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 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. 

Craigslist Crush: Volume 1

As I mentioned on Monday, craigslist Richmond is crushin' it to say the least.  I have no qualms in showing you all the goods since I have no place to store any new treasures...yet.  We are still paying rent on our apartment in D.C. until it gets rented out, so until that is taken care of, I'm window shopping only.  Pray y'all, pray.  

A lot of these items are big ticket pieces and the prices are reflective of that, but I think these finds are so so good and still pretty reasonable.  First up, this awesome antique ice chest which would be a fun and functional addition to a man cave:  

Antique Ice Chest
$100

This stately screen is awesome and if you didn't care for the patina...you could spray paint it, but I like it as is in the right home.

Iron Screen
$200

Be still my heart!  This stained glass door is gorgeous and needs to be in a 1920s house ASAP.

Stained Glass Door
$250

Y'all know I dearly love a good chandelier and this is an awesome price if it is indeed crystal as described!  If it's not, light fixtures are insanely expensive, so you should snap this one up anyways!

Crystal Chandelier
$300

Pedestal sinks never go out of style and this one looks to be in great condition!

Pedestal Sink
$150

If you happen to buy that goregous stained glass door above, I might also suggest this Art Deco wall unit.  Great price and looks like it is in excellent condition!

Art Deco Wall Unit
$299

I love love love my the craiglist finds, but don't think it's all beautiful.  I found this gem and I think my exact words were "Lord Almighty."  Thank you craigslist for continuing to come through with the good, the bad, and the painfully bizarre!

Asian Lacquer and Mother of Pearl Armoire
$1750

Fall Decorations

Even though it is almost time to switch over to Christmas decorations, I wanted to share Mom's fall decor. I am thrilled that she is putting up so many great decorations because I have not been in the mood to decorate my own teeny tiny apartment. It is far more fun to enjoy her beautiful house.

Posh Purpose Review: The Cottage Shop in Nags Head, NC

When we went to Nags Head last year, I came across a super cute shop called The Cottage Shop that sells home decor, Christmas decorations, entertaining essentials, and small gifts.  I bought our yearly ornament from The Cottage Shop last year and I decided to go back to look for another this past weekend.  I also got a bunch of great Christmas decorating ideas for my first Christmas tree that I was able to put together using cheaper sources such as Michael's.  The store is creatively decorated with at least six Christmas trees, but doesn't feel too crowded or overdone.  The sales ladies are all wonderfully helpful and sweet.  Here's a couple of the displays that I thought were especially creative...like this inverted white Christmas tree designed to look like underwater sea life:

I also really like the more natural look to this red and burlap woodland tree.  I love the frilly bow at the top.  The faux poinsettias are really pretty pops of color!  Using faux florals on my tree is one of the ideas I got from this store last year.

These beautiful hanging ornaments would look great in the windows, hanging from the banisters or mantels, or even from certain chandeliers.

Unfortunately, I couldn't limit myself to just one ornament this year!  All the ornaments are so pretty and well-made, that I wound up buying four, but luckily they were only $11.99-$13.99 each aaaaaand the super sweet sales lady gave me a discount.

I'm super excited to put these on my tree in a few weeks!  If you are in the Outer Banks, I highly recommend that you stop by The Cottage Shop at one of their three locations for some decorating inspiration and gift ideas. There will be another sale on Black Friday if you are lucky enough to be spending Thanksgiving at the beach!

Duck

1201 Duck Road

Kitty Hawk, NC 27949

252-261-8121

Nags Head

5000 South Croatan Highway

Nags Head, NC 27959

252-441-2522

Corolla

Timbuck II Shopping Village

790 North Ocean Trail

Unit G

Corolla, NC 27927

252-453-3525