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In need of a last minute jack-o-lantern and running out of ideas? Check out these adorable and creative pumpkins from Sweet Paul. Make yours into a terrarium or paint and decoupage the outside (no carving needed!). These were beautifully photographed by Colin Cooke. Check out Sweet Paul for more pumpkins and chic halloween decor.
Hey all! Hope you are enjoying the fall weather. Last Sunday was the most beautiful and perfect autumn day here in Ohio. It was brisk, but not cold, the sky was blue and the leaves were about at their peak. When I took the dog out in the morning I knew we had to do something.
Unfortunately we got going too late to go to a pumpkin patch. Instead we headed out to do some shopping at our favorite local grocery store Kriegers Market in Cuyahoga Falls. They always have the most amazing selection of Ohio grown apples, sweet local cider and a huge assortment of pumpkins and squash.
I also picked out a few cute white mini-pumpkins for our kitchen table since they were 3 for 99 cents (how can you resist?).
We’ll be carving our jack-o-lanterns and baking pumpkin seeds (my favorite!) tomorrow. We are hoping this year we will have some trick-or-treaters and will probably just curl up on the sofa Sunday night in case some come by. Are you doing anything fun this weekend to celebrate?
My good friend, Evita from the Happy Heathen always has the most gorgeous Halloween spread and she was kind enough to share a tutorial from this year’s decor with us today! Be sure to check out the rest of Evita’s beautiful Samhain/Halloween decorations over. She also has more amazing tutorials for DIY Bat Garland, cat lace placemats and her spooky DIY candle votives.
Hey everyone, it’s Evita from The Happy Heathen with a fairly inexpensive and easy way to make vintage looking chromolithographs to spook up your decor for Halloween. Check around your place, as some of these items may already be in your possession, and are just waiting for a chance to come back to life!
Needed:
Printer
Paper – preferably cardstock or photo paper.
Frame – we purchased ours from a thrift store for about 50 cents.
Ribbon – about a yard will do.
Be sure to visit the Graphics Fairy for more fantastic images!
Happy Haunting!
Evita
I’m loving my new pair of TOMS Botas. I rocked a pair of their classic flats all summer and now that it’s getting cold, my toes have been getting chilly. I didn’t want to give up the comfort of my TOMS so I checked out their new fall collection and picked up the Botas for myself. They are just as comfy, perfect for work and are so cute. And with all TOMS, my pair paid for a pair for a child in need.
My mom has been digitizing a lot of our family photos and this week she posted some of my favorite photographs of my Great-Grandpa Otto and Great-Grandma Elise (or Granny). They are so beautiful and inspiring I had to share them.
This photo is from their wedding in Chicago. I love my granny’s dress and their cake is so sweet. I wish someone still had their cake topper.
They were so fashionable, even by today’s standards. My mom remembers Grandpa always in his suits and granny looks like a movie star in her fur coat and hat. I wish people still took photographs like this.
I love this pair of pictures. I think my granny looks so beautiful and serene and Grandpa Otto look so handsome.
unfortunately, I was never able to meet my great-grandfather. But my Granny was alive when I was born and she loved me to pieces. One of my mom’s and my most cherished possessions is a video of Granny telling her immigration story with me on her lap.
This discovery comes courtesy of Jared (the husband). I’ve always been drawn to art that takes common, inexpensive materials (like paper and thread) and elevates them to something of value and beauty. I spent this afternoon pouring over Anna-Wili Highfield‘s website. Her paper animal sculptures are some of the most stunning pieces of art I have seen in a long time. The daughter of a puppeteer with a degree in Fine Arts who also worked at the Opera Australia for a period of time, Anna clearly has the creativity bone and an eye for beauty.
I love the birds. I think they all have such life and personality. Jared was really drawn to the sewn paper cow bust. See more of Anna’s paper creatures here in her gallery. Which is your favorite?
I’ve already gushed about Flourish once this week. Twice may be excessive, but it’s totally deserved. I got another little package this week with some samples of their fragrance oil and a tube of glossy lip tint in Ruby and once again Flourish won me over. Lipstick usually doesn’t look right on me. I end up looking like a little girl who got into Mommy’s make-up. This lip tint gives me the right healthy, shiny, natural color without being heavy or overwhelming. It’s what I imagine Snow White would wear if she was a modern girl.
Also, the perfume oil is wonderful! Most alcohol-based perfumes give me a major headache. I wore my sample of Woodsmoke & Vanilla all day today and I am head-ache free and enjoying the beautiful warm, sweet and woodsy fragrance.
