Small Shop: National Handmade Day 2022

Happy National Handmade Day!!!  

The past few days have been a bit of a handful for me, and when I'm stressed out, I turn to my creative side.  However, I don't really have time to make something, so instead, I'm popping back in to celebrate another more obscure holiday this week.  If you thought Crayon Day was random... well, here's another one.  When I was making my social media calendar for Happily Ever Hatter, I found all sorts of fun holidays.  And instead of looking past some of the ones that didn't necessarily apply to HEH, I took note of the ones that jumped out at me- thinking that I might use them here instead!

Of course, words like "crayons" and "handmade" jump out to me due to my creative nature.  I admit, I'm not sure I ever realized that National Handmade Day existed.  I know March is National Craft Month, but I didn't know there was a day dedicated to handmade items.  It falls on the first Saturday of April each year.  It's a day to celebrate makers, small shops, local artisans and learning to make something yourself!  Whether you learn a new skill, take time to work on a creative project or even bake a batch of cookies, it's all handmade and it all counts as a way to celebrate today!

I was originally going to share some of my own crafting projects, but since I haven't really worked on anything new lately, I thought I'd go in a different direction.  Instead, I thought that I'd share some of my favorite handmade items that I have purchased from small shops through the years!  (Some of these items I've had for over 10 years!)

Our wedding was extra special because of all of the personal touches and handmade items that I incorporated into it.  From our Save the Date photo, to our aisle runner to all of our florals, Eliot and I had a lot of handmade items as part of our special day!  I'll go into more detail in other wedding posts, but here are a few of my favorites.

I loved my bridal earrings and my tiara and they matched each other really well even though they were from different Etsy shops.  (Neither are in business now.)  I had fallen completely in love with the tiara and that seller wasn't making them anymore.  After a lot of internet sleuthing, I tracked down the sellers sister and she was able to make it for me.  They were the perfect touches with my wedding outfit!

I loved all of our wedding photos so much that I had to make one into our Christmas card.  I found a seller on Etsy who would take your photo and add it to her chalkboard style card.  I loved the little hidden Mickeys that I requested she add to the text!

Another small detail were the personalized hangers for myself and my bridesmaids... mine had Cinderella's carriage at the top and then Mrs. Cady on the bottom!

For our wedding party park photos, I got a special little bouquet for me and boutonnière for Eliot.  Disney won't let you do actual bridal photos (unless you book them like we did) so I found these felt ones that were fun and colorful but not so fancy that Disney wouldn't let us take photos.  Our Photopass Photographer got a lot of great shots!

My actual bridal bouquet on our wedding day was made by one of my friends from the furniture store that I worked at.  Candy had been making bouquets for years and she wanted to make them for us as a wedding present.  I bought all of the silk flowers and she made my bouquet, all of my bridesmaid's bouquets, my toss bouquet, my Mom and Nana's wrist corsages and all of the boutonnières for the guys.  They all turned out wonderful and I treasure my bridal bouquet to this day.

The biggest purchase that Eliot and I have ever made on Etsy was my engagement ring and my wedding band set.  I wanted something more unique after a bunch of my furniture store co-workers all had the same style I had originally been attracted to.  I found this ring set by Laurie Sarah and I completely fell in love with it.  Eliot and I split the payments up and took months paying it off, but I have zero regrets.  It's beautiful, unique and I love it!  Plus, she even had the inside of each ring engraved with hidden Mickeys and our names, wedding date or part of our first dance lyrics!  (These are my actual rings; if you look closely, you can see the engravings!)

Speaking of jewelry that I love, this Mickey Balloon Necklace by MigotoChou is one of my favorite pieces.  I love rainbows, color and Mickey balloons!  This necklace was one of a kind and when Amanda posted it, I knew I had to have it!  I love it!

I'm also a huge fan of the Monorail Bracelet Amanda made; it's is simple but very cute!

I also love my hand-painted Cinderella Castle necklace by Savanna Rodriguez.  I tend to wear it on special occasions.  I used to wear it the last day of work before a trip to Disney.  I also wore it on my last day of work when I left my job back in August of 2018.

