Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Ghostly Greetings

October 31st.
 
Happy Halloween
Bloggy Friends
~*~
Enjoy your little
Ghosts & Goblins
Tonight!!!
 
Here are a couple
pictures of my Mini
Haunted House!
 
I wasn't able to get very
much done, but I plan to work on it
throughout year, so
hopefully the next time you see it,
you'll notice many changes!
 
 
 
 
It's hard to tell,
but the ghosts
flanking each side of
the porch are lights...
they illuminate quite a
way, in an eerie
spooky
sort of way!
 
 
~what's that looking over the roof~
 
That goblin on the roof is
very creepy if you ask me!!!
 
~very creepy indeed~
 
~ghostly shadows lurking inside~
 
 
 
I thought I'd leave you
with a couple free
Halloween Printables
for your to enjoyment!
 
What's not to love about this!
 
~who doesn't looove tags~
 
Not me!!!
 
Happy Halloween!!!
 
Always, Debbie~

 
 
 
 
 

Sunday, October 28, 2012

My Haunted House

A friend of mine showed me the most
adorable little doll house she'd
transformed
into a
haunted
 house!
Last Halloween!
 
...and I haven't been able to get that
little beauty off my mind since...
 
 So of course, I started looking for just the right
doll house, I wanted one with a good sized front porch.
And the day after my Bunco party as I was strolling down
 the toy isle, at one of my fave thrift stores...
There she was!
Missing a few windows, but really, I wanted it for
a haunted house, so did that really matter???!!!
 
NO, not really...
and
at $5.99 plus 30% off... It did Not matter at all!!!
 
This is my fabulous find!
 
~Great front porch~
 
~the back side/inside view~ 
 
Notice the missing round window...
It's also missing two more just like that one,
and a couple of the frames from the big windows.
I've actually seen them on Ebay, I may bid on
some later if I feel I need them.
 
~it opens up to a nice size~
 
I looove the gingerbread detail around the porch & doors!
 
This is going to be an ongoing project, I'm not going to finish
it this Halloween, I plan on working on it as I find things
 that'll go with it.
 
My McGiver thought he'd do a better job of spraying it!
...And who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth,
wouldn't YOU agree???!
 
~amazing what a little black spray paint can do~
 
~bye bye pink~
 
~eerily cool~
 
And let the fun begin!
 
~adding a little purple trim~
 
~Mr. Skeleton resting on the porch~
 
This is just the beginning and I'm loooving it...
 
I hope to have a SPoOkY little update
for you 
on
 
HALLOWEEN!!!
~*~
I'm linking to Cindy's blog,
 
 
Please try to visit as many of
these ladies that you can,
they are so talented!
 
Thanks so much for visiting,
I'd looove it, if you'd leave me a comment!
Check back soon, to see what's new
on my little 
HaUnTeD
house!!!
 
Always, Debbie~
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

POE'S The Raven, Inspired Theme

Getting ready for my Bunco girlfriends was a real treat for me.
I mentioned last post, about finding my Grandma's Edgar Allan
Poe's book of poems & stories. I was so taken with The Raven,
it inspired me, and before I knew it, my creative juices were flowing,
I had more ideas than time!
Take a look!
 
~my dining room platters~ 
 
I wrote part of The Raven around the edges,
I got the idea off Pinterest, from here.
 
I had so much fun with this theme!
 
~I covered my shades in black lacey paper~
 
You'll notice I used the lace paper on several
other craft items as well!
 

~I draped my chandelier with a dollar store find~
 
I also added a very cool glittery Raven from JoAnn's
for a little extra bling!
 
 
~polka dots, polka dot, polka dot...Nevermore~
 
~ I made 14 tussie mussies, so each guest could take one home~
 
My sweet neighbor Inez came over the afternoon of my
Bunco party, and helped decorate, she filled, and attached
each tussie mussie to the back of all twelve chairs!!!
 
~angel in costume~
 
~last year I found 5 beautiful lace panels for my windows~
 
Such a wonderful find at Value Village for either 5.99 or 6.99 ea...
Such a deal!
 
~*~
 
I looove pennants, so of course I had to make some
to match everything else...(notice above the lace panels).

 ~more of the dollar store erie material~
 
 
 
~the mantel is so much fun~
 
Martha had wall clings, that are so much fun!
I of course was attracted to the crow/raven
and branch, it seemed to go right along with
my wreath! I added a black feather boa and
a fun crow, that I added a hat, and crepe paper too!
 
~I had candy for each of the 3 tables, refills from here~
 
 
Mr. & Mrs. Bear in costume too...
 
