cheri...I too, am so sorry to hear about your loss. I agree, with cameragirl >> Love, Love, Love, your witch with the cats. They are so unique. How big is the witch? Did you cut her from plywood and then paint her? She's so different, and I love that. I k now what you are saying about 'Poor' Thanksgiving. It seems though, with Christmas, that we are tending to s-t-r-e-t-c-h the season with All the decorations, and trying to enjoy them longer. I used to decorate the house, inside and out, by the Second week of December, but NOW, everything is in place BY Thanksgivng!! Especially my hubby w/his Christmas Village, it's so much work, and he adds to it each year, and he needs more and more time to set it up. I'm getting excited, just thinking about it! Do you post your pictures on here using a Digital Camera? Cameragirl, do you also have a digital camera? I don't, and wonder if I would be able to post my pictures, at Christmas..using conventional shots. Duh!!! Not too experienced in that department. Well...anyway, I just love how you and Cameragirl, put your 'Souls'...lol, into your decorating!! Slinkey

Thanks guys, ya'll are so sweet. Slinkey, our son is grown and gone, but loved the holiday decorating when he was young, Cindylouhoo, I've had the buffet about 20 years, it was black and had newspapers glued to the top before DH refinished it. Lynn, I've collected the "Ideals" for years, from estate sales and such. They span from the 30's to the 70's and cover every holiday and have the most beautiful pics. Take a look at ebay they show a lot of pics. Syble

The strawberries were supposed to be white chocolate covered. But when I melted the chips in the microwave, it became grainy and wouldn't stick to the berries. So I made a simple icing with half & half and powdered sugar. That stuck to them really well and they still tasted good. I was going to cut the crescent roll dough in strips and wrap them around the little smokies to look like little mummies, but I ran out of time and ended up just tearing off pieces and wrapping them around the smokies. It tasted the same and saved a lot of time. It took me about 10 hours on Saturday to get all the food ready. I also had crinkle-cut carrots to go with the dip, but I had put them in a different crisper from the other veggies and forgot to put them out! We always have a good time - our neighborhood is a party place.

I love Halloween, but I have never managed to buy a house in a neighborhood that gets trick-or-treaters -- I'm so bummed! We've always had older houses in the "city" and I think most "city" folks take their kids to the 'burbs to ransack there for candy. We've now moved to the country, but I think the distance between houses makes TOT unlikely out here. Especially when you can't even see half the houses from the road. (sigh). I think I'll see if DH wants to have a grown-up Halloween party. That will give me an excuse to do a little decorating.