Halloween Table and Mantel...Spooky!

Happy Weekend! Are you making final preparations for all the goblins and ghouls who will soon be knocking on your door? I'll be heading out today to buy candy.  Then I'll be trying hard to not eat it all by Monday!    What's your tactic for not digging into the candy and eating it before Halloween arrives? Some folks purposely buy stuff they don't like, but where's the fun in that? lol

My friend, Bonnie, has been readying her home for the big day.  I love seeing how Bonnie decorates her dining room hutch for the seasons and holidays.  Come a bit closer and check out her spooky table setting.

Love the orange candlesticks with skeleton candles.  Even the tablecloth is covered with skeletons!

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Linzer Cookies for Halloween

Beautiful and Halloween-festive tablescapes were linked for yesterday's Tablescape Thursday. Be sure to scroll on down and check them all out. How about a little something to put on top of those table settings?

A couple of months ago I stopped by a local craft store to check out the Halloween stuff and I came across cookie cutters with a Halloween theme.  They were especially made for making Linzer cookies like these.

I've always wanted to try my hand at making Linzer cookies, but I just wasn't sure how.  This Wilton set of cookie cutters makes it really easy.
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Elegant Halloween Tablescape: Welcome to the 165th Tablescape Thursday!

Happy Tablescape Thursday!  With only two Thursdays left between now and Halloween, I was itching to create a fun Halloween table setting.

Since this table setting is all about candlelight, I didn't wait for nightfall to light the candles.
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Decorate Your Pumpkin with Ribbon: Welcome to the 142nd Metamorphosis Monday!

Happy Met Monday! How was your weekend? I've had a busy one. Saturday, I drove down to Macon, Georgia and attended a class for "extreme couponing" with my sister and niece. I watch so little TV, I didn't even know what extreme couponing was. It was really interesting. If you have a good size family, I can see how the savings could really add up. I'll share some of what I learned in a post sometime soon. I had no idea using coupons had become such a big thing...practically a sport!

So, there I was the other night, lying in bed and trying to envision a way I could decorate a pumpkin without cutting into it or painting it, when suddenly I had an idea.

Ribbon!

Here's a pic of my finished pumpkin out on the porch where the lighting is a bit better.  This may be the easiest pumpkin decorating idea in the history of the world of pumpkin decorating.  Seriously!  If you like easy, you're gonna love this.

I used the pumpkin I already had...the one that's visible in the background in this fall setting on the porch.

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Halloween Decorating and Party Ideas

I haven't decorated my front porch for Halloween, yet, so I decided to go through some of the pics I have stored on my computer for a little inspiration.  These are definitely some of my faves!

We decorate our front doors with garland for Christmas...why not do the same for fall?  I absolutely love this leafy garland!  I so want to make this!  Notice the scary "curtains" on the door.  Those would be easy to make from cheesecloth.

Pottery Barn

Here's another one of my favorite front porches.  Doesn't this make you want to paint your front door orange?  If it just wasn't so much trouble to change it back after fall/Halloween.

Pottery Barn

This would be such a great way to decorate for a Halloween party...and so simple.  You would have the added bonus of a little extra protection against spills on the furniture.   Love the candelabra!  So amazing how a candelabra can be made to feel elegant for a dinner party or scary for Halloween with just the addition of black candles.  I think I'd also string some spider webs on the candelabra, too.

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Decorating for Halloween

The gas lantern is lit...




Sharing some pics from last year...
















Have a fun Halloween!

Pumpkin Carving Tips and Templates

Have you had a chance to check out all the amazing Before and Afters posted for yesterday's Metamorphosis Monday? Just scroll down to the post below this one and be inspired!


Do you ever see intricately carved pumpkins and wonder how they did that?




Well, it turns out, the trick is using a tool like you see on the left and not like you see on the right...




So, where do you get those teeny little saw cutting tools? I found mine many years ago at Williams-Sonoma. I think this kit was around $20, which seemed like a lot at the time...but it was totally worth it. You can find them online with a google search. Check Michaels and other craft stores, too. Maybe Williams-Sonoma has them again this year...haven't been in one in a while so I'm not sure.




Here are all the tools that came in this kit...




It also came with 6 templates. Whenever I carve a pumpkin using one of the templates, I always make a copy of the template to use. This preserves the original template for future Halloweens. Each year, I have to carve the Black Cat...he's my favorite. (Note the carving tips at the bottom of the template.)




