistakes. What?! Even these amazing home seamstresses over-think things, overshoot simple projects, choose the wrong fabric, get stressed out, sew things on backwards and have to unpick seams. It helps remind me that to make mistakes is part of the process to success! 


INSPIRING

Watching these every day people rise to the challenge of sewing their first pair of pants, or sewing a custom fit top in just 4 hours, makes me think, "If they can do it, I can do it!" Even the greatest designers started somewhere.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch Great British Sewing Bee Season 1 Episode 3!
Three cheers for handmade!! 

Update:
Won't leave you hanging...here's Great British Sewing Bee Season 1 Episode 4 (finale)!

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Couponing in Seattle

Sorry I disappeared again. I've been clipping coupons.

During a free trial of netflix, I stumbled upon the show "Extreme Couponing". Maybe you've heard of it? There's a buzz of controversy about it these days - primarily about the extreme part.

The show was fun to watch, but I'm not the extreme type. I'm not interested in having giant stockpiles of deodorant.  I'm not diving into stinky dumpsters hoping to score a few extra coupons. I'm not buying loads of cat food when I don't have a cat because buying-it-gives-me-points-that-lead-to-free-stuff.

What I do have time for, is smart couponing to save money on groceries and other necessities. Woohoo! With my husband out of work for several months, it has helped tremendously.

Tips for couponing

I've learned so much about making the most out of couponing since I started. Myfrugaladventures.com and Thecrazycouponlady.com are great sources of information.

Here are a few valuable things I've learned that might help you stretch your dollar too!

Tip 1: Where to get coupons

• Sunday Newspaper inserts (Red Plum, Proctor & Gamble, Smart Source, some in Parade)
• Weekly local newspapers (Red Plum inserts. Check your area)
• Ask family and friends to save them for you!!
• Some libraries give out the Sunday paper for free (Check your area)
• Community recycle bins (I wouldn't recommend dumpster diving)
• Print coupons online i.e. coupons.com, myfrugaladventures.com, thecrazycouponlady.com, "like" companies on facebook, and sign up through their websites
• Look through the grocery store for manufacturer coupons next to products

You'll be AMAZED at how many coupons are floating around out there once you look for them.

Tip 2: Find coupon match-ups

Look for sites who match-up coupons with current store sales: Myfrugaladventures.com, Thecrazycouponlady.com. Or for those of us in the Seattle area: http://www.thriftynorthwestmom.com, http://www.frugallivingnw.com, http://queenbeecoupons.com; and match up your own (they don't always catch them all).

Tip 3: Match up your coupons with rock bottom prices

Paying attention to the sale cycles (see tip 4) will help you make the most of your coupons. For example, saving $1.00 on $4.00 toothpaste is good, but what if you could save $1.00 on toothpaste when it's on sale for $1.99? When you match up great coupons with great sales, you get great savings! Be sure to look in clearance sections for even hotter deals.

Tip 4: Learn store sale cycles

Did you know store sales operate on a 6-8 week cycle? At some point during that cycle certain products will hit their rock bottom price. Once you identify that, stock up and don't buy again for 6-8 weeks. If you have coupons in addition to the rock bottom prices - SCORE! *Meats are also on a cycle which rotates every 3 weeks or so (beef, poultry, pork). 

Tip 5: Stack manufacture coupons with store coupons

The best scenerio? Your store has a coupon for a product AND you have a manufacture coupon for it and what if it's even on sale?! Check your store's coupon policies to see if you can stack or double coupons. In Seattle's east side suburban area, Albertsons is the only store I've found that doubles coupons. QFC, Fred Meyer & Safeway let you stack.

Tip 6: Create meal plans around whats on sale

Instead of looking through recipes and creating a weekly plan, I look through grocery circulars and coupon match-ups and create my meals and shopping trips around what's on sale and what coupons I have. It actually makes shopping and meal planning a lot easier! 

