Halloween 2010

We had our first party ever (yes, ever) on Saturday night. I'm not sure I will ever do it again. It was A LOT of preparation and stress for very little payoff. My family and the Mister's family came and seemed to have a fine time (the first time they've ever met, BTW).  But only 7 of the approximately 70 other people we invited showed up. Embarrassing. Well, obviously not THAT embarrassing because I am telling you about it, but whatevs.

On the plus side, my house looked great! My mom was of the opinion that I spent too much time on the decor, but really that's what a party is all about right? People being jealous of how great the house looks? LOL

I found faded black and off white cheesecloth at Joann's for 50% off! I bought 40 yards (4 bolts, 2 of each). I sprayed the white down with slightly (very slightly) diluted coffee, then left them hang on the clotheslines for a few days.

We had a bad storm one night with crazy strong winds, so that helped with the aged and tattered look.

The upstairs is unfinished and I didn't want people wandering around the entire house. There was half a zombie torso in here Saturday night.

Some more shots of the dining room:

Ignore the bone and the plate. And the empty liquor suitcase.

I bought these a while back from Madam Talbot's on Etsy.

The pictures were a HUGE hit. Everyone kept asking about them. I bought the frames at Hobby Lobby for 50% off, still $20 a piece (ouch) and the mat board and mat cutter from Hob Lob too. Used a coupon for the mat cutter and the mat board is always on sale. Matting is time consuming (at least for me, I suck at math), but it's totally worth it to learn to do it yourself.

We (meaning my mom) Fall-ed up my china cabinet with my Fall/Winter china. That's right, I have china for the season's. I'm fancy like that... lol

The Mr.'s mom gave this set to me. It's 12 place setting, plus a bunch of extras. It's Japanese and has little pine cones on it. I love it. She has had it for about 30 years and her friend had it for at least 30 years before that. We added some acorns to be festive!


Here are the curtains in the kitchen:

Ignore the mess, please. I took these the "morning" after.

I put the cheesecloth drapes up in the living room too.

My new lamps from TJ Maxx. Yum.

If you cared to notice we moved our couch up from the basement last Monday. I am loving it! I was on a desperate search for a couch, then decided we needed a sectional, then changed my mind again and made my brother come assist the Mr. in moving our ridiculously heavy couch. Mr. was pissed that I couldn't just help him myself, but the damned thing weighs a zillion pounds!

My coworker, George, brought me a present! A new skull friend who fits right in with all the other skulls! It's a nice one too; solid and hefty.

AND (drumroll please) the Mister's mother brought me a present as well... Brrrrrrrrr (how does a drumroll sound?)

An antique pirate ship door stop!!!!!!!!! OMG, I was so freakin' excited when I opened this up I started freaking out and shrieking. I am sure they thought I was completely insane. Ya know, if they don't already. I saw this bad dude at an antique store in the town they live in. I wanted it ridiculously badly, but it was really expensive, so I left him behind. *sniffle* Well, apparently, Mr. was actually paying attention when I mentioned it (shocking, right?) and he sent her down to investigate. She thought it was neat and she knows the woman who owns the shop and now it's mine, MINE, MINE!!!! Yay.

We have windows on all four sides of our house and no central A/C, so we have to prop our doors open or they will slam shut. Perfection.


How was your Halloween? Did people bring you presents too?