Here We Go!

 I'm going to start our Halloween 2025 tour today because, honestly, the other to-do items on my list today (pack away all autumn, pack up garage, take out all outdoor decorations-which requires MUCH up and down on the ladder with heavy things) are things I am trying to avoid at all costs so...LOL

And as I so often have to do, let me apologize for these pictures. It is a dark, rainy morning and no matter what I did, I couldn't get good photos. And, because I haven't even begun outdoors, we will skip that and head straight into the living room

I think I mentioned that I changed up quite a bit if my Halloween decor this year. I know you won't believe it but I really did pare back a lot. It started right away in the entry. I usually have my "Broomstick Company" sign here that I knocked off of a very expensive one I saw in the Grandin Road catalog. I love that sign but, for whatever reason, I felt that the new $Tree sign gave you a better sense of what was to come-at least in the living room and definitely since I added the ravens. My living room is always a mix of the witch theme and Edgar Allan Poe and "The Raven". I tried so hard to find somewhere else to use the sign I made but it is TALL and, so far at least, I have come up empty. I'm still looking so I will let you know if that changes.

This vignette introduces my witch theme with just a hint of the ravens and gives you the keys to enter what comes beyond. Lol

I love these pillows. The two in back were purchased from a favorite store in Micanopy and the one in front was made for me by my cousin. Hers looks just like the purchased ones and I love it!

The couch table holds just some of the pictures of our family costume parties over the years.

                                                                            

                                

So this is where the "Poe" begins to creep in a bit more while the witch is walking into the mist. I love that picture!

And here is my picture of the three walking into the woods...and their walking shoes. Lol

I still need to add some fairy lights to this garland-it's on my very long list of things still to-do...and before I head out of town!!

I used a lot less on the coffee table this year and I like its simplicity.

Because I didn't use the garland and mercury glass pumpkin lights over the mirror this year, I had to kind of swap things out here so both of the lights weren't on the same side. I don't know why but I'm not as happy with it as I usually am. It's one of those places where I am "letting go" and moving on. If a more brilliant idea hits, I'll let you know. And, I really had a hard time with these pictures. Between the large mirror and the dreary lighting, this is the best there is.

So that is the living room for this year-for now...and I have stalled long enough. I am off to start the heavy lifting...that is until I actually have to lift that heavy Dead and Breakfast sign and drag it out front and then dig that deep hole to get it set up. I swear if I didn't love that sign so much I would let it go but we all know that won't happen either. LOL Stay safe and stay tuned.

Ready or Not!

 My schedule just keeps changing so I decided yesterday that today would be the day to start my Halloween decor...ready or not. And, I am NOT ready. I love Halloween and was anxious to get my new stuff out but I REALLY hate to see autumn go!

As always, I started in the living room and had planned to pretty much "stay the course"...until I didn't. I not only decided to change up a lot of things-which always takes so much more time than just putting things out where they always are-but I also decided to use less. When I looked at last year's pictures, there was just a lot! There always is. Lol

It has taken me four hours and I just finished the living room-well, almost. I CAN NOT find the two "raven" pictures that hang next to the chest anywhere!!! I'm totally annoyed at myself. I know where they always are-except they're NOT! For whatever reason, I must have put them somewhere else last year and I am over looking for them. Of course, without them there and because I decided to use the black draping garland somewhere else this year, the whole Edgar Allan Poe vignette looks wrong to me and it is driving me crazy! I made the executive decision to call it and come see you for a minute then grab some lunch and move on. I will go back and tweak when everything else is done.

I made myself get to this point quickly so then there was no going back.

And, I must admit that I'm working at half speed because this kept me up very late last night!

