DIY: Magical Broomstick

DIY 2 Minutes

I would never have a Roomba at my disposal, but if you do, this idea from HGTV is AWESOME!

From Jennie Andrews (HGTV):

Every witch and wizard home needs a magic broom on Halloween, and this one is super easy and quick to DIY, no charms or potions necessary. Thanks to some hidden support under the bristles, this self-propelled Halloween decoration stands up by itself and can even do a little cleaning on its own (with the help of a robotic vacuum).

Tools and Materials:

8″ floral foam cone

serrated knife

dowel rod or foraged stick (3′-4′ long)

grass table skirt

drill

removable adhesive strips

robotic vacuum

medium flowerpot

1. Build the Handle

Use a serrated knife to cut about two inches off of the smallest end of a foam cone. Use a large drill bit to make a hole all the way through the center of the cone. To reach the center, you may need to start the hole from both ends and meet in the middle. Use the drill to hollow out the hole slightly smaller than the size of your broom handle. Starting from the bottom, feed the handle through the hole until the bottom edges are even. If you drilled the hole slightly smaller, the stick should fit tightly in the cone.

2. Attach Bristles

We found a grass table skirt at a craft store that made perfect (and easy) broom bristles. You could also use raffia or a costume hula skirt. Lay the skirt or grasses down on a table with the ends pointing AWAY from the cone. Just above the cone, tightly wrap the bristles around the handle. Bundle the bristles together with a piece of rope or twine (most hula skirts or table skirts have a built-in string so you can use that as well).

3. Flip the Bristles

Stand the handle up with the cone down. Let the grass flip over the cone. Once it has been neatened, bundle the top of the grass and wrap it tightly with twine, knotting the ends together.

4. Elevate the Broom

To create the appearance that the broom is standing or moving by itself, you will place the bottom of the cone onto the vacuum or onto a stand to help elevate it (we used an upside-down flowerpot). Apply a removable adhesive strip to the top of the vacuum or the pot. Then simply stick the bottom of the cone to the strip. Trim the bottom of the bristles until they are just barely grazing the ground.

5. Get Swept Away

Voila! With just a little hocus pocus, you’ve created holiday magic. Have your broom take a spin around the room at a Halloween party, or place it on the front porch to mystify the neighbors. Either way, you’re sure to give off some major witchy vibes with this project.

SOURCE: HGTV.COM

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Published by pat frederick

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70 thoughts on “DIY: Magical Broomstick”

          1. hubby found a small rubber/plastic gasket cover thingy. i can’t explain it other than it looks like it would cover a hex nut. he showed it to Mike and he nodded and said it might be an easy fix. The trip to the garage might be the most expensive part. he won’t know till he gets it on the lift.

            Liked by 1 person

    1. Works for me!!! All this waiting for a court hearing is holding things up! They shouldn’t GET a court hearing, IMO! THEY HAVE NO RIGHTS HERE!!!!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Well, here it is:

      Conspiracy theory no more:

      Not only did @DOGE confirm it — the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has re-confirmed:

      Illegal aliens were issued Social Security numbers by the Biden–Harris terrorist administration.

      • 270,425 in 2021

      • 590,193 in 2022

      • 964,163 in 2023

      • 2,095,247 in 2024 — on their way out the door

      With a whopping 1.4 million illegals on Medicaid.

      You have been Robbed. Deceived, Blackmailed. Extorted.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. $20 MILLION to serve 3 million meals…$7 million a meal????

    FTA

    The executive director of a Missouri nonprofit stole $10 million from a program intended to provide meals for low-income children and blew it on mansions and luxury cars, her trial heard.

    Connie Bobo, 46, ran the New Heights Community Resource Center, in the St Louis suburb of Bridgeton, for a decade.

    She enrolled the charity in two US Department of Agriculture-funded programs that reimburse nonprofits for distributing food to needy children, prosecutors said.

    Bobo is accused of claiming $20 million in reimbursements for New Heights despite having only purchased enough food and milk to serve fewer than three million meals.

    She instead used the funds ‘on a mansion for herself, on houses for her family and a bright yellow Mercedes for her boyfriend,’ her trial heard Tuesday, according to the St Louis Post-Dispatch.

    Her attorney, however, told the jury that Bobo did not intentionally violate the rules of the federal program and had tried to correct the issues before her arrest.

    The defense further alleged that all of her actions were made in the ‘best interest of the community and an attempt to give back’.

    Bobo has been charged with three counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of obstruction of an official proceeding.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15216343/missouri-charity-boss-connie-bobo-mansions-mercedes.html

    Liked by 1 person

  10. UPDATE: SBA Suspends Fraud-Ridden Federal Contractor ATI Government Solutions Amid O’Keefe Media Exposé – No More Taxpayer Cash for Pass-Through Scam

    OMG, October 22, 2025

    EXCERPT: “In a stunning escalation of accountability, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has officially suspended ATI Government Solutions LLC – the Native American “8(a)” front exposed in O’Keefe Media Group’s (OMG) undercover investigation – from all new federal business. The move, announced just days after OMG’s revelations of a brazen $100 million pass-through fraud, bars the company and three key executives from bidding on contracts, subcontracts, or set-asides, effectively slamming the door on hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars meant for disadvantaged small businesses.

    SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler confirmed the suspension in a pair of X posts today, stating: “As of today, the SBA has officially suspended ATI Government Solutions, which is majority-owned by Susanville Indian Rancheria, as well as three of its executives, from conducting any new business with the federal government.” Loeffler emphasized that while the investigation continues, “ATI and its referenced executives will not be permitted to bid for federal contracts, subcontracts, or set-asides, and will not be able to receive any federal assistance.”

    The SBA’s action follows a formal Notice of Suspension dated October 21, 2025, issued under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 9.407 and Title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Addressed to CEO Firmadge Crutchfield and the Susanville Indian Rancheria (Attn: Arian Hart), the letter notifies ATI of its immediate debarment pending response, citing the company’s “paper” 51% Native ownership as a shield for non-Native executives to exploit the program. Suspended individuals include Crutchfield, CFO Marina Mulyayeva (his wife and a former Olympic swimmer), and CDO Scott Deuschman – the Washington, D.C.-based trio running the show behind the Susanville facade.

    OMG’s two-part exposé, first breaking the story on federal-contractor-fraud, laid bare how ATI pockets up to 65% of massive IRS contracts while outsourcing 80% of the work to ineligible giants like Ireland-based Accenture – in direct violation of SBA rules mandating that 8(a) primes perform at least 50% of the labor and the “primary and vital” functions. Undercover footage captured ATI Senior Director Anish Abraham boasting about the scheme during a staged job interview with OMG’s fictitious cybersecurity firm, Sev Zero Solutions……”

    https://okeefemediagroup.com/update-sba-suspends-fraud-ridden-federal-contractor-ati-government-solutions-amid-okeefe-media-expose-no-more-taxpayer-cash-for-pass-through-scam/

    Liked by 1 person

  11. I wish Norfolk had a store that could compete against WalMart but there just isn’t one anywhere close. Most times when you ask an employee a question out on the floor, they can’t understand you and wave you off. I’ve given up asking – now even the older employees are Hispanic!

    Just The News: “Walmart confirmed this week that it had paused hiring employees with H-1B visas in the wake of President Donald Trump’s reforms to the program. “Walmart is committed to hiring and investing in the best talent to serve our customers, while remaining thoughtful about our H-1B hiring approach,” the company confirmed to multiple outlets.

    Walmart currently has more than 2,000 employees with H-1B visas, CNN Business reported.

    The visa program has long been in the crosshairs of conservative immigration hawks, with many pointing to alleged rampant fraud and its use by tech employers to replace American workers with less expensive foreign labor.

    Trump imposed a $100,000 fee on H-1B applications in September, saying the program “created to bring temporary workers into the United States to perform additive, high-skilled functions, but it has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor.”

    Liked by 1 person

  12. “Trump treats the WH with reverence – and he’s rebuilding our nation’s pride with historic renovations”

    New York Post, By Miranda Devine, Published Oct. 22, 2025

    Demolition of the East Wing of the White House continues Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, in Washington, before construction of a new ballroom.
    Demolition of the East Wing of the White House continues Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, in Washington, before construction of a new ballroom.AP

    EXCERPT: “The president says the sound of bulldozers at the East Wing is “music to my ears.”

    “You probably hear the beautiful sound of construction to the back,” Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday from a podium overlooking his newly paved “Rose Garden Club” terrace, alongside the new “Presidential Walk of Fame” featuring gold-framed portraits of his predecessors (and an “autopen” for Joe Biden).

    “You hear that sound?” he said, raising his hand to his ear as if to ­savor the clamor from construction of the new $300 million White House ballroom that began Monday.

    “Ahhh, that’s music to my ears. I love that sound. Other people don’t like it, I love it.”

    It was a wry jab at Trump-deranged critics of his big, beautiful ballroom, who are losing their minds over his beautification of the White House. Suddenly, the people who cheered on as vandal revolutionaries toppled statues of Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln or tore down Confederate monuments are ardent preservers of American history.

    “Just grotesque,” snarled renowned aesthete, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Scarborough. “It’s history being torn to shreds.” This is the guy who championed “Fort Al Sharpton” to supplant the historic titles of military bases named after Confederate generals.

    “It’s not his house,” tweeted Hillary Clinton, whose best-known contribution to the White House was making off with $28,000 of furniture when she and Bill moved out. “It’s your house. And he’s destroying it.”

    Whoopi Goldberg, who once urged on the removal of a Lincoln statue in Boston, bellowed at Trump through a TV camera from her perch at ABC’s The View: “You don’t own that building!”

