Halloween Prep

October is my favorite month (July and December come second!) and I've been taking a TON of photos.  I love how cool and crisp the weather gets (sometimes a snowstorm or two here in Colorado!)  I love the position of the sun in the late afternoon sky and I love, love, love decorating for fall and Halloween.  Today was a good day for me to cram in some last-minute decorating details.  The kids were at school (well, at least until the middle school called to tell me that my son had been hit hard in the head with a whiffle ball bat in gym class and had a headache and wanted to come home) and the dog was at the vet getting groomed.

Something I've been really into lately are vintage or vintage-like plastic jack-o-lanterns.  I actually found the two smallest ones recently at an antique shop!  One of them lights up and the other one is capable - I just need to get my handy husband to work on it.  The bigger candy buckets aren't actually "vintage" but blend well with the look.

 

My decorating style is simple and I love tying in natural elements.  I think that's why I have so much fun decorating with pumpkins as they are straight from the earth!  I can often be found wandering around my yard collecting pinecones and clipping branches off trees...all in the name of decorating!

 

It doesn't take much to make a statement!

Something I have fallen in love with this fall is chalkboard paint.  I've never used this stuff before and it's so much fun!  I started out small, making a label on a pencil jar for my kiddos.  I set it right on our living room coffee table for all the world to see!  And I haven't been told, "Mom, I can't find a pencil for my homework" for at least a month!  So handy and cute (not to mention the black label with the orange pencils shout out "Fall" and "Halloween"!)  I secretly keep thinking the word "write" might inspire them.

 

This is the kind of decorating simplicity I love - a stack of magazines with a pumpkin on top!  And it hardly cost me a thing! - (well, okay, I should admit the wire basket was something I found in Taos and wasn't THAT cheap).

 Here's another simple project involving my now-beloved chalkboard paint!  I painted a smooth piece of particle board from Home Depot.  Then I glued the board into the back of an open barn wood frame from Hobby Lobby.  I dig it!

 

Seriously...fly it!  But please excuse the stick-figure witch...I don't draw very well.

I've also been having fun making pennant banners - some out of regular cloth and some out of burlap.  I love the burlap for fall!

 

 Here, I took an unused frame that I've had on hand and stuck an old book page in it...then found a paper crow that I had randomly stashed last year in my Halloween supplies.  This gives my shelf of portraits a fallish look.

 Colorado Springs received a pretty good snow storm these past few days.  What used to be golden-colored, leaf-covered scrub oak in my yard are now these naked branches.  It's amazing how nature can produce so perfectly such a vibrant showing of complimentary colors.

Speaking of trees and Halloween...now is the perfect time to mention my very favorite Halloween book.  A Woggle of Witches, by Adrienne Adams, was written in 1971 (2 years before I was born!)  I adored this book as a child.  Not only was it my favorite childhood Halloween book, but it was my favorite childhood book period.  It is now out of print (why would a book this adorable ever been taken out of print?) but my dear mom was able to find me a copy on ebay a couple of years ago.  

 

Last Halloween my girls dressed up as a Woggle of Witches...they love the book, too!

 The artwork is amazing.  It makes me want to BE a witch...a nice witch like these... I would get to sleep in a hammock way up high in the trees, fly a circle around a super friendly moon and eat "spiderweb bread".  Sounds good to me!

 

Well, my son's head is fine and my dog made it back from the groomer...here she is...tired pooch.  I think she's a little put out by the fact that the groomer blew her curls out and made her all fluffy.  Ruby Girl, your curls will come back soon.  Of course they will, 'cuz you're a poodle.  Isn't she precious?