Friday, October 31, 2008

Halloween Night is upon us!

Had to pull out the stops to get it all done- I wonder if Michele Obama made her daughter's halloween costume...

Last night, I burned the midnight oil to finish Henry's Sweeney Todd costume- I went to about five stores this afternoon to find a fake straight razor, albeit it is a cheezy plastic version. Oh well, atleast there will be no blood shed tonight. We had about 20 minutes for hair and make-up then he had to be out the door with his buddies- He looked great even though we struggled with the black hair gel. It was great fun teasing it out and using lots of hair spray.

After he was gone it was door to door candy begging with our littlest one-It was a balmy night for Vermont, two days after a snowstorm. Most of the snow melted making it easy to hop from porch to porch with our little dwarf warrior. It was amazing how many people knew he was a character from LOTR. Way cool.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Halloween Fun (continued)








Brian Jenkins took these fantastic photos from our party last night!




Spooktactular Fun

Yesterday, we had a party at work, for all the employees kids. My employees really rallied together with some amazing team work to create a spooky wonderland- complete with gravestone, flickering pumpkins and goodies for all the trick or treators. It sort of a shame to have to take it down today-
My photos are a little lacking- hopefully Laura will have some more that I can share.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Halloween is coming...

it's almost here...
I've got costumes to finish- but then POOF my little goblins will transform themselves into their secret inner characters:

Friday, October 24, 2008

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Off to see the wizard

My eldest son school is putting on a production of the Wizard of Oz in the spring and they have asked me to help design and build costumes. I am very lucky, because I got to pick the characters I wanted to work on- and of course they are all the dark and complicated ones: The Witch, the flying monkey and the witch guards. I will also be doing Glinda- the "good" witch-
I love doing fantasy pieces and it will be a fantastic challenge to make all these on a very limited budget- but I'm up for it! I love a good winter long project to get me through the darkening days.

Speaking of which, our days are starting to shorten and Halloween is coming. The boys have settled on costume ideas- Henry wants to be Sweeney Todd and Jack wants to be a Warrior. He saw this crazy battle ax and he was inspired. Henry has been singing Sweeney Todd since we saw the movie last winter-He will be a very "over the top" Mr Todd, I'm sure.



Sunday, October 19, 2008

Burlington Zombie Walk



Yesterday was the annual Burlington Zombie Walk- This is the day that the undead parade down church street, stumbling over innocent passersbys and growling for Braaaiiiiinnnssss!!!







My oldest son is a huge zombie fan and participated in the gore fest this year. The snowboarder dude zombie in the green sweatshirt is my off-spring. He had a great time in the parade of death and we had a great laugh watching the reactions of people strolling down the sidewalk. The best is when Henry smacked flat against a restaurant window dragging his bloody hands across the glass. He made the diners jump sky high and then burst out in hysterical laughter!

I've attached a video produced for last year's event - for Stuck in Vermont so you can get the full multimedia effect....



Saturday, October 18, 2008

Free-cycling


Burlington Freecycle

In these hard economic times I try what ever way I can to be thrifty. Making ends meet is challenging, but there is something very rewarding about coming up with creative ways to furnish our home and have all the things we need to live comfortably at the same time, reducing our "carbon footprint." Recycle, Reuse and Repurpose is our mantra. We try to pratice whenever possible.

I re purpose old things to make new ones- clothing, household items, furniture, etc. I buy second hand, iIsell my used and vintage items on consignment or to resale shops, read used books and/or use the library. I love treasure hunting at thrift store and rummage sales, but the thing I think I love the most is FREECYCLE. I belong to a local Freecycle group here in the greater Burlington area. I have gotten rid of so many usable items to people who needed them. This was a blessing last month when we were moving. On the other side of the recycling circle, I have been the recipient of many wonderful pieces as well. A cell phone charger (to replace the one I killed in China) a laundry sorter, clothing and shoes for every member of my family, costume items for Nightfires, books, tins, tins and more tins, and today... two fabulous chairs for our new house! I was just saying how our living room needed a comfy chair with an ottoman- and then *poof!* there it was posted on freecycle and (miraculously) I was the first person to respond. I love how that happens!