Nothing says Halloween like spooky trees and black cats. 7 Layer Studio has made an amazing black Halloween tree with cute decorative ornaments to match all within the theme of Halloween using the colors black, orange, and brown.

Below is a simple list of supplies needed, for FULL directions on how to make this visit 7 Layer studio {HERE}

Supplies Needed to Make Tree:

• Dead tree branches various sizes
• Black spray paint
• Decorative Vase

Supplies Needed to Make Ornaments:

• Decorative Paper
• Decorative Ribbon
• Double Sided Tape
• Scissors
• Needle/Thread
• 2 sizes of circle die-cuts ( If you dont have those then find something to trace to get similar shape!)

Whew what a weekend! Today (Sunday) was Jeff’s 21st birthday! Last night we headed out to downtown Portland with our close friends to get into his first bar at midnight.

We were not positively sure if we would be able to get him in to a 21 and up bar at midnight because a lot of places say that it is supposed to an actual business day, but where we went they let us right in and told Jeff HAPPY BIRTHDAY as we walked in at 12:01am. I have been 21 for a while but it was like me turning 21 all over again because NOW I can finally have my best friend with me when I go out.

For Sunday night’s dinner we enjoyed Todai’s sushi buffet. They give you a complementary FREE dinner on your birthday! They had a lot to choose from not just sushi, they had an entire hot food buffet with all you can eat crab,shrimp, specialty prime rib, and more yummy asian cuisine.

Below are a few pictures we took:

After dinner shots at Rock Bottom Brewery

Yummy dinner at Todai

About to head out on the town!

—> BTW, Sorry NO Menu Plan Monday this week, our stomachaches are still a little tender if you know what I mean…so we shall be snacking this week

Here is a wonderful list of Halloween kid safe non-bloody scary movies that kids of all ages will enjoy!
My favorite is Hocus Pocus, Bette Midler did a great job, love to watch it every year.

Comment on any that I missed that your kids love or you think are great too!

• - 2008 (G)
• - 2006 (PG)
• - 2005 (G)
• - 2005 (G)
• - 2003 (PG)
• - 2002 (Not Rated)
• - 2001 (PG)
• - 2000 (Not Rated)
• - 1995 (PG)
• - 1998 (PG)
• - 1993 (PG)
• - 1991 (PG)
• - 1989 (PG)
• - 1982 (PG)
• - 1971 (G)
• -1966 (Not Rated)
• - 1939 (G)
• - 1993 (PG)
• - 1998 (PG)

I just pulled out my Halloween decorations from the garage and they are all either broken or need to be retired because they are too cheesy looking.
Since Halloween is more of a night holiday I’m really wanting to buy some decorative lights! So I have been searching around here and there at vaious party supply stores online and other holiday specialty stores. Below are some of my favorite and fun Halloween deco items that I found on Wrapables.com
Its a pretty cool site/store, they have a lot to choose from that are very cheap with items as low at 2.99!  I have not looked at their other holiday stuff such as Christmas or Easter, but they do have some unique things which is what I’m looking for…UNIQUENESS!

Click on the images below if you’re curious

Window Gel Gem Clings

Iron Pumpkin Stands

Mini Ghost Candles

Halloween Grass Pets

If you’re a cupcake feene like me you are always looking for new and cute ways to decorate and create a yummy little morsel. Halloween is the perfect holiday to make cupcakes and send off with the kids to school for classroom parties.

At Cupcakes Take the Cake they have a love for cupcakes just like I do. They did a mini-roundup of cool and spooky decorative Halloween cupcakes from other blogs and foodie sites. My favorite is the “Witch’s Hat Cupcakes” seen below.

CLICK {HERE} to see the other cupcakes from the roundup!

Here are our meals for the week! What is cookin in your house this week! Let us know we need ideas for next week.

Monday: Ham & Potato Soup

Tuesday: Autumn Chicken

Wednesday: Spaghetti with Turkey Sausage

Thursday: Quick Fix Burrito Beef Skillet

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: OUT

Glamorize your Halloween decor including pumpkins from right out in the field! Here is a roundup of crafty and funky ways to decorate the generic orange pumpkin into something unique and that will be a chillling centerpiece through Halloween and Thanksgiving.
Click on one of the pictures below to be taken to the FULL TUTORIAL on how to make that specific pumpkin!

