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Saturday, October 15, 2011

Fall Decorating on a Dime

Fall is my favorite season! I love the weather and warming up my house with crisp autumn colors. I love when Starbucks brings back their Caramel Apple Cider and the State Fair of Texas opens up. Fall in Texas is pretty short, so we have to cram as much in as we can while the weather’s nice!
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Its been such pretty painting weather lately, I’ve totally forgotten to blog about my fall décor this year. So without further ado….here are some things I’ve done to bring fall (and Halloween) to our house this year.
I like to use what’s on hand that comes out of our attic bins without spending a lot from year to year.
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The only thing that’s new this year is my weathered wooden witch art, that I made using one of my favorite paintings and a scrap piece of wood from the hardware store (.49 cents thank ya very much!)
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Most of the pumpkins and garland are from two seasons ago when Hobby Lobby had a 90% off clearance sale after Thanksgiving. I practically got everything for free (or close to it!).
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In my front room, I hung my favorite book page wreath.001-1
The primitive black cat was a thrift store find years back. The Haunted Tree was at the Dollar Tree and I just draped some silver bracelets around it to give it a little bling. The cross in the frame was just something that sits in our guest room but it fit well with the theme. The styrofoam skulls were at the Dollar Store and I just stacked them in my apothecary jar.
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The book page wreath is a little tattered but I like it better the more beat up it gets. I made a ton of these for Urban Farmhouse last Christmas and they sold out in a matter of days. It transitions so well from fall into spring.
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I change out my sofa pillows from the Summer Coastal Slipcovers to my Urban Farmhouse Vintage Graphic Pillows when the seasons change.
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I had two styro pumpkins that have gotten pretty beaten up over the years in storage, so instead of tossing them, I decided to use them for my large urn on the front porch.
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I took a metal skewer and pierced a hole through the centers to hold them together (with the help of a hot glue gun for extra security).
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I also had a ratty old grapevine wreath that I ripped all of the silk flowers off of and wrapped it in fall garland and white lights to prop the pumpkins on. Although I think the brown corded lights would blend in better against the grapevine (note to self for next year!)
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Looks pretty cute all lit up at night and it was all using materials I repurposed….gotta love free!!!
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Check out my Hanging Ghost Tutorial for $2.00!

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Pottery Barn Halloween Hanging Ghost Tutorial

It’s two weeks until Halloween and I’m starting to put the finishing touches on our décor at the Garza house. I always grab inspiration from Pottery Barn Kids for some “not too spooky” ideas.
This year I’m lovin’ their Set of 3 Hanging Ghosts, but not lovin’ the $59 price tag.
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So, after heading to the Dollar Store…here’s my version for a whopping $2.00 per ghost.
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I took 3 different sized bouncy balls from the kids section at Dollar Tree and spray painted them white. You might luck out and find white ones, but mine had bright animals all over them. The objective is to not see them under the lightweight cheesecloth.
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Then in the air hole in the bottom of the ball I pushed in a small white nail.
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I also purchased the Cheesecloth Fabric at Dollar Tree in the Halloween section. Its called Bloody Fabric and has fake blood all over it. If you are doing three ghosts, get three packages of fabric. I threw it in the washing machine with a lot of bleach to get the red (blood) areas out. Then I draped it over the ball, making sure the nail head peeked out of the fabric at the top.
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I used a black Sharpie to draw the eyes on my ghosts.
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Use some clear fishing line (you can get it at Walmart in the camping area) to tie a knot around the nailhead.
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Your ghosts are ready to hang!
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I made 3 ghosts using a large, medium and small bouncy ball to represent our family…so you could add a ghost for each child to make it more personal.
Not bad for $2.00 a ghost!
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Happy Haunting!!!

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Featured On: Hostess with the Mostess


Wow! How did I almost miss this?

What an honor! I’m super excited for the recognition and if furniture refinishing doesn’t pan out, hey, I can always fall back on party planning, right?
I have to thank Ashley at Cakes By Ashley for an amazing cake and for capturing my vision.

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Check out the full post on Hostess with the Mostess Blog!