Friendly Ghosts and Other non-Frightening Fall Decor

Ok....I deserve it....You can ALL say....Better late than never, Susan!  You bloggers always amaze me by being so on top of your decorating blogging. :)  Here we are coming up on Thanksgiving and I'm blogging about Halloween/Fall decorating.  

I like to decorate my mantels with books....and this cute purple book I found at a Garage Sale, about "Gus the FRIENDLY Ghost" fits right in.

Here's a view of the whole mantel.  I have a two-sided fireplace and this one faces the dining room.

Last year I received this cute Halloween card, I saved it knowing it would play a part in my decorating.  Maybe next year I'll get around to framing it.

More books and a raven pillow that was a gift from my neighbor decorate my living room mantle.

Originally the pillow was stark white...but since that doesn't fit into my color scheme, I tea dyed it to make it look older and more yellow.

No....I don't really have POISON, but I found some Martha Stewart bottle labels so I FORCED myself gladly drank  (with help, of course) a bottle of wine! (and yes that IS me holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa!)  Wonder Woman Watch Out!

I found this cute jack-o-lantern and black cat garland (made out of thin wood) last year and it's become one of my favorite pieces.

Sweet, plump little birds add to the nature theme.

More books....these are from my trip to Paris a year ago.  Since they are small and flat, they made great mementos of the trip to bring back with me.  I decorate with books all year long.  Do you?

Here's a view of the entire mantel.

My living room mantle is painted red.....on a deep purple wall.  What??!??!?!  Is it that obvious that I Like COLOR!  Ya'll have a great Thanksgiving!!

St. Patrick's Day Garland

This weekend my crafty friends got together for another fun day of crafting. This time we made St. Patrick's Day Garlands. I feel LUCKY to have friends that like to craft, enjoy good food and visit and laugh while creating. Jennifer, far left, found us a cute example to go by but there was no tutorial....so if, this was your post, let me know. Your picture was so cute, I want to give you credit!

It's so funny how we all look at an example and then make it our own with the fabrics, materials, ideas, etc of our choosing. Since I like vintage thing and love ephemera, I turned my garland (above) into a more vintage-y version.

Our hostess made us a St. Patrick's themed lunch with Irish Stew, Green Soda Bread, and Green Peach Ice Tea. Cheers to you Denise and Jennifer!

And here's the Hostess with the Most-est...Fredna. She always throws a great party and everything is so coordinated. I should REALLY get her involved in Blogging....she'd be awesome at TableScapes. She's also an expert seamstress and can whip up the cutest pillows and drapes.

Here are some of the items I pulled together to create my garland. Here is work in progress for some of the other ladies project.

The crafting table....where the creative juices were flowing...........

And here's my finished project.........I have a little bit more tweaking to do. It will go up on the mantle soon.

Are YOU lucky enough to have friends that like to do crafts with you??? Or do you prefer to work alone? I enjoy seeing every one's own personality emerge when I'm with a group...and of course, the girl talk is priceless. What's said at the crafting table----stays at the crafting table! RIGHT!!??!?! LOL!