Blessed Samhain and Happy Halloween!

Wish you all a perfect time with fun and bright blessings starting on this new witchy year!

And for my friends on the Southern Hemisphere with me, a blessed Beltane!



The Wheel turns one more time, it's a pleasure to watch it turning with all of you!

Day 31 at Mrs. B.'s Halloween Party!

Awww... And this is the last day of super-fun at Mrs. B.'s blog! I enjoyed every day of it, and I want to thank her for spending her time to bring all these wonderful artists together to so generously donate their witchycrafts for us greedy witches, lol!
I was also happy to get to know new bloggers, learn more about this magickal sabbath, and to read awesome articles every day.

Aaaaand today Mrs. B.'s giving away an absurdly amazing basket of goodies straight from Salem, from Jaz, the soul behind Octoberfarm! Omigods, I would adore to win this!!

And Weiser Books was also so generous to donate a full set of the Weiser Field Guides!!! Ooommiiiiigods!!!! WOuld it be too bad if I made a spell to win this, lol??

And don't forget the last Hautend Blog Tour, it's spookY! ;)

Day 30 t Mrs. B.'s Halloween Party!

No..... Tomorrow Mrs. B.'s arty will be over... Snif...

But today she's giving away the cutest Witchy Towel Trio with the most adorable witchy embroideries from Rain's (obsessive) Stitchery!

And a great Haunted Blog Tour, of course! Hurry up, it's almost over! (snif)

Day 28 at Mrs. B.'s Halloween Party!

I don't like to remember it's almost over! sigh... SO let's party!

Today Mrs. B.'s giving away a gorgeous Vintage Witches Charm Bracelet from Laughing Vixen Lounge! I simply adore her stuff and I have the cooles Supernatural necklace (I have already told you this, but I have to repeat! lol).

Also a box of 10 sweetest photos greeting cards from Judy's Photos!

Unmissable!

Day 27 at Mrs. B.'s Halloween Party!

It's already Wednesday! Wow, time is flying!

Today Mrs. B. is giving away a felt rune set filled with a pinch of lavender from my Carioca Witch shop! :) And also a super cute book from Quirk Books, the Disneystrology! You just can't miss today!

Cute witcheries for a little witch

Some time ago I ordered from Mrs. B.'s Etsy shop a cute voodude that Lucas saw and fell in love with.

When I opened the parcel, besides the Halloween voodude comfortably placed in his coffin, there was also a little pink voodude that I was in love with too! The cutest pinkie voodude ever, now proudly hanging on my keychain, filled with special herbs and full of great vibes. And she threw in some Halloween goodies for my little witch as well:


Needless to say Lucas adored his new friend!


Soon the voodude was introduced to the Wizard who lives on his altar:


After a good empowering ritual Lucas wanted to perform all by himself, and after sleeping with it for some nights, he decided the voodude's place was on the altar, into the stones' bowl:

He really looks all happy in his new home, doesn't he? ;)

Day 26 at Mrs. B.'s Halloween Party

Today Mrs. B.'s giving away an absolutely wonderful Willow rune set from a sweet frind, Mother Moon, a beautiful Silver Moon Herbals Samhain Herbal Kit from Silver Moon Herbals and a super-cool winner's choice of silver pendant from Laughing Vixen Lounge (I have her Supernatural pendant, and I tell you... Her stuff is the best.)!

Take your chance, guys, it's the last week! ;)

Day 25 at Mrs. B.'s Halloween Party!

Oh... This is the last week! sigh...

Today Mrs. B.'s is giving away the awesome (and much wanted!) Buckland's Book of Gypsy Magic from Weiser Books, a super cute Très Petit apron from Apron Addiction, and a lovely & original designed Heart and Soul Necklace from Nitebyrd's Nest.

Plus the always creative Haunted Blog tour and Guest Blogger of the day. Check them out!

Recipes!

