Thanksgiving is in November

I love November, the leaves are almost off all the trees (and my dog will stop bringing them in and depositing them all over my house) and it is Thanksgiving for us in the United States! 

I really like Thanksgiving, it is an often over-looked holiday because of 'black Friday' and 'Cyber Monday' but the day itself is really cool.  Almost every culture and country has a Thanksgiving Day, a specific day set aside to honor our ancestors who emigrated to the country, a time for us to think about their sacrifice and hardships and all that they endured to get a better life for themselves and ultimately for us.  Pretty powerful. 

I am an unusual blogger, I do one holiday at a time... I don't rush.  A lot of bloggers have their Christmas décor going up right now and yes I read those blogs and get ideas and I thank them for being ahead... but that's not me... I'm all about Thanksgiving!  (Insert the Friends Thanksgiving episode with Joey and his Thanksgiving pants!!!)

To start take a look at these adorable (and really well made) placemats I got at Wal-Mart!  They are BH&G... embroidery here folks.

Soo cute! 

I am not finished my dinning table yet, I'm in the process of painting pumpkins and I'll share the table next week.

So lets take a little tour of my house all decorated for Thanksgiving shall we...

Get your diet Pepsi/Coke or coffee or in my case tea and let us begin!!

Outside -

The Autumn sign hung on my front door in September.  I've moved it to the right side front door entry wall for November.

 This large 'Give Thanks' hangs to the left of the front door and overtop...
(SAM's 2 years ago, sorry they don't sell it any more- the reverse side reads WELCOME)

A basket of faux fall flowers, a hay bale and some other seasonal décor.

 This little beauty that I made a few years ago is hanging on the door this year.  If you'd like to see how I did it check it out here

Across the front of the house is a wreath I made years and years ago.. I recently painted a 'D' and added it.

Now inside....

This is my entry table that I got last year for Christmas (Kirkland's and they still sell it). 

I also got this adorable Edison Lamp from Kirkland's.. they are all currently on sale!

I love, love, love the glow it gives off and it is perfect for this time of the year.

This guy hangs on my hall closet door.  Did you have one of these growing up in the 70s?  I've got them for all seasons... can you say, 'SO glad my Mom kept something from my childhood!'

Retro cool!

My mantle is just about done... one of the pumpkins I'm painting will go up there but otherwise I like the way it turned out this year.

We ended up having to 'recycle' my old buffet.  The leg was broken and unfixable so I sold it to an antique store, she is going to use it as her register area.  Glad it will get a 2nd life!  So my Mom sent me this really cool gate leg table.  I dressed it up a bit for Thanksgiving along with the shelf on the wall.

Like my new lamp there?  Love it!  My daughter bought the swing arm lamp for me for my birthday (IKEA). 

Oh and here is a close up of the glass candleholder - Kirkland's last year.  I didn't see any this year that are this color but they do have them in red and green for Christmas AND they are under $15.00 (I want to say $12.99)

Finally my coffee table - I got the piece at Kirkland's 2 years ago.  It is plain and I just decorate it for each season. 

As I said the dining table isn't quite there yet... I need these pumpkins to dry!  I do have it decorated with the BH&G placemats, Pottery Barn orange table runner, table cloth is from Bed Bath &Beyond and is brown linen, the leaf plates are BH&G (sorry they don't sell them any longer) and the pumpkin bowls are from a grocery store here in Colorado (King Soopers/City Market) they were $2.99 each. 

Every fall I put my Grandmothers teapot out.  It helps to remind me of her and the sacrifices she made to emigrate to America to make a better life for all of us.

I'll be giving more details on my dining table next week.  In the meantime follow me on Instagram - @Vicdenni  I am posting almost every day. 

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll be back next week with painted pumpkins and a completed dining table. 

Victoria

Over the top Halloween Chandelier

This year's Halloween tablescape is NOT over the top... but the chandelier is!!!
I mean can you say over the top doesn't begin to describe this thing!

Oh yes...

AMAZING and pretty cool huh! 

So how did I do this?  Welllllll it involved climbing a 75 foot tree and a hacksaw. 

My husband tells me if I bring in any more 'dead things' he's going to protest.  Yet there he was up in our maple tree cutting me dead branches.  I told him that I'd climb the tree and cut them down, possibly this is why he joyfully agreed to climb a 75 foot tree to get some dead things??? IDK.. If you follow or have read past posts you know I'm a huge klutz.. SO if I'd have climbed the tree I would have fallen or broken something - (do you see my evil genius at work here?).

