Isn't She Lovely?

I think this wreath is beautiful (and yes, I realize I'm totally biased considering I designed it) and I'd just go ahead and keep her for myself but I've never decorated my house in blues/whites for the holidays.... it seems like with toddlers, using bright colors just adds more to the charm of the holidays.  Maybe when they're older I can change out all of my holiday decorations for something more sophisticated like this?

  And I know - it's WAY too early to start talking about Christmas/holidays but you know - it's just lurking there behind the corner of Halloween!!!  Ready to pounce and make us all stressed out about what we're going to get Grandma Fran!  ;)

Do you change out your 'color scheme' each holiday season?  I remember my Mom would do that every few years - only put out gold and white decor or make the switch and do just red and white.... BUT, that was when I was older - by that time she'd acquired a LOT of Christmas decor.

Or, do you just count yourself lucky/happy if you can get up a Christmas tree by the 24th?  Some years I'm amazed I can do that - this year should be really interesting - my youngest will be 16 months and I think - very intersted in pulling ornaments off the tree.  We'll probably be that family that only has ornaments on 3/4 of the tree, might even be tying it up so she can't pull it over!  ;)

Witches and Goblins and DECORATIONS!

Oh My!  I went a little crazy this year with the Halloween decorations.... my husband pretends he likes it but sometimes I wonder if he thinks I have too much time on my hands.  (Which - I don't.... I just don't sit still which means every minute I'm not changing a dirty diaper - I'm probably in our office/sewing room doing something crafty!)  I LOVE a lot of what I did - it's not really 'staged' well but I'm not trying to win awards - just trying to make the holidays fun for my little girls.  Here's a peek into our home and what I did:

In our entry way sits this little credenza... it's Ikea and it's thankfully made it through two Navy moves without busting!  Phew!  I found that great purple light up pumpking and two of his friends on clearance at Target last year (November 1st is a great day to find goodies!)  The Trick or Treat postcard was at TJMaxx last year and the spiders were a Martha Stewart find at TJMaxx this year.  

These awesome candy jars were a DIY project found on
the amazing blog, eighteen25 - love those gals!

The ruffled streamers were an amazing idea I found on the blog Made.  SO easy and so much more fun that plain old crepe paper streamers!!!!!  They pack a punch for just a little bit of money!

I have two young kids so one way they can help me decorate is with window clings... they're ususally cheap (especially at the Dollar Store) and my 3 year old loves putting them on our windows.  I usually sneak a few into our family photos too.  :)

The bats.... this is where I question my sanity.  I cut out probably a hundred of these things - then stuck all of them on the wall.  BUT, for $4 for the black cardstock and a couple of evenings cutting while watching TV - worth it!  They have SUCH an impact!  I wish I could've put them on our front porch but nothing sticks to our home's exterior and I can't nail anyting to it either (stucco!  anyone have any tips?)  This pic looks down the hallway from our front entry way into our living/dining room/kitchen.

My favorite artwork in our whole house - a panoramic print by Craig Hergert. 

The BOO sign I re-did this year.  Last year I just glue/glittered letters and put them in frames... not so much.  Using the thin wooden letters from Hobby Lobby worked out so much better!  (Another great project idea from eighteen25).  Of course ALL I can see is how the "B" is slipping down the frame.... I need to re-stick that sucka!

Please excuse the awful photo!  Anyhow - the black cat garland was a find at Target last year (I think) - the googly eyes and washi tape garland were tips I found on the blog Landee See, Landee Do via eighteen25.

more bats...

My mantle!  By accident actually, I ended up with a black and orange theme this year and I have to say - I really like it!  It's a bit vintage but a bit modern too.

Lots and LOTS of bats, orange ribbon, black crepe paper garland......  

I spray painted some branches black and put them in my 'pinterest failed vase' from awhile back then added some black spray painted vases and glittery pumpkins, as well as an upcycled candy jar (candle stick and votive holder from the Dollar Store).  The 'spooky cloth' is another Dollar Store find and the "Happy Halloween" garland is from Target this year.

Some of my current favorites:  my pumpkin candlesticks and Halloween Trees!  The haunted house is from the Dollar store and the  Bat "Boo" decor is from HomeGoods.

some of my 'finds' include a  jack o lantern decoration from TJMaxx (last year) and one of my pumpkin candlesticks.  The white orb/finial (not sure what to call it) has been a mainstay in my decor for a few years now.... easy to add some ribbon and voila!  Perfect in any vignette!

