C2H: Our Spookified Porch 2012

We usually don't decorate much for Halloween but this year we went all out for Jada! Halloween decor is kind of cheesy to me but I'm into the cheese this year! We put up:

• A Crashing Witch that has been in my Halloween bin for years and I never used it
• Some cheesy cardboard decorations on the windows. A witch, a skeleton, Frankenstein, etc.
• 2 sets of orange twinkle lights from Big Lots
• 1 set of 3 purple tree stakes also from Big Lots
• An electric pumpkin that I've had for years
• My carved "P" pumpkin
• A pumpkin scarecrow (not pictured)
• And 2 sets of spider webs from Walmart

C2H: Pumpkin Carving 2012

Saturday night I had my parents and my grandmother over for dinner and some pumpkin carving. After a delicious dinner of stove top chicken, mac & cheese, cranberry sauce, rolls, and pumpkin spice pudding we got to work on our pumpkins! Every one's came out so cute and we had a lot of fun!

Grandma and her pumpkin face

Everyone hard at work and so serious

Mom's, Dad's, and Grandma's

I did a "P" for our front porch

Easy Peasy Pumpkin Dessert

After being at the beach for the past week I came back home to very fall weather at home. It made me feel like I'd almost missed the start of Halloween season while we were gone. So tonight I wanted to celebrate Halloween with a movie and a special treat. I had no time at all to really cook anything. I still had tons to unpack and get ready to start back to work tomorrow. So while I was at Wal-Mart grocery shopping I came across this pumpkin spice instant pudding mix.

Perfect! All you have to do is add 2 cups of milk, give it a quick whisk and it sets in 5 minutes. After picking this up I decided to get some Cool Whip to add on top when I saw this:

Cool Whip Frosting??? I hadn't heard of it but it sounded yummy so I picked it up on a whim to go with the pudding. (I think they had a chocolate flavor too)

I served the pumpkin spice pudding in little dishes with a dollop of the Cool Whip on top and it made the yummiest little desserts!!! My husband even mentioned that with a little crumbled graham cracker on top it would be just like pumpkin pie. 

We enjoyed our desserts while watching this little gem that just came out on blu ray:

Woo hoo Halloween season has officially begun and I am pumped!!!!! Now if I could only make a decision on my daughters costume..............

How to Clean Your Hairbrushes

For the past month or so I have had a problem with my hair getting oily. I went to get a haircut and was talking to my beautician about it and she asked me how often I wash my hairbrushes. I honestly had never even thought of washing my brushes and didn't even know the best way to do it. So she explained the best way to clean them. I went home and did it that night and have noticed a significant difference in my hair! Can't believe I was brushing with oily hairbrushes and didn't even realize it. So I thought I would show you how I washed them! And if you have any tips or tricks for keeping your brushes clean please leave them in the comments below!

You will need:

• Your hairbrushes or combs of course
• A cheap baby bottle brush. I got mine at the dollar tree.
• Dish washing liquid. My beautician said blue dawn is the best but I didn't have any of that so I just used what I had.

Here's what you do:

1. Clean all the hair out of your brushes or combs. 
2. Fill a clean sink with hot, soapy water.
3. Let the brushes and combs soak for a few minutes.
4. After they have soaked, scrub them with the baby bottle brush.
5. Rinse them completely.
6. Lay on a towel to dry.

C2H: Halloween TV Episodes Part 2

Continuing the Countdown to Halloween posts today is part 2 of my favorite Halloween episodes! My first post was more family friendly shows and these are more adult shows. I just couldn't narrow it down to 5 so I decided to do 10 and make it 2 parts. So here's part 2 and I hope you enjoy!

NCIS "Witch Hunt" Season 4 Episode 6

Recognize Abby? In this episode the NCIS team investigates a marine's daughter that's been kidnapped. On Halloween night. You can buy this episode on Amazon or iTunes.

CSI: Miami "Curse of the Coffin" Season 5 Episode 6

It's Halloween and strange things are happening at the lab leading everyone to believe it's cursed. You can watch CSI: Miami on Netflix! Or buy this episode from Amazon or iTunes.

The Dick Van Dyke Show "The Ghost of A. Chantz" Season 4 Episode 2

Taking you real old school now! I grew up watching Nick at Nite and the Dick Van Dyke Show was one of my favorites. They never had an official Halloween show but they had a lot of shows about ghosts and haunting and different things. This is one of my favorites. Rob and the girls are stuck in a haunted cabin. You can watch this episode on Netflix!

Reba "Best Li'l Haunted House in Texas" Season 5 Episode 6

Great Reba episode! I don't want to give the plot away because it's a little bit of a mystery. Check it out for yourself. You can watch it on Hulu Plus.

Friends "The One With the Halloween Party" Season 8 Episode 6

The picture above says it all! A funny Friends episode where they throw a Halloween party. You can buy this episode on Amazon or iTunes. It also regularly comes on tv a lot.

C2H: Halloween Themed TV Episodes Part 1

Continuing the Countdown to Halloween this month I want to recount my favorite Halloween themed TV episodes!! I'm going to split this post into 2 parts because I just couldn't narrow it down to 5. So this post will be my top 5 episodes that shows more appropriate for kids and later on in the week I will posting Part 2 which will be more adult appropriate episodes. So here's my top 5 for kids in no particular order:

Family Matters "Dog Day Halloween" Season 2 Episode 7

Steve and Laura get held hostage in a bank on Halloween. Urkel tries to save Laura from the robber. Need I say more? Hilarious, classic Urkel. Family Matters had a lot of Halloween episodes but this one was my favorite. It's available on Amazon and iTunes. 

