Halloween Highlights

We love to decorate for Halloween.  Our neighbors really go over the top, and all the kids in the neighborhood have to stop by.  They have a guillotine and an electric chair, among other things.

I won't show you everything we did, but here are a few new projects I did this year:

This was such an easy project.  I had a cheap thrift store mirror that I hadn't found a place for.  I put some paint remover on the back and scraped off some of the mirror paint (I've heard you can also use oven cleaner), then I taped on an image I printed.  I got the instructions from this website.   I stuck some of my candles in the dirt.  They are so cool:  they bleed when you burn the candle.

I have been wanting to make this wreath ever since I saw it on Martha Stewart's website.  Painting rubber snakes is tricky, since paint on rubber just makes it sticky.  I used spray paint for plastic but it still turned out a little sticky anyway.  Totally worth it though.

I used my Christmas tree urn to hold my candy cauldron.

I used the lanterns I bought a while back from Ikea to use for Teacher Appreciation Week.  I put battery-powered candles inside and hot glued plastic roaches on the outside.  They looked amazing in the dark.

One of my kids was a deranged hockey murderer. Nice.

My daughter was a cow girl, and my other son wore a

Doppler Effect costume from Sheldon of The Big Bang Theory (See below). 

We just stuck white duct tape on a black shirt.

You can also see the body parts and machete hanging from the tree in the background.

Do you decorate for Halloween?

Chunky Scarf

I've been seeing a lot of chunky scarves on Pinterest lately.

They look so cozy.

I found this one at Forever 21.

It ddidn't look that special on-line,

but I was pretty happy when it arrived.

$9.50

That is a pretty great price.

How the Cool Kids Decorate for Halloween

Have you seen this?  A family decorated their house for Halloween with a light show set to Party Rock Anthem.  That.Is.Cool.

Help: How Do I Recondition Leather Furniture?

Have you ever seen the blog Mr. Goodwill Hunting?  Well it is written by Rashon Carraway who is a contributor on The Nate Berkus show.  He does amazing things with Goodwill finds.  Like this Baker cabinet he found for $75, which originally retailed for $17,370.  Wow.  Then he painted it gray and it looks amazing.

So, inspired by his blog, I dropped by the local thrift store, and I found a cute little gray leather chair.  I looked at the bottom and it said Crate & Barrel.  Googled Crate & Barrel leather chair and it appears they are selling chairs similar to this one for about $2,000.  I'll take it.  $20 is what I paid.

It actually looks better than the picture shows.  There are no cracks in it, just some scrapes that I think will go away with some conditioner or gray polish.  The only thing wrong with it is a small spot with packing tape sticky.  I'm not sure how to get it off, and I don't want to try things and mess up the chair.  Does anyone know the best way to recondition leather furniture?

Raw Vegetable Soup

I really love eating raw foods.  I feel good about putting pure, healing, wonderful nutrients in my body.

One of my favorite raw food recipe books is Raw Food Made Easy by Jennifer Cornbleet.  She is the guru of quick and easy raw food recipes, and has videos on her website and youtube showing how to prepare raw foods. 

One recipe I make a lot is Garden Vegetable Soup, which is a cold veggie soup that is similar to gazpacho.  Here is a video showing exactly how to make it.  The recipe is flexible and uses whatever vegetables you happen to have.  Perfect if you have veggies that are on the verge of going bad and you need to use them up.  One of the ingredients she recommends using is miso paste, and I am hooked.  It has a really great flavor.  

If you like gazpacho, you will really like this.  I fill up 3 mason jars and eat it for a few days.  Yummy!

Virginia Earthquake

I'm a California girl, living in Virginia.

(awesome photo from Blahbethany)

Need I say more?

Jewelry Storage

I thought I would show you my jewelry storage today.  I put this in a while back, and it is great.  So easy, too.  Here's what I did:

I bought a poster frame at Target (clearance for a couple bucks).

I cut a peg board to the dimensions of the frame

(the guy at Home Depot can do this for you if you don't have a saw)

I took 3 scrap pieces of wood and mounted them to the wall where I wanted the pegboard to hang (top, middle and bottom).  You want the peg board to come out from the wall and not sit right on the wall because the hardware will go through the holes and mess up your drywall.  Don't make the wood too big though, because it will block the holes.

I screwed the pegboard to the pieces of wood.

I placed the frame right on the peg board and secured it with some hot glue.

On my dresser I have a silver dish for small earrings and flower pins.

You can also see my thrift store painting that I love, but Mr. Jones does not love, so I propped it up on my dresser.  It really softens the very modern furniture I have in my closet.

Stop by Simply Brookes to see some other jewelry storage ideas.

Where do you keep your jewelry?