Judging for the Recycled Halloween Craft Challenge

I figured I'd go ahead and post the judging method so there would be no confusion when the winners are posted.

There are 3 judges:

• Travis-The Randy of the group as he probably rated the most realistic of the 3 of us.
• Me-The Paula of the group as I just loved everything.
• Jason-The Simon of the group as he was the most critical of the 3 of us.

Each of us rated each entry on a scale of 0-10 in each of the following categories:

• Originality-Pretty self explanatory.  It is ok to be inspired by something else.
• Execution-How well the idea/plan of the craft was pulled off.
• Photography-How well the craft process was photographed. (Quality of what was in the shots/Not Quantity!)
• Explanation-How well the craft process was explained.
• Recycled Content-What amount of the final craft was recycled.

Of course, if you didn't follow the rules, you weren't rated, as that would be unfair to those that did follow the rules.


The scores from the 3 judges were added together.  (30 possible points in each category.) That is your score!


What good is the vote you ask?  For every vote you received, you got an additional bonus point!  Keep in mind:  Just because you won the voting, does not guarantee winning the contest!  The judging ended days ago, but there is no winner, yet as we will not add the voter points in until voting is over.  (Midnight tonight!)  Get those last votes in!  :)

Agh! Ye found me treasure

This was supposed to be posted yesterday, but there I go forgetting to hit "publish post" again!

Argh!  There be treasure in me in-laws house!  LOL  We stopping by Travis' parents house and much to my surprise, she had 3 boxes of '70's treasure for me!  They were craft supplies from Travis' great-grand mother!  So the pack-rat that I am, of course I wanted them, but I had no room!  So off to work I went... 

I got this box for $5.00 at a yard sale a few weeks ago.  Yeah!  5 bucks!  It is solid wood throughout!  And no that is not gold leaf.  That is real brass inlay!  The top and front look hand carved, too!  I was planning on using it to replace an ugly plastic bin that I keep fabric in (in plain view-for lack of a better place.)  Well now I have real treasure to put in my treasure chest!  :)

What is in it so far isn't even half of what I got, but at least this much is better organized.  (Who knew that I could organize?  LOL)  I have tons of ribbon and lace;  A pile of zippers;  Handmade patterns;  Vintage store bought patterns;  A book of iron on transfers;  Many loose transfers/buttons/this and that's...  Even some unfinished projects.  The whole time I kept thinking, I wish I could have known this woman!  She passed away 5 years ago.  I remember going to her funeral with Travis a few months into our relationship.

I'm still going through the stuff and my MIL says she has much more for me!  Some of it I'll save.  Some I'll use.  Some of it I have no idea what I am going to do with.  (I never really was the type for lace.  Some pieces of lace look handmade, too.)  Maybe I'll find use for it, or pass it on.....

So if anyone remembers that my niece was supposed to have heart surgery on her 3rd birthday:  It has been postponed.  We will be celebrating her birthday this weekend.  I'll post pics Monday!  :)

I joined my first blog hop!

I joined my very first blog hop!  I am so excited!  I just visited, commented, and followed nearly half of the list of hoppers!  I am currently working on my list of blog hops that I plan to frequent.  I am trying to get better at scheduling out my blogging time.  I will be using "morning coffee" to plan out my blogging day by day.  As this plan gets more concrete, you will see me update my "blog hops" page.  Morning coffee is so appropriate since I plan to use it more in the morning anyways!  LOL  This way I can make my craft posts less sporadic!

Forgive the wordy, non-crafty posts lately.  I promise to improve your Henthorne Handmade experience!

BTW---Judging for the Recycled Halloween Craft Challenge is over!  All that is left is the voting!  Do not underestimate the votes!  This upcoming Thursday is the last voting day!  Winners will be announced soon thereafter!

What are your favorite blog hops?

Happy Hopping!

Happy Birthday Blue

Today is the estimated day of birth of our dear little boy Blue!  I can't believe he is a year old already!  He is one of only 2 surviving kittens from a stray mom cat from Cottageville, SC.  The other kitten, sadly, was taken to the pound.  :(  I managed to snag Blue up at the perfect time!  Now he is the spoiled ruler of our home!  (Well, until our other little kitty, Meatball, gets old enough to take over!  LOL)

 Busted trying to stalk me!  LOL(above)

Look at that cute little tongue sticking out!  : P  (below)

 OK, Mom!  Enough with the pictures already!  LOL  (below)

Sangaree Animal Hospital sent Blue an animated birthday card!

