pumpkins, candy, & skully's, oh my!

the decorations are finally up (about time, eh?
all i can say is, it's been one of those kind of weeks months).
does it surprise you that the candy dish is already empty?
check out my whrrl story HERE, for a peek at some of my favorite
 halloween touches. how do YOU decorate for halloween?
leave me a link, i'd love to do a little blog-hopping this weekend!

you might think i'm crazy, & i probably am.

but i just couldn't resist. i spotted this beauty & bought it on the spot. i honestly don't know where it's going to go, my house is currently filled to over - capacity already, but i just couldn't pass it up - it was such a steal. i'm tempted to give it a little make over, a la design mom. have you done anything lately that has people questioning your sanity just a wee bit? i think my hubby is ready to ship me off to the funny farm, with this recent purchase. but the piano just captivated me, there was no way i could let it go home with someone else, it was calling out my name. now, i just have to figure out how to get it home.

charlie's world.

if you've been following my baby drama, then you know i was having a tough time making any kind of decision regarding the newest little princess' palace. which quilt to hang, what color to paint the dresser, blah blah blah. at that "point in my life," i felt like these decisions were uber-important... you know, a "make it, or break it" type of thing. but we all know, that was just the hormones talking.

after agonizing over the decisions for weeks, boring my hubby, mom & friends by constantly asking them over & over again for their opinion, i still couldn't make up my mind. the night before going to the hospital i must have changed the quilt on the wall four different times. eventually i settled on one i thought i like best. but there still wasn't anything on the walls. we packed up the boys & headed out in search of some "artwork"... there's nothing like last minute. we did find a little something, but i still wasn't exactly loving the room, but with a hospital stay drawing nearer to my future i finally decided i would just deal with it all later.

luckily for me though i have a doll of a hubby. while i was vacationing at the hospital, the hubby, my mil & the boys were playing "surprise by design." as i sipped apple juice & feasted on crushed ice they were painting, decorating & putting the finishing touches on charlie's world...

what was once new...

i had big plans for recycling a dresser, similar to what we had done HERE. but unfortunately, i just couldn't find the right piece of furniture. scratch that.... i couldn't find anything. you would think that months of searching thrift stores & garage stores, i would have found something. but nope - nada. the few things i did find were small & really, really, really over-priced. so, we ended up with something from ikea. the only drawback to our to our nice, new dresser was that it was powder blue.... which doesn't exactly scream little girl. luckily, a can of paint is cheap. so we slopped on the paint (literally, because i don't like things that look perfectly perfect), took some sand paper to it, added a few vintage-esque knobs & viola! we have ourselves a new, old dresser.

bob the builder.

this morning we've been keeping busy. the boys have been "consolidated" into one room, amazingly. so now it's time to get to work girl-ifying the princess' new royal palace. i had the brilliant idea of picking up an old beat up dresser at one of the local thrift shops & making it purr-ty, like we did HERE. would you believe that all of dressers i came across were super pricey, like over $200! hello?! so, instead, we decided to go pick something up from ikea. assembling it this morning gave me a good chance to do some bonding with the boys. seeing that i was able to assemble the dresser with the actual help of two little boys & an elmo hammer - i hoping that speaks more to the brilliance & simplicity of ikea, as opposed to really shoddy craftsmanship. i guess we will see. now we just have to decide what color to paint the dresser, the baby blue just doesn't seem fitting.

family tree.

while wandering aimlessly through ikea a while back, i stumbled across this idea using a "family tree" to decorate a blank wall. (click on picture to enlarge). the ikea instructions read "create a family tree using STATTHULT wall stickers and NYTTJA frames. start by applying the stickers to the wall and arranging them any way you wany. then with family pictures inside, attach the frames to the wall interwining them in the tree."

at ikea they showed the idea in a baby nursery, but it would be perfect for a living room, a hallway, or anywhere you have a little bit of blank wall space.

bright & shiny.

lately all my plates & bowls have been cracking & chipping. as much as i love my current dinnerware, i'm thinking it might be time to start thinking about getting something new. THIS
set of recycled glass dinnerware caught my eye. i love all the bright & shiny colors!

vintage rulers.

