Mother's Halloween

My love of Halloween comes from my mother. Every year, she has the whole family over for chili before the kids head out for Trick-or-Treating. Here are a few pictures of her decorations this year. Happy Halloween!

 

 

Halloween 2016 Continued

Halloween is my favorite holiday for decorating. Last year, I went for a low budget spooky witch house to compliment the exterior of my pre-renovation house. Considering that we opened up the front porch, ripped out the massive driveway, painted everything, and got new landscaping, the yard trash look of 2015 was not going to work this year.

J lovingly (possibly under duress) agreed to help make the spider of my dreams. Yes, my dreams. I worded the request very carefully because J prefers to call a project good enough way before it is perfect. While my spider did make his debut October 2, Hurricane Matthew sent him back into hiding. Now he is back and better than ever.

My pallet signs from last year fit with the theme. The spider web is made from landscaping burlap, sewed into tubes, stitched in place, and spray painted white. I also used two cans of glitter spray paint and it was pretty worthless. I may get out there with some glitter mixed with mod podge this weekend. Glitter is always appropriate for Halloween.

We followed this guide for making the spider, with some modifications. For one, we bent the pvc legs with a heat gun rather than cutting and using angled fittings. Our body and head have an interior frame of wood dowels and tension wire and are covered in weed barrier landscaping fabric. We also had to drill holes and use pins to hold the legs in place. The spider guide was meant for a spider that stays on the ground rather than being hoisted onto a roof with a pulley. Our eyes are made from a styrofoam ball cut in half, painted with silver glitter, then covered with silver sequins. That task was as painstaking and boring as you might imagine.

I am already thinking about what to add next year - possibly some smaller (and less labor intensive) companion spiders and more webbing stretched out across the rest of the facade. J is just happy to have weekends free of spider manufacturing. 

Halloween Mantel 2016

Hurricane Matthew got in the way of my exterior Halloween decorating, so here is a look at my fireplace mantel. Almost everything is from thrift stores, the Dollar Tree, or was lying around my house. 

The skull mirrors, spiders, black roses, and tombstones are all from the Dollar Tree. I love that place for filling in the gaps of my decorations. The purple vase and flowers, along with the candle sticks and holders are things I gathered while wandering around my house looking for stuff in the color scheme. The skulls are from thrifted, the chain is from Home Depot, and the silver skeleton hands on the edges of the mantel are a gift from Melinda. The fabric is from Joanns - use a coupon!

I have a timer set so that the purple lights come on in the evening, which makes everything glow. We still haven't renovated the fireplace so for now I have to be content with purple light rather than a fire. 

Halloween 2015

Here are a few pictures of my Halloween decorations this year. It was my first Halloween decorating my own house and I was super excited.  The branches were pilfered from the side of the road and the signs were made from old pallet wood behind my paint store. Side note: paint is typically delivered on pallets, so paint stores should have some should you ever need a pallet. The bats are just construction paper and I borrowed the monster from my mom. 

This is the Last Halloween Post, Promise!

Enjoy the final stages of Mother's Halloween decor!

Here is the foyer decor. As you can see, she added a lot to it. I could not manage to take a picture where the lights didn't appear pink so imagine the glow to be more purple and spooky. 

Mom hosts a chili and tostada party for the family and added friends. She decorate the dining room quite a bit since some of the adults eat in there. The room very easily adopts a spooky vibe, making it even more fun.

She made eyeball cupcakes for the kids. The baby swiped the package of eyeballs a week earlier and had a hissy because we wouldn't open it for her. She had lost interest by Halloween.

This ghost is hanging in front of my parents' bedroom in the family room. This room is too big and dark for most decorations to have an impact, so Mother went big for this corner. The family baby would not look at it! Very amusing.

 Mom wrapped two vases in our old trick-or-treat bags. The wiry thing is a giant marshmallow roaster that I gave as her birthday present a few years back. This is the first time she has actually used them, and clearly it isn't for their intended purposes. She found some strange decorations on clearance at Pier One that she ripped apart and wired onto the marshmallow roaster. Don't worry, you don't typically cook marshmallows with Made in China glittery bits flailing about.

Alright, I promise no more Halloween. Mom's party was great fun and the kids loved all the decorations. They also love cleaning out Mom's candy supply when they get back from trick-or-treating. And now onto the rest of the holiday season!

The Trick or Treater Let Down

I hope everyone had a great Halloween!  I shared my fall luxe decor and inspiration board last week and Mr. 3 and I were really excited to have some trick or treaters show up last Friday night.

Based on the screaming, yelling, and occasional band practice (which usually involves off-key recorder recitals only) that happens on the playground behind our apartment, I thought we would be overrun with all manner of spooky and cute costumes...especially since Halloween was on a Friday night.  Mr. 3 was even convinced we weren't going to have enough candy and we ran out for reinforcements at 5:30.

There were a couple of grinches in our particular part of the building that had put signs on their doors that said "not at home" or "no candy here."  I didn't want the little ones to be put off, so I slapped a sign on the entryway that said "Candy Available in Apartment X...No Costume, No Candy" and also put one on the door to our apartment so we could be found.

Right at 6:15, the kids in the apartment downstairs ran up and knocked on the door.  I gave them two lollipops each...but I really should have given them an entire bag of candy a piece because they were our only visitors!

