Etsy Tuesday: Study in Mint

Mint is definitely in.  Since I love all shades of green, the current mint craze absolutely delights my senses.  For your enjoyment, check out these great finds from Etsy.

1. Vintage Mint Dress - check out this link for the cutest & happiest Etsy model ever.

2. Sparkly Dog Collar - because even your pup deserves to be stylish.

3. Leaf Dinnerware - I would die for this whole set.

4. Clutch - affordable addition to your seasonal/trendy items that could easily be modified with a sparkly brooch for fancier occassions.

5. Retro Dress - perfect for a Sunday brunch date with your friends.

6. Mint Earrings - simple & elegant.

7. Vintage Sewing Machine - and one of my fav items on this list.

8. Imperial Savoy Camera - a great addition to any collection of cameras.

9. Sugar Bowl - very sweet bowl you could also use for cotton balls in the bathroom.

10. Cross Weave Bracelet - a good bracelet for layering with other gold pieces.

11. Pendant Necklace - another fav that I'd love put on an extremely long chain.

12. Tassel Garland - super stylish addition to a birthday party or bridal shower.

13. Leather Ipad Mini Case - for the stylish tech savvy girl.

14. Ivory Linen & Mint Chair - a welcoming chair to read a book in. 

Mess-Free Halloween Pumpkins

I absolutely love carving pumpkins, but will be the first one to admit that gutting them is really gross.  So, a couple of years ago my boyfriend and I started painting pumpkins instead and made them into witches, black cats, bats & spiders.  It's a great way to be creative without the mess.  Here are a few ideas in case you're interested.

{photo courtesy of The Finer Things}

Creepy Crawly How-To:

Paint black, super glue two googly eyes,

and then cut 4 black pipe cleaners in half jamming each set of 4 on

each side of the pumpkin for legs.  And oula!

Black Cat How-To:

Paint a small pumpkin and medium sized pumpkin black. (Avoid using paint with water because then you'll end up with cracks like me).  Remove the stem from the larger pumpkin and fill the area with lots of hot glue.  Then, attache the smaller pumpkin and let dry.

Using hot glue, attach 2 googly eyes and a button for a nose to the head.  The whiskers are actually 6 sewing pins pushed into the pumpkin.  For the ears, cut a black  pipe cleaner in two and jam them into the pumpkin.  You can stabilize them with a little bit of super glue or hot glue.  For the tail, take two pipe cleaners and twist together one end while curling the other end.  Stick the twisted end into the pumpkin. 

To make the tie, simply use a pipe cleaner and tie it around the cat's neck like a necklace. Then, cut a tie shape out of felt and glue to the pipe cleaner.  For added flair, you can decorate the tie with stripes or polka dots.

Etsy Tuesday: Halloween Party Supplies

There's 13 haunting days til Halloween, which means it's time to fill up your shopping carts (virtual or real) with party supplies for the perfect, frighteningly fun Halloween party.  As a result, today's Etsy finds are geared towards throwing a party filled with ghouls & goblins.  Click on the links and start shopping because time is running out....!

Vintage Inspired Halloween Tags - these are perfect for attaching to party favor bags, using as place cards, or tying to water bottles.

Orange & Black Polka Dot Favor Boxes - fill these with M&Ms, candy corn or your favorite homemade treats.
 
Trick-or-Treaters Halloween Card - these darling cards are great for scribbling sweet messages inside to send to your favorite nieces and nephews

Black Raven Place Cards - even Halloween parties can be elevated with little touches like these.

"Vampire Bites" Card Stock Tags - these are a great idea as is, fill a jar with candies for your co-workers or children's classmates and wrap these cute tags around.

Orange Polka Dot Straws - for a pop of color on your food & beverage table, straws are a cheap and fun addition (and using them keeps your teeth from rotting out....something has to!).

"Spooky" Banner - hang them on your doors, fireplaces, buffets or bar to add that extra something special.

Crazy Bats Garland - I would totally hang these from the ceiling along with Martha Stewart's Pom Poms in orange & black.

"Trick or Treat" Banner - yet another banner for the mantle.

Vintage Paper Plates - these plates are so much fun that I wish they had more!

Plastic Halloween Favor Bags - perfect for caramel popcorn balls or brownie bites.

Black Raven Centerpiece - an eery raven that would make even Edgar Allan Poe proud.

Three Spooky Birds Mini Treat Sacks - make handing out candy to trick or treaters easy by using these to fill with a few pieces of candy AND a toothbrush.

DIY Printable Cupcake Picks - because cupcakes are so much more fun when dressed up.

Orange & Black Paper Garland - just one more garland.

Halloween Party Invitations - set the mood for your costume party with these classic invitations.

Halloween Themed Entryways

via Martha Stewart

 via Martha Stewart

 via Martha Stewart

 via Pottery Barn

 via Pottery Barn

vintage Pottery Barn

Before the trick or the treat, get your entryway ready for the spookiest night of the year.  Carved, painted or made of twigs, pumpkins are the easiest thing to add to any entryway and the most cost efficient decorations.  Once the steps are lined with pumpkins, you can never go wrong with adding some fall garlands and wreaths, luminaries, crows, or homemade cardboard cutouts of bats and owls.  For more ideas, click on the links above.