I usually buy a medium size pumpkin to use with these templates. Before you get started, cut a hole in the top and lift the "lid" of the pumpkin off and scrape out the inside...my least favorite part. When cutting the hole for the lid, slant your knife inward so the lid will sit on top and not fall in later.



Next, you cut the extra paper you don't need from around your template...then tape the template onto your pumpkin.





Next step: Poke tiny holes all around the design on the template...




To do that, you use one of these poker thingies. The kit came with the poker you see on the left. I actually always use the one you see on the right. It came in an old tool kit with my ancient Kenmore sewing machine.





Here's how it looks once you poke holes every 1/8 to 1/4 inch around the design. Even though the template gets removed after you punch the tiny holes, you still refer back to it during the cutting process. So, I placed an R on the sections that get removed just to remind myself to cut out the dark sections, not the light.




I carved two pumpkins last night...here's how the backside of the templates looked after I had placed them on the pumpkin and punched a gazillion holes through them into the pumpkins.




Now, I have to tell you what happened next...
After I got the cat template taped onto the pumpkin, I took it upstairs and sat with it in my lap and punched all the teeny holes. Then, while I watched Sunday's episode of Desperate Housewives online, I cut out the dark sections. I was so proud of myself for not slicing through any parts I shouldn't, like that tiny spot between the kitty's eyes. Once finished, I headed down stairs to put a candle inside to see how he looked, only I forgot that I had left...




this in the kitchen floor. I had placed a big garbage bag on the floor to scoop out the inside of the pumpkin and when I came downstairs into the dark kitchen, I couldn't turn the lights on because I was carrying my newly carved pumpkin.

Well, let me tell you...a banana peel "ain't got nothing" on the inards of a pumpkin in the slippery department. In the darkness, I reenacted that scene out of the movie Home Alone where the robber is trying to stand on the steps Kevin sprayed down with water earlier in the day...they had become a sheet of ice. It was a miracle I didn't drop the pumpkin on the floor. Instead, it went flying across the kitchen counter and crashed into the back splash...or at least I think that's what it did...it was too dark to see.  You can just imagine how much fun this was to clean up later.





After sliding around for what seemed like an eternity, I managed to get back steady on my feet and get to the light switch. When I looked at my newly carved pumpkin...HORRORS!  Half of the cat's face was GONE! My carved kitty looked like this...I was not amused! :(




And pumpkin bits were everywhere! (LOL) I had to laugh...Hollywood could not have scripted a more ridiculous scene!




I searched for about 10 minutes for the other half of the face and had given up and was starting to clean up pumpkin bits when I finally found it at the far end of the counter behind the mixer. Using a straight pin, I reattached it. In that whole disaster, the tail was also broken where it attaches to the cat. :( I had done such a good job on that tail...dang it.




Here's how it looked on the kitchen counter with the lights turned off. Notice the reflection in the granite counter...cool!




Here's how it looked out on the porch...



Another porch shot...





After that little disaster, I decided to try my hand at one more...




I managed to keep this one intact...no Home Alone scenes in the kitchen this time. ;)




Here are three of my favorite templates from this kit. The first two are the ones I carved and have shown here in this post. Just right click and choose "copy" and "paste" them to your computer. Or right click and choose "save" to save them to your computer. Then enlarge them on a copier to whatever size you like. You may even be able to enlarge the templates on your computer. The templates that come with the kit are on a standard 8 1/2 by 11" paper size.





There are little tips on the bottom of each template...they are important because they tell you which sections to cut out first. It is best to follow them exactly.




Another tip: The dotted lines on the white sections of the paper...those are areas where you crease the template to make it fit on the round pumpkin, if needed. The dotted lines on the dark areas are where you can cut when you're done carving to help remove the big sections that need to be removed.

Happy Carving! :)

Decorating for Halloween: Welcome to the 92nd Metamorphosis Monday!

Recently, I mentioned on Facebook that I'd love to see your fall and Halloween decor. Three BNOTP readers sent some fun pics showing the metamorphosis of their homes for the season.

Pinky shared her front porch all falled up.




Love the scarecrow!




Beautiful wreath!












Perfect for fall!




Marian who lives in Lousiana knows just how to scary things up a bit for Halloween. Those Trick-or-Treaters have to be serious about candy to brave passing under this guy! :)




Love all the details!




A nightime view...




Menacing eyes...




Bonnie is all ready for Halloween and fall with her front porch display...




Those bats look pretty real! Ha! Do you see the arched black cat in the center of wreath? Too cute!



Thanks Pinky, Marian and Bonnie for sharing these great pics!


Looking forward to seeing your Before and Afters!

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