 ~ my beautiful old gray & black shawl~
 
I also draped my black one over my love seat,
(someone sat here, and it got a little messy),
ever so pretty...
 
 
 
 ~I had so much fun with this~
 
My dessert plates came from the dollar store,
I used Sharpie markers, to draw my design
and then I baked them for 30 minutes at 350 degrees,
to set the ink! I looove the way they turned out!
 
 
Each table had a different table cloth, the head table
in my dining room had a black lace tablecloth
with spider webs, and spiders all over it, from
JoAnn's...
The other table had a plain black table cloth on it,
with a spider web cutout placemat centerpiece, 
and adorable white napkin rings with black polka dots!
 
~I had a silver pumpkin on all three Bunco tables,
with a Raven on top for the centerpiece~
 
I found this lovely Harlequin fabric at the thrift store,
I also found 12 brand new black napkins there too...
 
I attached a strip of paper left over from the tussie mussies
and the pennants, to tie in the napkin rings.
 
 
~ this is one of my manny's with witches garb~
 
~an old costume from my Grandson last year~
 
Ooops, my camera gets tossed on the outside of this
door all the time for easy access!
 
 
 
~my dining room table~
 
Sadly I didn't get one picture of all the tussie mussies
tied to the back of all the chairs...
 
~it's hard to see the black lace panels on these pictures~
 
 
~this is what greeted my Bunco girlfriends~
 
 
~the ghost pumpkin totem~
 
This was a hoot to make, I did have trouble
attaching each pumpkin to the other...
I used skewers, but I kept knocking them
through...
Finally I got them to work!!!
I spray painted the middle pumpkin
with Krylon, and had some problems
getting the white paint to stick, but all in
all it was easy, and I looove the way it turned out!
 
We had a great time, I enjoy this group of gals so much,
and they were all good sports, and wore black, some
even came in costume...Birds in their hair, what fun!!!
 
I'm linking to these blog parties, please take a few minutes,
to visit, and see what's going on. You won't believe
how crafty, and the fun were all having from
coast to coast!!!
 
 
 
 
 
 Thank YOU sooo much for visiting my blog, I'd
looove it if  you left me a comment, it's really wonderful
kind of like a present!!! Thanks again for visiting!
 
Always, Debbie~
 
 

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Life Goes ON...

There have been many bumps in my road, not unlike many
of you I'm sure...One thing I know for sure, Cottage White
calms my soul. My little cottage, be it so humble, is
cozy,
comforting,
and wraps me in solitude.
~*~
 
Lately my McGiver and I've been making a few
changes around our little cottage to help me organize my
lifea little better.Our third bedroom was used for storage
for years.  If you remember we have a small rambler, and our
garage was made into our family room...For some of you,
that may be an ideal arrangement, but for us, we've found
we really need the storage space a garage offers.  It was pretty
much floor to ceiling just before our Grandpeeps came to
live with us. My McGiver rented a storage space, cleaned
out the third bedroom, and we fixed our Grandpeeps a very
cute bedroom for the months they lived with us! 
 
When they moved home, I decided to redo it, and make it
into my Creative workspace. It's taken a few weeks
of very hard work from my McGiver, (who I'm indebted)
for all the back breaking work he did!
The first thing he did was pick up the huge white elephant
80's shelf unit I bought at the thrift store for storage.
He wasn't at all happy about them, but they were already
paid for, and I'd already borrowed our neighbor's truck,
so under a lot of protest, he and I picked it up, (them)
and parked all three pieces in our living room!  
 
~three very large dark shelf units~
 
My McGiver soon turned them into this!
 
~Can you believe the difference~
 
Once we added all the shelves, they became beautiful!
 
The next thing he tackled was the horrible floor, although
it's hardwood, the owners before us, had somehow painted
most of it white....Arghhhh!
 
~this is what he started with~
 
~after some tlc...NOT~
 It started looking like this...
 
 
~until finally he sanded the heck outta it~
 
 
~ he put this adorable chandelier up~
 
 
He finished the floor, and it's beautiful!
 
I'd told my Bunco girlfriends I would host
this years Bunco Halloween party, so my
creative workspace, along with the rest of the cottage,
soon dawned a cloak of black lace, fabrics and
ravens...
 
I chose The Raven as my Theme, and ran with it...
Why Poe's The Raven , you ask? I just happened
to have my Grandmothers 1904 copy of
Edgar Allan Poe's works, as I flipped through the
pages, I became infactuated with The Raven!
 
I will reveal my finished room soon, and post
all the decorations for my Raven themed
Bunco party!
 
Thank you for visiting my blog, I apologize to my
regular readers for being absent so long.
 
 
Always, Debbie~