We have been traveling for a week or so.....
It seemed too soon to decorate for Halloween before we left, but now it is only 2 weeks away.
I don't do a lot of crazy Halloween decor any more. We never were the people who filled the yard with gravestones and ghosts.
I do like to do a few things that pay homage to the season.
This is one of my favorites!
I love fairy gardens.....and this one can be enjoyed in the warm comfort of indoors!
AND....almost every component is a thrift store find.
You can create your own "Scary Fairy Garden" or "Ghostly Gnome Home".
These are the components:
A large box or basket- this is a wine box/tray that I found at Goodwill. The aisle with baskets and wood always have great things for good prices.
Ceramic houses that are usually in the Christmas decor section at the thrift store. I painted them with craft paint to look spooky.
Small pumpkins are always available at the dollar store.
Little ceramic ghosts can be sourced at the thrift store. You probably have some in your holiday stash.
The stone "courtyard" is a piece of tile on mesh that we found at the tile store. A little moss tucked in is a nice addition.
The "tree" is some curly willow that is tied together. A branch from the yard would work well.
I added some battery powered twinkle lights wound around the branches.
Easy....
Simple....
Inexpensive....
Just my Sweetwater Style!
What is your Halloween decor style?
Do you go all out Haunted House....?
Or
Do you settle for a simple Jack-O-Lantern or two?
I like to find a middle ground....that pretty much eliminates the "haunted" stuff.
Here is a round up of some simple decor ideas that have a Halloween feel with a bit of elegance and/or whimsy.
Display old and new photos of Halloween's of the past!
I have so many fun photos of the Sweetwater kids in costume. It is simple to have prints made and then find a fun way to display them. I have framed them and clustered them around the house. This year the display is a simple "gallery" of the photos matted and mounted to the big chalkboard in the stairwell. There are some spaces left for some new photos I need to get printed....but I wanted to get the post done!
Get Your Pumpkins ON!
Simply placing these interesting pumpkins in odd spots through the house makes a Halloween statement with out SHOUTING! The thrift store is a wonderful source for interesting Halloween themed decor.
Keep those Real Pumpkins Looking Good!
This trick will keep your real pumpkins and gourds from getting rotten. If you follow this "recipe", you may still have usable gourds at Thanksgiving!
These little plaques are easy to make....but would also be simple to print and frame.
Check out the tutorial here or take a few minutes to browse for some funny quotes to use on a chalkboard.
A trip to the craft store is the start of this craft project. These little books tucked on a shelf or set on a table are a subtle seasonal touch. TUTORIAL HERE
Don't Forget Accent Pillows!
A few whimsical pillows can add a touch of seasonal decor too. If you have never tried printing images on canvas using your inkjet printer...you really should check out these directions. The possibilities are really endless.
Yesterday, the thermometer in the car said 100 degrees.....but the calendar says it is Autumn!
Go figure!
I have been gradually switching the decor around Sweetwater to reflect the season....NOT...the temperature!
The family room was first....and honestly it took about 30 minutes to go from Summer to Fall!
The chair covers on the rattan chairs are now back to a muted color scheme. (I do love slipcovers for a quick change!)
These two purple pillows make sense when you look at the chair fabric.
A wine crate filled with interesting orbs and cotton bolls is fall like without going all "pumpkin" flavored! I often find these decorative balls at Good Will for a fraction of the cost they are at a decor store. The same goes for the wine crate...keep an eye out for interesting containers.
The mantel got the "pumpkin" treatment complete with mood lighting! I used my copper collection and a great pumpkin swag that has been around forever.
I am totally obsessed with twinkle lights!
I love the battery powered strings that are on tiny copper wire. The wire bends around to twist through the stuff and almost disappears.
A search on Amazon finds a really wide variety of these fun strings for a very low cost. I have also seen them at Tuesday Morning and Dollar General. You really want to have these in your decorating stash!!!
I used a string to light up the Spooky Fairy Garden last season.....I will definitely do that again when October rolls around.
Look at some of the fun ways that other people have used twinkle lights:
Hope this inspires you to do a bit of fall decorating and add some twinkle lighting to your projects...
I love the quote from the movie "You've Got Mail" when Kathleen
announces that all will be fine, but "in the meantime, I'm putting up
more twinkle lights."
This project is so simple.
All I did was take a grapevine wreath and loop some wired burlap ribbon all around it. I did secure it in a few places with some hot glue. Then I tucked (stuck) some artificial leaves and berries .
I would admit that this is hardly worth blogging about.....unless I had a tip to share!
AND....
Do I have a tip for you!
That tip is about where to buy your wired ribbon on the cheap!
The Sweetwater Grandboy has been helping Grandpa S with some raking.
The colors are changing and the leaves are oh so beautiful.
I picked up some really colorful leaves on our walk a few days ago.
I knew I wanted to preserve them.
AND I got to work doing just that.
How? Well let me tell you by reposting the instructions from last year.
Alas....those Halloween Jack'os that looked so festive a week ago are starting to go into their decline.
Before you toss them.....be sure to "harvest" the stems.
WHY?
These stems can be used for some lovely posh velvet pumpkins for your Thanksgiving table.
Simply carve away any of the pumpkin to pull the stems out.
If you are lucky, there will be some wonderful curly vines left too.
Then....trim off as much of the pulp as you can and set them to dry.
Pop them in the oven at the lowest setting with the door open and let them dry out for a couple of hours. They should be dry enough to use right away.
I won't be making any new velvet pumpkins this year....I already have these!
