Halloween Vignettes-Part 2

My challenge every Halloween is to make my decorations look "real."  I like my Halloween decorations to look like they belong there, they aren't just some orange paper cheap party decorations that I picked up from the supermarket or Walmart and threw onto the tables next to my regular stuff.  I want the regular stuff out and the Halloween stuff to look like it has been there all along.  The last post showed my  Halloween mantle and here are some other little vignettes sprinkled through the house.

This black table sits in my living room and usually holds family pictures and board games on the shelf underneath.  During October it holds apothecary jars filled with glittered spiders (dollar store), candy corn and whatever black and orange candy my kids are craving this year.  I use this cloche all year long just changing what goes underneath it.  Halloween finds a creepy styrofoam skull on a silver tray beneath it.  There is a black and orange glittered spider on the table as well.  The black chair next to it holds a handmade felt pillow that a lady at my church made for the festival last year.

This table usually holds our Bible and a candle with a cross.  Right now it has a wooden Halloween child's puzzle that I found years ago at Tuesday Morning, and a creepy little graveyard that I found at a garage sale.  What I like the best is the framed scaredy cat that I made.  Do you remember these party decorations from the late1960's-1970's?  I remember them decorating every hallway at school.  They were very popular and manufactured by Beistle.  I found one at a garage sale among a bunch of old Halloween decorations.  I remembered seeing them everywhere when I was a kid and had to have it.  They charged me .25 for the cat, a witch and two owls.  I added in a black frame from the same garage sale for .75 and with a little green scrapbook paper, my favorite framed piece was born!!  Between our kitchen and living room sits an antique desk that belonged to my grandmother (and probably hers).  I like to add some touches of fall there, too. I especially love the cinnamon Born in a Barn jar candle hand made in my SIL's barn on her property in Indiana.

The kitchen table is a good place to show off some stuff!  Every little shelf holds some other Halloween treat. The cable box/dvd player shelf above the tv is filled with little pumpkins that I painted years ago.  Every year I try to move the decorations around or make something that will add to the creepiness of my home.  I try to make at least one project every Halloween,  this year I am working on a t-shirt that says pumpkin queen.  Stay tuned.........

Halloween Vignettes-Part 1

Halloween is, without a doubt, my favorite time of the year.  I love the fall and everything about it.  I love the way Texas' 102 degree summer days give way to the "cooler" 88 degree days and I love the pumpkins.   I love the way the trees start to drop their leaves and the way the squirrels go around hiding pecans and such for the winter.  I love apples, pears and apple cider.  I love pumpkin bread and Halloween candy.  October 1 through the 31st is my absolute favorite month, even more than my birthday month, March.  One of my favorite things to do in October is to decorate for Halloween.  The mantle (which is just a shelf) over my fireplace offers the best spot to dress up for Halloween.  I change everything, even the picture over the fireplace.  I replace that with  4 framed Halloween icons that I made myself.  I purchased the plain black wooden frames during a sale at Michaels.  I used a scrapbook tool that tears paper neatly and made layers of white and black scrapbook paper.  I printed out the pictures (these came from the Martha Stewart website) , traced them and cut them out.  Then I glued them to the layers of paper and stuck them in the frame.  Probably cost $20.00 (the frames were the biggest expense).  If I were doing this again, I would definitely use my cricut to cut out the pics, but at the time I made these I didn' have one.  The rest of the mantle is made from stuff I found.  I already had the wooden witch statue and the black books it's standing on.  I just went to my husband's book shelf and took the covers off a few books until I found some thin black ones.  The crystal ball looking thing was confiscated from my mom and dad's house years ago.  I did purchase the three glass cylinders from the dollar store, they are vases I think.  I cut three pieces of vellum out and placed them inside the cylinders.  The BOO I cut out from my cricut.  The cylinders are sitting on a metal tray that I found at a garage sale and spray painted black.  The black decorative  picture frame was 50% off at Hobby Lobby and I printed out a quote from PSYCHO to go into it.  The small black urn was a hand me down from my SIL, it actually used to have a Christmasy silk amaryllis bulb in it.  I popped out the silk amaryllis and added a piece of styrofoam and stuck the sticks in.  I think I found the sticks outside in the backyard.  I spray painted them black and added the moss.  To finish the mantle off, I added a bunch of sparkly tulle that comes on a ribbon spool. (50% off at Hobby Lobby) The whole thing was soo simple and cost me less than $40.00.  Next post I will show some other vignettes that I put out around the house.

