I know, I know…it’s been an eternity. I keep promising to blog regularly, but I keep getting distracted by other craft projects, magazine stories, and blogs! Speaking of blogs, I’ve started blogging on Parents.com at a blog called Everyday Fun. Check it out! It’s very, well, FUN!

Now, back to the good stuff…Halloween! I love pumpkins and I’ve done my fare share of complicated carvings and etchings. But with 2 toddlers and too much work, I have no time or patience for a big production. So here are 3 super-fun, 5-minute pumpkin decorating ideas!

1. I’m obsessed with these neon spikes that I found at M&J Trimming. Just glue them on with E6000 for a strong bond. Punk-kins? Yep, I think that’s their official name.

2. My son and I were at the farmer’s market last weekend and he picked out this pumpkin that he wanted to bring home. It sat naked on the kitchen table for a few days and I realized it needed some flair. So I looked around the room and spotted a Mr. Potato Head body part…there it is. Oliver and I picked out the features to make this guy! I thought it was a genius idea of mine until I discovered that the Mr. Potato Head people already thought of it. But for a quickie decorating job, just use what you have (and change his features daily)!

3. Spray paint a pumpkin and glue on some faux antlers! I bought these at Jamali Gardens, but I’m sure you can find them at your local Michaels.

Literally, none of these guys took more than 5 minutes (except the spray paint took about 20 to dry). And they all feel unique and playful!

Wait! Stop! You’re in the right place, I swear! Let me explain…

As most of my dear readers know, I’ve been working on a kids craft book for the last year or so, and finally, it’s done! Yay! Well, my portion is done, least of which was the selection of the title.

(drum roll…….)

Welcome to PROJECT KID! It’s the name of my book, and now my blog, and hopefully the name of many crafty endeavors in the future.

For the time being, not much is going to change here except the name. The content, aesthetic, ideas, and point of view will be the same as The Violet Hours has been for the last three years.

I’m super excited for the changes afoot…only the best is yet to come!

Ok, before diving straight into a new post about something lovely, creative, and amazing, I want to just recap the last 2 (or so) months of silence. What may seem like a “vacation” or “break” was nothing of the sort. Here’s a quick synopsis…

• 7-day (straight) photoshoot for my book
• 2 days later, I flew to Hilton Head with my husband, kids, and husband’s family
• While in HH, I wrote the text for my book
• Wrote and shot this story for Mom.me while in HH
• 7 days later, drove to Atlanta from HH to extend the family visit
• Continued to write book
• Returned to NY and went to Alt Summit NYC 3 days later (more on that soon!)
• 4 days later, another 4-day photo shoot to shoot the how-to’s for my book (on the last day we shot 96 pics!)
• The next day I flew to Denver for the most beautiful wedding of our dear friends Kate & Joel (more on that soon)
• The day after I returned from Denver, I had to turn in my completed manuscript

And now, 2 weeks later, I’m resuming my blog posts! I’m so excited to be blogging again…I have so much to catch up on!

{The photos are all from my photoshoot!}

I am so so sorry for my long absence of late, but I’m in the final days crafting for my book and even a spare hour to blog is impossible to carve out.

So…I promise I will be back in a few weeks with more great posts, and even some sneak peaks into the world of producing a 100+ project craft book!

Don’t give up on me…great things are on the horizon!

(Here is a photograph of my son Oliver “helping Mommy work.” His understanding of work is going to be very hard to clarify.)