Setting the Halloween table

Check out my new festive Halloween tablesetting! I purchased the orange dinner plates at Dollar Tree for just a dollar each! I got the tone on tone patterned placemats on clearance at Pier 1 for about $1.50 each. Pretty cheap black and orange setting if you ask me! I think I’m going to have fun setting up a Halloween table with these as the basic template. Hopefully, I’ll have time to work my magic this season to create something spooky and funky that I will share with you. I’ve got a few ideas of my sleeve.

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Black and White Stripe Love

black-and-white-stripes-love

Planning a Halloween fête in the next couple of months? Might I suggest black and white striped accents? Black and white stripes are so timely, bold and striking, and look great mixed with pops of color! As you can see above, I mixed together striped feather balls (purchased at Hobby Lobby) with vibrant pops of orange and purple for a spooky table accent. Here’s some other great finds I spotted on the net that hopefully will inspire you to stripe it up this season!

halloween stripes 1

1. Zigzag Retro Swing Dress from Smarmy Clothes on Etsy
2. Black and White striped cupcake liners via Danelle Bourgeois
3. Halloween Fingerless gloves from littlexbekahxbug on Etsy

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4. Striped Halloween Wreath from Smile & Wave
5. Striped nails from HeatherFace
6. Striped Ceramic vase from Emilia Ceramics

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7. Striped Paper Lanterns via My Little Apartment
8. Paper straws from Homestyle Divas
9. My Fair Lady tiered cake from Peggy Porschen

halloween-stripes-4

10. Leg Warmers from Nothing but Costumes
11. Modern Ceramic Bracelet by Sierra Mary Design on Etsy
12. B&W Bed Linens from Horchow

What do you think? Is this a look you would consider giving a go, or is another motif (polka dots, spider webs, etc.) on your mind? I’d love to hear about it!!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

P.S. I linked this post up at TaterTots and Jello.

Halloween Living Room Apartment Decor

Halloween living room

My friend Silvia came over this weekend and we whipped up my living room into spectacular and spooky shape! She is a genius at decorating and adding all the right little touches. Our heads wrapped together created this wonderful scene! The most striking thing I think was her idea to use the tablecloth from Target as a slipcover. Freakin’ GENIUS! It makes my couch look totally cool and perfect for Halloween entertaining, don’t you think?

Here’s other little touches I love about our arrangement!

Halloween balls
You may recognize this little guy from my post on Friday. In the center of my coffee table is a bowlful of sparkly, shiny, and polka dot balls I have both made and held onto for crafts and for special little arrangements like this!

Halloween coffee table
This is the spooky tree my friend Donna Bush got me a couple years back. I love it. It has tiny little lights and I love the wicked-looking branches!

Orange and black peanut butter candies in my Grandmother's candy dish
I put my Grandmother’s candy dish on display. I love it so much. She always used to put starlight mints or butterscotch in there, but I went with one of my favorite holiday candies – orange and black Mary Janes.

Glowing pumpkin
I actually gave away my clear Anchor Hocking pumpkin jar in exchange for this orange one…I filled it with orange lights and it makes it look super pretty!

Black Cat Figurines
My friend Diane got me these adorable cats a couple years back for my b-day. I love their silly expressions.

Orange, white, and black frames
Silvia put in my orange frame a piece of Martha Stewart scrapbook paper and I mixed in one of my favorite accents – silhouettes of my Grandmother and Dad from Rock City.

Trash Bag Curtain Decorations
I wasn’t sure how this wasn’t going to look at first, but I think it turned out cute! I glued black trash bags together as drapes (how inexpensive is that??) I then accented them with decorations I had in my decorations bin.

Lava Lamp
I love my lava lamp, a gift from my friend Jeff a few years back. I always think lava lamps put off a funky/eerie mood when they glow in the dark!

Halloween posters
My posters are from Deals (a subsidiary of Dollar Tree) 4 years back for only a $1! One of my best deals (pun intended) to date. They are a bit wrinkled cause the backer cardboard they were on bent, but it actually adds a cool, distressed look to it.

Halloween Couch
Here we are back at my Halloween couch. Isn’t it cool how graphic it looks with the words and polka dots, Silvia added a pop of color with the mini pillow I made a few months back.

Silvia made the comment that I had a lot of stuff. Whenever people say that, I always say, “No I don’t”, but admittedly now I realize that I kinda do. That is what is good about putting a look like this together. It’s fun to mix and match and try to see what works. If you are limited on your accents, it makes it a lot harder!