I don't have a picture of my actual hair barrette by Starless Clay, but this one is similar to mine.  I love the style and details of the water swirls on this barrette!  She closed her shop and is no longer selling, and I'm so glad that I have this colorful piece!

My Captain Jack Sparrow scarf is also by a seller that's no longer making them.  I really love how it subtly nods to the dreadlock style and the beads and coins in his hair.

I've mentioned our candy corn shirts before, but I really love these Mickey tie dye shirts from Pixie Crafts.  We also have a few other colors of these shirts and I love the style!

Some other shirts that I love are our Zootopia Shirts by Glitter Ever After.  They were the perfect addition to our outfits when we finally met Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde wearing the mouse ears that I also custom made for us!

Switching gears to a closer to home, I really love incorporating handmade Disney details into our house and home decor.  My Disney Pool Wreath by Sparkle For Your Castle is one of my favorite things.  It's fun, colorful, and I love the characters on it!

Another piece of home decor that has me dreaming of warm weather is my Castaway Cay Residents painting by Marnie.  Eliot and I have a few of her paintings and I love her style!  This was the first original canvas that I purchased from her and I love it!  It always makes me daydream of days at Castaway Cay and cruising with Mickey!

My second painting from Marnie was Enchanted Dress Shop.  This reminded me of my grandmothers.  I call Nana my fairy godmother and she used to make dresses for me when I was little so the dresses reminded me of her.  My Grammie loved butterflies (fluttering near Cinderella's dress).  The Cinderella dress reminded me of our fairytale wedding.  Then, the girl with the dog reminded me of myself and how Eliot and I want to get puppies.  I really love this piece!

Bliss was my third original painting from Marnie.  Right now, it's currently hanging in the dining room after the whole Squirrel-Gate incident in my office last year.  I've enjoyed having it here though.  It's right across from where I sit on the couch, and I find myself admiring it often.  It reminds me of when I was a little girl and experiencing the magic that is Disney and dreaming big.

Finally, Tickled Pink is the most recent painting we've purchased from Marnie.  This was going to go in my office, but the aqua colors look really good upstairs in our master bedroom.  This is currently hanging above our bed!  It will probably eventually make it down to my office when I get another painting from Marnie to take it's place... maybe a custom one with Cinderella Castle?

We have a few other smaller home decor items that always bring a smile to my face too.  Eliot's Eeyore Rubber Ducky that I purchased on Etsy is one of my favorites.  He used to collect rubber duckies when he was younger.  He also loves Eeyore so I surprised him with this a few years into us dating and he really loved it.

Another small item that I really love are my little Disney Coffee cups by Stacey Morgan Studios.  I have a few ideas for these little magical coffee cups... so stay tuned!

Another thing I love is my Make Your Own Magic print by Customized by Cristina.  I bought it as a print and as a postcard.  I'm planning to put the postcard on my vanity as a daily reminder and I think the print will live in my office to inspire me.

Finally, this Magic Maker Sticker (which is also by Customized by Cristina) spoke to me.  Those of you who frequent my blog probably know why, but the Magic Maker title is what I call myself as my job title, so that's very personal to me.  I love how the sticker is fun, whimsical, colorful and the pixie dust and hidden Mickeys make it a dream come true!  I wish she'd make this design on shirts and other stuff... I'd get it all!

These items are some of my absolute, most favorite handmade things that I've ever purchased!  Whenever I'm feeling a bit down, these items and the love and care it took to create them always make me feel better.  It also helps knowing that I myself put my love, heart and soul into the things that Eliot and I create.  Knowing that other people treasure the items we make them always brightens my spirits!

Happy National Handmade Day!!!  Why not create something beautiful today?  °o°

Please Note: Eliot and I are not affiliated with any of these shops and we won't earn anything if you purchase something from this post.  I just wanted to spread a little bit of magical good will by sharing some stuff that I love from Etsy!  I know how much it means to small shops for their stuff to be shared.

