Welcome Back!

After serious writer's block and a well needed winter break, school is back in session and I am back to writing.
I have pick up a few new interests over the break - knitting and yoga
My lovely boyfriend bought me a Wii with Wii Fit for my birthday so I have been working out and taking on as much yoga as possible
I have also rededicated myself to my love of baking
So you can plan on lots more recipes, a few knitting patterns, and some fitness tips and of course, the latest Lush products I love.

Happy Halloween

First of  let me start with saying... HaPPy HaLLoWeeN!

The last of the movies - which unfortunately, I did not finish. It was much more difficult than I though to fit a movie into my busy schedule every day.

Zombieland

 - A group of humans try to survive in the U.S. which has become overcome with Zombies. A great comedy with one of the best cameos I have seen in a long time.

Seven

 - Two detectives are after a serial killer who stages 7 kills after the 7 deadly sins.

Little Shop of Horrors

 - A flower shop has an interesting plant which grows off of human blood. It's a comical musical - very, very 80's and really a classic.

Casper

 - A ghost living in a haunted house with his evil Uncles only wants a friend. While a young girl, who moves from town to town with her father chasing ghosts, desperately wants to fit in.

Atomic Age Vampire

Revolt of the Zombies

The Brain That Wouldn't Die

The Beast of Yucca Flats

 - To be honest, I watched these four movies but they are old, black and white B-List movies. And I mean B-List list movies. The audio is good - unlike some older movies, you can understand what they are saying - but none of the plots make sense. Atomic Age Vampire does not have a vampire in it…. At all. Revolt of Zombies does feature zombies but I really didn't understand anything else. The Brain That Wouldn't Die is about a brain that will not die - no big shocker there. And I really have no clue what The Beast of Yucca Flats was about - I think the beast was the guy at the beginning but who knows. With all that being said I had a LOT of fun laughing at the bad dubbing and hilarious plot lines. Plus, most of the movies were close to an hour long so they didn't take up a huge amount of my time.

The movies I didn’t get to were:

The Sixth Sense

Saw

Secret Window

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

The Fall of the House of Usher

The Pit and the Pendulum

Labyrinth

But I am planning on watching all of these. They are pretty good movies.

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween and enjoyed some great Halloween movies.

12 Little Pumpkins

Here are some super cute Halloween Luminaries that were very fun to create.

What You Need:

Mason Jars (Canning Jars)

Acrylic Paint - I used Wood Paints in Orange, Metallic Black, and Gold

Paint Brushes

Sharpie Markers

Ribbon and Rick-Rack

Hot Glue Gun

Newspaper

Water and Paper Towels

I decided to paint on my kitchen table so I layed out newspaper to protect my table cloth. Start with a mason jar, remove the lid. Canning jars normally have a 2 part lid (the rim which screws onto the jar and a silver disk) you can get rid of the silver disks and set the rims off to the side.

Paint the jars one by one with orange paint. One coat will be very streaky, two coats looks antiqued, three coats will look very clean looking. I only did two. Two things that I learned are very helpful are first off let the paint COMPLETELY dry, and I mean COMPLETELY dry. The paint will peel and then you have a sort of spotty looking. Second, while paint your second and third coats make sure when rinse out your brushes that all the water is pressed out of them. If there is any extra water in the brush this will also make the paint bubble and peel. Not a pretty look.

Once they are painted let them dry completely. I let them dry overnight to ensure that the Sharpie would go on well. However, it doesn't. Some times it won't write, sometimes it "scraps" off the paint, other times it works fine. I don't know anything that really works though. So I drew on all the faces I wanted.

Next I used my metallic black paint and painted in the faces. While these were drying I painted the sides of  the rims black and gold.

I then let everything dry completely and painted a second coat on both the black facial features and the rims. Once that dried, I hot glued ribbon and gold rick-rack to the rims to add a little added glitz. Then final outcome came out like this:

The paint is a little delicate so to further protect them I sprayed them with 2 coats of Clear Lacquer. This also makes them nice and shiny. 

*FINISHED PRODUCT PICTURES SOON TO COME*

Little Ally's Little Gift

For my Niece & Sister-In-Law I put together a Halloween basket. It turned out very cute & I was super pleased. So here is what I put in it...

