Halloween Party!

Happy Halloween to all you ghouls and guys! I hope you’re busy making plans for a frightfully fun evening with your friends and families. We had a fun fondue party last night with friends from Tucson and Oxnard here at the house, so I simply HAD to decorate! I took the obvious route and turned my decoupaged mannequin into a mummy for the front entrance.






















The eyeball looking out the window of the soul, looks pretty creepy, peeking out of the mummy wrappings. I had a ton of vintage lace from my mom, and wrapped it around the mummy to add a little texture. I promise you, that no vintage lace was harmed in the making, as I didn’t even cut it! That way I can take it off and use it on a sewing project. I think that some of the lace is probably 50 years old.

Remember the Barbies I picked up at the flea market? I just KNEW they would come in handy for something, and yes! I wound bathroom tissue around them and turned them into Mini-Mummies!




































It didn't take very long to wrap the Barbies, and they turned out so cute! That's a plaster cast of Scott's hand holding onto one of the mini-mummies. I made it years ago, and I use it for a candle holder.


















I have a collection of body parts. Don't ask why, it might be the artist in me. I just love them. That's my hand with the finger pointing up. I use it for a bracelet holder.















I used two rolls of tissue, and a bunch of tape on the big mannequin mummy. I love how it turned out, and it was toooo easy! Our guests loved it, and I don’t think I’ll want to take it down after Halloween, especially after spending all that time to make. But, it was worth it.

Everyone raved over the fondue, too. I made two pots, one with cheese and one with chocolate. The girls brought fruits and veggies. The boys brought wine and beer. We had a fabulous time, and couldn't stop eating! Yummers.

The fondue recipes I made are below. I went online to get recipes, and then changed them up a bit to fit what we like to eat. You can do the same thing. We don't eat much meat, but I found these amazing sausages made with chicken and sun dried tomatoes. We pigged out. You can use whatever cheese you love in the cheese fondue, and whatever liqueur that you prefer in the chocolate, like amaretto or rum. I hope you enjoy yourself and be safe, and have fun tonight.
Happy Halloween everyone!



















Killer Cheese Fondue
From the kitchen of: Pattie Donham-Wilkinson

2 - 8 oz. Pkgs. Cream Cheese, cut up in chunks
1 – Round of Brie Cheese, cut up in chunks
1 – Block of Gruyere Cheese, shredded
1 – Dark Lager Beer

Place cheeses in a large bowl, and pour the beer over the cheese, stirring it in. Melt slowly in the microwave, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon until melted. Pour into a fondue pot, and light the flame underneath to keep warm.
Serve with:

Sour dough bread chunks
Blanched broccoli
Sausage bites (pre-cooked)
Deglet Noor pitted dates
Honey crisp apples (our favorites)
Oh, and open a can of those crunchy fried onions to dip into, after you dip into the cheese, and prepare for your eyes to roll back in your head!


Death By Chocolate Fondue
From the kitchen of: Pattie Donham-Wilkinson

1 – 11oz. Pkg. Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate bits
1 – 11oz. Pkg. Ghirardelli milk chocolate bits
1/2 Pint Whipping cream
1/2 Cup Kahlua liqueur

Place chocolate bits in a large bowl, and pour the cream and liqueur over the chocolate, stirring it in. Melt slowly in the microwave, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon until melted. Pour into a fondue pot, and light the flame underneath to keep warm.
Serve with:
Marshmallows
Crushed graham crackers
Strawberries
Crushed nuts
Pineapple & Apple chunks
Shredded coconut

Craft Videos

Have you seen my latest craft videos at LifetimeTV.com? The six-pack organizers project is one of my favorites, but some of the most popular projects are Painted Martini Glasses and Girl's Night Out Invitations. You won't want to miss those. You can watch me make everything from lunch bags and a polka dotted ice keeper to cuff bracelets. There are over a dozen ideas to craft with me. Kathy Murillo, aka Crafty Chica, has some crafty videos there too. Oh, and while you're there, be sure and register so that we can chat on my portrait page! Let me know which craft videos are YOUR faves.....and I'll see you there, at LifetimeTV.com.

