Eat This!

No, not the soap! But... If you thought the candy corn and Amish Harvest soap trio donated by A Simply Enchanted Life made you hungry, wait until you see the amazing recipe she has created just for you! 


A Simply Enchanted Life is a blog/store combo created by Kristin Lail. She is an avid book reader, review writer, pie recipe maker, and crafter.  I met Kristin through a forum and she has a passion for creation - everything she makes, she uses in her own home, so you know it is of the most excellent quality and that she adds a dash of love to everything she does.

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In her shop you will find jewelry, ribbon sculptures, hair accessories, soap, book marks, metal stamped pieces and more!

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Kristin has a line of bath and body products are 100% Vegan an eco-friendly, which is a huge selling point for me because I don't use products tested on animals. ♥ She also has goat's milk soap and oatmeal and honey soap, which is very soothing!

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Kristin created this delectable pie just for you guys, and my mouth waters just reading the recipe! It looks so scrumptious! 

Pumpkin Maple Pie with Walnut Crust

Crumb Crust/Topping
1c. hulled-cracked walnuts
2c. all-purpose flour
1/2c. brown sugar
3/4 c. chilled butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 350F. To prepare crumb crust, spread nuts in a medium baking pan. Roast the nuts,stirring occasionally, until toasted, about 10 minutes. Remove nuts from the oven and allow to cool. Increase the oven temperature to 425F. In a food processor, process the nuts until finely ground. In a large bowl, mix together the nuts, flour, and sugar. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until coarse crumbs form. Using fingers, evenly press half of the crumb crust mixture into the bottom and sides of an 8-or 9-inch pie dish.

Pie Filling.
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 TSP maple flavoring
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 (14 oz) can of Sweetened Condensed milk
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin (you can use pureed fresh just as well)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. into crust.
Beat eggs at medium speed, adding in the maple flavoring and spices until well-blended. Add milk and pumpkin until smooth. Pour into crust and bake for 15 minutes.

2. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean and the crust has browned.

If you try out this recipe, definitely come back and let me know how it you enjoyed it!

Are you a fan of pumpkin foods?

Spooky cute.

Personally I think this 7x2" Spooky decorative block from Bubblewrappd is way cuter than it is spooky, but that's just me! :D I have one of these on my very own mantel, and love it! It's such a cute little accessory to your holiday decor!

Bubblewrappd is owned and operated by Amanda from Tulsa, OK. She is a total sweetie who I met via Twitter! If you are on there, be sure to give her a follow, she is such a fun person to get to know! :)

I am going to showcase a few of my favorite products from Amanda's Etsy shop. Everything she makes is seriously so adorable! Be sure to follow her on Instagram - sometimes she has flash sales on there for her followers! That's how I scored my Spooky block. :)

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Aren't these all super cute?! I love them!

Question for you - how do you decorate for the holidays?

Careful - they bite!

I know, you never think they will, but sometimes little munstah's can bite! ;) How sweet is this chevron bib from Southern Stytle Stitches? I love the contrast of it - so cute!

Southern Style Stitches is owned by Southern belle Jennifer, who I met in a crafting forum (she rocks!), and she offers a wide variety of things for all ages. Most of the items she sells are customized for each individual and their personality. Just to list a few things you will find in her shop are bibs, burp cloths, can koozies, coffee cup koozies, many styles of boutique clothing, party hats, stuffed toys, gift card holders, clutches, and much much more!And it is all SO cute - Jennifer has such an amazing eye for fabric and color combos! Check out her Facebook page to see more of creations and also keep your eyes out for flash deals she hosts on her page!

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 Do you have any seasonal items in your shop right now?


We offer a lot of seasonal items which include gift card holders, tea light covers, nugget holders, clothing, candy holders, and bibs which are my best sellers.

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What is your favorite thing about Autumn?

My favorite thing about Autumn is watching the leaves and trees change.

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What are you dressing up for as Halloween? What about your kids?

I don't usually dress up for Halloween but I was talked into dressing up as a pirate a few years ago! My kids LOVE it and look forward to Halloween every year. I'm not sure what they will be going as this year but I see princesses, super heroes, and something silly for my oldest being likely.

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Do you decorate for Halloween/Autumn? How?

I don't usually decorate much for the season. My kids are getting at the age where they like to do crafts so maybe this year we will cut out pumpkins and ghost and string them up as garland!

