Grapevine Historical Candlelight Tour & other

The 3rd Annual Candlelight Tour of Homes in Grapevine, TX will take place from 4-8 p.m. on Saturday, October 24 Downtown Grapevine.  The tour of homes will allow participants to take a walking tour of 6 homes and some new homes in the historic district of Grapevine. 

Click here for more information.  Tickets are $10.00 a person!
Just thought this would be fun for those of you that live around here!

***********************************

On another note, today I was at Dollar Tree picking up some candy for Halloween.  I thought I'd take a quick browse to see if what I posted yesterday is true at our LOCAL Dollar Tree.  I  found some awesome items and thought I'd give you some ideas, you can pay me later!

These FABRIC place mats are perfect for fall.  Add some solid burnt orange or brown plates and a white bowl or salad plate and it would be beautiful.  A striped napkin with all these colors would add some style.

They didn't have cloth napkins (probably wouldn't be good quality anyway) but they did have these awesome striped paper napkins that coordinate beautifully.  Spend more money on your cloth napkins because they are not just decorative.  They are touched and used by your guests and you don't want it to be "cheap."  However, the place mat wouldn't be handled much, it's more decorative and acts as a backdrop for your dinnerware or china.
This would be a fun gift to give a teacher, friend, neighbor, as a thank you, etc.  Put 4 in a basket with napkins and some striped paper plates (they have ones that match the paper napkins) and you are good to go for around $8.00.  Everything in the store is $1.00  You could also add some fall chocolates to the mix as an added bonus.  I've seen leaf shaped ones that are adorable.
These mugs are darling and would be a perfect gift certificate to Starbucks or a local restaurant.  So much better than just a card and gift card inside.  It's all about the packaging!  Put some pink and black polka dot tissue paper in the mug and it will coordinate with the apron on this stylish diva.  You could even cut up the tissue paper in a shredder and use it like that too!
You could even fill it with a small pack of coffee or some chocolate covered spoons.
Give a set of 4 mugs with 4 place mats.  The mugs could be different or give 2 and 2.
You could even fill them with homemade cookies (wrapped in cellophane).
Tie with a gorgeous ribbon and it looks like you splurged!
Just wanted to show you how much fun it is to scope out the "dollar" stores around you for creative gifts for the holiday season.  If you think ahead then you get the good stuff.  It flies off the shelf if you wait until December 1st, you'll be out of luck.
   We are all looking for ways to cut back this year - here is one way!

Walmart and Dollar Tree Table Decor

 I don't want to rush anyone into the season but wanted to give you a tip for your table decorating this year.  I was reading my Better Homes and Gardens November Issue tonight and saw an ad that caught my eye.  Walmart has some amazing table settings this year for fall - Affordable style in seasonal colors. 
I LOVE the leaf plates.  Who would know that they came from Walmart. 
Go here to see all their selections of dinnerware at Walmart.com.  They don't have their fall harvest settings listed but you can see their regular dinnerware.
Remember you can mix and match these sets, makes it much more interesting.  Your mugs can be different from  your plates, etc. 
The trick here is not to get EVERYTHING from the same place.  Maybe buy your plates or your tablecloth and napkins at Walmart and then mix and match from different sources.  As soon as you buy everything in one place, it starts to look "matchy-matchy."  Purchase napkins in great colors that can be used all year round and add seasonal napkin rings so your money is used wisely.

Here are also a few ideas for your table settings.  Love the pumpkin color up against the white and then the brown bow.  Clipping berries from your yard is a good idea to add something fresh.  The wheat is a nice added touch too!
Looks like this is their formal china but they added a gold leaf and there's your fall touch.  Using a bracelet (elastic) around your napkin is an inexpensive way to make a dramatic look too. 
Very cute how they tied the napkin here.  Writing the guests name with a sharpie on the pumpkin would be a nice added touch.  The crow is a cute touch as well.  The tablecloth is a nice backdrop to the plates and I love that it could be used throughout the year.
I did this one year for a Christmas party.  Put a doily on the plate and sprinkled it with cocoa powder and then removed the doily.  This is purely decorative only.  This happened to be a table that I did for a Christmas Open House.  If you found a pumpkin stencil, you could do this with orange sprinkles or orange sugar. 

Here's the table.  I made a chocolate tree as the centerpiece and everything was chocolate on the table.  It smelled incredible as you walked by.
Wouldn't it be fun to do a pumpkin?  Okay,  now my creative juices are going.
Ruth's pumpkin arrangement
Check out betweennapsontheporch here  for more ideas for fall table decor! I love this blog!!  Looks like she used some of the Walmart pumpkin platter's!  Aren't they adorable?

Just wanted to give you a jump start. Hit your local Walmart before everyone discovers these treasures. Also check out your local Dollar Stores, they carry great seasonal dinnerware items too.  If you are wanting kid items for school parties or adorable plastic plates, they have an awesome selections as well. My favorite dollar store is Dollar Tree go here to see some of their selections or for a location near you.

The treasure hunt is on, don't beat me to it!

Treasures of the week!

My favorite treasure of the week is this little stone chair.  It is actually a bookend but I saw it and thought it would be perfect for my business cards!  I'm actually going to be a part of the Colleyville Business Expo in November and think this will be a nice touch for my table.
This pillow I found at a garage sale today.  Don't you love the beautiful embroidery?  The pillow itself is in bad shape. The zipper is broken and the back is old and torn.  The embroidery is still beautiful, no snags at all.    I'm going to take the pillow apart and add a new back to the pillow (maybe an animal print - see below).  I'll post it once it is done.

