Happy Halloween!

The most important rule of Halloween via courtney khail

Happy Halloween everyone! This is our first year handing out candy (we lived in an apartment and then a condo before this) so we've stocked up (holy cow candy is expensive) decorated the front door/yard with faux tombstones and paper bats, and have the porch light on. I even carved another pumpkin (a classic jack-o-lantern) since the crazy squirrels in our backyard ate our other two. Darn squirrels.

What about y'all? Any big plans? Whatever you end up doing, have a safe time! Happy Halloween!!

from the studio: DIY bat place cards

Why yes, we did dress as Double Dare contestants for Halloween.

Normally I don't do "from the studio's" on Wednesday, but given it's Halloween and that's what these are for, I figured I'd break that rule just once. These can be whipped up in just a few minutes and while I labeled them as place cards, they'd be perfect to tie around a bag of candy for trick-or-treaters (just write "from the so and so's) or a gift tag. Personally, I think they would be amazing on a "Dark Shadows" inspired table with black tables, silver candle sticks, and lush low lying burgundy colored flower arrangements. And for all of you that get a little scared of watercolor, these will give you amazing confidence because you really can't mess them up.

Happy Halloween!

from the studio: diy watercolor halloween cards

I'm kind of obsessed with sending mail (I'm guessing that doesn't come as a huge shock.) but seriously, nothing is better than receiving real mail that isn't a bill or an election flyer. That in mind, I wanted to share a super simple diy watercolor halloween card with you all today. Seriously, it's so easy that you could whip a few of these out today and have them in the mail for your friends to get by Wednesday. Or maybe even just whip up a few and put them in your neighbors mailboxes Wednesday morning to let them know you're excited to see them during trick-or-treating/at the party/etc. It's all about the little things!

Happy Halloween! (and the porch light rule)

I have to admit, I am a chicken (and have an overly creative imagination.) I can't watch scary movies, I don't like when people wear masks or dress up as anything bloody/dead, and I hate scary music. Naturally, Halloween and I have a love/hate relationship. On one hand, I get a kick out of making and wearing costumes, love miniature Kit Kat bars, and think carving Jack-o-lanterns really is a lot of fun. On the other hand, the TV is flooded with creepy, scary movies (even the ads become scarier!) I apparently attract every mask wearing individual which of course scares me, and without a doubt someone really wants to go to a haunted house and I have to explain (again) that I'm a chicken and can't do that-no matter how fake it looks. What about y'all? Is anyone else easily scared like me? I refuse to believe I'm the only one like this.

porch light rule via me

Anyhow, now that I've expressed all of that, I thought I'd leave you with a little piece of art I made to remind people of the most important "rule" of trick-or-treating- the porch light rule. You know what I'm talking about, right? If the porch light is on, come ask for candy. If the porch light is off, skip that house.Of course then you have "those people" who turn off all their lights except one tiny light right next to their porch and that just throws everyone for a loop. Don't be those people.

happy (almost halloween) weekend

A little something I picked up while looking for costume ideas via personal collection

Halloween is just around the corner, but given that it falls on a Monday it seems that everything is taking place this weekend (we have 2 costume parties and had to rsvp "no" to another 2.) What about you all? Any big Halloween plans or are you going to take it easy and stay home?

The language may be offensive to some, but this rant made me crack up. (Mostly the part about PBR)

I'm not a fried egg girl, but I'd have to smile if someone served me this ghoul.

My love for baby giraffes just got even deeper.

This weekend is also one of the biggest college football matchups of the SEC- Georgia v. Florida- also known as the world's largest cocktail party.  J. and I both went to the University of Georgia and are huge UGA football fans so naturally this video warms my heart. (He's saying "Gators wear jean shorts" in case you couldn't tell. Which coincidentally is why I still can't make myself wear jean shorts.)

And of course, no weekend would be complete without a little Ron Swanson. (He's my favorite character on the show. Speaking of... here are cats that look like Ron Swanson.)

Halloween Wrap Up

Sorry for skipping out yesterday- time just ran away from me! The costumes got a dress rehearsal (pre-halloween costume party) Tuesday night and were a HUGE success. As over the top as it might be, there is something very cool about wearing a sparkly dress and now I am hooked. I'll share pictures next week.

With Halloween tomorrow, everyone seems to be posting unique invites, tablescapes etc etc. and I thought I would show you some of my favorites from the past few days:

I love the string around the finger invite. Really creeps me out, but super original. The skeleton one is just fun- plus I really like black envelopes. Oh and look at that bar setup! I think dry ice would be a cool addition to bring in some fog!

all three from martha stewart via ritzy bee

I need to make these. I love apples and I love candy so I don't think anything can hold me back :) Aren't the black ones so Snow White-ish?!

via hip hostess

and lastly, if you're going to have a wedding the day after Halloween, why not go all out. See here for the gorgeous pictures and don't forget to look at the vintage Halloween wedding Style Me Pretty just posted!

Halloween Preview

I've been getting into the fall spirit the past few days by decorating, buying pumpkins etc and now that J and I have decided (finally) what to be for Halloween (a magician and a magician's assistant), I thought I would go ahead and start making our costumes. We both don't like having costumes that everyone else already has or that can easily be picked up as a costume shop, so normally I make at least one of our costumes.

Some of our previous costumes:
as little red riding hood and the big bad wolf (as grandma of course) and then our all time favorite, Calvin and Hobbes.
I painted the costumes to look exactly like the cartoon and they rocked...

This year, I headed over to a vintage store to look around for things that could be cut up and re-worked when I found this.

and it fit perfectly.

It was meant to be! It is the perfect dress for a magician's assistant, and even better... I didn't have to sew anything for mine!

*just a side note, while super over the top and flashy, I kind of love this dress and am already trying to think of ways to actually wear this out. Maybe with a black boyfriend blazer and killer heels...

Tomorrow I'll start working on my feathered head piece, J's cape, top hat, and wand and hopefully find a little white rabbit stuffed animal. Wish me luck!!