The Halloween Tree

Since last December, I've been toying with the item of getting a black Christmas tree. At our wedding we had guests sign Christmas bulbs  that we could bring out year after year and display. Plus our cake topper could also dub as a tree topper. I knew then that I wanted to display these ornaments and our tree topper on a tree the following season. Since the bulbs are all different pops of color, I knew that I wanted a tree that would allow these colors to pop. I got online and went to my go to Christmas tree store and that's when I saw it. A black tree. But could I sell my husband on the idea of a black tree? That doesn't seem too practical does it? Well it is....

Thus the Halloween tree was born. It doesn't just serve the purpose of being our wedding tree, it comes out early as a Halloween tree! My husband loves Halloween so doing a Halloween tree showed it's not just a Christmas tree.

This tree is 7 feet tall and came pre-lit with white lights. The fabric ornaments were handcrafted by me. If you want to see them in detail you can go here or here. The other ornaments were found at the craft store and honestly the dollar store. Items like the big orange spider and the spiders around the tree, the rat and the bats were all items I found at the dollar store. They aren't particularly ornaments but you can place them to sit on the branches. The garland is mesh used for wreaths and I found it at the dollar store. This tree took 3 rolls.

 

 

 I'm really happy with how the tree turned out. The people who have seen it so far love it which makes my heart happy. Now once Halloween is over the tree will be relocated to a different room and the decorations will get traded out for our wedding ones. So be honest. What do you thin of our Halloween tree? Do you decorate for Halloween?

It's A Fabric Christmas

You guys... I am SO excited to share this news with you! If you've been reading this blog for awhile then you already know that I am a huge lover of all things Christmas. Well I've taken my love of Christmas one step further. I've started making unique fabric ornaments! Yes that's right! I'm making Christmas ornaments in April! Technically I started making them in March but I wanted to get several under my belt before I shared them with all of you.

Fabric Christmas

Each ornament takes hours to make. Depending on the elaborateness of the design and fabric choices it can take awhile to complete each one. It has be perfect to hang on any tree. Making each ornament is a labor of love and I know that I'm creating something that people will hang on their trees and use as decorations for years to come. I can remember hanging ornaments on my moms Christmas tree when I was a kid that we still hang on the tree decades later. These ornaments become memories and fun items to see year after year when you open the boxes and see them again after having them put away for months.

These ornaments are hand made and no two are exactly alike. Since there's so many fabrics out there the possibilities are endless. Even when using the same fabric the way they are made by hand doesn't necessarily mean they'll look exactly the same. So if you see an ornament that you love don't wait because it could be gone forever!

Now here's the fun part! You can see the ornaments as I create them by following the link that I have above! Here's also a few of my ornaments that I've recently created...

These are just some of the designs that I've been working on. I've got new designs coming each week and I have so many fabrics to cut that I just can't work fast enough! I am just so excited to share these with all of you! I really love making these ornaments and I hope that you love them just as much as I do!

Bridal Shower

My Bridal Shower was held on Saturday. I didn't have anything to do with the planning or the decorations. So of course with my type A personality and need to organize/control party planning it was extremely hard to just show up. The theme did not disappoint! It was none other than...

If you really know me then you know I love this movie! I feel like I could be Joan Wilder and this movie is a total guide to life. The decorations at the shower were fabulous and went great with the theme. We even had an alligator!

 

Besides the great decorations we had the movie playing in the background incase anyone who was at the party hadn't seen it. Seriously, if you've never seen Romancing the Stone go buy it right now! The party was catered by Chipotle which I love and it fitted the theme! Once we were done eating, I got to open up gifts. This awesome cake stand that I had been wanting for awhile came from my mom.

An aunt of my fiancé found out how much I love Christmas and got us this really cute engagement ring ornament to go on our tree. The day after the party that ornament went directly on to the tree!

 

No party is ever complete without cake. Thanks to Freeport bakery they nailed the color green! Plus the cake was delicious! It had a chocolate fudge filling and was super rich.

The only thing missing was all of my east coast friends and my mom! I was really wishing they could be there but maybe we will do something all together during our wedding weekend? Maybe! I have to say this party wouldn't have come together if it wasn't for my fabulous fiancé. He did a lot of the planning, decorating and organizing! Love you!

