Dem Bones, Dem Bones...

In keeping with my themes, sort of, I think the family room represents "skeletons" pretty well...see if you can spot them all.

O.K. This one is a no-brainer but I just LOVE him so much! One of my all-time favorite crafts for sure!! And don't miss his friends looking down from above. I bought these light weight tombstones years ago and used them outside but I was always having to glue on new stakes - that I made from paint sticks because the little things that came with them NEVER worked - but, I digress. In any case, as I buy new, heavy weight tombstones each year to replace these, I have found places in the house where I think they will work even better. They are large, 3-D and inexpensive - so, lots of bang for your buck!! The glittered haunted house I got at JoAnns years ago. And, speaking of JoAnns, has anyone else noticed how expensive they have gotten - not to mention the poor quality of the stuff they are carrying these days? I went in to look for witch hats and a really generic, poorly made hat was marked at $49.99! Are they kidding? Even at 50% off, it was WAAAAY too much! I didn't buy a thing and headed off to Michaels, TJ Maxx and WalMart.

This round table is next to my "TV watching" chair and I have it filled with things I love...the witch's hat picture holder the kids made years ago with my two favorite grandsons, my yummy Yankee Candle Halloween candle and my favorite "witches" from a past Halloween! These silly pictures are a tradition around here and I can't wait to see what we will look like this year!

I know you can't see them from this angle, but the mantle is LOADED with skeletons! These pictures change to bones if you just move your head a bit!

So that is the family room this year. There are actually two other areas FULL of past Halloween photos but I spared you. It does look a bit like over kill, but it IS a family room and these ARE family pictures...and, no matter how often the kids scoff at me for keeping all of these, it is amazing to see how often someone will pick up a frame and reminisce about the costumes we all wore that year. And speaking of costumes, I have to get busy and decide what hubby and I will be so that I can get out the machine and start sewing. Still more rooms to come - but you knew that, didn't you? Stay tuned.

Welcome to My "La-boh-rah-tory"....

...or however Dr. Frankenstein would say it! I had to move some things around this year and here is where the laboratory ended up - along with the newest addition from PB - the beaker holder. What do you think?

Pottery Barn had a fabulous laboratory themed decor in their catalog this year and I could have just jumped into the pages! I loved every bit of it but we would have had to take out a mortgage on our house to afford it all. So, I picked and chose...and I chose the beakers and stand as a new treasure this year. I don't know why, but they spoke to me. They also had some test tubes and stand but, instead of buying those, I broke out my Wilton candy sprinkle test tube holder I bought last year and replaced those tubes with some a little more authentic looking that I got at the party store. Since I had the 3' skeleton just waiting for a new place this year, I copied the PB idea of submerging him in a large glass jar - which I also had on hand - and filling it with a lovely green liquid! Then, I just filled in the spaces with all of my skeleton or "beakerish" and potion looking stuff!
 

I stole borrowed this idea from the PB catalog. I love their style and I had everything I needed to do this!

You never know when a potion might call for some eyeballs!

Here is the witch I bought several years ago down in Mt. Dora. She is noise activated, so whenever some pots or a kitchen cabinet door get banged, she starts to cackle and hubby jumps 3' off the ground. Got to tell you...it NEVER gets old!

Once again I am loving the baker's rack in the kitchen. We use all of these dining and serving things during this month and it is SO nice to have them all right at hand!

Still using the pot holders the girls made so many years ago and still love my jack-o-lantern plate that Caitlin made for us!

Cookies always tasted better coming from this cookie jar - although now I have to admit it only holds artificial sweetener - bummer how times have changed! The two cauldrons are from my old ceramic making days.

So there you have the 2014 kitchen area. More to come. Stay tuned!

Here We Go!

Wow! Don't know if it is just because I am a year older or if it is because I had to do some major rearranging this year, but getting my Halloween decorating done has taken me most of this week! I am not complaining mind you! In fact, I pretty much enjoyed every minute - until it came to getting all of the autumn stuff put away, but that is another story!

Some of the things you see are the same as last year - basically because I just love them the way they are. Others will be a major difference - mostly because the places I used to have for display are just no longer here! I had fun but it definitely takes longer coming up with whole new vignettes - and, as you know, tweaking  can now begin! Let's start with the living room...welcome to our Halloween house!

Be sure and mark your calendars!

As I was decorating, I realized that a few "themes" seem to prevail in my Halloween decor - witches and skeletons and pumpkins and ravens...oh my! I would have liked to keep one theme per room, but alas, it was not to be so you will see a little of each creeping into most rooms - but it seems like the witches and ravens are predominant in the living room.

Enter my new sign. Oh my! I always seem to act first with my heart and then my brain. That was just the case with the GR knock off sign that I made. I am in love with all pallet signs these days and when I saw this beauty, I was all over it. And, I wanted it large! Just never really thought about where it would go. Fast forward to decorating day week and I find myself walking from one room to the other trying to find it a home. I also wanted it to stay close to my witch vignette, so over the foyer mirror was really the only option. I wasn't crazy about it at first, but it is growing on me.

Another thing I can't seem to get enough of are these flickering light candelabras...I love them and they are so much safer than lighting real taper candles!

I am still in LOVE with the witch that I bought several years ago...and spent WAY TOO MUCH on. I am not sure why she speaks to me, but she does. Every year when I take her out and "fluff" her up, I see more and more detail that I never noticed before! Can you believe those boots are actually leather?

Again, I am opening myself up for some serious ribbing with this one, but I have broad shoulders so let the fun begin!

Still one of my favorite finds from Pinterest. Wish I could find another idea this good to make as gifts this year. I bought all of my supplies the other day but still not sold on what I'm planning! Hate it when that happens!

The pictures on the couch table are some of our family costume parties over the years. Looking back I realize what a crazy group we are...so many memories and so much fun!

I don't know why this branch keeps reappearing. I made it years ago to fill in some space or other and that was supposed to be it. For some reason, I kept it and as long as it holds together, I guess I will use it in this room because the other predominant theme in here is the ravens.

The pictures on this table are from the witches' teas we used to attend in Tampa. Always loved those teas but the dates got harder and harder to make. Sure wish someone a little closer to home did something similar!

I seemed to use A LOT of candle groupings this year. Maybe that is because I own so many black candle holders and I like the pop of silver or orange mercury glass thrown in.

I am not crazy about where I had to hang my GR Halloween mirror but I was not taking down the new "mirrored" mirror where this beauty used to go, so I put it here. I hung it a bit low because it is one of those crazy concave mirrors and the kids enjoy looking into it - never know who you will see looking back at you!

I love my Poe "Raven" vignette!
 

I bought 4 boxes of these battery operated taper candles last year and was going to buy more this year but it doesn't look like GR is carrying them any more. I stuck them in and around a lot of my vignettes and it lets you have candle light in places where an open flame would not be a good idea! Glad I bought the ones I did last year!

So that is the living room for this year. I realized on rereading this blog post how many times I "gushed" about things that I love but Halloween just does that to me. I can see orange and black somewhere in February and I swear I start to spoon. I love the colors, smells and sounds of the holiday - yes, I have several surprise sound effects hidden around the house. The kids love them...hubby, not so much. No matter how many years the keep reappearing, he seems to forget about them over and over - and gets scared every time - over and over! You'd think he would learn, wouldn't you. More - much more - to come. Stay tuned!