Halloween is over!

As you know I completely adore Halloween!  We had a pretty good turn out of kids.  I ran out of candy...which is a good thing!

Doodle went as a cat!

But as with any holiday, I'm also really glad when it's over and I can put my house back to normal.

So, out came the storage containers and down came all the Halloweeny decor!

I've always wanted matching storage bins.  So, this year I got them!

I got $5 bins from Wal-Mart and used my Cricut to cut vinyl labels for the containers!  I was so excited with how they turned out!  I'm thinking I should get one more even though I don't need it.  You know....room for growth! ;)

They really are exactly the same...it's just the angle of the picture that makes them look different.  :)

I'm lucky.  Even though my home is tiny...I have a nice size storage shed in my back yard to store all my holiday decor and yard stuffezz (one of my made up words).

How about you?  Do you color code your storage containers, label them, or just know what is what?

Until next time....

No Function Friday - Porch Halloweeny-fied!

Yep, I make up words all the time! :)  "Halloweeny-fied" has a mighty fine ring to it if I don't say so myself!

So, as promised (although a little late today), I finally got pictures of my front porch all Halloweeny-fied! 

My $2 candleabra from the Christmas Tree Shoppe!  I LOVE that place! :)

WAIT!  Before I show you anymore pictures, you know I always feel the need to point out my shortcoming and beg for designer forgiveness! 

Yes, my pillows are still all summery looking!  I actually have outdoor fall looking fabric I got on clearance at Joanne's a couple months ago recently that I haven't gotten around to making slipcovers out of of!  

And yes, I do have a bright green extension cord for my lights!  I had good intentions to replace it with an appropriate one...but you know time gets away from you and before you know it's two weeks before Halloween and your all like...f-it.  Yeah, that's pretty much where I am with the green extension cord now.

Oh...and mums!  Yep, I actually do plan to buy a mum for my red planter I moved by the door.  But it could easily slip into the green extension cord category. ;)

Ok, phew....I fell better!!  Moving on: 

My Halloween Ribbon Wreath from this post, I forgot needed something to HANG from, duh, so I added this bow and some ribbon to hang it from.

Here's some of the goodies spread throughout my flower bed:

My little mum that was transplanted last year.  We weren't sure if it was truly a mum, but saved it anyway just in case...last year it sprouted one flower.  This year, she's growing up. ;)

And a Praying Mantis even stopped by to add to the outdoor fun!!

Ok, so there you have it!  My Halloweeny-fied front porch and flower bed! :)  Most of the stuff in the pictures I've had for years.  I just add one or two items to it ever year.  

One last thing...Melissa at Bursts of Creativity is having a Halloween tag giveaway!!  She did 5 tags everyday this week and they are FABULOUS!  Stop by and check them out and tell her which one you'l like to win! :)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!! :)


Until next time...

More Halloween Ideas

Yes, MORE Halloween!  :)

I know you might be getting sick of Halloween crafts by now, and honestly I thought I was out of Halloween posts...except my porch (which I completely FORGOT about until JUST now!). 

BUT I got an email from Better Homes and Gardens the other day and fell in LOVE with all the cute and simple ideas they had for Halloween and just had to share! 

And last but not least:

 Ok, seriously, how stinkin' cute and EASY are all these ideas!!

I will be honest, I got all giddy when I saw them, but I am so busy painting stuff and trying to get things together so I can go sign up for my antique booth with confidence, I just don't think I have time for anymore Halloween crafts this year. 

But these were too awesome not to share!!

Until next time....

Halloweeny Finale!

Well, this is it!!! The Halloween Finale! :)

Can I just tell you how much fun I had doing this week full of Halloween projects!!  I've 'met' alot of new people and have been honored by picking up almost 20 new followers this week!  That almost doubled my followers in one week.  WOW!!  All I can say is I'm....EXCITED!!!  Oh, come on...you knew I couldn't pass up an opportunity to tell you how EXCITED I am!! ;) 

Yes....I am just as big a spazz-o-matic in person too. ;)

Thank you to everyone who came back each day to see what I had planned next!!!  I truly am humbled that you take a piece of your precious time to spend with me!!

