A Great Pumpkin & Haunted Halloween Houses

Good Afternoon! I hope everyone had a glorious weekend! Mine started out just great~~then went to not so good :(  ---Friday night for our movie night, we started the weekend with Disney's Tower of Terror movie, which is so awesome. If you have never seen it it is so great! I love the throwback to Halloween 1939 at the Hollywood Towers Hotel...so spooky and cool! We had our snacks and I got some great apple dip for our apples:  Marzetti peanut butter/carmel! SO yummy! Caitlin was happy that I also picked up candy apple mix but we haven't made those yet. Then Saturday morning I was feeling okay until Saturday afternoon I was down for the count with a terrible head cold! It had me feeling awful Saturday and Sunday! Thank goodness I woke up feeling much better today! I hate losing precious time being sick!!!

Today I used one of those transfers I had bought for the pumpkins....remember these a few posts back?

I used the "Trick or Treat" one and it came out great! Sorry for the shine on the pictures.

I took out some more stuff today..I am determined to be done by the first week of October! I don't like to rush it! These little houses are from CVS several years ago. Love them! They are just ceramic--not tea light houses or anything. I think they are adorable.

After last Halloween, I picked these up at a dollar store:

I have to find a place for them! I couldn't pass them up!  Look how cute they are up close!

Before I get to cooking dinner, I have some big news! Our little silkie hen Frankie laid her first egg yesterday! She seems confused because she laid it in an odd spot and didn't seem to care about it. It had a soft shell and was light pink...sadly it was damaged (a little hole in it) but it was her first egg so we congratulated Miss Frankie on a job well done. Oh, and we decorated the chicken coop for Halloween too! But that's another post! I think it's time for a little dip while I'm cooking...

Have a great night!

Outdoor Decorations & Other Special Stuff!

6:48 am on this Saturday morning and the sun isn't quite up yet! But I am! There just are not enough hours in the day to capture everything I want to do! I literally keep notebooks of ideas, crafts, projects, and recipes so that I don't forget everything I want to do. I hope it's always like that! School and church activities have been keeping me busy as well. I'm so excited that I can walk to Caitlin's school (as a non driver that is HUGE) cause it allows me to be even more involved. She still gets the bus, but we have been walking every day and just enjoying our lovely neighborhood and of course, seeing who has decorated for Halloween. I'm working with her school on a big annual Halloween event they hold October 30th called Halloween Happening. It's a combination of fun activities and games plus trick or treating classroom to classroom. Plus I am a "mystery" reader for her class. All good stuff. In my travels I saw this little witch and the moment I saw her I had to buy her!

Isn't she great? She has a thick, crocheted dress and hat that has an adorable spider detail and her eyes just glow when you look at her! She reminded me of something I would see as a child in the 1970's. Doesn't she remind you of that? I think she is my favorite item I have purchased this season!

My decorating is moving along at a good pace too. My porch is finally done:

I can't get the whole porch in to one photo so let me break it up for you!

My witch on a swing outside Caitlin's bedroom window

All the spiders light up!

Can you see my skeleton friend welcoming you above the web?

These corn stalks are from my garden!The corn didn't grow much but the stalks did!

Over the front door

Inside the house I keep my witch blow mold and my haunted house because they are my favorites. I showed you the witch the other day; here is my haunted house:

In the garden we have our graveyard--the big stone was a curbside find years ago. It's actually a light up gravestone from Disney's Haunted Mansion! It's in perfect condition and is the centerpiece of our cemetery:

The skeleton pirate is not a gory, scary one. He actually lights up too and has a smile.

I know everyone has a busy weekend ahead of them so I thank you for visiting me!

Lots of This 'n' That!

My witch friend is spying on me from behind my parlor doors; gazing clear across the foyer into my kitchen...probably because she knows that's where I'll be!

We had a nice weekend and the weather was beautiful. As a matter of fact, it is going to be lovely all week with temps in the high 60's and at night down to the 40's! Love it!  Over the weekend it was a little warmer, and we started to get some of our party supplies and pumpkins!

