Halloween Decor on the Front Porch

Hello friends!
As promised, here are some pics of our front porch all decorated for Halloween. I decided to separate the front door post from the rest of the house, because it was getting a little picture heavy. So come back tomorrow for a tour of inside the house!

Our street gets really crazy for Halloween. Like if you don't decorate for Halloween you are pretty much an outcast (and most people get started decorating in September). The kids AND parents dress up and our door is open pretty much all night because the stream of trick or treaters is so constant. One of our neighbors has a life sized coffin on their front lawn! I love to decorate for holidays, but I am not really into the creepy, gross stuff. So no fake blood on the door, Thanks. I tried to make our front porch as "Halloween-y" as possible, but still keep it pretty.

 My little Lola loves to come and see me when I am taking pictures outside. Such a sweet greeter cat.

 Then she decided she just needed to be in the pictures. Lil' fluff ball.

I am still so in love with my Halloween Chalkboard Sign that I made last year. I was really excited to see it come out.

I feel like I need to give the flowers in the back some height so that you can see them better, but I haven't figured out how yet.

Our new bench that we got for $5 at the last garage sale. Yeah, $5! And I got a second one that was included in that price. Major score! And that cute little Cinderella pumpkin? Grown by my mother in-law in her amazing garden in Oregon. Such a cute pumpkin!

I just love the pumpkins we got this year. They are all so round and perfect. I think the key to getting perfect pumpkins is to go to the pumpkin patch early on in the month, before they are all picked over.

I have to admit, I was a little bit sad to be taking down my New Fall Wreath to put up our Halloween wreath....Sigh. But it will be back for Thanksgiving for sure.

And that's our Halloween Front Porch! Join me tomorrow and I will take you inside the house for more Halloween decor!

Pumpkin Patch

Hello!
Just thought I'd stop in and share some pictures of our trip to the pumpkin patch this weekend. We had so much fun and even spent a little time at the mini fair they had at the farm. It was great. They had mini rides, a petting zoo and a "choo choo train". The girls loved it and it was perfect because they were just the right size/age for everything. Unfortunately it was a balmy 74 degrees though, so it was kinda hard to believe it's Fall! Come on October! Where are you!?

 Duckies!

I love this shot because you can see Princess's long hair. I love it so much. I don't think I could ever cut it.

Little miss, riding a pony so confidently.

Pondering life on the train.

So excited about riding the "choo choo".

Driving an antique car with Daddy.

And what!? Riding a mini rollercoaster with Daddy. Such big stuff, little Peanut.
 

Riding in style to the pumpkin patch.

They were not happy about taking pictures. It was hard to get the few I got!

To get them to look at me, I kept asking, "Where are Mommy's eyes?" and so that's what Princess is pointing at.

My little pumpkins.

Princess, showing me which one is hers.

And we got a pretty good family picture. Yay! I always feel like that's a huge achievement.

So we got our pumpkins! We are all ready for Halloween. Now if only this weather would chill out...

Mirror For The Mantle

Happy Friday!
If anyone guessed that the new surprize piece for the mantle was a mirror, you guessed right! We finally got a mirror for our mantle! I am so excited. I just want to sit and look at it.....for hours. It is SO pretty! This Thanksgiving we will have been in this house 3 years and this room has just screamed for a mirror above the mantle. I think the last owners had a TV there, but I don't really like the TV to be the main focus of the room, so I wasn't gonna let that idea fly. But, mirrors are expensive, so we just put off buying one forever. But then, I found this gorgeous mirror on Joss and Main that was actually affordable! Magical. And now here it is. Our glorious, beautiful mirror. Ugh! I just love it!

Oh wait, first here are some before pictures from our mantle's early days....Just so you can get the full effect.

BEFORE:

Sad.

Sad. I almost forgot about those speakers...Yuck.

Sad.

AFTER:

aaaaaAAAAHHH! Isn't it gorgeous! It fits the room so well.

 I am so in love. And I can't WAIT to decorate it for Christmas!

Side view.

 Other side view.

It makes the room so complete and I feel like now the mantle can really be a focal point for the room, instead of this boring empty space. And bonus! It covered up one of those horrible outlets that were in the wall. There is one kind of peeking out still, but my husband suggested we just paint it the color of the wall. Um, seriously!? Why hadn't I thought of that before? And why hadn't he suggested it? Brilliant. That's why I keep him around...

This weekend we are headed to the pumpkin patch to get pumpkins and we are pulling down the Halloween decorations. Oh and that reminds me, I've gotta harvest our garden! Princess keeps randomly bringing me carrots that she pulls out, so I know I will have a little helper or two. Look for those posts next week and have a great weekend!

Fall in the Playroom

Hello!

So I decided to go a little Fall crazy and decorate the girl's playroom. Totally impractical, I know. I am sure they will destroy it as soon as they set foot in there. But it was fun anyways. Really fun. I think it's because I didn't feel as pressured for it to be perfect, because it was just the playroom. Anyway, I think it turned out really cute. 

I got this floral fabric from the store a week or two ago and didn't really know what I was going to do with it. It was just too cute to pass up. Then I decided it was perfect for a "Fall" tablecloth for the girl's play table. Then I made up a simple burlap runner to go on top.

These little wreaths on the back of the chairs are super easy and cheap. Just thread some cute ribbon through a small grapevine wreath (which I believe were less than $1 each) and attach to the chair. Perfectly "Fall". 

Their little kitchen. Ready for some Fall baking. Homemade popcorn balls anyone?

Oh, the chalkboard wall. I don't write things on it nearly enough. It's really fun though. I love being able to write things on it for the different seasons and holidays (and obviously the girl's love it too). I just don't have the best handwriting, nor am I the best artist. So consequently most of the time its a black chalky wall. But it looks cool like that too.

I found this little poem somewhere online and thought it was so cute and fitting for Fall.

The girl's Fall harvest. Onions, carrots, lettuce, asparagus and radishes.

I pulled this guy out of our stuffed animal storage bin. I have had him since I was about 12 when I bought him at a local drugstore. Morris the Moose. I thought he was the perfect "Fall" animal.

I got the buckets, stool and "give thanks" sign all at Michael's. It was all on sale and that was basically what inspired me to decorate the playroom. It was all just so cute! Michael's. Get's me every time!

I didn't show all of the playroom because it is another one of my project rooms and I am working on a few big projects before I show you before and afters of it. I want to get our dining room finished before Thanksgiving though, so the playroom will probably be pushed back awhile. But it will happen some day! That I know for sure.

That's all for today. Hope now you are inspired to have some fun with your Fall decorating.