Obsessed with good design, style, color, fashion and living by the water, this is me dipping my toes into the big world o' blogging and looking at the amazing images, products, projects and ideas floating out there.
What a fun weekend coming up: Halloween (free candy! mmm!); for those of us in DC, the Rally to Restore Sanity; gorgeous weather (70s in DC?); and maybe even some downtime to take in all the gorgeous fall colors around us. I'm definitely ready.
Hope you all have an equally awesome weekend. See you back here Monday!
Hello all and TGIF! Happy almost-Halloween weekend!
I lurv Halloween - always have - I mean, what's not to love about dressing up in a fun costume and getting free candy? Sounds pretty ideal to me. I am kind of sad we're too old to go trick-or-treating these days (well, I could probably still pass for a high schooler, but old man weird beard [ahem, that's you, love] might stand out), but we can still do some little stuff around the house. I hate to say it, but we actually haven't carved pumpkins this year (maybe sometime before Sunday??) and I haven't gone too overboard with decorating or the like.
Here is my one little Halloween vignette: Spooky, eh? Yeah yeah, I know it's kind of a half-a$sed Halloween set-up, but what can you do? Gourd + plastic pumpkin (he makes an appearance every year) + spooky glitter skull (which was an awesome find, here) on an upside-down bowl = I tried. It is what it is. I kind of like it though... And don't our silhouettes look kind of creepy/dead relative-ish? :)
The one effort I have made was in the kitchen. Yesterday I got the baking bug and decided to whip up some homemade "boo pies" (I have no idea what to call them - they're sort of halfway between whoopie pies [but not as cake-y] and Oreos [but not as crunchy]) - whatever you call 'em, they are were gooood (just ask Sara).
Here's proof that I made these mammers from scratch: Cooling.
Patiently waiting while I mixed up the cream cheese filling by hand.
Assembled. (A tad sloppy, but it was my first attempt at this!)
Halloween-ed up.
The only trouble is that I have this left over: A decent portion of handmade cream cheese filling. There's about a million pounds of cream cheese, butter and confectioner's sugar just waiting to go straight to my a$s. It's all I can do not to dig in with a spoon. Oy.
Have you all gotten into the Halloween mood yet? Without kids, I feel slightly strange getting too amped up over it, but I am looking forward to this weekend... In the meantime, see you all back here in a bit!
...Not for leaving their trash on the curb two days early - for Halloween! I love this cute Halloween neighborhood tradition of "booing your neighbors" (from the ever-brilliant Kristin of Blonde Designs). This seems like a tradition that would be super simple and easy to do. And no pressure - you only have to do it for two neighbors - they in turn do it for two other neighbors. Fun!
Here's how quick this would be:
Step 1: print out the awesome printable labels from BD here.
Step 2: Fill two bags full of inexpensive Halloween treats.
Step 3: Include the fun "boo" poem explaining the deal (the poem is also included in the printables here).
Step 4: Put the "boo" ghost sign (below) on on your neighbor's door (see top photo) and leave one of the treat bags. You've just booed your neighbor!
Further instructions and printable templates available here. All photos from Blonde Designs.
Seriously? Who knew a DIY Halloween costume could be so fashionable? Of course it helps that this woman looks like a model, but dare I say that this adorable is mushroom costume is...chic? It seriously couldn't get easier either - cover a wide-brimmed hat (grab one from Tar-jay - my favorite chic & cheap spot!) and adhere some felt spots to make it look like a mushroom top. Pair with an all-brown (or earth tone) outfit et voila! Mushroom.
If being a fun-guy (heh, fungi - get it? oy. sorry.) doesn't do it for you, here are a few other easy DIY options:
I'm loving this cute gnome costume. I highly doubt B would ever let me even suggest something like this for him/us, but maybe someday I'll be able to put a munchkin of my own in it. The whole thing could be accomplished with some basic clothes and felt pretty easily too.