But he climbed the tree and got me several dead branches then brought them all inside and helped me decide which 2 we would use for the chandelier décor.  He then proceed to even decorate by standing on the wobble table while I directed him like the evil dictator I am!  He did all the webbing and hung the crows, spiders and the owl.  He just placed them where I told him, what a great guy! 

Once he climbed off the rickety table he looked at it and agreed that I was right... spectacular and down-right cool!  BUT BIG.. I mean I've got small rooms but 20 foot ceilings and this thing is big. 

Since my chandelier is so out of this world I went simple on the table.

Just 2 lanterns and a beer growler filled with some Halloween foliage.  I don't even have placemats. 

I think that dressing a table is like putting make-up on your face - either highlight the eyes or the lips but not both.  So the chandelier is my eyes and the table is my lipstick... simple yet Halloweenie. 

I host a Halloween dinner party, partly because it is my birthday... (Happy Birthday to me!) and partly because I like having dinner parties.  I guess hidden somewhere inside my DNA is a 1940's housewife. 

I dressed the table 2 ways to show you.  Now you could add a placemat for effect - a black one would be soo great!

First up a bit of a more fancy place setting. 

I've got some wine glasses with purple, not black (yep they are purple) bottoms...  A simple plate and themed salad plate.

I opened a paper napkin and placed it on the plate for more Halloween effect AND the napkins match my tablecloth.. how did my INSTAGRAM friend @2bluikiddos know?  (must follow her on INSTAGRAM!)

Here is another idea for a table place setting.

The coffee cups make it more casual. 

Thanks for stopping by!  I truly appreciate it!  What do you think of my table or better yet what do you think of my chandelier!!!????????? 

Can you believe I got that skeleton garland at the Target dollar spot for $3.00 and they are METAL people, METAL!  So cute!

So let me give you some sourcing.  I'll try to do that going forward - thanks for the feedback!

Okay here we go.

Chandelier:

Chandelier - Home Depot - they don't carry it any longer, sorry. 

Dead tree limbs - my maple in the back yard

Crows hanging from the dead tree limbs - dollar store

Owl hanging from the tree limbs - Michaels a few years back

Spider webs - dollar store

Spiders - dollar store

Tablescape:

Tablecloth - Target a few years ago

Dishes: 

White large plate - Bed, Bath and Beyond, Thompson Pottery

Small black and white bird plate (casual setting) - Mary Carol (Mary Carol Garrity - Nell Hills)

White cup - Bed, Bath and Beyond - Thompson Pottery (I got it with the plates as a set)

Purple glass - The Pioneer Woman (Renee Drummond) Wal-Mart - seriously like $2.50 a glass and they are HEAVY! 

Small black and white written plate - set of 4 (2 of each saying) - Home Goods last year

Stemmed water glass - Stein Mart

Stemmed purple base wine glass - sorry antique handed down from my Great Aunt

Silverware - Sorry I don't remember that pattern but I know they are Oneida 18/10 silverware and I got them at Macy's

Paper Halloween Napkins - TJ Maxx

Lanterns - Kirkland's last year (they still sell them)

Dark colored beer growler - Bristol Brewing Company here in Colorado Springs... Laughing Lab anyone? 

Halloween 'flowers' in the growler - Michael's last year. 

You know, you CAN do this in your own dining room - yes you can!  I'd love to see everyone's dining or other rooms decorated for Halloween.  Please drop me a note I do answer and read everything.. I even apply the feedback you give me!  Thanks and keep it coming. 

Next week I will share the INSTAGRAM Halloween swap 16, what I got and how I decorated with it. 

Halloween is almost here!! I CAN'T WAIT

Again, thank you so, SO much for reading.

Victoria

You can follow me on INSTAGRAM - @Vicdenni

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I'm also on FB

And no Facebook I won't boost my post for $100.00 even though I adore Sheryl Sandberg. 

Halloween Mantle 2016

I love Halloween.. I mean really love it.  Next to Christmas it is my most decorative holiday... is that a thing?

I have lights outside and a lot of décor up outside even before the big day.  I don't put my graveyard up until Halloween Day because here in Colorado the wind would take my gravestones and heck, it could snow... yes really SNOW! 

But I am getting ahead of myself. 

So Halloween.  To quote 'The Sound of Music', "Let's start at the very beginning, a very fine place to start.. when you read you begin with A, B, C when you decorate for Halloween you begin with Man-tle"...  LOL isn't that how the song goes?!  (so how many of you sung that as you read?  Be honest..)