I seldom post recipes, isn't it? Everything I make at home (when I manage to be in the kitchen before mom, that's it!) is very simple and can't be compared to my friends' fabulous meals!

But yesterday at the bbq we went, our host friend prepared an absurdly delicious white beans with saffron & coconut milk, whose recipe I had to steal and share with you guys. At first, I though I wouldn't like it because coconut milk is so sweet to have something to do with beans. My mistake! It gives a subtle exotic touch making it taste like heavens. So here it is:

Prepare 1 kg of white beans as usual, stewing it with onion and garlic after cooked (that's how we make beans here, I assume is the same for you guys!). After cooked, add a litle bottle of coconut milk (200 ml) and a table spoon of saffron to it, stirring well, cooking for more 5 minutes. Right before serving, add a tomato cut into cubes in the mix, and voilà! The best white beans ever!

For dessert, she also made Ambrosia, a yummy and simple recipe that can make you howl to the moon (like the Olympian gods must have done when eating it, lol):

Put 5 liters of milk in a big pan. Add 3 cups of sugar, always stirring until boiling. Put on low heat and let it slowly dry for more or less two hours. When the mix starts to thicken and get a light brown color, add 5 sticks of cinnamon. Pour the mix on a large bowl and take it to the fridge, until time to serve.

Enjoy! And if any of you guys try these, let me know if you liked them! ;)

Day 24 at Mrs. B.'s Halloween Party!

Oh... I can't believe there's only one wek left for the month to be over, and so the fun! sigh

While we can, let's party!

Today we can try to win The Big Book of Soul: The Ultimate Guide to the African American Spirit by Stephanie Rose Bird, from Weiser Books, a Wire Wrapped Amethyst Point Pendulum from Shades of Midnight, and a 3 Postcard pack - 'Suspended' Painting - with Envelopes from Jasmine Worth!

Little witch's lucky charm

Lucas has soccer classes at school every Thursday after class. It's one of the funniest times of the week, with us moms and dads cheering for our little ones as if they were at a national championship, and they playing with their hearts. Lucas loves his classes! While in the begining he was a bit afraid of fighting for the ball and getting hurt, lately he developed a self-confidence that pleasantly surprised us all. He runs the whole field, fairly fights for his chances and gets involved in every situation - no, he's not a young Romario, I know his limitations, but he fully enjoy his games! It's even more fun to watch him now;

Some days ago he also decided adding an extra magickal help to his good performance, and made a cute luck charm, inspired by the Smeared and Smudged cool tutorial shared at Mrs. B.'s Haunted Tour:



This is how he thought a soccer luck charm should look. I took it with me on his last soccer class and he played very well again! He knows it was not due to the charm, but to his own effort, but of course, a little bit had to do with magick, why not? ;)

Having fun with some good friends

We had a great Saturday. The day started all windy, but the sun decided to show up at least. Mom, Lucas and I went to a couple of friends' house for a Brazilian barbecue by the pool. The last time we went there was in the begining of the year, time is flying! They usually visit us more often on our own barbecues and family gatherings, so it's rare to be there. This time was wonderful!

Lucas had a blast with their grandkids playing at the pool...






The barbecue was so yummy... I don't eat red meat, but devored the sausages, spicy and at the perfect taste! To accompany, we had white beans with saffron and coconut milk (absurdly delicious), rice and salad.



For dessert, homemade ambrosia... Cloud 9!



After lunch, the kids played some more at our friends' beautiful garden, it' was really cool to sit on their veranda watching them play while chatting:




Our friends are so sweet and fun to be with. It was awesome to spend some time with them again. Until the next barbecue, here or there!! :)

... And a sweet award

Talking about Mother Moon... She was so sweet to give me this lovely award. Thank you, dear, I feel humble to accept this from you, loved you thought of me among your other great friends! :)

Well, to the rules:
1. Link the award to the person to whom sent you the gift. (check)
2. Link to the blog of the person who created the award - Hazra of Advanced Booking. (check)
3. At Advanced Booking enter your name into Mr. Linky so there is a complete list of all the recipients. (check)
4. Pass the award on to at least 7 more people whom you feel are prolific bloggers. This is the hardest part for me. I always find it so hard to choose a few friends when everyone is so worthy these awards! As the award creator says I must pass it on at least 7 blogger friends... everybody from my "Blogs I love" list on the navigation bar above deserves this beautiful award. So if you feel like grabbing it, please do it!

