Halloween!

   Are you having trouble finding out what you want to be for Halloween? Or maybe you just don't know where to get the supplies to make your costume? Well here you go!

Here are some creative costume ideas that you can either be or use to get inspired!

• Crazy Cat Lady

• Nanny McPhee

• Gypsy

• 80s Girl

• Medusa

   Now where do I get the props for my costume?  Here is a list of places to shop.

• goodwill
• five below
• the dollar store
• your own house!

   My opinion is that some of the best costumes are the ones you come up with and piece together yourself. So get creative, and have fun trick or treating!

Connect to your Characters

   When you create a character you should always know who they are. You can't create a character named Tom and have "Tom" being extremely brave and heroic one moment and then put him in a scene where he is a coward. You have to know anything and everything about your characters.
  How do I do this?

Characters

Name	Last Name	Gender	How Old	Looks Like	Lives	Likes	Hates	Describe	Extra Info.
Tom	Thorny	Male	9	Short, chubby, brown hair, freckles	New York	cupcakes, bugs, fish, pizza, lizards	broccoli, scary movies, monkeys, bedtime	spoiled, rotten, mean, stubborn
Patty	Reyes	Female	11	Red hair, tall, skinny,	Ken- tucky	swimming, salad, ice-cream, math, soccer	spelling, pink, oranges,	determined, strong, smart, courageous
Abby	Jennings	Female	16	blond, short, thin, blue eyes	Iowa	Sewing, music, dance, movies, jello	boys, school, mashed potatoes, spiders	nice, clever, creative, blunt
Greg	Beard	Male	4	black hair, glasses, scrawny, green eyes	Texas	science, frogs, tennis, planets	deep pools, bikes, bears, caves	shy, genius, coward

   This way I kind of know who my character is. (You can add more details) Do you know what my characters would be like in real life?

How do you get to know your characters? Tell me in the comments!

Having Fun

   I went bowling today and I had so much fun! I didn't win a single game, not even close. But I still enjoyed every second!
   In the past I've been upset because I wasn't good enough, I didn't get any strikes,or because my sister beat me. But you know what? It doesn't matter. Who cares if your not as good as the old guy three lanes over? Who cares if you are 13 and still use bumpers? As long as your having fun nobody cares about your score.
   Also, this isn't just for bowling. This goes for every single thing you do! Who cares if you don't do multiplication facts as fast as you friend? Who cares if your brother has one less cavity then you do? Nobody.
   If you get caught up in all that stuff you'll stop seeing the fun in everything. You might get to competitive and get into a fight with a friend
    I'm not saying that being competitive is a bad thing. There is just a time and a place to be competitive, and there's a time not. Also I'm not saying that you should always be happy to lose. You just have to find a happy medium. Happy medium. (; And it's really hard. I know.
   So I guess I'm just telling you to have fun! And that you have so many talents, and that it's okay that you can't do some stuff.

Have fun!

Writer's Backpack

   Every writer has supplies that they use to create their masterpiece. Here is a list of things to help you start your own writer's backpack.

• A Backpack
• A Binder 

Binders are good because you can rearrange the pages you have inside which helps you keep much more organized than a plain notebook would.

• Post-it notes

This also keeps you organized, and prevents you from flipping page after page after page.

• A Pencil

Being able to erase is a blessing. I'll tell you one thing that I really hate is when I have written down a whole paragraph in pen and I don't like what I've written. There goes a good 2-4 in. of writing  space.

• Highlighters

I LOVE using highlighters they're super fun, and are useful for editing.

• A Dictionary

Man, I hate using the dictionary. But it does come in handy.

• A Thesaurus

For when you don't want to only use the word "talk" but can't think of the right synonym. I use the thesaurus often.

•  A Pencil Sharpener

If you're gonna use a pencil, you're gonna use a pencil sharpener.

What else do you use? Share in the comments.

How to Make Crayon Lipstick in 5 Easy Steps

   This is fantastic! It is easy, fun, and cheap! I have made many different colors and I use them often.

   What You Will Need:

• a crayon (whatever color you want)Below we are using "pink" in crayola. Above we used "red" in crayola.
• 1/2 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• a small glass mason jar
• a sauce pan
• a ca-bob stick, or long stirring stick of any kind
• a water bottle cap, Gatorade cap, etc.
• a hot pad
• and parent or guardian supervision
• You can also add essential oils to give your lipstick a nice smell or flavor, which is fun.

#1. Boil a small amount of  water in your sauce pan with the mason jar in the center.

#2. Put the 1/2 tablespoon of oil into the mason jar along with about 1" of the crayon.

 #3.With your stirring stick,stir the oil and crayon until the crayon is completely melted. (You would want to add any scents or tastes now.)

#4. Turn off heat. Carefully remove the jar from the pot and poor the melted crayon into your water bottle cap. (The cap we used was transparent so you can't see it in the picture below.)

#5. Let your lipstick dry. Then enjoy your nontoxic, homemade lipstick! 

For Application: Use your finger to apply the lipstick.

Important: If you want to mix and create your own crazy colors make sure to keep adding oil; a tablespoon per 2". If you don't you will be unable to apply it.

Book Monsters

Cute! Easy! Fun! Great bookmarks!

What You Will Need:

• An Envelope (Any color) 
• Construction paper (Again, any color. But you will need a white or lighter color for the teeth.)
• Markers
• Scissors
• Glue
• Shape Punch (This is optional)

#1.  Cut the bottom corner of your envelope off. Then draw some patterns on the piece you cut off to make fur or scales.

#2. Use your shape punch or scissors to cut out a pair of eyes from your construction paper. You can cut multiple layers for the eyes or use the markers to add pupils and such. Glue on the eyes.

#3. Now the teeth. On the edge of the paper cut out a strip of tooth shapes. The teeth can be pointy or rounded, etc. Glue your teeth on the back side of the side that your eyes are on.

#4. Now use construction paper and cut out ears, horns or antennas. Glue them on, too. If you don't want any of this you don't need it.

#5. Let your glue dry and then enjoy your funny little book-monster!

Make dogs, cats, pandas, and even more!!!

Dandelion Curls

Super cool!!! Super Easy!!

Psst! My sister helped me take photos:-).

What You Will Need:
Dandelions with very long stems.
A body of cool water, lake, bowl, stream.
your hands, big or small.

1. Break off all your extra stem so that there is about 6" left connected to the bud.

2. Peel your stem in half so that the bud has two strings connected to it.

3. Peel each half in half again so that the bud has four strings attached to it. You can keep repeating this step until you think the stems are thin enough. Note that the thinner your stems are the more they curl.

4. Place the dandelion in the water and watch it curl!! The longer you keep it in the water the more it will curl.

Curling.........

Done!

I made the stems very thin and left in the water for quite awhile, look what happened!!

If you have any questions or suggestions leave a comment!!