All of these photos belong to the shop in which I've shared them from.  If you link them from this post, please attach them to their corresponding Etsy shop!

Custom Toppers

All work and no play makes for a long week.  Like I said the other day, this week Eliot and I have been hyper focused on our businesses and cleaning the house.  It's been going well, but it's also been a lot of work.  So the past few days, I have taken a little bit of time during the day to have some creative fun in between tasks.

The hot weather arrived sooner than I was hoping.  I always say that by Memorial Day weekend, we need our AC units set up and ready... and I kind of forgot that Memorial Day usually falls closer to this week, but it's late this year.  I thought we might have one more week before the hot days, but we've actually had a few days in the high 70s.  

That's made things a bit more interesting with cleaning during the day.  Eliot's been going to work at a more normal time this week (instead of a late shift), so I've found myself trying to clean during the middle of the day when it's the most hot out.  Thus, I've had to take breaks to sit down, cool off and hydrate before going back to work.

On Thursday, I had a bit of a craving to make something... but not something for the businesses.  Sometimes, that just feels like work and I want to make something that's for myself.  I decided to dive into the 3D printed glasses toppers Eliot had made me a few months ago.  I joined a group on Facebook that makes custom toppers that fit the ones I bought from Pair Eyewear.  I've actually bought a few from three other sellers, but I also downloaded the 3D print file in the group so I could make my own.

Eliot went print crazy a few months ago when things were more quiet with both of our businesses.  Now, we wouldn't have time to print them, even though they only take about 20 minutes per topper.  Thankfully, he had already printed me a ton of them.  I have over 20 different colors and then over 50 duplicates that I can play around with.

I wanted some magical designs for my collection and since Pair still hasn't released official licensed Disney designs yet, I decided to dive in.  I grabbed a hot pink and red, and before I knew it, I had two polka dot Minnie toppers.  I loved how they came out so much; the paint wasn't even dry before I grabbed a black and polka dotted that too. 

During another break, I used the new sealant (that was suggested in my group) that I just got to seal the silver glittered toppers that I made weeks ago.  I had already sealed them with clear nail polish, but I wasn't thrilled with how it looked so flat.  After using this new stuff, they look so much better, shiner and more professional.  I ended up adding a second coat to them, and then I put some on all three polka dot toppers.

Later in the evening, after Eliot was home, I wanted to make another one.  I grabbed a blue topper and the new supplies I bought back in April.  Before I knew it, I had my Sorcerer Mickey toppers designed.  I asked Eliot's opinion and he liked how I'd laid it out- so I glued the moon and stars down.  Once they were dry, I sealed those too!

I love how all of my new glasses toppers came out!  I've got so many ideas for different designs.  I'm hoping that I can make more for my collection when I have time!  I was hoping to make a few more designs on Friday, but I've decided to wait for the time being.  I really do need to focus on cleaning and organizing the house.  Plus, I think it makes sense to get these finished.  They're done design wise, but I still need to shape them to my glasses and add magnets.  (The first set of magnets I ordered are smaller than I wanted so I need to order larger ones.)  But I'm happy with my first five topper designs!  I'm sure I'll make plenty more of them in the future!

In fact, I really have to figure out how I'm going to store and display all of these.  I have an embarrassing number of official toppers from Pair, plus the custom designs from others and now I'm making my own custom designs!  I'm definitely going to need a dedicated place for all of them so I can find what I'm looking for easily!  

I can't wait to rock my new handmade glasses toppers with my Disney outfits!  They are definitely going to take any outfit to the next level!  °o°

Handmade Happiness

It's no secret that I love to create things.  For me, creating and designing is automatic- just like breathing.  I can't stop myself even if I wanted to.  What the average person might not know about me, is that I also love to purchase things from other makers and small handmade shops.  I've shown a few of the handmade items that I've bought over the years here on my blog but I'd like to start showcasing more of them.

