Happy Halloween and Welcome Back!

It's been some time since I've updated this blog, finishing grad school, starting a "real job", moving, and other life have gotten in the way. Fall is in the air though so I was in the mood to decorate and to update the blog.

The foyer has a simple, but welcoming greeting. I've been looking all summer and fall for my favorite Yankee candle flavor, Farmer's Market and finally found it at our local Hallmark yesterday. I probably should have bought them all, as they only had three.

 

The new house was built in the 1940's (the old one was built in the late 70's) so there is great detailing everywhere. The living room mantel is one example of the detailing. I spent one late summer night last year painting the fan detail with a tee-niny paint brush, but it was worth it. The good news is I can neglect dusting for a month and people will think the dust is intentional :-).

 

The neighbor's sweet cat likes our front porch because of the sun, she kindly posed for a Halloweeny picture.

Happy Halloween!

Fresh January

Many people are depressed by their houses after the Christmas clean up. (Well those that take their decorations down before June at least.) While it's true, the house does look empty, it's also a good time to clean everything and have fresh decorations with clean lines. I don't mind the sparsity of winter but I didn't want the mantel to be completely bare so I made this arrangement. It was an excellent solution for the mantel as well as an excellent use of a Michael's gift card and a Michael's mega sale.

Here it is in close-up. I already had the container and moss, I just bought the orchids (two stems) and the curled branches (one stem had enough for two containers).