Sunday, October 30, 2011

Jack-o-lanterns

We carved our pumpkins, and I think they turned out amazing.

Nathan designed his own and carved it out himself with Grandpa's help.


It was even Nathan's design to put the eyeball in with toothpicks. Love it!


Jack really, really wanted a Mario pumpkin. We couldn't find any suitable templates online, so we printed off a Mario face and Daddy promised to do what he could. He hand-transferred the pattern onto the pumpkin and started carving. And carving. And carving.


Hours later, it was finally finished.

I think it might be the most impressive pumpkin we've ever had in this house. Wow. (And Jack was very happy.)

Halloween Front Porch

So there's one last stop on my Halloween tour - our front porch. The boys, hubby, and I had a lot of fun putting this all together.


I incorporated lots of garage sales finds I'd been picking up over the fall months, including a $1 ladder, an old chair, a little step stool, and a couple of crates and baskets.


Hubby attached 2 cut boards to the ladder to create a couple of shelves for me, which worked great. We picked up the pumpkins and the corn stalks on our trip to the pumpkin patch.


Just for a little more fun, I made these little spider web vinyl window decals with my Silhouette.

  

The web is called Spider Web Flourish (spider_web_flourish_1818) and the spider is from the set called Echo Park Halloween Shapes (echo_park_halloween_shapes_C00245_48353). Just cut it out in black vinyl and put them up - very easy.


The long strand for the top left spider I just cut free-hand.


Our new house is wired really well for outdoor lights, so everything plugs into 2 outdoor outlets and then is run off a switch inside the house. Love it! (In our old house, I had to put on boots and a coat to run outside and turn on the lights during the snowy months - so glad I won't have to do that!) Our spooky front porch looks great at night.



I especially love the spider lights I have peeking out of our rose bush.


And the little spider webs on the front windows are very nice. They might be my favorite part.



We are ready for Halloween! On the docket today, pumpkin carving, iced pumpkin cookies, and a trip to the Lincoln Zoo for a trick-or-treating. My favorite time of year.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Halloween Decor

Halloween is a week away! We are very excited here in this house. I've put the finishing touches on my Halloween decor, and I thought I would round it all up in a single post.

In the living room, I have this little display on our coffee table. I sewed up the runner myself, using a pattern of my own creation. I used the same fabric throughout the house, so everything goes together. The pumpkins on pedestals are new from Hobby Lobby this year - a wonderful birthday gift from my mom. Love them!


The scrapbooks are Halloween-themed. I keep them in storage for most of the year and then bring them out just for the holiday, which keeps them kind of special for the boys. The stripe scrapbook holds a double-page spread for each Halloween, and it is absolutely one of the favorite things I've ever made. I create a new page after each Halloween. It's amazing to see how the boys change from year to year, all in a single scrapbook.


I've already posted about my Halloween mantel and garland, but as long as we're in the living room, here's one more look.


It makes me so happy to see this everyday!

In the dining room, I have a little vignette on the table. Again, I sewed up the little quilted square for the table, and then I just added a few pieces I had on hand. Nothing fancy, but it's fun for now.


Back to foyer, I have a little black Halloween tree. I love to decorate this for the holiday and have been collecting little Halloween ornaments over the years.


It's lovely at night when it's all lit up.



The tree sits next to the antique radio where I have a little Halloween display as well. Again, a matching runner which I sewed to match the others.


This sits below the Halloween wreath that I've already posted about. Here's the whole foyer altogether.


And at night, it's very fun with all the lights.


And that's it for my Halloween tour today. Thanks for looking!

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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Halloween Wreath

I'm super excited about this project! I had hung my shabby window frames and knew that I wanted to hang a Halloween wreath. But first, I had to make one.

I found a white branch wreath at a garage sale for $3. It was perfect - but it was white. Spray paint to the rescue. I painted it black, along with some artificial flowers I had on hand, and started creating my wreath with my trusty glue gun. (I had finally found my much-loved original glue gun packed away in the very last box we hadn't unpacked from our move. It had been labeled "board games" by the movers. Thanks movers! I would never have thought to look for my glue gun in there. Humph.) I rounded out the wreath by adding lights, an EEK! glitter sign, a spider web and a big orange spider. All these items were in my Halloween stash just waiting for the right project.

And here it is, hanging in our foyer with the shabby window frames as a backdrop.


The cat and mouse wall decals were another item I had in my Halloween stash from Target's clearance last year. Just a fun touch.


That orange spider on top is very fun - my favorite part, I think.


The wreath came together so fun. My boys love how spooky it is, especially at night.


Our foyer is looking very much like Halloween now. My favorite holiday!


Thanks for looking!

Update - I was featured on One Tough Mother's Not So Tough Tuesday Linky Party. I'm honored! You can check it out here...



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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Window Frames

I was so excited to pick up these 4 old window frames at a garage sale for $5 each. I think I probably could have talked him down a bit, but I was just too thrilled to find them and afraid someone else would snatch them away. Aren't they lovely?

They were so dirty and chippy. My first task was to scrub them down a bit with a wire brush and hose them off. After I let them dry for a day, I glued the frames together at the joints. They were a bit wobbly, and I didn't want them falling apart any more than they were. After the glue dried, they were nice and tight.

I then added a bit more white paint to cover up the glue and to add some additional distressing. I just slapped the paint on and then rubbed it off with a clean cloth. Nothing fancy.

I had a plan for where to hang these now-lovely window frames. Remember my plain old foyer?


Yeah, it could use some sprucing up. So I hung up 2 of the window frames on the bigger wall.


My plan is to use this space as a backdrop for my seasonal decor - and it's the perfect place to hang an inside wreath. I love how it looks! They are just the perfect amount of distressed wood and chippy paint.



So pretty! I have a Halloween wreath to show you next...Yay!

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Sunday, October 09, 2011

Wicked Spider Stitching

This was a quick little stitching project I made up for Halloween. It's adorable!

The Wicked stitch pattern is a freebie from You Can Make This. It originally calls for a crystal spider head with sequins on the body - but I didn't have either of those on hand, so I did my usual thing of just "making it work" as Tim Gunn says. In fact, that's pretty much my craft mantra - just make it work. So I used extra large french knots for the body instead of sequins and just satin-stitched the head. You can see that I'm not the neatest stitcher in the world, but I love how it looks!


The frame was an unfinished wood frame from Hobby Lobby - I just painted it black, sanded the edges for a bit of distressing, then added my very favorite matte craft varnish for the tiniest bit of sheen.


It's now one of my favorite pieces on my Halloween mantel...


Thanks for looking!

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