As I mentioned the other day, I've had a burst of creative energy and ideas the past few weeks.  I've been expanding the notes on my laptop.  I've been making lists of anything and everything: business ideas, artwork and decor for the house, projects to make, and more.  I've spent a lot of time on Pinterest searching for tutorials.  I've also spent time on Etsy looking for handmade items to personalize our house.  Then, I used some of Eliot's and my tax refund money to purchase a few items for the house, some fun accessories for me and some new supplies for our businesses.

The main thing I've been focused on lately is my Up themed wall.  I've seen a few pieces that would be a perfect addition.  A few weeks ago, I reached out to Soar Craft about ordering a custom Disney key design.  She usually paints keys the size of the Disney Store keys in different character designs.  I'd seen an Up anniversary design on her Instagram and I fell in love with it.  I asked her if it was possible to order a larger version so it would be more visible.  After a little bit of conversing back and forth, I'd ordered a large 9" custom order Up themed Wedding Anniversary Disney Key.

It arrived a few weeks ago and I absolutely love how it came out!  The details are so cute and the text is so good!  It looks like just the text on the Adventure Book in Up!  I could never paint it that good.  I really love how it's personalized with Eliot's and my wedding date too!  I'm so glad I ordered this from her!

Another item that I bought for our Up themed wall was this Up inspired 'Home is Where the Heart Is' sign from Pirates of Wonderland.  My Mom and Dad have a sign that says this in their dining room that I always admired when growing up.  This version was a fun, magical and modern way to incorporate the phrase into our home.  I love it so much!  The little Mickey balloons and house are so cute!!!

The final artwork that I bought was from Kodis Creations.  I've wanted to order from this shop forever and I finally did it!  Amber makes the most beautiful paper art.  She's known for her character letters, but she also makes other designs.  I ordered two pieces for my first order- Carl and Ellie's Chairs and the Candy Apples.  The chairs are so cute with the little Mickey balloons over them.  I had to have the adorable Mickey and Minnie Candy Apples.  They're going to live in our kitchen on a gallery wall there.

I've also always loved ordering accessories on Etsy.  There are so many creative things to add to your wardrobe there.  Every once in a while, I buy a few items to personalize my wardrobe and add a little bit of magic.

Recently, I've been really into those knotted bow headbands.  My hair is pretty unruly so I love to have something to hold it out of my face.  I don't wear it down often, but when I do, I pretty much always wear a headband.  Thus, I have quite the collection in my Etsy cart.  The other day, I finally ordered two from Thingamabows.  These ones are made from actual Disney Dress Shop dresses so they'll match my Mickey Sketch and Ink & Paint dresses perfectly!  I couldn't pass that up!  They really are perfect!

Another accessory item that I love are bracelets.  I don't wear them every day, but they're fun to wear when going out or at the parks.  I've started a small collection of character, holiday and event inspired bracelets.  I recently purchased some for from Ladybug Bowtique and added four more to my collection: Sorcerer Mickey, Elliott, Festival of the Arts and Forky.  I first purchased the Elliott and Festival of the Arts bracelets, but a few minutes later, I discovered Forky.  He automatically fell into my cart, and I added the Sorcerer Mickey for good measure.  I love all of the bright colors, the beautiful charms and the attention to details!!!  I'll definitely be back for more!

I've slowly been adding a few supplies to my ever-growing collection for Happily Ever Hatter.  I've got a new product in mind, so hopefully that will work out and I can show you those soon!  I also have a lot of designs that I've had in the back of my mind for a while now.  I was able to order a bunch of supplies for them with some of our refund!

I've currently got a few more things on order for the house- and that doesn't even begin to cover all of the things that I've put on my to order list.  I'm hoping to order a piece here and there when we're financially able to.  Plus, there's no point fully diving in and buying everything now since we're still painting and getting the house prepared.  But, I think that we're off to a great start so far!

I also have a long list of artwork and decor projects for Eliot and me to make when we can.  I've started to order a few of the supplies for some of them.  I'm also starting to work on a few of the easier projects.  Keep your eyes peeled; I'm planning to post tutorials for some of the projects that I'm working on here on my blog!

