Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Help. 
Save.


4 letter words that in my opinion carry more heaviness of other less favorable 4 letter words. Because, instead of a derogatory or harmful nature they carry extreme weight and burden. Especially for a person like me. I am a "fixer".

Fixers are many times the children of addicts. My parents were very young when I was born, still in high school, married and divorced before I was even out of diapers. My birth mother from a very early age was a substance addict who later transferred her drug addiction to a religion addiction. My birth father was an alcoholic. He filled his workday with coffee but the sound of an ice cold beer being cracked open announced he was home. Weekends were slightly different. Coffee until 11 am, then yes, just like weekdays beer until bed or passed out in his chair-whichever came first. I also found out about 2 years before he passed away that he in fact had not given up his need to self soothe with marijuana like I had believed. 

A fixer will physically throw their everything into solving issues. It is our addiction. We will put our own needs, health, and sanity on pause while working on the issue at hand because the reward of the fix. No excuses only solutions and offer more than you take are mantras. 

But even fixers have their limits. Cloudy and often hard to self recognize but they are there none the less. When limits surface fixers find themselves at a crossroads, keep going or stop ,When the fixer is tasked to help or save another person and they finally realize they are unable to complete the task with successful results because the other party continues to self sabotage-the fixer will always choose to simply stop. We will dust the damage off, re-group and move on. 

The fixer then gets pegged as the villain by the person they chose to stop helping. That person cries victim. Unwilling to recognize they in face are not a victim but instead an accomplice to the circumstances they have created and continue to produce. 

Monday, January 30, 2023

Blink and a decade passes you by.

 It has been just about a decade since I typed my last blog post. I believe things were a lot different then. I mean clearly I got busy, things changed, life unfolded. My little wax side hustle took off an when I say took off exploded internationally. We grew quickly. We blinked and both of my kids finished high school. We became world travelers. Actually I discovered that travel is my great love language. Take me anywhere, show me the culture, the architecture, the food. I don't care if it is a little alcove of a beach in Puerto Rico where only the only other heartbeats are the flea infested wild dogs and their pups, the hustle and bustle of downtown Barcelona, or the quaint German influenced village of Alsace. If it means throwing a toothbrush and change of clothes in a bag and setting off on an adventure I am here for all of it. 

When this blog was first birthed it was centered all around my love of Halloween. We threw lavish annual haunts the size of wedding receptions completely themed out and changed over every year. 100 invites were sent out at the least. We retired those a couple of years ago. Sometimes I miss the planning, the prep, the excitement of our guests faces when they crossed the event threshold and the energy those evenings brought. It was definitely the place to be on All Hallows Eve. We still have party attendees regularly try to convince us to come out of retirement for "just one more" hoping we would catch party fever and pick right back off where we left off. But the truth of the matter is that chapter like the last decade of our lives has passed. 

This new decade that I find myself in is full of twists and turns. We have extreme highs and dark lows. I feel like this new season needs to be documented if for no other reason than to offer my soul a little bit of therapy. Perhaps a written recollection so that when my life season has passed my not so little anymore littlez will be able to come here and read the world through their matriarchs words. Allow me to connect with them when I no longer am a phone or text away. 

So if you have every said out loud "I can't make this shit up!", hit subscribe or whatever it is in the blog world now (I am super rusty) and stick around because you are about to witness the mother load of  that sentence. The good, the bad, the insane and the ugly as this blog shifts to mourning an almost retired, empty nester life to parenting non biological troubled teens as an almost senior citizen. Who has the popcorn?

 

Friday, September 21, 2012

wicKED Blog Giveaway

 Then scurry your little skelley fingers over to
 There is one super fantastic giveaway going on over there. 3 Different Prize packs, multiple chances for entries. While you are over there you just might find some wicKED inspiration and pick up a few new blogger friends.







Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Lonley Pumpkins and a Skull


Our Local Target has begun the annual transformation of the back of the store. I am hoping that by the weekend it will be completely transformed. I love the Tree Cutouts that are on the isle end caps and the iron fencing accents. Of course, those are not for sale. Poor little pumpkins are all alone. 


