A Halloween Tabletop

I don't know what it is with me this year, but I'm very indecisive with my fall/Halloween decorating. However, I thought I would share a Halloween tabletop with you today (at least I'm pretty satisfied with this one. As for the rest of the house...I shall continue to tweak 'til I get it right.)



This is the vignette I created for my dining room hutch.



Adorable vintage-inspired pumpkin people ala artist Dee Foust that I raised up on pedestals.



Debbie Mumm Halloween plates that I've had for many years, along with pretty flatware & a few other misc pieces to pull it all together.



And there you have it.



I thought I would join the lovely Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday. If you get a chance, head on over to Marty's to see what the others have shared today.



Thank you for stopping by. Have a great day!

A touch of fall

Ahem. Hello? Is anyone out there?

Oh my goodness! Where have I been?

Good question. Where have I been?

Everywhere but parked in front of the old 'puter that's for sure! It's been back to school/work since September 7th & I haven't had a moment's rest. Well, I have, but you know what I mean. Busy, busy. Work & school...fall baseball...soccer...practices...something every minute. I guess it's called life.

Anyway, I thought I would share a glimpse of fall around here.







Ok, maybe not the greatest pictures in the world, but at least it's something. Right? I'll post more pictures of my fall decor this week (hopefully better ones). I added in some Halloween this weekend, so I'll have to share that as well. Now if I could just stop rearranging the darn mantel decor long enough to get a full picture of it for you. Ugh!

Have a great week!

A little fall crafting...

..even though technically it was crafted in the summertime when I was home from work, with no routine & nothing pressing to do. Unlike now...sigh.

I kept seeing subway art all over the internet & thought why can't I make fall inspired subway art to compliment my fall mantel?

With that idea, I got to work. Now don't look at this as any great technical tutorial. That is so not my bag. I am no pro here, I just did what I did & came out with a fairly decent project, following this excellent tutorial at lilblueboo.

I know the pic is horrible, but I bought a canvas at Michaels, some clear adhesive contact paper & spray adhesive at Target & spray paint from Lowes.



I typed words into the computer, played around with different fonts & sizes, and printed them out. (I am so not computer savvy.)

I sent my hubby to have a copy made of my printout in an 18 X 24 size. (the same size as my canvas.)

I then cut up each word, coated it with spray adhesive & stuck it to the contact paper.

Then came the fun part. Cutting out each & every letter.

It took ages laying them out on the canvas and once I had it to my liking, I peeled the contact paper backing & stuck the letters to the canvas. Now some people have used a ruler to guide them, but not me, I'm a rebel & I just eyeballed it.



Of course, insert trouble here. Nothing ever goes completely right for me. My contact paper was not sticking quite as well as it should have. Not even when using a brayer.

I then had to take each individual letter off, spray it with spray adhesive & stick it back to the canvas. (Heaven help me, I wanted to scream!)

Once that was done, I then made hubby hit it with the brown spray paint. Let it dry completely & then hit it again.



Oh, and then I took a paint brush with white paint on it & splattered it all over the canvas trying to give it a worn look.

Then I panicked.

I got scared that I just ruined the whole thing, so I had hubby spray painted over it. You know what? I love how that turned out. It kind of made the canvas imperfect & that's a-ok with me.

After letting it dry a good long time, I finally got to unpeel the lettering & this is what I had:



Pretty nifty, huh?

Like I said, it's not perfect, but I love how it turned out anyway. I'll have to get some pics of it to show you how it looks with my mantel decor. (too dark & gloomy to take pics today.)

Are you thinking of making anything for fall this year? Do tell...let's chat.

Playing Catch Up

Three days spent.

Sunday: Shopping at the outlets, followed by a cookout at my aunt's house.

Monday: A trip to the Bronx for this:



Tuesday: First day of school, therefore, meaning the first day of work for me.





Three days spent.

As a result, I'm behind on my blog reading. I'm trying to play catch up & I feel overwhelmed! Don't you hate it when that happens?

Other than that, I hope everyone is having a wonderful week this first full week of September and that you're not overwhelmed or playing catch up like me. ;-)

Cue the pumpkins

Oh yeah, it's getting about that time.

C'mon fall! I'm so ready for your cool, crisp, warm-colored, fallen-leaved, sweater-wearing, comfort-food-enjoying self. (Now there's a mouthful!)

Fall has always, and I suspect will always, be my most favorite season of the year. I'm nearly jumping up & down in my chair in anticipation of all that the fall season brings.



(We've gone from temps in the 90s to temps in the 60s literally overnight, so I'm ready.)

Do you love fall? Is it your favorite season or do you prefer summer instead?

(All photos from marthastewart.com)

Show & Tell--my yellow desk

My husband bought me this beautiful hand-painted desk & chair about 10 years ago. I adore it!



I have a story that goes along with this...I always have a story, don't I? ;-)

I kept hearing about this amazing furniture store, Johnny Appleseeds, which was an hour drive from here. My mom, dad, daughter & I all took a drive out one day. I saw this desk & instantly fell in love. (I could have bought everything in this store.) I took measurements and went home knowing I'd have some serious convincing to do before it could be mine.

I told my husband all about it. When he asked the price, I got a simple, yet loud,

"WHAAAAT!"

so I knew I was in trouble. It took a few weeks with constant talk about the desk before he agreed to go look at it. He had convinced me into just buying the desk only. I wasn't thrilled with this plan, but I went along with it, trying to scheme how I was going to eventually get the chair too.

When we got to the store, we found the desk & chair were now on sale. Still quite pricey, but at least on sale. The salesman said the desk was being discontinued & they only had the floor model available. He also said that with it being discontinued, you needed to purchase both desk & chair. (Jackpot!)

Hubby really liked it & gave me the go ahead. We actually decided to take it home with us. At the time I drove a minivan so we had to do some maneuvering to make this fit. I remember the salesman helping us load it into the van. Obviously taking one look at my husband & figuring him for a bull in a china shop, I remember the salesman chanting to him, "Gently, gently." I still tease my husband about that to this day.

It would have been ok had it just been the two of us on this trip. However, not only did we have my daughter (in a carseat at the time) but we also had my sister & nephew with us. My sister & nephew literally drove the hour trip with the desk & chair resting on top of them. My sister's comment?

"I'll make any sacrifice for furniture!"

Gotta love her!

I'm going to link this up at Cindy's blog, My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday.



Head on over to Cindy's here and have a wonderful weekend!