get your spook on - somebody set the table

I just finished setting our table for the holiday season (no, not Christmas - the other holiday season) and I think it is one of the easiest ways to add some fun to your decor.  

I must throw in this disclaimer...this is a much nicer idea when you have a dining room separate from your everyday eating area.  We do not have that luxury (cut me some slack, real estate is pricey in Orange County)  This tablescape gets pushed around more than any bullied kid I know to make room for homework and dining.  

Yes, I said it - dining.  We move the beautifully set table so we can eat on our everyday, sturdy white Ikea plates.  Crazy?  Probably, but my husband loves me in spite of it all so all is right with the world.

The "trees" down the middle of the table are from Ikea - seriously love that store!  I purchased them forever ago on sale for like 25 or 50 cents a piece.  I'm not sure why they were marked down so low since they still carry them (current price is just around $5) but I'm not arguing. I originally bought them thinking they would be cute with family pictures tied to them as a family reunion centerpiece.  When I needed something not too big for this table I decided that these would work as a modern take on spooky dead trees.

The place settings consist of orange wooden chargers bought on clearance at Z Gallerie.  Keep an eye on the clearance area of all your favorite stores - you can decorate an expensive looking table for little money if you just shop for bargains.  Want to mimic the look but can't find a good deal on chargers - cut some mdf board or wood from the local home improvement store into the size you want and paint it. Better yet find an orange stain and stain the wood allowing the wood grain to show through.

The silver boney hands also came from Z Gallerie (I think)  I believe I paid full price for these because "I just had to have them" - you know how that goes.  I think that these could be reproduced cheaper with plastic skull hands and silver metallic spray paint.  If anyone tries it let me know how it turns out.

The orange napkins can be found anywhere and then just add your own silverware.  A big pat on the back to anyone that can tell me what movie our silverware has been seen in.
The orange soda bottles I found at Cost Plus (another favorite party store).  I'm not sure of the brand.  You could use Jones or some other orange soda.  I chose this one because it had  plain orange cap with no writing.  The label I made on the computer using s clip art skull and Dead Secretary as my font.
I may add some candles at some point but for now it's good.  I love seeing the traditional orange and black table set up every day and the bonus...it helps with house cleaning since we can't pile bills, papers and other garbage on top of it.

Make some plans to decorate your dining room table for this Halloween.  I even give you permission to wait until it's a bit closer to the 31st so you don't have to push around the place settings you big bully.

get your spook on - terrifying type

Ok, so it's not really terrifying but it is type.  I also realize that this idea won't work for everyone - only those that happen to have a cool vintage typewriter.  So perhaps today's tip is really just for me - my apologizes.  Let's make this yesterdays tip since I just realized I didn't post one yesterday

Remember my happy closet?  That is where the typewriter I found at Goodwill (awesome find, huh?) resides.  I ran across this photo today and the ideas started to swirl in my tiny little Halloween obsessed brain.  

My plan...cover up some of the keys with black and orange paper (I think I will go with circles - not spiders like in the photo) leaving some of the keys exposed.  I like the idea of the letters left spelling out something almost as if a presence from beyond is trying to leave a message.  I'll also need to find a place for my ghost writer typewriter to occupy during this Halloween season.

No typewriter?  Try a ghost writer approach with something else. How about magnets on your fridge or magnet board?  What about using some of that Christmas snow spray on your window or mirrors and handwriting a spooky message in it - it will give the impression of someone scrawling a message on a steamy mirror or foggy window. What message from beyond is your resident spook trying to share?

get your spook on - cutest little creepy

I just ran across this adorable vinyl spider and fell in love.  Well lucky for all of us this little guy can be yours if you win the Studio JK Vinyl giveaway.  Not sure how long the giveaway lasts so head over there right now and leave a comment.  If I'm the lucky winner I plan to give him a home on the window by our stair landing.  

I also have some other Halloween ideas that use vinyl wording.  I plan on heading back over to Studio JK to see if she does any custom work. If my idea pans you'll see it in a future get your spook on post.

JUST ADDED:  I went for a longer visit over on the Studio JK site and saw that the giveaway ended today - big fat hairy spider bummer!  You should still check out the site and the cool vinyl creations she has.  

get your spook on - eye candy

I can't get pictures to copy over to my blog for today's Halloween idea so drop what you are doing and click here and go to pages 11 thru 16.  This masterpiece of a Halloween table is from Amy Atlas and it's fabulous.

I want to have a table like this set up in my front living room so that when trick or treaters look through the door this what they see - can you imagine how the kids eyes would light up?!?!  The problem I see is that we live in a world that most parents (myself included) wouldn't let our kids touch any unwrapped candy or goodies.  Maybe I can come up with something similar with packaged treats - it just wouldn't have the same impact as these gorgeous homemade morsels.

get your spook on - etsy

Looking for some Halloween inspiration?  Have you been invited to a Halloween party and want to take a unique hostess gift?  Need a fun little Halloween treat for your child's school teacher? My suggestion today is to head over to Etsy and check out their Halloween guide.  

countdown to halloween is now...

Get your spook on!  Catchy, huh?

