Creepy Cottage

Ah, Autumn ... Halloween is approaching and I thought I'd take a minute to share a bit of seasonal decorating I've done and a few things I picked up at Luckett's.

I got the two wall hangings on either side of my armoir at Luckett's when they had their September Design House.  I first spotted these on my visit a few months ago in one of the rooms with a steampunk design, but it wasn't until my next visit that I thought they might work in my house.  My husband and I spent our first anniversary in Paris and London so I found them meaningful.  Plus, they roll up so I can change and store them easily.  I'd been looking for art since I moved the botanical prints a while back.  I'm so happy with how they look.

Loved the pillow as well and couldn't leave it behind.

Speaking of the botanical prints, here they are above my desk ...

... with an added basket of fall goodies.  I got the owl pendant at a flea market and never planned to wear him, but he's quite cute and I plan to sport him on a long chain.

My console ... Two more Luckett's finds - the skeleton in the apothecary jar and the crown.  Luckett's has the greatest match boxes that are fun all on their own and are inexpensive.  I have several with different designs.

My entry ...  Feathers and grass I had in a vase acorns from my driveway.

I added a few owls and pumpkins to the sideboard in my dining room and a fall-ish apron for Grace.

I don't have a large collection of postcards, but I am displaying a few that I have here.  My one lonely Halloween card (they're rare and expensive) along with one of a funeral in the center and the beheading of Lady Jane Grey on the left.

That's it for now, but I hope to share more including the past 2 months visiting the Design House at Luckett's and a trip some friends of mine took to West Virginia where they stayed at an incredible hotel.  Me = jealous.

More to come!

Sunday Morning Project

I normally do this on a regular basis, but its been a while since I went through my magazines so this morning I spent some time turning this ...

... into this.  Eventually, I'll file them with the rest of the articles I keep.

But for now, my cabbages are waiting to be planted.

And, this beautiful iris is blooming in my yard.  I planted it here in the spring not expecting it to bloom until next year.  Fun surprise!

Have a good "Fall Back" day!



Welcome November

November 1st!  Time to set my sights on this ...

Martha Stewart

November has really arrived with a statement.  30s here this morning and its my first day wearing a coat.  Brrrrr!
I had a great time out with my girls last night and it was fun to see them so excited and happy. 

How was your Halloween?

Happy Halloween

Looking forward to a fun day of dress-up with my girls and trick-or-treating.  Since having children, I've become a child again myself and dress up right along with them.


Wishing you a Frightfully Fun Halloween from The Old White Cottage. 

P.S.  Happy 40th Anniversary to my parents! 

Yes, they married on Halloween 40 years ago today.  No, it was not a costume party.

November Approaching

Halloween tomorrow!  Its a little bittersweet because October is my favorite month and after all the trick-or-treaters go home and the candle is blown out of the jack-o-lantern, it will be over.  I wish I could share my pumpkins, but they never seeem to make it to Halloween before they start looking not-so-good.  The Virginia heat is just too much for them so I'll add some pretty with the photo below.


source

Leaves are starting to fall and colors are in full force but before long, the cold dark days of winter will be upon us.  Thanksgiving is next.  A day with my family and midnight Black Friday shopping to start the Christmas season. 

Its something I look forward to but I will always have a special fondness for October.  

Spooky Day

We just got back from a fun weekend of pumpkin picking in Delaware.  I have been so busy that I haven't had so much time to devote to decorating for fall, but I thought I'd share a really simple thing I did for the time challenged like me. 

I've shared this console in my living room before ...

I moved the hurricanes I had on either side of the birdcage.  Then, I added my old flea market Edgar Allen Poe books on the left and on the right, I used some frames I had lying around to print out the silhouettes.

Simple and a quick change.  Perfect!

If you look around online, there are silhouette images everywhere, but I used images from the Martha Stewart website that are actually pumpkin carving templates.  You can find them here. 

Happy Colombus Day!

Welcome Autumn

The first day of Autumn! 



Autumn begins today with a 90 degree day.  Hardly seems the season yet, but I'm looking forward to pumpkin lattes, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie ... pumpkin everything!  Of course, there's Halloween and Thanksgiving.  My favorite season!

Edit:  I forgot to add ... Patience is not one of my virtues, but you all convinced me to wait for that runner.  Is December here yet?

Something I Don't Need ...