Some interesting kitty things from the web:



Link up your own kitty krafty goodness here:

Voting Time

The Recycled Halloween Craft Challenge is now over!

Time to vote!  :)

Snag the button to lead voters to the poll here.

<a href="http://henthornehandmade.blogspot.com/p/recyled-halloween-craft-challenge.html" title="Vote for the winner of the Recycled Halloween Craft Challenge on Henthorne Handmade!"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4hqX-fAeWXYOI9vS_rFABueYSCJcvD9DDr7Adl2AvAXwnQhbrE78cXWXU9BZcT8nLzjmPvUqAIo3yVoK2Hca4rYeG2Si3Yo-oaikfxQ10_3CGbcdJeKg9LAm1nGelhriU0cX4UR7oGgEJ/s1600/Vote+for+me+Button+RHCC.png" width="198" height="198" alt="Vote for the winner of the Recycled Halloween Craft Challenge on Henthorne Handmade!" /></a><br>

Pumpkin Linky Party!

This post is about all things pumpkin!  Pumpkins are the most fabulous things in the world!  Let's share the pumpkin love with everyone!

Link up your pumpkin recipes here:

Link up your pumpkin printables here:

Link up your pumpkin crafts here:

An Interview With ANKH

I feel like I haven't let enough of "ME" shine thru.  So I decided to interview myself for your amusement.  Then I will be handing over the reigns to y'all!  Here goes:

What were you doing on October 14th, 2008?  WHAT IS YOUR ALIBI?

Uh...I was...uh...um.....

LOL Let's bring out the good cop!  LOL

On October 14th, 2008, I married Travis and ditched my biological father's last name (Kivett) for Henthorne.  I actually shocked Travis by taking his name.  We had been practically married for 3 years before we made it "official."  We felt like our marriage was between us and the cosmos, and had nothing to do with courts, or anything else for that matter.  But due to my health issues, we decided to do the paperwork with it.  (Don't put it past us to get married without that stupid paper!)  Anyways, we had the conversation before about me not taking his name because it is sexist.  I told him I would take his name if he would take mine!  LOL  But then I realized there is more honor in taking his name (that comes from a decent family) than there is in keeping mine (that came from an abusive deadbeat!)  So here I am a proud Henthorne!  :)

Did your mother really name you after the Egyptian symbol for life?

Nope.  ANKH is my married initials.  Adrian is my first name.  I actually like Adrian, but I am so sick of hearing "Yo, Adrian!" (From Rocky.)  Most of my friends call me Pumpkin or Niki.  Adrian is mainly used for business.

How old are you?

Depends on who you ask.  LOL  Nobody ever guesses anywhere near my actual age.  I was born on January 28, 1984.  That makes me currently 26 years young.  However, as I always say, every smart woman quits aging at 21!  LOL  I'd be happy enough if people quit saying I look like a teenager, tho!  LOL

Do you have any children?

Not human.  :(  I can't have children.  There is nothing more in the world that I want more than children.

(deleted my history with children because it is too sad!)

Every time I've tried to have one of my own, one of my or Travis' siblings got pregnant instead!  :(

Do you have any pets?

Spencer, my Pomeranian, is my baby!  He is every bit the roll of the child I can not have!  I nearly passed out last Monday while at the veterinarian's office!  I've been crying for the past 2 weeks!  My poor baby has a gall stone the size of his leg bone!  It, also, caused an infection that made him pee blood!  He is on antibiotics and prescription food.  The poor little fella can't even have treats anymore!  When I got his prescription dry food, I bought 3 cans of the equivalent prescription food to experiment with making him some treats...We'll see how that goes...

Travis has his 2 kitties:  Blue (whose birthday is tomorrow) and Meatball.  You'll hear more about blue, tomorrow.  Meatball is the only surviving kitten from 2 litters of kittens.  He almost didn't survive, too!  We had to bottle feed him.  We literally brought him back from the brink of death!  He used to be solid white (like an albino.)  As he got older, he got similar coloration to a Himalayan or Siamese.  Seal point?  I think that's what he is called.

My husband keeps bugging me for another snake.  I don't know, yet.  Our last one was 8ft long and then some!

Why do you blog?

I actually ask myself that a lot!  I enjoy blogging.  I also enjoy reading others blogs.  I spend more time on other people's blogs than I do my own, even tho I like working on mine more and most people don't return the favor.  Sometimes I have to leave my house and find a different internet connection so that I can even comment.  Something about blogger and my wireless device does not get along, and blogger doesn't care to help those of us with this issue.  I only have problems with blogs that have embedded comments.  If you google it, many, many people have the same problem.  Which means that if you have your blog settings set to embedded post, you are probably missing out on many readers and their comments!

