Pumpkin fun

Need ideas for your pumpkin carving or maybe just need a laugh or two check out this Website for some fun and scary pumpkin ideas

Cool Pumpkin Designs

Halloween Lace

                                             


I love spooky lace. There is a shop in Seaside (sadly is selling or changing owners) where I have bought a few pieces. It's part of my Hood to Coast trip. After a long nights sleep from being up for 36 hours, I look forward to this shop opening so I can peek around at the new Halloween stuff. They carry bits and pieces through out the year, but around the end of August is when they would put out their full collection. This year they didn't have much, probably due to the owner change.

Vintage lace is a great way to take your house up a notch. It makes it look as though your house always looks like that. Most pieces can run around $25 dollars but some as low as $20 and others can run hundreds. I buy one or two pieces each year. I think this one might need to be in my house.

Vintage Lace Halloween Curtains

Making Halloween Yours

I'm always amazed at the creativity surrounding this season. Take a holiday like Christmas, the theme is very similar from household to household. There is individuality but most generally they keep to character with the fun whimsical time of year. Halloween is different. The alter ego of the person who is decorating comes into play. It gives that person a chance to become or be something different for a short period of time. For some it's cute pumpkins, bright orange, greens and purples. For others it's death and Gothic with grey, blacks and the sharp contrast of red. Some focus on harvest while others what to gross you out or scare you to near death.

Many moons ago, my Halloween started off with cute fun things I bought at the local stores. Now I spend my time hunting for that right piece with a focus on a vintage style. I'm trying to make more of my own decor using old items I find at Goodwill and garage sales. Some of my older pieces don't make it too the next year. Instead they go to Goodwill to find a new owner. Often times I'm the new owner and can't believe someone would get rid of such a treasured item.


Halloween is such a strange and different kind of deocrating. Decorating for Halloween is limited only by your imagination or the money you what to spend. I love looking at what creative ideas people come up with. Thank god for Pinterest....it's my Halloween crack. Everyone has a hobby and I guess mine is Halloween.
            

Front Porch ideas

The house is done, with a few minor changes or additions here and there. Now I start thinking of the outside display. Last year I did a plastic urn planter with sticks I collected from the neighborhood forest. Then I used lights, pumpkins and creepy cloth to finish off the porch. My front porch faces the sun in the afternoon. Rotting any pumpkins I set out with in a week. So I try to save using real pumpkins until the very last week. My outdoor display comes out Oct 1 so it's a challenge to find a display that is wind proof, rain proof and heat proof.


I really like this display. My porch isn't that big but a scaled down version would be great. I have quite a few of the fake pumpkins. I just need to figure out a way to make them not look so fake.


I'm also always torn between Scary or Fun. We still have a lot of little ones in the hood and I don't want them to be afraid of coming to the door. I like the bats in this one.

Absolutely love this display.


This is the ultimate display. They took the idea from the Haunted Mansion and created heads that sing and talk. Wish they were my neighbors. Use the link below to check the whole story and set up.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/diy-disneys-haunted-mansion-fo-159102


Still have a few weeks to come up with ideas. Let me know if you think of anything.

Halloween Boxes, cheap find

So I found these boxes at Michael's for 50cents a piece. They were left over from their spring collection. They have been sitting on my work table for 5 weeks while I pondered what to do with them. Finally one early morning I started painting them black. I designed the label using Publisher and decoupaged them onto the boxes. I added glitter to the Pumpkin and Bat characters and then around the border of the paper. Sprayed the box with a sealer and glue feathers to the lid. This was a very inexpensive craft. If you don't have publisher, use newspaper, old photos or look in the scrap book section to find different things.

The possibilities are endless

 

 

I'm almost done decorating. I still have things to add here and there but the majority of it is done. I love how every year there is a different turn out of display. It's the same things just in a different display or arrangement. This year I made a wreath from Coffee Filters. This was taken from a design I saw on Pinterest which was from BHG. It's original design was for a banister but as I was making the each ruffle a wreath started to come into my mind

Which then prompted me to add the individual pieces to the tops of these hands I found at Michael's. It's hard to see in the picture but they are hanging down from my mantel.

Finished off the room with curtains I made and creepy cloth. The curtains I had for a few years and again they have taken on a different feel this year. Last year I draped Feather Boa's across the top this year black creepy cloth from the dollar store. I think I have a whole container of just Creepy cloth.

The dining room is my Candy Room. You can't have Halloween with out the temptation of candy. The kids get really excited when this room finally comes together. I have jars, dishes and buckets of candy displayed all over. I notice over time they slowly become less and less. Little sneaks.

Here is the final display of my Giant Pixie sticks. I placed a vase inside the out vase and filled it in between with Candy corn. Spider garland from Michael's fills in between the decorated pixie sticks.

Here are some of the Jars I made with Candy. These don't open so the candy inside is REALLY old. I haven't had to replace it yet!. I used glitter, ribbons, and handmade medallions to decorate the jars.

Target $1 Halloween buckets filled with Candy make this sweet display.

I found this glass Owl and Large Orange Vase at Marshalls. Good deals and I can use the Vase for other stuff since it matches my everyday Decor.

I love that I have space above my Kitchen Cupboards to decorate. Most of the stuff up here are things I have collected over the years but some I have made, I buy stuff on sale at the end of season, and Dollars store is a Halloween dream.

Bathroom, not done. Too plain still

This is in my entry way. The picture hanging on the wall is one that is there all year. I found some pictures online and cropped them to fit into the squares and VIOLA Halloween ready.

This Vase sits on this table all year. I added some Black thorny pieces from Michael's, a dog costume collar around the vase, dollar store skeleton and changed it into Halloween.

It feels so good to be transformed into Halloween. I still have projects I want to do and will be working on stuff for the next few weeks tweaking and adding to my decor.

No decorating today

While I'm not completely bummed, it was a bit disheartening that I couldn't start on Halloween today. I'm still not feeling well and other obligations caused me to get a late start.

Well all was not lost. I started my day with a Pumpkin Spiced Latte from Starbucks. Today was the official first day and Bridget and I were the first ones to order it. The lady probably thought we were crazy. This afternoon, I completed my test run for my Giant Pixie stick Boo-quet. My dinning room has a Candy theme. More on that hopefully this week.

A few years ago my friend Pauline introduced me to this fabulous candy Store in Milwaukie, Enchante'. All year they have Paris inspired chocolates, candies and Popcorn. Halloween is the best time ever to visit this little shop of Chocolate where they transform from Pink Silver and white into the beautiful colors of Black and Orange. Unfortunately they don't have a website so here is there card.

One of the first years I visited them they had these giant Pixie sticks with vintage medallion's glue to them. They were featured in a vase, each with a unique designs. I bought a couple and dismantled them, deciding I could easily make them. I wouldn't say easy but certainly fun. I usually give them out at the kids party or to the first 24 kids at my door.

At Michael's I buy a few books of Halloween Scrap book paper. Select whatever paper gets your fancy and cut a strip 6inches by 12 inches. Accordion fold the along the 6inch side of the paper. I chose 1/2 folds. When done pinch the paper in the middle. I tied mine with a bit of black pipe cleaner. Hot glue the ends to each other and you have a round medallion. Using contrast paper cut a shape for the center and use Printed pictures or in this case I have purchased more scrap booking materiel. (hint, find this stuff on clearance for the next year)

 

Add ribbon. I used two different kind same width for this one. But I think I like using skinny with fat. You can hot glue the medallion to the paper part of the Pixie stick or you can use the pipe cleaner and wrap it around.

Now I just have 23 more to go.