Day 23 ~ Legend of the Witch Hats

Hello Everyone and Happy Tuesday! Today we have a offering from Lilac Wolf over at Lilac Wolf and Stuff and she's bringing us some goodies about the Witch's hat...

The Legend of the Witch Hats!

Once up a time, long, long ago there was a hat. It was a fancy hat, long and pointy at the end. The fanciest ladies in the kingdom wore this hat. They called it a chaperon, and adorned it with golden threads and colorful scarves that trailed behind and down the ladies back. The hat was treated with great care, sometimes better than the ladies who handled it.

But time moves on, and what is high fashion one day, is out in the trash the next. The poor, never being ones to waste, picked up the hat and took it home. They removed the scarves and gold thread, cleaned it up and carefully added a visor around the edge to protect their faces from the sun as they worked the fields and gardens. The hat was again treated with respect and was indeed very useful to the women who worked in the field and cared for their family and neighbors.

But again, time moves on. And when the witch hunts started, as with most bad ideas, the poor were the main target. These women were wearing the discarded chaperons, and since they were named witches their hats were of course determined to be their witchy hats, for the wealthy no longer remembered the origins of the hat.

And there you have it, witchy hats were merely discarded items made useful by hard-working women in their communities.

Tuesday's Giveaway!

Now here is your chance to win a 3 pack of mini-witch-hats from the talented Shadow Witch – aren't they darling?

To enter this drawing:

Your first entry is to follow us here. (Make sure you comment and tell us that you're following!)

Bonus entries:

Go check out Shadow Witch on ebay. Come back and tell us that you did.

Let us know what you like the best.

Like us on Facebook - come back and tell us (separate entry)

Blog about this giveaway (comment separately and send us a link to your blog post)

Tweet about this giveaway (comment separately and send us a link to your blog post)

Remember: You have until 8PM on Wednesday night to enter, and the winner will be announced in Thursday's Blog post. Good Luck!!

Recipe for Tuesday!

Pumpkin Pecan Bundt Cake with Spiced Caramel Sauce

from Culinary.net

Ingredients

3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1 pkg. (18.25 ounces) yellow cake mix

1 can (30 ounces) Libby's Easy Pumpkin Pie Mix, divided

3 large eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2/3 cup (5 fluid-ounce can) Nestlé Carnation Evaporated Milk

Preparation

PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease 9- to 10-cup Bundt pan. Sprinkle pecans in bottom of prepared pan.

BEAT cake mix, 2 cups pumpkin pie mix, eggs and oil in large mixer bowl for 2 minutes. Spoon into prepared pan.

BAKE for 35 to 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes. Invert onto wire rack to cool completely. Transfer cake to serving platter.

COMBINE remaining pumpkin pie mix, brown sugar and evaporated milk in medium, heavy-duty saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute; remove from heat. Serve warm sauce with slices of cake.

Today's Crafty Project!

Jingle Bell Spiders

from Crafts for All Seasons

This jingle bell spider craft is a beautiful Halloween decoration that is very simple to make, yet makes a very elegant and classy statement. They are made from two jingle bells, some pretty beads, and black pipe cleaners. They look great hanging in a group or just strategically placed along some of your Halloween dishes on the buffet table at your party. These also make perfect Halloween ornaments is you happen to decorate an all-occasion tree!

Things Needed:

Two 25 mm jingle bells (orange, black, purple, or green look best for Halloween)

Two 12 inch long black pipe cleaners

24 beads (I used 8 mM round marbleized pearl beads)

Scissors

Small length of wire (I used 20 gauge wire)

Small jewelry pliers (optional, but come in handy)

Glue

1. Begin the jingle bell spider by attaching the two jingle bells together. This is most easily done by taking a small length of wire and threading it between the two small hangers in each jingle bell, and wrapping it several times to secure. Use some jewelry pliers to help.

2. Cut each 12 inch pipe cleaner in two six inch sections, you will have four total.

3. Thread two pipe cleaners through the front jingle bell, and two through the back jingle bell, as shown below.

4. Thread on a bead on to each of the 8 pipe cleaner legs, and thread it all the way up flush with the jingle bell. You can use a little glue to secure if desired. This keeps the legs from coming out of the jingle bells.

5. Now, take your time and bend each leg to look like a spider leg. Begin by bending each pipe cleaner up from where it comes out of the jingle bell. Then about halfway down make the pipe cleaner bend down. Look at the photos for help. Then, thread on two more beads on each leg. Secure the beads with a little bit of glue, if desired. A cord can also be added around the middle of the two jingle bells for hanging.

Tuesday Music, Music!

Tuesday's music video brought to you courtesy of our own songstress Siren Kestril Trueseeker:

If you have kids you are probably very familiar with Disney’s The Adventures of Phineas and Ferb. It’s a favorite at my house and my kids really enjoy the music from the series.There’s a song in every episode, including their Halloween special.