Hello October

 

I can't believe it's October! Wow! This year really has been moving fast. October brings everything fall and although California is still experiencing 90 degree weather I can still appreciate the fall season. I have to admit though, I'm not a fan of pumpkin spice lattes like everyone else in the world. I have my own favorite things about October...

 

1. The Pumpkin House.

 

Located in Kenova, West Virginia, The Pumpkin House is famous worldwide. The owners of the house carve hundreds of pumpkins and decorate the entire outside of their house and property. They theme flashing pumpkins to music, have food vendors every night and it's all for free. I would go every year to check it out when I was living 15 minutes away from it.

 

2. The Halloween tree.

I have this foot tall tree that gets decorated for Halloween every year and I love it. It's simple, small and does the job. It has a permanent place on my foyer table for the month of October.

3. Beezy's Birthday

This month he turns the big 33 at the end of the month and I'm going to bake him the best cake! I already gave him his big birthday present but I'm sure he'll get a little something on his actual birthday. Love you!

4. Chunky sweaters.

Seriously. I want both of these and tons more. I love a good sweater and these are perfect! Maybe it's because I'm from the east coast and use to burrowing for the winter but I am busting at the seams to get into sweater weather! I hate being cold but I sure do love a good sweater.

5. Halloween Costumes.

Last year Beezy and I dressed up as Popeye and Olive Oil. This year we have to figure out our costumes. Any suggestions? I'm thinking this year we might go as something from television or a movie.

What's some things you love about fall?

A Christmas Mantle

A focal point in any home during the holidays can be a beautifully decorated mantle. Mantles are often accompanied by a fireplace which can be functional and decorated as well. In my mother's house she has a mantle and fireplace. We set up her Christmas Village on top and decorate around it. In my home, we don't have a mantle or fireplace but we will decorate our staircase. The point is, work with what you've got and make the best of the space! If you have a mantle or a mantle and a fireplace check out these great spaces...

 

A red and green mantle...

 

 

Large ornaments make up this mantle...

 

Teal and Silver... 

 

A more rustic look... 

 

 

A chalkboard mantle...

 

 

Or even some block lettering...

 

No matter what kind of mantle show piece you like to do, if you go with any of these themes you can't go wrong!

Weekend Review

On Friday, Beezy and I went out for date night. Once I was out of work, we headed out to town and ate at Lucca's.

 

We had only ever ate there once and it was last year for a graduation dinner so when we decided to go there we didn't know what their normal menu was going to be like. Happily they had giant pork chops and I happily ordered it! I love a good pork chop.

Once we left dinner we headed to the movies to see the Rock's newest movie, San Andreas. Beezy wanted to see this movie really bad. We had even tried to see a sneak peek on Tuesday but got there too late to get into the theater. Since we live in California it hits a little too close to home because Sacramento is only a little under two hours away from San Francisco where the majority of the movie takes place. That being said, the movie was pretty good and the 2 hours passed quickly.

 

On Saturday we had people over to the new house. We grilled out and showed them the house. Beezy's cousin is in town from Washington D.C. so it was nice seeing her. We haven't seen her since we were in Puerto Rico last March. Before they came over, I of course had to work on the house. We've only been here about two weeks so we aren't fully unpacked yet. I'm hoping to have the house unpacked before the end of June!

 

I did get some cute house stuff from Hobby Lobby though...

It's totally going with the bathroom theme and I can't wait to reveal it! Have a happy week!

 



Weekend Review

Another weekend is in the books.

Since we are on day 6 of the shut down with no end in sight, I stayed close to home this weekend because I have no idea when my next pay check is coming. Ugh. I was able to finish a craft project just in time for the season...

I've made a yarn wreath before but I thought it would be cute for Halloween. Pretty simple to make. I also got my Halloween tree back out that I started last year.  

During the weekend, I saw another great sunrise. It's like once fall began we've been seeing amazing sunrises and sunsets in Sacramento!

I also got some yummy Chinese food take out...

I seriously love some Crab Rangoon and fortune cookies. I also went to the movies and saw Gravity. So good! I'm going to do an entire post on it, that's how good it was.

Have a good Monday everyone!