Really, I don't know why I stick with it.....

Favorites & Least Favorites:

Colors:  green, orange, blue  (I like all colors, but I think white and black are lifeless if not paired with another color)

Food:  pumpkin pie (pumpkin anything really);  Coconut is awful!  I do like to eat really weird things, tho.  (like bugs)  I don't hunt, but I am not against hunting for food.  I am against hunting for sport, tho.  I believe you must eat what you kill.  (Unless you kill for the basic animalistic right of defending yourself.)

Drink:  I love herbal teas, cocoas, and coffees.  I don't really care for soft drinks.

Season:  Autumn  I love all seasons in certain respects, but Autumn is the only one I don't hate something about.  It is still warm enough to swim, but not too hot!  And the colors are beautiful.  It is the time of year for harvest!  Which is like heaven for me!  I don't like how hot South Carolina summers are.  It really isn't the heat I hate as much as it is the humidity!

Holiday:  Halloween, but thanks to me marrying Mr. Christmas, I'm starting to like Christmas, too!  :);  I hate my birthday!  I am usually depressed around then.

Hobbies:  Crafting  I love making new and useful things out of stuff that would otherwise be thrown away.  I love camping and hiking, too.  I used to (and sorta still do) like geocaching, but some bad apples have taken over my area.  They keep placing tons of caches that are against the rules of geocaching, and some are, also, against the law.  But apparently, they must be friends with the right people because if you report them to the moderator, the moderator ignores and deletes your report!  It is still fun to do if I travel somewhere else for it, but I don't have enough money to travel far away every time I want to geocache!

List some random things about you:

1. I am obsessed with all things PUMPKIN!
2. I have the memory of a 150 year old!  If I have something in my hand, I can forget I am holding it, and if I don't hear it hit the ground when I drop it, I won't know I dropped it at all!
3. My phone spends 75% of the time completely lost!  60% of the time the battery is dead &/or dying.
4. I am more likely to pull a tool out my purse than makeup.
5. I can fix most things that go wrong in my car.
6. I have scoliosis to the degree that I should've had surgery.  According to the docs, I should have been in a wheelchair by now.
7. I have menstruated to the point of being hospitalized and had 3 blood transfusions because of it.
8. I don't really know how to talk to people.  Some people can't get me to open my mouth at all, others can't seem to shut me up.
9. I enjoy pampering my husband!  I don't know why, I just love it!  (pedi/manicures, massages, wash/brush hair, etc.)

Now, It is your turn!  :)

Ask me anything you want!  No question is off limits!  I will answer honestly!  :)

Guitar Picks From Sushi Box

I had a sushi take-out box that had a beautiful pattern on it.  I tried to grow moss in it.  I can't seem to get that right.  So I decided it needed to be something else.  I cut off the walls and used my iron (& oven) to flatten it.  The oven shrunk it and made it a bit thicker, too.  (Which I needed!)  Then I used my xacto knife to cut out the guitar picks.  I filed the edges smooth to finish them off.

I gave the first one to Travis.  While I made more, he played his bass guitar for me.  :)  

I apologize for the dark shot!

I ended up making 2 of them into a pair of earrings.  And I kept 2 for me to play with.  (pictured)  I did have more than those, but I already started giving them away before I remembered to take a picture!  LOL

Earrings From "Trash" Jewelry

I made these earrings out of beads that came from broken necklaces and some found beads. I didn't realize the mass of beads I've found and collected. I haven't made jewelry in such a long, long time that my "found crap" bin has a carpet of beads (and other odd things) covering the bottom! I swear I had to have been a squirrel or raccoon in a past life, because I am always finding and collecting the strangest things! LOL I walk a lot, so I find all kinds of things in parks, trails, parking lots, and such.

The ones on the left make me think of Autumn.

The middle ones make me think of The Nightmare Before Christmas. 

And the ones on the right are like the offspring of the other two!  LOL

I might just open my etsy shop with them!  I have been wanting a shop for a while now.  I already snagged the Henthorne Handmade sub-domain on etsy, but I haven't "stocked the shelves," yet.

I am linking up to:

Cubee Zombie for Halloween!

So a last week I followed links from here to there and ended up downloading a Resident Evil Cubee Zombie!  He is so cute that I just had to have him for Halloween!
Here he is:

Word of advice:  Print out at normal size!  Do not attempt to make a mini army of them by printing them smaller!  AHHH!!!  LOL

You should totally check them out!  Which of them are your favorites?