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 What is your favorite thing about Halloween?

My favorite thing about Halloween is watching all the kids use their imagination to come up with what they want to dress up as.

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What is your favorite Halloween candy?

My favorite Halloween candy would have to be candy corn!

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How does the season inspire your creative business?
 
I think watching the leaves and trees start to change get me in the mood for fall!

~

Aren't Jennifer's creations just sweet and adorable?! Our question for readers - 

Do you prefer cute and sweet Halloween costumes and decorations, or gory and spooky?

It's a cat! It's a ladybug! It's... Lady Gato?

That's right - this prize from Frankenstitch Productions is a kitty monster plush dressed up for Halloween - as a ladybug! It doesn't get much more rad than that, my friends!

Frankenstitch Productions creates handcrafted plush monstas for kids of all ages! Frankenstitch was founded in Flint, MI in Dec. of 2001 by Steph Bills, who says occasionally F.P. goes on extreme tangents and makes accessories of all sorts. You just never know what Steph will have in store for you - she creates like I do, everything’s created on a whim! So if you fall in love with one of Steph's monstas in her shop, you best get it while the gettin’s good because each monsta is one of a kind! Steph does not use patterns so even if there are two blue beavers monstas, no two are going to turn out identical. Just like people they all have different characteristics. Steph does custom orders, too, so if there’s anything you don’t see but want hit her up via Twitter or Facebook! 

Steph says "There’s never a dull moment in the house of Frankenstitch Productions we like to keep it goofy, keeps life fun." Check out her personal blog to learn more about Steph and her crazy cool and colorful life! And you can visit this blog here to learn about each Monsta's personal story!

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Do you have any seasonal items in your shop?

Yes! Items range from Halloween crayons, stickers, hand held ghost plush, pumpkin men, and soft sculpture mummies and zombies - since they are more detailed I like to display them as home decor on a shelf, couch or suspended from the ceiling with fishing line. 

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Have you done anything special for Halloween with your monsters in the past?

Halloween 2010 we went all out I curated a show called 'Monsta Mash' with the help of two great friends, Matthew and Nikki Osmon
 

I loved it and since it’s that time of year I want to share, I did not have enough time, money or energy for this type of event this year but definitely hope to do another in the future.

 What is your favorite think about Autumn?

Fall is my ultimate favorite season. I love everything about it. I love the cool air and the crisp leaves that rustling against my shoes that get stuck in my pant cuffs. The colors are so beautiful they warm the cockles in my heart. The animals at this time of year are so busy packing away their peanuts in the hole torn up grass. We love our 3 city squirrels so much we’ve made friends my daughters Olive Mae (3) and step daughter Kami (10) named them Cake, KiKi, Chachy. They are the most socialized squirrels I’ve yet to meet. I love pumpkin everything lets just say I’m a pumpkin freak, if it’s in the ingredients I’m prolly putting it in the cart.

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What are you dressing up as this year? What about your kids?

 

For topic of dressing up this year I most likely will not, if I’m not required I usually stick to my uniform of blue jeans, plain t-shirt and a hoodie- by then I’ll prolly of retired the Birks and moved on to sneaks. But for sure my toddler Olive Mae will be decked out this year we have come to the agreement that she’s gonna be a super hero ‘Super Olive.’ I see the costume consisting of a sweet super hero eye mask (pink) a lil’ flat green olive hat, sweet striped arm and leg warmers atop of leggings with briefs over them and a long sleeved shirt. Here is pic from last year she was a green olive burger she wore this 2 years in a row it was a hit!!

If you decide I’m your cup of tea and start to follow my Frankenstitch blog I’ll be sure to post the pics from this holiday - life with that kid is just a good time, she’s so cool and I’m so lucky!! <3 font="font">

Do you decorate for Halloween?

We are big fans of Halloween! We love our pumpkins, and if they rot we’re doing 10 more so they are lasting till Halloween. We are fans of garland and mom (me) has a thing for installations as I’ve shown you (in the monsta mash pics) so there’s clouds suspended from the ceiling with the orange harvest moon, ghosts and gravestone pillows. Skeletons hang from the art tree next to the pinterest found yarn monsters and pipe cleaner spiders crawl the shelves. Pumpkin candles fill the air and soup simmers to remind up fall is here.