Here is the basket all finished

Strawberry Candy in a Bloodbag from NostalgicCandy.com

Kraby Patty Gummies from The Dollar Store ($1 for a bag of approx. 20)

Caramel Apple Pops - a personal favorite - from NostalgicCandy.com ($0.25/ea)

Frosted Cookies from Harry & David ($9.95)

"Pumpkin" Pop Rocks - Green & Orange Pop Rocks - from NostalgicCandy.com ($1 ea)

Grape Flavored Wax Mustaches from NostalgicCandy.com ($1.03 ea)

Gummy Skeleton Hand from NostalgicCandy.com

Lollipop Bouquet from NostalgicCandy.com

Halloween Pasta from Harry & David ($4.95)

Glow Stick from The Dollar Tree ($1 ea pack)

More Movies

Title:  The Dark Knight

This was the movie for October 15th

Starring: Heath Ledger (there are other great stars in this movie but none mean as much to me as Mr. Ledger does)

Plot: Batman is trying to defeat the Joker while Gotham is stating they no longer need him. And Harvey Dent (Gotham D.A.) loses the love of his life and becomes Two-Face.

Any Scenes During Halloween? No, just the crazy Joker.

Favorite Character or Scene: Heath Ledger as the Joker - He is creepy and chilling but I find the character completely fascinating.

Final Thoughts: I have seen this movie probably 30 times (we easily saw it 10 time in theaters) and I still pick up something new every time.

Title: Edward Scizzorhands

This was the movie for October 16th

Starring: Johnny Depp & Winona Ryder

Plot: A young man invented by a scientist is created with scizzors instead of fingers. He falls in love with a teenage girl and tries to fit into the 1950's society.

Any Scenes During Halloween?

Favorite Character or Scene:

Final Thoughts:

Getting Caught Up

I have been playing catch up on my Halloween movies. Here is my quick attempt to catch all of you up as well. Sorry, no reviews this time - you probably would think they were boring anyways - just a quick sentence about each movie

October 7th - Matilda

             Little girl who has magical powers.

October 8th - The Addams' Family

              Family who likes to torture people and each other - vampires meet Frankenstein of sorts. Plus last scene is set during Halloween.

October 9th - The Addams' Family Values

              Same family - the kids go to summer camp (set during Thanksgiving).

October 10th - Ghostbusters

              Bill Murray is set to suck up ghosts in his vacuum backpack.

October 11th - Beetlejuice

              Don't say his name 3 times or he will come wreak havoc on your home.

October 12th -The Nightmare Before Christmas

              Tim Burton. Need I say more?

October 13th - Clue

              A who-done-it movie with Tim Curry, based off of the popular board game.

October 14th - Ghostbusters 2

              More Bill Murray taking out ghosts. This is also the one where they battle the giant Stay Puff Marshmallow Man.

Lush 11 Tin is Fin!

Here is The Updated List:

1. Rockstar Soap - GONE!

2. Honey I Washed The Kids Soap - GONE!

3. B Electro Shower Gel - GONE!

4. 1 Street Party Bath Bomb - GONE!

5. 1/2 Karma Bubble Bar - GONE!

6. 1/2 Pop In The Bath Bubble Bar - GONE!

7. Strawberry Santa Shower Jelly - GONE!

8. Rub Rub Rub Shower Gel - GONE!

9. Up You Gets Emotibomb - GONE!

10. Karma Dusting Powder - GONE!

11. Ocean Salt - GONE!

I am completely finished with my Lush Project 11 Tin. I am proud that I made it through and still have a lot of products that I need to wither away before purchasing more soap or massage bars. However, I am planning on buying some of the new bath bombs and possible lotions.  I enjoyed the experience and found some products that I really loved and some that were slightly problematic. Overall, I'm glad I put myself through the experience. I didn’t feel it was difficult and don't know how I would react if the temptation was there since I didn't allow myself to even go to the store.

Hocus Pocus, The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey

As you may be able to tell I am a little behind on my movie watching. But am quickly catching up. Hopefully, I will be all caught up by Tuesday, but that is only a hope. Below are my "reviews". I will have an updated list later this week.


Title:  Hocus Pocus

This was the movie for October 4th

Starring:  Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy

 Plot (according to the DVD box):  "You're in for a devil of a time when three outlandishly wild witches return from 17th century Salem after they are accidentally conjured up by some unsuspecting pranksters! It's a night full of zany fun and comic chaos once the tricky 300-year-old trio sets out to cast a spell on the town and reclaim their youth - but first they must get their act together and outwit three kids and a talking cat!"

Any Scenes During Halloween? Yes, the entire movie is set over one Halloween night.