Tip 7: Organize your coupons and shopping trips

Some use notebooks with baseball card page organizers, others (like me) use small plastic expandable folders. Use the method that works for you to organize and tote your coupons along for each trip. For an optimal couponing experience, separate each shopping trip into its own envelope with coupons and lists for each store. It has also helped me to count the number of coupons I'll be using, and have an estimate of what I'll be spending so I can tell right away if something's out of whack. Watching the register is important to make sure everything's scanning correctly!

Couponing does take time and preparation (and a stink-eye or two from impatient customers behind you), but when you end up saving 50%-80% on each shopping trip, it's worth it!

Here are a few of my favorite couponing deals so far:

$50.00 free groceries! Transferred a prescription and got a $50 credit

Paid only .50 cents for a premium package of sausage! Used a $1.00 off coupon for sausage that was on sale for $3.50 + a manager's special $2.00 off. Best sausage we've ever eaten! The better the deal, the better it tastes!

Saved over 80% on Ocean Spray bottled Juice! Paid .69 each (regularly $3.69) after sale, store promo and manufacture coupons

Paid only .70-.80 for cereal! With store deals, manufacture coupons and doubling coupons we saved big and stocked up on cereal normally priced at $4-$5 each.

Since starting my couponing adventures I've learned to look at what we eat and buy in a whole new way and it makes me feel good to know I'm saving us money.

Between getting our free Sunday paper, having my sister and mom set their ads aside for us, checking community recycle bins and printing them off online, we've got more than enough coupons to help us save.

Now does anyone have a coupon for printer paper? ;)

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Why buy Handmade? {Reasons you should}

We are the creators

the architects

the authors and fabricators

We are the inventors, the planners and producers

We are the originators, the engineers and the designers.

We are the makers of handmade

As a maker and seller of things handmade, I can tell you there's a little bit of magic that goes into everything I create. An intermingling of dreams and imagination, a dash of determination and a lot of heart. To me, it's personal.

Each item I make is made with another in mind, for one day it will find a place in someone's home. And being a perfectionist at heart? Only my best craftsmanship will do.

And for the buyer or the giver? It's personal too. Anyone can run to a retail outlet and find something that 3,856 other people have, but handmade? Handmade is one of a kind. It's like a snowflake. No two are exactly the same. And that's what makes it so special. That's what makes it so unique. That's what makes it so personal.

Our world is made up of so many amazingly creative people. It's a shame we don't know most of them, but they are out there. If you look. With their little shops, sharing the things they've created with the world.

They are people like you and like me. Instead of long commutes, it's a walk down the hall. Instead of large board rooms, they're small spaces. Instead of 8-5, they're open all hours. Instead of a marketing team, it's one creative mind. Instead of machinery, two hands carefully put it together. You're supporting a craft. You're supporting hard work. You're supporting a family. You're supporting a dream.

And I've got to tell you, there's no better compliment than someone thinking enough of what I've made to buy it and have it in their home. Sheer bliss.

So the next time you're looking for a gift for someone you love? Your mom, dad, niece, nephew, son, daughter, a new mom, a cute baby, a friend's birthday, a wedding, an anniversary, a holiday, share a little magic and shop handmade. It's like mailing a letter, instead of an email. And these days it means that much more.♥

.............................................................................

If you are a maker of things Handmade or know someone who is, share this post and spread a little Handmade love today! xo

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Low cost {Big Impact} Gift Idea: Memory Book

My sister celebrated a big number birthday this year - the big 40 - and was feeling a little less than celebratory about it.

Age has a way of creeping up on you and kicking you in the shorts. I knew just how she felt. I'd been there not long ago myself.

What to give her? No little gift would do. Not for this birthday. I wanted to give her something she would treasure. Something that would lift her up. Something that would make her feel the strength of 40 years, instead of feeling worse for wear from them.

No small order, right??

With finances tight, I didn't have a lot of options so I had to think outside the box. But you know what they say? Some of the best gifts are the ones money can't buy, or in my case, just enough money to buy a memory book to store them in.

My goal: to compile a little book of thoughts for my sister from each member of our family. I decided to help guide each response by giving it some structure.

I had each person share the top 3 things they love about her

A favorite memory with her or about her

and advice for the next 40 years

It may just be that I have the most wonderful family in the world, and yes, I'm a little biased, but their words were so touching and sincere. Who wouldn't want a book about how much people love you? 