A Truly Texas Tradition

Texas high School Football in underway and that means the big homecoming game can't be far off! Oddly enough, the biggest fashion statement of the week is not the homecoming dress but the homecoming mum. If you're not from Texas you may not know what a homecoming mum even looks like, the mums seem to be popular only in Texas and Southern Oklahoma.  In the 1920's chrysanthemums became the popular choice for corsages that boyfriends brought to their girlfriends when attending the big game.  Soon the florists began tying little ribbons in the school colors on them.  In the 1960's it became popular to add more ribbons  and trinkets representing the school activities of the girls and their boyfriends.  Throughout the 60's and 70's the mums began to grow to TEXAS size proportions and today the ribbons can hang 3-5 feet off the corsage and weigh up to 12 lbs.

My niece's mum

Some detail

Lil Sis Mum

Senior Queen Mum

 It's not unusual to see the mums adorned with stuffed bears, feather boas and even lights. Now everyone gives and receives mums.  Mums are presented by best friends, siblings, aunts, boyfriends, sports teammates, boyfriends, girlfriends and parents.  Every mum is unique and every mum is different. I remember my first mum in the 1980's. It was given to me by my brother my junior year in High School. In those days we used real flowers but, alas, after a few weeks the dried mum petals would fall to the floor and all that was left was droopy ribbons.  Sometime between my mums and my daughter's mums, faux mums became vogue, mostly so that the huge corsages could adorn high school girl's rooms throughout their four years of high school.  When my daughter was a freshman I learned her number one homecoming rule.  NO COWBELLS!  Cowbells are a favorite trinket to hang off mums in Texas.  The distinct tinkling of the cowbells while Ally walked down school hallways, however, seemed too much for my conservative Texas girl and the bells were scotch taped quiet by second period.  That afternoon I found the offensive cowbell hanging from the hall linen closet doorknob as a warning to other cowbells that may try to make their way onto her mums throughout her HS years.  It is still tied there today.  I love making the mums and Ally's dates are always happy to hear that I have the mum situation under control. This year's mum was a bit of a challenge.  A senior mum is different than a regular mum.  A senior mum has to be white and gold or white and silver.  It should never have the school colors in it, only white and gold/silver.  Since our school colors are purple and gold, our secondary color needed to be gold.  Not as easy to work with than the purple and gold from previous years.  Ally's date is not a senior, which means his had to be purple and gold. I still threw in some white so they would match better. BTW, I always use the scraps to make Catherine a Lil Sis mum, everyone needs a mum!  If your state isn't doing mums, it might be a good year to show off your special kid, there is only one homecoming queen and one homecoming king, but everyone can feel special when they are wearing a Texas Homecoming Mum!!

We Go Together.....

The last few weeks in the Piotrowski household have been devoted to the musical GREASE.  Last spring Ally was cast as "Sandy" and it was the role of a lifetime.  She did a fantastic job with the role, she really developed her character.  Unlike in the movie where Olivia Newton John's Sandy seemed shy and prudish, Ally's stage Sandy had a whole different level.  In our Grease, Sandy came across as a teen who definitely was not happy with her station at Rydell.  She came across as a feisty Sandy, clearly not happy with the prude label she had been given but not quite willing to compromise her values to a group of pink jacket wearing girls who seemed to make one bad decision after another.  However, she did not fit in with the ever happy, ever gloating cheerleader types either, which left Sandy with no where to go.  You could see the struggle on her face throughout the second act of the show.  She wasn't a "go all the way" girl and was clearly confused as to why that was a requirement to fit in with the other girls and the "greaser" type guys. Unlike in the movie where Sandy seems to be compromising her values to become the 'new' Sandy, in the stage version, Sandy seems to make the 'new' Sandy fit her.  During the song Sandra Dee  you can see her plan forming.  She has not been happy with the Sandra Dee role she was assigned to and clearly wanted to make a change on her own terms.  In the end she seems confident and happy in her new role, a stronger, happier,  Sandy.  

The talent in this show was absolutely amazing.  Every single student was outstanding.  No one more than another.  Each student became their character.  It was a little disconcerting to run into Kennicke or Frenchie offstage and realize they were totally different in real life than on stage.  Every song was perfect and every joke was hilarious. The Greased Lightening car quickly became an audience favorite. This ensemble cast (including the car) was a treat to watch and everyone who attended the show had fun. What a wonderful way for Ally to end her HS musical career!

P.S. What are some jobs that this mom (and other booster moms) did to get ready for the show? The list includes preparing four cast dinners, making a cast board with head shots, decorating and running a concession stand that included fresh popped popcorn, candy, drinks, break a legs and roses, ordering t-shirts and running around looking for costumes.  Wow, when it was time for the cast party wrap up, I was happiest of all, and the first one to sleep.