Alf "Some Enchanted Evening" Season 2 Episode 6

Was anyone else a huge fan of Alf besides me? Season 2 had a great Halloween episode called Some Enchanted Evening. In this episode Alf becomes involved in the family's Halloween party. You can watch this episode for free in a lot of places. Hulu, Xfinity, and Amazon Prime.

Home Improvement "The Haunting of Taylor House" Season 2 Episode 6

Home Improvement features a lot of Halloween episodes. They had one practically every season and I loved them all so it was very hard to narrow it down to just one! But I chose the Season 2 episode Haunting of Taylor House. Tim and Al make the house a haunted house for Halloween. I don't think the HI shows are available anywhere online but they still air on TV all the time. If you check, you can still see the Halloween episodes from time to time. 

The Cosby Show "Halloween" Season 2 Episode 6

In this Cosby Show Halloween episode Vanessa throws a party and Cliff dresses up and takes Rudy trick or treating. There's also a great Cosby Show Halloween episode called "Cliff's Mistake" and it's just as good as this one. You can watch this episode on Hulu Plus.

Roseanne

Ok so I tried but there is no way I could pick a favorite Roseanne Halloween episode. They are all great!! Roseanne had a Halloween episode every season except for the first and the last and they are all hilarious!! The Roseanne Halloween episodes are so popular they released them on a special edition DVD together and Nick at Nite usually does a Roseanne Halloween marathon every year! Roseanne comes on TV all the time on several channels so it's not hard to catch the Halloween episodes.

So there's my 5 of my top 10 Halloween themed tv episodes!! I will have part 2 up soon!!

If you have another Halloween episode you like that I haven't listed here please leave it in the comments below! I'm always looking for new ones to watch. 

C2H: Halloween Party Food

Oreo Pumpkins from Charmed Life Diva

Halloween Parfaits from the Butterfly Jungle

Halloween Cheeseburgers. (I couldn't find the original post for credit)

Pumpkin Cheese ball from BHG

Pumpkin Veggie Tray from Taste of Home

A Spooky healthy snack from Pimp My Dinner

Ghost Cookies from Delish

Pumpkin Eggs from Foodista

3 Ways to Use Formula Cans In Your Birthday Decorations

As you know my daughter had her 1st Birthday Luau last month and I had these projects I wanted to share. I had a ton of empty formula cans and I wanted to somehow use them at her birthday party. Here's 3 ways I used her empty formula cans as decorations at the party:

Here's part of the table centerpieces. I glued Luau garland all around the can then taped those cute pineapples and Luau girls to the top of the can to help make them taller.

I used a few cans as a holder for the leis. I just covered the can in scrapbook paper and put the leis inside. Every table had one of these.

I had one of these very small cans that was a sample from my pediatrician. I covered it in paper and used it to hold the silverware at the food table.

C2H: My Favorite Halloween Themed Movies

How I Clean My Makeup Brushes

On the same night I cleaned my hairbrushes earlier in the week I also cleaned my makeup brushes. So I thought I would show you how I keep those clean. I have been using this method to clean them for years now and I can't really remember where I first saw it or who told me about it. But it has kept my brushes in great shape. And you don't need anything fancy like the brush guards. This is a deep clean method that I try to do about once a month. I have a simple spray cleaner from Clinique for in between quick cleanings. 

You will need:

• Dirty makeup brushes
• Dish washing liquid
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• A long bath towel

First fold your towel like the picture below. Roll one side up a couple of times. This is so your brushes can dry tilted down and the water won't stay in the barrel.

Next fill a bowl with 3 parts dish washing liquid to 1 par EVOO. Swirl your brush around in the bowl to get all the old makeup off. Then swirl the brush around on the palm of your hand to really get the pigments off. Rinse the brush completely under lukewarm water. Squeeze out any extra water and re-shape your brush with your hands.

Once you've cleaned your brushes lay them on the towel with the brush part tilting down. You want to dry the brushes on an angle so the water will run out the fiber end of the brush. If the water sets in the barrel of your brush it can loosen the glue and your brush will start to shed. So this is very important.

Then I like to fold the towel over the brushes while they dry. I like to let them dry completely overnight so this keeps them protected. And you are done! Perfectly clean, like new makeup brushes using household products.

C2H: My Favorite Halloween Kids Books

Today's "Countdown 2 Halloween" post is a list of my favorite Halloween books!! These are all books I enjoyed reading around Halloween when I was a little girl and I can't wait to carry on the tradition with my daughter starting this year. 

"Clifford's First Halloween" by Norman Bridwell

I loved the Clifford books as a kid! And this is a great one about the first Halloween Clifford experiences.

"The Berenstain Bears and the Ghost of the Forest" by Stan & Jan Berenstain

Who didn't love these books? I loved them all and enjoy reading them to my daughter. This one is a little scary but funny because Papa Bear tries to play a trick on the kids while camping by scaring them and ends up scaring himself. 

"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" by Charles M. Schultz

This is my must read the night before Halloween. I love this book and I love the movie. My husband and I both have fond memories of Charlie Brown and Snoopy around the holidays growing up and we can't wait to pass this tradition on to Jada.

"The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything" by Linda Williams

0nce upon a time, there was a little old lady who was not afraid of anything! But one autumn night, while walking in the woods, the little old lady heard . . . CLOMP, CLOMP, SHAKE, SHAKE, CLAP, CLAP. And the little old lady who was not afraid of anything had the scare of her life!

"It's Halloween" by Jack Prelutsky

I remember the librarian at my elementary school reading this book to us on Halloween day. This books is full of poems about Halloween and the illustrations are fabulous.