It arrived pretty late but I am a pro at putting things together and I was so excited to see it that I started right away. I have gotten a fair amount of things from this company and there is usually no issue...until last night. The "instructions"-which were just drawings-were SO SMALL that you literally couldn't tell one screw size from another and since they almost all had the same number of screws, there was no telling them apart. I started putting it together the way it looked like it should go but then after putting in the first eight screws-which were very big and very long, I COULD NOT get any of the next group to work. And, the whole thing went together with an Allen wrench that was provided. I do not enjoy using those things. This one was small but not small enough to allow you more than a quarter of a turn before you had to reposition it and, it just downright hurts your hand after awhile. These darn screws were long because you are supposed to be able to sit on this thing but since I knew I wouldn't be sitting on it I came very close to just going to grab some smaller screws of my own or even the glue gun. Lol

After a long time of back breaking work, I seriously almost gave up but you know that wasn't going to happen. And then I wondered if maybe I had used the wrong screws in those places and had to back them all out-a quarter turn at a time-and then try the next size. I also had to use my Dremel because there were a few holes that didn't match up but, in the end, waaayyyy past my bedtime, I got it done...and, I don't know why but I love it and it makes me so happy. I couldn't get you a good picture because my bedroom is also cluttered with Halloween stuff but here is a glimpse. It will look so cute once I get my autumn bedding out and on the bed. I am so far behind this year. Before I know it I will be looking at Christmas and my favorite season will be gone.

I'm off to grab a quick lunch and then get back to it-hopefully I won't spend any more time looking for those darn raven pictures. Anyone want to make a bet? Lol Stay safe and stay tuned.

Flying By the Seat of My Pants

I have admitted that even though I have not started my Halloween decor, I have been thinking about it a lot...especially with all of the new things sitting so close to me every time I sit at my computer. And so, even though I really like the pumpkin I got at Walmart and think I know where it is going to go, I thought about embellishing it a bit maybe with a bow and some florals. But then, I thought about a floppy witch hat and my mind started working. I gathered a bunch of supplies because I really didn't know where I was going and began.

 My first thought was to make a hat out of crumpled brown Kraft paper. I have seen them done like that and they can be cute but I am not the biggest fan of paper crafts. If it turned out well, I would want to keep it for future use and paper things are hard to store without "injury". So then I thought about burlap. I wanted it floppy and thought that might work. But, in the end, I turned to felt. And, even though I have a very large stash of felt, I only had one small scrap of black left. I grabbed it and then some dark brown and figured it could probably be painted.

I started by tracing and cutting 2 circles using a plate as a stencil and then forming the cone from the scrap.

Next I cut holes in the circles to match the size of the bottom of the cone and then made cuts for tabs around the rim of the cone so I could adhere it to the hat brim. I wasn't going to use hot glue because I don't like the way it works on fabric but I didn't have enough Fabri-Tac left and didn't want to wait so I threw caution to the wind. Lol

I made sure it fit and then put a dot of glue on each tab and glued the two pieces together before adding the second circle to cover the tabs.

Then I used my Waverly chalk paint in the color "ink" to paint the whole thing. I watered it down a bit so it flowed easier on the felt and I painted the top even though it was already black just in case the paint gave the fabric a different texture.

Because the paint was watered down, it really saturated the hat and it is HEAVY. I'm not sure how long it will take to dry and I found the perfect spot so both sides can dry at once! 

And now I wait. Lol I'm going to grab some lunch and then see where it stands. If it is dry, I will move on to the next step where once again I have no idea what I might want to do. I think I want some embellishment...just not sure what. We shall see.

I'm back. Once I had the hat on the chair spindle, it actually dried rather quickly. I will say that now that it is done, I might have made the brim just a bit larger and I maybe shouldn't have doubled the felt. It isn't flopping quite as much as I would like but I think the unfinished bottom would have bothered me because this might find its way somewhere else and then it may have been visible...but, I digress. In any case, I bent the tip of the hat down to make it appear a bit more "rakish" and thought about hanging a spider off of the end but I really didn't want anything "cutesy". I think if I work the felt a bit I can soften it enough to keep the tip down and maybe get a bit more of a "flop" on the brim.

This is where I was initially thinking of using it-we shall see once the decorating commences.

I also didn't want to go too "cute" with the other embellishments so I just added a band of cream silk ribbon and a small tie of orange silk. As I get closer to actually putting this out, we shall see if anything changes.

We haven't had a drop of rain in ages so I am off to check the fountains and water all of the outdoor potted plants. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Monday, Monday!

