...Martha Frightens Me

Martha Stewart scares the heck out of me. Can I just tell you that this picture proves my point? She is holding a skull (glittered, of course) in her hands and is smiling. Why is she smiling? Knowing Martha's affinity for doing everything from scratch, where do you think she got the human skull? Just a question...think about that for a while. Martha, you can glue and glitter it, but that don't make it right!

I haven't crafted, or decorated myself (well, not myself in a literal way) in a bit, so I was trying to find something to post that would get me inspired. Here are a few fun things on the cheap...

Here are some black chandelier cutouts from the craft section used as napkin rings. Apparently the whole black & white thing is super chic for the season. I like it! These candy corn tissue paper crafts are from Martha Stewart Crafts. $14.99 for all of these!


I did something similar to this last year & I had several compliments on them. They cost me the cost of the paper. I made them curl around the glass instead of standing them up straight.

They used cheesecloth for the look of webs, but you could also make strings of glue from the hot glue gun (although that sounds a little messy and painful...hot glue guns and I don't get along very well).

I love the ghostly gourds...anyone can do this!

So pretty!

These vintage inspired invitations are from the Martha Stewart Craft line. $6.99 for 2 of each design. I LOVE these!

So, to sum it up, your decorations don't have to be pricey, or scary and Martha could turn you into a craft if you don't watch your back.

Happy decorating!

I'm a Hallowiener...

I think that "Hallowiener" is my favorite made up word ever. Here is the Websters definition...if they ever ask me for one:

Hallowiener: { hal-oh-wee-ner}

- noun

a person who loves to decorate, make crafts, and bake for activities that occur around and on October 31st

(I may have to tweak it a bit, but that is neither here nor there...)

So, I have been doing a little decorating for Halloween. Let me go ahead and insert a disclaimer. * I am not necessarily a fan of Halloween, mind you. I think a large majority of it one of 3 things: scary, weird, or scary and weird. We have a house down the street that spares no expense in scaring the tiny little pants off of children of any age that dare approach their house on the evening of the 31st. That just isn't my idea of a good time...but to each his own. Soooo, back to being a Hallowiener...I might not be a fan of Halloween, but I do love to decorate with some cute little vintage decorations and dress my brood up in cute, age appropriate and not-at-all-embarrassing costumes and let them go to the Fall Festival at our local Chick-Fil-A or church or even the neighborhood hayride (with Dad in tote).

Okay, since we are on the subject (kind of...and like that has ever mattered to me) let me also go ahead and say that I am not a fan of the 6-year-old-boy walking around wearing a "Jason" mask carrying a fake machete (nor a real one for that matter) dripping with fake blood (again, nor a real), while his female counterpart is wearing stilettos and a mini skirt. I also made the vow, long ago, when my eldest was born 29 days before Halloween, that I would NEVER, EVER, EVER make my children wear a costume that would embarrass them when I am showing pictures to their best friend or future spouse, and I have kept that vow through 3 children. There would be none of this...

(yes, that is a gorilla.)

nor this...

(and a pink poodle)

Now, please don't be offended if this is what you are planning on putting your little one in. I think they are incredibly adorable, but is it worth the torture that you will have to endure once your children are reminded that this is what they wore and YOU picked it out? Maybe it is. Maybe you are a genius and are already thinking blackmail for the latter years...hmmm...maybe I am thinking about this all wrong!

Back to decorating...


Here is my mantle all decorated for the "howlidays" (oh, please stop me...seriously!).

(the left side)

(right side)

Here are my cute little fellas waiting for a home...hmmmm...where to put them...

Here is my front door. I am not in love with the placement of the letter "M", but haven't figured out a better option yet.

Still more to come...candy corns, pumpkins and bats, oh my!

"It's the Final Countdown"...isn't that a song?

Okay ya'll. After some on-again-off-again postings, I am in full-throttle redecorating mode. I have completed the curtains and pillows in the living and dining rooms.

You likey? I do! I am in serious like with the blue. I moved the curtains up a good 18" to accentuate the tall ceilings, gave them a simple single pleat that folds to the back, and put them on drapery hooks so that we could slide them shut for those Sunday afternoon naps. I have to say, I am mighty pleased with the outcome. All of the pillows (besides the brown embroidered one below that I snatched from my bedroom) have a different front and back so I can switch them up. I also plan to embroider some monograms on several of them.

Now, let me say, I do have some more plans for this living room and this furniture. Our ginormous leather sectional is a hand-me-down from the in-laws. Let me also put the disclaimer that I LOVE it. It has been an amazing piece of furniture for a family of 5, including 3 very young, mischevious children who love ink pens. I know better than to even consider anything resembling "nice grown up furniture" at this point...but I can dream can't I. So, in the meantime, I am trying to dress up our "Big Bertha" (that's the couch's nickname since she is about 28 feet long...it is also the name of my Suburban...I tend to nickname anything "Big Bertha" that is very large...sorry if your name is "Bertha", you can blame the golf industry for that one).

