Toil and Trouble

Here is my last "normal" table for October and then we are really going to have some fun. 

I stacked some things up to create the centerpiece.  Honeysuckle vine, a candle ring, a pick and a pumpkin tops it off.

This is the base of my centerpiece.  It is an antique Carnival Glass bowl.  The orange color in this glass just makes it a natural for an October table.

I turned the bowl upside down and placed a candle ring around the base.

I sat a bowl inside of that and it was filled with leaves, berries, a pick, and a pie pumpkin.  I then added around the whole thing some honeysuckle vine.

A candlestick with some silk leaves and a gourd on top.  Notice how the silk leaves are frayed.  I thought it looked more interesting with the frayed edges.  My five year old has played with them. 

Here is a Carnival Glass dessert bowl and dessert/salad plate.  The orange went well with the black and white for Halloween.

The Carnival Glass pattern is called Crackle the color is Marigold.

This black and white dinner plate is by Royal Stafford and the pattern is Harvest Village. 

Here is an easy way to decorate your chandelier.  I placed two sprigs of berries in the "bottom" of the chandelier and the I took a pre-made bow from Walmart and tied a bittersweet pick which I hung upside down on the chain.  The foliage of the pick is under the ribbon where you can see it best from the table and the stem is hidden by the bow.

The table cloth is actually to small for the table, so I turned it the width of the table.  Under it the full length of the table is a layer of bridal tulle, which sorta mimics a spiderweb.  Carnival Glass candlesticks and glasses too in the pattern Crackle.

Hint to one of my Halloween tables.
Hint #3
Double, Double, toil and trouble
Fire burn and cauldron bubble
Double, double, toil and trouble
Something delicious this way comes. 

Sorry this was the hardest one to hint at.  See the music in my sidebar..hint...hint...  What movie is it from?

Please go and visit these sites for more great ideas:

Centerpiece Wednesdays at The Style Sisters

Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch

Vintage Thingie Thursday at Colorado Lady 

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Feature Yourself Fridays at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Don't forget to sign up for the CSN $45 gift certificate here.

Darryl Carter

Meeting THIS guy tomorrow:

{Darryl Carter & his German Short-haired pointer...  well, sadly not he pointer, but hopefully Darryl}

I'm going to a book signing!!  (And embarrassed to show him my slightly destroyed copy of the book which has a torn & messed up dust jacket...  It looks like I don't care about it but it's really the opposite--- I've read it too much and messed it up!!  Dust jackets just aren't made for people like me.  ;)

{in Elle Decor}

{Elle Decor}

I could go on & on posting pictures but I'm not going to because I know you've probably already seen & drooled over most of them before.  (In case you haven't, check out his website here.)

I have the tendency to creep people out when I'm a fan of theirs & I first meet them so I'm really going to try to reign it in at the book signing.  (It's @ the tabletop Trade Show in Vienna!)  I get a little excited (no, seriously,  crazily, giddy, blabbery... ) because I feel like I know them.  I've had conversations about them, I've read their books, I've devoured their portfolios and philosophies...  I wonder "what would Darryl do?" haha yes, see?  first name basis.  

  SO,  I'm not sure if my plan  to chill out will work or not because I am

SO.  FREAKING. EXCITED!!!!!!!!

Will let you know how it goes & hopefully I can get a picture.

ps- Grandmother, if you're wondering who he is, he's the guy you showed me in the Washington Post waaaaay back when I was just getting interested in decorating & designing.  You thought I should try giving him a call to see if he needed any help so I could learn from him.  :)  I love you.

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Haunting the Yard

 

A little graveyard I put in the backyard.  The kids have begged me in the past to decorate more for Halloween.  One year the older boys picked out the tombstones.  Not something I would have picked out, but the kids really had fun that year putting the graveyard up.  

  I'll  show you how to make a spiderweb wreath.  This is more my type of decorating.  I purchased a 12-inch grapevine wreath and I took it apart and made it a little thinner.  I reduced the grapevines by about half.  I got the wreath at Walmart for around $3-4.

 Next, I placed a pre-made spiderweb right over it.  Then I wired it on in three places and made a loop to hang it by.  (The spiderweb was $1 at Dollar General Store.)

 I then found this ribbon at Walmart to add to my wreath.  The roll of ribbon was $2.

I wrapped the ribbon through the wreath and the outer edges of the web.  When I got to the end I just cut and folded the edges to fit and taped them down on the back, so I can reuse this nice wired ribbon again.

Here is the finished wreath haunting the front door.  The bow was also sold at Walmart pre-made for $2.  I just tied it on.

Haunting the Art

I have a nice piece of art hanging in my dining room.  I wanted to give it a more seasonal display that would be fun.  So I used silhouettes.

 I used templates from marthastewart.com.  This link will take you right to the templates.

I first got the template to the size I wanted and then I used black construction paper and a silver Sharpie to trace the templates.  

Here is how I applied my tape.  This is actually a blooper.  The tape is on the wrong side.

 Here is my little witch flying in my picture.  I wasn't sure if I was going to like this project but I was surprised how I did like the look of it.

 Here is another little character I added.  I cut a ghost out of tissue paper.  This was also a blooper.  The ghost has messy eyes and then when I taped him the tape stuck to several areas it shouldn't.  I remade this ghost three times before I got the tape on it without a bunched up ghost.  I learned this try and try again technique from teaching myself to sew.  My best friend when I learned to sew was my seam ripper!  Fun fact:  I taught myself to sew and learned how so I could copy some of Princess Diana's clothes!  Was quite enamored with her at 20, like so many people were.

 Here the little ghost finally made it in the art!