A Pilgrim's Journey

This summer I took a group of teens to the Archdiocesan Youth Conference.  They all had a great time and were particularly interested in the Evening Prayer that we participated in.  That gave me an idea!! I asked them if they would like to meet every Monday night from the end of AYC to the beginning of school to talk about  different types of prayer that they may not have heard of or participated in.  So far I feel like it's been pretty successful.  The first evening we learned about Liturgy of the Hours and we prayed evening prayer together.  The next week we tried a Lectio Divina.  I thought none of them would come back after that.  Lo and behold the next Monday night, there they were!  So we prayed a Scriptural Rosary (always a favorite of mine because by the third Hail Mary I have usually forgotten what mystery I was meditating on) and believe it or not-they liked it.  Some had never even prayed a regular Rosary before. But that was the last trick up my sleeve. I was running out of ideas.

Recently I have been reading up on Labyrinths and so I decided that had to be my last hurrah to finish the summer up.  I needed to take the kids to one.  I found one at the Holy Name Retreat Center not far from our church.  Permission slips in hand I set out with 6 kids on a very special journey.  Up until recently, the only Labyrinth I had heard of had a minotaur in it.  What I discovered through my research is that a Labyrinth is a tool for prayer and meditation.  They have been around for centuries but became very popular during the middle ages.  Christians wanted to make pilgrimages to the Holy Land but the Crusades, expense and plague made it almost impossible.  Cathedrals across Europe were designated as pilgrimage sites and they installed circular labyrinths to mirror a pilgrims journey to the Holy Land.  The twists and turns of the Labyrinth reminded the pilgrims of their own lives and their own faith journey.  Today we can use Labyrinths for our own spiritual growth.

A Labyrinth is divided into three parts, the journey in, reaching the middle and the journey out.  We began by silently stating what our intention was.  Two of the kids are going off to college this fall and I wondered if that was what they wanted to ponder about.  For me, my intention was just to find a peaceful end to a terribly busy and demanding day.  We each chose something to keep us focused during our journey, some chose a bible passage and I chose to repeat the Hail Mary. Then, one by one we began to walk.  I have to say I was somewhat preoccupied with how the teens were doing and in taking a few photos so I didn't feel like my mind was quieted enough to receive the peace I was looking for, nevertheless, I still came away from the experience happy and rested.  I noticed that when the kids reached the middle, one by one, they sat down and didn't leave.  At first I thought they just didn't know what to do but as I got closer I realized that most of them were praying.  No one said a word the whole time.  One by one they slowly walked back out.

VBS-Pandamania

I know it's been a while since I've been on, I took it easy in June and July to rest a bit.  Since I was on last I completed my VBS program at the church.  Around 40 kids attended the week of fun and exciting events.  Here is how it went. 

This is how the stage decorations came out.  My husband built the screens and my kids and some of our friends, the Blanco's, helped out.  At night, lit up, it really felt like a bamboo forest in China!  Here is how we decorated some of the other rooms.

I LOVED the Junior high room, I really think they had a blast.  I made the table decorations in the snack area with my CRICUT machine.  This is such a great program for the children of St. Matthew's!

 Here are some of my favorite shots!  There is even a shot of our "whale" from the Jonah and the Whale Bible Adventure.  The kids loved sitting inside the giant whale!

As you can see we had a blast all week!  If your child attended Totally Catholic Pandamania this year and you want these or other pics, e-mail me and I will e-mail them to you-I have ton of shots.

PANDAMANIA-Welcome STM parents!

The best part of my job every year is VBS.  I am the VBS director at my church every year and I love it.  It is a great time where the kids learn valuable lessons about being Catholic and have a ton of fun at the same time.  We purchase the program from OSV, they take the GROUP publishing program every year and turn it "Catholic".  I feel like it is one of the best programs around.  Last year the theme was "High Seas Expedition" and this year it is "PANDAMANIA".  The best part of the week is decorating the stage or gathering area. Last year I tried to make the stage look like a ship.  The year before I had a carpenter from our church actually build a "shack" out of my old fence  to add to the swamp feel.  This year I am trying to recreate a bamboo forest right inside the auditorium.  Today was the big kick off registration at church and I spoke after every Mass, trying to encourage parents to sign their kids up.  This year I hope to get 50 kids, k through 8th grade.  This is the first year I have added a junior high group (just a coincidence that my daughter just completed the 6th grade-not!) and we have to see how well that goes.  I will try to update all my projects here with pics as I complete them. I am so worried because I still need three teachers and at least 5-10 more high schoolers.  That's my project for this evening, pray for more volunteers.  Watch as PandaMania comes together in the next three weeks!