Another awesome Halloween giveaway!

One of the sweetest souls I've met whose blog I simply love, Moon Mother on top of everything is giving away an incredible basket full of adorable Halloween goodies! You just can't miss it! ;)

Day 23 at Mrs. B.'s Halloween Party!

Talk about being late again! lol! We had a fun busy day at a friends' house, so only now I could see what's going on at mrs. B.'s party!

She's giving away today Somnambulant Skulls, a cute mixed media piece, on a 5x7 canvas from Somnambulant, and also The Way of the Horned God, a book for boys teens by Dancing Rabbit, from O Books!

And today there are two Blog Haunted Tours and the GHuest Blogger!

Day 22 at Mrs. B.'s Halloween Party!

Wow, I'm late today! Errands to do, crafts to make... :)

Today Mrs. B. is giving away an awesome Hekate Art Card from Wishcraft Charms. I have two art cards from this wonderful artist, and I love them! Hecate would be a great addition to my collection... ;)

Also, a delicious Polyjuice Potion Glycerin Soap from ADK Aromatherapy (US residents only, sigh...)

And of course, the always fabulous Blog Haunted Tour and Guest Blogger to read!

DAy 21 at Mrs. B.'s Halloween Party!

One more day full of fun at Mrs. B.'s party! Today she's giving away the winner's choice of an awesome digital art print from the Custom Zombie, and the to-drool-at book Magic When You Need It by Judika Illes from Weiser Books!

You really don't want to miss any of these! ;)

Day 20 at Mrs. B.'s Halloween Party!

See the cool brand-new button?? Mrs. B. created it! Loved it! ;)

Oh-my-gods... Today Mrs B. is giving away awesome prizes (but that's what she always do!)

To begin with, The Weiser Field Guide to Cryptozoology by Deena West Budd, from the Weiser Books! Whenever she mention a witchy book is giving away I drool more than usual, lol! The cute touch is that the review (a very good one, btw) is made by her young little witch, Miss M.!

Also, an absolutely stunning Pentacle of the Goddess from Lytha Studios. I'm so sorry this one is for U.S. and Canada residents only, so gorgeous it is! Good luck my American and Canadian friends!

... Also, a Samhain Reading from Intuitive Goddess, how cool is that?!

And a gorgeous, gorgeous Tides Rising necklace from Tribal Horse Designs! Another prize I'm sorry not being eligible to win, you who can, wear it for me! :)

ABC Wednesday - N is for Nike

Last night I was having dinner with my little witch, and planning which deity I'd post about today. When I asked him which one he would suggest, he said without hesitation, "Nike!". ;)

So Nike is here today. The Greek Goddess of Victory and strenght, with her wings to fly over battlefields indicating the victorious armies (I wouldn't be surprised if the warriors spent more time looking up to the skies looking for Her than fighting, lol). Daughter of the Titan Pallas and the Goddes Styx, she was taken by her mother, with her siblings, to help Zeus and the Olympians in His war against the Titans. She was chosen to be the Gods' charioteer then.

The shoes company Nike is named after this Goddess (now you know why its symbol is that stylized wing!).

Oh And the Jules Rimet Trophy had Her figure as well. The Brazilian soccer Team won this beautiful trophy in the World Cup of 1970. Years later, stupid thieves robbed and melted it.

For more N posts, visit the ABC page, created by Denise Nesbitt, and join the fun!

Day 19 at Mrs. B.'s Halloween Party!

