welcome october!

As many of you know, I absolutely love Halloween! Over the past couple weeks I have been busy getting my halloween out and creating some new additions as well. Let's begin the tour, shall we?

I found this wreath idea at thelongthread.com and fell in love with it. It was so simple to make and looks absolutely fabulous! (It'd be great in christmas colors too. Hmmm....)

With Curt's help, I made this as a little tribute to one of my favorite poems.

I love the vintage feel of this Boo garland. You can download this template and other incredible images at The Graphics Fairy.

This is my mantle and I'm a little in love with it. The pictures all came from The Graphics Fairy and these incredible labels came from Love Manor. I already had all the jars (since I kinda have a bit of a jar fetish) and the rest is just things I made or already had. Oh, I did buy some eyeballs from Target.

This is the dining room with my halloween garland I made a few years ago.

My pumpkin jars nestled in with my plants.

I love that vintage halloween is really big right now.

I am crazy about these! I saw these on eighteen25 and last weekend Staci and I decided to make some. They are so simple and fun fun fun!

Ah, my halloween tree. I love my halloween tree. I did it a few years ago and every year that I put it up I love it a little more. I printed vintage halloween pictures from the internet (just do a google image search), hung them on some old branches, and put a couple ravens in the mix. Viola! An utterly fantastic halloween tree!

I love this pumpkin character. He's full of halloween whimsy!

My little tribute to Edgar Allan Poe. Love him.

I still need to get some of my treat jars filled.

More fantastic images from The Graphics Fairy. I really love this. Very macabre.

Of course, it wouldn't be complete without my halloween quilt that I made last year. I sewed all the strips together, which for me, was quite a feat. The beautiful quilting was done by Curt's mom, Carol, who is a quilting guru.

Even our kitchen couldn't escape the halloween carnage.

Well, that concludes the halloween tour of the Armstrong's. Happy Haunting!

today things

It is a great day. Fall is in the air and that just makes me happy. Here are few other things I'm excited about today:

-the chilly weather that allows me to pull out the hoodies and scarves.

-the delicious warm mulled cider I'm enjoying right now.

-the tree that's starting to change colors in the back yard.

-listening to my fall-esque music playlists.

-getting ready to road trip up to Moscow tomorrow to see our BFFs. Yay.

-tonight kicks off the start of the NFL season and boy am I excited. it's officially fall once football starts.

I hope you can all find things in your day to be excited about.

leaf gathering

With August winding down I'm ready for fall and everything that goes with it. I've been thinking about some DIY ideas involving leaves. Nothing says fall like leaves. So this morning Curt and I went on a leaf collecting adventure. Well, not so much an adventure as a walk around the yard. I gathered leaves from our trees then started creating. A few months ago my aunt gave me some mirrors and said, "I bet you could do something with these." Does she know me or what? So I took one of the said mirrors, a smattering of jars and vases (all of which were D.I. finds) and viola!

Isn't that the perfect centerpiece? I added a little water to each vase to make it last longer. I just think it looks so crisp and fresh.

I absolutely love the reflection from the mirror, it really adds another dimension.

It was so easy and fun. I'm already thinking about how great it will look in the winter using evergreen branches. So if you're in need of an easy, fresh look, give it a try.

In other news, I painted my front door. I've been thinking about doing it for months, but haven't been able to decide on a color. I finally decided on a color that I absolutely love, turquoise. Verdict? I love it. It's bright and utterly fantastic!

I need to get a new doorknob, but other than that, it looks great!

To keep the leaf creativity going, I cut some branches from one of our trees and made this wreath. I love how the deep red looks against the turquoise.

Well, that wraps up my saturday adventures. Until next time.

the bon voyage summer patio dance party

As many of you know, we like to have parties. So when Paul and Alison made plans to move to attend law school we knew their bon voyage party had to be amazing! As Alison and I enjoy dancing like maniacs, even though we look ridiculous, I knew the parties' funtivities had to include some good dance tunes. Curt and I decorated the patio and backyard with tissue paper pom poms, lights, paper lanterns, tiki torches, and a paper flag banner. Needless to say, it was good times. Someone, who shall remain nameless, even sat on their plate of food! Check out these cute pics from the party.

A summer patio party calls for bright colored decorations, brightly colored candy in jars, lemonade and lots of delicious summer food.

Fun paper lanterns and a brightly colored flag banner along the fence.

The flag banner looked adorable against the white fence.

Me and Alison enjoying the funtivities.

Paul and Curt on the "dance floor".

Enjoying our delicious lemonade.

Myself, Emilie and Alison.

The patio full of party go-ers.

More shots of the lights and paper lanterns.

Alison and Staci.

Thanks to everyone who attended, danced, ate food, and just had a good time. It was one of the funnest parties to date!