THIS IS HALLOWEEN

The magic begins when my little girls squeal with delight as decorations are pulled from their resting place. They breathe new life, new energy into our home. Some of my most precious memories are when my house is filled with holiday trinkets, lights and ribbons. JOY!

I have a few theories about holiday decorating.

1. Take what you’ve already got and add seasonal ribbon. I also will use scraps of fabric as ribbon or to put under stuff. Wrap candles, candlesticks, frames, lamps etc… Also the fabric comes in handy for making things taller. For example…I’ll use a can of beans

(if you’re not a bean fan, corn will work just as well ;)

under the fabric to set a vase higher.

2. Make it yourself. So much more fulfilling.

Even the stuff I’ve bought I alter to my liking.

Adding as much personal touch as possible.

3. Rummage through your house to see what you’ve got. Pull things from other rooms, go through old boxes and storage rooms. Some of my favorite decorating inspiration comes this way.

4. Never underestimate the power of images printed out on paper with

a little glitter, embellishments and ribbon added.

5. Purchase goodies that can be used for more than one holiday. Lime green glitter candles for Halloween & Christmas, fake pumpkins with fun Halloween things painted or drawn on one side that you simply turn around for thanksgiving. Red accents from Christmas that can be used for valentines… you get the picture.

6. Speaking of picture… take them. Photo your decorations up. It will help you reset it the following year. And even if you don’t set it up the same way it gives you a great starting point.

Plus it never fails every year when I pull my stuff out that I’ll come across something and think…

"What the….” Then I’ll look through my photo’s and think…"Oh.”

All that being said, I in now way claim to be a pro. I also am not claiming that everything I have is an original Anj idea. I love to do creative things. I love to see what other people create. I think creative people feed off of each other. And this is why I’m posting photos of my home at Halloween. Enjoy.

JACK & SALLY

This years major undertaking. I'm so pleased with the outcome.

Each is 2'x4' Oil on hardboard.
To give credit where it's due:
I didn't create the Sally image.  I found one I fell madly in love with.
The original is actually a marker sketch and only about 5 inches tall.
The artist who created the original gave me permission to display my rendition on this blog.
(Seriously, what a stud.  Most artist aren't that kind).
His name is Charles Holbert Jr.
You can find him on deviantART under the name KidNotorious.  

The Entertainment Center

On the corners are 2 skulls. I made them last year out of paper mache.

Flour, water, a phone book and balloons.

I think the whole thing cost me a buck. I had to buy a pack of balloons from the dollar store. The printed labels on the jars of goodies you can find at houseof3.com.

My neighbor uses the same candy corn every year.

She puts it in a zip lock and freezes it.

Brilliant, I say! I'm going to give it a whirl this year.

The green liquid in the lemonade glass bottle is made from a highlighter. It glows in the dark with a black light.

Super cool. I filled photo frames of Halloween pictures of years past. Added ribbons and fabric to the top.

Little Ditties

These are projects from this year.

Mr. Skeleton Man is a wire form from stampington.

He's only like 12 bucks.

Spray him orange, add some glitter... and ta-da!

Well I had to make the little Seasons Screamings sign.

Then we have my spooky banner.

There is a lady on etsy.

Her site name is sugar sugar, or something like that.

She makes these unreal banners. I basically copied her.

A little paper, ribbon, glitter, streamers,

and embellishments and your good to go.

Fireplace & Mantel

Oh dear, where to begin. How about the top. I made a sign

(out of some strange foam meets wood composite, dirt cheap too)

that hangs from the ceiling that reads "This is...".

Then with smaller pieces of the fake wood stuff I spelled out

H A L L O W E E N. Using a skull to represent the O.

The letters are on both sides, because the letter blocks spin freely.

On the mantel itself I have 2 white fake pumpkins. (This was a project from last year). Using a sharpie I colored Jacks face on one and wrote "Life's no fun without a good scare" on the other.

Hmmmm... what else.

Oh, I'm thinking a few people may have those black boxes.

Mine usually say "this and that" they are pretty popular around town. I replace the small this and that signs according to the season.

Right now they say trick or treat.

(If you don't know what I'm talking about please ignore me).

They are great for stacking things at different heights.

(And cuter than a can of beans).

I use a black light in the lamp. It casts a wonderful purple glow. The lamp shade is one I picked up at the D.I. for a couple bucks. I ripped off the material down to it's skeleton and tied black, white and orange ribbon from one end to the next.

Now the black light really shines through.

(It doesn't translate as well in a photo).

Then I've draped material below, using black roses in the corners,

for added drama.

Aragog his minions and their victim

I'm thinking this is my oldest Halloween decoration.

Not much to say. It is displayed on and above the kitchen table.

I'm actually coveting these...

Martha Stewart Glittered Skull and Bones Set - Grandin Road.

I'd love to replace my walmart guy for one of hers...

or maybe I'll just glitter mine to death.

Lighting

Here is my front entry chandelier and my sconce that hangs on the wall. I had replaced the lamp shades just after we moved in, but thank heavens I didn't toss the old ones. I came across them last year in my basement. I simply tore up old fabric, stained its edges, and then wrapped it around each shade. I mummy-fied them. Then on the chandelier I draped it with ribbons and trinkets. On the sconce I hung a bird cage and then added Martha Stewart paper crows. 4.99 at Michael's... add a coupon and it's cheaper than buying paper & cutting them out yourself. I covered them in black glitter and added a little bling for an eye. Oh, and then I added black feathers,

which I bathed in glitter as well.

Photo Wall

Used the same Martha Stewart crows, also with the added bling eye.