♥ I hope this memory book will be something she'll cherish for years to come.

♥ I hope it brings her comfort when she's feeling down.

♥ I hope it lifts her up when she's not feeling good about herself.

♥ I hope it gives her a fresh perspective when she's lost her way.

♥ I hope it reminds her how much she is loved.

♥ I hope it gives her peace in her past and present and hope in her future.

I don't think a flashy new car or dream vacation can give you that. But it can't hurt, can it? hahaha

For now, I hope it's just what she needed to stare 40 straight in the face and laugh. xoxo

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Fashion Trends: Fall 2012

{Pantone.com}

I know it's hard to think about autumn while the sun's still blazing high in the sky, but fall fashion is already in full swing.

Have you seen the new color trends for fall 2012? According to Pantone.com, the top colors this coming season are: French Roast, Honey Gold, Pink Flambe', Tangerine Tango, Ultramarine Green, Bright Chartreuse, Olympian Blue, Titanium, Rhapsody, & Rose Smoke. Some of them sound good enough to eat!

And what about fall fashion trends? I always get a kick out of checking Fashion Week reveals to see what patterns, textures, colors and styles to expect for the upcoming season.

I have to admit though, in some cases I used to think, "Who do they think would really wear that?" And then I heard someone say that the runway looks are to inspire you to think of the possibilities. That made much more sense to me.

Here are a few of the upcoming trends (& a few of my fave's) for fall 2012. It'll be here before you know it!  {*Sources & photo credits: Harpers Bazaar, Marie Claire, Elle, Stylist}

Black and Navy = Together {♥} Love

Monochromatic White {♥} Dreamy

 Burgundy as the new black (Not sure I agree. I look better in black)

Hunting and Fishing / Leather and Laminates

Military  

Oversized coats and shawls (I think it's pretty - very Grace Kelly)

Intricate embroidery patterns and knit tweeds 

Other trends mentioned? Reptile print, jumpsuits, gold glitz, suits, ornate tapestry Renaissance style, velvet, bold mini-floral prints, feathers and fur accents, blanket coats, headbands and statement hats. Really? I couldn't resist ending with this one.

I do love the Oscar de la Renta headband with a dash of bling, but the hat? Looks like the head of a the giant cartoon character...but remember - it's to inspire. not to wear. I guess.

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Shannon Sews is finally on Pinterest

I know I'm behind the times a bit but I FINALLY joined Pinterest! I've been eyeing its creative goodness for a long time, but didn't want to add more to my computer time.

HOWEVER, when my husband came to me the other day and said I had almost 20 GB of "creative" pictures hogging up our computer space (oops), I knew just how to fix it. Enter Pinning.

I love to browse the internet and save pictures of cute clothes I want to make but it does grow rather quickly. You should see my internet sewing bookmarks. Gulp.

No time like the present to get a little more organized! I've only just begun, my friends, but with time my Pinterest Pins will grow.

It even prompted me to start cleaning up my blog, as you may have noticed from my "Category list" on the sidebar, or the Refashions link and Favorite Projects link at the top. I'm trying to get it more streamlined. I had like a billion labels to wade through in order for readers to find something. Shame on me. I'm trying to keep it more concise.

Happy Pinning! ♥

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What's your story?

I've been wondering lately, about you. 


I'm always yammering on about my obsession with ink blot t-shirts, what socks I'm picking out, and other ridiculous important things like that, that I haven't given you time to get a word in edgewise.
I promise, I'm really not that bad of a date.


So, I'd like to pause from my usual ramblings and find out more about YOU.

I often wonder, how many of you...

are crafters and/or seamstresses yourselves?

have your own etsy, or other online shops?

have your own blog?

like to sew or craft but just don't have the time?

enjoy other people's craftiness but aren't interested in doing it yourself?

just enjoy reading blogs?

or none of the above??

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What's your story?

I'd love to know.

