All Hallows Eve

Nocturnes graphic courtesy of The Graphics Fairy

A turkey buzzard obliged me with some shots back in September that I kept tucked away waiting for the perfect opportunity to use them...and what better day than today, a day when all things creepy, spooky, and frightful will be afoot when the sun goes down.

Happy Halloween!!!

No Tricks, Just Treats Giveaway

This Halloween I won't be handing out candy, or even carving a pumpkin, which makes me sad.  When the kids were little, they got to each pick out a pumpkin design idea, most of which weren't in those pattern books you can find everywhere these days.

The requests ranged from eagles to animated characters and everything in between, and it allowed me to get my inner artist on and have fun creating something special for each of them.  In our old neighborhood, we had lots of kids come to the house to trick or treat, and I loved hearing them ooh and ahh over those fun pumpkin creations while I ooh'd and ahh'd back at their creative costumes.  I would spend hours on each pumpkin and then hustle to get the kids dressed, eat dinner, do homework, and then hit the neighborhood for some good old fashioned trick or treating.  A few of those years it was just me and the kids, as Mr. Tide was out of town for work.  I have no clue how I was so organized back then and seemingly so disorganized now...ahh youth!

I still decorate for Halloween, and the first year we moved here I even carved an elaborate pumpkin, which neither of the kids really seemed to care too much about.  And since we don't get any trick or treaters, because we live on a private lane where there aren't any young kids, well it just seems a little silly to go all out.  Or maybe I've just gotten lazy?!

So this year, in the spirit of treat or treating...blog style, I've decided to host a Giveaway.  Yup, come trick or treat here on my blog.  I will be giving away one of my 8 x 12 photos (or if you prefer a 5 x 7) to two of my readers.  

All you have to do is visit my website by clicking HERE , pick out the photo you would like should you win, and then come back here and say trick or treat and tell me which image you would like using the file name on the bottom right of each photo (you have to click on the image in order to see the file name).  And if you've seen an image on my blog that isn't on my website, never fear, you can pick one of those too!

If you would like more chances to win, you can do any of the following:

1.  Add the Giveaway to your sidebar, and come back and leave a "separate" comment telling me you did so.

2.  Tweet or Facebook the Giveaway for another chance, don't forget to leave another comment letting me know.

The Giveaway is open to everyone!

I hope each of you has a very Happy Halloween and I will randomly draw both winners names on Friday and post their names that evening!

Simple Minded

Thank you everyone for your wonderful support, and I'm so glad to hear that I'm not the only one with too much holiday decor...for every season!

After donating some of my fall items, I have found that the pieces I decided to keep mean even more to me and look even better now that they can stand alone.

I've decided that my new approach to holiday decorating will be more simple minded, kind of like me!  I have always incorporated natural elements into all of my holiday decor, but I feel like now I will put even more emphasis on bringing the outdoors in, and trying to embrace the less is more philosophy that I am so drawn to these days.

I find that everywhere I turn I am seeking simple, clean lined items that are easy on the eye and super functional, like these cute little white cafe au lait style bowls I picked up yesterday.

I had passed by these many times at Target, and I really loved them but talked myself out of them each time.  Then, while surfing blogdom the other day I saw these on someone else's blog and thought, you know I really should just buy them.  I can't remember which blog it was...sorry...that would be my simple mindedness that I mentioned earlier.  Whoever it was, they had found these on sale and picked some up...I was not so lucky, at my Target they weren't reduced.

While I was at Target, searching for my perfect little bowls, I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in quite awhile.  Her daughter and our son Bugs had gone all through school together, and as parents of older kids know, once your children leave middle school and beyond, you hardly ever see the parents anymore, so it was nice to catch up.

She looked great, which she always did, and she had her arms full of stuff for her house, which was always beautifully put together.  When I told her what my mission for the day was, she mentioned that if I could wait until Sunday, the bowls would likely be on sale here too.  Not a snowball's chance in you know where of that happening.  Along with my simple mindedness, I'm also horribly impatient.  And the thought of slogging my way back over there, which is about 1/2 hour away to save maybe $4 just wasn't enough incentive for me to wait...sorry Mr. Tide! ;-)

After walking through my living/dining room for the past few days with it looking a lot like a bad, bad photo studio a la lighting equipment and props scattered all around, I finally had had enough and set to clearing out some of the chaos.