Peek-a-Boo Ghost

What a great idea for the kids! This is so easy, but fun. A perfect Sunday afternoon project or classroom craft, since it takes so few supplies. I found it at the Parenting.com site, where there are tons of parenting tips and ideas. Here's how to make your own Peekaboo Ghost.

• Poke a hole in bottom of black paper cup with chopstick. Slide stick up into cup. Plant a small Styrofoam ball on chopstick.
• Glue two 6-inch squares of cheesecloth (or tissue paper) and black-paper eyes onto ball.
• Slide stick up and down to play peekaboo.

Peek-a-Boo Ghost

What a great idea for the kids! This is so easy, but fun. A perfect Sunday afternoon project or classroom craft, since it takes so few supplies. I found it at the Parenting.com site, where there are tons of parenting tips and ideas. Here's how to make your own Peekaboo Ghost.

1. • Poke a hole in bottom of black paper cup with chopstick. Slide stick up into cup. Plant a small Styrofoam ball on chopstick.
2. • Glue two 6-inch squares of cheesecloth (or tissue paper) and black-paper eyes onto ball.
3. • Slide stick up and down to play peekaboo.

Halloween Tree

I found this amazing Halloween Tree at Turkey Feathers Typepad, and fell in love! It is so simple, but simply darling. She has the most adorable things, and such a pretty blog. I love surfing through all of your creative blogs out here in the wonderful world wide web. I'm really getting excited about Halloween, now that the fires are starting to die down. Thank you for all the concerned emails and phone calls. We're doing just fine, and things are starting to be normal again. I feel so badly for everyone affected by this horrible tragedy here in California, and my thoughts are with you.

California Fires

A lot of you have emailed to check on us because of the horrendous and devastating California fires. We're doing fine here on the side of a mountain in Santa Paula. Highway 126 to Santa Clarita is closed, but we can still get to the grocery store. The fire in Piru is just minutes away. We had brown-outs all day yesterday so I had to stay off the computer. So sorry, if you were trying to get through to me in emails. I'm slowly plugging away to answer everyone. We lost a tree out front and one out back is laying over. When I walked outside Sunday morning the wind blew me down! I felt like I was back in Oklahoma with the tornadoes! The ash filled the sky, and we couldn't even see the mountains yesterday. It was like we were living on Mars with an orange sky. And it sounded like our roof was going to take off any minute. Weird, scary!
















Today the skies are more clear, there is a little less wind, and it should start improving. I have tons of freelance design work to do in my studio, and Scott just finished up LA Fashion Week, so he's back home doing editing. Perfect timing for us to be stuck at home.


















We also have a tin roof that should keep the embers away, and we are located just below a mountain ridge and just above a huge avocado farm. Yesterday I went to check the mail and realized that the ground was covered with avocados! The wind had blown them out of our trees, and I picked up about 50 or 60 off the ground. Yummy. Can you say guacamole??

Glitter Glow

Make all different sizes of jazzy jack-o-lanterns to fill the center of your table for a beautiful centerpiece. Sit the lanterns on a bed of luscious fall leaves, light the candles, and enjoy the shimmer and warmth of the colors and glitz. I made several of these in no time at all.

Steps:
1. Mask off a jack-o-lantern face, or stripes on each of your glass pieces.
2. Cover the entire glass piece with glue, using a disposable brush.
3. Pull off the masking tape.
4. Hold the glass over a sheet of paper and pour glitter over the glue, covering the entire piece. Use gold on the jack-o-lantern faces, and black glitter on the striped pieces. Sit aside to dry.
5. Fold the sheet of paper in half and pour the unused glitter back into the jar of glitter.
6. Place a tea light inside the jack-o-lantern to complete.

You can find lots more Halloween Crafts at my website!

Christian Audigier

I just have to share a few more pics from L.A. Fashion Week, since Scott got home and helped me load them onto my computer. The colors were simply yummy. It's great how the most simple things that are done in a collection of hot colors look so amazing. These were hanging over the entrance.
















Don't you LOVE the Eiffel tower? I fell in love with the Christian Audigier runway! Be sure and click on the videos when you go to the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Show site, because they were all shot by my shooger, Scott!














This is the editing room. Cramped and crazy. As soon as he finished each show, Scott ran the tapes back to this room, uploaded to the computer and created a DVD to give to each designer. After that, the edited runway shows were added to the L.A. Fashion Week website for us to watch.