Maybe B would rather be in a Polaroid. Paint box, adhere background, done. (Don't forget your "picture smile" to top it off!) Love it.
I've always toyed with donning a giant fruit-laden headdress and polka-dotted garb a la Carmen Miranda to be the Chiquita banana lady for Halloween, but this all-yellow banana costume seems much easier. Mind officially changed - peace out headdress (maybe one day when I'm a crazy old lady...), hellooo head-to-toe yellow! Now where to score yellow pants on the cheap?
All these brills ideas came directly from Kendra Smoot for Holidash - check out the link for even more DIY ideas. In the meantime, I'm off to shop for a floppy hat and some felt... can you guess what I'm going to be?
A gnome. Duh. (Kidding) Photos by Seth Smoot. Mushroom costume originally spotted on {frolic!}.
I wanted to break from our regularly scheduled blog-posts-about-nothing to wish L. Covington Smith Campbell (the turquoise UnderArmour-clad quarter-flipper in the photo above) a very happy birthday today. Cov, I hope that you have the greatest of birthdays today and an even better year. We've traveled the world together, from archaeological digs in Israel to New Zealand and Fiji; braved the bars of College Park, both using the same ID (yours); rushed, quit rushing, joined and un-joined sororities; kept in touch over years on the sea and various parts of land; and now you're married, a lawyer and a mother. I'm so impressed by you, oh fluent-in-two-dead-languages friend!
And as the photo above (from approximately two thousand years ago) shows, you were always destined to become a hot cougar! Lovely tigress o' Siegfried and Roy costume, by the way.
So dear Cov, happy happy Birthday! You smell like a sailor, and you look like one too (minus a really nice pair of Maui Jims...). Enjoy your foray into your 30s! Cheers and love, xoxo -r.
Good morning and happy Monday! Did you have a good weekend? I cannot believe Halloween is over and so is October - how is it November already? We are in full-on fall now (gotta love the end of Daylight Savings Time and the extra hour of sleep!), which means that - dare I say it? - Thanksgiving, the holidays and winter are right around the corner. Yikes! It will be 2010 before we know it.
But before I get too far ahead of myself, here's looking forward to a new week. I'm hoping to make it a productive one. More posts to come - see you back here soon?
Isn't this little guy the cutest? And so appropriate with all the clamor over the new Where The Wild Things Are movies (which I still haven't seen). And even though I am neither a baby nor a child, I do plan on dressing up for Halloween tomorrow. B and I haven't come up with costumes yet, but I always have my trusty pirate patches in case of last minute dress-up emergency, so at least I know we'll have a fall-back plan for tomorrow in case inspiration doesn't strike before then. What about you all? Any fun costume ideas?
I am going to wrap things up a touch early today (must think about fun costume ideas! ok, really I just have to go to the grocery store), but I hope you have a fabulous Halloween weekend and see you in November (eek! where has 2009 gone?)! xoxo -r.
For all you fellow design nerds out there, how funny is this Pantone pumpkin? Great non-traditional pumpkin carving inspiration. (And if you don't get it, it's showing the chip for Pantone 144 - which is an ink in the color orange.)
This kinda makes miss my days looking through Pantone books though. Wish I has smuggled one out from the agency...
Every year, B and I have a pumpkin-carving competition. He's currently in the lead with a few more wins than I over the years (though I think he might have an unfair advantage, as our judges are always neighborhood kids - who are predominantly little girls and who think that B is "dreamy" - but not to be a spoilsport), so I want to do something really cool this year to take home the title.
This year, we're carving pumpkins with a bunch of friends, so I'm sure the creativity and range will be even more interesting (one of our friends once carved a Natty Bo pumpkin to honor the local Baltimore brew) than when it's just B and me. With all that being said, I'm doing a bit of research ahead of time in order to prepare. Here are my front-runners of inspiring pumpkins so far: Credits: 1: Country Living, 2-4: Martha Stewart, 5-6: Jaimee Rose, 7: also Martha Stewart
You like? Any opinions on which one I should try? Anything cool I'm missing? Please leave a comment - I'd love to hear what you've done.
