Because I can't stop talking about the thing above my tv.

Okay, ONE MORE I swear...Maybe.. Unless something comes up and I have to talk about it again, but I'm definitely done decorating it-- Until after Halloween. :)

Fall is a tricky tricky Holiday to decorate for if you like to sprinkle in some Halloween spookiness. Do you wait till Halloween? Do you decorate before, then change it to spook then back to fall for Thanksgiving? This year I went with a light, bright early fall with my mini-fantel, which you can read about here.

Then I beefed up the fantel here.

And, today-- in honor of the Mantel party at Nesters and because Miejer had some adorable bats on sticks as the cashier lovingly called them, I decided to go all out for Halloween. Last year (When apparently I had never taken a picture before..Eek, sorry for the dark blurriness) I went with a brighter color scheme by using more scrapbook papers, which I left out this year for a more white and black theme.

And...This year! 

I love it. It's calm, cool, creepy and vintage-- Thanks to the free images printed from the internet and framed.

Love the old photographs of kids in their costumes! Some where mighty scary huh? The pop of the single orange pumpkin really does it for me. I {LOVE} IT. I also sprayed some branches from the yard and added a bit more moss and called it a day. If I wanted to be Miss Perfect I would have made that #7 tag be #13 or #31.. But, I took my perfect crown off and put my lazy hat on. It is what it is.

Want a couple more sneaks?

Pumpkins and a bat photograph.

Eek sign, from last year and a fake pumpkin from Michaels. Sitting on my primed but never painted side table. Gotta keep it real.

Thats it so far! I have one more bin to bring up with lovely creepy things to scatter around the house and thats it! So happy I finished before the 1st, I get a whole month to enjoy my favorite holiday!

Linking to Nester's Mantel party, Blessed Nest Fall festival,
Hooked on houses 
Show and Share day
Jen's Autumn Party! 
Beth's Halloween Mantel party

Decorating the Fantle

Fantle? What's fantle you ask? Well it's my faux mantle! :) The little shelf in my living room that I like to pretend is thick and lovely hanging above a roaring fire.. instead it's a shelf from HobLob above my not even a flat screen television. I'll take that over nothing!

Since I'm going through a nervous breakdown and painting everything white, I wanted my fall decorations to be lovely whites and creams and less orange and in your face-- I'll save that for Halloween. ;) The best part of this re-do was that it was *Free*

Spray painted pitcher from last year

Chipped frame from the 90% off HL clearance that was sitting in my bedroom

#7 bucket that was previously holding our remote for the television

Milk glass vases & Straw wreath from the Mother. Thanks, Mom!

White pumpkins from last year

FREE I tell you.

Doesn't it feel good using things you already have? There's a couple more things here and there I'd like to add around the house but for now the fantle is done, and you know what that means? Time to open the windows, let the cold breeze in and enjoy some pumpkin spice latte, a heaven sent that I was just introduced to.  

 Hello, lover

Make sure you fall on over (bwaahahaha) to Nester's fall mantle party & The Inspired Room & This Blessed Nest for some more Autumn delishiousness. AND, Frugal Friday. :)... And CSI project

Because everyone else has them..

Remember these forks and spoons that used to hang in your grandparents houses? Okay, (parents) maybe.

 Image from here

I remember them in my Gramp's house way back when. Now they're back like wildfire. Or, last year they were. Ha.. Yeah, I vetoed them greatly and said "No, I will not go back to that era." Then, I'd see them out and about and think.. Aww look at that. Cute! My mind would say no, and then my heart would get mad at me later. You know what happens when things come back in style? The price tag goes up too.

But when these lovelies were at HobLob for 3.00 a pc, I gave in. 

Gramps, you're back in style. Not so much the dark cabinets and mustard colored counter top but your giganto fork and spoon, yes sir!


I just needed to tweak them a bit for my taste. I saw this a *long* time ago which started my-- oh, they're not so bad mentality, and I wish I could tell you who started it. Blogger friend, if you're reading this: Let me know so I can give credit where credit is due!

Anyways, a spray of some left over white paint and some jute and I'd call it good! How about you? Tell me, love it or leave it on the huge silver wear hanging on your wall topic. Am I silly for giving in? Silly for doing it a year after they came "back"?

:)

Okay, now I know you're waiting for it.. The winner of the Bella Michele Stamped Jewelry giveaway is...
Pitter patter pitter patter..
Michelle (Weirrrrd.)
Via.. Random.org

I just emailed your contact info to Michele! Thanks so much for entering, everyone!

Spring Fluffing

In the process of adding a little spring our lives, my lovely other half brought these home to me the other day!

I put them in my Spray Painted vase and decided to add a little more spring to it. It was extremely easy, wanna see? I cut the jute twine and ribbon long enough to wrap around and tie in a big enough bow for my liking.