Living Simply?

Too nervous to do her own shoes.

...and here's the Monster.

I guess I am going to have to rethink my idea of "living simply". This world is just so busy, lately I have been thinking that I have to put off living simply until my kids leave!  Maybe what I need to concentrate on is "slowing down".  Friday night was Prom Night for my daughter, Ally.  Since she didn't want to necessarily go to Prom (not a big fan of dances or staying up all night) we had issues getting her ready.  She showed absolutely no initiative in getting herself ready for this thing. She never asked me to order a boutonniere, never asked to make a hair appointment, never asked about a purse or what jewelry she was going to wear.  We picked out some shoes to be dyed blue and she never told me they had called her to pick them up.  So why then, agree to go? Not sure. Because her BF is a senior and I guess that makes it kinda required.   Anyway, my day Friday was spent running around all day looking for jewelry and trying to beg someone to make me a boutonniere.  Two florists actually LAUGHED at me when I went in and asked. LAUGHED. So how dumb did I look saying that I needed a boutonniere for the prom, TONIGHT! Some lady finally took pity on me and whipped one up right there. She was an angel.  An angel florist.  They come in all forms, let me tell you.  Eventually I managed to find her three options for jewelry (she picked the set I would have least thought she would) and an updo. No purse (she went without) and no mani-pedi (she didn't seem to notice). Well, Ally finally made it to the Prom and she wound up looking gorgeous, like a princess. ( Even though 2 hours earlier she was standing in our living room, while her sister was buckling her shoes, screaming at me and downing a MONSTER energy drink.) Ahhh to be a teenager again. who wouldn't want to do it?  o-O

Ally and her date.  She had calmed down a bit by then.                                                  










 I sorta felt like she was walking away from me and her childhood, then I went home and saw her room.

Confirmation Collage

Wow, it's been a while since I got to post!  Easter wore me out this year and I needed some time to rest. This past weekend my oldest daughter was confirmed.  She chose St. Patrick as her saint and wore her Easter dress.  She looked beautiful and I am so proud of her.  She was so excited that night, she had really been looking forward to the big event.  I wanted to give Ally a unique gift that would show her own individuality and how much I love and respect her.  I decided to make a collage of some important items and events in her life for the last year or so.  Here is how it came out.  My friends Tricia and Barbara helped me with it.  This frame is just little snippets of Ally's life.  If you look closely you will see: pearls,wire treble clefs, little fleur de lis, lots of antique looking keys, a picture of the cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, lots of pictures of her friends and  productions she's been in, an image of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus, a Finch Bird, her initials, a bottle of 'faith', dried flowers and a bottle of 'hope'. It wasn't hard to make, the frame was purchased from Archivers along with a mini pack of paper and coordinating ribbon.  Then I collected little items that I thought meant something to her.  It was kind of like making 12 little scrapbook pages.  My favorite items are the bottles of faith and hope.  I had so much fun making this frame, I think Ally really appreciated it.  I really appreciate Tricia for cutting out all of the little pieces of paper and Barbara for her great ideas and support.

Resurrection Cookies

There are so many fun activities to do with your kids during Holy Week.  I like to make these with my youngest daughter, Catherine.  We've made them several times and they are very easy to make. Make sure you have a bible handy!

Resurrection Cookies

1 cup whole pecans
1 tsp vinegar, plus some for your children to taste
3 egg whites
pinch salt, plus some for your children to taste
1 cup sugar, plus some for your children to taste


Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. It is very important to preheat the oven before you begin.

Jesus is arrested and beaten by the soldiers. Mark 43 & 65
Place pecans in a plastic baggie and crush them up with a rolling pin or whatever you have. beat them with a rolling pin or wooden spoon to break into small pieces.

Jesus was given vinegar to drink. Matthew 27:34
Taste and smell the vinegar. Add vinegar to a mixing bowl.

Jesus gave his life for our lives. John 10:10-11
Add egg whites to vinegar.

Tears were shed by Jesus' followers. Luke 23
Tears are salty. Add the salt to the bowl.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.  Isaiah 1:18


So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add the sugar to the egg whites, and give some for your children to taste. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us He wants us to know and belong to Him.   John 3:16


Jesus was laid in a rocky tomb. Matthew 27:57
Fold in the broken nuts and drop by teaspoonfuls into little mounds on a parchment or wax covered cookie sheet.

The tomb was sealed. Matthew 27:60

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF.

GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Mark 16:6