Fall/Halloween Wreath Part Two

Hey Everybody!  Thank you all so much for all the sweet birthday wishes!  I really appreciated each and everyone of them.  It has been a busy week working to help get the store (Stein Mart) up and running.  I've never opened up so many boxes at one time in my life!  At first it was like Christmas then the novelty began to wear off and the realization that it is work has settled in quickly.  Whew!   Anyway, I am very happy to finally have a day off again after working 8 and 10 hours a day.  I'm still trying to adjust to that long of a day and am just plain tired by the end of the day.  

One thing that seems to be adjusting already is waking up early.  After several mornings of having to be at work at 6:00am to unload the truck, I woke up early again today!  I was up and ready to get some things done around the house.  The laundry has been humming along all morning while I went about setting out a few things for Halloween.  I can't wait to show you my Halloween wreath but I've got a few other things to show you first.

Look what I found when I opened up my Halloween box from the attic.

I forgot all about buying her last year.  

I bought her after the season on clearance somewhere but can't remember where for the life of me.  Isn't she something?  I was so excited!  She fit's in with my fall mantle beautifully too!

Then, look what I found when I went outside!

Looks like someone made a dinner out of my fall display!  I just can't believe this.  I've had this old Indian corn forever and never had any problems like this before.  Oh well, I was going to move it anyway to set up for Halloween, so in the trash it went.  Bye, bye old corn!

Then out came all my Halloween decor.

Looks like the witch is back!  

I didn't even buy a thing for any of this.  I had all of it from last years tablescape.  You can go see that here.  

This jack-o-lantern is electric and I can't wait to try and photograph it at night.

The sign was a dollar tree find from last year and I've seen them there this year again.  I also got the sticker for the bottle there as well last year.

The spell book I made myself last year too.  I'm crafty that way...like a witch!  Cackle-cackle!

Seriously though, I got this graphic from the Graphics Fairy and added a the words then printed it all out,cut and burned the edges and glued to the top of black tissue paper.  Then wrapped it around a book like a book cover.  Easy and fun!

Here is another fun Graphics Fairy project.  I printed this "Poison" graphic out, cut and glued it on the bottle. 

 I got the idea to put my orange lights (that I already had but rarely use) into my pumpkin vine from another blogger.  I can't remember who she is, so sorry!  I just loved that idea.   When I unboxed my Halloween decor I knew exactly how I was going to use the orange lights this year.  I can't wait to photograph this as well!

Have you seen enough yet?

No? Wreath! What wreath?

Oh, that wreath!

I guess I did promise to show you my wreath didn't I?  

But wait now, it's not just any old Halloween wreath Y'all!  It's part two of my three in one wreath.  Do you remember in a previous post I showed you my fall wreath.

This was part one.

And Here is part two!

What do you think?  It's a wreath within a wreath!

I have had two old straw wreaths like forever!  I've never used them and they sat there in my craft supplies looking so pathetic and neglected.  But not anymore!  This is the largest one of the two.  When I saw this ribbon at Michael's this year, I knew I had to use it.  I also found these picks there as well.  

Talk about easy, all I did was wrap the ribbon around the straw wreath, add my picks, then pin the ribbon after covering the pick stems with it.  Then I added another ribbon to tie it on to the fall wreath and waalaah!

There you are!  I'm all ready now for any trick or treators who might venture our way.   In our rural area, we never have any because they all go somewhere else, like to a neighborhood or the church's for "trunk or treats".   That doesn't stop me from being prepared though, just in case!

I'll be linking up to the following parties today.

Seasonal Sunday

Metamorphosis Monday.

(check out the links above for more)

Thanks for visiting today!

The weather is beautiful and I hope you enjoy a beautiful weekend as well!

It's My Birthday Today!

Hi Ho! Hi Ho!  It's off to work I go, and very happy for it.  Sorry ladies, but I am feeling just full of myself today.  Why?  Well, because today is my birthday!  

I am ringing my own bell today because as it's my life and I am embracing it!  I know this may sound quite braggy to some of you so if that's what you think so be it.  It seems the older I get the more comfortable I get with myself and who I am.  I've spent a lifetime feeling like I needed to please everyone else and be accepted under someone else's terms, but no more!  

God has made me very special just the way I am!  I have a big old heart that breaks easily because I have compassion for others.  Some call people like me super sensitive.  Some call us blessed!  One thing I know for sure.  Those who are blessed (sensitive) are usually the most forgiving and adaptable people on earth.  We live our lives in others shoes, mentally, and sometimes physically.  We understand where people have been when they share a life story with you. Life has not been an easy road for me in childhood, but I know God has always been there with me even when I didn't understand that.  Sure do wish I could get my hair to stay that color always!

Do you know that almost 8 of my closest friends from elementary school all the way up to high school were Libra's.  Pretty wild huh?  We always had such a great October!  Boy, do I miss those women!  We've gone our way after marriage and children but occasionally keep in touch, not nearly enough though.

This is me wearing my birthday necklace a few years ago.  It's kinda like my self proclaimed tiara, that I've decided it is worthy of wearing on birthdays.  I won't be wearing it today though, it's too fancy for setting up a store.  LOL!  

