Dress up your Halloween table with a sparkle spider.  He will guard your goodies in style! Quick and easy sequined spider is a fun project to do while watching TV.  This is a great group project too!

You will need:

2 ½” Styrofoam balls, each ball makes two spiders

Serrated steak knife

½” sequin pins

Gold and silver sequins

Two large red sequins

Tacky craft glue (other glues may dissolve the foam)

Chenille stems, in white/black striped and sparkle white

Black felt

Scissors

White colored pencil

Ruler

1.     Cut the Styrofoam ball in half using the serrated knife.  Rub the two cut sides together to smooth out.

2.     Place the cut circle on a piece of black felt and trace around with a white colored pencil.  Cut out.  Cut four 4-inch pieces of chenille stems from each color.  Add a dab of glue on the ends of the cut stems. Insert into the bottom sides of the Styrofoam ball half alternating each color.

3.     Add a generous amount of glue on the bottom of the ball half and attach the black felt.  Trim any excess if necessary.

4.     Begin adding the sequins.  Add some tacky glue to each area as you work smoothing with your finger. Insert the sequin pin through the hole in the sequin and push into the Styrofoam.  Continue until you have covered almost the entire piece.  Add two larger red sequins on the lower front for the eyes.  (See photo)

5.     Bend the chenille stems to form the legs and display your spider on your holiday tables.

Firmoo eyeglasses review

Recently  http://www.firmoo.com contacted me and asked if I would like to review some eyeglasses in exchange for a free pair.  Since they only offer this for single vision lenses and I wear progressives I paid a small fee for the upgrade.

There was an issue with the way I input my prescription but Firmoo.com was very accommodating and customer service bent over backwards to make sure I got exactly the pair that I wanted.  I received my glasses yesterday and I absolutely LOVE them!  All eyeglasses come with a hard case, a soft case, a tool kit for repairs and a microfiber cloth.

They have such a wonderful assortment of frames to choose from so my only problem was trying to choose just one!

If you are looking for a new pair of eyeglasses, (And honestly eyeglasses from the eye centers are way overpriced) you should check out http://www.firmoo.com

And it gets even better…Firmoo.com has a first pair free program.  Choose your frame with single vision lenses and all you pay is shipping!  How can you lose?

 Click here for first pair free

Note:

My glasses were provided by Firmoo.com in return for a review. My opinions, however, are completely and honestly my own.

Meat loaf cook off—and the winner is…

How do you make your meatloaf?  Do you make it with gravy or do you add a ketchup mixture on top?  Is your meatloaf moist and delicious comfort food or could it double as a weapon or building supply?

In my house I make two kinds of meatloaf.  My husband prefers the ketchup topped one and my son chooses the one covered in rich brown gravy.  Both are good if I say so myself so when my son came home from the air force for a visit I had a meatloaf cook off to settle the question once and for all which meatloaf is better.

I’m the judge, so maybe there is a little conflict of interest but it’s all in fun.  Admittedly they are both delicious.  (I told you there was a conflict of interest) So (drum roll please) which meatloaf won the cook off?

Rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat

It was hard, but the ketchup covered one was just a teeny bit tastier. These meatloaves pair well with mac and cheese or mashed potatoes.

The recipes follow: 

Ketchup style meatloaf

1 lb. Meatloaf mix (ground pork, veal and beef)

Breadcrumbs (about ¾ cup seasoned or unseasoned as you prefer or whatever you happen to have on hand)

½ small onion finely chopped

Clove of garlic minced

1 tsp. grill seasoning

1 egg

Dash of worcheshire sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Topping:

In a small bowl combine about 1 cup of ketchup, a teaspoon of dry mustard and a tablespoon of brown sugar. 

Mix all the ingredients (except the topping) together and form into a loaf.  Place into a baking pan.  Mix together the topping ingredients and cover the top of the meatloaf with this mixture and place in a 350 oven for about 45 minutes.  Use a spoon to remove any dripped grease from the pan before serving. 

Runner up meatloaf:

1 lb. meatloaf mix

3/4 cup rolled oats (Yes oats, you won't even know it's there)

½ onion finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 egg

½ tsp grill seasoning

Dash of worcheshire sauce

Can of beef gravy

Mix all ingredients together and form into a loaf.  Place in a baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.  Remove from the oven and spoon out any dripped grease from the pan.  Pour a can of beef gravy on top and put back in the oven for about 10 minutes.

Birthday, birthday, birthday

September is here and September and October are big on birthdays in my family.  First of all tomorrow is my sister-in-law and brother-in-law's birthdays.  They are siblings, not twins but born in different years on the same day!  Next, comes my step daughter on the 10th, after which my brother follows. His birthday is the 23rd, one week away from mine which is the 29th.  You'd think I'd be done with birthdays by then, but nope, not a chance.

My other brother is the 13th of October, my sister's the 15th and my daughter's is the 16th!

By the end of October I'm pretty darned sick of that birthday song and have gained about 15 lbs. from all the birthday cakes!

So for all you who are having birthday's this month...put on that birthday hat and maybe tip a glass or two and have a

Happy Birthday!

If you want to make a glass special for all the birthday's in your life check out the following tutorial on Make it easy crafts. 

Birthday party wine glass