I really love the personalization and special touch that handmade items bring to an outfit or a home.  I want to fill our house with bright colors, handmade treasures, home decor and artwork created with love, magic, faith, trust, and a little bit of pixie dust!  °o°

Christmas 2013

Hey Everyone!  Wow, it's been quite a while since I visited my blog!  (About a week and a half!  Ouch!)  You know how it goes: the holidays sneak up on you, then they're here, and you're scurrying around like crazy trying to get everything done!  But, now I'm back!  

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Our 2013 Christmas Card!

Our Christmas was really nice this year.  Eliot and I went to my parents' house to join them, my grandparents and my brother for our Christmas celebrations!  Eliot had quite a few days off from work so we actually got to drive up Saturday and come back later Christmas Day!  It was nice to get away for a few days!

On our drive up Saturday, we stopped by my Mom's side of the family's Christmas Party! We were starting to get another winter storm so my parents and grandparents actually stayed home.  Eliot and I stopped to get the presents since it was on our way home anyways.  My Aunt Sherrie graciously fed us while we were there.  (Yum!)  And we did get to visit with a few of my relatives before we had to leave.

While we were there, we gave my little cousin Emery (our ringbearer) one of his gifts.  He loves Jake and the Neverland Pirates, especially Captain Hook.  Eliot and I found him a Captain Hook ornament!  He was so excited!  He tried to stuff it in his pocket, which was hilarious.  (I wish I'd video taped it!)  Eventually, Captain Hook made it onto the tree!

Sunday and Monday, "Downeast" Maine got a major ice storm and we were basically stuck inside both days.  We had plenty of food and a wood stove if necessary, so there was no reason to go out in the storm. The rain froze on contact and everything was covered in ice.  The tree branches bent over and a lot of trees fell over onto the power lines.  We lost power a few times during the storm.  During one outage, we started to get a little bored staring into the darkness.  To liven things up, I had Eeyore wave around a flashlight "light saber" for a few minutes.

  
Monday I decided that I better finish up my Christmas presents just in case we completely lost power.  I had planned to make a wreath for Mom and Dad as well as Nana and Papa.  It was my first attempt at making a wire mesh wreath, but they came out pretty good!  I really love how Mom and Dad's Chip and Dale Candy Cane Wreath turned out!  (Now I need to make one for Eliot and me!)  Later that night, Dad drove us into town so we could have dinner and visit with Katie.

On Tuesday, Christmas Eve Day, Eliot and I decided that we were going to finally go see Frozen.  (We had wanted to Monday, but the ice storm spoiled those plans.)  My brother Jeremy still hadn't seen it so he came with us too.  I even wore my new Elsa t-shirt, my snowflake earrings and the snowflake hair clips that I made!

We ended up getting to the theater just in time for the 3D show!  It was so amazing.  I'm bummed out that it took us so long to see it!  The music was incredible.  I'm still humming "Let It Go" over and over in my head.  The animation was also superb!  I want an ice palace like the one Elsa made!  And I'd love to live in Arendelle.  And I want a dress like Anna's coronation dress... and Elsa's ice dress.  And Olaf was hilarious!  And how cute were baby Sven and Kristoff?  It was so great; I wanna go again!

While watching the movie, I even saw a few of the hidden Easter Eggs!  They were really quick, but I did catch Rapunzel as well as the chocolates from Wreck it Ralph.  I pointed them out really quick, but the guys both missed what I was pointing at.  (I think Eliot was too busy trying to pet baby Sven in 3D.)  I was so entranced by the movie that I totally forgot to look for Mickey Mouse!  Maybe next time!

Photos from Disney's Frozen.

We thought it would be pretty funny to bring Eeyore to see Frozen.  He "snuck" into the theater inside of Eliot's drawstring backpack.  Eliot even found some 3D glasses for him! He was pretty cute with his giant glasses on.