 Usually I don't venture out on a Monday. I prefer to use the day to catch up from the weekend and do what I need to plan the coming week. But, I am notorious for acting once something is in my head no matter how much I really might not want to. And so, that was the situation today! When I was at daughter #3's house on Saturday she was showing me some candles she had picked up at Michaels when she had to kill some time waiting for a framing order for a client to be finished. Now, she is not one to usually have the "flameless" candles. She prefers "real" ones in beautiful vessels. So do I actually except that I am at the age now where I might very well forget about a real one and even if it is in a vessel, it doesn't need to continue to burn if no one is watching...but, I digress.

She showed me two beautiful, large green fluted candles that she found and loved and I was immediately taken with them. They are not from Luminara-which is the company I prefer because they just look so much more realistic and even though I have used mine for many, many years, I have never had one stop working-and I'm not totally in love with the flame but, for whatever reason, I loved those candles and decided that I "needed" them in my life. And so, off I went on a Monday morning!

And then I found that pumpkin. I have a smaller one from HL but I couldn't pass this beauty up...one can NEVER have too many pumpkin candles. Lol And then I spied the gold turkey. I don't have a lot of Thanksgiving decor so another turkey is always welcome. And, all of this autumn goodness was 50% off. 

I'm off to find homes for the candles and you will see Mr. Turkey back in November-which will be here before we blink! Stay safe and stay tuned.

Thinking Ahead

 So yesterday I was invited to daughter #3's house to watch grandson #1's Coast Guard Academy football game on TV. He is playing so much this year and it is way more fun to see it on a big screen TV than my iPad thing. Since I was already going to be out and about I thought I'd make a run to Walmart before heading to her house. Saturdays at Walmart are not my favorite but I am thinking ahead to my visit to St. Pete and the Halloween painting party that is happening. I knew I wanted a smaller painting that could sit on a shelf because, honestly, there is just no wall space left uncovered. Lol I knew I had seen some smaller landscape looking "paintings" at Walmart and figured if I could find one there I could avoid any more shopping. And, I'm actually really happy that I decided to go because, on first glance, I thought I might be too late. The paintings were not where they have been for quite some time as all things seem to be "go" for Christmas. There was already some stuff brought in and other many empty shelves standing in wait.

Luckily I went on to a few other spots where I go for home decor and happened upon what I was after. Neither one is exactly perfect but I grabbed them both and think I can make either work.

This one would be my preference because it is dark and moody but I'm not sure it gives me enough room to add embellishments. Most of the ones I've seen have ghosts. I guess I could have the ghosts in the tree with a few along the ground? Not sure but, if I don't use it for this I will definitely use it for my autumn and Thanksgiving decor. And, I think it was $11 something? Not bad even just for the frame.

I think this one gives me way more area for ghosts, pumpkins, etc. but, right now as is, it reads spring to me. I'm thinking I can always change the colors on the flower field to something more autumnal before adding the embellishments. If not, I will save this for a shelf for my spring decor. This one was $10 something.

For those of you reading this without benefit of my previous posts here are some examples of what I'm talking about-paintings doctored for a Halloween feel.

As much as I hate to see my favorite season go so quickly, I am getting very excited about this. I have seen it done for the last few years but just never jumped on board. Doing it with a group of my daughter's friends will be so much fun...can't wait.

And, as I was roaming the aisles, I happened upon this. It reminds me of my favorite enameled cast iron pumpkin but it is ceramic.

They had them in other colors as well and I truly have so many places that I could have put this that, if I happen to go back before they're gone, I just might grab a few more.

And this sits right next to me making me very nervous about waiting so long to put out my Halloween decor. I'm starting to waiver...I can feel the pull so we shall see. It will all really depend on the roofer and then my hair appointment and granddaughter #1's visit this week. I got lots of cleaning done on Friday so I'm good to go there. We shall see what happens. The more I look at this "sandwich board" sign, the more the ravens look like they have always been there. That was such an easy fix. I can't believe it turned out so well!

By the way, the football game was one for the books-literally. The Academy won 92-60...most total points ever scored in an NCAA game, including games with overtime! I got to see Har and I got to catch up with grandson #2 and his girlfriend, eat some delicious treats and come home with leftover food for a few more meals! Wins all around!!! Stay safe and stay tuned.