So here is the haunted art.  This would be a great project for your kids to try.  My kids begged me to decorate for Halloween when they were around 10 or 12.  There are so many fun and simple things like this you can do.  Cost $0  Printed the templates off internet and had black construction paper, tape, and a Sharpie. It is a lot cheaper than changing out the art.  Have fun with it.

Pop over to these sites and see all the creativity going on.

I will link this to:

Get Your Craft on at Today's Creative Blog

Toot Your Horn Tuesday at Silly Little Sparrow 

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm 

100 Ideas Under $100 at Beyond the Picket Fence

Show and Tell Wednesday at Blue Cricket Design

Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts

Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home 

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Thrifty Thursday at Tales From Bloggeritaville

Don't forget, click here to enter for up to 5 chances to win a $45 CSN gift certificate! 

Fall's here!!

 Fall just might be my favorite season.  I love it.  I love the feeling in the air, the clothes, the boots, the smell of the wet leaves right now (been raining a lot) and I love that cool tinge of excitement it gives me every year...  Here are a few pics that call it to mind..

{Our mantle}

{image from Country Home}

{Honey bear last year}

{Our entry viewed from lower level family room}

{our living room}

{Mm mm mm!! Stone Soup "how to" here}

{Christian last Fall...  me behind the camera: " Hold the pumpkin!  Smile!!  Good boy.  Yeah now put it on your head! Say cheese!".. poor kid}

{Country Living}

I can't get enough of it.  Today's perfectly gloomy weather has me in a thoughtful mood. 

So, I'm off to eat soup and think ;) ;)  hahahah

  

Have a great day!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Clues to Halloween Decor

I thought I better explain something I have been doing on my blog.  On the last tablescape (Bittersweet and Broomsticks) and the Fall Cloche Party I have been leaving clues with a poem about what my three Halloween tables will be.  I have this weeks fall table with one more clue and then I will begin showing the Halloween tables.  Nothing too scary just a lot of fun.  

Above was this weeks picture and the poem was:

Bittersweet and broomsticks,

Pumpkins on the vine. 

Will anyone come to tell us,

When it is haunting time?

Here is the clue from the week before that:

Here's a hint of what's to come,

the creepy crawlies will come undone.

 So check back on Thursday's through October for some really fun Halloween decor.  

Sherry

Client Project Plans: Aimee & Dave's Open Plan Living Area

I thought I'd share another project I've been working on with you.  I started working with Aimee & Dave om their new house pre-construction this past Winter.   Here's a photo of the living room mid-construction:

Aimee & Dave are probably one of the cutest couples I've ever met as you can see from the pic below.  See the smiles on their faces as they check out their new place?

They have two cutie pies (not pictured) Eli & Lucy (right around my kids' ages) and are a young couple with a really fun sense of style.  They were looking for fresh, "coastal," fun, family-focused design.  Now since there's really no coast in sight around here, we had to make sure that we didn't get too themey-coastal and instead went with pieces that could work in Virginia but had that easy-breezy vibe.  Aimee knew she wanted aqua and from her inspiration photos we settled on aqua, oraange, and black & white for the general color scheme.

The kitchen is open to the dining nook and the living/ family room and Aimee & Dave wanted a place where they can cook, play with the kids, watch TV, eat, entertain, etc.  (Basically do it all)  Their house is new and open with classic details.  The rooms are a nice liveable big-but-not-too-big- sized-rooms and there aren't any wasted rooms in the house.   They will be literally be using every room of the house.  I love it.

After getting to know Aimee & her style, here's the plan I came up with.   (I typically do client plans in a 3-pronged folder, 1 for me and 1 for them to take home...  Samples are usually loose so we hold, drape on other things, tweak, etc.  I used to do large boards but have gotten away from it recently for the sake of portability...  they were fun though so who knows, I might eventually go back.)
  Anyway, here's the plan for the living area:

Here are the fabrics pictured above:

I'm a little bit in love with the sofa fabric which is the large-scale orange floral linen.  Aimee loved the fabric but took a long time deciding whether to do it on the sofa or not.  Doing a print on a sofa is a big deal.  For the past few years we've all heard the general touting: "Go neutral on your sofa and then switch up your pillows and acessories whenever you want," which I definitely think is perfect for a lot of us, but sometimes a pattern is so right, so timeless and so personal, that you know you'll love it for years and you don't want to switch things up all the time.  And that's how this orange fabric was.  We toyed with the idea of going neutral on the sofa and having pillows made out of it, but Aimee's style is realy fun & bold so she decided to go for it.  I am so excited for this baby to arrive!!!   We're doing it on this sofa: (which has just been finished this week and is ready for delivery!!)"

We're doing the modern wing chairs in a brown velvet with the black & white fabric for pillows, and then aqua pillows on the sofa.

Here are some of the other pieces we're using:

We're doing a large seagrass rug on the floors with the black & white Dash & Albert rug over it.  Remember the German antique barley twist table with inset needlepoint panels?

Yup!  It went to Aimee & Dave.

Here's the living area mid-construction:

...And please don't laugh, I'm not an artist, but the point comes across in this quick drawing:

 

The brown velvet chairs will go in front of the windows which will have aqua blue curtains and woven shades.

I made some optional pieces we could add in later:

Love that lantern pendant...  we're doing one over the island too.  And this guy's going above the fireplace:

Here's the dining nook:

Here's a super-quick brainstorming sketch:

 And here are the actual pieces:

Aimee & Dave have decided to go with all chairs (no banquette) for now and are having a custom table made.  They've also added chalkboard paint to the wall for Eli (who loves it!!) and eventually Lucy.  I'll keep you posted & can't wait to show you some "afters."  Thanks so much to Aimee & Dave for letting me help you with your project!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.