After seeing Frozen, we did a few last minute Christmas errands.  I took a lot of picture of the ice from the storm.  Check out how much ice is on those trees!  It's like Elsa made her return! I'm a total dork and I also took a picture of Eeyore in the snow (ice) making snow donkeys.  

We spent Christmas Eve hanging out in the living room.  Mom and Dad finally kicked us out around 11:00 so Santa would come.  We made sure to "hang" our stockings up first!  I even found a small one for Eeyore!  (Jeremy also bought me a small Bumble one!)

Christmas morning we came down to many presents from Santa!  We all opened our stockings and took turns with opening presents.  I'm so excited!  Santa brought me the tabletop easel that I really wanted.  I also got the silk paint set that I've been looking at for about 2 years!  (Stay tuned for lots of crafty stuff!)  Jeremy got Eliot and me a ton of Disney Infinity figures.  (Now I just need to learn how to play Infinity!)  And Mom and Dad got me the Minnie Mouse Build-A-Bear that I'd asked for.  She has pink and lime pajamas for our wedding colors!!!

We also got Eeyore a few "gifts".  Ok, they're actually Build-A-Bear items, but they'll work for Eeyore and for our family's ever growing BAB collection.  I had gotten him a Santa hat to wear for Christmas, and we thought it was time he have a hockey stick and puck to go with his Sharks jersey.  We also found a Red Sox hat and shirt, some sunglasses and a basketball and hoop.  Jeremy even bought him a Patriots outfit!  (And it actually fits!  Dad squeezed him into the pants.  See photos above!)

Of course, no Christmas Day is complete without the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade!  This year was even the 30th anniversary of the parade.  (I'm 29, so it's been on television as long as I can remember!)  Unfortunately, our cable was not working correctly due to the ice storm.  We missed the first hour and when the second hour started, it fuzzed in and out the remainder of the parade. 

This is the first time that I've ever missed the parade Christmas morning.  However, I was really thankful that we had power to begin with.  A lot of people in the area didn't even have that for Christmas.  Plus, Eliot and I were DVR-ing the parade back at our house... so I could watch it when we got home anyways!  (On a side note, some of the people without power still won't get power until this Wednesday!  It'll have been out for a week and half!  Yikes!!!)

Christmas afternoon we ended up watching our Disney Wedding DVD with my family. None of my grandparents had seen the DVD yet, and neither had my Dad and brother. Even Mom had only seen bits and pieces of it.  It was a lot of fun to re-live the memories with all of them together.  We really did have an incredible wedding at Disney!

Around 2:00, we ended up losing our power.  We had literally stopped the Wedding DVD about 5 minutes prior.  After a few hours, it was apparent that it wasn't going to turn back on anytime soon, so Eliot, Jeremy and I packed up our stuff before it got too dark out. When Eliot and I left Mom and Dad's house, they still didn't have power.  Luckily, they called us about an hour after we left to say that it had turned back on!  Once Eliot and I got home, we unpacked the car and watched the part of the parade that we missed!

We had a great Christmas and are incredibly thankful to have spent some time with family and friends!  Now we're shifting our focus to New Year's Eve and going to Walt Disney World for the Half Marathon!  It's going to be another few busy weeks!  °o°

Halloween 2013 Recap

Hey Everyone!

I'm sorry that I never got back to do my Halloween post over the weekend!  Saturday Eliot and I were really busy with taking all of the decorations down and packing them all away.  Then Sunday threw me completely for a loop with the time change.  I keep thinking that it's 4 or 5 in the afternoon and then I look at the clock and it's only 1:30 or 2. (That happened to me at least 2 times today.)  I keep feeling like I am getting extra hours all over the place, but I'm completely exhausted too.  I went to bed "early" last night and my bed is already calling me now... anyways!

Here is the Halloween Decoration post that I promised!  We went a little crazy with the outside decorations.  As I've mentioned before, this is the first time that we've had a house and a yard to decorate!  I've become used to decorating a small apartment porch with a few light strands so we had fun this time around.  Here are our outdoor decorations at dusk.  (I wanted to take a few pictures before it got really dark.)

