fresh picked whimsy

Ghosts of McDonough Halloweens past...

Thought it would be fun to revisit some of our past Halloweens!  I think it really stinks that the kids aren't allowed to dress up in school anymore.  I have such great memories of dressing up and parading through school when I was a kid.  I think it's unfortunate that a few spoilers were able to take away that fun tradition for all of the kids (not just their own).  I hope you all have a wonderful, candy coated Halloween!

Me as the bunny, my sister Kim as the clown and my mom rockin' the bee hive(which was not a costume, but her hairstyle at the time) circa 1970...

Mark and his brother Ed dressed up to emulate their idols...KISS...this was not actually a Halloween picture, but adorable anyway.  How much do you love the Fonz poster in the background?!

K's first time out trick or treating as Little Red Riding Hood...

R's first Halloween.  My mom made that Pocahontas costume for K.  ♥

My mom made the cowboy outfit for R and we made K's butterfly wings...

K's princess dress was actually my bridesmaid dress from my sister, Kim's wedding. 

Again...Mom made Dorothy's outfit and the pirate costume, too...

I painted a plain black sweatsuit for R using glow in the dark paint.  K's bloody doctor costume was her idea and ironically she gets queasy at the sight of blood.  Go figure. 

I made G's Elmo with styrofoam balls, paint and glue.  It was so easy and comfy.  He was so freakin' cute!

Mom made Dracula's cape.  K was a rock star.  G wouldn't tolerate a real costume this year, so we got creative with what we had.

Elvis was all Goodwill and a little glue and beading...

Goodwill and make up

Mark and R made Purdue Pete's hammer from cardboard and tinker toys.

K and her BFFs...the black eyed peas...

That was R's real hair...we just teased it and put baby powder in it.  Nobody believed us.

My treat to all of you....I'm having a Buy one print, get one free sale in my etsy shop through Monday.  A great time to get a jump on your holiday shopping.  Simply purchase one print and when you check out, leave me a message and tell me which one you want for you freebie.  (Free print must be of equal or lesser value as the one you purchase).  Happy Halloween!

Happiness is...

As soon as everyone left for school and work this morning, I was picking up the "stuff" that's scattered around the house so that I could do a whole-house vacuum.  I got to the family room and found this...

Instead of picking it up...i left it.  I vacuumed around it.  There will come a day in my not too far off future, when i will miss seeing the Legos and monster trucks scattered on the family room floor.  A few years ago we packed away all of K's American Girl dolls and dress up clothes.  Broke...my...heart. 

So, today...the cars stay. 

Loving life at the lake

 

I made this for my cousin Jeannine to celebrate all things that we love about visiting their lake house in Angola, Indiana.  She suggested I make prints of it and sell them. So, I will be listing them in my etsy shop.  Each one will be personalized with the lake name and optional family name.  I can change the color of the house, as well.  This particular one has a treehouse in the tree, but the one in my etsy shop will not.  I am currently working on a beach house version of this print, too.  On a chilly, drizzly, fall day like this, it's fun to daydream about our warm summer days playing on the water! Good times!

Flu-ville revisited

Piggy doodles by G and Mom

Phew!  We have survived Swine '09!  (i know that flu season is just getting started, but that's my story and i'm sticking to it!) We began last week in the ER at the Peyton Manning Children's Hospital  with G on suspicions that the flu had turned into pneumonia. 

Good news:  no pneumonia.  Bad news:  strep throat and H1N1. 

We did manage to build a fort...

play with clay (everyone got in on the fun)...

and take a short walk to breathe in the fresh air and see the pretty leaves...

Hope you and your family are staying well, too!

♥ Love ♥

Twenty-two years ago today, we had our first date...a barndance for Mark's fraternity.  We were freshmen at Purdue.  This is a picture from that night.  The rest is history.  Happy, lovely, sweet history.  Love you, babe.  xo

Things that go bump in the night!

 
This is probably my most viewed blog entry ever...i posted it originally last October and it was featured on several other blogs.  People still link over to it from those blogs a year later.  So, i thought i would re-post it for my readers who are new this year.  It's the DIY spooky silhouettes that I decorate my house with.  It's easier than you think!

I've also found some whimsically spooky Halloween things on etsy that I thought I would share with you, too.  I just love them....

 

Instant Cemetary Display by Crafterella

Vintage Chenille Pillow Slip with Spider Accent by The Material Girl

I'll Get You My Pretty Poppy Longstockings by Poppyswickedgarden

HoOt Gives a hoot by Janesdesigns

 
Mirror Mustaches by Sprocketbox

 

 Black Stitches Choker and Earrings by Tianarutledge

Happy Friday, Friends! xo

Back from flu-ville....

Hello, friends.  I am emerging from my flu funk.  Don't know for sure which variety I had...regardless, it was sucky.  I hope you and yours can dodge it this season.  I spent the day yesterday disinfecting bathrooms and sheets and pretty much Lysol-ing every surface in the house.  Germs, be gone!  It's a grey, rainy, fall day here, so I thought i would post something cheery.  First, two links to blogs that are seriously hysterical.  I spent an hour looking through this first one and laughing so hard...you know you've got one or two of these in your old photo albums...you've got to check out awkward family photos.  And, the second blog is a riot, too.  For a good giggle, go to cake wrecks.  So funny!

Finally, this is a canvas I painted recently for my sister, Kim.  She had seen this quote on a print somewhere and requested that I put my own spin on it.  The print she saw was also of a cup of lemonade, but was very different, antiqued and rustic looking and not her style.  I never want to copy anyone else's work, so I didn't even look it up until after I was done.  All she told me was the quote and that she wanted me to paint a glass of lemonade. The actual canvas was about 4 feet tall. 

Makes me thirsty and wishing for summer! :-)  Stay well, my friends!

That's amore...

Fifty years of marriage!  That is a loving accomplishment to celebrate!  I painted this for my friend Melanie's, aunt and uncle.  Her family commissioned me to create something that would represent their little Italian family tree, yet would also represent them.  It's all in the details!  Melanie's uncle makes his own wine and so, we traded out the tree for a cluster of grapes. 

The gift tag on the bottle is a special message in Italian from the family to the happy couple. 

Their last name 'Angeli' means angels and so I added the little cherubs on the label. 

 ♥  Buon Anniversario, Sanzio e Ines!  ♥

A dotty giveaway!

My friend, Julie Corbett, of On the Dot Creations, is hosting a whimsy studios giveaway today!  Drop on over to On the Dot and enter to win your choice of one of these two new prints from my etsy shop... You have until Monday, October 12th to enter.  Good luck, friends!

Looks like Fall, feels like Fall...it must be Fall!

The Autumn Village...

Does it seem like the first day of autumn came and it was immediately cold, windy and grey...or is it just me?  Feels like someone pressed the fall weather button right at the stroke of midnight on that day.  Sheesh!  The annual "but I don't wanna wear jeans...i want to wear shorts!" struggle with my kids has begun.  It's 43 degrees when they go to the bus stop and I've got them bundled up in hoodies and pants and then they come home at 3:00, sweltering under it all because it's now 70 degrees, and they're giving me the stink eye.  To quote that tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff..."Oh, bother!"

Personally, I love Fall.  Bonfires, sweaters, crock pot cooking, down comforters on the bed, gorgeous leaves, trick-or-treating....it's a yummy time of year.  Wherever you are, i hope you are warm and enjoying the season! xo