Table Runners, Taco Soup, and GIVEAWAY!

Wondering how to get your dining room table festive for a fun Halloween party?  Do you love to accessorize your house for holidays?  Do you need something to spice up your table this fall?

We found the perfect item for you that we wanted to feature for today's Friday Favorite!  Come check out these festive table runners from Little Spud Boutique.  Can you tell that we are getting in the fall mood this week?

We both love our Halloween table runners.  The ruffles on the runner are so cute and give the runner a little pizazz!   It makes it easy to decorate our tables with this adorable table runner.  Little Spud Boutique not only makes these awesome table runners, but also features ruffle scarves, blankets, skirts, and pillows.  Just so you know right now, there are a lot of things on sale, including some cute girls' skirts on sale starting at $8!  Even more exciting, Little Spud Boutique is giving 20% off any full price item in their shop with code:  RUFFLESKIRT.  

Little Spud Boutique is giving away one holiday runner that the winner will choose (Halloween stripe, orange, brown, red, or green stripe).  Enter below to win one of these fabulous table runners.  If you purchase an item from Little Spud Boutique, you will have 25 entries into the giveaway!!!! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And do you know what meal I will be eating at my festive table in the next week...something perfect for this fall weather?  You have to try this taco soup, a recipe that comes right from my recipe box (which means it has to be good as I hardly write down any recipes at all!).  It's EASY and DELICIOUS and KID friendly, a perfect go-to week night menu---hope you enjoy:

Taco Soup

Time Required:  30 minutes                                                     Serves:  6

• 1 pound of ground beef
• 1/4 c. of chopped onion
• 1 1/2 c. of water
• 1 (16 oz) can of stewed tomatoes with juice
• 1 (15 oz) can of kidney beans with liquid
• 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
• 2 tbsp. taco seasoning mix
• OPTIONAL:  1 cup of cheddar cheese
• OPTIONAL:  tortilla chips
• OPTIONAL:  sour cream

1.  Put in saucepan over medium heat---cook ground beef and onion.  Drain.  

2.  Mix in water, tomatoes, kidney beans, tomato sauce, and taco seasoning mix.

3.  Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

4.  Remove from heat and serve.

5.  Cheddar cheese, tortilla chips, and sour cream can be added!

And make sure you scroll down to check out our Stella and Dot trunk show!

A Chirping Moms Trunk Show: Stella & Dot

UPDATE!!!! Anyone who shops our trunk show is entered to win a pair of earrings! Please comment on the post saying you placed an order & you will be entered to win. A winner will be seelected on Friday. Happy shopping!

We are so excited to be hosting a Stella & Dot trunk show on the blog! A good friend of mine recently started selling their awesome jewelry & asked me to host an event. Fall is going to be crazy busy in our house so I decided to share my trunk show with all of you! So welcome to the party! To choose which jewelry you would like to buy, simply click on any of the links in this post. You will be directed to our online trunk show. 
Stella & Dot has wonderful jewelry. They even have an adorable line for young girls too. Start shopping for the holidays ladies!

 

Chic-A-Dee Embroidery: Halloween Shirts

I think it's fun to buy a special shirt around each holiday. There are many places to find personalized shirts, but we love Chic-A-Dee Embroidery  this Halloween! The shirts are so soft & the quality is wonderful. There are so many great designs to choose from. The four that out kids have are adorable & the kids love them too. 

Chic-A-Dee Embroidery offers custom onesies, shirts, dresses, burp clothes, bibs & towels. Head over to their Facebook page &  click on the Onesies, Shirts & Dresses album. This will give you an idea of the MANY amazing designs!

We were not compensated for this post, however we did receive items for review from Chic-A-Dee Embroidery.

Halloween Projects for the Kids

 While we were decorating for Halloween this week, the girls & I made 2 fun crafts. The first is a hanging ghost. Maggie actually sat & glued all of the cotton balls on herself & was so excited her ghost could "fly" when it dried.
Supplies: Card stock cut into a ghost shape Black paper Glue Cotton balls hole puncher Yarn or string We made each ghost different: The first, I gave Maggie a bowl of glue & she dipped each cotton ball in the glue & stuck it onto the ghost. The 2nd I covered the ghost in glue & she just stuck the cotton balls all over it. Both were easy, but the 2nd way is just a little faster.  Then, cut eyes & mouth out of black paper & glue on. When it dries punch holes & hang with yarn or string. 

Hand Print Spiders

The next craft I did with both girls. We made handprint spiders. I love all of the cute handprint craft ideas on Pinterest. These came out nice on canvas, but you could do them on paper too. Both girls laughed the whole time their hands "made spiders". 

Supplies: Canvas (or paper) Orange paint Black paint Craft Eyes One of our sponsors from last week, Messy Kids Designs, makes a similar design that she sends on a shirt & you add your child's handprints. Check them out!

For Your Little Pumpkins

We found the sweetest little pumpkin outfits for Halloween. The Purple Pea's Halloween Jack O Lantern  dresses & longalls not only make for a festive outfits but could be a cute costume too!