Okay, it's time to get a leopard hoodie, some silkscreen leggings, a graphic t-shirt, and a HUGE metallic bag, girls. And we simply MUST have a French Chapeau. You know, all we need are some stencils, fabric paint, and some creative juice to get our bling on!

I'm glad fashion week is over, and Scott's home, and I've got tons of new ideas to jazz up my wardrobe. Hey, don't worry. You won't see me sporting silk stockings and a garter belt anytime soon.....

Monster Umbrellas

These crazy cool umbrellas are great for Mommy or Daddy to carry on a trick-or-treat outing with the kids. Or, have a crafting party for the whole family by cutting out different shapes and letting the kids create their own scary or fun faces to glue onto their Monster Umbrellas! When I did them on Channel 6, they were great on the set, and we decided that they would also make great party decorations. You can find over 100 FREE crafts at pattiewack.com, and dozens of Pattiewack -n- Crafts projects from the Six in the Morning show on CBS in Tulsa. If you have picked up my book, The Crafter's Guide to Glue, you will find the instructions on page 120.

Hairy Spider Wrist Band

Looking for a Halloween craft project for your child's classroom or neighborhood party? The Hairy Spider Wristband Party Pack provides an instant activity for 24 kids. The kit includes black beads, fuzzy pipe cleaners, googly eyes, glue and a colorful instruction sheet with step-by-step photos. I found it at Family Fun and I just think it's terrific!

L.A. Fashion Week

Scott keeps sending me sweet pics from L.A. Fashion Week. He's the cameraman who is filming the runways explicitly for the designers, and the rest of those peeps are paparazzi and media! Every time they finish a show, he runs his tape to the editing crew and they edit it on the spot to hand over to the designers. Pretty hectic and wild!

















He has seen tons of celebrities, including David Hasselhoff. Scott said that he was totally surrounded by people trying to interview him before the show started. It's crazy busy and when he calls me I can barely hear what he's saying. Especially when the music is blasting.
















Check it out! Can you find Scott? Totally nuts! I can't imagine what it's like to stay concentrated on getting every shot just right. The designers will be using his video for their promos and marketing after the show is over, so he has to get the best shots. I miss him! I know he's not eating good, although he said that the Whole Foods Market is one of the sponsors, so maybe he's scarfing some tasty snacks.

I promise to send more pics tomorrow, as soon as I figure out how to send them from my phone to my blog. Scott emailed these to me, so I'm spoiled. *sigh*

Heatherette fall 2007 show opening outfits

Well, I’m a production widow while Scott is gone for L.A. Fashion Week. But, he keeps sending me photos and giving me the rundown of the runway scoop, and it’s so fun!

Richie Rich and Traver Rains, created a lot of razzmatazz at the show with their tattooed models and fashions with a sexy factor in the Heatherette line, as you can see in their YouTube video above!






Kevan Hall

This choker is divine! I’m crazy for the beaded trim and rick rack style, and the way it finishes the whole outfit. Wear this with a denim or leather jacket anywhere!











Elsie Katz

Check out the embellishments on the Elsie Katz couture. The sheer yo-yo styled appliqué is very chic and fun at the same time, and I adore the little rosette on the waist. So feminine, and timeless.











Nicky Hilton

For me, the Nicky Hilton jackets are calling my name. I totally LOVE the little red bolero, and the white jacket with black piping is simply darling. Very cute, and wearable!











Sue Wong

Scott says his fave fashions so far have been Sue Wong’s collection. The colors are bright and wild, which is why I think he likes it. I really dig the red leggings, and the beaded trims.

Scary Stuffies

When I made these scary monsters for my glue book, I never realized just how popular these guys were going to be. I had seen them at craftster.org in every shape and size. Some were made from felted wool, cotton prints, and of course some were made by knit and crochet lovers. Mine are cut from felt yardage from the fabric store. You can sew these up, or you can glue them like I did in my new book, The Crafter's Guide to Glue. The big momma is about 18 inches tall and the baby is only 6 inches tall in his mommy's pouch. The pattern is in the book, and I used the same pattern for the baby stuffy as I did for the applique on the scarf. My daughter went nuts over this, so it just might end up in the grandson's Christmas stash. But, it would make a fun Halloween project too, if you used orange and brown and black felt. If you make this for a child, please be sure that all the pieces are sewn so that they won't come off. Now, all these little monsters need are their own names!