{The poll is located in the upper right corner of my blog} 

::through January 31st::

click as many as apply

Nice to meet you. :)

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Fancy Cocoa Mugs

Do you love a good cup of cocoa like I do?

I have to have it with marshmallows.
Lots of them.

And it turns out, hot chocolate's even better in a fancy mug.

I picked up these mugs at TJ Maxx this summer for only .99 cents each. I call them my world traveler mugs.

I had originally intended to use them as something cute to put pens in, but that never happened. So when the weather turned colder and I spied my mugs up on the counter? Fancy hot chocolate was calling my name.

Sipping steamy cocoa in Russia

Savoring sweet chocolate in Mexico

 Chugging chocolate in Morocco

It's all in the way you look at it, no? Who knew drinking hot chocolate could be such an adventure?

Sadly, one of my favorite fancy mugs with a big red lobster on it (I've always wanted to go to Maine) got broken. I guess I'll just have to go all the way to Maine to get another lobster mug. Honey? Did you hear that? You owe me a trip to Maine for breaking my .99 cent mug. That's only fair, isn't it? :)

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Blog Swap: starring Dresden

I'm happy to have Dresden, from dresdencarrie.com, sharing her talents with us today for our Blog Swap! She was sweet enough to share a tutorial with all of us, for a darling {LOVE} pillow. Enjoy!

Hi all you wonderful Shannon Sews readers, my name is Dresden and I have a blog called dresdencarrie.

Shannon and I are doing a little blog swap and I wanted to share a quick tutorial with you.

But first, here's a little more about me. I work for Silhouette as a graphic designer and absolutely love my job! I post on my blog in my free time and wish I had a little more time to do so. I love sewing and blogging. Of course I love browsing Pinterest, come see my page and see all the things I love.

I hope you'll stop by my blog and take a look around!

This tutorial shows how to make a really cute pillow using the Silhouette SD machine, but you could easily do this without it. Just replace the next few steps with tracing the letters onto your fabric.

The fabric interfacing from Silhouette is one of my favorite products...hopefully this tutorial will give you an idea of why I love it so much!

Use the Silhouette Studio software to type out your letters and choose your font, 

I used American Typewriter.

Then iron the interfacing to the back of your fabric, remove the paper backing

and put the piece on your cutting mat.

Here are the letters after I cut them out, I love how crisp the edges turn out. Not to mention how super duper fast it is to cut them out compared to cutting them out by hand. This can easily be done by hand too, just print out your letters, trace them on or pin on and cut out.

The Silhouette doesn't cut burlap so I cut a piece of burlap large enough for each letter. If your pillow is going to be used a lot (like on your couch or around kids) I probably wouldn't recommend burlap, it frays very easily.

Iron on each letter to the burlap, the interfacing has a double sided adhesive which makes it very easy to get your pieces in the right place.

Trim around the edges, but not too close, yet.

Cut your backing fabric to the size you want and pin each letter in place.

I sewed around both sides of the burlap and also through the middle of the letters.

This is what your piece should look like once they are all sewn on, trim the excess burlap

I chose to use an envelope closure for my pillow, cut 2 pieces of fabric. The height should be the same as the front piece, and the width is about 1/2 the width plus 4". My front piece was 17" x 17" so my 2 pieces are 17" x 12". Iron along the long edge and sew down.

Place first piece right side down with finished seam toward the middle.

Lay the second piece face down with finished seam toward the middle.



Pin in place and sew around all four edges. Turn right side out and put pillow form in.

And you're done!

I love the coordinating back piece!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, come stop by my blog and say hi!

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Blog Swap: my feature

Hey all! Happy Monday!

I'm excited to be guest posting on dresdencarrie.com today! 

Stay tuned tomorrow, where you'll see Dresden herself, on my blog!

If you're interested in doing a little friendly blog swap, contact me at ssorensendesigns [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment with how I can contact you.

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Blog Swap: an invitation

There are so many talented people.

With so many wonderful blogs.

That too often go unnoticed.

Simply because there are so many talented people.

With so many wonderful blogs.

Let's give everyone a moment to shine!