Here you can see the beautiful embroidery.  The tassels are worn and old.  As soon as I saw this pillow I knew it was a treasure.  It was even more of one when I found out I only had to pay .50 for it!  I thought for sure the man was going to tell me some story about how his grandma made it, etc, etc. but he didn't!!!!   SCORE!  I almost felt like I needed to RUN to my car and make a big getaway!  You know I've done that before!

This nice large wrought iron cross is a candle holder.  I'm going to paint it and give it to the Auction for the Mom's in Touch basket that will be donated to Grapevine Elementary School's auction to raise money for the PTA.
Go here to find out more about this awesome prayer group for moms of school aged kids, it has blessed my families life!
These 2 "heavy" wrought iron side tables will find a home soon I'm sure!
This weekend I plan on wearing my mom hat which means taking the girls to birthday parties, putting away laundry, preparing for my "fall brunch" that I'm having on Saturday next week, planting flowers, getting my car washed, grocery shopping and whatever else that hat requires of me.  However, I do plan on curling up with my puppy (AVA) to read a few books that I've been wanting to catch up on.  One of my favorite blogs I follow, Joni Webb from Cote de Texas,  has lead me to a few that I'm dying to finish reading.  I'm going to make time to read them!!
Who can resist this little face!  Good thing she is cute because I discovered today that she pulled out all the stuffing from one of my couch pillows.  I wasn't happy!
Happy Weekend - may the sun keep shining!

Fall colors in my artwork

I definitely wouldn't call myself an artist, but I LOVE to experiment and try new things.  I'll browse through museums and get so inspired that I come home and get my paintbrush out.  I think what I really love is just making something creative from a blank canvas. I sometimes even paint over old canvas paintings that I've found at thrift stores.   I usually don't have a plan, I just start mixing colors and see what I come up with.  I usually end up with all the "fall" colors because that's what I LOVE.
 The one above hangs in my living room and I absolutely love the warm colors.  As I said in my previous post, they are my favorite to decorate with.  I added the nail heads to the painting because I loved the texture it added.  I created this using lots of tissue paper and sand and then added the acrylic paint.
This one hangs in my entry and I love these vibrant colors too.
This painting is hung in my bedroom and I love the black in it!  I used lots of texture paste on this one.
I gave this painting to my sister for Christmas a couple years ago.  I used burlap on the canvas first and then painted over it creating a  nice layered effect.
When I went to Africa last summer, I purchased some bark paper that had been died with "all natural" handmade dye.  You can see it in the middle of this canvas.  I added the paper to this canvas first with special canvas adhesive and then painted around it to create a "African" tribal feel.  I grew up there so I have to have something "African" in my house.  It now hangs in our game room. 

This one is one of my favorites.  Did it in the middle of the night one night because I couldn't sleep.  It is now on an easel on my kitchen counter.  I love the way the light reflects on it, making all the colors look so alive.
I donated this painting to our school last year and they auctioned it off to raise money for the PTA. 
As you can see, I'm not a very good artist but I'd rather have real paintings in my home than a bunch of nothing.  I need to change it up a little too and do some that aren't necessarily all "fall" colors.  Painting is great therapy to me.  I guess is it kind of like Gardener's that like to dig in the dirt. 

Did this one and added drapery rings to make it interesting. 
Kinda weird but I like it.
I've got some "new " ideas in my head and like most of you creative types, I've got a board with all my ideas and future projects posted so I'll get motivated.
 Here are a few....

Now all I need is wall space - Help!

Crazy and beautiful pumpkins to inspire

Here are a few ideas I thought you might like for the Fall season.  The beauty of our fall decor is that you can have it out for a few months (October & November) so it's worth doing something special.
Wow, don't you just love this pumpkin.  These are thumb tacks (nail heads).  Make yourself a template and go to town!  You could even use coffee beans here and glue gun them on.

This is the cutest thing!  If you really wanted to have some fun and be a little quirky, go at it with this fun lampshade.  Isn't the nose fabulous!
Kids would have a blast carving these.
This witch is absolutely darling.  I'm not that crazy into witches but she is lots of fun!
.
This is just wire curved with pliers and inserted into the pumpkin.
Cute little hair bows add the finishing touch to these boots.
This design is created with a sharpie!
Sequence is used on the below pumpkin but you could use a sharpie here too, makes the pumpkin have some fun detail.
Adding some sticks from your yard, a bit of moss, pine cones, berries, pumpkins and you have a great centerpiece or entry piece.  The beauty of all this is it lasts all the way through Thanksgiving.
Simple gold ribbon adds a soft touch.
I love simplicity like this for the kitchen counter, bar area, even for the back of the toilet..
Again, simple yet beautiful.
To do this above, just put another vase inside the big vase.  Fill the candy corn in between both vases and then add your flowers to the one you inserted.
Spray paint your pumpkins to change it up a little.  Who said you can't do this.
My girls are dying to try this!
Love adding spindles, antique urns, etc. to the arrangement to bring in some charm and character.
Very inviting if you have a front gate!
We all  have glass vases around.  Fill them with nuts, pears, acorns.
Awesome entry or back porch ideas.  It's all about the different heights of these items.  Creating different levels makes the scale look put together.  Notice how the same thing is done on the table.  Different heights make your eye notice all the details.
You can get items for the above pumpkin at any craft store in their jewelry section.  Ears could even be door handles or pulls.
These are just created by using something that makes a nice big hole.  Punch through and you have something stunning all lit up!
Always forget about artichokes and pomegranates but they add lots of color.  We all have some kind of ceramic bowl or urn you can use to put all these items in.  Add some candles and you are set.
Corn adds some great texture.

These are doilies!!  Cheap idea and oh so cute.
Okay, my creative adrenaline is bubbling.   Hope yours is too!