It's Party Time! Let's Dare to Share!

It's Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It is Time to Share! 

    I mentioned during last week's party that we were going to our high school reunion over the weekend.  We met last Saturday at a lake house.  While the group was smaller than we were expecting, a fun time was had by all.  Hopefully it wont be another five years before I see some of these friends again. It was a rough year for our class, we lost six classmates in the last year.  It made us realize how important it is to keep in touch with one another. 

Another big thing that happened this week was we got a new car. We really needed one. Between the two of us, we have almost 600,000 miles on our two cars. His Honda has a whopping 365,000 miles on it. Mine has 230,000, His car still runs pretty good, but does need some work.  We also wanted a safer, newer car if we have special cargo in it. :)  Speaking of special cargo, the new grandbaby is doing well. She had some firsts this week.  She went to her first pediatrician appointment, and then out to eat with mom and dad. It's still hard to believe she is finally here.  

I have been starting to get into the Halloween spirit with the opening of Beetle Juice this weekend.  We have not seen the movie yet, but I have been checking out all the great Halloween finds in the store and online.  I also shared a post of some of my easy pumpkin pail crafts this week on the blog, that I created for our front porch last year.  I am starting to add a lot of what I been finding in both my Amazon Storefront, and my LTK store.  I have several more things to add in the upcoming days, so please follow to see when they are posted.  I would be broke if I bought everything I have seen so far that I have on my wish list.

Now that you know what I have been up to this week, I would love to see what you have been doing.  Link up and HAVE FUN!  

 

 

 

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Easy Plastic Pumpkin Pail Crafts

 

Now that Spooky Season is here, plastic pumpkins are available for not only Trick or Treating, but also for crafting. 

 

I bought four plastic pumpkin pails, and used them in different ways to decorate our front porch. 

** This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

The first pumpkin craft I made was the sitting pumpkin witch. I found the supplies I needed from the Dollar Tree. You will need two sets of witch legs, and a witch hat.  I found everything for $1.25 each.  

One set of the witch legs will be used for the pumpkin's legs. I filled them with a plastic bag to give them a little bit of dimension. 

Since they do not sell witch arms, I had to alter the second set of witch legs.  I cut out the shape of mitten out of the felt shoes, so it looked like the picture above. 

I also filled the arms with plastic bags to give them dimension as well. I attached both the arms and legs to the pumpkin with hot glue.  

 The last step was to remove the plastic handle and glue on the witch hat. I only glued it about 2/3 of the way around though, because you want some space to add a tea light or push light. Both types of lights are available the Dollar Tree. 

A very simple way to add some Halloween fun to your porch is by making a Halloween lantern.  Dollar Tree has planter chains near their floral section for $1.25.  I am not sure if they are available all year or if they are seasonal.

We hung this pumpkin on the front of our porch and added a Dollar Tree Strobe light that changes colors.

I don't have a good picture of pumpkin we placed around the light fixture on our porch. First we cut off the handle, then cut down the back of the pumpkin.  Depending on the size if the light fixture you will need to remove the bottom of the pumpkin and some of the back so that it fits around your light fixture. 

The last pumpkin craft that I made is to make a pumpkin head candlestick.  I found a black pillar candlestick  at the Dollar Tree and glue it to the bottom of the pumpkin.  I also added a gem spider from the Halloween party section. 

If you order from DollarTree.com, they are offering Free Shipping up to $50 through Sept 7th with the code FREESHIP.   If available you can also have items shipped free to your local store!

Happy Crafting! 

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It's Time to Dare to Share!

It's Friday night, and you know what that means...

It's time to Dare to Share!

I'm sorry I am a little bit late with the party this week, but I have a really good reason.  My grand baby is here! She was induced on Monday morning, but there were some complications, so she actually arrived early Tuesday morning. Even though it took a bit for her to enter this world, she is doing well.  She is beautiful and healthy. I am already so in love with her.  They came home from the hospital tonight, and we were asked to come over to  spend some time with the baby.  :) We just got home from our visit. 

This weekend we will be having another big event. D and I are having our high school reunion. We graduated together, so we both know all our classmates. It's a pretty big number, but we are looking forward to it. It will be weird seeing everyone getting older though.  Since it is getting late, I am going to get this party started.

Link up and HAVE FUN! 

 

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Let's Dare to Share!

It's Friday night, and you know what that means..

It is time to Dare to Share! 