It feels good to have things look so complete in this little area! I haven’t got my whole apartment decorated, but I have a lot more cool ideas to execute so I’ll keep you on the down low when I get them completed!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

P.S.
I added these to the following linky parties!

24 Halloween Crafts in 24 Hours

24 Halloween crafts in 24 hours

Update: Click here for a compiled list hour by hour of all my Halloween crafts I presented on October 8.

If you tuned in last night on Inspired at Home Radio, you heard me talk about my attempt to do 24 Halloween crafts in 24 hours! If you didn’t tune in, you can hear my broadcast here. This is my official announcement here on my blog. Just to clarify, I’m not the first to attempt this feat… Crafty Chica did it back on Earth Day in April and I’ve also noticed 24 blog posts in 24 hours by Elsie Flannigan.

Anyway, my goal with this project is to share ideas and inspire you with quick and easy and very accessible projects. I’ll be covering everything from jewelry to decor ideas to fun food crafts to costumes! And all of the projects I make are something you can achieve in an evening, so it doesn’t mean you have to spend hours of labor slaving away on your crafts! I know very few of us have time to do that!

I also have a little favor of all my blog readers…if you have a blog, could you please share this little button in the side bar of your blog? Then link back here to this post so that others can be clued in about my 24 crafts in 24 hours?

mini button

I have some exciting photos, Halloween stuff, and things to share in the next few days, so please check back this week 🙂

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Terrorific Tuesday: October Week 1

terrorific mosaic

Yep, it’s that time. It’s the first official post of Terrorific Tuesday!!! Eleven artists posted projects over the past week on their blogs in celebration of their love for all things Halloween. The pics above are in order with the links below, so check out these spooky and inspiring projects by some of the most inspired crafters on the “web”.

Eye of Newt Necklace Melissa J. Lee treats us to this stunning necklace filled to the brim with lots of texture and gothic appeal!

Halloween Knitting Patterns Sarah E. White whips up some insanely fun knitting patterns on her About.com Knitting Blog. Learn how to knit a ghost, pumpkin hat, Halloween bag and more!

Spooky Googly Eyed Crafts Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner creates 6 projects which includes a frame, pumpkin, and fashion accessories with her crafty stash of googly eyes.

Trick-or-Treat Candy Pot Phyllis Dobbs paints up an adorable pot that will make all the little ghosts and goblins smile.

Owl & Witch Halloween Cards Brenda Pinnick uses her Sizzix dies to craft these totally spooky cards. So swell!

Franky Halloween Card Marice Rodriguez crafts up this adorable glittery and colorful Halloween concoction on her Flickr page.

Resin Halloween Cabochons Tammy Powley’s experiment with resin turns out to be a success! Check out her adorable cabochons and ideas for using them on her About.com Jewelry Making Blog.

Pumpkins & Swirls Halloween Candle Kate Pullen shows you how to make this beautifully-inspired candle using simple rubber stamping techniques on her About.com Rubber Stamping Blog.

Crystal Web Necklace Margot Potter a.k.a. The Impatient Crafter wins the webby award with this dramatic necklace using CRYSTALLIZED™-Swarovski elements and Beadalon silver plated wire.

Happy Haunting Collage Lorilyn Hurley of the Dream Life creates this collage filled with vintage goodness and an oh-so-risque flying witch!

Halloween Ephemera Collage Christina Tuey a.k.a. the Collage Contessa shares her artful wall hanging filled with all kinds of whimsical Halloween goodness.

If you’d like to participate, please read more about it here. It’s open to all bloggers out there who want to join in!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Terrorific Tuesday: Vintage-Inspired Halloween Ornaments

vintage-inspired halloween ornaments

Hello happy people (I guess you wouldn’t be so happy if you’re having a bad day, but perk up!). So we are one day away from when I turn the big 3-0. I’m not having that hard of a time with it, but I did get a card from my Aunt Millie the other day and just seeing the letters 3 and 0 in big bold print was a little hard to digest. I’m actually going to be spending tomorrow chilling with my friend Molly whose coming up for a visit. Should be fun. I think she’s going to take me out for my b-day tonight and I’m really wanting BBQ, there’s a great place here in Lex called Billy’s BBQ that I just love. The food there is so yummy!

Anyway, onto my project for the day. I didn’t have a chance to whip something out last night or this past weekend, so you are getting a craft I did a few years ago. It remains prob. one of my top favorite crafts I’ve ever made. I guess I just like their little expressions and I love the idea of having a big black Halloween tree filledwith fun little ornaments with personality like these. I’m going to share the very basics of creating them today. To have to sort the colors out for each exactly is a little daunting of a task that frankly, I just don’t want to do. So use your own discretion and whip up your own in every color of the rainbow!