I almost came home with this guy. He needs a crown... then he would be an All Together Dead skull. He is very large (hence the price tag) and the clearance back packs in the photo do not do him justice.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Cleaning to tear apart.

So today is Friday. In my house.. it is ritual cleaning day. Spouse was raised by his mother and two older sisters and well lets just say... he is one mean cleaning machine. It is also the beginning of his one day off a week most weeks and he likes to have everything "in order" as quickly as possible. My son teases him and says that his father has CDO which is really undiagnosed OCD but son says that his father has CDO because he has to put his own disorder in alphabetical order.

So today in like 4 minutes as long as it will take me to finish this post we will begin the ritual, everything in its place that has a place.. however today is a twist, as we tidy up I will be packing up to begin the interior house transformation. I pulled several goodies and boxes down out of the attic and they are lined in the family room today... Super excited. Starting again with the China Hutch, it really is my favorite transformation I say every year I am going to leave it all year... maybe this will be the first.

Oh and side note... the powder room I spoke about almost 2 years ago.. finally got its first coat of paint. Looks pretty fantastic, hoping to finish it up this week too!

Happy Friday

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

It's Alive!

Two words, so many different translations.

Infamously tied to one of the best creature flicks of all time Frankenstein. "It's Alive!" but for today, it is simply the coming out of dormancy of me and the All Together Dead Blog. Appreciation to non other than the Frog Queen herself.

Self admittedly I lurk, a lot. It seems like most days that is all I can manage to do is squeeze in some lurking. Between advocating for the Autistic community, my very own 11 year old, leading an international Scentsy Sales Team,  prop building, social media, 3 boxers, and a son that just entered the Air Force the blog was well for lack of anything better getting decrepit. Under any other circumstance a good thing. Unless you are a fan or reader, and in that case no excuse is acceptable and  I apologize form my leave of absence. 


So today, The Frog Queen protested her love of all things pumpkin... to which of course I know I am a HUGE fan as well, and she graced my website and selected a couple of  new Scentsy warmer additions for her collection and then was even kinder to tell the world about it.  

Today the little 3 piece Mid Size Pumpkin warmer is available 



or if you prefer while supplies last the cute little retired warmer "JACK" plug in  from last season





or maybe "Whoot" the Owl that glows when lit.

or perhaps "Tilia" that showcases the stark beauty of a tree in winter.


Or maybe, just maybe  you would like something a little more on the "frightful side" in that case beginning Saturday September 15th, check back to the website to purchase this years new additions to the collection -Our Tribute to Frankenstein himself with It's Alive,the "All Hallows" Jack o Lantern" Sillhouette warmer, The adorable little "Fright Night" bat themed plug in or the brand new "Ghouls & Ghosts" warmer. 


Scentsy warmers are a safe alternative to traditional candles, they are safe enough to leave on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The operate on a low watt bulb system and without wax they are the equivalent of a nightlight in your home. Pair them with one of our 80+ Scentsy Wax fragrances and they will sent your home magnificently.

Scentsy warmers also have a lifetime warranty on the mechanics. The wax is FDA approved and you do not need to worry about poison control or late night trips to the ER if little ones or pets get into the wax. Scentsy is a buy, host,join company and you can learn more at https://houseofmorrison.scentsy.us



 















Sunday, January 15, 2012

LOVED


The costume and makeup of the blind witch from the translation of "Hansel & Gretel" on "Once Upon a Time" today... LOVED LOVED it....

Monday, October 31, 2011

Big Cats vs Pumpkins

Happy Halloween

Wishing each and everyone of you the most amazing Dark Holiday to date

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Treats


Little Felt Skelley Bags I scored at Marc's yesterday for $.49 each and some great
Witch Marshie lollies for Elaina Mae's Class on Friday.

I put a cute little custom label inside each of the bags.

Birth


A friend of mine just welcomed a new nephew to her family. she posted this photo on her facebook page, thought I would share. Great Gourd creativity.

