Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloweeeeeeen!

From our house to yours...


Happy Halloween!!!

 
Baby...
 
 
...Tiger
 
 
 
 
... and Mr. J got into the spirit thanks to PicMonkey!
 
 
 
But today, with no help from PicMonkey, Baby got into costume...
 
I bought her the little witch hat at AC Moore last month...
 
And Court bought her a cute little Jack O Lantern shirt.
 
As you can see from this little video, she is the most mellow cat when it comes to being dressed up!

She doesn't mind wearing her hat or shirt in the least.

However, she did jump down to look for her witch hat when it fell off!
 
I hope you all have a safe and Happy Halloween!!!!

This week I'm joining Vintage on a Dime for Welcome Home Wednesday and
Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home!
 
Donna


 

Monday, October 29, 2012

Sammy Squirrel meets Hurricane Sandy

My computer bit the dust today. Since Best Buy was open (despite Sandy), I headed there with my computer tower this morning. Bad news. The mother board is shot. I'm now on a Windows 7 computer and having a heck of a time with all my old software.

Anyhow, Amanda and I were watching the storm and our Sammy Squirrels and blue jays this afternoon. It was quite windy and the poor blue jays were being blown sideways while flying. I also took a few quick videos of one of our Sammy's braving the winds for a peanut snack. He darned near got blown off the deck. Hope everyone fared well today!

 
 
 
 
I'll hopefully be able to get photos off of my old computer so I can show you the damage in our yard from last year's freak October snowstorm!
 
Take care, everyone!
 
Donna

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Favorite Halloween memories...


Halloween has always been a favorite time of year for us...



  ... so needless to say, there's been a lot of tweaking going on around the yard
so we'll be ready when all the little trick-or-treaters come calling!


It seems like just yesterday that we were taking our own girls trick-or-treating, but in reality
it's been many, many years as they're now in their twenties!
(I'm still not sure where those years went!)
Part of the Halloween fun was making the girls' costumes each year.


Back in the early 90's they were little Dutch girls. The costumes were pretty easy to make;
little calico skirts with elastic waistbands, cafe curtain aprons (which I then then stenciled with windmills), cardigans and tights that they already had. The tricky part was the little Dutch girl hats, but with the help of some florist wire I was able to get the side flaps to bend upwards!


Another year they were little Indian maidens after their dad brought these headdresses back
from a trip to Colorado. Again, very simple homemade "over the head" faux suede dresses
(i.e. no zippers or buttons for this bumbling seamstress).


These were the easiest costumes ever! Black pants that they already had, some of my old blouses, scarves, and necklaces from the 80's, an inexpensive eye patch and voila - instant pirates!


A footed sleeper, headband ears, and heart on her nose
transformed Amanda into a Care Bear one year...

...while a homemade cape, crazy socks, painted whiskers and cat ears
transformed Court into the snazziest Halloween cat ever.

Most of the yard decorations that I put out a couple of weeks ago are the same ones we've had since the girls were little, like the pumpkin windsock in the first photo and this ghost windsock. Both have seen better days, but I still hang them year after year.

I still have the blue & yellow "black cat" flag the girls are standing next to in their pirate costume photo, but I've been hanging this one for many years now.

This pumpkin scarecrow came along when the girls were a little older. He gets 
tied to the maple tree so he can greet all the trick-or-treaters coming up the walkway.
The whiskey barrel in the front yard always gets a 'bouquet' of
faux fall leaves at this time of year...

...as do the flower pots on the front stoop.

Another scarecrow stands guard at the back gate.
The ivy growing up the fireplace is brilliant orange right now.

Mr. Hairy Tarantula hopes that you and yours have a very fun and safe Halloween!!
And you moms & dads who have little ones - enjoy these years because, trust me,
they fly by all too quickly!

Thank you PicMonkey for helping me alter these regular photos into
spook-tacular Halloween photos!!

Be sure to pop over and share one of your favorite things/people/pets/holidays/recipes, or things you've been tweaking around your home or yard!

Happy Halloween, everyone!!!!