Then added feathers again. Love it.

Fall Bliss

Here is a few favorite FALL things....

LAYERS

How I EL OHH VEE EE…

LOVE to dress in layers. Sweaters, jackets, scarves, mittens... pile it on! Speaking of wonderful layers… JCREW is killing me this fall. To be totally truthful I haven’t liked their stuff in quite a while. It was boring and tired. Really... tiny pineapples stitched all over pepto pink shorts? That's when they lost me.

But now...WOW...would you just look at these outfits…

And the jewelery…

I’m drooling.

Now to figure out how anyone actually affords this stuff.

DECORATIONS

From October until January my house looks glittery shiny and festive! I’ll be posting some pics of my Halloween decorations soon. They make my home smile. In fact, I think my house morns a little every January when it all comes down. I know I do.

SOUP

Yep, it’s soup season. This is when I start making our favorites in large batches and freezing them for later consumption. A hot bowl of soup with fresh rolls on a chilly fall night… dreamy.

Here is a family favorite recipe. It’s a split pea soup with a twist. Yummers!

Split pea soup with sausage balls

1pound green split peas (2 1/4 cups)

3 quarts water

1 Tbs salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp marjoram (the spice…not butter substitute)

1 pd. Pork sausage

1 cup diced celery

1 cup diced carrots

2 cups diced potatoes

Wash split peas, in large pot combine water and seasoning and bring to a boil. Add peas gradually so that the water does not stop boiling. Shape sausage into small balls (about 40) and roll into flour, drop into soup (no need to fry).Cover and simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours until everything is tender. Add veggies cook until tender and serve.

GATHERINGS

It’s beginning of the holiday party season. Family, friends and food… what more do you need?

Well, I guess an outfit from JCREW wouldn’t hurt.

And finally…

HEAT

I love when I can finally turn the heat on in the house. I love the smell of warmth. And I adore curling up on top of a heater vent with a blanket and a book. HEAVEN!

Wonderful, wonderful fall!

Over the Rainbow

It was one of those miracle moments when both of the kids home were asleep. Ride was out cold on the floor wedged between the sofa and the ottoman. Momo in his crib. I decided to take advantage of the rare beautiful quiet and clean. I put Pandora onto a favorite station and pumped it through my speakers. I moved room to room motivated by the vision of a “house of order.” Eventually I made it to my bedroom. There was a small plastic basketball on the floor. I picked it up with the intent of tossing it out into the hall when my eye caught something. On the ceiling was a spider.

Hmmmm… I thought, “I bet I could hit him with this ball.” And he sat there seeming to say “Hmmmm… I dare you to try.” So I did.

Only I missed. However, I came so close that I knocked him off his feet & he tumbled. (My ceiling is vaulted, and the wall separating the bedroom & the closet doesn’t go all the way up to the ceiling). So the spider fell into my closet, and presumably onto my top shelf. I walked into the closet just out of curiosity and looked up towards that shelf. Or better known as the place I put stuff I hardly use. There is my stack of “I’m too thin for maternity jeans, but too big for the jeans I love so these will do,” pregnancy pants. Next to those is a stack of white boxes. I realized I hadn’t looked through them in at least 2 years. I had forgotten they were even there.

I thought… “Hmmm, maybe I should rummage through those again.” And they stared back saying… “Hmmm, I dare you too. “ So I did.

I spread them out onto the floor & sat myself next to them. They were almost gray with dust. They were filled with trinkets from what seems another life. A yellowing newspaper dated Saturday August 5 2006. A bottle of consecrated oil… passed down to my husband from his grandfather, I wondered where that was. The next box… two small plaster molds of a tiny hand and foot and a small gold ring. On to the next, I drifted my hand across a knitted pink blanket and beanie. Some sweet someone, somewhere had knitted these and donated them to the hospital. I wish I knew who that someone was. I wish I could say thank you. And the last box, I knew what was coming before I pried it open.

There was her ankle id from the hospital, and a little white sleeper. We hadn’t brought anything for her to wear. I honestly hadn’t even thought about it. The months prior I dreaded the baby section. I would take the long way around if necessary. Even at work I would walk down any aisle except THAT one. It was just too hard. It hurt too much. So no, I hadn’t purchased anything for her to wear. The kind nurse at the hospital took care of it. So it was white, fuzzy, and has the name of the hospital written on it with black marker.

The arms of it are still rolled up several times. Her arms were so itty-bitty; it was the only way to unveil those darling pudgy hands and fingers. I put it next to my face. I even tried smelling it. I remember doing this just weeks, months after. Trying desperately to find anything she left behind. I knew before I breathed in I would be disappointed.

Momo started crying. I packed up everything briskly but delicately and replaced them to their spot beside my ugly jeans. And then retrieved my baby from his cage, ahem... crib.

We walked out into the great room & began the baby slow dance to calm him down. The music changed and “Somewhere over the rainbow” performed by IZ started playing. You would think this is where the water works would start. But they didn’t. My baby curled up on my chest. His head nuzzled under my chin. We danced and I sang, very off tune mind you, along with the song.

And I smiled. No tears… not a drop. Only smiles.

Evie is ok.

I am ok.

Everything is ok.

Trip

It started out dreamy...

A stop at South Ridge Farms.

Breakfast of scrumptious apple turnovers.

A bag of fresh chilled honey crisp apples for the road.

And then we had 2 1/2 hours of this...

My father-in-law once told me,

"It's not a vacation when you bring the kids it's a TRIP."

But the trip was worth it for this..

Orange rock and blue skies.

I heart southern Utah.

But I think now it's time for a vacation.