Getting Ready for Halloween

The end of September is near and I’m getting ready for Halloween. Avery was just a little lump of a tiger {she was Aubie} last year for Halloween at 3 months old. But this year she can walk around and is a little more aware of what’s going on which means I’m excited to see her reaction to it all! When it comes to holidays, there’s something about having a kid that gives me back the kind of excitement I had when I was a kid. We have plans for a trip to the Pumpkin Patch and I’m researching costume ideas. I also decided to locate our Halloween decorations…and had no luck! I was in a slight panic last week thinking that the tub of Halloween stuff was donated with the last trip to Salvation Army. If the plastic skeletons that hang from our front tree didn’t make it, then I’ll be okay. But the actual home decor that’s a little more chic {and expensive} is what I’m worried about. Not to mention I’ve been collecting it since before Chris and I ever started dating so it would take me a long time to build back up to what I had before!

Should the old stuff be truly gone forever, I need a backup plan. So I started thinking ahead to how I can quickly and cheaply add some new decorations this year and I came up with a few ideas. I was inspired by this picture I found on Houzz.

See the skeleton picture reflected in the mirror? I saw that and thought – that would be great to hang on the wall for Halloween! I began searching Etsy for a skull print and there are tons of options. This one seems to have similar qualities to the inspiration photo with it’s sketched look and antiqued paper.

It’s a really reasonably priced little print which makes me happy. And I’m sure I have an empty frame I could use. But I’ve got the DIY bug and I don’t want to just buy an aged-looking crisp piece of art. I want something that looks and feels like a page from an antique book, or was hanging on the wall of creepy haunted mansion. Maybe it was salvaged from an abandoned asylum? It’s Halloween afterall! So…I decided I’m going to DIY it. For FREE! I’m not sure how it’s going to turn out but at least I know I’ve got etsy as a backup plan!

And because I love a good happy ending, I found the box of missing decorations when I cleaned out the entire garage this past weekend. {There was definitely an embarrassing happy dance in the driveway for all the neighbors to see.} I can’t wait to start putting them up!

So when do you put up your Halloween decorations? Comment below, and stay tuned to see how my creepy skull print turns out!

 

 

UPDATE: My artwork is complete! To see the tutorial for my DIY Project, click here!

Design Daydreams

I’m designing an entire room around these pillows from Whitlock & Co on Etsy. It all started with the floral one in the middle. People tend to have a hard time mixing pillows and patterns. The easiest thing you can do is find one with multiple colors in a large pattern, then pick one or two colors from that design and pick different size patterns in those colors. I adore this Etsy shop because the listings are visually organized this way. It’s fool-proof! Don’t you just LOVE how these three look together?! I do.

 

{ Pillows: 1 | 2 | 3 }

The Pillows will look fantastic on one of these sofas. I just can’t decide which one!

Willow Sofa | Lounge Sofa

I am thinking of all kinds of ways to style this coffee table.

Coffee Table

I think this buffet on One Kings Lane is gorgeous and I need to have it in the room too. Try to think outside the box on this one a bit. Just because it’s made to be a buffet doesn’t mean it can’t be used as a console! I love how you can see the wood grain and it’s not painted solid white.

{ Buffet }

I’m getting very excited about this room! Hopefully I can bring it to life instead of just daydreaming about it.

And speaking of decorating a room…today is REVEAL DAY if anyone has been following along with the “One Room Challenge” in blog land. {Quick Backstory: Linda from Calling It Home started this challenge where she lines up 20 PRO bloggers and they have 6 weeks to design a room in their home and post on their progress! So much fun and SO much design eye-candy! I would so LOVE to be included in this someday. It would seriously kick my butt into gear!} Anywhoo – You should check out all the rooms on this tour because there are some truly beautiful and inspiring spaces!

It was really hard to pick but I think my favorites are the bathroom on Copy Cat Chic and the dining room on Design Indulgence. Definitely going to borrow a few of their ideas for my own!

Do you have a room in your home that’s screaming for a makeover?

 

 

 

 

 

TGIF on Instagram

Happy Friday!

I have this little sign hanging up in my office. It’s  from Paperchat on Etsy. Meagen was even kind enough to customize it a bit for me! {She has an option that’s spelled ya’ll but I asked for the proper, southern spelling!} Her designs are amazeballs and the sayings she uses are right up my alley. I definitely need to go back for one of the gold prints to hang in my home office!

I love you coworkers ::mostly:: but “y’all gonna make me lose my mind, up in here, up in here”. {Recognize the DMX lyrics?!} How perfect is this for an office as crazy as mine?!

Anywhoo, today I really thought I was going to ‘lose my mind’ so I braved the cold and did a little bauble shopping. Posted a photo of my purchases on Instagram. Do you follow me on Instagram yet? Go take a look to find out what I bought!

Enjoy your weekend, friends!