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My Fave & Frightful Halloween Decorating Ideas from Blogland

October 28, 2010 · Comments { 18 }

With Halloween just a few days away, I’ve been surfing blogland for some last minute décor ideas. Wow. There are so many amazingly creative and down right creepy ideas for decorating your home and entertaining your guests this All Hallow’s Eve. Here are some of my favorites I wanted to share with you. Enjoy!

Favorite Halloween Party Invitations:

Start the party off right with Skeleton Halloween invitations by Martha Stewart. Not too scary to make yourself – just download & assemble! Visit Martha’s for the how to.

halloween party invite amy atlas cocodot yellow orange

Stylish, colorful and paperless Halloween invites by Amy Altas for CocoDot. I used the “Boo!” invite in the bottom right corner for our little party coming up!

Favorite Halloween Décor – Outside:

halloween decorating outside home apartment

halloween decorating outside freak show apartment

For three years, this home in Brooklyn has been frightening trick-or-treaters. This year, it’s a “freak show” at A Brooklyn Limestone in Progress. Wow.

Favorite Halloween Décor – Inside:

Loving this Dr. Jekyll’s Laboratory décor theme from Three Pixie Lane. The vintage photos with googol eyes are the best.

The Graphics Fairy {love} has a ton of great vintage Halloween clipart for all your spooky projects. Here are those eyes just mentioned.

halloween decorating black white mantel ghosts

The stylish DIYer, Kate at Centsational Girl, created the best mantel this season. Love the black & white color palette. Aren’t the chains great?

Love these little mice {Martha Stewart} creeping and crawling all over the stairs at Thrifty Décor Chick.

Favorite Halloween Treats:

halloween cupcakes spooky frightful lily vanilli

halloween gourmet cupcakes mummy tombstone lily vanilli

These ominous cupcakes by Lily Vanilli via Cupcake Loves Evil are perfectly frightful for any Halloween party.

halloween party spooky candied apples matt bites

And how about these eerie candied apples by Matt Bites? Love the twigs.

halloween party candy jar labels martha stewart

For something a little more inviting {especially for kids}, this simple Halloween candy station by Martha Stewart is a great option. The jar label’s can be downloaded here.

Favorite Halloween Drinks:

halloween party beer drink labels download

These ghoulish beverage labels by Centsational Girl are my favorite. You will need to drop by her blog; She has downloads for these witches brews and many others including one for kids’ juice boxes! Go here.

halloween drink labels glass simple stickers

Here’s yet another way by Real Simple to add an eeire touch to drinks by labeling each guest’s stemware. Make everyone’s different so to not get drinks mixed up!

Favorite Halloween Pumpkins:

halloween pumpkin with rats martha stewart

I picked up a bag of little rubber rats at Michael’s the other day having no clue what I was going to do with them. Now I know. Thanks Martha Stewart!

halloween painted pumpkins black white insects

Love these painted pumpkins too by Stylist Liz Demos via Country Living.

halloween cute painted pumpkins jack-o-lanterns

This assortment of painted and carved pumpkins is also a favorite. Does anyone know the original source? I found it on a blog that did not give it proper credit.

Need some more spooky decor inspiration? Here are some more Halloween decorating ideas I think you’ll love.

Read full story By Cristin on October 28, 2010 in DIY, Entertaining, food, Halloween, holiday decor

Thanksgiving Table Decorating Ideas – With or Without Kids!

October 18, 2010 · Comments { 23 }

{image via Country Living}

With Thanksgiving around the corner, many of us are already thinking about how we will set the table to celebrate. Formal or casual, with kids or without, there are many options when it comes to decorating your Thanksgiving table. It is always good to start with the basics. I included this in last year’s article on Thanksgiving Table Setting and Decorating Ideas, but it is always good to review how to set a table. If your dinner will be on the fancy side, here is how to set a formal table:

{image courtesy of Classy & Fabulous}

If your turkey day dinner will be more casual, here is how to set an informal table:

{image courtesy of Classy & Fabulous}

eddie ross table setting quote thanksgiving

Speaking of knives, if your silver is in need of a good cleaning, here’s a non-toxic DIY way to clean silver.

And now onto the fun stuff… decorating the table! My hands down favorite tablescape this Thanksgiving is by Eddie Ross, recently featured in Lonny.

{images via Lonny & design by Eddie Ross}

Eddie and his partner, Jaithan Kochar created a vintage meets modern Thanksgiving table that is high on glamour, yet easy on the pocket book. They start with a modern table linen from Quadrille and lay it with vintage flatware and an antique Imari porcelain plate.

thanksgiving table setting modern vintage eddie ross quadrille linen

For a touch of low-cost opulence, Eddie spray painted small pumpkins gold and added watercolored craft paper with guests’ initials as place cards. The pheasants were inexpensive finds and also painted gold for a more luxurious look.