Happy Monday!

Halloween Decorations

 

Halloween is just a few weeks away and if you love this holiday as much as I do, then you've probably already decorated.   Honestly, I wasn't too happy with the selection of Halloween decorations and supplies this year.  The colors were strange - turquoise for Halloween?!  I know that it's a very popular color, but Halloween?  I don't get it.  As a result, it has been extra hard to shop for the extras this year.  That coupled with just having finished unpacking and placing everything in my new apartment, didn't make me as excited as usual for the holiday season.  I kept thinking, But the buffet looks so nice why would I want to take it all down and put up pumpkins?  So in my quest to get excited about this Halloween, I scoured the web to find a few things to inspire me. 

Black & White Striped Wreath with Vintage Cardboard Cutout - simple can be so chic, even at Halloween.

Trick-or-Treat Tablecloth

Halloween Collage - this would be perfect for the always-festive entry-way table.

Vintage-Inspired Halloween Masks - these would make a great place card for a haunted dinner party.

Luminaries - because it's all about the mood being just right for Halloween.

Festive Wreath

Scaredy Cat Doormat

Dessert Plates for all of your homemade treats

A Personalized Skeleton to happily greet guests (though I'd refrain from putting your name on it if your husband likes to scare the trick-or-treaters).

Tumbler Set

The Most Handsome Owl of All

Happy Weekend!

I'm so glad it's the weekend already - what a busy week.  Thursday felt like Friday.  Oh well, time to get out your Halloween costumes and polish those vampire fangs.  I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend planned, but mostly, I hope no one goes into a sugar comma!  I shall leave you, and the month of October, with a few pictures of my own place decorated for Halloween a few years ago.  We won first place in the door decorating contest for our apartment which meant lots of dinero off of the next month's rent - yippee!

Happy Weekend!

Halloween Cupcake with White Chocolate Spiderweb

Halloween by Martha Stewart

Pasta Skeletons

 Halloween Party Picks

 Halloween Tree

 Halloween Crackers

 Candied-Out Pumpkins

 Black Cat Treat Boxes 

Witch & Cat Pumpkins

Martha Stewart is always a great go-to for party ideas, recipes & crafts, and Halloween is no exception.  I absolutely love the pasta skeletons.  And why stop at skeletons?  I'm sure kids would love making pumpkins & ghosts with pasta as well.  Throw in a few stickers & markers and the kids will go crazy for this craft project.  The Candied Out Pumpkins are also adorable, guarding their candy jars from the occasional candy seeker.  All you need is a pumpkin, some glue and candy to deck out your candy table and make it the most festive party on the block.  Kids and parents alike will admire your creativity and you can say, "Oh, those pumpkins? We do those every year."  Happy Halloween!

A Vintage Halloween by Country Living

I am loving these ideas from Country Living, especially the pumpkin toss game 

& candy corn stand filled with candy.  Halloween is such a fun time of year so I hope your 

parties & costumes are coming together and you have a fun weekend planned!

Last Minute Halloween Ideas

from the Hostess with the Mostess

Here are some great ideas for the adult party-goers who enjoy Halloween just as much as the next kid.  I love the purple cake with the writing "Love at First Bite".  And her modern take on Halloween in the fourth picture is too awesome for words.  What do you think?

Etsy Tuesday: Halloween Costumes & More

It's almost here, that frightful night filled with miniature witches and goblins and superheros, knocking on doors asking for the occasional trick or treat.  In case you're still in search of ideas, here are few of this week's Etsy finds. 


a family of superheros

vintage party favors

a roaring Max

adorable little gnome

trick-or-treat tags

dinosaur capes

miss incredible

halloween wine charms

a monster bag

Halloween Dessert Tables

It's almost here, the time of year that brings ghouls, and goblins, and witches to the dinner table.  Here are a few ideas for the perfect dessert table for your Halloween Party.

All photos courtesy of Martha Stewart, except second photo which is courtesy of Etsy seller Frog Prince Paperie

Etsy Tuesday: A Vintage-Inspired Halloween Party

I absolutely love the holidays, including Halloween.  It's such a fun time and who doesn't love dressing up?!  Every year I think about throwing a Halloween Party and always find a plethora of items that would be perfect for that vintage-inspired Halloween Party but alas, it never happens.  Just in case though, here are a few links from Etsy vendors that would help make up the perfect Halloween Party.

"Happy Halloween" Gift Tags, perfect for personalizing party favors

Vintage-Inspired Halloween Banner

"Trick or Treat" Favor Bags

Vintage Inspired Favors &/or Halloween Tree Ornament

Bottlecap Ornament

Paper Witch Hat

A Spooky Halloween Banner

"Trick or Treat" Banner

Adorable Halloween Party Hats

A Ghoulishly Elegant Cupcake Wrapper

Paper Pumpkin Ornament

Cupcake Toppers

A Haunting Halloween Home, the perfect centerpiece

Jack the Pumpkin

"Boo" Banner


"Trick or Treat" Stationery - send personalize Halloween notes or hand-written invitations for the perfect vintage-inspired Halloween party