Well, I was hoping to have some big news to share, but baby watch is still on for our grandbaby to be born.   Her due date has come and gone earlier this week.  We know it can happen at any time, but for now we are just waiting.  There is only one person still left in the "guess the due date" game we played at her baby shower.  Everyone else guessed days that have already passed.  Hopefully this weekend! 

 Are you starting to think about Halloween yet? I have to admit I am.  I having been thinking of some new projects that I want to make this year.   Last year I made these easy pumpkin pail crafts that I plan on using again this year.   The Dollar Tree has been getting new Halloween items in store and on their website.  What I love about their website is you can see what to look for in stores, and you can order what you can not find and you can often have it shipped for free to your local store. 

Now that you know what I have been up this week, I would love to see what you have been up to.  Link up and HAVE FUN!  

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Halloween at the Dollar Tree

 

Now that it is almost the end of the summer, we are starting to see Halloween everywhere, including at the Dollar Tree both in store and online.  I LOVE shopping at  Dollar Tree for Halloween items.  I was so excited when I had an email in my inbox from Dollar Tree saying that Halloween items are now online.  I love looking at the website, because not only can you see what you might find in stores, but you can also buy items you don't see in your local store. 

** This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

New this year are these black metal haunted houses (photo above)  that are 11.9 inches tall and light up.  I think they will be a very popular item at only $5 each.  

Are you a fan of the Halloween Porch Signs ? Dollar Tree has several new ones for only $5. I think my favorite is the Hocus Pocus sign. It would fit in great with my Hocus Pocus themed items I bought last year. 

I included this 36 inch hanging ghost in this round up, because I used this to make one of my favorite Halloween crafts last year. 

I used them to make the taller ghosts. The shorter ghost is made with a Dollar Tree mop. You can see how to make both types of ghost on my post how to make Dollar Tree light up ghosts. (everything on my table is from the Dollar Tree except for one ceramic ghost) 

Another new item this year are these coconut lime spooky soap dispensers. I bought them this weekend, but have not tried them yet. 

A popular item that has come back the last few years are these 4 inch pumpkin votives that come in clear and orange. I have a few of them, and I really like them.  

I don't remember seeing this black lace table runner, so I am not sure if they had it last year or if it is a new product. I really liked it in the store, so I picked one up. The runner is 72" x 13" and only $1.25.

These Halloween throw pillows are selling out in stores quickly. I was lucky enough to find the Hocus Pocus pillow, and I am hoping to find the bat.  They are only $5 each and super soft. 

I LOVE the solar lights at Dollar Tree. I buy both regular and holiday solar lights every year. At $1.25 they are a great deal. This year I am placing several of the spooky LED ghost stakes in our landscaping.

If you are having a Halloween party, classroom party, or looking for unusual gifts, there are so many items available this year like these plastic candy jars.  I bought the pumpkin jar last year and filled it with orange gum balls.  

These Halloween canteen sippers are another really cute party favor items.  I think the ghost is my favorite. I bought it last year for my ghost table.  

New this year are these themed drink dispensers.  I bought the cauldron last week. 

A few years ago, Dollar Tree introduced a mini candy dispenser.  It was so popular, they added a couple more. This year there are FOUR different candy dispensers for Halloween. They are 6.5 inches tall and would make great party favors. 

These skull snack bowls have been around a few years. I am not sure if all four colors were available last year or not.  My store only had the black one is stock the other day, but just got in a new shipment out over the weekend.  They are a great deal for only $3.  

I love these 2 tiered metal trays. I already have two of them. You can see what the bat tray looks like below.  I used mine for decor, but they would also be great as a cupcake stand. 

I have been using the Dollar Tree foam pumpkins for many years.  They  used to only be available in orange, but now they also have black and white pumpkins as well.   For years I have been adding new pumpkins to my Pumpkin Gang. You can see how to make all of the different pumpkins here.

Hopefully you have seen something you like, and are starting to get excited for Halloween.  It will be here before you know it! 

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It's Time to Dare to Share!

 

It's Friday night, and you know what that means...

It is time to Dare to Share! 

