I Guess I'm a Holiday Person

I always knew I loved holidays. The smell of fall leaves, wood crackling in fires, and holiday treats baking in the oven always got me feeling jittery with excitement. There's a feeling that comes when family is gathered together- to tell old stories, laugh, talk, and eat yummy food- that cannot be reciprocated.

But I got even more excited this year when the reality hit me that it is my time to start traditions for my OWN family. To get started on making holiday decorations that would last me hopefully past this first part of my marriage and until we have kids. Who knew that buying a Christmas tree, making wreaths for my door, and baking yummy treats to send to neighbors would be so fun??

When my mother was first married, she made all the ornaments for her Christmas tree out of salt dough. To this day, we have those ornaments and I remember ooing and aahing at them when I was a kid thinking of how cool it was that my mom made them. I really hope that someday my kids will get the same kind of feeling when they pull out my homemade decorations each season to scatter around our home. The thought makes me so excited!

To start, I am SO excited for Halloween! When October hit, I found myself browsing the internet for fun ideas to decorate my home. There were so many fun things out there, but I decided to share a few that I've done.

Shrunken Apple Heads:

Get the instructions from Martha Stewart Halloween here.

This was kind of an on-the-whim idea, but I was SO happy with how they turned out! I was browsing the web and came across Martha Stewart Halloween ideas where I found these creepy apple heads. I think it'd be fund to make a bunch some year and put them in a vase for a Halloween centerpiece.
Tips in case you're interested in making them: Get the really big Granny Smith apples. The bigger the better. They're pretty tough and easier to carve than other apples. They'll also hold their form better while drying. Also, if you want to make these in time for the holiday, it's best to start at least two weeks before. They take about that long to shrink to their smallest size.

Halloween Wreath:

I couldn't find the link for this one, but it's SUPER easy and self-explanatory.

I LOVE my wreath! And I can't even tell you how easy it was. The main problems I ran in to, was that wreath forms are ridiculously expensive. Like. Insanely. So I just got a straw form for like 3 or 4 dollars and kept the plastic on it. Other than that, the only other thing was that wrapping it became a little tedious. It took me about 1 1/2 conference sessions to finish but I bet I could have done it faster if I wasn't distracted.

All you'll need is black and orange yarn, a wreath form, and paper bag (cut to printer paper size to print the letters on) and some twine. And voila! You've got a cute decoration to hang on your door :)

"Been Booed" Treat:

 There's been a Halloween trend going around our neighborhood called "We've Been Booed!'. It's a fun tradition where one neighbor makes a treat and door bell-ditches another neighbor with this attached:

Once you've "Been BOO-ed", you have to boo someone else! So naturally, after Trevor and I came home to some yummy caramel candy pop chips on our doorstep, I got thinking of something fun I could do in return. My mom had a Frankenstein sugar cookie cutter so I decided to make these yummy cookies for my family and friends. Each one is different and they were so much fun to make!

I am so so ready for the holidays to come! Happy Halloween everyone!