So... let's back it up a little bit...

and talk about Halloween...

[photo cred: Bobbie Weinbaum]

 It's so obvious that I'd never make it as one of those 'professional' bloggers who post their holiday posts a month out in order to inspire the rest of us - 

and I'm thankful they do - 

because there's some great ideas out there, y'all!  

But I'm just living life and sharing as I go -- 

and sometimes, a week or so after the fun I've had...

Y'all know I like to set a pretty [fun, crazy, whatever you want to call it] table -  

And this year's skellie theme started with these cute bowls I found at TJ Maxx...

[again, photo cred: Bobbie Weinbaum]

Shown here with my gr-mothers chicken stew recipe 

and my take on the Pioneer Woman's olive bread recipe** - OH MY.

Next, I found these adorable plates at Old Time Pottery...

I picked up the silver-plate coasters at a thrift store to raise the bowls up a bit, then I decided that I liked the look fo the silver-plate [tarnished] trays as chargers...

[We got most of these for less than $4 at thrift stores -]

The tablecloth is from Kohl's [last year 80% off] and the little black and white pumpkins are from Roses [50c each...] 

-- Jack-o-Lanterns and witch are from my stash...

I met some girlfriends at the Scrapbook Playhouse for a weekend of crafting and fun.. 

And you can see that I carried the skellie theme into my 'costume' as well...

Again, a thrift store buy [$3] that I added panels to the side for a comfortable fit - ha.

Linda had a sharknado them going on ---

 [photo cred: Amanda Zimmer]

She also made the MOST delicious and adorable cupcakes!

Pockey for spider legs - who knew?

  [again, photo cred: Amanda Zimmer]

 My sweetheart had picked up a bottle of non-alcoholic 

pumpkin flavored bubbly on sale,

 so we enjoyed that as well - and it was pretty good...

And added a festive flare to our gathering - ha.

Despite all the fun we had, I still managed to complete over 30 pages! 

- I'll share more of those in the coming days...

Until then - here's My Take on the PW's Olive Bread:

Mix together: 

1/2  stick butter

4 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup mayo [BLUE PLATE]

8 oz cheddar cheese

and about half a cup each of chopped black olives and green olives with pimentos.

Slice French bread lengthwise [two long pieces] and spread each with the mixture [pile it on!] then back for 25 minutes at 325*.

Slice and serve.

It's my first time to make it - but, omgoodness, 

I want some right now!!