One more day of fun at Mrs. B.'s party! Today the prizes are awesome as always: a beautiful set of carnelian runes from Kadiera's Cauldron, a spooky soft cloth handmade zombie hand from Daph's Dark Little Corner, and lovely Cutie Corn and Witches Cauldron Plushes from Manifested Dreams!

And of course, the always fun and interesting Blog Haunted Tour and Guest Blogger of the day! Check them out!

Witchering with mom

I decided following with Lucas The Diary of a Witch's Samhain craft using dandelions. We have tons of these lovely plants growing at our "garden" - not really a garden, it's all paved in old cement but with cracks where ordinary plants grow wildly, and beds on the sides. Anyway, I thought it would be a great chance to introduce my little witch to this simple part of witchcraft that is so important to learn, that is preparing herbs to dry for potions and other stuff.

So on Saturday we picked a handful of dandelions, and Lucas happily separated the leaves from the roots. We washed everything in current water, I chopped the roots to dry under our wardrobe, and we hang the leaves into my wardrobe (the darkest, driest places I could find in the house, lol).

Now he's enjoying the process of checking the leaves every morning to see how long it will take for them to dry so we can go to the next step. Every chance is wonderful to open a new window in his witchy side, as he's so willing to help and learn. I'll post more as soon as the roots get ready for the oven (the leaves will still remain in my wordrobe for a couple of weeks at least)!

Popcorn!

A couple of days ago I read this awesome and (for me at least) new way of popping popcorns in microwaves at Octoberfarm. Jaz has the most exquisite recipes I've seen and some of the coolest posts, specially during her favorite month that is... October, of course! ;)

I adore popcorn no matter when: at the theater watching a good movie, at home watching a good movie, in bed reading a good book, around a kitchen table havinga good chat, so I had to share this with you guys! Just follow Jaz's instructions and you'll have the perfect "microwave popcorn" in the world. While I love preparing popcorn on the old-fashioned way in a pan, this is so fun and, as Jaz wisely points out, with no chemical that those microwave popcorns get, that it became an instant favorite. Lucas obviously adored helping me to get everything ready, and eating them! On the photo he's trying to be serious again, with no success, lol

Day 18 at Mrs. B.'s Halloween Party!

I can't believe it's already the 18th! Time is flying!! Today Mrs. B.'s giving away some cool prizes as usul: for three winners, Natural Absinthe Herbal Salts from Grimdeva of Cauldron Craft Minis, a Witch's Mini Herbal Kit from FiveSeeds (alas, these two are only for U.S. residents, good luck my American friends!), a cute handmade Puzzle Ball from Banterings of a Basketcase, and two Halloween keychains from the humble witch who types here! ;)

Hurry up and join the fun!

Day 17 at Mrs. B.'s Halloween Party!

SUnday fun! Mrs. B.'s giving away 3 awesome prizes: a great $25.00 Gift Certificate to Spelled with a W shop, a gorgeous a Meditation Labyrinth Necklace from Into the Dawn Designs, and a super-original Handcrafted Tarot Story from Looseleaf Handcrafted Stories! Check them out!

A lovely Halloween Tale

You have to read this adorable Halloween tale in three parts created by my sweet friend Linda. You just have to! :)

My Samhain / Beltane Giveaway!

The next Sabbath is approaching! While most of you are anxiously waiting for Samhain, here we're getting ready for Beltane to arrive. And nothing better to celebrate the turning of the Wheel than to give away... A Wheel of the Year! ;)



I created my magnetic Wheel of the Year to help my little witch to follow the turning of the Wheel and to get used to the Goddess & the God's myth. I think it's a cute way to teach them about it on a playful way. Ours is permanently displayed on the fridge at the reach of his hand. If you want to have one too for your little one, or for yourself, and, along with it, one of my Baby Goddesses or Gods of your choice, join the fun!

To enter (mandatory entry):

* Be or become a follower of my blog, AND LEAVE A COMMENT TELLING WHICH BABY GODDESS OR GOD YOU'D LIKE TO TAKE WITH YOUR WHEEL.