Images of birds of the season are also fun on dinnerware. This dinner plate from Pottery Barn is part of a set of four – each features a unique turkey design. The place setting includes a scroll thank you note individualized for each guest. What a lovely personal touch.

thanksgiving-table-setting-gold-pumpkins-diy

Don’t be afraid the go with a non-traditional color palette. This beautiful place setting by Martha Stewart features both cool and warm hues of blue and gold. Contemporary elements such as the dishware is mixed with contemporary flatware, while a solid linen table cloth is paired with a block-printed napkin. Martha paints a collection of mini pumpkins gold for a simple centerpiece and a place card holder.

thanksgiving table decorations metallic diy gourds hgtv

{Photo courtesy of Bobbi Fabian via HGTV}

This contemporary Thanksgiving table setting via HGTV showcases a white pumpkin, chunky pillar candles and a mixture of metallic-painted gourds. So simple and elegant.

thanksgiving-tablescape-dwell-white-pumpkins-ideas

{image via Design Public}

If you can’t find white pumpkins, you can always paint them as in the case with this table setting above. This monochromatic table was created by DwellStudio’s Christiane Lemieux. She created a simple, backdrop using DwellStudio linens. The subtle, graphic black and white palette are a great way to keep the focus on the main attraction – dinner. For a similar look, try Gate Java Napkins available now by DwellStudio.

{image via Martha Stewart}

Thanksgiving with kids? Setting a table inviting for kids is a good idea if they will not be seated at the “adult” table. What kid wouldn’t want to sit with these darling felt & pom pom turkeys by Martha Stewart? Here’s the how to.

{image via Country Living}

Weather permitting, I love this outdoors table setting via Country Living. A wool blanket is brilliantly used as a rug. The “giving tree” centerpiece is my favorite. Kids are asked to write down what they’re thankful for on decorative tags and then tie to the branches of fall foliage. This little covered stools with rustic log legs are sweet too.

{image courtesy of Country Living via CasaSugar}

Offering the children activities to keep boredom and squabbles at bay is also a good idea. Here kids are given cups of crayons and are free to draw right on the butcher paper tablecloth. The drawn placemats are such a cute idea too! So simple and budget-friendly.

These personalized modern dots placemats by Name Your Design are another great option for a Thanksgiving kids’ table. They are not only cute, but functional, fun and educational. On one side kids have a diagram on how to set the table. On the other kids can write & draw about their day with simple dry erase makers. They are laminated, study and easy to wipe clean. The colorways can also be customized to coordinate with your holiday color palette.

{image via Martha Stewart}

Love this idea from Martha Stewart too. What kid wouldn’t love this darling felt finger puppets placed atop candy sticks. Arranged in simple white containers, they make a centerpiece that will keep kids entertained for hours. Here’s the how to.

Do you need more turkey day inspiration? Here’s additional Thanksgiving Table Setting and Decorating Ideas…

Read full story By Cristin on October 18, 2010 in baby and children, Entertaining, holiday decor, Thanksgiving

Spiders, Crows & Mice Oh My! – Halloween Mantel

October 14, 2010 · Comments { 15 }

Halloween mantel decorating crows spiders boo sign

So here it is… my Halloween mantel. It is not super scary, but works for me. Because I don’t like taking down the Chinese vase, horse bookends or Imperial horse artwork, I simply decorated around them.

Orange wax paper was wrapped around jars props up a message from beyond. The “boo” letters purchased at Michaels were white and I glued black glitter for a Halloween look. Black bat garland {Martha Stewart} adds contrast to the all white mantel.

halloween mantel black crow in tree branch

Three black crows perch in bare branches and red berries. There is something about those crows that are just down right spooky.

Simple white tulle is draped under the mantel to mimic a web for glittery spiders to creep and crawl. Black mice cut-outs {Martha Stewart} scurry up the walls. Yikes! Books with orange spines are used to add pops orange.

Perched on a small pumpkin, this little black feathery owl was purchased at Michaels. I glued paper with a rat punched out {Martha Stewart} on to a simple white votive candle. Voilà!

Happy Halloween!

Read full story By Cristin on October 14, 2010 in DIY, Halloween, holiday decor

Interview with HGTV’s Martin Amando on Green, Seasonal & Budget-friendly Design

October 13, 2010 · Comments { 2 }

Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing HGTV’s Martin Amando. His past experience and accomplishments include working as a guest designer on episodes of Decorating Cents as well as being a host on Small Space, Big Style both for HGTV.

With a focus on green, seasonal and budget-friendly design, here are the questions I asked Martin…

1. Many of your designs are earth-friendly – what are your favorite eco-friendly decorating tips?

2. Budgets are tight these days. How can going “green” save homeowners money?

3. What is one way to change the look of your home without breaking the bank?

4. Fall is here. Do you have any tips on how we can make wise home improvements before winter arrives?

Thanks Martin for your time and expertise! To see some of Martin’s fabulous work, visit his website.

Happy decorating!

Read full story By Cristin on October 13, 2010 in green design, holiday decor, interior design, interview

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Archive | holiday decor RSS feed for this section

My Fave & Frightful Halloween Decorating Ideas from Blogland

Thanksgiving Table Decorating Ideas – With or Without Kids!

Spiders, Crows & Mice Oh My! – Halloween Mantel

Interview with HGTV’s Martin Amando on Green, Seasonal & Budget-friendly Design

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