Halloween House

When is the right time to put out Halloween decorations? In September I want to decorate for Fall, but that seems too early for Halloween. The problem is, I don't want to “do” Fall, then take it down and do Halloween, then take that down and do Fall/Thanksgiving again.

This year I think I came to a happy compromise. I started by putting out a few pumpkins in mid-September so it would at least start to feel like Fall. The last week of September, I put out the inside decorations and went straight to Halloween. Still too early?

I’ve confined Halloween to the kitchen and dining room. In the dining room, I decided to stick with a black and white theme (except the one green glittery skull).

These birds didn't photograph that well, but they really creep me out!

After Halloween, I will swap the birds and witches with Pilgrims and Indians - the white pumpkins will probably stay where they are.

In the kitchen, I piled EVERYTHING onto this one cabinet. Old and new, homemade and store bought - a little bit of everything! More is more…

Here we go with glitter season - I will be the disco queen from now until January with glitter in my hair and on my face and hands constantly. I love these cat candles!!! I cannot bring myself to actually burn them.

Do you deck the halls for Halloween? Do you love answering the door, or do you cower in the dark hiding from the princesses and pirates?

I'm linking to the Halloween Party at Polish the Stars.

Billy Bob's & Clint Black

In case you haven't noticed, I like country music.

One of our favorites is Clint Black (even after his weird, bossy behavior on The Apprentice). A couple of years ago, we were really lucky and got to see him perform at a tiny, historic venue in Galveston. It was an amazing show.

So, when I found out he was playing in our area last weekend, I got tickets. The venue for this show was a different sort of "historic" location. Maybe more iconic than historic - Billy Bob's in the Fort Worth Stockyards. Even though I've lived in this area forever, I had never been there before, and it was a different experience, fo' sho'.



The club was a little bit honky tonk, a little bit concert hall and a whole lot tourist trap. Still, the people watching was pretty darn good and there were a couple of cool things to see.




They had an entire wall of autographed hand prints. Loretta! (tiny hands)




The Killer - Jerry Lee Lewis - very cool. And another favorite....



Willie!!!!!! His prints were the dirtiest because of all the people putting their hands up to compare. Needless to say, I DID NOT touch that wall (gross)!

Do you have to be a little person to be famous? It just seems that when you see them in person, most celebrities are slightly stunted. All of these prints seemed really small.

Anyway, we had a little time to explore, then it was time for the show...





Clint sang all the favorites. And, another one of my faves....





...was singing them too! Joe dressed the part with his ball cap, very crisp shirt and jeans, and boots. He fit right in. I don't have any western wear, so I didn't really blend. I just felt and dressed like such a "mom".

We had a good time, and got to stay out late like real grown ups. Fun, fun...

Halloween Crafting

I was looking for a quick Halloween crafting project, and after going through some old magazines and books, I got inspired to paint these three little wooden plaques that I had laying around.

I used acrylic paint, and painted directly onto the wood. Once I finished the main images, I put coat of water-based satin finish varnish on them. I tinted the varnish with a bit of light brown paint to give them a little bit of “age.”

I love the color of the sun and the sky on this one.

I really like the way the owl turned out. I like the simplicity of the silhouette.

After they were dry, I added some picture hangers to the back because I didn’t know what I was going to do with them. Instead of hanging them, I ended up just tucking them into my Halloween decorations, but I also think they would have been cute hanging in a row on a wall.

Lots of Halloween inspiration out there in blog-land. I'm linking to a couple of Link Parties - check them out:

1. The Power of Paint at Domestically Speaking

2. The Halloween Link Party at Polish the Stars

Cinderelly, Cinderelly...

I would just like to know who is supposed to do all the chores around here now that Chicken Little has moved away?

This is how I spent my Sunday:

Making pancakes - if CL were home, I feel certain that someone would have made breakfast for the fams before I got out of bed. (BTW - the trick to a perfect pancake is waiting to flip them until those bubbles pop.)

Unloading the dishwasher... really?? Where does this stuff go? I don't remember how to do this. At least since she's gone, it takes several days before it's full enough to run.