    Ironic criticism

    Irony of all ironies, Joe Biden’s former DEI press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declared the ballroom, which is being funded by Trump and other private donors as a gift to the nation, “is corruption at its core.” This from a woman who gaslit America on Biden family grifting, not to mention her boss’ cognitive collapse. “There’s no greater metaphor for what’s happening right now in this country than watching Don­ald Trump take a wrecking ball to the White House,” she said.

    Spare us……”

    https://nypost.com/2025/10/22/opinion/trump-is-rebuilding-our-nations-pride-with-historic-white-house-renovations/

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Just The News: “FBI Director Kash Patel on Thursday morning announced a sweeping federal investigation alleging at least 31 defendants – including an NBA player and an NBA coach – were involved in illegal gambling schemes. 

    “You hear a lot about our work of defending the homeland and crushing violent crime. Well, this work is also representative of a colossal portion of the FBI’s mandate to keep America safe and to keep our entertainment industry fair and secure,” Patel said at a press conference in Washington, D.C., announcing the probe.

    He and other federal prosecutors said the probe is, in fact, two cases: one related to the NBA and the other to illegal, rigged poker games. Patel and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella, Jr. said the overall probe was “years-long,” across 11 states and involved tens-of-millions of dollars.  

    “Your winning steak has ended,” Nocella said. He and Patel also confirmed unconfirmed reports earlier in the morning that Miami Heat player Terry Rozier and Portland Trailblazer coach Chauncey Billups were arrested earlier in the day in connection to the probe.

    Prosecutors also said Mafia crime families were involved in the rigger poker games, which included X-ray machines to see face-down cards. They said members helped collect debts for a cut of winnings.

    Regarding the NBA games, he alleged Rozier was involved in a scene in which players didn’t play or left games early, in an attempt to influence scores and betting. 

    An attorney connected to Rozier suggested in a statement obtained by CNN that the player was told he only a subject in the probe, not a suspect, and that he was denied an opportunity to turn in himself, instead of being arrested for a photo opportunity.”

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Liked by 1 person

  20. Just The News: “A Michigan battery plant project tied to China-linked Gotion is no longer moving forward after the state found the company was in default in its agreement. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation, which initially approved pumping $175 million into the project, released a letter Thursday announcing its plan to pull out of the project over the company’s default. 

    “This is not the outcome we hoped for,” the Michigan Economic Development Corporation said in a statement. Officials said the state of Michigan will pursue $23.6 million repayment of money it spent on the land slated for the factory. 

    The Gotion battery plant deal came under scrutiny from locals almost immediately after it was announced publicly in September 2022. Locals were worried for several reasons, citing the environmental impacts and disruption to their community. But one of the most important and controversial reasons was Gotion’s ties to China, and specifically the Chinese Communist Party, Just the News previously reported.

    While the deal’s critics celebrated the end of the project, they believe the state and Democat Gretchen Whitmer should never have approved it in the first place. 

    “What did Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the MEDC expect when they collaborated  in a ‘deal’ with a company that is deeply tied to the Chinese Communist Party, who is engaged in unrestricted warfare against the United States of America?” Joseph Cella, Michigan-China Economic and Security Review Group Director, said in a statement. “This was a textbook subnational incursion and influence operation.  You don’t subsidize these things, you stop them,” Cella added. 

    Despite previous claims to the contrary by company executives, Gotion admitted in a Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filing that the company is “partially subsidized through government funding supplied by the People’s Republic of China.” 

    Previous reports show that Gotion is wholly owned by its parent company, Gotion High-tech Co., which participated in programs designed to acquire military technology for China and employs at least 923 Chinese Communist Party members.”

    Liked by 1 person

  21. 🐱 Cat With Creepy Pupils

    Relax — it’s persistent pupillary membrane. An embryonic leftover. No demon possession detected. Yet… And no problem for the cat either.

    Liked by 1 person

  25. Just The News: “Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley on Thursday released a document proving that former Attorney General Merrick Garland, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and FBI Director Christopher Wray all approved opening the Arctic Frost investigation.

    Operation Arctic Frost formed the basis of former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s false elector case, and other Biden administration investigations into President Donald Trump.

    Grassley said the document, which contained Garland’s, Wray’s and Monaco’s handwritten signatures, was provided by the Justice Department as part of his oversight authority.

    “Just received this doc [from the] DOJ,” Grassley posted on X. “Proof that Biden Atty General Merrick Garland, Deputy Atty General Lisa Monaco, [and] FBI Dir Chris Wray all PERSONALLY APPROVED opening Arctic Frost. This investigation unleashed unchecked govt power at the highest levels. My oversight will continue.”

    You can view the document here.”

    Liked by 1 person

  32. gees Louise! I talked to my mom for almost an hour. then my nephew called–he NEVER calls, we usually email–then I realized today would have been his Dad’s birthday. sigh. so we talked for a long time. I was getting ready to sit at my laptop when my son called!

    I have never been on the phone so much!!!

    Like

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