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What was your most epic Halloween costume?

I will have to say it was the last minute beaver suit that saved the day, making it epic. I was invited to a sweet Halloween party (2006) I was not going to miss and did not want to be crowned as LAME. Ha. I cut the arms, attached buttons and sewed up the mask, and a giant 2.5ft tail topped off the suit. I’d say it took about 30 min to execute that get up. It was a fun night at the party a name tag was slapped on my hoodie labeled ‘Angry Beaver.’ Lol

What is your favorite thing about Halloween?

My favorite thing about Halloween would be watching all the little rug rats scour the streets for as much candy as they can possible carry and watching the way the conduct theirselves and the sounds of shuffling leaves along the way.

My favorite Halloween candy ha I just realized I don’t even know its name, well anyways it’s the peanut butter chews in the orange and black waxy paper wrappers. I am a chocolate freak too – that and pumpkin are pretty much tied.

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What about fall and Halloween inspires your crafty business?

Fall and Halloween bring cool weather. This makes me crave comfort and routine. First of all there’s always coffee involved in the process it allows for full success of powering through a project no matter the size and I love watching random shows, movies, raunchy comedians, and or just listening to awesome music till the wee hours of the night with my side kick Birtha. Birtha is my sewing machine- I call her Birtha cause since I adopted her she’s been birthing out the monstas- she is one of my favorite material companions. I think that October is defiantly a monstas month to shine. October is very inspiring to me, time to honker down for the fall/winter and get down to business. I love the fall it is my absolute favorite. Fall is a time to reflect and slow our gears. In Flint, Mi mother nature has us hustling to pick up our gardens and pack up our outdoor toys and hole up in our cozy spaces we live and do what makes us happiest, for me it’s nonstop creating whether it’s for Frankenstitch, an art project with my daughters  or a project around the house.   

A final note from Steph: Never give up on your dreams, keep on keepin’ on and you will be all that you can and want to be.

Much love to all ……..and best wishes and luck for your chance to WIN the raffle ♥

What's that smell?

It is a delectable Sweet Pumpkin Spice Smelly Jelly from Streeter, LTD! These Smelly Jelly's last seemingly forever - Each is made the day it is ordered to ensure freshness, and when the crystals begin to lose moisture and shrivel, simply add water and your Smelly Jelly is revived, smelling as amazing as before! Definitely more cost effective than Scentsy, Yankee Candle or other popular air fresheners, making these great gifts this holiday season!

Streeter, LTD is a shop/blog combo. Kristina is the person behind the brand, and she is simply amazing in her support of handmade and small businesses! She even has an A-list that small business can join - it is free to join, and in exchange your get dozens of free promotions each week, advertisements on her blog, exclusive resources like marketing and graphic design advice/services, and over all a great community to join in on to help make small businesses big!

In the Streeter, LTD shop you can find their best sellers - Smelly Jelly jars! - in a variety of scents, as well as all natural lip balms, jewelry, and other great products! You can also find Kristina on Instagram and Twitter, and once a week (Tuesdays at 1pm CST) there is an A-list chat on Twitter you can join in on to grow your indie biz! Here is your chance to get to know Kristina as she talks about fall on my blog! :D

Do you have any special seasonal items in your shop? 

Yes! We offer Fall Fragrances in our shop - Vanilla Hazelnut, Amish Harvest, Harvest Moon and my personal favorite - Sweet Pumpkin Spice!

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What is your favorite thing about Autumn? 

The cool nip in the air, the start of wearing jackets and hoodies, and pumpkin spice lattes - my favorite thing about THIS Fall in particular though  - is the upcoming arrival of our first baby!

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What are you dressing up as for Halloween?  

I'm probably not - although I considered this costume this year

:

Do you decorate for Autumn/Halloween? How? 

Usually we do! We mostly decorate outside on our porch with Halloween signs and spider webs and that type of fun stuff - but this year we will hopefully be getting ready to move into our new house, so we'll be postponing it this year - but next year with the new baby going to bere - you better bet we are going all out! :)

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What was your most epic Halloween costume? 

Yikes, awesome question - I've never been crazy when it comes to Halloween costumes, so I'm not sure that I have an awesome costume I can brag on and call it epic.  I was a pretty adorable bunny at age like 2. :)  I've been a witch a few times...see, real creative.