On Friday, I took a trip to Michaels for a few things and while browsing the Christmas items, I came across this giant pinecone. Did I need it? No. I was fascinated by the size of it though and it was on sale so it came home with me. Mr. T found it pretty impressive as well. We're wondering if the pinecone looks like that, how big is the tree it came from?

The nice harcover book its sitting on was posted about over on Life in the Fun Lane. I paid a whopping $5 for it - less than some magazines cost. I love buying used (but practically new) books on Amazon.

Welcome November!

Here is a photo I took of my fabulous witch tights yesterday.

I took the picture with my camera phone while I was trying to get a picture to text to my parents of my girls. Unfortunately, Mr. T just couldn't get a good picture on my phone.

I was hoping to have some bathroom progress to share, but my day was hampered by going out this morning to a flat tire. Apparently, I ran over a bolt yesterday at some point. Mr. T managed to change my tire and I had brunch at a fantastic restaurant with a friend. On my way home, I had tire issues. Long story short, Mr. T forgot to tighten the bolts. Now that's a fright I could have done without!

Anyway, bathroom construction continues later in the week.

Leaf Peeping

Leaf color seems to be peaking around here so we decided spuro-of-the-moment to take a day trip to Shenendoah National Park. Its about an hour and a half west of where we live. It was a perfect day - a little cool, but nice for hiking. A lot of the leaves have fallen, but it was still very beautiful. Despite the insane traffic on the main road, the trails were peaceful and quiet. It seems that most people stick to the look-outs on the road.



My oldest loved jumping down the steps along the trail and our little one loved exploring the boulders, trees and moss. We all did a lot of laughing and had a lot of fun.

It was a little over a mile hike and the girls were tired towards the end, but they did great. We had such a good time that we might rent a cabin nearby for a weekend next year.

A Wonderful Wednesday ...

I've been looking for reasonably priced fiberglass urns for a while now. Despite the fact that I live in a busy metropolitan area, it seems like the stores near me have the worst selection. After dropping off my oldest at preschool today, I decided to take a drive with my little one. I finally found my urns!

As you can see, I also got some pumpkins and ornamental cabbages while we were out. Everyone (myself included) seems to be all about the white pumpkin lately, but after I got the urn, I thought, "Why not black?" Since I was at Wal-mart buying the pumpkins, I decided to pick up black spray paint and was thrilled to find that they sell a brand that is only $1! I love my Rustoleum Painter's Touch 2x which Wal-mart doesn't carry but for pumpkins, you can't beat $1. I also got some spanish moss to break up the black. I wasn't super careful about covering the bottom. I kinda like that you can see a little of the orange on the bottom. I didn't tape off the stem either. No biggie.

Since the pumpkins only used one can of paint, I used the other can to spray the plastic containers that the cabbages are in. I normally wouldn't do this since I'm sure the paint won't really stick, but the cabbages will eventually go in the ground and I won't be needing the plastic containers.

Above is a what we have by our side door. More traditional pumpkins. I hadn't intended to do any pumpkins at all outside because the neighborhood kids tend to steal them, but these are right by our doors so I'm praying the kids won't be so bold to come so close to the house this year.

Busy Bee

I've been so busy doing a million things between normal every day errands, caring for sick little ones, working, my shop and never ending decorating. My current project is my mantle and its turning out wonderfully. I'm still deciding on a few things but I'll be sharing pictures of it all decorated soon.

In the meantime, here are a couple of things I've picked up on my hunt for mantle decor. Christmas items hit the store a while ago and I always browse never intending to buy, but I couldn't pass up these leaves and the pinecones. While the leaves are intended for the holidays, I thought they'd work with my mercury glass pumpkin.

I also decided to display my teacups in my cloche.

Back to my long "to-do" list ... More to share later this week!

White Pumpkins

Its funny how white pumpkins have become so popular. I remember going to a pumpkin patch years ago with Mr. T and picking one up for the first time. We brought them home along with some orange pumpkins and displayed them in front of my house. It didn't take long before a thief came by. They stole all of the orange pumpkins but left the white one behind. I think these days, the opposite might occur!

Since I've been spending more time on Etsy lately because of my own shop, I've been amazed at the beautiful things that people make. Today, I spotted this pumpkin ...

I thought it was so sweet. Then, I started looking for other white pumpkins and this is what I came across.

This one is hand blown glass. Isn't it amazing?



I SO want a white pumpkin soap!

This one makes me wish I knew how to knit.

Love this photo ...



One more ... this pincushion. Adorable!


Beautiful things, don't you agree? I find it hard to be a seller sometimes because I want to buy everything I see!