Happy Holloween!

 

Wishing you a wonderful day filled with treats!  

All of our best wishes and thoughts go to those affected by Sandy.

 

 

Holiday pumpkins

 

I think one of my favorite things about fall is the visit to the pumpkin patch.  I love to see all of the different varieties that have become so popular over the last few years.  I especially like the way we have progressed into the adult version of pumpkin carving and display.  These pieces from Martha Stewart are so fun, they make me wish I had some real carving skills. 

 This year we are keeping with our tradition of having a little carving party for the kids and their friends at the house.  I am so excited and hoping to get it all together including the other fun games like bobbing for apples, and relay races!

 Do you have any traditions that you have started for Halloween?  Are you a pro at carving or decorating pumpkins?

This is the first year I have seen the really large white and pink pumpkins at the patch- loved them!

 

happy halloween

 

I hope you are having a wonderful Halloween kind of day!  Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, all the dressing up and running around town being someone wild and crazy.  So fun!

What are you up to today?  Will you be dressing up and trick or treating?  Will you be hosting a little party?

image via Sweet Paul Magazine

Handcrafted Halloween- How to get spellbinding decor

Designers Challenge 101: 

Top tips for decorating like a pro!

Don't forget this Friday we go live with all our decorating tips, tricks, and how-to's for decorating on shoestring budget; do it like the pros!

 Below is a list of all the designers participating: 

Traci Zellar of Traci Zeller Designs

Kelly Berg of Arte Styling

Kelly James of Design Ties

Dayka Robinson of Meditations on Life and style 

Kathy Passarette of Creative home expressions 

Amanda Burdge of Abhomeinteriors.com

Susan Snow of  Movingdesinz

Ok great, so what does this mean for you? All seven of us are decorating the same family room with a six thousand dollar budget in mind. The idea is to see how the pros take a few thousand dollars and make a room look fabulous, when done right! We will be showing pictures, products used and much more so tune in and be sure to see all the great ideas!

Now back to our regularly scheduled broadcast....

Is it me or were we just celebrating the New Year? I cannot believe that Halloween is just a few short weeks away. Fall has approached us at warp speed and it is time to get decorating! October is the best time to send shivers of delight throughout the house, and prepare for another holiday filled with ghouls and goblins. Here are some of my favorites!

Get a heads up on this Halloween:

Super easy to make. Hollow out the bottom of an eggshell, or mold from clay. Spray on an antique white paint for a base coat. Then paint with crackle paint (like Delta cream coat.) Buy little hats from a craft store, and glue on an orange nose made of felt, or paint one on. Take a sharpie and paint on a ghoulish grin and you have yourself little monsters. With a hot glue gun you can glue string on them and hang them from chandeliers, over archways, and make fun mobiles with then to hang on the porch.

Stencil your Pumpkins

Have a favorite poochie and want to show him off? Better Homes and gardens has pumpkin-carving stencils for a Happy Howloween! Click here to get yours!

DIY creepy crawlies

Everyone knows that half the excitement of trick or treating is the presentation of the entrance! Add a wicked web of scary delight by using black clothesline. Use one large eye hook to secure bottom of the web and use tacks to build and secure the design. Add a big black spider from a craft store and for extra fun add baby creepy crawlies (every craft store has them) all over your front porch, pillars and plant beds.

Source

No carve Pumpkins for the lazy at heart (me)
Take old paint from around the house, Black sharpies (add a little painters tape to help get a straight edge if you like and I recommend doing this before you dip into the sauce) and you have a plethora of decorated pumpkins. This is great for unused fireplaces, table buffets, porches, and mantel decorating.

Sources

Source

Another quick and easy way to decorate pumpkins is with tacks, and ribbon:

Sources

Candlescape your way through fall

Grab the kids and the hubs and take a stroll around the neighborhood. Gather up acorns, pinecones, seeds and plop them into a mason jar. (make sure the mason jar doesn't  have vodka in it for those who read my previous vodka post!) Insert votives of spiced orange, chai, cinnamon, and vanilla to create the smells of autumn and a beautiful holiday candlescape.

Source

A pillar of harvest

Take pumpkins and stack them into a topiary. Start large on the bottom and cap off with one thats a little smaller. Remove the tops of the bottom two to secure pumpkins placement. You can also take a steel rod or landscaping stake (both from a hardware store) to hold them more securely. For added fun take the painted pumpkins from above and stack into fun colored arrangements. Put onto an old pot and use for a festive tablescape, fireplace decoration or porch decor.

Source

Spooky candy

This is a great way to use what you have and update for the current holiday. Take existing apothecary jars, or vases, fill with candy and decorate with craft paper a haunted jar of BOOO!

Source

I love the fall season and everything it brings. This fall decorate your home with everything that reminds you of home. Fragrant candles, yummy candy, harvest decorations, good food, and of course booze!


What are some of your favorite holiday memories?

Eat, drink and be scary!

Don't forget to follow us on twitter!

And become a FAN on our AB HOME facebook fanpage!

Target Tuesday.

In honor of our make-up wearing, costumed loving Halloween merriment, I wanted to slip in a little holiday festivities for our TT today. Typically I wouldn't add Halloween to my category list of Target Tuesday must haves. But this year will be my nieces last youth, dress up to get free candy before you are an adult, Halloween. She is delighted and sad all in one big plastic pumpkin container of candy. Oh to be young again!

Halloween isn't really one of MY favorite holidays. But, I do love the magic, excitement, and anticipation it brings to young faces everywhere. I enjoy seeing the wonder, fear, and make believe pleasure it brings to young and old alike. And who doesn't love candy! IT HAS SUGAR IN IT!!!

So for my lovely niece, and her bon voyage to youth, I will design a decorative over-the-top acrylic candy container. Carved and molded into fun ghouls, princesses, and Vampires (what is halloween with out vampires?) They will be light to carry, clear so candy can be visible (you have to SEE the potential sugar count) and they will have ribbons for handles. Once the night of Halloween has wrapped up, the decorative acrylic holder can be used as a candy dish, candle holder, or a vodka mug, I mean beer mug. Candy and vodka! Who doesn't love that combo?

And I suppose for those of you are caring, involved, and conscious these delightful containers can be used to plant a tree, or shrub and give as a gift. Multi functional. Love that!