Haunted Gingerbread House

It's time to run to the store and either get a gingerbread cookie mix and icing, and candies, and sprinkles. Or, go to the craft store and pick up one of those kits to make a haunted gingerbread house. When it gets a bit chilly willy like right now, I always need some gingerbread baking in the kitchen, don't you? It's great fun to get graham crackers and let the kids build their own houses with squeeze icing and let them get covered with gooey icing. Fun, fun, fun!

Get Tacky with Pattie Wacky

Yep, that's me, holding the 2007 Special Edition, Better Homes & Gardens Christmas Ideas magazine with the incredible Duncan glue ad in it with me and my fake cakes. Woohooooo! When Scott and I shot this ad, I never knew it would get soooo much attention. But, it was really fun making the cakes with styrofoam, candies and glue. You can go to Duncan Crafts website for the instructions.
















I looked everywhere for the magazine, and finally found the last one at Barnes & Noble, and the last 4 at Borders. I bought extras to send to my family, and of course I just have to have one for myself!

















A big "Duncan" shout out to Alyson Udell for the gig, to Joan Fee for helping me pick out the candies, and to Scott at Insight Film and Video (my new hubby) for making me look good in the photograph.

Halloween Crinoline

Isn't this the most darling crochet pattern you've ever seen for Halloween? I found it at the Crochet Memories website, and just fell in love with it. They have several other fun patterns, that really made me smile.

The Flying Flea Market

That old saying, “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure,” is totally true for me! And I was in junk heaven this weekend at the Flying Flea Market held at the Santa Paula Airport. Scott could barely keep up as I boogied from hanger to hanger where oodles of tables were filled with fab finds.





Melamine dishes in a colorful kiwi called my name, and the perky pink and black salt and pepper shakers just made me laugh out loud. Scott modeled the cross-stitched apron for me and got a couple of whistles from the girls. I love the rooster pattern and think I’ll have to wear it on Thanksgiving. The old books are flight logs from the 60’s. I’m thinking of altering them with rubberstamps, mini photos and fun sayings.





Can a girl ever have too many Barbie’s? This trio was just waiting for me, and the prayer cards were, too. You could have heard me squeal for a block when I found these vintage Samsonite suitcases! I don’t plan to alter them, because they are in pristine condition, and I only paid 2 bucks each for them. They will be filled with craft projects as soon as I knock the dust off them.





My mom sent this unbelievable stash of thread from Oklahoma. My new Singer 7470 is going to LOVE sewing with these scrumptious threads that remind me of silk, they are so shiny and vibrant. Thanks mom!

Caramel Apples for Autumn

You just can’t have a better autumn day, than when you pick the perfect apples, go home and make caramel apples, and then munch them while wearing your favorite sweater, or cuddling with your cuddle buddy. Here’s my recipe for caramel bliss.



Caramel Apples

8 apples
8 craft sticks
1 14 oz. pkg. soft caramel candies
1 tablespoon milk
wax paper
butter
candy corn, pecans, candies

Insert a craft stick in the stem of each apple. Apply butter to the wax paper for the apples to sit after they are dipped. Melt the caramels with a little milk in a small saucepan over a larger pan with simmering water (or a double boiler.) Dip the apples in the caramel until coated. While still sticky, apply candy corn or nuts to the apples. Allow caramel apples to harden on buttery wax paper. Yummy!














You can "go Mary Tyler Moore", and wrap them up in cellophane with a cute bow then hand them out at work on Monday morning and watch everyone flip out, and giggle their way through the day. Oh my!

Rustic Fall Wreath

Even if you don’t dress your trees with goblins and hang skeletons on your porch, you will love to welcome your guests with a fall wreath on the front door. I made this wreath with loops of dried vines. You can buy one wreath and toss it in the bath tub with warm water, take it apart and loop it into 2 or 3 loose wreaths like this. Grab a spool of floral wire and your glue gun to make a cluster at the top with about a dozen sprays of fall goodies. I picked gourds, leaves, acorns and pumpkins and added some purple accents. To top it off, I added the burlap bow in the center. Add a loop of wire on the back so that you can hang it on the door. You know I heard someone say that you only get one chance to make a first impression, and this would make a nice one!

