Easy Halloween Decor

This year is our first Halloween in our house. I am really hoping that we get some trick-or-treaters, especially since it seems like every salesman/politian/solicitor-of-all-things stops by daily to leave their mark on the new subdivision.

I made a few things for our entryway candy table for if when our lovely kiddos stop by! For now, the man is eating all the candy so I will probably have to restock.

First, I made this cute "BOO" decoration from some extra scrapbook paper and a Target $1 spot frame. I just cut out BOO with my Cricut. Not the most creative, but cute, free, under 5 minutes.

I am also kind of obsessed with wrapping things with jute these days. Nothing in my house is safe! I took this starbucks frappuccino bottle and went to town.

I started at the top and wasn't sure how to get over the hump. So I just went around it and thought it wouldn't be a big deal.

I was left with this... not that attractive.

So I tied a strand of fallish colored beads and hot glued them around.

Much better. I love it! I really just love anything wrapped in jute. It just makes everything feel like fall. I added some more $1 tree leaves and ended up with this.

Next, I stuck a $1 tree leaf in this awesome basket (is that what it's called?) I got from the Junk Bonanza a couple weekends ago and filled it with candy for our candy basket.

I'll be honest... my fiance definitely already did a number on the candy.

I added a candle from Target a few years back and put it all together. I love how it turned out.

The table they're sitting on is one of two that I got at a garage sale for 2.50 each! They will be replacing our mismatched end tables... but I think they need a new coat of paint first. T says leave them. We'll see ;)

We're all ready for the trick-or-treaters!

I better get back to Halloweenifying my house! :) I'll be back for more soon!

-Suzy

I'm linking to these awesome parties:

Wedding Planning

Ok... don't think I'm nuts. But I need to show you the wedding planning that was done this morning.

Ok, it wasn't wedding planning. More like wedding shopping.

Carlson Craft if a nationwide printing company that specializes in weddings. The company started in my town and there offices are everywhere. Their main building had their annual GARAGE SALE today! Half the town works at some division, so I'd heard of this before. But I never had a reason to go.. but I did this year! You won't believe what I got.... but more so, what I paid!!

NOTHING was priced over $3! But most things were under $1.

I got all of these beer mugs for 50 cents a piece. The front one is for my dad. The back two aren't for the wedding but at 50 cents a piece I had to get some for T. The handles are muscles and I thought they were funny!

 Perfect for the groomsman. Of course they'll get something else too, since these were only 50 cents :)

 A coloring page for the ring bearer (25 cents). The necklace says "Flower Girl" on it (50 cents). And a hanky for grandpa (sadly, we only have 1 grandpa left to attend our wedding).

 We're doing the sand instead of a unity candle. But this is for my cousin who will be getting married soon as well. (Of course, I had to call her once I saw all the great deals!)

 These aren't for the wedding either. To be honest, I didn't even know what they were. But they were 25 cents for 50 of them and they looked cute, so I bought some. When I got home I pulled one out and it folded into this:

This will be cute for a Christmas party! Although I admit, I probably don't need 150 of them! :)

Silver favor boxes (again, not for me, but for my cousin). A box of 200 of them was FIFTY CENTS. I don't know if she'll like them and we'll still have to buy the ribbon to tie around... but it's worth it!  

 Here was my favorite find! I am having a June wedding and the colors are hot pink and black with accents of orange and yellow (think the color of gerbera daisies). I found the perfect favor boxes! They were 50 cents per package of 12. I got as many as I could because our guest list isn't done and it's already up to 200.

 They only had about 150 black, so I got silver too in case I run short.

 Here are my stacks of favor boxes. Total $7.00 You really can't beat that!

 Here are more white favor boxes for my cousin. They are really cute and also double as placecard holders (Placecards included). They were 25 cents per pack of 25 so I got 200 for $2.

 A cake server set, one for each of us. The big splurge at $3.00 each :)

These cute seed packs were only 25 cents per pack of 12. I thought it would be cute for her shower.  

