Oh what do you do when it's conference time...

I LOVE General Conference weekend. The talks are always so uplifting and seem to be exactly what I need to hear. So what do you do while your listening to conference? I used to just lay around on the couch but then realized that made it REALLY hard to stay awake. So the last 2 years (4 conferences), I've done little projects during conference. Crafting is relaxing to me and it's the perfect way to keep my bum in one spot long enough to listen to a session.

So what did I work on...

Well I started by pulling out my Halloween decorations.

I'm in the midst of changing my living room decor so my Halloween decorations from last year that had lots of orange in them, had to be re-vamped.

So I changed everything for my living room to JUST black & white.

I re-wrapped my white candles that adorn my coffee table. I also re-cut my boys names in white vinyl to change their cauldrons that sit atop my piano. Lastly, I found a adorable free Halloween printable that I found on Eighteen25. I attached it to black card stock and just cut it to fit in the frame that ALWAYS sits on my piano.

Easy Peasy & free-sy!!

Next I made Halloween magnets for my chalkboard & my fridge.

I made them to match my fall "To-Do" list. Am I the only one who must have a different "To-Do" pad for every season??  

THEN I cut some new vinyl for my Halloween plates.

Got the idea for the skull on

House of Smiths

(her's is WAY cuter than mine. but it's not to shabby for just working with what I got!!

The bird was a free printable that I found on pinterest.

Its from a blog called bloominghomestead.

Then FINALLY

I have wanted to make a Halloween wreath for YEARS!! I've NEVER gotten around to it because I've never found anything that I liked.

This year...thanks to my new addiction *pinterest*, I found lots of cute yet spooky Halloween wreaths that I LOVED.

Here's what I came up with...

Don't know why but this year I am LOVING the crow thing??

Good luck with your Halloween Decor :)

Happy Haunting.

Halloween Decorating on NO BUDGET!!

OK...so this year, I really wanted to decorate my home for Halloween. I LOVE fall & Halloween is my favorite holiday (behind Christmas, of course) but I wanted something fresh & new. Halloween decor that wasn't to cheesy or scary or crafty. Tough one huh...

On top of all that, I had NO BUDGET to spend on decorating.
So to my computer I went to look for ideas. I found the most AD-OR-ABLE decore on a couple new blogs I stumbled across.
CLICK HERE: House of Smiths
CLICK HERE: eighteen25

These blogs are just SOOO creative and I LOVED the style. Right up my alley. So since I am really good at coping other peoples ideas, I took what I found and made them my own.

I covered my books that always sit out on my coffee table with white paper and then used vinyl lettering to put give the books "spooky" names. I replaced my usual cranberry colored candles with white ones that I always have on hand for entertaining then wrapped them in B&W scrapbook paper remnants. I also added some small vinyl Halloween pictures to a couple of the candles. I had the small pumpkin shaped candles on hand from hosting Thanksgiving dinner years ago. The only money spent on this entire display was $1 for the tiny skulls that I got from the dollar tree.

For the small table that sits between my two parson chairs, I REALLY wanted to find a small bird cage, paint it black & put a crow in it. But a bird cage was impossible to find in the fall. Trust me, I looked EVERYWHERE!! So instead I just bought a larger crow from Michael's. Best of all, it was 60% off, so I only paid $4.00 for it.

For my piano, every year, I put out cauldrons that I made, one for each of my boys. This year I added the "31-all hallows eve." It's just black poster board that I cut to fit inside a picture frame that I always have sitting on my piano. The lettering is, of course, vinyl. Best of all...FREE!!

 For my entry way table, I took the idea from "House of Smiths," and just printed off a small sign that I designed in my Microsoft that says "along came a spider" and framed it with a black frame I already had.

This was my ONLY "splurge" this year. I needed something cute to go atop my pie safe that is in my hall way. I've had the "BOO" candle for a couple years but needed something to finish the "moment." I found these cute silver ghosts at Hobby Lobby when I was there looking for something else. They were more than I wanted to spend...since I was trying not to spend anything. But I got them at 50% off. So for both, they were a whopping $16. But aren't they just sooooo cute!!

In my family room, I have one bookshelf area where I can decorate for the seasons. This year, this is where I displayed my spiders. I LOVE these spiders. I have been collecting them for a few years.

I finished off this area by again covering up my books with white paper and adding spooky titles to them. And added some small pumpkins to my ball collection on the bottom shelf. LOVE IT!!

Last but not least...the kitchen. Every year, I add the spiders to my kitchen chandelier. They are just spider rings that I've attached with thin metal wire and swirled by wrapping it around a large marker. I think its festive...and my boys LOVE IT!! I also ALWAYS add candy corns to my kitchen table centerpiece. It's an easy way to bring those fall colors into your table.

I found the small bat plates for my fruit stand in UT over the summer at a boutique and got them for like $2 each.

The plates on my hanging plate rack...the back ones were from Target for $2 each and the front ones are just extra white plates I collected over the years from Christmas cookies. I added the cute Halloween silhouettes in vinyl.
All in all, I spent under $30 total for EVERYTHING and have Halloween touched through out my entire home. Not bad I say, not bad at all!! Yeah Me!!