Spooooky Greetings

Just Dropping By

With a 

Halloween "Hi!" 

Hoping all your Tricks turn into Treats!

What's on My Table: Tulip Edition

I thought it might be fun 

to occasionally share with you 

what is gracing the top of my coffee table.

It's a spot I enjoy changing out often. 

If I need a quick pick-me-up that's one of 

the first places I'll decorate. 

Yet for many, coffee table accessorizing is a chore. 

Hopefully my quick and easy changes

 will inspire you.

I started with a pot of freshly planted tulips

that I just dug up out of the ground so I could enjoy their beauty indoors. They were a bit top heavy

and even though I tried my best to tie them upright 

they insisted on flopping over.

 I actually preferred their floppy, more relaxed  appearance so I just added in a little nest 

to balance things and hide the dirt.

Then I finished things off with a, 

thrift store acquired, silver leaf and branch.

It was quick, easy, and cost next-to-nothing.  

 I think it shouts, "Springtime is Here!" 

Dollar PomPom Garland

I have been feeling a little non-creative over the past several months, hence my lack of posts. I love to create and I have dearly missed that outlet so I challenged myself to do a little something creative everyday. To get back into the creative habit I started off easy.

I purchased a few bags of pompoms from the Dollar store and with some thin jute and a larger needle I created some cute and very inexpensive garland.

           It looks so sweet on my Spring mantle. 

I also made one with more vibrant colors 

to use for the Summer. 

With a small investment of money and time, 

I was able to freshen up 

my creativity and my home.

Valentine Wishes

Sending Heart-filled Love 

Your Way.

Happy Valentines Day

to My Sweet Friends.

Thank You for Your 

Love and Support!

*GREETINGS*

From Our House

To Yours

We wish you a

Happy Christmas

and a

Joyous New Year!

Tell The People

My sweet momma is 87 years old and has Alzheimer's. It is a terrible disease that has taken away much of the person she once was. Yet there is much of her personality still intact. One day I asked her how old she was. She answered that she didn't know, so I followed up by asking how old she thought she was. "I don't know.....twenty?" Her reply made me smile, after all, don't we all feel like we're still twenty down deep inside.

On another occasion when I asked her age, and again she had no idea, I told her how long she had lived and that she had a wonderful life. Then I asked, "Have you done everything you wanted to do?" She quietly shook her head. "What more would you like to do, momma?" Her answer touched me deeply and has rested on my heart, "Tell the people I love them." Wise words from a wise woman.

The past few years have instilled upon me some very important lessons: Life is a very precious and fleeting thing. We can't take it for granted. Each and every day is truly a blessing.

As we gather with family and friends this holiday season I hope we can all honor my dear momma's wish.

Have a Memorable Thanksgiving

and Don't Forget to

 Tell the People You Love Them.

Spray Paint Crush

It is a well known fact that I have a deep and abiding love for spray paint. I have noticed over the years that I go through phases where I latch onto a color and obsess over it---much like a tween girl with a crush on the cutest boy in middle-school.

Lately I've been crushing on metallic gold. I am loving that pretty yellow shimmer that reflects the fall light.

Gold is popping up in all of my holiday and home decor.
From gold spiders at Halloween to gold branches on the autumn mantle. 
I've painted a forlorn turkey and some antlers.

It seems that I can't find enough odds and ends to give a touch of glitz. I'm twitterpated with gold  and I'm certain this crush will continue on through the Christmas and New Year's.
Do you have a spray paint crush?

No Turkey Mantle

I know many people start their Christmas decorating in November, however, 

I love celebrating Thanksgiving. 

I enjoy spending a month concentrating on giving thanks and acknowledging my blessings. 

Thanksgiving is one of my most favorite holidays! I relish in decorating for turkey day. This year I decided to forgo the traditional turkeys in my fireplace decor, replacing them with mercury glass owls that I picked up on clearance. 

I used the same pumpkins and mercury glass candlesticks that were on my mantle for Halloween, changing out the black garland with fall leaves. 

Then I threw in some touches of gold. 

The banner was an easy DIY using burlap, jute,  store bought stencils and spray on gold glitter.

I have much to be thankful for and 

I count YOU, my blog friends, 

among my many blessings. 

Have a blessed week!

Hot Drink Station

Although Halloween is long gone, I thought I'd share this simple and inexpensive idea that can be used for all the cold winter months. 
I wanted to do a little something special this year because I was so blessed to have ALL of my children and grandchildren here. I set up a hot drink station for my chilly trick-or-treaters to come home to, using items I purchased at the dollar store. 