Sometimes the little ones are not crazy about the super fluffy, extra itchy costumes that we think might look fun! I think these could be a cute & classic way to dress up. They would also be adorable for pictures at the pumpkin patch & Halloween parties.  Also, something to note about the dresses: Maggie & Alex are wearing the same size. The way these dresses are cut, you might get 2 seasons out of them! 

The Purple Pea has a variety of beautiful items in their shop. They also take custom orders for all occasions: birthdays (shirts, tutus, etc), all holidays, weddings & more. The quality of the outfits are wonderful & they are offered at such a reasonable price.  There will be some great Thanksgiving & Christmas items added to the shop soon, so keep checking back! The Purple Pea is offering our readers 10% off with the code: Chirpingmom10

We were not compensated for this post, however we did receive items for review from The Purple Pea.

Guest Post: DIY Glitter Cone Ghosts!

We are so excited to feature Michelle, from Delicate Construction, today on our blog.  When I was thinking of guest bloggers for our Halloween week, her blog immediately jumped out at me because there are SO many creative ideas that are easy and affordable.  You MUST go look check it...and now take a peek at a great idea that she is sharing with our "Chirping Moms" readers!

Hello all!! I am so glad to be here today for Halloween Week!! My name is Michelle and I blog over at Delicate Construction!



Like many of you, I am a busy mama that still likes to feed her decorating and crafting addiction. However, being that my family takes priority over the use of my funds, I need to find affordable ways to fancy the house up for the holidays!

Here is where these cute little ghosts come into play:

Now, I will be honest, whenever I see anything that involves the use of a cone, I think of the crazy outrageous price of a styrofoam cone at the craft store. Seriously, for the same price I have came home with bags of groceries from couponing. I have also tried the paper cones and while they are cute, they don't last well year to year. BUT when I laid eyes on these paper mache, hallow cones at Michaels for $1.50-$2.50, they had me. That is a price I can pay! I grabbed a small one and a medium one for still less then even one of the styrofoam.

Then I gave them a couple of coats of white acrylic paint:

And pulled out my black vinyl (this would be a great way to use up scraps), drew some facial features, cut them out and added them on:

Then I grabbed some Mod Podge and applied a layer of that with a layer of glitter. It needed something so the answer is always glitter, are you with me?!

I think they came out pretty cute!

But I have found while looking through my archives, that I enjoy a cute ghost project, check out some of my other favorites:

Ghost-iaries

Wooden Ghost

Vase Ghosts

Ghost Invites

Thank you so much to Courtney and Julie for having me over today!!! Hope to see you all around Delicate Construction too! If you follow make sure to let me know so I can follow you back!

And don't forget to enter our "Monday Funday" giveaway for your own Happy Halloween sign from Refined Inspirations---you can enter by clicking on our Monday post or on our giveaways tab at the top.  Thanks!

Make Your Own Trick or Treat Bags

We have 2 fun tutorials below for making your own trick or treat bags. We have one version that requires a little bit of sewing and one that is a "no sew" project. We'll start with the  "No Sew" Treat Bag

Supplies: Canvas bag: can be purchased at a craft store Paint Ribbon and/or ric rac Craft glue or hot glue

I found this little black canvas bag at AC Moore for a few dollars. I decided to be brave & write Maggie's name. I have awful handwriting so this was a little risky. Then I glued on the ric rac & bow. Now she is ready to go trick or treating!

 Sew Your Own Trick or Treat Bag Tutorial

Supplies: felt sheet (the normal size rectangle pieces sold at craft stores) 1/4 yard of fabric. The fat quarters they sell at most craft/ fabric stores are perfect ribbon or ric rac (optional)

Cut a piece of fabric the shape of the felt.  Sew ric rac or ribbon onto the felt or fabric (optional).

Pin & sew the fabric to the felt - right sides facing in.

Cut 2 strips of fabric approximately 18-20" long & 5"wide. Fold the strips in half right sides facing in. Sew open side & bottom. Leave the top open, turn inside out & sew top.  These are your handles. Sew them onto the bag, turn the bag inside out & your little one is ready to go!

I can't wait to show my girls their new bags. Here is a picture of the bags Julie made her boys. I love the this fabric on the boys bags!

Please email any questions you have. If you make either bag, please share a picture with us on Facebook or Twitter. 

DIY Halloween Wreath

We continue Halloween Week with an easy DIY Halloween wreath. 

Supplies: Black yarn Orange Yarn Scissors  Glue Straw wreath: Do not take the plastic wrap off of it. Wood Pumpkin cutout, bow, or anything you might like to glue on the wreath Basically, just wrap the yarn around the wreath. When you are done, glue on whatever "accent" you choose. I found a wood cutout pumpkin for $1 at AC Moore & painted it orange. But get creative on that part! We are linking up with I Love You More Than Carrots for this week's Project Pinterest. Head over & check out the other projects this week.