 Ok, here's where it got SUPER cold out. And I stopped counting things and just throwing them in my box. And I ended up with a few too many napkins. The black ones are for my wedding and the brown are for my mom. They are really nice quality so it's nice to have on hand. They were 25 cents for a pack of 16! 

 Won't these be so cute?

 2.00 for a set of 2 of these silver goblets.

 These also aren't for the wedding but I LOVED them! They were 25 cents a piece and the bigger lettering is on the back side of the glass and the smaller is on the front. This picture isn't the best, but I thought they'd be so cute somewhere in my house!

 And my mom did too, so we got some more :)

25 cents a piece, people! You just can't pass it up!

 Lots of flower petals, the pink for me & white for my cousin.

 These are boxes of plastic cone favor holders. Just like you can see here. But there they can be purchased for $1.30 per bag. Mine were 25 cents for 25 bags.
Yep. 1 cent per bag!
These probably won't be used at the wedding but good to have on hand for party favors.  

 I have an idea in mind for these heart shaped cookie cutters. There were 25 for 50 cents. I'm thinking part of a party favor at a grocery shower I will need to throw for someone. Any takers? :)

 Bachelorette party pins. Not necessary. But a quarter for 25 of them didn't hurt the wallet any! :)

 This wedding planner guide was 2.00. The original sale price was still on it that said 16.95. I'm not sure what it was originally.

 25 cents a piece for these. Again, not for wedding. But nice to have on hand for crafts.

 These silk bags for the brides "dainties" were a whopping 50 cents each. I got a small and large size for both me and my cousin.

Are you ready for the total cost??

You won't believe it.

The grand total was................................. $63.00!!!!

I can't believe it! I'm pretty sure I saved hundreds of dollars!
I would have spent that much on the napkins alone.
Or the favor boxes.
Or the groomsman mugs.
I wish it wasn't so cold or I might have braved looking through the actual invitations they had there! But my fingers were numb by the end.

And if anyone else out there is wedding planning (or buying Christmas cards, stationary, etc) and purchasing from Carlson Craft, here is the employee family & friends site for ordering: tcemployees.cceasy.com. The prices are wholesale, which is 50% off the retail prices.

Have a great Friday!!!

-Suzy

I'm linking up to these parties:

Fabric Flower Headband Tutorial

I have had this week off. It's been strange and I feel lost, but I'm loving it! The only downside is the weather is CRUMMY here... so I'm not able to be out painting my stash of paint projects I left for fall. Tired of cleaning and in need of an indoor project, I decided to make another headband. Nothing too extraordinary, but I thought I'd share it anyway!

First I cut some strips of fabric about 2 inches wide and some felt circles varying in size from 1"-2" in diameter.

I cut a slanted edge and started to roll the fabric from there.

(FYI- My nails are only painted like 4 days out of the year... like I said, I have no homework and I'm lost without it. I've resorted to painting my nails)

I put a dab of hot glue in the middle and glued it to the center of the felt.

I continued this on around until the edges of the felt, leaving a bit of fabric to glue it off at the end.

Then hot glued it to the back.

I originally made three flowers and cut out a piece of felt to cover them all. But after seeing it I decided to add 2 more flowers because I just wasn't a fan of the 3.

For the headband part, I hot glued two pieces of ribbon to the back of my flowers. Then I cut another large piece of felt and glued it right over the top, but I forgot to take a picture! You get the idea :)

I used the two hairtie method from my beaded flower headband found HERE.

The last thing I did was added a little bit of hot glue to the band. I find that it's hard to keep headbands on because they're slippery and I'm always readjusting. So I added a thick line of hot glue to the ribbon and it worked like a charm. It adds a little gripper and stays right in place. I might have to do this to all of my other headbands.

And there you have it! This is very inexpensive, if not free.. depending on what you have in your craft room.

I am sorry about the photos! I hate having to be my own model.. I also had a really hard time taking pictures today because the last 4 days in Minnesota have looked like this:

(yes, that's the flooded street in front of my house)

See the lack of natural sunlight in my pictures? Forgive me please. :)

Have a great day!

-Suzy

I'm linking to these fab parties:

Friday: