The History of the Jack O Lantern

Just a little Halloween Tidbit for you all! :)

Ever wonder where the Jack-o-Lantern came from? Who would have guessed the Irish?

According to Irish mythology there was a man known as Stingy Jack who had tricked the Devil. One result of his trick was that the Devil could never claim his soul. When Stingy Jack finally died he found that he could not gain access to Heaven either. He found himself wondering in the darkness. The Devil gave him an ember directly from the fires of Hell to help him see in the darkness. Stingy Jack hollowed out a turnip and placed the burning ember inside. Ever since that day Stingy Jack has roamed through the earth, trapped between Heaven and Hell.

The Irish people carved their jack-o-lanterns on All Hallow's Eve and placed candles within them to keep evil spirits and Stingy Jack away. Originally the jack-o-lantern was carved from turnips, potatoes, gourds, rutabagas and even beets. Irish immigrants found that pumpkins were much larger than turnips and much easier to be carved. Gradually the pumpkin became the fruit of choice for carving jack-o-lanterns.

Just thought i'd share this with you all! :)

Have fun tonight! and Be safe!!!

** Electric Jack-o-Lantern by JROriginal . Trio Adorable Jack-o-Lanterns by Sondysue . Carved Gourd by Manaturallyinspired . Happy Halloween sign by Artrussell . **

Ode to Halloween

So I thought in honor of Halloween, it might be fun to look back a little in history and see what is Halloween really about!

Sure, we think of it as Jack-o-lanterns, dressing up, candy corn, trick or treating and such. But How did Halloween really come about?

Halloween’s origins go all the way back to Ancient times with the Celtic festival of Samhain. This was the Celt’s version of a New Years Eve celebration honoring the end of summer and harvest time, and marking a period of cold, darkness, and death of winter. Celts believed that this end of the year time marked the time in which the barrier between the living and the dead became thin. On October 31st the spirits would come back from the dead and create havoc by damaging the crops with frost and causing a multitude of other troubles.

The Roman church soon enacted a holiday to detour the worship of spirits, and so proclaimed November 1st as All Saint’s Day to honor the saints and martyrs of the church. This day was also known as All Hallows Eve. As the two religions began to mix much of the traditions of Samhain, such as dressing up in costumes and dancing around the fire, became one with All Hallows Eve to create Halloween.

So what about traditions? Like Bobbing for Apples? Well, when Roman tradition mixed with Celtic tradition, one festival near the time of Samhain was a day to honor the goddess of fruit trees, Pamona. Pamona is quite often symbolized as an apple, hence the modern day practice of bobbing for apples.

Trick or Treating is another long time tradition, surprisingly. (I also figured it was more modern day custom) Trick or Treating came from All Soul’s Day parades in early England. The poor citizens of England would line up on the sides of the street as the richer members of the community paraded by and threw them pastries called soul cakes. The starving citizens would accept these cakes in exchange for praying for the richer class’s dead family members.

Costumes! Another tradition of Halloween. This custom also started back in early England where citizens, knowing that Hallows Eve was a time for the spirits of their ancestors to come back and taunt them, would dress up in masks and costumes to keep the spirits from recognizing them.

Happy Halloween All!

** I found these awesome pictures on Etsy! Halloween Scene by WhatinSamHill . Day of the Dead Sugar Skulls by darkraven0 . Bobbing for Apples by Aerten . Trick or Treaters by ChristinaOrtega . Costumed figurine by jtnee . **

No Turkeys were harmed in the Knitting of this Thanksgiving Feast

Ok i couldn't resist! My good friend Sarah (aka sarahinflorida also theknitbrit) from kind of a side challenge bet. (mostly on my part daring her that she couldn't knit gravy) actually knitted a complete Turkey Dinner! lol

Turkey Leg (or as i like to call it, Yarnkey leg), mashed potatoes with gravy, corn on the cob, green beans, carrot, stuffing, and even cranberry sauce!

Now this is one low callorie dinner you wont have to worry about it!

Treasury Thursday!

Thinking about a fun Costume for Halloween?? How about a Handmade Costume from Etsy?? I remember the days of my mom making all my costumes as a kid! I think they were always the most fun for me because i knew only i would have a costume like it! Etsy i think takes that and turns it up a notch! Take a look at these fantastic costumes!!! i'm also showcasing the alternates, so you can view them too! After all, they are just as deserving!

BeeDazzled!

So, to my great surprise, i got a nice little notice last week telling me i had won a blog contest i entered! Beedazzles had this great giveaway on her blog.... here's the link to check it out http://beedazzles.typepad.com/ . She has another one going on right now, in fact i think she does it monthly, so be sure to check it out!

