I'm a Winner

Happy Halloween everyone.......hope you all enjoyed a fun and festive day.  We had a great time going Trick or Treating with the boys. 

I always love to win things, who doesn't.  I was the lucky winner  of this mini giveaway from Shenita from Embellishments by SLR.  I won a sampling of gorgeous scented candles.  Let me tell you, my home smells wonderful.  If you haven't stopped by Shenita's blog you are really missing out.  

She is one incredibly talented women.  Her tablescapes and vignettes are just gorgeous.  

The suspense.....

Do you believe how many I received.   

Thanks so much Shenita!

What Month is it Anyway?

Well, I must say that I was a disbeliever when Mr. Weatherman came on the news the other night to say we would be getting snow tomorrow.  SNOW, in October!  Can you believe this....we got about 6-7 inches here.  Most of NJ is without electricity, again.  We're very fortunate 

since our utilities are underground and we seldom lost electricity.  

Now snow is really pretty if it's in December, January or February 

but October, not so much.  

With the leaves still on the trees it caused a lot of damage around here.  

I'm hoping that the kiddies fair well while Trick or Treating on Monday.  

Our beautiful October Glory Maple tree was having a tough time with all of the snow.  

Mr. Country and I went out to clean as much snow off of the leaves as we could.  This snow 

was wet and very heavy.  You could hear the crackling of branches in the

 background while we were outside.  

The boys loved this surprise snow storm and had a blast playing outside.

Thank you so much for stopping by...I'll be partying with....

Amaze Me Monday

Halloween Treat Bags.......

.......Courtesy of The Graphics Fairy. 

I was in charge of treat bags for my son Matthew's Halloween class party 

this year.  So I headed off to the Dollar Tree, the best place to get trinkets 

and stuff to fill the bags.The question was, what type of bag was I going to use.  

They sell those decorative seasonal bags that are always cute 

but I wanted something different. 

 I remember seeing this design while browsing The Graphics Fairy 

website so instead of decorative bags I went off in search of brown paper

 lunch bags and at 50 for $1.00, who can go wrong.  After I purchased my

 bags and trinkets I took a ride to Michael's where I bought 3 rolls of 

thin Halloween ribbon for $5.00, which I used to tie the bags closed.  

I used white Avery shipping labels to print the image onto, which I already had.  

Than I cut the edges with decorative scissors to add a little style, peeled the back 

off and stuck it to the brown paper lunch bags.  

And like magic.....instant treat bags!

To close the bags I folded the top over and used a hole punch to make

 two holes where I threaded through the decorative ribbon.  I thought that would 

give it a little extra bling.  

Even Mr. Rat likes the idea!

I hope the kiddies like them to!  Thanks so much for stopping by, I'll be partying with........

Inspiration Friday at The Picket Fence

Potpourri Friday at 2805

Home Sweet Home Friday

Amaze Me Monday

Metamorphosis Monday

Bedazzle Me Monday

Beware the Grim Reaper

Thought I would give my foyer a Spooky makeover for Halloween this year and invite the Grim Reaper to be the   Star of the Show.  

So won't you all come in....please!

Don't be afraid, he won't hurt you, we've trained him to be a nice 

Grim Reaper.

I added these Rat Silhouette's to the stair risers.  

I've seen this done throughout blogland and loved it.  So off I went to the Dollar Tree..again... where I got a package of 15 for...yes....$1.00.  Most of my Halloween 

decorations came from either Michael's or the Dollar Tree.....just love that store! 

I added some black tulle and other long black floral things to the banister.

And here we have Mr. Bones, our skeletonall decked out in a feather boa....just perfect for the occasion!