Donna

P.S. To all my east coast friends who have mentioned Sandy in their comments, I hear you! If we have electricity, I plan to share a "one year anniversary" post with some photos of our yard after last year's freak snowstorm. We lost so many trees and branches. I'm definitely not looking forward to a repeat performance exactly one year later!

 

Thursday, October 25, 2012

My furry little helpers...

So last week I shared our little split entryway mirror/gallery wall makeover.

What I didn't share were photos of my buddies, who love to help me out
whenever I'm tweaking things or taking photos.

I snapped this photo of Mr. J through the mirror, as he lay in the hallway watching my every move!

Oh my gosh, he looks so guilty/sad in this photo for some reason. Cheer up, Mr. J!

That's better! Now we have a big toothy grin :)

Here's another pair of eyes watching my every  move.

I see you down there, Baby, even though you do somewhat blend in with the floor!

A few minutes later I found her hiding behind the open door in the entryway.
She loves to pounce out from hiding places to 'surprise' us!

And here's a short video of  Baby putting on a little show for me before I put the camera away.

Now I just need to teach her how to fix the curled up rug once she's done rolling in it!

The leaves are falling at a furious rate around here.
Hope you're all enjoying autumn!

I'm joining Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday this week!

Donna

Monday, October 22, 2012

Autumn window views...

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."
Albert Camus

Baby and I have been enjoying the view from almost every window lately.

From her perch, Baby can admire the cherry tree next to the shed.

Orange, gold and red are visible through the slider...
... the family room windows...

...and the living room.

I hope you're all enjoying fall colors in your neck of the woods!

Donna

Monday, October 15, 2012

Eclectic Mirror Gallery Wall

Split entries are not known for spacious entryways, so rather than focus on my lack of floor space I've turned my attention to the entryway wall (which has been a work-in-progress for many, many years).

That's actually pretty sad, because I know many of you could have put this wall together in less than an hour rather than over the course of years. Although I've never searched for anything specific to hang on this wall, once I've spotted that 'something,' I know it's coming home with me. And I have to say, I'm beginning to really like how that method is shaping up.

For years our entryway looked like the photo on the left, with just the large white mirror and the rustic wood mirror above the coat hooks. The original painting, done by my mother-in-law, is the star of the entryway, hanging over the double doors. Last year I spotted a couple of rustic wood-framed mirrors at the swap shed of our local dump one Saturday morning, and I knew just where to put them. The photo on the right was taken after they were hung.

And little by little, as you can see, some other things have caught my eye!

This gorgeous "God Bless Our Home" vintage cross stitch is my most recent find.

The frame is pretty beat up, so it blends in nicely with the VERY rustic mirrors from the dump!

I needed something narrow for between these two mirrors. This crucifix, borrowed from our bedroom, was the perfect size. I think it ties in nicely with the cross stitch.
I've had this heart wall pocket and quilt-look print hanging in the entryway for a l-o-n-g time. I thought the saying was perfect for an entryway. However, the white frame and dove plaque above the quilt print are too stark white, so I plan to age them a bit. I'll share the "after" pix in a future post.

I couldn't resist this very inexpensive piece (99 cents) that I found at Salvation Army last week. It truly looks like someone just put a magazine page in a very inexpensive woodtone frame, but it spoke to me :)

Also, it ties in nicely with plastic dove plaque above the quilt print and the bird hooks for our coats.

At one time this was the only mirror in the entryway. I've had it since the girls (now in their 20's) were little. We call it the "monkey mirror" because of the carved top section. It looks like two little monkey ears, and the distressed wood almost looks like a face (if you have an over-active imagination and really squint!).

I honestly didn't think I'd ever add so much to this wall as I truly was trying to embrace minimalism.
I guess minimalism just didn't embrace me :)

The bookcases are still along the hallway wall, just waiting for me to get in gear and start moving my office studio into the larger of the two spare bedrooms. Now that the weather is getting cooler, we'll be doing more 'inside' projects, so hopefully that's in the not-too-distant future.

But today was GORGEOUS with no chilly weather in sight; just a balmy breeze and temps in the 70's. All the windows and doors were open. Here in New England, we know we won't have many more days like this!

So that's what I've been 'tweaking' lately!
Be sure to stop over and share a favorite thing or something you've tweaked!!!

Donna