Vintage-Inspired Halloween Ornaments

Supplies:
– Clear round glass ornaments
– Americana paint in a variety of colors
– Multi-Purpose sealer
– Craft Twinkles paint in a variety of colors
– Glow in the Dark Writer (optional)
– ornament hanger
– ribbon in various colors and textures
– styrofoam plate
– liner brush and flat brush
– paper towels
– plastic disposable drinking cup

Instructions:
1. Bend the ornament cap ends upward and hang ornament on ornament stand over styrofoam plate.
2. In cup mix 2 parts Americana Acrylics with 1 part Multi-Purpose sealer in cup. This will make the paint run easier down the sides of ornament. Pour over ornament, making sure to cover entire ornament. The paint should drip down the sides and create a small dip at the very base of ornament. This is ok. Let dry completely (this could take several hours).
3. Using flat brush and liner brush and desired colors, paint on your face. FYI: Paint pots come in handy in this case, cause you get several colors to use for a lower price. I referred to vintage Halloween faces and made up my own. Let dry.
4. Once dry, take off ornament hanger and use flat brush to brush on a coat of Craft Twinkles. Craft Twinkles and the paint look great together when they are the same coordinating color, but mix it up. The little green goblin of mine was coated with Gold Craft Twinkles. Put back on ornament stand and let dry.
5. Optional step: Fill in teeth and eyes with Glow in the Dark Writer for a fun touch. Let dry.
6. Seal with Multi Purpose sealer and let dry.
7. Bend down ornament ends and add funky ribbon for hanging.

Helpful hint:
When storing, place wax paper around them. I had one of them rip off paint on the side. It actually looked kinda like a scar, so it gave it more character, but in most cases, you don’t want to ruin your ornament this way!

Additional ideas:
– Instead of faces, make polka dot and stripe ornaments
– Hang them from the ceiling or from a chandelier for instant décor!
– Place on top of varying height candlesticks for an instant display.
– Create other fun characters like zombies, witches, scarecrows, etc. Further embellish them with other craft supplies like rhinestones, felt, foam, or doll hair.You could even create character ones like the characters from Star Wars, Wizard of Oz, etc.

terrorific web banner for promotion

Starting next week, I will be compiling some of the best Halloween posts on the web from some of the coolest bloggers and flickerettes out there! Let me know if you’d like to participate. I can’t wait to see what you whip up! Click here for more info!

Until next time Swellions! Hope you have a great afternoon!

You don’t even know how nutty I really am…

Writing to you as I drink diet Coke outta my black kettle mug. And you know that can only mean one thing…I’m getting ready to put out my Halloween decorations!!!

I have so many decorations. I actually don’t have enough space to display them all. I envision myself one day having my house featured in one of those fancy decor mags with my house all decked out. That’s a little ways off, though. Right now I live in a pretty good sized apartment, but it’s not the perfect space for me to get all my goodies out. I actually would like to pull the reigns in a bit more on my decorations and be able to fine tune the style I want. You see, there’s cute, vintage, sophisticated, and then gosh darn scary Halloween decor. I’d say I’m more into the vintage/sophisticated style. I have a few scary things and I do own a fog machine, but I don’t like the guts and goriness of Halloween. I far more prefer the playful aspect of it.

Well, here’s my stash that I pulled in from my outside storage. I actually forgot to showcase my vintage monster posters, which are seen in this cleaned up living room picture from last year…

Illuminated

Oh, and here’s the stash…

halloween stash

Here’s 2 new additions to my collection o’ stuff…a Halloween tiara and a Halloween apron my mom made me:

halloween tiara & apron

I’m sure you noticed, but I updated the look of my blog a bit. I did the header on the fly…if I get a chance, I’d like to redo it, but it will do for now. Blogger has a new customizable header and sidebar setup that’s really easy. I added in a fun slideshow and poll, so check those out! Also take notice of my Terrorific Tuesday link and click on it if you want to know about how you can participate. I’ve had quite a few people…prob. 10 in all show interest so far, so spread the word!

Oh, and Amy from Living Locurto gave me a sweet shout out on her blog today 🙂 Check out her blog and her Halloween blog party and find out how you can participate that one as well 🙂 She’s my soul sister in all things Halloween!

Well, gotta get going. Until tomorrow Swellions!

Alexa