I have done mantles in the past with logs and sticks and all other kinds of things.  Here is the evolution of my Halloween mantles. 
2015
2014
2013

Seems I've done a lot of sticks on the mantles in the past.  Can anyone say obsession?

This year I was going to do black and white.  I was all about the black and white on my mantle.  If you read my last post you'll see I even pinned a lot of black and white inspiration.  Well reality check I actually don't have a lot of black and white things for Halloween.  I've got a lot of pumpkins, Jack-O-Lanterns and Orange and black. 

I don't know about you but I don't have a hundred or so dollars to go out and get all new black and white décor even for my 2nd favorite holiday.  So I need to work with what I have.  So while I'm lovin' the black and white I need to be realistic...

SO
This years mantle went a bit more relaxed, simple.

 The trick with any flat surface that you want to decorate is to layer, layer, layer and vary the height to keep the eye moving.  Here I overlapped the 2 upper 'pictures' and put 2 down lower.  I then varied the height of my Jack-O-Lanterns. So far I like it though it still needs a bit of something... possibly a garland of some sort woven through?  (I'll take suggestions!)
Maybe I'm just use to seeing all the dead branches... IDK. 

I usually get inspiration at 2am so we'll see if I sleep on it for a few days what comes to me.  Does anyone else get that kind of midnight inspiration or is it just me? 

If you looked at prior years you'll see I went through what I lovingly refer to as a 'dead branch' phase.  I don't know if I'm out of it yet because Halloween just screams "Use dead branches Woman!!!"  at least to me.  So I think I'll bring in the dead stuff in the dinning room.. I'm thinking of hanging them from the chandelier and putting spider webs on them and hanging crows off them... I can hear my husband now, "Oh great more dead things."  Though he'll go out and cut them down for me...LOL but more on that next week!

Back to the mantle...

A mantle can dictate the theme of a room, just like a front door.  My theme is Jack-O-Lanterns. 

Here is my coffee table - I got the silver Jack-O-Lantern at Home Goods last year.  I put a plastic chain and a bag of bones I got at Home Depot last year around him.

 And on my fireplace hearth is this cute little guy I got at Gordman's a few years ago.  He is metal... AND as a special bonus you can put tea lights in his head and in his Jack-O-Lantern he is carrying. 
LOVE!

When you come in my front door I've got my last year's Christmas present, this adorable entry table... (from Kirkland's and they still stock it!).  On it I put several light up Jack-O-Lantern's that I've collected over the years...

And this guy...

Can you say... "LOVE"  He is from my childhood and I've had him since the 1970's.  I always remember that this was practically the only decoration we had up on Halloween.  I grew up pretty rural in Maryland and we didn't get Trick-Or-Treaters down our dark dirt road but my Mom always had this guy.  LOVE...

Okay, on to the couch, cause I skipped that.  We have a small house but cute and I love it.  So our small living room has a love seat in it... to get furniture I had to compromise.. so we have leather but tan and fluffy... I got this cute pillow last year at Kirkland's

Let's take a step outside shall we....

As I said earlier, I decorate outside for Halloween.. a lot.  Next to Christmas it is my most decorative holiday.  So I've got lights on the house and our front tree.  I also decorate the front porch.

The 'Boo' sign I made last year...BOO Sign

The 'haunted tree' is from Target years (I mean 10+ years) ago.  The eyes light up.

The Witch and ghost 'totem' I made myself probably 15 years ago when I was really into making things out of wood but I still love it! (NOTE - don't be fooled I am still into making things out of scrap wood). 

The skull wreath is a PB knock off..

You can see how I made that here
I really made it for a fraction of the original cost and hey I like mine better!

I hung some dollar store glow-in-the-dark skeletons from our front tree along with some ghost wind chimes I got at Gordman's years ago.

Then I put a spider in one of my bushes for 'effect.'  And yes I still have flowers blooming here in October in Colorado.. That purple flower there is a Dahlia. 

I hung some tattered sheeting and a skeleton up in front of what is my kitchen window.

This is what it will be outside until Halloween Day when I will put out the fog machine and the graveyard and the graveyard fencing ad a few other things including my Jack-O-Lantern totems that I made last year..

Totems

Do you go all out for Halloween?  I'd love to see your décor!  Please share!  If you have any questions or have suggestions PLEASE reach out!  I respond same day.   

Thanks so much for stopping by and seeing what I've got for Halloween so far and looking back on Halloween craft and décor of the past. 