Don't be misled by this post title - I was more than excited when I found this idea for decorating a brownie tray - it's just that it's absolutely tailor-made for crazy people only. I mean, for most folks, baking brownies (or any other baked good or food for that matter) to bring to an event or to share with friends is a nice enough gesture. But for the crazy person - that overachieving friend/sorority sister/PTA mom we all know, Martha Stewart, sometimes me - it also needs to be transported in style.
Well, thanks to Kristen of Paper Source, I now know what to do.
Kristen was bringing her souped-up brownies (box mix plus espresso powder and walnuts) to a BBQ and didn't want to leave behind her own dish/tray, so she bought one of those disposable aluminum trays (they're about two bucks at the grocery store). But, of course they're not very attractive, so she wrapped the tray with cheery wrapping paper and double-stick tape (see above), threw in some coordinating paper napkins (of course they matched) and she was all set. Oh and don't forget a layer of wax or parchment paper along the bottom to prevent the brownies from leaving grease marks on the wrapping paper. Good tip.
Seriously, my snarky tone may belie my adoration for this project, but I am definitely planning on doing this in the future. I'm thinking I'll make these Halloween whoopie pies and bring them on a tray decorated with black and silver skull paper for a Halloween party...You could also totally steal this idea for any holiday or event - just switch up your paper choice. Love it!
Opening this birthday package in the mail must have been so fun. Simple white box? Yes, but look inside: I love the ideas on Inchmark. This box of gumballs is totally adorable and - even better - so simple. I love that you could do this for a birthday as shown, but easily for other holidays, too: candy corn or pumpkins for Halloween, peppermint bark for Christmas, gelt for Hannukah and so on. So whose birthday is next? You might just be receiving this in the mail!
Happy October 1st! Even though I blogged about Halloween/fall decorations a few weeks ago, I wanted to wait until it was officially fall and officially the month of the Halloween holiday before putting out my "Halloween decorations." You know, like waiting until five o'clock to drink...
Anyway, when I say "my Halloween decorations," I actually really mean just one sole mini-pumpkin made of orange plastic that is maybe 3" x 3" total. I'm not one for major holiday decorations of any sorts, but this little guy did look pretty measly by himself on our mantel.
So imagine my excitement when, at Marshall's today, I found a silver glittered skull for less than 10 bucks (kinda similar to the one above, which is actually from Pottery Barn).
Even better, not only did this new Halloween accoutrement look awesome added to our dining room table, but it turns out Martha's Craft Dept. and I are on pretty much the same page with this Halloween decoration. Behold:
Score. Currently patting myself on the back for newest holiday addition and for only spending eight bucks to get it. Now if only Target would slow their roll with putting out Christmas cards already, I would feel much better.
Being that it was 78 degrees here yesterday, I know it's not quite fall yet. I'm not ready for turtlenecks and boots, not for October and definitely not for Halloween. But the stores and websites just keep telling me it's time. Everywhere I look I see pumpkins, skulls and jumbo bags of candy. Therefore, I blame the mass-market for this Gothic-y inspiration that's overcome me today. I am loving these Halloween decorations: Photos from: Martha Stewart, Wiley Valentine, Prometheus Springs (as seen on Wiley Valentine), Sunset Magazine and Pottery Barn (x2).
And in case you want to get a bit classy with it, here are some less ghouly options:
Beautiful pumpkin and pomegranate centerpiece (can you even get pomegranates in the grocery store?) from Sunset Magazine:
And a nice alternative to your crooked-y smile Jack-o-lantern, these adorable carved pumpkin house numbers (also from Sunset Magazine, but different article) would look awesome if you had a porch this nice:
And last, who doesn't love a little shiny pumpkin action (from Pottery Barn of course)? So, without further ado, bring on the crackly leaves underfoot, the fun white pumpkins, and best of all, the scads of candy!
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