one day i'll have entire room dedicated completely to sewing (as opposed the kitchen table that is currently completely dedicated to sewing). when this day comes, i also have an unlimited budget with which to furnish said room. what's on top of my must-have list (besides a vintage sewing machine or two?), THIS vintage ruler table &/or THIS stool. how cute are they? i love 'em.

quick fixes.

thanks to a recent swap partner, the lovely laura, i have been introduced to a fun austrailian magazine called real living. the issue i received was full of quick tips for decorating your space & i wanted to share an idea or two... (click on picture to enlarge)

in the first picture they hung silver trays on the walls instead of mirrors. genius! and the second picture is a collage of magazine pages & pictures taped to the wall instead of wall paper. simply beautiful.

quick, easy, & fun. not to mention, both of these ideas use things that you probably have lying around the house - gotta love that!

tea anyone?

ever since i was a little girl i've had a thing for pretty tea cups. there is something so lovely about how delicate & dainty they are. so when i spied THIS clock in country living magazine, it came at no surprise that i wanted it immediately! unfortunately the price tag blew me away. but if i put my thinking cap on, i bet i could figure out a way to make it myself. (super duty craft glue could probably do the trick.) what a fun excuse to go hunting through yard sales & antique shops. i think i'm up to the challenge, are you?

while we're on the subject of traveling...

i love all things travel related... mini suitcases, vintage luggage labels, old travel postcards & posters. (i think you get the idea.) but most of all, i love maps. big or small, flat or round, i love them all. so it's no surprise to me, that while watching one of my favorite guilty pleasures, the wall map totally caught my eye. (click on the picture to enlarge it.) i've always loved the idea of having a huge wall map... either in the kid's room or perhaps in a game room or office. i've toyed with the idea of "sticking pins" in the places we've visited, but this idea is so much better. instead of your basic push pin, they've used postcards & pictures to signify special locations. i loved it when the little boy was asked "do you remember where england is?" & he replied "it's the one with the big clock". i seriously LOVE this idea, it goes way behind your basic geography lesson. i found a similar map HERE, unfortunately they are all sold out, although i did spy a few on ebay. obviously there are probably hundreds of map options out there, but i kinda like THIS one, THIS one, or THIS one. oh, & THIS one too.

still need a holiday centerpiece?

why not whip up this festive one... the bonus, you (or the kids) can eat it when the holidays are over! for the super easy directions go HERE.

deck the halls...

so i have all these pictures of the kids with santa, from years past. (mostly because ana brandt does these incredible santa sessions every year!) anyway, i was tired of having all the photos pile up in the drawer & i decided i definitely needed to do something with them. at halloween, i just displayed all the old halloween-ey pictures on a magnet board in my kitchen... boring! so this time around i knew i wanted to do something a bit more decorative with them. that's when i remembered that my cousins whit & abby had just mod podged some cute frames. perfect! so i ran down to the craft store (actually, i pretty much make daily trips, so it wasn't much of an imposition), bought some frames, scrapbook paper, wood stain, & mod podge and i was set. i followed the directions on the jar & ended up with a whole slew of frames. i had a lot of fun slopping glue & roughing them up to make them more "vintage" looking. here are some of my favorites... (click on the picture to enlarge)

if, or rather when, i have a little girl...

i would love to have THIS precious little print hanging on her wall. however, if she's a "pink princess", which i suspect she will be, simply because i'm not, then THIS one might be a better choice. & if we lived somewhere "chilly", i'd probably hang THIS one as well. (but when you live in sunny california, it just seems silly to have a picture of snow on your wall. but, i guess i could always send out the cards.) don't you just love what you can find on etsy?

'twas the month before christmas,

and all through the house
all the creatures were stirring,
especially the mouse;

the stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
in hopes that st. nicholas soon would be there;

if i were reading this aloud, ala book on tape, right now you would hear a loud "rewind effect", before i re-read "the stockings were hung by the chimney with care" because that's where i'm getting stuck, while trying to transform my home into a winter wonderland... for years i have had what you might call a "vision." i really want knit or crocheted stockings, you know, the ones that look like long socks. i LOVE the ones at sundance & the ones at pottery barn kids are pretty cute as well, but i don't think i can justify the price tag. i've been googling & etsying and no luck! silly me, i figured i'd find them all over the place! but they are either too cutesy for my taste, too small, or just don't even look like stockings (the measurements are all wrong). this is when i wish i was better at crocheting or knitting, then i could whip these babies out in a jiffy!