Then I cut a 4ish inch strip of cream burlap and cut it in half so it was super skinny.

You could tie a bow with the burlap but in my silly ol' mind it would have been to bulky.. See?

So I improvised and I tied the ribbon and jute together around the vase and fluffed with the bow until I liked it. Then I folded and tweaked with the burlap in the back of the ribbon to hold in the shape of a bow. A faux bow, if you will. No bulk and just a hit of that lovely stuff called burlap!

[That color is a little funky..whoops. As you know I'm too lazy to change that. We'll have to suffer through it together. ;)]

Easy peasy! Then we had a photo shoot in my bedroom.

On my white washed dresser

Needs some texture though huh?

Love.It.

DIY Day

Frugal Friday

Entry way part....17.5 million

How far along are we now? Second trimester? :) Really it's taken about two three weeks but I think it's pretty much done. I'll let you see for yourself. Let's have a mini recap shall we?
I've linked all the stages separately be sure to check them out for the how-to's! :)

Start..drab..boring..orthopedic looking waitress shoes..

Stage 1 Board and batten

Stage 2 Shelf, paint, baskets

Stage 3 How to get your builder dad to help you with a bench

Stage 4 Upholstering a seat cushion, without a staple gun

Stage 5 Welcoming art

Stage 6 Mini Chalkboards

Something cozy welcome us home, we're done!

Let's see that before and After again

I'd still like a fabulous door to walk into the kitchen with, but that takes time and money. Both of which I don't have right now. :) But I adore my new entry way. I did it myself (besides some saw help from B.D) Surprised husband with my talents, and gave the girls a place where they can forget to put their snow gear. I love it.

Don't forget to come on over for my first blog party-- Feature Yourself Friday!

Linking up to these lovely parties

Frugal Friday

DIY Day

Todays Creative Blog

Transformation Thursday

Someday Crafts

Amanda's show us your progress party!

Thrifty decor chicks before and after party!

Layla's Mudroom Party!

Don't forget to vote for the next project on our list!

Little addition

I was overjoyed to have this little addition pop up out of no where. Well, teqnically it wasn't out of no where. It was tucked nicely in one of the end caps at Target. 50% OFF!

Um, what addition did you think I was talking about? :)

I love it! So beachy, and bright! Reminds me how much I miss summer! Hurry up and leave winter- shoo!

I may still find another pillow for here, I had something in mind and I'm not sure if I'm ready to give it up. But I do enjoy the blue and red combo! Like red checkered picnic blankets and blue skies! I can almost taste the lemonade, smell the hot dogs on the grill and hear the fireworks!

Just what I needed during this late February Michigan snow storm we're in the middle of! :)

Keys to my heart

In my attempt to finish the entry way sometime this year I've been cramming as much as I possibly can this week while Mr. P is home. Let's just say it's a little easier to craft, paint, and hot glue when there's someone watching the little devils angels while I work. :) Today I worked on this wall.

Tall, and empty are the two words to describe it. Boring would work too. I wanted something cute, nothing too personal since the house is still on the market {ugh!} But something that tugged at my heart strings. Everyone knows I'm a little sentimental about our first home. What's better than the keys to the house!

Each door in our house has it's own skeleton key, and since I've never had a reason to lock any of the doors in the house I've been using them for different things. Santa keys, apothocary fillers, and now art. As you can see I'm running out of keys! :)

Four left, but for this project we'll only be using three. I like things in threes and the fourth is a little shiny for my liking. At least for this project it is.

Nice and rusty and old. Gorgeous!

To start I purchased 3 12x12 frames at Michaels. They're usually 9.99 but this week (and almost everytime I see them) they're 50% off. I liked them because the matte is layered in the frame. Which makes it easy for the key to sit and not bulge out the back.

Other supplies, burlap or another medium for your key to sit on, a glue gun and 10 mintues.

Really, this was probably the fastest project ever! I cut the burlap to fit and glued it.

Making sure to pull it tight so you don't have a million wrinkles. You could double up on the fabric if you're using burlap so it's not so transparent. I for one didn't have enough to go around, and I just flipped the paper in the frame over so the white shows through (instead of the couple getting married, as lovely as they are). Good enough for this chick!

Then I put a smidgen of glue on the key and pressed her down. That's the nice part about hot glue if you ever want to change your mind it comes off so easy! Put everything back in the frame and you're done. Yep, that easy! See, how fast that can go!

The seriously hard part was getting a picture of them on the wall without a glare from the door. So I had to just give in. Forgive me! :) Now one of the the first things I see when I walk into the door, is the pretty (fast, and cheap) art work. I can't get enough of it!