Archive | October, 2011

Spooky Tabletoppin’

By megan on October 31, 2011 in Fall Projects, Halloween

Happy Halloween blog friends! I don’t think that Halloween can get any spookier than snow, no power, and no school…just sayin’

OK back to business, since there were so many elements of the Halloween Bash that I wanted to share with you, I’m breakin it down. Let me start by saying, I’ll be prepared this time when I see some bloody lanterns hanging around, since last week I almost crashed my car into a pole when I spotted a humongous porch spider web on someone’s house that I don’t even know! (true story)

In this post I wanted to share some of the fun tablescapes I created for this spooky shindig! First the food table: simple, slightly spooky, and just a little bit country. I used 4 yards of burlap fabric for an in expensive table cloth and repurposed the humongous wreath she bought that was way too big for her front door.

The mantel was covered in moss, straw, and loaded up with a spider web and tons of teeny spiders (with their spider momma of course) I layered the scene with some cardboard fence cut outs to make it feel graveyardy (yup…real word) And finally added black and orange glitter skulls to the tops of crystal candle sticks and a pair of bloody candles.

For the dessert table, I stuck with a black and silver motif. Look to the right and you’ll see the flowers my client received for her 10 year anniversary the week before. Well, they were looking like they were on the way out, so I decided to Halloween them. (black spray paint is pretty much my bff all month)

That’s right…I risked THIS scene when she came home…

for this halloween amazingness! Luckily she loved it! (for the record I did have her husband’s OK)

Moving right along…

We needed a table outside for the booze (seriously…I did not drink ANY!) Again, I love a no sew table cloth…2.5 yards of a creepy fabric from Joanne’s. (MK PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: GET OUT SHOPPING TODAY…they are practically giving the stuff away now…next year comes quick)

I fell in love with these glitter flying bats and had to use them in my flower arrangement! Although they flopped more than flew, so I spray painted some twigs to help them along. Please note that I’m still using the moss…seriously, I’m putting it everywhere!

I don’t like to follow the rules, so I’m always trying to think of different ways to use decorative items. I bought this fabric and glitter spider web and pulled it then tied it across their patio table…how fun…right?!?

(PS: don’t you just love cheesecloth draped anywhere on halloween? Especially when it’s tea soaked, all torn up, and draped across little white christmas lights!)

So to finish off the tablescapes I created for this spooky shindig, I want to share with you this simple and elegant coffee table (totally Better Homes and Gardens…right?). Love the pumpkin sitting in the moss, love the little silver lanterns, love the white candles, and loved that I thought it would be a good idea to put moss INSIDE the lanterns. (Well the package didn’t say flammable) Right, remember how I said I loved to put the moss everywhere, um, it’s a bad call! (One of the lanterns may have exploded) Note to self: For those of you that love word math…

Moss + Candles = Explosion

No one was injured in the decorating of this party!

Happy Halloween and get out shopping for deals today! (especially all of you black friday people) You’ll thank me next fall.

Light the Night

By megan on October 26, 2011 in Fall Projects, Halloween, Mason Jars

This weekend I had the opportunity to decorate for a Halloween party. This being a night time (i.e. no kids) event, my clients really wanted to use as much candlelight as possible. I heart mason jars! They are such a simple and inexpensive way to create a warm glow by dropping a tea light inside.

I attached some wire under the mouth of the jar then added a handle to the top. (Needle nose pliers were my bff for this job) Lets face it, ideas for mason jars are all over the internet, so in this post I want to show you how I pushed the gross factor for this party!

First, I had to concoct the right shade of blood, and although I’m guessing you could find just the right shade at the paint store, but I just happened to be raiding my kids craft room for this project (which, by the way, seems to be 3 parts red, 1 part black and a splash of water)

Now, it was a little trial and error to get just the right look for dripping blood (do serial killers think about this?!?) but I determined that the honey dripper’s flat top really did the best job!

And of course I had to do this to two dozen jars to really get the full extent of the gross factor!

We hung them all over the bushes during the day…

and I couldn’t wait to see how they sparkled at night!

And it looked even better against the luminaries that

light the walkway to the back yard!

Stay tuned this week for some more fun ideas from my other Halloween ventures (one might have even spontaneously combusted…just sayin’!)

A Tangled Web

By megan on October 18, 2011 in Fall Projects, Front Porch, Halloween

My neighbors and friends keep stopping by to ask about our new pet…Charlotte. To be honest, I sort of winged the construction of this web when I stared it on my porch last weekend. The whole time I was thinking, I should be taking pictures because I might want to blog about this…but I wasn’t even sure how it would turn out. Well, needless to say, we all LOVE her!