We brought our Kermit and Captain Jack Sparrow jack o'lanterns out on our porch for the night.  We also have our Mike and Sulley door greeters and my inflatable Vampire Tigger!

Here is what our house looked like when it was dark.  We never ended up having any trick or treaters, probably because it was pouring out.  But we ventured out to take a few photos!  (We really need one more orange rope light to complete the garage side...)  We also got cool pathway lights.  Eliot went light crazy and added a few of our Christmas netting lights to some of our bushes.  But it did help light up the path.

Our window display was my big project this year.  We used my Mickey Candy Corn garland for the top of the display as well as some Halloween garland.  We also added Captain Hook Mickey and Tinkerbell Minnie door greeters.

Halloween Duffy, Mickey, Minnie, Red Sox Tigger and Sailor Duffy made appearances facing towards the outdoors.

This is the display at night with the outside lights from our porch.

The lights outside made our window clings glow and it looked pretty cool.

And this is the window view from the outside.  Our porch looked all orange from the lights!

Since it was raining, I brought Mike and Sulley inside and put them on the bookshelf in our entryway.  We also had a few welcome signs and my large Tinkerbell sign that I got from the DisneyStore online a few years ago.

Our Mickey and Minnie figures and snow globes from Wal-Mart were tucked into our wine shelves in the dining room.

And as you've seen before, here are my Halloween kitchen cupboard decorations.

Halloween isn't complete without the candy!  I couldn't find my large candy bowl, so I improvised with a Halloween bag that my Nana made me when I was little.  I did a quality assurance test  on the candy mid-day to make sure that it was ok.  (he he...)

Finally, the Many Adventures of Eeyore continue.  Since Eliot and I have no kids, or pets, and had no trick or treaters Halloween night, and I couldn't even find Nightmare Before Christmas OR Hocus Pocus on tv, we had to have some Halloween fun somehow.  I surprised Eliot earlier in the day by making Eeyore a costume.  Eliot loves the San Jose Sharks hockey team, so I decided to modify Eeyore's usual jersey that he wears for games.  His Build-A-Bear jersey usually is number 00, so the only possible way to make him a "Shark" for the day was to make him #88, Brent Burns.

Brent Burns had been growing out a beard so he could raise money and then shave it for charity.  (Which he did the other day.)  But I knew that this was the perfect costume for Eeyore and that Eliot would get a kick out of it.  So, Eeyore "grew" a felt beard, I changed his jersey numbers with stickers and he was Brent Burns for Halloween.  He even got a trick or treat bag to complete the look.

I did mention that we were a little bored, right?  Anyways, I took photos of Eeyore with a few of his "friends" around the house.  And I thought it would be funny to stuff some candy in his treat bag.  I was actually really, really disappointed that we didn't get any trick or treaters, so Eeyore was forced to make up for it.  (Apparently, he really likes Kit Kat bars and M&Ms.)

Finally, we "gave" Eeyore a small Duffy bear that was his size.  I used a Duffy keychain that Eliot had his Mom grab at Disneyland and took the keychain part off of it.  Ta-da! Instant small teddy bear.  I personally think that it's adorable.  I know that we're nuts... but you have to admit that he looks cute in his costume sitting next to Duffy.

So, that was our Halloween 2013!

We're already coming up with ideas for next year.  We bought some Disney window clings that were on sale after Halloween at Walgreen's.  As I mentioned in my Jack O'Lantern post, I'd like to add some Haunted Mansion Hitchiking Ghosts to our collection. I had a million projects that I wanted to do this year but I just didn't make the time to do them!  Next year, I'm hoping to add some Haunted Mansion inspired quotes to my word printables.  We've got a lot of wall space.

I have some wreaths that I need to make.  I bought some supplies with they first went on sale at ACMoore but I didn't actually make a wreath with them!  I also had some ideas for some throw pillows and some outdoor decorations.  I guess between now and next Halloween I'll be really busy making Halloween 2014 awesome!  °o°