What is your favorite thing about Halloween? 

The adorable kiddos in costumes! Really looking forward to next Halloween!

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What is your favorite Halloween candy? 

Do Frozen Snickers count?

What about Autumn/Halloween inspires you in your crafty business? 

The Colors!  I LOVE when the leaves start changing to the beautiful autumn colors, and baking in the kitchen - I start my baking again in the Autumn when it's chilly outside so the Autumn fragrances inspire me too!

~

I have a ribbon ladder necklace from Kristina's shop and I love it! It's so light and airy, I can wear it all the time and not even notice. Definitely a lovely addition to any outfit! So now, Kristina and I want to know:

What are your kids (or you!) dressing up as?

Stuff it!

That is what you can do with this prize from Rebel a la Mode! It is a 12" Skeleton Sock Monkey, Macabre. It's packaged in Vellum and comes ready to stuff and assemble. You don't need a sewing machine, just a needle, heavy duty thread, and stuffing, and bam! You have an adorable skeleton sock monkey!

The creative genius behind Rebel a la mode is Stacey Jean! Stacey started Rebel a la Mode in 2006, and has been creating fun DIY kits, accessories and sock monkeys like you have never seen before since then! She is switching things up a little to focus primarily on characters she has created and creating new characters, and giving each a  line of accessories including clothing, jewelry, hand bags and home decor!

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It's obvious that Stacey's style sets her apart from other sock monkey makers, but her DIY kits are pretty unique too!

~

"I offer DIY kits in lots of styles and colors
throughout the year. My DIY Kits have been around for years and were
the very first ready-to-assemble sock monkey kits. People were always
asking me for a kit, and I decided that I wanted to set myself
apart...  I know that most of my customers don't own a sewing machine,
and aren't going to buy one just to make a plush toy. So, I did all
the sewing machine work. I handle all that and you receive a kit
that's ready for you to stuff and sew together by hand to finish. The
arms and legs are also interlocked [on my serger] in order to make
them stronger."

~

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I had a lot of fun interviewing Stacey for this feature - I have been a huge fan of her work since I saw her featured on Storenvy.com's home page, and am honored she is gracing my giveaway with such a radical donation! I know you guys will love her stuff, too! So have fun getting to know Stacey Jean, and if you have any more questions for her feel free to hit her up via Twitter or Facebook!

Do you have any special seasonal items in your shop?
Yes. Most of my monkeys are based on holidays (with the exception of the Best Friend Monkeys). I design most of my characters around holidays.

 

 

What is your favorite thing about Autumn?

My favorite thing about Autumn is the colors and that it means
Halloween is coming!

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What are you dressing up as for Halloween? How about your kids (if you
have them)?

We are still deciding. My youngest is 5 and he says he wants to be a different character every other day. I'm hoping he narrows it down to one really soon. He hasn't much more time to decide. Last year he was Shaggy and carried around a Scooby plush. My oldest will most likely pick the grossest costume he can find. Last year he was a zombie punk rocker.

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Do you decorate for Autumn/Halloween? How?

I pull out all of my decor I've collected over the years and spooky the house up. I cover the front yard in cobwebs and spiders and I make a scary window display. My oldest and I made tombstones out of wood about 6 years ago and we set them out front on Halloween.

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What was your most epic Halloween costume?
Zombie Vampire Queen of Hearts. I made most of the costume myself. I wish I had some pictures of it. It was a lot of fun. I created a giant tulle and lace skirt.

What is your favorite thing about Halloween?

EVERY THING! I love Halloween. I love everything scary and spooky. Horror movies, monsters, everything. The decor. The skulls. The bats. If you told me I could only celebrate one holiday a year, I'd pick Halloween. I'd keep my house decorated for Halloween every day, all year long, if I could get away with it. My neighbors might not be impressed.

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 What is your favorite Halloween candy?

ooooh. This is a tricky question. As much as I love Halloween, I'm not a really big candy fan. I love chocolate. My favorite candy is dark chocolate nonpareils, which are commonly called snocaps... and thought of as more of a Christmas candy, or a movie theater candy.
 

 
What about Autumn/Halloween inspires you in your crafty business?