Now, this is what you will find in my kitchen above the french doors (another disclaimer...the left "door" is actually stationary, so don't be too impressed) that go to our back patio. My eldest asked me why I had "EAT" in our kitchen, and I stated very simply, "To remind you of what you are supposed to do when you are in the kitchen...EAT". My children eat like birds, not vultures, but little hummingbirds. I can't imagine where they got their appetites because both T and I ...well, I'll just say that we love our food. So, back to the letters. These were $5 each at Hobby Lobby (with coupon, of course) and I just painted them "cadmium" orange. Yep, just in case you wanted to know what color the element cadmium was...it is THAT color. You just never know what you are going to learn when you visit my blog, do you?

Okie dokie. I have lots more to post in the next couple of days, but I will just leave this last little find. I am obsessed with trees & I found this canvas print for $20 at, um...let's just say my least favorite store on the planet, but a necessary evil nonetheless. Yes, it is WalMart. UGH, I hate even saying it. It is like Harry Potter saying "Valdemort". I will just call it "the store that shall not be named" from now on. I would say that it isn't anything personal, but it is. Anywho...I digress...

I have lots of fun Halloween decor to post...You'll have to peek at that next time.

Okay y'all, so this thing called "life" has limited my postings lately, and I plan to get going again. You know, those normal events such as dinner, cleaning, working, Swine Flu, after dinner party, birthday party planning for a birthday party that will have to be postponed, gymnastic classes, etc...I haven't totally finished my living room "re-deaux" yet, but it is lookin' pretty good. I haven't taken pictures yet, and would do it now to tag onto my post, but E is in his skivvies and I think that there is some law about not posting stuff like that, so I will wait until my next post. I still need to visit IKEA for some picture frames, get my pillows monogrammed and have my Memom paint a trio of pictures for above my couch (she was an art teacher and fashion illustrator...AWESOME!). I just got the fabric in for my kitchen curtains, so I need to get my sewing machine out again. Not to mention, I don't have any of my fall decor out yet, so.....Okay, can't think about it, I am hyperventilating. Where is my paper bag?
So, all of this to say:

1. I will post pictures (skivvie free) soon.
2. I have been really busy.
3. I have way too much to do.
4. I need some coffee.

Jenn

The ugly side of decorating

It may look like an F5 tornado hit my house, but this is called the ugly side of redecorating. Yes, I am crazy like that...I will show you my home amidst a vast array of disorganization, clutter and utter chaos. Just to let you know, I am a complete mess with my house looking like this. I am not a total neat freak, but I can't stand clutter. It makes me nauseous and gives me a little twitch in my right eye.

Yes, that is my precious T in the background with paint roller in hand just hoping that he can actually see football from the BACK of the t.v...hey honey, technology ain't quite there yet. By the way...paint the fireplace or not? I say yes (it feels as though it is slapping you in the face with it's not-so-pretty orangy-red hue), but I don't know if I can make that kind of commitment (more on my fear of commitment later in the post).

At this point, I feel like I am having an out of body experience. I simply cannot handle the wreckage...there goest that darn twitch!

On a happier and more sane note, the kitchen is painted. The color is Hubbell House Clayo. It looks more like melted chocolate to me. Yeah, just what I need in the kitchen, something to remind me of chocolate.

On a side note, I am trying to figure out how to declutter my counter tops. I need most of what is up there on a daily basis, but I simply can't stand to have that much stuff in plain sight.

P.S. Yes, I know that there is a big ugly white fridge in the middle of my kitchen. It does not match the rest of my stainless, but it is functional (well, kind of... the ice maker doesn't work) and I don't just have $2500 sitting around to replace an almost totally functional fridge. If the Fridge Fairy does exists, maybe she will pay me a visit, but I am not holding my breath.

So, we are still knee deep in fabric in Casa de Moore, but I can see the light at the end of this very long tunnel. The paint is now completed (thanks to lots of "This is the last time I am painting the living room and kitchen" from T...thanks for your enthusiasm) and the curtains are hung but are still to be hemmed. 3 of 6 pillows have zippers and the other three are here

waiting to be finished. Then, after all of it is completed, I still have to figure out what to put on these bare walls. I am the Queen of Indecisiveness...yes, you may bow. I am contemplating a bunch of family photos, and maybe a mirror from Lowe's from my new boyfriends, Allen and Roth (see previous post), although they might actually be each other's boyfriends...but I digress.

Once I get things completed, I will post some pictures and then see if I can get some opinions from my blogging peeps.

Okay, enough rambling...I am tired, stressed and hungry...maybe I'll go in the kitchen and have some chocolate..DARN YOU HUBBELL HOUSE CLAYO!!!

Jenn