Dear Contest Entrants,

I've noticed some entrants to the Recycled Halloween Craft Challenge are not following the rules!  I strongly encourage all entrants to reread the rules and update as needed!  We won't even judge those that are not following the rules!  It wouldn't be fair to those that did!


I also made a lighter button for those of you that didn't like the black one.  You can use either of the two.  But having at least one is required!  You can put one in your sidebar &/or at the bottom of your entry!

<a href="http://henthornehandmade.blogspot.com/2010/08/recycled-halloween-challenge-will-you.html" title="Recycled Halloween Craft Challenge on Henthorne Handmade"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4091/4996225405_bc2d87a266_m.jpg" width="198" height="198" alt="Recycled Halloween Craft Challenge on Henthorne Handmade" /></a>

Recycled Sticker Magnets

OK.  So I was supposed to post this the day before yesterday.  You forgive me, right?  LOL


Last week I ran into the inspiration for this project here.  I have done something similar in the past with pics of my grandma's parents, her, and her brother (as kids).  I actually used an outdated vehicle magnet advertisement.  But she inspired me by her use of stickers and ad magnets.  I was fortunate enough to have some really cool stickers from the many hospital visits with Brooke and Morgan.  Two of these were too perfect to pass up!

My sticker sheets and an ad magnet from the cover of our new phone book.

I peeled off the colorful plastic layer of the sticker so it wouldn't show thru the white parts of the stickers.  Then I stuck the stickers on.  The flame looks weird because it wasn't supposed to be a sticker, but I wanted it anyways!  ;)

I cut out the pieces with a xacto knife...and voila!  Please forgive my bad behavior!  I couldn't resist making the fireman look like a stripper!!!  LOL  And yes, the hydrant is on fire!  I think it is funny that they give him a cell phone, ax, and hydrant.  So I guess, in the event of a fire, he is supposed to beat it out since he has no hose?  And then call for help after he gets burned from it?  LOL  Well he's screwed because Hello Kitty stole his cell phone!  LOL

Which is your favorite?

Dear Diary,

People say that your whole life flashes before your eyes before you die.  Well, I sure hope I'm not dying!  I have been having so many long lost memories making themselves found again!  They are all random and unrelated.  I don't get it...

I went fishing, Monday, with Travis & Jase.  (First time ever saltwater fishing!)  While we were leaving, near dusk, a couple guys in a boat caught my eye.  They were shoving long poles into the water and into the pluff mud beneath so that the poles stood erect out the water in a line.  For the moments before Travis and Jase knew I was no longer walking with them and approached me, I was time traveling back to my childhood.  I seemed to be the only one there that knew what those guys were doing...

When I was little, my dad would take us out to a secluded road that seemed to go on forever.  (As an adult, it still seems that way!  I avoid it like the plaque to keep myself from "time traveling.") We would get  to a place where there were huge clay mounds.  We would fill some buckets with clay, then we would go home.  At home, we had a big tub that we used to keep a Christmas tree in (...I'll get to that in a minute...)  We would mix clay, some water, and lots of fish meal in the tub by stomping on it with our feet.  (That was fun for us as kids!)  Dad would always let me have some of the clay that I would sculpt and we'd fire later in a campfire.  So anyways, we would mold the mixture into huge balls that we would put back in the buckets.  Then off we went at late/early hours on a ride.  We would finally get to salt water and put in our boat.  We would hunt for the right spot and then he would start shoving long poles into the water and into the pluff mud beneath so that the poles stood erect out the water in a line.  Then we would throw a few of our mixed balls around the poles.  We would take a short little ride, enjoying the scenery.  When we got back, he'd throw this huge, round, circular net out and pull in gazillions of shrimp!  (I mean gazillions as a child's number not an actual one!  LOL)  A law was passed that we couldn't remove the heads on the water, but I would always "sneak" some off to feed the birds that would follow us around.  I remember him trying to teach my mom, sisters, and I how to throw the net.  I was the only one to get it right on the first try!  :)

It isn't often that a positive memory pops up from my childhood.  And when they do, they are always bittersweet.  My dad died in a house fire when I was 11.  (I married a fire captain's son by coincidence!)  Mom never took us shrimping, camping, or anything else that we used to do, since.  She had moved on (as did my sisters) but I will always hold on to him.

