A lil Halloween 2010

 Here's last years enterance. The wreath is grapevine (20 years old), covered with "close out" priced raffia ($.39 each), and one boa, that was a $1.00 at the Dollar Tree.And...drumroll please....the stand in the left of the picture was a Goodwill splurge...$35.00 BUT I had my 20% off card so it was all of $28.00!!!!YEA!!! It's an old outside menu stand. Lift up the top and put in a downloaded message for that partictcular holiday!!

 I just cut out these bats with construction paper and hung them with fishing line (great idea...til spring comes, and your oh so supportive husband, can't find his line...oooppppsss!)

 Love her! Yea, bought her back in the good ole days, before I discovered Goodwill...the black frame with the pumkin in it, is really a piece of art work from my son Craig back when he was in second grade...He's a dad himself now...

 Breakfast nook,WallyWorld "happy halloween"sign, and on the shelf is old halloween pictures of the kids.

 I really loved the effects of this big single crow, landing ...

 Our butler...with "what was I thinking purple table covering?" wow...

 These french doors lead into dining room, from this side, it's a walk around enclosed porch. Note in the following posts, that I used these lights again, just in a differenat room....

 Displays...the ghost is from when my son Clark was four, and the witch dress is the first (and last) costume I made for my daughter...The simplest things, I think make great decorating displays..

 This is other end of enclosed porch.That's just tissue paper,left over from the year before, and just laid over some string.

 Other end of porch, with another set of french doors.The SPOOKY sign is right there to the left of doors.

And I bought this old church hymn sign years ago...I didn't know what I was going to do with it when I bought it, but it found a home in the dining room ...These are just old vintage postcards downloaded, and embellished  with glitter. At Christmas and Easter, I put in old photos of my grandmother, mother, and me~

Here's some more 2011 halloween

He's our resident butler(below)...I added thr cape (Goodwill), mask (Goodwill-  pushed up on his forehead), and spray painted another floral arrangement Goodwill)black. He greets you, in the game room.

I saw a picture of the legs(below) sticking out of an urn last yearin a magazine. She is made with plastic bones, cement (its what I had..lol), and a Goodwill cauldron, shoes, and socks! Less then $5.00! The witch and moon in the background is from a local young artist, Cjones. She painted me exactly what I wanted. I sanded her, and aged her with watered down brown  stain, that I had left over from an earlier project....LOVE HER!  I think people should use  the talent  of the young artist's that they have in their area. This incredable  artist is still in high school, but she was thrilled with the money I paid her, and I was TICKLED with my new "old" witch...I've still got to get her to sign and date the project though!!

 This is our bathroom on the  main floor.On this wall (above) I just downloaded some Halloween sayings and embellished them a little. The feather wreath was on the front door last year...Remember to recycle!
 Again, really cute at night. I made the "garland" from Goodwill clothes and tablecloths, that I collected all through the year (you MUST ALWAYS be thinking ahead!)

 This is the same "garland" I have in the bathroom you just saw. I wanted to carry the theme out, and that bathroom, is right off this room.

Thanks for looking...I think I'm thanking myself...lol...I don't think anyone else is going to see this......

2011 Halloween

This mantle looks really cute at night! The lights I found at  a garage sale for $1.00! I spray painted them, because they were pink and green! I made the  BOO sign with leftover scrapes of paper, and ribbon.

The picture above is the dining room. You can't tell, but that's black tulle with bats,below the chandelier. The orange tulle was a HUGE find! Rummage sale..all 20 yards for $2.00! Yes! My kind of shopping!

The walls in our game room,(below) are covered with pictures of the kids. This section, though, I rotate different pictures for different holidays : Halloween pictures, Santa pictures, Easter bunny..well you get the idea!

I made the cat, witch,and moon (which you can't see..sorry!) Some clay, leftover paints, boxes, and my FAVORITE tool..spray paint!!

All the end tables have cobwebs on them. I spray painted an old fake flower arrangement black..and we can see the bright pink I missed!  Oh well!

ummmm....there is a reoccuring theme with spray paint....maybe my blog should be the SPRAY PAINTED JOHNNYCAKE ROAD JUNK blog!!!

Halloween 2010....

This was a little on the scary side for our 2 year old grandson, Jackson last year, and he was not happy about the decorations! The labels, I just printed out (I  can't remember where I found them)....I had the bones for years, skulls, and crows, the dollar tree.

And...this year....

I really liked last years arrangement, but I couldn't have it the same....Besides with a three old grandson, would prefer nothing scary!!!

And here it is again...

And this year I just brought it inside, to the breakfast nook....sorry, I'll try and get better with the pictures!

Redo and Reuse

This is last years front door. I try VERY hard not to do the same layout every year. In fact, this was hanging at our old house, outside the year before this...

Well Hello!

Today is a big day for me! And there are a few reasons for me why it is . Today is my first day, on my new blog! I love firsts, don't you? The thrill of not knowing what will happen....That first moment that you've been thinking of ( or dreaming of...), I think only the lucky few, are brave enough not to fear. Which really means, putting off something that you really want to do. AND WHY IS THAT? Is it because, we are afraid of failing? Scared no one will care, (in my case no one will care what I'm writing about)? Falling flat on our faces? Well that's very  funny because,  in the wide scope of life....who really cares? If we can't take chances or (good) risks, then we have to ask ourselves, are we really living? Are we living to our full potential? I think , no would be the correct answer! I met a young woman a few months ago. She was very excited about moving out of state , to start an internship for college. As time approached for her to leave, she got scared of leaving her comfort zone. Now , I only knew her on a very limited basis ( OK, she was the clerk at Goodwill), without even hesitating, I told her ," You don't grow if you stay the same. Pushing ourselves out of our fear, and being scared are what makes us grow." I'll never forget the look of surprise and excitement, as the light bulb went off in her head, she smiled the biggest smile, I'd ever seen on her, agreeing with me. I wished her luck, as she wished me a blessed life. Now, if I can give that advise, I think, I should be able to follow it, don' t  you think so?

The other reason, this is a big day for me , is my oldest son turns 22 , today. I remember, that like it was yesterday! I was all excited about that too....until I got home with him, and started fearing....well everything. Mostly, was I ever going to sleep more then two hours at a time. Happy to report that yes, it took about three and a half years, but I finally got to sleep a little more! And I can't say every moment was a hallmark moment with him, but I can tell you , that he is a wonderful son, an awesome father, and a loving part of our family. ...happy birthday, Craig!

There have been soooooo many fearful times, in my life. I have really been my worst enemy. So, as of today, I'm done being afraid. I'm leaving my fear behind. If I  could raise two sons, and be a step mom to a daughter, start a few businesses, and give out advise to virtual strangers, not to mention a ton of other things....I too, can step out of fear's shadows.......Ready or not blogging land, here I come!