If you've never made a bow, I did a little illustration for you, so you have no excuse. Now go for it!

We DID It!

We bought the rings, got the license, and tied the knot! If you don’t know me, no big deal. If you DO know me, you know that Scott and I have been together for at least 7 years and have pretty much ignored the idea of getting married, figuring it just wasn’t necessary to our happiness. But, in order to make other people happy, we have been trying to come up with a good date and a good place for a wedding. But after a year of trying, it just wasn’t working out. With family and friends sprawled across 6 states, it seemed like an impossible task to get everyone together. Kind of like herding cats. Fun for a while, but eventually you get worn out and just want a nap.


So here's how it all happened. Scott had been shopping for rings and pretty much knew what he wanted, and I kept saying, “no biggie…I’m easy to please” while he was digging for real hints about what I liked. And he did SO good. I love it!



The plan was to go to the courthouse and get married and then have dinner with friends, so we started telling friends that we were gonna do it. And then, everyone got SO excited and wanted to BE there, and then how do we choose WHO? And how could we enjoy our local friends being there, but none of our far away friends, or what about our family who are all out of state? And, and, and….we both decided maybe we should just get the license and then maybe plan a little ceremony for later so more peeps could come. Or, maybe a ceremony in Oklahoma and one in Washington and one in California. Wow! Then, we gave up again and told everyone that we were going to wait. Oh my….I was all perplexed and didn’t know what to do until the day before our appointment to get the license. I don’t know what happened, but Scott and I looked at each other and with a twinkle in our eye decided to just DO it. He called a video buddy to meet us there, and we were ready.

Ready? Not really! We made a mad dash to the local mall and I found a beautiful white satin ruffledy blouse and some darling jeans. Then we snagged a gorgeous shirt for Scott that was the exact same color and a pumpkin colored silk tie. We picked up our rings and slept with great anticipation for the next day.

I woke up the next morning and realized I simply HAD to have a bouquet of fresh flowers. So, I ran to the grocery store. I know that sounds bizarre, but I spent several years in flower shops and I’ve made umpteen bridal bouquets so all I needed was a couple dozen fresh roses. Well, there I was in my pretty satin blouse, new jeans, pearl handbag, and matching pearl necklace and earrings, stumbling to the flower counter. Imagine my pitiful pout when the chick told me she “couldn’t give me the flowers that she just unloaded from the truck because they weren’t seasoned yet.” ARH! Even though I explained how I was getting married in 2 hours, she didn’t budge. I hopped back into the car in search of a fresh flower shop on Main Street and found an angel named Nancy who was more than happy to chop the stems off the most beautiful white roses for my wedding day. I love you, Nancy!



As I finished up binding the stems with satin ribbon and pearl corsage pins, it was about 1 hour before our noon appointment, and we got to wondering if we needed witnesses. I said no, but Scott looked back over the paperwork and sure enough, we did. Yikes! So, he called over to the K1C2 Studio to see if anyone was there, and Susan was. She high-tailed it the few blocks to the courthouse to meet us. She’s fast, because she even bought a bottle of champagne on the way there! Now, that’s a friend.

It was FUN! We had the cutest man to marry us, and he even started singing an Elvis tune at the end. We caused quite a buzz with our video dude juggling his camera and microphone, Susan with her camera and champagne, me with my flowers and nervous giggle, and Scott with our rings and briefcase and a big happy grin. No drama, just happy shiny people.

I wish that ALL of you could have been there. But actually you were! You were right there IN MY HEART, carrying me to the perfect angel to hand me those roses, carrying me across the courthouse lawn beneath the waving palm trees, there when Scott placed the ring on my finger and there in my voice when I said “I do.”

Now, you can call me Mrs. Wilkinson. Or you can still call me mom, grammy, grandma, sis, and all those other names, like Pattie, wackers, and anything else you want. Hey, be nice.



















Yummy chocolate mousse and cookies from Tutti’s after the big to-do of I-do’s.