My favorite time of year is coming! Nope, not summer. Or spring. Okay, I’ve got lots of favorite times of year. I mean HALLOWEEN!! I know it’s a bit early but when you DIY you need time to make things. So I started now! (You can tell I love talking about Halloween from the over-abundance of exclamation marks. Just count them).

I started with a list of Halloween crafts and domestic pursuits:

1. Costume: If you love Halloween, you need one. We figured ours out last year, and they are already made so this part was easy. All I needed was to buy face-painting makeup. I usually have to spend about 3 weeks gathering clothing and making props, etc.

2. Decorations: Always adding more! This year I have tons of ideas, and will probably do at least one more post about decorations. Check out below for what I’m working on!

3. Party: Time and date set, need to send invitations. And figure out food!

4. Get in the mood: Halloween-themed playlist made! It’s too early to watch scary movies, but October is almost here…

On to DIY decorations!! This year I’m big on Dia de los Muertos, since our party will be themed after this holiday and it’s super fun. I decided to make the traditional Catrina y Catrin figurines which seem to be part of the typical setup of decorations. On my trip to Michaels, I told myself I’d spend less than $20 and basically wandered through the store taking pictures of things, picking them up, cradling them like a baby and then returning them (negative shopping is so hard). I did finally settle on these little plastic skulls, $1.99 for a pack. They would be the head of my Catrin y Catrina.

I painted my skulls white and added flowers and other fun embellishments. Then I used a wire and a Barbie stand as the body, securing them together with bread bag ties.

See the bread bag plastic ties?

Even though they are skeletons, I wanted them to have some shape, so I wrapped the structure with plastic bags. Reusing bags yay!

It is important to note the lip-balm in the background. Never do crafts while dry-lipped! It messes with your concentration.

I found small flowers for the bouquet and for the veil, and more plastic ties for the skeleton hands.

I used white fabric scraps and lace scraps to make the dress. Added a veil, a necklace (made of beads strung on thread), and a ribbon belt. Beautiful dead bride!

I then made the Catrin the same way, sewing a suit for him and making a top hat. The top hat I made with cardboard. I cut out a circle for the brim and a rectangle which I glued into a tube for the top. I covered both with black felt, adding a felt circle on top of the tube to finish the hat. Finally I added flowers and sequins for embellishment.

My husband said it was more of a robe-suit.

Aren’t they creepy-beautiful together?

She’s watching you!

We have been in the process of installing a nitrogen-removing component to our current septic tank as part of the Maryland Bay Restoration Fund Grant Program. By “in the process” I mean playing phone tag with the contractor. While reading about septic tanks I realized there’s a lot more to them than just a tank in the ground that collects gross stuff, especially if you have a fancy nitrogen reducing system like the one we want to install. For example, you shouldn’t dispose of paper that isn’t TP down your drain. Or egg shells. Or large quantities of hair (define large quantities? I have cats and long hair!). But most importantly you can’t flush strong cleaning products with chlorine, phosphates, bleach, etc. All of the strong chemicals in the cleaning products we typically use disrupt the natural process that takes place in your septic tank and not only cause a malfunction, but may end up in the groundwater we drink! Or the bay! Yikes!

I’ve never been very big on strong cleaners. Bleach has always given me a headache and one time when doing a thorough clean of an apartment we were moving out of, I almost passed out after using a deadly combo of products in the small, windowless bathroom. I’m pretty sure I’ve never been the same since (it explains my terrible math and measuring skills).

My most recent attempt to do math.

I’m a big fan of the more frequent and less intense cleanups. I try to just wipe surfaces often with water and a little bit of dish-washing soap to keep them clean and don’t worry too much about bacteria, since they are everywhere anyways and a little bit is good for your immune system. Usually, if you scrub most surfaces long enough they end up nice and clean. For example, our sink is spotless after a good scrub and regular dish-washing soap. I also use dish-washing soap diluted in a bucket of water to mop our floors, and it works well. That way, I don’t worry about what the chemicals do to our kitties (who are closer to the floor after all) and feel alright when it’s time to wash it down the drain because it’s safe for the septic tank and it’s not terrible for the environment. We do wash our dishes with it after all!

Maybe George was also exposed to too much bleach in his life.

But what about more through cleans? I’m finding that household consumption products work pretty well in most cases. For example, blood on my white gi? Used plain toothpaste and an old toothbrush and it came right off! Toilet bowls? Baking soda and a little bit of white vinegar for extra umph.

The Chobani container is where I mix my cleaners. I’ve tried using yogurt to clean, and it’s not worth it because of how expensive it is.

I recently bought some neat outdoor chairs from the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store and one was especially dirty and stained. Used a combo of baking soda and toothpaste and it worked wonders! Had to scrub a bit, but they cleaned up really well and I had no fear of the cleaners killing my plants nearby or running into the stream by our house.

Pretend this is a “Before” photo and the yellow chair has black spots…

After: awesome finds for $5 each!

I’m sure there are situations in which you may need stronger cleaners, but for general cleaning purposes baking soda, white vinegar, dish-washing soap and toothpaste work wonders. Especially toothpaste! (I don’t know whether to be happy it works so well, or scared that I use it to clean my teeth twice a day…). As much as possible, I’d like to keep from flushing anything in our water that we wouldn’t want to drink later on, since some of it will ultimately make its way back to you (or someone you know).

And if you ever need a super strong acidic cleaner to clean rust off nails, don’t worry! I’ll supply you with some of our cans of Coke, which seem to have been made for that purpose!

With all the cooking I’m doing, I’ve been noticing that colors make a big difference to both the healthiness of the food and the taste being awesome. Not rocket science, I know. Many people have said this, and I will skip the part where I give you proof, because I’m going to assume we all mostly agree that eating lots of vegetables of different colors is good for you because you get different nutrients from them I’m also not a licensed Nutritionist). What I will muse about is how much cooking can feel like making art. Nope, I don’t mean literally getting some brushes (although I do own a nifty silicone brush that I use to brush pastries and such with milk, oil, etc.) or sculpting your food (again, I have done this with pies and cakes, but that’s an entirely different genre). I mean try to look at your food with an artistic eye.

Notice how the yellows, greens and white splashes compliment the red sauce. And the circular theme kindoff gives my pizza a 60s look.

I seem to be on a pizza binge. Notice how the bean “sauce” is soft while peppers are crunchy and the avocado adds a creamy touch.

Oops, being repetitive. And this photo mostly shows cheese hiding all the good veggies underneath. But you get the idea… Sortoff…