You don't need to limit yourself to velvet....the silk ones are pretty too!
You know how I hate writing tutorials.....so instead....I have found you a really well written set of directions for the project. Check it out here. STONE GABLE BLOG POSH PUMPKINS
Aren't these gorgeous?
While I was researching for a good tutorial, I found the directions for making these cute little velvet acorns....so off I went to the Sweetwater woods to gather acorn tops.
I started to follow the directions.....
I made one....
And then.....I thought to myself.....what in the world will I ever do with these and they are taking a whole bunch of time....SO I QUIT!
HMMMMM....but if you want to make some....here is the link!
So anyway....I hope you are reading this BEFORE you threw out your pumpkins!
I collected my stems and they will get packed away when they are dried.
Or...maybe I will make some little posh pumpkins for gifts.
And finally....
If you have kids....here is a wonderful book that shows the life cycle of a pumpkin. A fun science project if you can get over the "ick" factor.
The weather here this fall has been amazing. Bright sunny warm days. For some reason, the leaves on the trees around Sweetwater have not been as colorful as usual. I suppose there is a scientific reason for that but I don't know what it is.
Fall leaves that are brightly colored just call to be brought in to the house to use for decorations.
I have memories of classroom art projects that involved trying to save fall leaves.
We ironed them between wax paper.
We made leaf prints with paint.
We used color crayons to make leaf etchings.
We pressed leaves in heavy books.
What I really wanted was leaves that look like they are still outside on the tree.
AND......AHA!
This is the technique I tried this year and it comes pretty darn close to actually preserving the leaves.
The leaves in the silver vase have been in water for 2 days.....and you can see how dry and curled they are.
The leaves with the white pumpkins came into the house at the same time. They got the "magic solution" and you can see they are still nice and soft.
How did this "magic" happen?
The "magic" ingredient is Glycerine.
You can buy glycerine at the drugstore or in craft stores.
I buy mine by the quart from Amazon.
What You Do:
Mix the glycerin and water so that it is one part glycerin and two parts water. ...
Pour
the solution into a flat pan, place the leaves in the solution, and
then put the weight on the leaves to keep them submerged. ...
Keep the leaves submerged in the solution for a couple of days.
Dry the leaves gently with a paper towel.
These giant red oak leaves were perfect to show you the process.
I just put the leaves in the solution and didn't bother to weight them down. Every so often I would go and push the solution around with my fingers to make sure the leaves all got covered.
Look how lovely and shiny and soft the leaves are after just 2 days.
They really hold the colors too.
I am not sure what I am going to do with these. But I am sure to think of something.
Almost as good as the ones in nature!
Are you wondering how long these will stay looking nice?
I don't actually know.....but the ones I did two weeks ago still look great. I don't know if it matters.....they really only have to last until Fall decor turns to Winter....!
Now.....Are you ready for your chemistry lesson?
Glycerin is a neutral, sweet-tasting, colorless, thick liquid which
freezes to a gummy paste and has a high boiling point.
Glycerin
can be dissolved into water or alcohol, but not oils.
Many things are able to dissolve into glycerin easier than they do into water
or alcohol. This makes it is a good solvent.
Glycerin is a humectant. That means that it draws moisture from the air.
Glycerin has the ability to make "water wetter" meaning that it breaks the surface tension of water.
Glycerin has lots of uses besides preserving leaves.
If it can make those leaves so nice and soft.....imagine how products containing glycerin will help soften skin and hair.
This is a nice article with lots of information about glycerine. Creative Uses For Glycerine
It is worth checking it out....in fact....I discovered that glycerin mixed with water and heated over a candle flame makes a cool Halloween Fog Machine. I can't wait for the UPS guy to deliver my new glycerin supply so I can try this!
Glycerin is also a great additive for Home Made Bubble Solution. Recipe for Magic Bubbles
1 oz. glycerin
2 oz dish soap (I like Dawn)
8 oz water
A trip to the pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkin is a wonderful tradition!
At Sweetwater the pumpkins we "scored" at my brother's farm make a very cute display on the bench in the front yard this year!
Not to mention they are a perfect backdrop for a "photo op" featuring the "cutest kid in the world"!
Alas.....after a few weeks of frosty weather those orange beauties will begin to deteriorate!
This is where "Faux" pumpkins win me over!
They never get rotten and can be kept from year to year.
Yes, these artificial pumpkins sometimes look a little too orange and perfect!
Yes, there are a myriad of ways to make them look more "real".....just google it and you will find out how to paint, glitter, carve and otherwise "fix them up"!
This arrangement on the deck uses artificial pumpkins that have been lightly brushed with some brown paint that was rubbed off. That took the orange down to a more natural color.
The pumpkins needed to be arranged so that they leaned against the little lantern.
The problem with using artificial pumpkins in an outdoor display is the fact that a foam pumpkin doesn't have enough weight to stay in place.
It's time to get yourself to the library or bookstore to find some great books for Halloween.
If you are volunteering at your kid's Halloween parties....what better way to set a calming tone than a great read-a-loud.
OR
Just have them at home to curl up on a cool evening for a family read-a-loud.
Check out this link for a nice annotated list of favorites from back in 2011.
Here are just a few of the titles on that list:
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid Of Anything by Linda Williams
Night of the Pumpkinheads by Michael Rosen
The Hallo-Wiener by Dav Pilkey
Bats at the Library by Brian Lies
The Hobyahs by Robert San Souci
I realized that this list needed updating.SO....here are some newer titles that are truly "beWitching"!