I’m 23. 7 years away from entering my 30′s. I’m not scared of 30, but it does feel like a milestone age. While I am a grown up, I feel like your twenties are still your time to make mistakes, learn, grow and become your adult self while you are between your post-college years and kids. I want to set myself up for some awesome 30′s, 40′s, 50′s and beyond, developing good habits, experience things that will make me a more worldly person and making sound investments.
I started my list of things to do before I turn 30 a month or so ago and I figure we better start checking them off now since some of them are pretty lofty.
Note: This list is subject to change and develop. I will be adding to it and crossing things off. But the goal is to never take anything off the list and to try to achieve as many of these as I can.
- Find time to enjoy books again. I love reading. But I’m finding as I get older and the responsibilities pile on it has become less of a priority. I miss being able to really sit down and get lost in a book. I would love to get back in the habit of spending free time with my nose in a book.
- Work out regularly. I haven’t had a regular workout schedule since I was running cross-country in high school. Sure, I did the Bridal Bootcamp DVD for a few months before the wedding, but I hardly feel like that counts. I would like to get in the habit of working out regularly. I think part of that will come when I find an activity that I really enjoy. Maybe it’s Yoga or Pilates or running again. I’m not sure, but I need to find it before I turn 30.
- Go on a REAL honeymoon. Right after the wedding Jared wanted to get back to work and frankly we couldn’t afford the kind of honeymoon we really wanted to take. We toyed around with a few ideas just to go somewhere. But ultimately we couldn’t get motivated enough about them to spend the money. We decided to wait until we could afford the trip of our dreams. I have started putting away a chunk of each paycheck to pay for that trip.
Own a home. We’re working on it. Here is hoping I can cross this off the list soon.That’s a big one we can check off. Welcome to 86 Maple.
- Host a holiday. Before I’m 30 and when we own a home of our own I would love to host a Thanksgiving or Christmas. I would love to try to cook a turkey and come up with a beautiful place setting and bring people together in our home. Of course I need to cross owning a home off the list first.
- Come up with a really unique idea. Will clarify in a separate post.
- Have a real career I can see myself sticking with and loving for years. Right now I’m working a part-time job that is OK, but I don’t see becoming a career. By the time we have kids I would love to be settled into a career.
Visit Niagara Falls. Believe it or not, I’ve never seen Niagara Falls.Jared took me an on amazing belated anniversary trip over a long labor day weekend.- Do something charitable every year. We already do Toys for Tots every holiday, so my goal is just to keep this up.
Have a beautiful (non-wedding) photo taken of Jared and me. I know this may seem silly, but we really don’t have a ton of photos of the two of us outside the wedding. We don’t have a lot opportunity to be photographed at all. Is it narcissistic that I would like some lovely photos of us while we’re young for our children and grandchildren to look at someday? We have a ton of wedding photos, but I would love some non-wedding day photos for our album.We snuck in some photos with my old college roommate Christa Kimble in the summer of 2010. See more here.- Go to Europe. Perhaps we can combine this with the honeymoon… we’ll see.
Plant a garden.Summer 2011 we checked this one off! And will probably continue to for summers to come. We learned so much about our little garden and hopefully it will get bigger and better every summer.- Throw myself a birthday party. I might save this one for the last second and throw myself a 30th birthday party. I haven’t really had a birthday party since I was about 9. Why not throw yourself a beautiful party?
- Keep a Diary. This one is in process. On January 29th, 2012 I started a 5 years diary. On January 29th, 2017 I’ll be able to officially cross this one off the list a few months before I turn 30. I think it will be a great way to chronicle the last half of my 20′s.
- Learn something new every year. I love to learn new things. Any I never want to stop. 24 – Rose Gardening
I know butterflies are typically a symbol of spring and summer, but Monarchs are migrating south right now and their beautiful orange hue are perfect for autumn.
I adore these pretty butterfly accessories from Agape Live Love‘s new collection. They are like a scene from a fairy tale, where the birds and butterflies always seem to land on the princess like a perfectly placed piece of jewelry. I think this ring is so precious and for a mere $12 it’s an inexpensive frill to make your everyday that much more lovely.
Photos by Diane Loveless Photography.
It’s been awhile since I have recommended a new book. Months ago I ran across the book Simply Scandinavian on amazon and immediately put it on reserve at the local library. It finally came in this week and I just about died when I started looking through it. The featured spaces are everything I could ever want in a home. Clean, light, casual, comfortable and effortless with an eclectic mix of vintage and contemporary. As we inch closer to our first home it is just the inspiration we need to start honing our style.
You can pick it up at amazon or if you are cheap frugal like me, pick it up at the library!
Book scans from Design*Sponge.