About the Christmas tree.  I was always the nature-loving one of the family.  One year, when we went out into the woods to cut down our Christmas tree, I got real upset and told them they were "killing Christmas!"  On Dad's call, we walked home and he traded his saw for a shovel!  He went back and dug up the tree instead!  He had to buy a huge tub from down the street to keep it in.  (Which made the perfect shelf for a train!)  After the holidays, we planted it in the front yard, where it lived until Dad died.

Here's a good memory for me to leave you with:

I have always been Miss Halloween!  Halloween started around August/September ish and didn't end until I said it did!  LOL  Sometimes it would be Halloween for years on end!  And I actually married Mr. Christmas!  LOL  Our first year together, Travis approached me with "Isn't it time to put away the Halloween and bring out the Christmas?  I mean, it's already December!"  So the next day, he came home from work to find a Scarecrow with a Santa Hat, a talking skull with antlers, and various other compromises!  LOL  He has never fussed about it since!  :)

I am such a DORK!!! LOL

I just found out that I have a ton of posts that have in orange letters next to them "draft." 

ROTFLMFAO!!!   

Apparently, my ditzy self had not remembered to click "publish post" everytime I type one out!  LMAO!!!

Feel free to laugh with/at me!  That's what I get for always doing too much at a time!  Now I have to reread and sum them up! LOL  Ugh!  Who wants to look backwards?!  Let's see how much I can remember...

I blogged about my nieces and the Downs Syndrome Buddy Walk that I will be doing on October 3.  Still no change of news on Morgan's heart surgery, but I might be taking Brooke on the walk with me.

I blogged about finding out why I can't always comment on embedded comments:  Turns out my internet card won't allow it, and I don't know how to change it.  But on a regular wifi signal, I can comment just fine.  *sigh*

Yesterday, I blogged about my dear Spencer going to the hospital for peeing blood.  He has an infection, but we don't know if it is in his prostate, kidneys, bladder, or just a UTI.  He is on antibiotics and has an x-ray scheduled.  The antibiotics cause a fever.  So I am taking the week off to be with my baby!

Hmmm.....What am I missing?  I refuse to cheat and look!  I must test myself!

Oh well!  I guess the rest wasn't really important...hmmm.....

Laundry Detergent Watering Can!

My husband crafted with me!!!

I can't believe it!  And he actually liked it!  :)

We made a watering can out of a liquid laundry detergent bottle.  We didn't exactly follow the inspiration.  (I almost never do!  LOL)  But it is still the same concept.  For the record:  I found her blog post thru her craftster post.  I still don't really have craftster figured out!  :(

I'm not done.  I want to add more to the sides and add stripes to the handle and neck that I left yellow.  I'm not sure what I'll add to the sides, yet, tho.  I just knew I had to have a cute little bumble bee on mine!  I googled "bumble bee clip art" and scrolled until I found 2 that we liked.  The deciding factor was that one was free to use and the other you had to pay for licensing.  Fortunately, the one I liked the most was the free one.

So I printed it out the size I wanted, and taped it where I wanted it, onto masking tape that was layered on the bottle.  I used a xacto knife to cut it out with a border, too.  Meanwhile, Travis drilled the holes in a cute pattern on the top.  After taping the handle and neck, we set up outside to paint it with some leftover spray paint we had from another project last spring.  Then of course removed the tape.

Isn't it fantabulous?!

And don't yall forget:  The deadline for the Recycled Halloween Craft Challenge is fast approaching!  You can enter up to 3 tutorials per contestant!

Some Bloggy Awesomeness!

I just wanted to share these with yall:

I joined the Stashbusting September Blogs Challenge!  No more junkin' for crafty supplies for me! (At least for September!  LOL)

You must check this out!  I am glad I found someone that loves Halloween as much as I do!  (I wish she had a button!)  I sooo love her "pumpkin girl" named "Pretty!"

Here is something else cool!  The first sewing box pic looks like a face!  I love random things that just so happen to look like a face!

 Check out this vintage Halloween box, too!

The Blackberry Vine has a cute little felt pumpkin person, too!

What a happy, happy day!

OMG!!!  Blogger finally let me post on an embedded comment box!  YAY!!!

*~Doing a little dance!~*

Lookie, lookie what I gottie!!!

Thanks Amanda!

*~Doing another little dance!~*

That means I have to add an "awards" section!

Even if that means this will be my one and only...LOL

One is enough to put a smile on my face!  :)

Since I can currently comment on embedded comment boxes, I'm off to surf!  Then off to enjoy some hurricane edge weather!!!

Come back soon for posts of a scarf made from a sweater.  I'm still hand embroidering it, tho.  I'm wondering if I should add some beads, too!