I celebrated my birthday yesterday because I was off.  I am so blessed by my family and wonderful husband!  Look what this man bought me all by himself.  He did the research and this is what he came up with after hearing me complain about the issues I was having with my camera.

Can you believe it?  In know!  I am beside myself.  Love how he gave me three bows on the package too!  LOL!

I've got so much to learn now!  Oh well, actually I guess we never stop learning in life do we?

Well thanks for stopping by and letting me shine a little today.

I hope you all have a wonderful day today too!

Simple Fall Tablescape

Still keeping it simple for fall decorating here!  I'm so thrilled to be able to have today off and I can still participate in

Tablescape Thursday

 today.

It has been such a wonderfully exhausting first few days at my new job.  I've worked 8 hours both days and will be putting in two 10 hours days, tomorrow and Saturday.   Setting up a new store is exhausting work, especially when you are not used to constantly bending, lifting, and assembling things for hours all day.  I'm not complaining though, I really am enjoying it.  It's a great way to get back in shape.  Yesterday, among assembling several other fixtures, I helped my group assemble an army of mannequins.  That was fun!

Well, enough about that, but now at least you know why I'm keeping it simple.  Since I already had a centerpiece set up on my dining room table from fall decorating I decided to use it and set up the rest of the table settings to go with it.  I love how simple white dishes are to tablescape with.  It is so easy to bring in just a touch of fall color splash, or any other seasonal color for that matter.  If you don't own any of the white dishes everyone all over blog land has, you really should.  It's one of the best (simple) decor additions ever.  I'm so glad I got these too!

Placemats; Crate & Barrel

Dinner Plate; Lenox Butlers Pantry Gourmet

Green Wheat Dishs; Barrate Portugal

Salad Plate; Lenox Accouterments Cornelia Cream

Goblets; Antique store (possibly Pier 1)

Salt & Peppers; Lenox Butlers Pantry

Pumpkin & Acorn S&P; Cracker Barrel

Napkins; Pier 1

Acorn Dishes; Michael's

Stainless Steele Flatware; Onieda's Louisiana

Thanks so much for visiting today!

Happy Tablescape Thursday Everyone!

Look Who's Following Me!

I've been spending a little time this afternoon updating my "Look who's Following Me" blogroll.  In case you didn't know, I choose to add those who are following my blog to my sidebar instead of those whom I follow.  If you have a blog you would like listed and are a legit follower and I don't have you listed please let me know so I can add you.


I try to add my followers blogs by clicking on their icons and then adding your link. Many of you do not have your blogs listed in a link on your blogger profiles though.  If the link is not there I may not be able to add you because I don't recognize everyone's profile pictures.  Your blog name included in your profile name is not a link!   It is a good idea to list your blog URL as a link on your profile so others can find you easily as well.


Why do I list those who follow me on my blog instead of those I follow?


Well, I do this because I know that a big part of blogging is all about linking together.  The more places your blog is linked, the more exposure you get.  The more links, hits and visits you get the more your rank goes up.  The higher your rank the more crawler sites also (link) give your blog more exposure.  There is a lot of computer algorithms involved in all of that and the more I can help someone else out I will.  I'm not claiming to have a huge amount of hits or followers.  But it stands to reason if your blog is showing on mine and others it's quite possible someone might see it and jump on over and visit you and possibly some will follow you as well.  Linking your blog to others really is a very vital part of the success of your blog!  Of course content is important and is what makes for the continued success of the largest blogs, but exposure is really a big part of what it is all about as well, not to be overlooked.


I learned this the hard way when loosing a position on someone's blogroll that I thought was a friend who had deleted me and my stats dropped dramatically.  I also made the mistake of asking said friend to add me back, because I thought we were friends and thought it was an oversight on her part.  When I was completely ignored it was a hard lesson learned but one learned none the less.  This is why I offer this to all of you who follow me.  I do have a blogroll of those I follow that I keep private.   Therefore if I stop following someone who also follows my blog most likely they will still be on my blog and still be able to gain continued exposure.  I am all for supporting each other, always have been, always will be.  In short, I may not follow you but I am still willing to help offer exposure to your blog because every little bit helps.  And yeah, I am just a little bit!  LOL!


Additionally, adding those who are following me is a great way for me as well to see new blogs that I am not familiar with.  If you are on my sidebar and I see your updated posts appear I'm likely to go over and check you out.  I try to follow those whom I am interested in and sometimes this takes a few visits first. I do not comment nearly as often as I used to, but I do love to look!


There are a few cases in which I may not list a blog.  


1.  I cannot find the link to your blog.  (Please send it if you follow and do not see yourself listed)
2. I am slow in adding my newest followers.  (Again, send a request, it's not an issue with me)
3. Your blog is inappropriate or you are a spammer or have signs of Malware attached to your blog. (NO WAY, NO HOW!)
4. It's apparent you and I have gone our separate ways.  Rare, but it happens.


Okay, so there you are blog friends.  Starting tomorrow I'm likely to be very busy for awhile but the blogs always out there.  Let me know if you need to be added to my sidebar and I'll add you as soon as I can!

Hope you all have a great week!