Things are looking better in there, but I still have a few tubs of stuff to put back in the garage, but that will wait until tonight or tomorrow.  My mission today, besides a meeting I had earlier today, is to go buy some new walking shoes.  Ever since we returned from Europe, where we estimate that we walked between 6 and 8 miles a day...sometimes more, I have tried to continue that by walking at least 2 1/2 miles every day.  It's not nearly as much fun to walk down our little lane instead of the streets of France and Germany, but where we live is beautiful and quiet, so I can't complain.


 

Before I gave all of my props and equipment the 'ole heave ho out of the living/dining room, I did take a few more still life shots, just for the heck of it.

I wanted to create a few that had a feminine edge to them, so I used some of my great grandmother and grandmother's antique pearls, and of course some pink roses from our rose bush.

These will be the last roses of the season, which always makes me a little sad, but I know they will be back next spring looking and smelling as wonderful as ever!  The winds of change showed up last night, quite literally as it was a blustery evening, and today there is a chill in the air and gray skies which look a little too much like snow for my liking!  

I got a lovely email from Lili today and she said that up her way in Maine they are expecting a record snowfall this weekend!  And Joan did a post today showing the 2 inches of snow they received last night!  EEK, can you imagine?!  The thought of snow in October is way more frightening than Halloween...at least for me it is!

I hope each of you has a wonderful weekend!

Happy Howl'o'ween

Little Bats Wings...

 Little Bat Feet...

 Give Me Something Good To Eat!!!

Happy Howl'o'ween Everyone!

Getaways and Giveaways

Tomorrow, I'm driving a few hours to go to a photo shoot, Mr. Tide will be tagging along and I love it when he is able to go with me on a shoot.  Even though I know I'll be fine without him, and usually have to do these things on my own, it's nice to know that he'll be there to help me out with a techie question or some lighting issue if I find myself stumped for any reason.  We're a good team that way!

After the shoot we'll be heading back down the road to help our daughter move into her new apartment.  She showed it to us last weekend and all I can say is...I want to live there!!!  I know she will be very happy there, it's right in the middle of the action, yet not party central like her last building.

Before I head out though I wanted to tell you about a Giveaway I'll be hosting with CSN Stores to keep you busy until I come back.

I thought that since I would be gone for a few days I would also leave you with a few more pictures of my fall decor.  I used yet another font on these and although I love the scripty font, I'm not loving the fact that my copyright symbol shows up as an ugly rectangle.  But it's late, and I have packing to do, so it will have to suffice for now!

This decor will last me all the way through Thanksgiving...there are no spooky witches, or ghosts to be had in these displays.  I like being able to put something out that will carry me through not one, but two holidays...I'm getting lazy in my old age I guess, hence the reason why I didn't correct my watermark!

I love white pumpkins for both Halloween and Thanksgiving, and pairing them with silver, brown, gold, or rust colored accessories makes a perfect vignette for either holiday.

And of course acorns in all shapes, sizes, and colors are a staple in my fall decorating.  I found these large white acorns years ago and I still love pulling them out each year!  

And I love this little silver squirrel nutcracker.  It was given to me by my brother and my sister in law and I just think he is the cutest thing, arms waiting to crack that perfect nut open!

I found all of the mercury glass leaves on clearance last year after the holidays.  They are actually Christmas ornaments, but I thought they would look pretty hanging from the various vintage decanters I have on my dining room buffet.  They add a little shimmer and elegance, and they look so pretty next to candlelight.

Now you're probably thinking to yourselves...that's all well and good Kat, but what about the Giveaway...I mean you did mention something about that in your title and at the top of the post right?!  Yes, yes I did!

Well you see, I've been trying to think of a clever segue to tell you about CSN's many wonderful furniture pieces.  They have a lot, trust me I've looked, and I even know some people who own pieces from several of the great lines they carry! 

And then it hit me, I decorated a table, so with the $65.00 gift card you could win with this giveaway, you could decorate your own end table, coffee table, kitchen table or anything else in your house that you want...that's the beauty of a gift card right?!  See, wasn't that clever of me afterall?!!!

Ok, so it might not have been all that clever, but the fact remains that you could win 65 smackeroos to buy anything your heart desires from CSN Stores from an end table to an egret (no not a live one silly!)...and just in time for the holidays...so what's not to love about that?!

You know the drill...