So i got to go shopping! My prize was store credit in her etsy shops for $18! plus free shipping!!! I couldnt wait because i have been eyeing her shop for some time and just love all her creations!

So Yesterday I got this in the mail!

First of all, can i say fast shipping! literally took a couple of days to get me, i was shocked!
Second of all, her packaging was so cute! I could tell she really took the time to show she cared! Everything so neatly wrapped in pretty paper, with her own stickers and beautifully put together!
Ah but it gets better! Once i got the tissue paper off, i was truly in love with her own packaging of her adorable note cards but also the cute little tin the pendant came in! Isn't that too cute! I picked out a set of her adorable owl note cards and a set of her various mixed note cards and a beautiful pendant!



How Cute, right??? I just love them all!!! Thanks Bedazzled!!!! Go Check out her Shops and Her Blog!!! It's worth it, believe me!

Totally Treasury Thursday

So since i was unable to snag a treasury this morning, to my own fault of actually getting up to get a drink! stupid me! lol missed by a hair! I thought it would be fun to show "snippets" of a couple of beautiful Autumn themed treasuries instead! So here are some sneak peaks at a few i loved and hope you will go show them some love!

This first one is called Sun, Shadowland, Autumn by cherielester. I just loved all the colors and variety she chose! Simple, Subtle, but Stunning!


This next one is done by KarmaRox called Autumnal Glory - and i think the title says it all! Just Beautiful!


This last one grabbed my attention right off! The Colors are vivid and bright and perfectly autumn! MountainMist did an awesome job creating this treasury, called The Splendor of Autumn.

Treasury Alts

So i snagged a treasury yesterday! Yay! I decided to do it on the beautiful Autumn Colors since this is truly my favorite time of year! I usually post my full treasury here when i have been getting one lately. But today, something different! Since the poor alternates never get seen, i thought it would be fun to just post them for a change! give them a bit of lime light, because they deserve it too!! To see the full treasury - come check it out here! :)

Happy Monday All!

I've Been Tagged! :P

Hahaha Well it was bound to happen sooner or later! With as many blogs as i read, visit, i always see this "I've been tagged" thing going on. I knew i was bound to get "tagged" myself one of these days!

Thanks to ahem UniqueCharm i have officially been "marked" i guess you can say! (what are friends for! lol) Ahh just kidding, its all fun actually! By the way, feel free to check out her cool etsy shop here and her awesome blog here.

So Here's the Deal (i suppose! lol)
I am suppose to:

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog - some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Now the hard part - 7 Random Facts about me....

1. Fall is my absolute Favorite time of year! I'd rather be cold/cool than hot any day of the year!

2. I was born and raised in texas, lived there for 21 years before moving to missouri (and am told i still have a bit of a texas accent! lol)

3. I am a Barefoot kind of gal - if i dont have to wear shoes and socks, i dont!

4. I am a writer at heart. I used to work for the city paper, as well as freelanced for many magazines and even won awards for my articles.

5. I am a night owl and often do some of my most creative work in the wee hours of night/morning.

6. 3 things i can never have too much of - yarn, fabric and buttons!

7. I truly wanted to be an astronaut growing up ( i know who didnt! lol) but even went to space camp several times. (best memories ever!)

Here are the 7 people that I am tagging:

1. Thecozyloft
2. Liquidsabre
3. Sheilascrafts
4. Naptimecrats
5. FluffyFlowers
6. Waterrose
7. Rubyblue

That was fun! Can't wait to see your answers next! :)

In Honor of The VP Debate Tonight!

I decided to make my Official Special Presidential Edition Throw a Fit Dolls!

Yep! lol You heard me right! I turned my funny cute lovable Throw a Fit Dolls and made them - well creepy! lol (maybe these should have been my Halloween ones instead!)

I decided why not jump on the Campaign Bandwagon and make my own Political Dolls. So i took my basic Throw a Fit doll and made one for each Candidate and their running mate! So now you Can Throw A Barack, Throw a McCaain, Throw a Biden, or Throw A Palin!! Or undecided? totally confused on who to vote for? i have the double sided party one - one side democrat, one side replublican!

Each one has the face of the candidate, with my own special touch of the googley eyes for that ever so creepy look! Each one will come with their own political verse.

SO get yours for the next debate! Then you can toss your own candidate at the tv, toss it at those mud slinging ads, or at that coworker/spouse who is voting for the wrong guy (at least in your opinion!) lol