It's beginning to look a lot like..Halloween!

I love Halloween to me it represents the beginning of the holiday season.  Every month is a march closer to another great holiday.  Halloween and October usher in a full 3 months of celebrations and activities that I can't wait to participate in. 

Halloween or All Hallows Eve is an old Celtic tradition.  Originally the people celebrated Samhain which is actually November 1st, they believed that the dead came back to life and could take the living with them. To fake out the ghosts people would dress in costume and wear masks so not to be recognized.  Eventually the church made Samhain All Saints Day and the day before became All Hallows Eve - and it has turned into Halloween!  Now you can play Sheldon Cooper to all of your friends. 

So lets get started with my Halloween décor.

I've shown you the front - here
But here is an update:

I got this great IT clown a few years ago... best money I've spent in a while, scares the kids!

I add a ghost and a ghoul that are motion activated

And a cemetery complete with fog.  I also play creepy music to enhance the outdoor spookiness. 

Now let's step inside and I'll show you the rest of my main floor.

I've shown you my mantle and dinning table - here

This is my entry table.  I've had this pumpkin man since I can remember.  My Mom displayed it in our picture window and gave him to me once I had kiddo's.  Every year he is displayed on my small entry table.  He is my most prized and favorite Halloween decoration. 

For Halloween I loaded my olive bucket with pinecones and displayed another lighted pumpkin on the floor.

I have a small confession to make... I am obsessed with Jack-O-Lantern's.  I've got them in all shapes and sizes. You've seen 2 so far, let my obsession begin! 

I have a small side table next to my couch with a couple Jack-O-Lantern's, a black pumpkin and notice I've added an extra detail there - a orange and black ribbon wrapped around my lamp.

The buffet is filled with, you guessed it, more Jack-O-Lantern's!

 I got this beauty below at Kirkland's.  He holds a tea light candle as do the small ones.  Those I got at Michael's a few years ago. 

 I even decorate the top of my hutch.

But don't forget other parts of you house!
I put a few items in my kitchen to keep the spirit of Halloween alive including Jack-O-Lantern's.

I even put something small like this gravestone in each bathroom.

The basement has more Jack-O-Lantern's that hold tea lights and I even decorate my outdoor porch with yes more Jack-O-Lantern's!!!

Well that is it for Halloween at our house.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  The weatherman is calling for snow on Saturday so we will see how many trick-or-treaters we really get.  Usually I go through about 350-500 pieces of candy!  Fingers crossed otherwise I'll be taking a lot of candy to work! 

Next week I'll share my first Thanksgiving or November fall craft. It is an easy mason jar project made with dollar store leaves.  I've seen them all over Pintrest lately but they turn out super cute.  I'll also be painting dollar store pumpkins and putting away all my Halloween and putting up Thanksgiving.  I'll be sharing my décor on that in weeks to come as well.  I've even got a Christmas craft that I'm hoping to do and share with everyone in November- it involves fencing pickets and chalkboard paint.  It looks cute in my head I just hope it turns out as well. 

So please come back each week in November for some super cute ideas! 

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!  Until next week, Stay Safe!
Victoria

Please follow me on Pintrest - I've been pinning Thanksgiving and Christmas ideas like a mad woman!
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I'm also on FB but due to how FB works you must interact and or like my page.  Ask for my page to show up in your news feed via your setting and you'll be alerted every time I post - don't worry I only post 1 x a week! 
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Coming soon - Instagram! 

Halloween mantle and tablescape

Where has October gone?  Heck, where has the year gone!?
I just realized yesterday that I hadn't bought any candy to hand out to the trick-or-treaters nor had I bought pumpkins to carve.  I asked the fam if they wanted to carve this year, I mean my kiddo's are getting older they may have grown out of the carving pumpkins phase.  I was met with looks of suspicion and shock!  How could I ever, EVER think we'd NOT want to carve pumpkins?!  Has a coconut recently fallen on my head? 
I went out and bought pumpkins for carving.  Lesson learned, don't ask just do. 

With that 'task' out of the way I worked on my mantle and dinning table.  I can't do a whole lot as my foot is still in this crazy boot thing but I've managed with some help. 

Lets start with the mantle.  I always have a difficult time with my mantle.  My fireplace is dark, I want to paint it sooo bad but I am really just scared I'll mess it up bad.   The mantle itself is dark and when I put dark things on it I feel they just get lost.  My mantle is very rustic and for Halloween I do have some metal to put there but I still have a really difficult time decorating it.  I mean I just don't want to line things up on it, boring.  I understand the rule of 3 and the triangle methods for decorating but my love/hate relationship with my mantle just goes on and on.  I put things up, I live with them for a while, take same said things down and put new things up and the cycle goes on and on. 

This is what I've come up with for Halloween this year.

I like to use natural elements in my decorating and on the mantle I went outside and had my hubby cut some dead limbs.  Good for the tree and good for my decorating!  WIN-WIN!!

The next steps is to have your objects at different heights and vary the heights across the space.
I got these beauties on sale at Kirkland's this year.

The little orange candle holders I got at Gordman's last year.

I have crows on my mantle, lots of crows.

They have wire legs that I wrap around the dead branch and precariously balance them!

This year I also added a banner.  I was going to make one but I found this one at Kirkland's for $2.00 can't beat that and I can't even make one that cheap. 