Monsters! Skeletons, Zombies, Werewolves, Vampires, Ghosts. Horror movie Characters! All of it. I'd like to petition that every day be Halloween. As I convert my business over to my own characters, I'd like to always have one typical holiday character, and it's counterpart scary character. Skeleton Easter Sock Bunnies, anyone? Zombie Sock Bunnies? ... In dirty pastels.

~

Aren't you getting excited for the big rainbow giveaway!? Just 5 days until the giveaway is open for entries! :D Be sure to check out the other features to get to know every sponsor in the giveaway! There's a showcase list on the right hand side of the blog, near the top! :D 

Did you ever own a sock monkey as a toy?

Get creative with this prize!

 The Individuality is offering up a creative deal so good it's kinda spooky - $25 gift certificate towards any custom graphic design services offered! 

If you remember, a few months ago Lu & Ed got a new look - a fun and funky colorful Mon-stor logo! Megean was GREAT to work with. She offers exactly what her business is named - Individuality! She gave me total control over the look, and was very patient with me when I changed my mind half way through the process about the direction I wanted to go in with my new look, catered to my every request and in the end, I had the perfect Mon-stor logo for Lu & Ed! 

But it was more than just the process - the entire package I got from her was amazing. I got my logo, image only, text only, 2 file types in 3 different sizes, and black and white versions. And she also designed address labels to match my brand plus blog buttons! She offers more bang for your buck, that is for sure, and her prices are amazing for the quality of work and amount of branding tools you get with your branding package! If you are looking into branding or rebranding your handmade biz, definitely check out The Individuality. I can't say enough amazing things about my experience working with Megean! I am thrilled to have her as part of the Spooktacular giveaway and excited to see what the winner does with their gift certificate! Megean loves to work with handmade and indie business owners - she says they are already bursting with creativity and unique personality and she loves to help them show it off with a strong and consistent marketing campaign!

If you live in Alabama you may have seen work from The Individuality and not even known it - Megean was the designer who created the logo for the Rebuild Tuscaloosa campaign after the disastrous tornadoes tore through her home town. ♥ I hope you all enjoy getting to know Megean through this mini-interview! I will be showing off several of Megean's previous customer designs through out the post to give you a taste of her work!

 What is your favorite thing about Autumn?

Alabama Weather! Fall is absolutely beautiful in Alabama. The temperature once again reaches a non-smothering point. While it does not get very cool here, the drop in humidity is always welcome. It is a great time to be outside! I also love the color palette that represents autumn. Warm, inviting colors are bound to bring happiness to anyone. The deeper shades of yellow mixed with oranges always makes my heart happy! 

What are you dressing up as for Halloween? How about your kids (if you have them)?

I honestly doubt I am dressing up. Even as a little kid, it just wasn’t my thing. However, as a parent I am finding that I love looking for costumes for my son. I have made a personal goal to sew his costumes. This year, I am going to attempt to turn my little man into an adorable cowboy.

 

Do you decorate for Autumn/Halloween? How?  

I love decorating with pumpkins and bright yellow potted mums. I am true southern girl at heart and I love to flip through the pages of Southern Living for inspiration. My overall decorating style is very clean and not over the top. I prefer to keep it on the autumn side more so than Halloween. 

 

What was your most epic Halloween costume?

I went as a chocolate chip cookie in 1^st grade. Out of everything I might have dressed up as, it is still the one that comes to mind first. My aunt made my costume and I loved it. It even came with a little chocolate chip as a hat.

 

What is your favorite thing about Halloween?

Now that I have a child, I can honestly say my favorite part is watching him get excited over dressing up. He is 3 this year and I think he is really going to enjoy it. I also love how it brings families together. I live in a college town, but on Halloween it is nice to see downtown packed with young families. 

 

What is your favorite Halloween candy?

Anything Reese’s based and this goes for ALL holidays. I would gladly toss everything else out just for a bag of reese cups.

 

Hey, she is also a vendor in this giveaway! ;)

What about Autumn/Halloween inspires you in your crafty business? 

As a designer, I love all holidays! I love working on designs that incorporate the overall feel and spirit of each season. I try to incorporate personality into my work and Halloween is bursting with over the top personality.

 ~

I can't say enough AWESOME stuff about Megean, seriously. She taught me that your brand doesn't just stop at your logo, or your business cards. Whoever wins this gift certificate is a very lucky person! Be sure to follow The Individuality on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with media exclusive deals and new services! 

If you win, what would you use the gift certificate for?