Here's how it works:

• Blog swap simply means you become a guest on my blog, and I become a guest on your blog.
• We also become each others "followers", and share the guest post on our blogs/facebook/twitter.
• For our feature, we share something we sewed or crafted, with a few directions on how to make it. It can even be something you sell in your etsy shop for a little free publicity.
• We email the html content of our post (including images) to each other.
• Coordinate the scheduling of our featured posts.

If you're interested, simply contact me:

ssorensendesigns [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment with how you can be contacted

*BTW - there are no fees of any kind, just a fun way of meeting new people, growing your blog followers and sharing your talent!

Give yourself a chance to shine!

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Silpat Giveaway

Love baking?? Then you'll LOVE this giveaway!

A friend of mine is hosting a giveaway on her blog for 2 Silpat mats to one lucky follower! Woohoo!

I'm secretly, or not so secretly hoping I'm the lucky winner, but why not invite friends??

Go to Frieda Loves Bread and find out how easy it is to enter. 
Offer ends midnight 10/16/11.

Good luck to us all!

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Thrifty Finds

Where has the time gone?!

Summer vacation officially came to a close for me last week as I returned to my other job. Back to school working with the sweetest kids. It was nice to see all their cute little faces and hear how much they missed me over the summer. To be exact, "Miss Shannon I missed you a hundred and a hundred days!" Can't help but melt your heart.

It's funny how knowing you have only a week left of summer break that dormant projects suddenly get kicked into high gear!

This summer I stumbled upon some great finds I wanted to share. I loved going to estate sales and dropping by our local thrift store. You never know what you'll find.

Estate sale find: beaded ring

I just love this. Unfortunately it's a little snug so I'll have to do a little finegaling to get it to fit better.

Estate sale find: pink pearl necklace and matching bracelet

These had the Nordstrom tags still on them. Although it's only costume jewelry, it's still pretty. And I love pink.

Estate sale find: wrought iron candle stick

I love the weathered look.

Estate sale find: PartyLite bubbly glass votive candle holders

I love the texture and how the light bounces off the glass bubbles

Thrift Store Finds: Antiqued rectangular mirror, matching glasses with aqua bottoms

I was looking forever for something for our coffee table and it gives it just the right touch. [The wooden ball is from TJ Maxx (discounted isle!).]

*Stay tuned for more about this coffee table center piece in a future post about updating our front room. Want a sneaky peek? See the breezy new zippered pillow cases I made to recover our couch pillows and the new DIY Sunburst Mirror we just added to our wall. 

I filled the two matching aqua bottomed glasses with sand I collected in Maui for a personal touch, and placed a single cream candle in the bottom.

Discounted find: World Market damaged + coupon!

Do you love capiz shell hangings as much as I do? I found this one at World Market. It was the display model and had a cracked shell. He gave me 20% off, plus I had a coupon for $10 off $30. I think in the end it was about $10.99. Not bad when all the others I've seen are so much more!

The perfect spot in my sewing room.

Here are my other finds that still need a little TLC...stay tuned for their transformations!

Estate sale find: Metal frames

Purchased with the intent to spray paint. I love the metal, texture and detail. See their anqitued transformation.

Estate Sale Find: Oval Mirror

Every mirror I find is too heavy for our apartment walls, so when I ran across this lightweight plastic framed mirror, I had to pick it up. It was half off - so I only paid $2.50 for it. I'm still trying to decide what color to paint it...

Thrift Store Find: Framed French Bicycle Picture

I love this picture and could instantly see it on my sewing room wall. But first, it needs a bright coat of spray paint to contrast against the black and white of the picture. See how I transformed this into an antique blue frame.

Thrift Store Find: Rectangular mirror

Okay, so I have a thing about mirrors. I like the long rectangular shape of this one, but it needs a coat of paint. See it's makeover into a lovely robin's egg blue distressed frame with a little spray paint, sandpaper and shoe polish.

Thrift Store find: multi-picture frame

I bought this with the intent of painting it a different color. I have several vintage looking post cards I bought in Maui and want to make a collage of them. This will be the perfect frame. Stay tuned to see how it turns out.

Whew! I'll see you soon with the transformations!