bare walls?

or maybe your just looking for a change. either way, maybe one of these ideas will inspire you & get your creative juices flowing...

you don't need museum-worthy pieces to create an arresting composition.... remnants of four graphic fabrics add drama when placed in metal frames & hung in a grid pattern. extending nearly the full width of the room, the pieces act like wallpaper. when choosing fabrics, stick to bold over scale patterns, as small florals will lose presence when viewed from afar.

as you read, the magazine (which one it was, i can't remember) suggested fabric, but this same look could easily be accomplished with scrapbook (or even wrapping paper) as well. imagine the possibilities! this would be perfect for bedroom (maybe mine?), or what about a craft studio?! already i have possibilities twirling in my head! but, if your looking for something that screams "classy"check out this next idea (be sure to click on the picture & enlarge it, this shot just doesn't do it justice!) :

a painting isn't the only work worthy of being centered above a mantel. a family tree becomes an artistic installation when its names, dates & birth places are exhibited in flowing calligraphy on card stock with a mat border. the family name is written in light ink on dark paper, while the revers is true for the surrounding "branches" of the genealogy chart. uniform frames with an antique finish add harmony to the display.

could be a beautiful addition to any room. but i really envision this "art" hanging near some silhouettes... like the ones mique is always talking about, over at nienie's house.

i HATE carving pumpkins...

to be honest (and you might be surprised), i'm not to fond of the holiday decorating. (actually let me re-state, i like christmas decor, but i've never been very good at decorating for the "other" holidays.) but, i have a two year who LOVES pumpkins & everything else associated with halloween, so i find myself going a little overboard. yet, i've put my foot down about carving pumpkins. i don't know why, i just don't like it. they are all slimy & gooey, i don't like pumpkin seeds & they always end up wilting right before the big day. so, i usually just pile up a load of pumpkins on the porch & call it a day. but i came across this idea in the martha stewart halloween issue... instead of carving or painting the pumpkins, save yourself a headache & slap on mask. suddenly your plain jane pumpkin can be a pirate, skeleton, or a simple masked avenger. then, when halloween is over, take off the mask & you have instant thanksgiving decor! fabulous!

bubble bubble toil & trouble

fillet of a fenny snake,
in the caldron boil & bake;
eye of newt, & toe of frog,
wool of bat, & tongue of dog,
adder's fork, & blind-worm's sting,
lizard's leg, &owlet's wing,—
for a charm of powerful trouble,
like a hell-broth boil & bubble.

double, double toil & trouble;
fire burn, & caldron bubble.

unlike the witches in macbeth, this witch's brew isn't made of toads and lizards. instead, i used spray foam insulation. after it was dry and hard i painted it green & hot glued in some toy eye balls, spiders & skulls... care to have a taste?

not intended for consumption.

we spent the weekend crafting paper pumpkins. once again

my inspiration came from paper source (i don't think i'm able capable of original ideas, they are all taken!)... they were selling these cute pumpkin place card kits. but at 12 bucks a pop, i decided i was better off figuring it out on my own.
they were pretty simple to make after i got my supplies: pumpkin-ey colored paper, a small hole punch, floral wire & fake leaves (i found everything at michaels). all i did was cut the paper into 1-inch strips. then i proceeded to punch a hole at both ends of the strips. i stacked the strips on top of one another, creating a small pile of strips. next, i fed the wire through the bottom hole of every strip & then the top hole as well. you then kinda push down on the top of the papers & fan them out like a pumpkin. once you have your desired shape coil the ends of the wire so that your holes won't slip off & add a leaf or two.

okay, so it might sound a little complicated, but it really isn't. once you start making them, it will totally make sense & come together quickly. if you get stuck or are confused, just shoot me an email & i'll do my darnedest to explain it better!

paper, scissors & glue

that's all that was required to complete this festive skull garland. we're on a bit of a yo ho kick. (that's gavin speak for pirate, if you hadn't already figured it out.) so when i came across THIS kit at paper source i knew it would be an absolute necessity for our halloween decorations... now go make your own!