In the next few week's I'll share my dinning room and my décor I received for my Instagram #HalloweenHappenings2016 swap!  My new friend, @2bluikiddo's sent me some great items that I've used in my décor.. see the bright orange Jack-O-Lantern on my mantle for starters!  She is such a great new forever friend.  Her Instagram is awesome.. you should follow her! 

Follow me on Instagram @Vicdenni

I appreciate you reading along! 

Victoria

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I'm on FB also but only post once a week when I post a blog...

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See you next week! 

Fall outside

I've got a pretty small front porch.  Not enough for 2 chairs but enough to put out a pretty cute fall display.

Every year I try to do something different on the little porch.  You can see prior years 2015 and 2014.  The outside and the porch were, well, lacking. 

I think I did much better this year!

No scarecrows in the yard as in years past.  They were VERY worn out and sad.  Instead this year I concentrated on flowers. 

I got these at the grocery store.

I can't wait to plant them in my garden and see if they return next year!!  So far I've had good luck with replanting fall flowers.  (I probably just jinxed myself here)

My porch has enough room for 1 chair that I decorated with garland a few faux pumpkins and a metal vase with some faux flowers in it.

I put the colorful flowers in front along with a hay bale and lantern,  I then propped 2 straw brooms behind it and called it good. 

The front door has the fall box on the storm door and an 'autumn' painting on the inside front door.

 You can see how I did the box here

I got the Autumn painting at Kirkland's years ago.  It is so adorable. 

I also have my outdoor chalkboard sign out with a fall theme.

You can see how I made that here

I need to get better at my freehand... I ran out of room with the S and the T...

I also have my wreath up but on the house itself this year. 

It is starting to show its age and I'll probably rip it apart after this year and make a new one. 

So here it is again

And here is a close-up of the railing side.

I think it turned out pretty good. 

Do you decorate your porch or outside for fall?  I'd love to see what you've done so I can steal... I mean borrow and get inspiration for next year!!

So this weekend... Oktoberfest in Castle Rock Colorado AND I'll be starting my Halloween decorations!  Fall will come down, get boxed up and put away.  I'll start sharing what I'm doing for my Halloween décor and I'll be making a 'BOO' sign - different from last years.  I'll also be doing a few pumpkin crafts and sharing some ideas for Jack-O-Lanterns.... lets think outside the norm this year.  I have several ideas! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Victoria

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Great Pumpkin time

I love October.

The weather is cooler, the air is crisp and the leaves are changing.  Time for sweaters, boots and costumes. 

October is Halloween time.  Next to Christmas it is my favorite holiday. 

I go all out for Halloween inside and out.  Here is my last years mantle.  I try to change it up every year, here is 2014s.  I even did a Bat cave one year. 

This year I am participating in an Instagram swap with several others.  We are sending each other Halloween décor and then decorating with the items we receive.  My partner is @2bluikiddos.  I can't wait to see what she does with what I sent her.  I'll share more info and pictures here when we do the Instahop!

In the mean time I'm planning for my Halloween decor this year and here are some of my Pinspiration's.

I've done several things with buttons in the past but this faux pumpkin with a moon is just adorable.  I'm out to get some buttons and see how many times I can burn myself with my hot glue gun.

 These wall faces are so cool.  Buy a mask, stick some lights in them and hang them on the side of your house.  SO doing this!

 I like the crows and the silver pumpkins.  This would be so cute for a late night dinner with the candles burning. 

 Now how cute is this.  I am not a traditional carver when it comes to pumpkins.  Last year I 'carved' a pineapple!  In the past I have made a cat, owl and mouse out of pumpkins.  I've also gotten out the drill and use the hole drill bit to make designs in my pumpkin.  But just painting them is a really cute idea, especially if you used glow in the dark paint. 

 I am loving the little frames and these would be so easy to make.  They would make really cute place holders for a dinner party. 

 Digging this mantle.  I don't have a white fireplace but I could still do this one. 

And just look at this!  I'm out to get some skeletons and skulls for my own dinning room lights! 

Please see my Pintrest board for all the links. 

It looks like I am digging some black and white.  I've got a lot pinned so please visit my Halloween board:
https://www.pinterest.com/vicdenniso/halloween/

BTW.. have you been to Target lately?  My gosh they have a lot and I mean a lot of Halloween out and there's a lot at or below $3.00!  YES so make your way to your nearest store and stock up!

Next week I'll be sharing my front porch so please come back! 

Victoria

You can follow me on Pintrest -
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I am VERY active on Instagram.  You can find me @Vicdenni