Lots to choose from! This will be one of three trips planned for pumpkins and Fall foliage viewing! I just can't get enough! We went through an amazing corn maze where my mischevious husband gave people the wrong directions (!) so that they got more lost .....he said it makes it more fun for them. The jury is still out on that one :)

 Then we went on a great hayride on a wagon...my son remarked that our family is on some type of wagon/buggy/cart that is being pulled by either a tractor or a horse at least four times a year between going to Amish country and to farms on our North Fork which is probably more than most average families living in suburbia!I reminded him we are not "average" :)  we are a little different. Such as..I would like to find this beauty below under my Christmas tree this year:

There's a good chance I won't be getting it though :(    He doesn't fit in Santa's sleigh. Speaking of animals, when we saw the sheep and alpacas, Caitlin said this alpaca had a Justin Bieber haircut:

I think she was right. My angel face is the best hula hooper around, btw.

Back to our fun day, my husband has secured me another great stove!

It's on his new job site and is actually still functioning but is now disconnected and will remain so. It needs a lot of clean up but that's no problem. She has beautiful detail on the sides and is really in good shape! That made Sunday even more special! We ended the day with a great dinner at Joe's Crab Shack! What a cool place and delicious food!

Here's Caitlin in her bib! My son would not let me photograph him :(

Have to get one last witch in the post! This is in my family room!

Have a super Tuesday!

The Incredible Colors of Orange & Black

Saturday evening and the rain is going to start falling shortly. I spent a good part of the day decorating and couldn't wait to show you what I have accomplished!This is a heavy photo post!

 I am just so smitten with the colors of Halloween as I'm sure you all are~~but the colors of orange and black, you know that traditional shade of orange and black...that vintage, lovely shade of orange and black! Wow! It's the only way I can do my big kitchen/dining area window. It has to be traditional! It has to have some Beistle decorations (even if they are the imitations!) and it has to give a Beistle feel to it. You know what I mean! I know you do! Did I accomplish it? I try so hard. Year after year after year! Decorating to the last moment! Halloween is just so amazing! I think back to being a little girl trick or treating~~dressed most times as a witch in our homemade witch costume and cardboard witch hat. I walked for blocks and blocks crunching the leaves beneath my feet and anticipating what candy I would get. Some special neighbors of ours would give me a full size candy bar and another gave me a full size Hershey bar with a dollar wrapped around it! One of the neighbors on our cross street gave me pennies and rubber pencil toppers and erasers! It's funny that I can remember what house gave me what!Such fond memories of those neighbors. Their thoughtful gesture remains with me today!  And it wasn't so much the "getting"! My Mom always bought candy and goodies for us all year 'round so I wasn't just liking Halloween for the candy part of it. I knew even back then that this was a special day.It's just so great!
 I had to be home from trick or treating by dinner time, and I loved walking home in the late afternoon when it started to get a little dark. The air was crisp and smelled so nice!  Well, back to the decorations.......

The whole big window:

A close up of the two side windows...sorry my camera is kind of glaring!  I hope you can see okay! :)

I do them to match! 

 A close up of my big window. Unfortunately the bat and pumpkin did not photograph well .

 Maybe you can see them better in this picture....

That cardboard shiny pumpkin is very special to me. I only have two left and I have had them for over 20 years! It has been part of my decorations for all those years! 

A simple thing like that just brings a big smile to my face! SO many happy Halloween memories!

These next two images are a close up of some crows I got. Silhouettes! I have them about three years now. I think they add that Edgar Allan Poe touch! The shiny spots are just the shine from other decorations! 

Nevermore! hahahaha

And now another window in the kitchen. This one is leading to my family room. I keep up my other little knick knacks cause I miss them if I put them away! They blend in just fine! :)

The ladies came out today! Batteries are in! And the sign on the stand says: HOCUS POCUS!  

MAKE 3 WITCHES!  My Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus are in their rightful place greeting all who enter in the foyer. 

In other words:  

Last but not least, for a giggle: 

Have a great Saturday night!