Now on to the table. I have a much easier time decorating here.  I should probably apply the same principles from my table to my mantle - that would be logic and I'll have NONE of that!

This year I bought a bag of bones for 6.00 at Home Depot along with a chain for $2.00.  I added some dollar store skulls and then I broke my own rule and bought picks in season. Resist the urge to do this.... even on sale they are cheaper off season.  I added some sprigs of Halloween type picks from Michael's (they were a bit more expensive even at 40% off) and put them in a beer growler.  

 

 I wrapped the chain around the growler and arranged the bones and skulls on the chain. 

I also bought some really cute plates at Home Goods for a whopping $5.00.

Finally my hubby climbed the ladder and arranged a spider web, spiders included, in my chandelier chain.  It was his idea to add the dollar store skeletons to the bottom so they hang from the chandelier. 

 Lots of spiders - big ones and small ones.  My hubby painstakingly put all those spiders in the web for me. 

The overall effect is pretty cool I think.

How do you decorate your mantle and or your table for Halloween?  I'd love to see examples! 
In case you missed my Halloween totem's from last week here.  I think they turned out crazy cute and they were so easy to do. I'd also love to hear your ideas for my mantle - PLEASE HELP!  I want to really love the mantle but ugh...

Next week is Halloween week and I'll wrap things up here in the house for the spooky night.  I don't put all my outdoor décor out until Halloween afternoon. It is crazy windy here in Colorado and the weather is pretty unpredictable so I don't want things blowing away but I do a graveyard with a spooky fence and fog.  I've also got a scary IT type of clown and several ghosts and ghouls that are motion activated.  I'll share that next week along with some ideas that I've been toying with for Christmas, yep Christmas!  In November I'll be sharing more Christmas ideas along with my Thanksgiving décor and at least 1 mason jar craft.

Until next week Stay Safe,
Victoria

Please follow me on Pintrest -
https://www.pinterest.com/vicdenniso/

I've been pinning Christmas and Thanksgiving ideas like crazy mad. 

I'm also on Facebook though due to how FB works I'm not too active.  You must like my posts each time and interact with the page to see it in your news feed regularly. 
https://www.facebook.com/Dragonflies-and-Thistles-491393717621010/?ref=hl

Thanks for your support, help and suggestions!  I really appreciate it. 

Pumpkin Totem's

It is October on the calendar but here in Colorado the weather thinks it is August.  After a nice cool week of 60's it is now been record setting temperatures this week of 80+ degrees!  Today it was 87, a record.  It is just crazy hot.  Have you seen fall?  Not a tree is even turning here in Colorado Springs!  Fall feels late and like it will never come... sob sob sniff sniff.  I want it to be here so bad! 

I've been off a bit and I'm sorry about that but I'll fill you in on what happened to me at the end of the post.  I want to share a cute Halloween craft that I'm super excited about and some of my outdoor decorations. 

I won't prolong the suspense....

I made this with cheap plastic bucket pumpkins, Christmas lights and a dowel.  How easy it that!!
Love them so much I made 2!

I found the old fashioned plastic pumpkins for 1.00 at Walmart.  The dowel is 1/2 inch by 3 feet long (1.25 for each at Walmart).  I filled them with battery operated LED white Christmas lights that I had.  My hubby drilled holes in each pumpkin where we wanted the dowel to go through and stuck them in the ground, turned on the lights and wha-la!!!!  I didn't even paint them (that would be cute but I like mine miss-matched).

Super cute Pumpkin Totem poles for under $5.00 each!

I don't do a lot of outdoor Halloween décor just yet.  It gets really windy here in Colorado and things could blow away.  I even took these darling pumpkin totems up until Halloween night. 
So far I've got a few things on the house.
The BOO sign I made earlier along with a skeleton hanging on each side of the door.

This scary face

 A creepy tree with glowing eyes.

 And the super cool wreath I made last year.  This is a Pottery Barn knock off for a fraction of the price.  See how I did it here...
http://www.dragonfliesandthistles.blogspot.com/2014/10/pb-halloween-wreath-knock-off.html

I've also got a few ghosts hanging in my tree.  These guys have bells on them and act like wind chimes.



I know I also promised you my mantle.  Here's a sneak peak, come back next week for the full mantle and the dinning room table.

Now on to personal stuff... I've been a bit incapacitated lately. 

I've fractured 5  bones in my left foot.  We think from hiking over the summer, but it was worth it!

So I'm in the boot for at least 4 weeks.  Then we'll see... hopefully no surgery.  I tell ya it is difficult to do things with this boot but my darling hubby has stepped in and helped me decorate and even craft!  Love that man!!! 
Now he did make me nervous when he called me from the store and said, "Hey I found a chandelier for the entry way."  Luckily he knows what I like!  From the pictures he sent I knew it was a YES!  I'll share that little beauty sometime soon. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I appreciate your support!  Please stop by next week when I'll share the mantle and my dinning room table - it's creepy! 
I hope you try the pumpkin totem they were super easy to make - I'd love to see your versions!

Until next week
Stay Safe,
Victoria

Please follow me on Pintrest -
https://www.pinterest.com/vicdenniso/

I'm on FB but not very active.  I only post 1 time a week.
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Soon to come - Instagram!