Glitter Pumpkins: No Fuss Fabulous

Spray Painted Pumpkins: Victoria Lavender

Etched Pumpkins: Good Housekeeping (slide #3)

Cookie Cutter Pumpkins: Better Homes and Gardens

Candy Faced Pumpkins: Martha Stewart

Button Faced Pumpkins: All You

Carved Pumpkins: Greener Home Designs

Mr.Potato Head Pumpkins: Buy Costumes

Animal Pumpkins: Tiny Talk

One Sick Pumpkin: Geek Dad

YOYOYO so here is some FUN NEWS, I was just awarded the Kreativ Blogger Award! Heck yes I’m so excited. I always see these awards on other crafty/talented ladies blogs in envy but I have never been nominated. A BIG THANK YOU to Juggling Thoughts at One Fine Wire for thinking of *ME* and awarding me on my crafty posts I do here on TwoHeartsTogether!

In order to accept this award, I have to do a few things…ready? Here we go!

Rules:

1.) Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2.) Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3.) Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4.) Name 7 things about yourself that people may not know.
5.) Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6.) Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7.) Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they’ve been nominated.

Seven things about myself that YOU may not know…

1.) I am allergic to Crab. I can eat other yummy seafood but just NOT crab.
2.) I am the OLDEST out of 6 children in my family: 2 step, 2 half, 1 full, THEN ME!
3.) I have just recently been to my FIRST CONCERT! It was Keith Urban he was sooooo goood
4.) My favorite piece of jewelery is my spoon ring. It is the end of a spoon twisted into a ring to wear on your finger.
5.) In the summer when it’s sunny out I get freckles.
6.) I am addicted to OPI nail polish, I have every shade of pink practically
7.) I used to be on my high school DANCE TEAM. I was VERY involved AND miss is very much to this day!

HERE are 7 AMAZING KREATIV BLOGGERS that I am awarding (in no specific order)!

It’s hard to pick just 7 there are so many fantastic sites out there!

1.) Julia at Womb for Rent: She journals her journey of the ups and down of conceiving her first child.
2.) The sisters over at Sisters Stuff: They are two cute sisters who love to be crafty just as much as I do! They have TONS of Halloween deco and costume ideas.
3.) Lindsey at Inspiring Creations: She creates cute home decor using ribbons and other cheap flourishes to add spunk to any craft.
4.) Danielle at Scrapbookin’ Mama: She is a friend of a friend that lives in my hometown Portland and posts things she makes at her dream job CRAFTWAREHOUSE!
5.) Tara at It’s A Girl Thing!!: She has the most unique things on her site from lampshades,crafty cards, to her new favorite finds.
6.) Krista at Oraganize in Style Blog: WOW talk about ORGANIZATION! She is every Mom’s dream, she posts her organizing projects tips and tricks AND she is from Portland!
7.)Tonya at Currently Crafting: I love her description of herself A “champagne sipping, chocolate eating, camera carrying, crafty, shopaholic” which all of her posts specify that!

My family for many years growing up after Sunday church we would walk down a few blocks to the Greek Festival at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral Church. We were Christians and in no way Greek, but the Greek festival was filled with TONS of authentic Greek food, music, and dancing that anyone could enjoy! I think it was really neat for my parents to expose my sibilings and I to such a cultural environment. At first us kids thought it was boring and the food was weird, but after a few years were were reminding our parents that the festival was going and they better not forget to go.

To buy food at the festival you trade in your cash for “talents” and each food station is required 2 talents, or 5 talents depending how much they cost.  This is just their fun way of a token system and it’s nice that the booths do not have to deal with the actual cash.

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral {CLICK HERE} for their web page for more info

When:

October 2, 3, 4 2009
10am to 10pm Friday and Saturday
Noon to 8pm on Sunday

Where:

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral

3131 NE Glisan Street
Portland, OR

~Below is a list of activities that will be going on through out the festival.

• Authentic Greek Dinners:
  Lamb, Roasted Chicken with with lemon, Sausage, Souvlaki, Feta Dip with Hummus, Gyros, Greek Pasta Salad, Tiropita, and most popular Spanakopita
• Cooking Demonstrations
• Fine Gold and Silver Jewelry imported from Greece
• Children’s Corner: Face painting, gold “medals”, ivy wreaths, coloring, games, puppet shows, and more!
• Gourmet Imports: fine cheeses, olives, olive oil, pastas, pastries, herbs and spices, preserves, nuts
• Tours and Presentations of the Church
• Greek Folk Dance Schedule

You might remember the Christmas Advent Countdown Calendar I made {HERE} for this past year’s Christmas. As a kid I always loved to countdown to Christmas with the disposable chocolate advent calendar my Grandma would pick up at the store. Not only was it yummy opening and eating the mini chocolate treat inside, but really gives a sense of time to a child who has a hard time grasping how long a day is and how many more days to go.

I love these two HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN CALENDARS that are from Pottery Barn Kids. One is a pocket type where you stick a mini treat into each pocket and eat the treat as the days get closer to Halloween night! The other calender countdown is really cute too, its a wooden haunted house table top item where you open mini drawers to find a hidden treat.

Click on the images below to be taken to Pottery Barn for more info and pricing details.