That Thing Called Life...A Day in the Life of a Crafty Mom

Okay here's your scary rundown of the holidays: Halloween....21 days away. Thanksgiving...45 days away. Christmas...76 days away. New Years...83 days away. Are you ready for all the holiday get together events?  More than likely this answer is no.  Unless you are a phenomenal planner and have been working on that Thanksgiving menu since July.  If so, then you either have no kids or you have mad skills.  Either way, you go with your super organized planner self.  I actually feel that by even thinking about planning for these events, that I have accomplished something. The one thing I feel that I need to get started with holiday planning, is a good planner.  I have tried several different set ups over the past few years, and I have either found myself with multiple planners and notebooks, or I have created my own planner and added pages to support this.  The only holiday I really have to do all the cooking for is Christmas, and it consists of al...

Today's post is going to be in reference to some of our local area haunted attractions in North Carolina and South Carolina.  I will also try to do a post soon with some of the nation's best haunted attractions.  For now, here is a list I have put together for the Carolina's: Booger Jim's Hollow Blacksburg, S.C. Opens October 1st The Fear Farm Blacksburg, S.C. Opens October 1st Wompus Woods Cowpens, S.C, Opens September 24th Field of Scream Gaffney, S.C. Opens October 1st The Haunted Pyramids Lawndale, N.C. Opens September 23rd Bar H Haunted Hayride Boiling Springs, N.C. Opens October 14th Last but not least, the Carowinds Scarowinds spectacular event opens this weekend. Located on the N.C./S.C. border near Rock Hill and Charlotte. Know of any other local Haunted Attractions?  Feel free to share in the comments below.  Please comment as well if you have been to any of these locations and what you would recommend.  I look forward to...

We all have those Pinterest ideas that we want to try out.  Some are fails, but some are a great success.  Check out these super cute cement pumpkins my friend Amanda tried out. Plastic pumpkin pails are filled with concrete mix and then left to dry.  Once they are completely dry, you do have to cut away the plastic pail, but the result is adorable. The only catch is that they are heavy, so I would suggest making these close to the location you will be displaying them if you can.  The cost is very reasonable, especially if you buy up extra pails in the clearance section after Halloween. Otherwise you can usually find these for around a dollar each during the season.  Amanda said that one 80 pound bag of cement mix was less than $5 at our local hardware chain, and made about three pumpkins.  What you see here would cost less than $20 to make, and could be used year after year.  You could even paint these different colors and decorate them t...

These are some super cute craft and snack ideas.  For the first one, I have used medical gauze before as well.  And the cupcakes?  Love them!  I just want to know, where do you find those little sugar knife toppers? Until next time, Amy~The Dixie Diva (This is not my video, just a cute video I found on YouTube.  Please give credit where credit is due.  I would love to hear your feedback, as to whether or not you've tried any of these, or if you want to keep seeing posts like this.  But most importantly, if you like the video then please give the YouTube video creator a thumbs up and leave them a comment.)

To start off our holiday countdown, I thought I would share this cute video I just found on YouTube.  These are four great treats that require no baking.  The only pre-prep required in one is to make jello, and another you melt white chocolate.  Simple, quick and easy.  These would be perfect for a Halloween party. I love Halloween.  Possibly more than Christmas?  My friend's and family would scream "YES" to answer that question, but I really do love Christmas time as well.  Especially seeing the light decorations and listening to Christmas music.  It's so calming. Okay that's it for now.  Short, sweet and to the point. Until next time, Amy~The Dixie Diva (This is not my video, just a cute video I found on YouTube.  Please give credit where credit is due.  I would love to hear your feedback, as to whether or not you've tried any of these, or if you want to keep seeing posts like this.  But most important...

It's hard to believe that it's that time of year again!  100 Days of Holidays begins today and I am so excited!  Well, at least I'm trying to be.  It's hard to get in the Fall spirit, when you still need tank tops and flip flops every day.  Here in the South, the forecasts keep telling us that we will have a "warmer than average" fall.  It's been this way for several years now, so I'm wondering when they will actually increase that average.  Ugh. Anyway! We are going to try and bring on the hoodie wearing, hot cocoa making, bonfire mood one way or another.  I'm going to be sharing with you some of my favorite links, blogs, DIY finds and everything else that goes with these 100 days of Holidays.  Time to lighten our spirits from all the negativity out there and get lost in some holiday fun finds. My first post for the countdown will follow this one. Until next time, Amy~The Dixie Diva

If you haven't bought one already, chances are you have been searching for the perfect family calendar or personal planner.  I've had this struggle for years.  Trying to find the one that has spots for everything you need or enough room to right it all in.  Finally, you buy it, and then start out strong but towards the end of the year you realize you have hardly touched it. Last year I finally decided to make my own planner. There are tons of options online to print your own pages and place them in a three ring binder, or order one all set up.  The one that really caught my attention last year, was a mom that used grid paper to make her own.  At first I thought it was a lot of work and was skeptical.  I'm not going to sugar coat it, it does take time.  However, once you have found the "formula"  you want to use, setting it up is a breeze. I started my planner in June of last year.  I could not find any grid or graph paper, so I came up wi...

Happy New Year!! I really cannot believe I have not posted since June of last year.  I took the summer to just enjoy time with my husband and kiddos, and then school started back (myself included) and time just got away from me.  Right now, two of my three are back in school and I have another week off before my classes begin.  So, I wanted to take time to share with you a mission that I am on: ORGANIZATION and DECLUTTERING. I started following a site last year, but I never gave it a chance.  This year I am determined to do it.  It's about getting rid of the clutter in your home and organizing it all over the course of a year.  I know you may be thinking, A YEAR??  Seriously.  Think about it though.  Unless you have several days (or weeks) in a row that you can truly go through and clean out every area of your home at one time, what happens?  If you're like me, you get started and then have to get back to reality.  Everything ju...