Favorite Character or Scene:  Sarah Jessica Parker's character Sarah. She plays a ditzy, completely idiotic but pretty sister who likes to play with boys and collects children for the sisters to eat. & of course, the favorite scene is Sarah Jessica Parker jumping up and down repeating words. Like saying, "A MUCK, A MUCK, A MUCK" until getting hit in the stomach. This happens variously during the movie.

Final Thoughts: Its one of my favorite Halloween movies. Something I grew up with. It's charming.

Title:  It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

This was the movie for October 5th

The Back of the DVD reads: "Will this Halloween be the one when the Great Pumpkin come? Longtime believer Linus thinks so - and keeps watch all night in the pumpkin patch to welcome him. Charlie Brown gets into the spooky spirit too, dressing up as a ghost with more eyeholes than needed - but not scaring up the usual kinds of Halloween loot when trick-or-treating. Never fear,  World War I fighting ace Snoopy is here to battle the Red Baron - and in doing so, crash Violet's Halloween party and Linus' vigil as well."

Final Thoughts:  Another Halloween classic and childhood favorite.

Title:  Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey

This was the movie for October 6th

Starring: Keanu Reeves & Alex Winter

Plot: Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted(Keanu Reeves) are two friends who have traveled back in time to do a history report. When the succeed they create a band, the Wild Stalyns, which creates peace among the universe in the future. (This is all better explained in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure) Now in the future, an evil villain plans to send evil Bill & Ted robots to kill the good Bill & Ted to change history. The movie consist of Bill & Ted's journey through heaven and hell.

Any Scenes During Halloween? No, but there are scenes in hell.

Favorite Character or Scene: I think Keanu Reeves' character is the best way to imagine Keanu Reeves. He plays an airheaded teen very well.

Final Thoughts: It is a definite early 90's movie but I love it. It's funny (even though the first one is better - but isn't it always that way?) and it’s a great way to giggle at what was thought to be great special effects in the 90's.

31 Halloween Movies

1 Movie a day for 31 Days
I marked off the movies I have already watched & will write a little blurb about them in a entry later tonight.


1. Bewitched
2. Edward Scizzorhands

3. Nightmare Before Christmas

4. Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey

5. Hocus Pocus

6. The Pit and the Pendulum

7. The Tale Tell Heart

8. The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

9. Beetlejuice

10. Death Becomes Her

11. Ghostbusters

12. Ghostbusters 2

13. The Labrynith

14. Matilda

15. The Brain the Wouldn’t Die

16. Beast of Yucca Flats

17. Atom Age Vampire

18. Revolt of the Zombies

19. The Dark Knight

20. Secret Window

21. Clue

22. A Series of Unfortunate Events

23. Saw

24. Se7en

25. Monsters Vs. Aliens Mutant Pumpkins

26. Monsters, Inc.

27. The Addams’ Family

28. The Addams’ Family Value

29. Zombieland

30. Little Shop of Horror

31. Casper 

Some of these I may not be able to get a hold of so there are lots of other options.

Pink Champagne Cupcakes With Homemade Frosting

I have probably 100 recipes and have tried just about all of them. However, this is one of my favorites.
They are Pink Champagne Cupcakes

What You Need:
1 Box of White Cake Mix (It must be white cake mix - not vanilla)
1/2 - 3/4 Cup of Pink Champagne (I prefer something sweet; Pink! an Australian champagne is my favorite)
Red Food Coloring
For The Frosting:
1 Cup Butter, softened
9-9 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
1/4 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup Champagne
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
Red Food Coloring
Silver Dragees for Decoration

Now Your Baking
1. Follow the directions on the cake mix and substitute the liquid with champagne. So if the box says 1/4 cup water use 1/4 cup of champagne instead.
2. Tint with red food coloring, I used between 3-5 depending on how bright I feel like making them.
3. Bake as instructed. I prefer cupcakes in pretty silver liners but you can also do two 9 in round pans as well.
4. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
5. Decorate with pink frosting using a star tipped piping bag for a pretty swirl then sprinkle with silver dragees.
To Make The Frosting
1. Beat 1 cup softened butter for 30 seconds. Slowly add 4 cups of powdered sugar.
2. Beat in milk, champagne, and vanilla.
3. Continue to beat in 5-5 1/2 cups of powdered sugar until you get the consistency you want.
4. Add red food coloring.
5. You can frost the cupcakes once cool or refrigerate overnight and the champagne flavor will come out.

Things To Consider
When considering cake mix - do not use mixes with pudding
The champagne flavors the cupcakes - you can really use anything but stick to something pink and something cheap to mid range
I also have made a these with a vanilla buttercream with fresh raspberries and it was lovely

ENJOY.