Oct 26, 2015

Halloween Ghost Decoration

I'm getting into a Halloween mood! 

Over the weekend I baked a batch of caramel frosted pumpkin cookies, and while a big pot of chili simmered on the stove for our dinner, my daughters and I made some cute Halloween ghost decorations together. 


We followed the easy DIY Halloween Ghosts tutorial shared by Amy over at The Idea Room blog.


 I love making holiday decorations with our girls. My daughters both have busy full time jobs, so I usually shop for all our supplies and have everything ready when they arrive at our house. Then we just chat and laugh and have a great time together while we work on our decorations. 


After we draped our ghost shapes, we left them to dry while making the BOO bunting and bats. Then we finished up the evening enjoying our chili and pumpkin cookies while watching the Boise State football game on TV. 

What a perfect fall day!

How about you? Are you getting into a Halloween mood, too?

I hope you all have a very 

Happy Halloween!


To see my Halloween decorations from past years, just click on the links below each photo: 


Halloween Hutch

Glowing Pumpkins Halloween Banner

Halloween Friday Finds

Free Halloween Tags & My Halloween Decorated Studio

   

Oct 15, 2015

A Few New Cottage Finds

I'm back from our fabulous vacation to California! No matter how wonderful a trip is, it's always good to be back home, isn't it? Today, I'm sharing a few new purchases for our home, found at prices that didn't break my budget. I just love to share great deals!

 First up is this beautiful cake plate and dome from the Pioneer Woman's new collection sold at Walmart. I first fell in love with Jadeite when Martha Stewart shared her collection on her TV show. You can watch a video all about collecting and using Jadeite on Martha's website here. Collectible Jadeite is pretty expensive, so when I saw this Pioneer Woman cake plate online for only $19.00, I just had to have it. It's my first piece!

 I keep my new cake plate on the bar between the kitchen and dining room where I pass by it all day long. I don't care that I don't have a lick of this color anywhere else in our home, I just adore its soft green milky glow. 

 Next up is the fence picket box my husband made for me. I've mentioned before that our go-to source for old aged wood is our own backyard fence. When I want a piece of faded old wood for a project, we just pry a picket off the fence and replace it with a new one from the lumber store. It's our own renewable resource! 

I showed my husband a Pinterest photo of a rustic box, and he had this one cut and screwed together for me in about ten minutes. I enjoyed filling it with my garden zinnias in milk bottles during late summer, and now it's holding some old craft store faux hydrangeas in green mason jars. So easy!
    
 I love the hand painted look of Pottery Barn toss pillows, but they are so out of my price range! When I spied this sunflower pillow one day at Michael's Craft store, my first thought was that it reminded me of a Pottery Barn pillow. It wasn't priced much lower than one from Pottery Barn either, but guess who never sets foot inside a craft store without a 40% off coupon? Moi! 

So I hemmed and hawed for about two seconds, then snapped it up for $17.00.

 Sitting on the little table next to my reading chair is my last great find for today. This heavy ceramic honeycomb vase is exactly like the one I bought my daughter a few Christmases ago from West Elm. I found this one at Walmart recently for $10.00, a third of the price of the West Elm vase. I do plan on putting something in it, but honestly, I just love the honeycomb pattern all by itself.

  So those are a few new budget-minded decor items I've purchased for our cottage lately. I'm mostly shopping my home these days for seasonal decorations and vignettes, but when I see something I really, really love at a super fantastic price, I'll still grab it. Having a few new things around you that you really love to look at everyday can breath new life into your whole home. 

This weekend I'll be lugging my boxes of fall decor up from the basement. I'm excited to see how the beautiful fall colors look with the new wood floors we installed last spring and with the new furniture arrangement in the living room. 

Don't you just love how each season makes everything feel new again?   



Oct 7, 2015

California Road Trip

I hit the road to California with my hard-working husband this week for some crisp mountain air and much-needed R and R. 

 We took off going south through the Oregon and Nevada deserts. The vistas stretched in every direction as far as our eyes could see.

 We crossed over the Sierra Mountains at the Sonora Pass, one of the most beautiful roads we've ever traveled.

We unpacked and settled in at my brother's beautiful Twain Harte lakeside cabin.

Then yesterday we hit the road again for a day trip to Yosemite National Park. It was a glorious and perfect autumn day with no crowds. 

This vacation is paradise! We have beautiful sightseeing and hiking during the day, followed by Margaritas on the lakeside deck watching the Canada Geese land at sunset, followed by snuggling up in front of the warm cozy fire with a good book in the evening.

Life is good!





Oct 1, 2015

Celebrating Fall with Sunflowers

I can't think of a better way to celebrate the fall season than with beautiful sunflowers. 

 These stunning orange and red sunflowers grew from seed next to my studio window. 
They're lovely and soft in the early morning shade.

 But when the sun moves higher in the sky, they really earn their name.
  
 Sunflower!

 The bees adore them.

 And I adore them! 

 This is the first time I've had a bouquet of sunflowers from our garden.

 I can hardly believe all this beauty came from the little seeds I dropped into the earth last spring.

  I'm a neutral decor kind of gal,


 but I love bringing all the deep jewel tones of autumn into my home.



What a perfect celebration of fall!