Mr. 3 was also put out and seems a bit concerned about America's future - what with their lack of get up and go hunt for free candy and I have a bowl of calories tempting me on our dining room table.  Trick or treat fail.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!  Who's hit the candy bag before the kiddies even show up?  I hope you checked out fall table inspiration on Wednesday for our take on Fall Luxe.  Here's how I've put Fall Luxe into my apartment (which has limited storage space).  First up, here is my $15 Happiness pumpkin that I still love love love!

Please ignore the side of Xbox controller.

I set it on my coffee table and paired it with another mercury glass pumpkin from Sur la Table, which is on sale for $11.96!  My gold glass coasters are from World Market, but they sit out all year.

For my dining table, I kept my Target tablecloth because it didn't seem to clash with all the other decorations.  I used another mercury pumpkin from Sur la Table (purchased last year), two brass pumpkin tiny taper holders from Williams-Sonoma (bought on super clearance for $2.95 each this past summer).  I also mixed in a real pumpkins from the grocery store and put these beautiful peachy roses in a vase I already owned (the flowers were a Halloween present from Mr. 3...sweet man).

We also are lucky enough to have big beautiful windows in our dining room, so I set up a little festive display using a mix of succulents which I already owned and more tiny taper holders, grocery store pumpkins, and another mercury glass pumpkin from Sur la Table.

I also love to light a candle this time of year, but I can't stand the fragrance of most candles - they always smell too chemically or sweet.  The higher end candles (i.e. Jo Malone and  Diptyque) are wonderful, but I have a policy against shelling out $50+ for something I'm going to light on fire.

This soy candle is Green Tea and Ginger which means I get a bit of yummy fallness from the ginger without going overboard.  I find this brand at Home Goods, TJ Maxx, and Marshall's for $6.99-$7.99 aaaaaall the time and it's pretty much the only candle I will buy these days.  All of their fragrances are light and wonderful.

Like my inspiration board, I'm mixing different textures with metallic and natural finishes for a Fall Luxe look, but I'm also being budget and space conscious.  I decorated in mid-September so I feel like I'm getting a lot of use out of my fall decorations.  Because I didn't carve the pumpkins, I should be able to use them all the way to Thanksgiving.  Also, by mixing in grocery store items like the peach roses and grocery store pumpkins, I'm not having to store a large supply of decorations in a small apartment space when it's time to start decorating for Christmas.

Aaaand just to keep it real with y'all...here is my mum that a guest at my ice cream social gave to me.  I'm not sure what happened, but I should probably go as a planter murderer for Halloween.

    

Mr. 3 and I are planning to have a festive fall meal tomorrow for Halloween and hand out candy to the children in our apartment complex.  What plans do y'all have in the works for Halloween?  Whatever you do, stay warm and safe!

Posh Purpose: Fall Luxe

Fall is my favorite season and I love to decorate the apartment, but I don't want to spend the money or time decorating once for Halloween and once again for Thanksgiving.  Instead, I love more of a fall luxe theme which can carry you from September 1st to Thanksgiving.  You can achieve a fall luxe look with by mixing textures and metallics with the occasional pumpkin thrown in.  Here's an inspiration board to get you started on creating your own fall luxe table:   

1. Williams-Sonoma Botanical Plates, 2. West Elm Gold Flatware Sets, 3. World Market Oversized Natural Herringbone Runner , 4. Williams-Sonoma Luster Amber Wine Glasses, 5. World Market Small Matte Metallic Pillar Candles, 6. World Market Green Pumpkin Ceramic Casserole Baker, 7. Pottery Barn Cast Leaf Serving Platter, 8.  World Market Gold Metallic Taper Candleholders, 9. Pottery Barn Cast Leaf Lidded Serving Bowl, 10.  World Market Natural Wood Base Glass Hurricane Holders, 11. World Market Driftwood Chargers
Source: All images sourced from vendors

I'm obsessed with the Williams-Sonoma Botanical Plates!  I would rather have the Staub pumpkin cocotte, but this green casserole dish from World Market is a great substitution at a way more affordable price - on sale for $15.99!  I like the mix of modern elements (the candlestick holders and flatware) with natural elements (driftwood chargers, wooden candle holders, and leaf dishes) which keeps the table from looking overly modern or overly cottage-y.  As a bonus, the wood base hurricane holders and driftwood chargers could easily be reused for summertime entertaining and the gold flatware and taper candleholders will transition through to Christmas and New Years.

Anyone else have any fall tables to share?  Send them our way and we may feature them on the blog!

Halloween Decor

It is almost Halloween! Mother is wrapping up her decorating as I type, but here are a few sneak peeks of what she has done so far.

Mom bought this spooky ghost from Michael's last year. She hangs him from the dining room chandelier. But be careful! You don't want the light bulbs catching anything on fire.

The foyer is a work in progress. She has already changed it since I took this picture! One major change is that she replaced the things under the domes with plastic skulls I bought from Habitat for 50 cents each.

This scarecrow sticks around the foyer for the whole fall season, but for the month of October he has a less friendly face. Mom took some super cheap brown fabric, glitter, and paint to add a bit of spookiness.

Now we are in the living room. This creepy child statue got a witch hat for the holiday. Mother added texture to a cheap Walmart hat by gluing down the same fabric that is on the scarecrow's face and then painting over it with black craft paint.

I have absolutely no idea where this cat tree thing came from, but it keeps the child statue company.

Remember the Halloween runner I made for mom? Here is another progress shot. She has probably added even more to it since I left. Mother takes Halloween very seriously.

Are y'all ready for Halloween? I was just in the check out line at Publix behind a lady buying huge bags of candy. Apparently she gets over 300 trick-or-treaters in her neighborhood!