Ok, no more Sappy Sue...let's get to it!! 

I told you I was going to show you my Living Room in Halloween splendor and outside.  I've decided to save outside for another post so we don't get too heavy with pictures.

So, without further ado:

That's about it folks!  Tours of an uncluttered 12x15 room don't take long! LOL

My home always has a fall-ish feel, so this isn't a major transformation, just Halloween touches added to my already warm, fall-toned, living room! :)

Oh, and I do apologize for some of the overly fuzzy photos...I'm still trying to figure this whole pictures without flash thing out.  Plus, the best time of day to take pictures of this room is morning...when I'm at work. :)

Ok, so next week, I'll show our front porch decked out I swear!! 

AND.....more importantly...with this week being so crazy and all, I didn't get to tell you my super duper, whopper sized, exciting news!!!  Come back on Monday to read all about it!!! 

Don't 'cha just hate being left hanging like that!  :)

OH, one more thing then I swear I'm done...YES....this is my CURRENT living room taken AFTER the pictures from Wednesday! LOL  I finally got it back in order and there is peace in the world again! :) 

Have a wonderful weekend!! 

Until Monday....

Halloween Day 7 - Spooky Topiary

Well, it has finally arrived...Day 7!  And therefore, the last project in my Halloweeny blitz!!! 

I'm pretty thrilled with how this one turned out.  Especially when you consider I missed counted the days when I started this whole thing, so I only had 6 projects planned out!  Yikes! 

So, last night when I got home around 6:30, I started looking at what I had on hand.

Enter this lovely, purchased a few weeks ago at Goodwill as a daily half priced item, so I paid $1.50.

(Warning...this post is picture heavy.)

It almost broke my heart to sand it down and paint it black because if it was truly hand painted, I know someone put their own talent and hard work into painting it...but it was old and dated and needed a new lease on life.

So, that's what I did.  And then I Modge Podged with scrapbook paper (about $1.50 worth...with plenty left over for another project), sanded all the edges and inked the edges with black ink and of course rubbed it in with my fingers. :)

As I sat there pondering what I was going to do with it next, this hole was saying, "use me...not the big one on the other side for a candle...that's too predictable." 

I couldn't let this little hole down...and that's when it hit me...topiary!!

I gathered some leftover dowel pieces and some skewers I had and put a styrofoam ball on top.

Now what?  What was I going to use to make the topiary?  I thought about spiders, but that didn't work.  Once again, I was at a loss.  Since Doodle was still at her dad's I ran to Meijer (it's a store here in the Midwest, kind of like a bigger, bit nicer, more expensive Wal-Mart).  Nothing stood out to me.  Shoot!!

Well, I had to go to Menards (a large hardware store we have here in Indy) because I needed to pick up a hard to find lightbulb for my cubicle at work.  As I was walking around...I found my solution....and for FREE!  Sort of.  Menards offers alot of rebates.  So, my solution was $1.50 with a $1.50 rebate! :)

What would make the perfect Halloweeny topiary?

That's right....shelf liner!

So, having done something like this before (which I have not had time to show you yet), I just used the same technique.

I cut my shelf liner into 2x2 squares.  Pulled the sides up around a small piece of dowel, hot glued the end and stuck onto the styrofoam ball (which I painted black so white wouldn't be showing through any gaps).  Just keep repeating until the whole ball is full.  Shove each piece in pretty tight so you get a good full look to your topiary.

Once I filled the whole ball, I wrapped a scrap piece of cream fabric around the dowels.  I rubbed some of my Jim Holtz Distressing Ink in Walnut over the ribbon to age it up some. 

Then I hot glued the dowel into the little hole and added a couple spiders for fun!  I also ran some of the spider web stuff you use outside over the ball to give it some 'eeriness'. 

Here's what I ended up with!!

Be sure to come back tomorrow...that's when I'll show you my living room all decked out for a fun Halloweeny. :) 

Until tomorrow...