The apothecary jar - I've been wanting one of these for months and I finally just pulled the trigger... for $10 at TJMaxx, why wouldn't I?!  It is super fragile though so I can just see it busting.  I'll have to be very careful with it.  The crows?  DOLLAR STORE! 

Our bookshelves in our dining room have a mish-mash of a bunch of things.... monster tissue boxes,  paper plate pumpkins (my 3 year old did these) and Halloween paper garland from last year's decor.

please disregard how much stuff (CRAP) is on my fridge.... but, you can see that I continued on with the bats in our kitchen/laundry area... I am crazy, aren't I?  

And there you have it!  A 'tour' of sorts of our Halloween decorations!  Do you have decorations up in your home yet?

And It's Another Craft Fail...

Source: The V Spot

I thought this was the CUTEST idea ever!  I have an old typography style globe that I picked up last year at a garage sale for $3.  I love having it around the house and I had it up in the house for my 'back to school' decorations but adding it to my Halloween decor seemed too good to be true!

Well, it was.

Egad!  What a mess!  I bought some 'removable' glue dots and went to town... until the ribbon corners/edges started getting caught up in the metal frame as I was spinning the globe to add the next section of ribbon.  So, I got out my trusty 'blue painters tape' (I swear, this stuff is ALL over my house....) and tried to tape down the corners/edges to keep them from catching.  DID NOT WORK AT ALL.  The ribbons just never seemed tight enough, everything just caught up in the frame as it spinned and finally - I decided it was just time to give up.  :(

Globe - 1, Amy - 0

Oh well.... I've had a lot of DIY successes lately so I suppose it's not too awful that this one didn't work out!  My excuse?  That my globe had the bumps of the typography.  ;)  Yep, that's my story!

Halloween Pillow Covers

Scrolling through Pinterest recently, I came across a pin for this:

Source: The New Home Ec

I was really hoping to make some simple slip covers for the pillows I keep on our couch and love seat and was most inspired by this one:

Source: Someday Crafts Blog

I used the template she had but it printed out super small so instead I free-handed my skeleton and bones.  I cut them out of white felt by using a fabric marker to draw the outline.  Rather than embroider the felt skeleton pieces onto my pillow piece, I machine embroidered it using orange thread.  

After that, I decided to make use of some fabric strips I had in my stash.  I made them into ruffles then pinned and sewed them onto pillow pieces as well.  

I'm happy with how everything worked out!  The ruffle pillow covers aren't perfect and I'm realizing the black fabric is tough.  We have a golden/lab mix dog and his hair shows up!  With a 3 year old and a 1 year old it seems like our throw pillows are CONSTANTLY on the floor whether I want them to be or not.  ;)

Pumpkin Candlestick Decorations

This was a FUN project and I am super thrilled with the final result!  While at Hobby Lobby awhile back, I saw some really cute decorations:

Cute, huh?  But the price just didn't seem as cute.  So, I set out to recreate them in my 'own way'.  I personally think mine turned out even better!

I LOVE spray paint!  These guys were a very mis-matched group of misfits when I purchased them at Hobby Lobby!  The one on the far left was clear glass, second to the left was silver and the two on the right were wood!  I spray painted them all glossy black and then added a little black glitter to the wooden ones.  

My Punkins.... also purchased at HB

This sad guy on the right needed some glitz and glitter to 'fit in with the right crowd' so I gave him some sparkle!

with some spray adhesive and pretty orange glitter

and added some gold glitter glue to his stem

I picked the WORST time to glitter!  It was super windy so now there is a fine coating of orange glitter all over our back patio... oops!  :)

Now this guy fits in!  I did spray some clear coat spray paint over the top so the orange glitter wouldn't shed so much.... we'll see if it works!

The assembly:

Not sure why I didn't take a pic - but I cut two scalloped edge circles out of black felt and hot glued them together (the one on top is a bit smaller).  Next I hot glued this fringed crepe paper around the base twice.

to get this!  (See the scalloped circles?  NOPE - not even close to perfect...) 

then I added some of that awesome fringe to the base of one of the punkins

to get this!   

then I glued it all together!  Candlestick to scalloped circles to fringed punkin!

for another of the candlesticks I added a ruffled flower and for a bit more stability I also glued a square of black felt.  What it ended up looking like:

This guy also got a ruffle base as well as a jaunty little burlap flower 'hat'!

and my glittery guy?  He got some fringe and worked perfectly on the shorter candlestick

I'll do a post soon on my Halloween mantle so you can see how they look 'in their natural habitat' soon!