I'm sorry I missed last week's Dare to Share party, but that night I was still on vacation.  If you were at the last Dare to Share party I mentioned that I was going on a road trip vacation, but I did not know where I was going yet.  We were waiting on two things before making the decision on where to go, the weather and the birth of our grandbaby.  They weather last week turned out to be sunny and warm, and the grandbaby has not yet arrived.  She is due in just a few days, so the birth can be any time now.  We decided to stay within a few hours from home just in case we needed to rush back.  It was definitely a busy week! We went to the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Ky, Great Wolf Lodge, the Cincinnati Zoo, Kings Island, and the Bengals vs Buccaneers preseason game.  It was so much fun choosing on what to do each day.  You can read more about our trip, and see some photos on my post where we went on vacation.  

This week I was back at work, but the center was closed today so I took a friend who had a birthday this week to lunch. We also went shopping at Dollar Tree and Hobby Lobby.  We are starting to make plans for our Halloween market, and going to be crafting and baking Halloween items in the next few weeks.  I will be sharing everything here on the blog, and also re-sharing some of my older Halloween ideas from past years. This is one of my favorite times of the year to be creative. 

While I did not post anything new in my Etsy Shop this week, I have a large inventory of back to school and Halloween printables available.  Are you someone who gets excited about Halloween in August, or do you like to wait until October? I think for me it varies from year to year. As I am writing this I am watching a commercial for the new Beetle Juice movie. I might have to go see that one. :)

Well it is getting late so let's get this party started.  Link up and  HAVE FUN! 

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Where We Went on Vacation

I mentioned in my last Dare to Share Party that I was going on vacation, but not sure where I was going.  We knew we could not go real far, because our first grandbaby is due very soon, and we wanted to be able come home quickly if needed.  A few hours before we left, we decided to visit the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky.  Willamstown is about 45 minutes south of Cincinnati on I-75.  When you are visiting the Ark there are actually two different exhibits to visit.  The Ark itself, and its sister exhibit, the Creation Museum.  We chose to just see the Ark during this visit, but combo tickets are available if you decided to see both. 

The Ark was massive.  It is the actual size that the actual Ark would have been,  510 feet long, 85 feet wide, 51 feet high. There were three levels where you could see how Noah and his family lived and took care of all the animals.   

When you are done seeing, they have a restaurant with a good buffet right on the property.  There is also a children's zoo, animal encounters, a playground, and a carousel.  When we were done seeing the ark, we drove a little bit farther south to visit the Richmond, Kentucky Buc-ees, and a nearby graffiti bridge. 

After all the walking we did at the Ark the day before, we decided to go to Cincinnati, and stay at the Great Wolf Lodge there on day two.  I had never been at one before, and swimming sounded good on a day that was almost 90 degrees. 

The room was really nice, and we had an excellent view of Kings Island from our balcony. 

Our stay included passes for the water park for two days.  We spent most of the first day, and part of the second day in the water.  

It was still really warm on day three. We had thought about going to Kings Island, but it was warmer than we would have liked.  We decided to go to the Cincinnati Zoo instead.  There is a lot of shade there, and we could leisurely walk to see all the animals.  

The Cincinnati Zoo is the home of the famous hippo Fiona, and her baby brother Fritz.  Since it was warm afternoon, a lot of the animals were resting, but we were still able to take some great pictures.   After the zoo, we went back to the Great Wolf Lodge for a few more hours and then to dinner.  

Day four we had the perfect weather to visit Kings Island.  I had not been there since my kids were little.  I had not been on a roller coaster since 2017, so I was happy to find out that I can still handle riding most of them. I sat out on a few of the rides like the Banshee, and Mystic Timbers, but the rest I rode.  

If you are looking for a good choice for food while in the park, check out Tom and Chee. I love both grilled cheese sandwiches and mac and cheese.  They have a sandwich that is mix of both, and it is so good!! 

At the end of the night, they have a nice but short fireworks and drone show. The park was not that crowded, the weather was beautiful and it turned out to be a great day.  

Our last day of vacation we did something special.  Saturday was the first preseason game for our favorite team the Cincinnati Bengals.  They were playing Tampa Bay, and the price of tickets for a preseason game were very reasonable.  We were also sitting in great seats with an excellent view.  

This was my view!  Joe Burrow played in the first series, and threw to Tee Higgins for a touchdown.  The rest of the game he stood on the sidelines with his helmet off with the rest of the team.  I definitely did not have any problems with that.  LOL!  Unfortunately we did not win the game, but it was definitely a fun experience.  

This week will be one to remember.  We were able to do all the things we have been wanting to do for awhile, just all at once. If you ever have a chance to go on vacation without any plans and decide where you go as you go along, I highly recommend it. 

The Dare to Share party will be back this upcoming Friday!  

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