Monday, October 24, 2011

All Together Dead Event 2011 Barn Decor continued


More of the inside of the barn. Our "Creatures" hung from the loft and added that spooky atmosphere. Good thing I sent out "Creature Survival Kits" to our guests ahead of time. I loved the soft spider webs I found for $.69 each.. they made GREAT table centers for each table. Then I used mix and match candlesticks on each one. Actually, I used a lot of Party Lite Brass candle holders that didn't sell at our Barn sale this summer and spray painted them all with black paint... well.. I know... way expensive, but they were going to go to charity anyways and this way I found a way to re purpose.





another view of the "ghost" before the tables were in place.



The Ghoul Gift Tent right outside of the Barn.


The drive was lit by candles ... next year they will be swamp jars inspired by Pumpkinrot.

The small cemetery on the right of the drive as guests came in heading back to the barn.

Witches Closet















When we transformed the house last year there was a slider door originally, instead of covering it over with sheet rock, I decided I wanted to turn the space into built in book cases, well a year later and that project still hasn't been finished, so we had a "dead" space to work with this year while decorating.

So what's a girl to do turn it into a Witch's Closet of course. I hung up a small collection of capes, dresses, a feather boa, hand bag, my favorite broom from my collection and more.

All Together Dead Event 2011 Barn Decor


This is our first event at the new house. We have a new space (10 stall barn) that we were able to utilize into a party space. After lots of work it turned out pretty good. When you walked into the door to the left you were greeted by a coffin and a few shelves with some potion bottles on them. I love these shelves from our "Season of the Witch" event a couple of years ago.






Next to the Shelves was the "Dead Man's Chest" filled with all of the different beers.

And next to the chest was our makeshift bar area... previously known as one of my work shop shelves.


and our Beverage Reaper watched over our the water and soda area all night long.

The view down the center of the barn. We walled off the stalls (empty barn by the way, needs redone, no animals in here other than the barn owl normally).



24 feet of tables on the right reserved for food, round tables down the left for guests. The white fabric above is that 20 foot ghost I blogged about a while back, he is facing the rear of the barn to greet guests coming in from the fire pit out back...


and the ghost view from the rear

The view to the right as you came in were a few more tables, and our DJ tucked away in the corner next to the giant reaper scarecrow that hid our Voting "BOO"th.







Welcome SHOTS


These were our "welcome shots"
also makes a great punch

Vampire Blood
2 QTs Cranberry Raspberry Juice
(you can use Cranberry, Cranberry Juice Cocktail etc, I prefer a little more on the sweeter side)
1 QT 7 up
Vodka
Float Grenadine for "blood effect"

If making a punch, you can always just place the vodka bottle on the side as those preferring a non alch version can still enjoy the beverage.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

All Together Dead Event 2011


Was awesome...
for now I am off to bed.... wiped out, beat, and happy.
Husband was Mayhem I was the Morton Salt Girl. More photos and details later...

Monday, October 10, 2011

Werewolf Urine, a custom order




So, one of my team members was over a few weeks ago to swap out some Scentsy Wax & she LOVED walking through the house checking out the decorations. When she stumbled upon my "Werewolf Urine" bottle she squealed, apparently she has a co worker that is totally infatuated with them. She asked if I would make her a bottle for her friend. So, I obliged.


I even created a custom scroll that she can leave scrolled or frame titled "How to Identify a Werewolf" with tell tale signs of what to look for, missing large pets, horrendous odor, and of course purple urine....I can't wait to hear the reaction once she presents this item to her co-worker.


Thursday, October 6, 2011

I want a set of double doors


No, correction I NEED a set of double doors, very simple,
very clean decor but OH so AMAZING....

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Kitchen Window


wouldn't be complete without a few ravens, cauldron, menu sign, ghoul, creep cloth, vintage bottles and of course a heart and brain under glass....

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

And they are off......


Our Invitations are printed, boxed and ready for delivery/to be mailed. I didn't think this day would ever come. Even today I was hunting through the house like a mad woman, I had misplaced the silver bullets....



The table before the assembly.
page 1



page 2 & 3 of the booklet page 4 & 5 of the booklet page 6 & 7 of the booklet
(page 8 not pictured is directions and address) The finished box and the booklet


Of course, Oliver Twist had to inspect the box of boxes to make sure they were suitable for our invitations for the Dark Holiday before we had gotten started.