1.  Visit CSN Stores by clicking HERE and then come back and leave a comment telling me what you can't live without, or what you would buy your Aunt Ethel with your gift card!

2.  Leave a second comment telling me what you plan to give me for Christmas...oops I mean that you are a follower...Please Make Sure That You Leave Me A Second Comment for that second chance to win!!

3.  Tweet, Facebook, Blog, or put a Billboard up about my Giveaway and then come back and leave a THIRD SEPARATE comment (I know you'll be tired by then so just write I Tweeted, etc.) and you'll be entered for 3 BIG chances to win!

In all seriousness though, this Giveaway will be finito come Midnight PST next Friday...October 1, 2010...So hurry, don't delay!  The winner will be announced October 2nd...but first you gotta play to win!

**For more Fall inspiration head over to the fabulous Cottage and Vine to get your Fall on with her Falling Up Link Party!**

Spider Webs

Hi everyone!  So glad that some of you were inspired by my Halloween decorating post yesterday and that you are getting out your fall decor!  I was inspired by so many other wonderful bloggers to get mine out, so I guess one good turn deserves another as they say!  And Grace, it's ok to put things out "before" October 1st hits...I'll even write you a note giving you permission! ;-)

Today, I thought I'd share with you how I decorated the window ledge above my kitchen sink...

You may recall that my mason jars used to be filled with white beans, but I decided to leave them empty for Halloween and drape fake cob webs over them to give them the look of an abandoned and haunted abode!

Mr. Tide reminded me that if we left the windows open each night, we would have plenty of "real" spider webs and could have saved ourselves $1.99 at Michaels buying fake ones!  Mr. Tide is always so helpful that way! *cough cough*

And of course you can't have spider webs without a spider to create them right?!  

Did you ever wonder why they are sometimes called spider webs (which can also be spelled all as one word) and other times they are referred to as cob webs?  Well apparently it goes back to the old Middle English word for spider...coppe!  So they were coppe webs, and eventually became known as cobwebs!

There are a total of three mason jars on my windowsill, each covered in strands of delicate webbing.  I love how the sunlight illuminates the individual strands during the morning hours each day!

And although I love the mason jars and spider webs, this is my favorite part of the display.  It's a vintage piece, also rescued from my parent's house.  I had it sitting on the dresser in my daughter's old bedroom, waiting to use it this Halloween, and when my daughter came home a few weekends ago she promptly brought it into our bedroom declaring it was creepy and that she didn't want it in her room!

The only creepy things around here are my cool new watermark fonts!  Did you notice the one from yesterday's post?  And this one is called "Buffied"...I love using these spooky fonts for my Halloween photos! 

Happy Haunting Everyone!

Frightful

Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments and support about my article coming out in Romantic Country, it truly means the world to me!!!  I am working on several more articles and I'll be sure to let you know when those come out as well!

With all the wonderful fall decor floating around the interwebs, I just couldn't stand not pulling a little bit out myself.  So I asked Mr. Tide to lug the big bins out of the garage for me, and I got busy!

 

And today I thought I would share with you some of my halloween decorations that I arranged on my dining room table.  I love this little crackled pumpkin...it is made of cloth and has almost a leathery feel to it!

Aside from Christmas, Halloween (and fall in general), is my favorite time to decorate my house each year!

And although I've had some of my Halloween decor for years now, I like to add to it each year and arrange things in new and inventive ways.  I inherited these footed silverplate compotes, and I love how the faux candy corn my sister M gave me looks in these tarnished dishes!  They remind me of something you'd find in a haunted mansion where no one has polished the silver for many years!

My mother was a bit of a holiday-a-holic and had all sorts of wonderful things to fill her house with for every holiday imaginable! 

I almost passed on this sweet witch, whom I've since named Esmeralda, when my sisters and I went through my mom's decorations last year...but I'm so glad I took her.  I love how unique and special she is!  And I love looking at her and thinking of how much my mother enjoyed decorating for this time of year!

And I bought this jar from Hallmark a few years ago, and have filled it with simple white beans this year instead of the usual candy corn.  I love how the label says "A fright in every BITE! Treats An INCREDIBLE edible... or is it???"...kind of like my beans which aren't much of a treat but still pretty!

And what good Halloween display would be complete without a black crow....or two?!

So there you have it, my Halloween dining table, topped with black cats, pumpkins, witches, and mysterious treats alike, all set to welcome ghosts and ghouls this holiday!