And needless to say, I didn’t take any “how to” pics. Which really worked out for my friend, since her daughter begged her to make one at their house too. Back to the hardware store…and this time it was documented…step by step!

So here’s what you need. For my web I ended up using 200ft of clothes line, but here I only used 100ft. I also needed some ceiling hooks for this porch, but you may already have one for your hanging baskets.

STEP 1: String one length of rope vertically, tying knots at both ends.

Before you tie the knots, you’ll need to burn the rope

once it’s cut to prevent fraying!

STEP 2: Tie another length of rope horizontally tying a knot at the center point.

STEP 3: With the remaining rope, tie another knot in the center and begin to tie tight knots as you circle around the horizontal and vertical ropes.

STEP4: Keep going and going and going!

Don’t worry if it’s not prefect…spiders don’t seem to mind.

WHAT A TANGLED WEB WE WEAVE

You might want to be a little more organized with the rope, just sayin’

STEP 5: Make it as BIG as you can covering as much of the horizontal and vertical rope as possible.

STEP 6: Now onto the vertical ropes. Starting from the center loop the rope around the connections you have already made and pull tightly. Repeat on all sides!

Check out the difference between the knots on the horizontal and vertical connections vs. the looping on the diagonal connection. It helps give you a little wiggle room to straighten things out when you are done!

And here is the finished product! This spider is named SofandSam and if you look closely you’ll see he even has a little lunch on his web!

Now start your weaving…and remember

“You are never more than three feet away from a spider”

Beyond the Expected

By megan on October 17, 2011 in Fall Projects, Front Porch

For the most part I am a pretty traditional gal. I’m all about the pops of orange when it comes to fall decorating.

However, when the walkway leading to my front porch looks like this… I simply can’t just ignore it!

Planted in the spring, the never-ending blooms would certainly make Martha proud. I decided to use this inspiration as the starting point for my front porch display.

You see, I stuck with the traditional hay bail and corn stalk, but used some hydrangeas as my inspiration splash of color. From there I added huge fuchsia mums (Costcos for $11.99…no joke) kale with a purple hue & a white pumpkin. And to top it all off, these amazing Halloween lanterns with the purple glow! (What would I do without Home Goods)

What house doesn’t need gargoyles?!?

So there you have it…my non-orange Halloween front porch! I hope it has inspired you to think beyond the expected in your fall decorating. Oh and my little friend Charlotte there, check back soon and I’ll show to create one of your very own!

Takin’ the Do-Ovah on the Road

By megan on October 11, 2011 in Centerpieces, Fall Projects

A few weeks ago, I attended a vendor fair to raise money for The Tyler Foundation. Although, some people might think the “Do-Ovah” does not really fit into the typical craft fair mold (yes I was sitting next to people selling jewelry, candles, and knit hats) since it was for charity I thought I’d give it a try.

This being my first fair, I had to decide what my tablescape should look like. I knew I’d be putting up some of my design boards, but what else would work? I also knew I’d have a white table cloth, and knowing me, that wasn’t going to be enough. I headed to Joanne’s to check out what fall inspiration I could find. I found this beautiful burlap in the utility fabrics for just $3.99 a yard. For under $10, my table was beginning to look stunning! Burlap is just like my gingham for the fall.

Since I wasn’t selling a product, but rather, a service I decided to come up with a little presentation to show potential clients a little bit of the Do-Ovah in action. Lots of people have been asking me about what to do to create affordable centerpieces. This was the perfect opportunity to show them (and, of course YOU since I knew I’d be writing my first post about it) I scoured the clearance rack of TJ Maxx for the perfect pieces. I started with a large platter and a lantern that would be used consistently in each display.

I decided to make a display that could be used all year, by simply updating a few pieces each month. For September I used some decorative balls covered in seashells…cauz let’s face it, no one is ready to say good by to summer just yet. I also used a book and owl to represent back to school.

For the beginning of October I switched out the seashells with a pumpkin and some gourds. Then, as we get into the spookier time of the month, I took away the owl and added a skull & bones with a bit of green cheesecloth fabric. You are all set for a freaky Halloween!

Finally, pull the scary stuff and throw in a turkey and some kale and, you guessed it, Happy Thanksgiving!

This was such a great event and it was so fun for me to bring a little bit of the “Do-Ovah” on the road. The best part of it all was when people started calling me the “local Nate Berkus” cause, come on, he IS one of the design greats. What a compliment! Hope to see what you decided to add to a centerpiece of your own.