There was a variety of drink packets to choose from: hot chocolate with marshmallows (with or without creamer), spiced apple cider, caramel apple, and cranberry apple. I corralled the drink choices, along with foam cups,  using white dishes on a vintage copper tray. I added a few sweet and salty treats, also purchased at the dollar store. 
It only took a few minutes and a few dollars to set up a little treat station that made my family feel extra special. 

Happy Halloween

HaPpY HaUnTiNg

to You and Yours!

Lazy Fall Decorating

This year I decided to approach my Halloween decorating a little differently.

For years I would spend an entire day (or two) hauling out and putting up all of my decorations for Halloween, then the days after the holiday I would put things away just to haul out and put up my Thanksgiving decor. I noticed the past few years I would hit decorator burn-out before December which made Christmas decorating more of a chore than a pleasure. 

It made me sad to not enjoy the process of making my home pretty for all the holidays. So I decided to change things up and this year decorate for Halloween with Thanksgiving in mind. 

My dining room shelf will easily be transformed by simply removing the crows and gold spiders.

For a quick change I only need to ditch the spider and mouse in this sweet scene. 

And by removing the fuzzy little owl and the numbers on the pumpkin this vignette will show off through Thanksgiving day. With this lazy fall decorating idea I find myself looking forward to decorating for the upcoming holidays. 

Wishing you creative ways

to ENJOY holiday decorating

in your home!

Fun Creepy Crawlies

I think it's fun to have spiders in the house this time of year...as long as they are the plastic variety. Here's a couple of ways I've used the creepy crawlies in my Halloween decorating.

With a little hot glue attach a magnet to the underside of the spider, let dry and arrange them in a line on the corners of the walls. They adhere to the metal corner where the sheetrock meets. 

Give ugly dollar store spiders a glam makeover using a little gold spray paint. Added in among fall leaves they look spooktacular!

I'm Baaaaaaack!

Oh Goodness! It seems that I took an unintentional hiatus from blogging. I've missed it and YOU! But I just needed to let something go in order to focus on the needs of our family. I truly appreciate your concern and kindness. Thank you!
It only seems fitting that since I left three months ago with a mantle post that I should come back with one.

 Here's my Halloween mantle. 

A bit more sparkly than spooky but I still included a few spiders and a glam skeleton. 

God Bless The USA

Happy Birthday America!

Daily Bread is Peace of Mind

My parents taught me the importance of having a storage of food. Our food storage came in handy when times were lean. When I started my own family I, too, made sure to have a supply of extra food. It brought me peace of mind knowing that I had food for my family in case of financial difficulties or disaster. However, storing food has it's drawbacks---throwing away outdated food or storing food that family members won't eat.

A few years ago I discovered the Daily Bread Food Storage company. 

They provide high quality, freeze-dried gourmet meals with a 25 year shelf-life. Daily Bread meals contain quality ingredients like 100% natural meat, real freeze-dried eggs, and authentic cheese. There's a wide variety of great tasting entrees. Honestly, the meals are good! My family enjoys eating them. And I like the fact that our food storage will be good for 25 years---no more throwing out expired food.

Another plus---it's easy to store! A one year supply of food for my family looks like this:

It fits easily in my storage room but it's small enough that it could be stored under a bed.

The food really does taste delicious and looks great too. This is what a chicken a la king with noodles meal looks like before it's hydrated.

And this is what it looks like after adding boiling water and sitting for a few minutes. 

If you're interested in tasting a Daily Bread Food Storage meal for yourself you can email Matt at
 mattkarren at dailybread dot com.

He's a terrific sales guy that I know and trust. He can tell you a lot more about Daily Bread Food Storage and send you a free sample. Be sure to tell him Joy sent you!

Disclaimer: I was NOT paid by Daily Bread for this post. The opinion is my own. This really is a product and a company I believe in!

 

Daily Bread provides the highest quality food storage products and the best overall value. We have a strong customer satisfaction track record. Tens of thousands of people have chosen Daily Bread because it tastes great, is easy to prepare, is convenient to store, has a 25-year shelf-life and is affordably priced.

- See more at: http://www.dailybread.com/index/daily-bread-difference#sthash.Um1tnxPQ.dpuf

Daily Bread provides the highest quality food storage products and the best overall value. We have a strong customer satisfaction track record. Tens of thousands of people have chosen Daily Bread because it tastes great, is easy to prepare, is convenient to store, has a 25-year shelf-life and is affordably priced.

- See more at: http://www.dailybread.com/index/daily-bread-difference#sthash.Um1tnxPQ.dpuf

Daily Bread provides the highest quality food storage products and the best overall value. We have a strong customer satisfaction track record. Tens of thousands of people have chosen Daily Bread because it tastes great, is easy to prepare, is convenient to store, has a 25-year shelf-life and is affordably priced.

- See more at: http://www.dailybread.com/index/daily-bread-difference#sthash.Um1tnxPQ.dpuf