I guess by now you can tell that we love Halloween over here.  Thanks so much for stopping by, I'm partying with,

Between Naps on the Porch

Masterpiece Monday

Tabletop Tuesday

Bunny Jeans Bunny Hop Party

WOW Us Wednesdays

At The Picket Fence

Potpourri Friday 2805

Playing in My Dining Room

I wasn't going to decorate my dining table this year but thought, why not.  In the past I usually just stuck a floral arrangement on the table and called it a day.  But not anymore, how could I ever post a little arrangement on a huge table while all of you lovely ladies have created the most gorgeous tablescapes and vignettes.  So I decided to take out my pumpkin scarecrow doll friend, Glinda.  We named her after the good Witch from the North, even though she in not a witch.  Whatever the boys say, mom does!

What a great inspiration she was for this project.  She came from Marshall's a few years ago.  I just love these Halloween dolls and buy a new one every year for my collection.....like I need another collection!  Look how proud she is sitting propped up on ceramic bowl full of black and ivory flowers.  She likes to be the center of attention!

So much for keeping it simple this year.  I seem to start out with simple intentions but often get carried away.  Anyway, while browsing the isles of the Dollar Tree I found these adorable squeaky rats and big black crows.  It's amazing what you can get at that store for a few dollars.  They were actually selling them at the register, how could I resist!

EEEEEK......

I moved my cloche with the white pumpkin from the buffet onto the table and scattered some little orange pumpkins around.

I really love black and white with the pops of orange...it seems to work really well with all of the blues in my home.

Thanks so much for stopping by, will be partying with,

Potpourri Friday at 2805

Feathered Nest Friday

Common Ground - Fall Tablescapes

Inspiration Friday

The Front Porch....Autumn Style

So I finally had time to work on my front porch....and the farm at the corner finally decided to pick their white pumpkins.  My topiaries are complete....for now. After seeing such amazing topiary inspiration I thought I would give it a try.  I'm thinking of getting two witch hats to add to the top of the white pumpkins for Halloween.  My friend John who owns the farm was telling me that because of all of the rain we had this year his crop was  about  one quarter of what it usually is.  Most of the pumpkins were mushy.  

I removed all of the summer flowers from my urns to create the topiaries....I just need to wait for some leaves to fall from the trees so I can replace the fake ones.  I'm not quite digging the fake leaves...they really look fake!

We all know that blue is my favorite color but it really throws off my holiday decorating.  I think thats why I've started to incorporate more white into my all around decorating.  

As you can see I'm having fun trying out different photo enhancements.

Added some burlap to my mum baskets...gives it a nice country feel.

I love the color orange of these pumpkins...it is just so warm and vibrant.

You can't have a front porch without hanging some corn stalks on the posts.

This is all you get to see for now....there will be more to follow.  I'll be partying with,

Between Naps on the Porch
Bunny Jeans Bunny Hop
Savvy Southern Style
No Minimalist Here

Apple Picking

I hope everyone had an awesome weekend.  We were so busy with the boys and all of their activities, soccer, bowling, birthday parties, and the list goes on.  So today we decided to go apple picking..... in the mud, YUCK!  The rain has been relentless here in New Jersey the past couple of months so everything is just one big mud pit.  We decided to try  Terhune Orchards in Princeton which is a great place to bring kids.

The first activity the boys wanted to do was walk through the corn maze.  I can honestly say that doing so in the slippery mud was not the easiest thing.  It's really amazing what we will do for our kids.  Needless to say, they wanted to do it again!

Did I mention that boys just love the mud, but mommies don't.  

Our next order of business was the pumpkin patch.  We love to pick our own but from all of the rain the pumpkins were not the greatest.  What was out in the field was pretty mushy and of course everything was muddy.

Now onto the apple orchards....and more mud!

The apples were beautiful.  For the picking were Golden Delicious, Empire, Red Delicious and Macouns.  I can't wait to bake some apple pies.  

It's a good thing I remembered to bring extra boots and socks. Oh, did I tell you that boys love mud!

Time to go home now, thanks for joining us on our adventure filled day of Autumn fun!

Oh, here is sneak peek of my not quite finished porch...I got the wreath done. More to follow! 

Thanks for visiting, I'll be linking to,

Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Bedazzle Me Monday at Everything Under the Moon

Amaze Me Monday at Dittle Dattle