For more chances to win (leave a separate comment for each entry, please!):

* Heart my Carioca Witch Etsy shop (1 entry);

* Blog about this giveaway, leaving the respective URL in the comment (2 entries);

* Twitter about it (1 entry per day - leave me a comment per Twitter with the respective URL).


The giveaway ends on October 31st, when Lucas will pick up the winner from my witch hat. Good luck!! :o)

Of books and hungers

I think everybody knows I'm a bookworm. Since I've learned how to read, I'm always with a book in my hands (at 9 mom found me with "How to Kill a Mockingbird" and almost fainted because it was too strong for my innocent mind, lol), and there's nothing more comforting for me than to find my bedside table with a pile of book waiting for me to read. The world may be falling apart around me, but if I have a book, it's okay.

Internet is an amusement park for reading lovers, but still, nothing can be compared to the physical book in my humble opinion, I love the weight, the smell of the pages while I turn them eating a bar of chocolate in bed, the beauty of printed words.

Learning is so fun for a hungry soul like mine, and I miss learning something new these past years. As I worked full-time with a tight budget, no extra time and a non-supportive husband, it was impossible to get into any classes (only once, I had Translation complement classes in the evening, a very long time ago). Now that I am here, and things are finally getting back into tracks, I started to get that hunger again. I love mythology, specially the Greek, but lately, since I started creating Deities from the Celtic pantheon for my shop, I developed a passion for these lores, their goddesses and gods. Friends suggested me some books to start diving into this more deeply, but I still want more suggestions - the more the better! So feel free to tell me your favorite Celtic myth/History authors here! Did you hear, Meri?? lol

I already ordered my first two books on the subject: "The Red-Haired Girl from the Bog", by Patricia Monaghan and "The Red Branch", by Morgan Llywelyn. Now I have to be a good witch and patiently wait for them to arrive from across the ocean (we don't have them published yet here)...

Day 16 at Mrs. B.'s Halloween Party!

Today Mrs. B.'s giving away a wonderful Rambling rune set from Marie Segal's Art from My Heart (I have a couple of lovely witchy art from her, and I can tell they're gorgeous!), a super cute/spooky Skeleton Hands Hair Clip from Brat Boutique, and a lovely Autumn Goddess Doll from Dancing Goddess Dolls!

And don't forget the beautiful Blog Haunted Tour!!

Day 15 at Mrs. B.'s Halloween Party!

WOW! Today there are more super prizes! Mrs. B. is giving away the unmissable Spellcaster's Reference Book by Eileen Holland from Weiser Books and an awesome custom eye ring from Gypsy Moon Art Studio!

Also two Blog Haunted Tour and the Guest Blogger, check them out!

ABC Wednesday - M is for Morpheus

Morpheus is one of my favorite gods, just because I love sleeping, and can never sleep long, lol!

He is the Greek winged God of Dreams and Sleep, the "shaper of dreams". Son of Hypnos, god of sleep, and Brightness/Aglia, one of the Graces. Some say he was married to Iris, the Goddess of the Rainbow.

He had the ability of get the shape and form of whomever he wanted, so that he would appear in king's and heroes's dreams to guide and teach them (but he could only take the shape of men). His two brothers were also shape shifters: Phobetor, could take the shape of animals and create terrible, fearsome dreams, and Phantasos, could take the shape of inanimate objects and create fantastic dreams. Together they were known as the Oneiroi.

He himself would sleep in a darkened cave, on black bed, surrounded by poppy flowers (very appropriated!). Morphine is named after this God, and one of my favorite expressions describing sleep is "to be in the arms of Morpheus".

For more M posts, visit the ABC page, created by Denise Nesbitt, and join the fun!

Clothes on!

So here's the new fashion! I'm so in love with my new layout, and so thankful to Tara and her amazing patience and professional gift! There will be a statue in her honor on mmy city's main park! lol

Let me know what you think about it! And don't hesitate contacting Tara if you want to give your page a new look. She's the best! (and no, she never asked me to spread the word, but I really wanted to, so happy I am with the result!!).

Day 14 at Mrs. B.'s Halloween Party!

... And the fun goes on! Today Mrs. B. is giving away a super cute Creepy Li'l Grumpies Rubber Stamp Set from Smeared Ink, a lovely Oak Felted Goddess from Shades of Midnight, and a fun Dancing Skeleton Oven Mitts from Darkling Dreams (ooh... unfortunately this one is only for US or Canada residents, it's so cool!)!

And don't forget the Haunted Blog Tour, today featuring Ramblings: A Vaguely Boho Blog, owned by the wonderful and creative writter Kristen Eaton, who's giving away to celebrate her Haunted Tour a custom-written Looseleaf Handcrafted Five Phrases Story set on Halloween, how cool is that?!

New clothes soon!

I was lucky to win at Mrs. B.'s Halloween Party an extreme blog makeover from Tara, the cool mind behind Our Princess in Pigtails Designs last week! So ladie and gentlemen, any time soon you will see my blog wearing brand-new clothes! It's been so exciting working with Tara to get excatly what I want, and she's an awesome professional who knows her business! Stay tuned and tell me if you like it when it's ready! ;)

Day 13 at Mrs. B.'s Halloween Party!

Today Mrs. B., among others, is giving away a box with an one-of-a-kind Voodude™, and a few store-bought goodies with a Halloween theme from her Mrs. B.'s Brews and Baubles! And cool as she is, she made a contest out of it, check it out! Oh, I would love to add a few more high-quality goodies to my ever growing collection of Mrs. B.'s witchycrafts! ;)

Day 12 at Mrs. B.'s Halloween Party!

Today Mrs. B. is giving away an amazing 8x10 Cemetery Photo from Photographing the Dead, an Goblin in Thought - 8x10 art print from The Whimsical Cottage and a Personalized Charm from I'm Not Hannah!

And don't foget to check out The Haunted Blog Tour!

Day 11 at Mrs. B.'s Halloween Party!

Wow.. Great witcheries today!

Mrs. B.'s giving away The Weiser Field Guide to Ghosts, from Weiser Books (omigods, omigods...), a Gift Bath Set from The Sacred Oak and an Art bookmark from The Whimsical Witch (these two look sooooo cool, but only for U.S. and Canada residents, alas... Good lucky on them!).

And of course, the always awesome Haunted Blog Tour and Samhain Notes that are unmissable!

Late updates on Ostara

Only today I realized I haven't posted a bit about our last sabbath, when a new one is fastly approaching.

Not that there was anything super happening, but I always like to share our simple witchy stuff. This year I made with Lucas fun drawing our favorite pagan symbols on warm eggs with crayons. As the crayon slightly melted, the patterns got soft, beautiful, and the symbols, more vivid to enjoy, not to mention the obvious fun of messing with them!



He prepared his altar on the previous night with his decorated eggs, our old, adorable little egg holders from Pooka's page, our favorite Eostre image of all times by the awesome artist Scott Brooks, a vase of flowers chosen by him, and a yellow candle, everything over a cute kitchen cloth table that I stole from mom, with sunflowers and bees, very much into the Spring spirit!



My little altar had my decorated eggs, flowers picked under the Full Moon from our place, and a sweet fairy card I got from my friend Lyn when I won her cute ET voodoo for Lucas.



Do I need to say he woke up really early on Ostara morning?! lol He was so anxious to see if the Bunny had left him his Kinder Eggs, it's the same every year! ...And his little furry buddy didn't let him down...



We had a good day at home, with our family, just enjoying each other's company. In the evening, we performed our little ritual, calling the quarters with jelly beans, and thanking for one more year of health and love, hoping for abundance on the coming season.

I hope you had a good first day of Autumn as good as our first day of Spring! ;)