Here is an easy idea to give your ho-hum boring everyday house a little haunted style.  Replace the pictures in your picture frames with Halloween images or other spooky feeling images. Granted, silhouettes aren't the spookiest of things but they did add to the over all feel we were going for last Halloween.  I found these Victorian silhouette dingbats (dingbat - name for a font that is pictures/images and not letters or numbers) at Font Space.  I also use Da Font.  Just type in Halloween in their search engine and see what comes up.  For the dingbats you might need to go specifically to that category before searching Halloween.

Can't find a dingbat you like?  Try spelling out words in your frames using a cool Halloween font.  I could use my four frames to spell help, boo!, eeek, fear - you get the idea.

My second idea for the day (yes, you get two ideas - what a bargain) is...Good Will and black spray paint are your friend.  Hit up your local Good Will or a similar store and find frames, candelabras, light fixtures, clocks, anything you like really and get some black spray paint on it - instant haunted house decor or in my case year round decor since the frames pictured below that were last years Halloween decorations are still up.  In case anyone is wondering I did take down the black plastic tile "marble" fireplace - I have to draw the line somewhere.

You would be amazed at what some spray paint can do.  I found a cheap plastic clock at Big Lots for $8 last week that I plan to hit with black spray paint and change the face to a 13 hour clock.  This will make a great haunted edition to my entryway.

countdown to halloween

Today's countdown to Halloween idea really is a countdown.  I saw this idea on Kristi's blog and I love it.

You can find the directions here.  This is a fun way for your kids to countdown to Halloween. If you are not in the crafty mood you can sometimes find Halloween advent calendars at Target or Cost Plus. Pottery Barn Kids has one this year that I am totally in love with but not enough to fork over the $100+ dollars it costs.

How cute is it?!?!  My kids would love this (who am I kidding - I would love this)  How fun to open up a door each day and find a little treat. Maybe I can pick this up after the holiday when it's on sale - I'll have to keep my eyes open.

countdown to halloween

Now that you have made your homemade peanut butter cups you need to share the goodness. Todays Halloween idea is "phantom-ing" or some people call it boo-ing.

Every year we go out, treats in hand for some good old fashioned ding dong ditching.  The purpose...to deliver treats and a poem to friends & neighbors without being caught. Those people then make treats and copies of the poem and deliver to more people.  The goal is to have everyone in the neighborhood or ward "phantom-ed" by the time Halloween rolls round.

This is one of our favorite family traditions.  If you haven't done it before you really should. You can google "halloween phantom" or "booing" and I'm sure you'll find lots of ideas for treats and poems.  Do you already have this tradition?  Is so, is it a favorite?

countdown to halloween

Sorry for the lack of a Halloween Countdown post yesterday.  We have been getting hit with bad news for the last few days and feeling saddened by it all - I couldn't get myself to post yesterday.  I still can't shake the sadness but thought I would take a minute to post regardless.

So here is yesterdays Halloween idea...Who doesn't love a yummy Halloween treat?  Megan is a huge peanut butter cup fan so when I saw this recipe I knew it was a must try for our family.

Does anyone make homemade candy?  My mother in law makes the best homemade candies at Christmas.  I have made a few, very few, attempts at making candy but it never seems to turn out right.  This recipe seems simple so well see how they turn out.  If you have any easy candy recipe let me know.  I may try to bring some homemade goodness to Halloween.

countdown to halloween

So I didn't love Martha's Halloween idea so I'm sharing a Halloween product that I love.  I am amazed by the work over at Ghoulish Gallery.  I have purchased portraits from this company and they are unbelievable.  As you walk past the portrait it changes.  The one below (Isabella) is one of my favorites.

Lately I have seen very, very cheap knock offs of these portraits at stores and I have to tell you that they don't even compare to the work you get from Ghoulish Gallery.  In addition to getting a great product from Ghoulish Gallery you also get amazing service.  A few years back I needed to get a portrait asap for a friends October birthday and Tim the owner hooked me up.  He is local so he allowed me to come and leave my money in his home mailbox and pick up the portrait all wrapped and waiting for me on his porch.  He was helpful and kind and a pleasure to work with.

I think that these portraits are a necessary purchase for any true Halloween fanatic.  In fact, I think this is my year to purchase.  Believe it or not I have purchased 3 of these beauties and they have all been for other people.  I don't have one hanging in my home but should you come and visit this Halloween keep an eye out for Isabella - hopefully she will be haunting my walls.

countdown to halloween

I know Martha bugs a ton of folks (myself included) but you can't doubt her creative genius and that of her staff.

On marthastewart.com they have a countdown to Halloween with a new Halloween idea of everyday.  I am a few weeks behind with it because I just found it today but now that I'm on board I will share her idea or one of my own every day here on the blog to help us all get ready for the big spooktacular - Oct. 31st.

Here are some of the ideas I like from the past few weeks...

tombstone candy bags - super simple and way cute

This roasted turkey costume almost makes me want to have a baby.  I in no way want more children but I would possibly consider a 5th child if I could put them in this get up.  How hilarious is this costume?  If anyone does this costume for Halloween please send me pictures - I have to see it.

I have wanted to make these paper lanterns for years.  I love seeing the words all lit up.  I like the idea of there being a spooky message to welcome visitors to your home.  I like that this is a cheap idea with a lot of impact.

Have I said how much I love this holiday?  It makes me giddy thinking about decorating my house for Halloween.