Oh, the glamorous life! Poop-scoopin' duty! Jealous?? (just keepin' it real, folks)

A little Fall decorating outside...



...and a little decorating inside. This part was fun, but why bother? No one is here to appreciate it. heavy *sigh* and mopey face

Somewhere in here I also went to the grocery store, paid a couple of bills, folded a load of laundry and cut back/cleaned out the back yard flower beds and 1/2 of the beds in the front. Oh woe and weariness, poor, poor, pitiful me... ;-)



Finally, Prince Charming rode in, took a little pity on my Cinderella soul... and cooked dinner. Yes, that is THREE roasted chickens you see. PC's traveling quite a bit, and he's trying to make sure I eat something other than cereal for the next couple of weeks. I can cook, but I don't like to - especially when it's only me. Besides, the man is a professional, so it's better for everyone to just stay out of his way and be appreciative!

Anyway, PC made enough for our dinner (just the two of us even though there are three plates out - it's a habit), and enough left over for salads and sandwiches and maybe even chicken salad later this week. YEA!

CRASH! Back to reality.... did you see those dirty pans? Who do you think did the dishes?

Chicken Little, my sky is falling!!!

Just to be clear - this post is not about implying PC did nothing - he did! In addition to dinner, he did the man-stuff: mowed, edged and weed-eated (is that a word?). This is simply my angst around the loss of the live-in child-labor I used to have.

Not so Simple Fall Mantle

I've finished the Fall transformation. Everything outside is still as green as it can be - not even a hint of changing colors - but the inside looks warm and cozy, and I've done my best to transform the outside, too.

First things first - the mantle. My mantle decorations have been the same for the past 5 years, and they are getting T.I.R.E.D. I really, really, really, really, really want to throw it all away and start over, but I'm restraining myself (I know it's hard to believe).

I'm hoping that I may be moving soon (cross your fingers and say your BIG prayers, more on that later). I know that I do not want to go out and buy even more stuff that I would have to move. So, here it is, my WAY overdone, but still festive Fall mantle.




And here's the coffee table, and the chair that you can't sit in because you'll fall through (the seat needs to be tightened).

How did I get the real pumpkins so shiny, you ask? Well, I'll tell ya - when you get 'em home, wash all the dirt off, then dry them. Make a mixture of 1 part Mop 'N Glo and 1 part water and put it in a spray bottle. Spray 'em down and let dry - don't dry them with a towel because you'll wipe all the shiny off - and voila!

I LOVE the ugly gourds the very best.

Maybe I should downsize - put a few of these things back in the storage bin. I want simple, but I have NEVER done simple. I don't have to put everything out just because I have it, right? We'll see...

I'm linking to the "Fantle" (fall mantle) linky party at The Nester. My first one... yay! Check it out HERE - tons of inspiration - will make you want to completely redo everything you've done. :-)

Stashbusting September - Pumpkins

You may remember that I signed up for Stashbusting September here. I had big plans for projects I wanted to get done, but only managed to tackle one. Still, I’m pretty happy with that.

Last-Minute-Lisa that I am, I didn’t manage to get the link back posted on the official site in time to actually participate according to the rules. Bummer…

Oh well, here’s my project anyway. I decided to tackle some of the fabric and thrift sweaters that I seem to be hoarding. It was fun, easy and once again I may have gotten a little carried away.This is the neck of a sweater I got at the Salvation Army.

And this is what I made from it! Pretty cool, huh?? I got the idea and instructions from Martha (of course). And, here are the ga-billion others I made, plus I'm still finishing up a couple of bigger ones.

LOVE 'EM!

I'm linking up here:

Gratitude Friday

Today, I'm grateful for:

1. This has been one of those weeks, and I’m grateful for it's lessons, and that it's almost over.
2. Good days! Every day that I wake up and am able to get out of the bed is a good day.
3. More pumpkins. ;-)
4. Second chances – hopefully I’ll be able to tell you more about this later.
5. My Fall and Halloween decorations are up (again, more on that later) and I have the entire weekend to enjoy them.