The Wicked Web we Weave

I've been eyeing Halloween door decorations for a while now (say since we moved in) and there are some pretty cute ones out there.

This one would be awesome if you had a way to cut out all those bats

via

And I've always loved this one. It is just too cute!

via

So I thought to myself, what can I make that will look good and be entirely free? Spiderweb!

This project was super easy and very quick. Just grab some black electrical tape, some scissors and go to town. 

I went for the classic design. First you start with the spokes (look at all that light now that the trees are gone!)

Then cut pieces to make the "webbing". My only advice is to put the tape on the outside of your door or window. The backside of the tape looks a little different, so it is more dramatic to your guests on the outside.

There you have it. Simple, quick, and spooky. As to why I only went part way? I like the unfinished look and it does block the light, which I am loving right now, so I stopped when it felt right. You could even add a dangling spider to really top it off!

We still need to get pumpkins to carve but at least I'm finally getting in the spirit!

Cheers!

Spooky Mantle- 2012 Edition

I've actually had the mantle decorated since mid-September (weird I know but it was a matter of convenience). I basically reused what I had last year and mixed in a few things that were already there.

Here is 2011's version

Now for 2012

I didn't go quite as crazy with the spider webs this year because it turns out Daniel was right, they do make it hard to have a fire (and it certainly has been cold enough for them)

I filled my egg jar with skeleton heads which I thought was a nice nod to the macabre (get it? Nod?)

The book page pumpkins got a second showing. They were just so cute last year I was glad they held up in the decoration box.

Just simple changes. I'm trying to settle on a mantle that just needs little tweaks to become festive instead of tearing the whole thing down every time there is a holiday. So far it has been much less stressful, which is key. 

I've got lots of wood to stack today but I have to say I am loving my new open yard. Can't wait to show you more!

Cheers!

I Spy With My Little Eye...

 Our house! I told you I had a big reveal. In case you don't remember, this was the view from the street when I left for work Monday morning.

Can you believe the difference? Check this out.

Inside before

Inside after.

The amount of light in our front room is unreal.

I wasn't home to see the action but Daniel got a few shots. Apparently they climbed up the tree removing the branches as they went

And then came back down the tree removing the trunk.

As you can see they aren't quite done yet.

How much do my neighbors love me right now? Of course the yard looks like a few trees exploded, but, well, they kind of did.

Norman has been pretty skeptical about the whole thing so far.

But that is his usual attitude. I do feel a smidgen bad for Honey Bunch. The Cedar was her favorite play toy. (here she is playing in it just hours before they started bringing it all down)

I promised her I'd get her a new tree though.

More to follow once things get a bit more in order around here but I wanted to show the world our cute little house.

Cheers!

Jumping Junipers!

One of my resolutions this year was to give my house a bit of curb appeal. Boy was that a bigger can of worms than I thought. We started out with this

I swear there is a house in there somewhere. Of course it hasn't helped that I have been ignoring the problem for the last year, but I digress.

 First thing that had to go was that awful fence. It was completely rusted through in some parts. While Daniel did the removal I started on the mass of juniper. We got to about here before I gave up.

Can you see my path of destruction? I managed to bag and tag about half of the juniper while Daniel got out the entire fence.

After taking a few weeks off to recover (that stuff itches!) we finally got back out there and decided this would be the weekend. Everything must go!!

 Not too shabby right?

We were pretty lucky that some guy pulled up and asked to take away our fence (saves us the trip) so we managed to get everything pretty clean.

I did unearth some interesting artifacts hiding in the deep recesses of the Juniper Jungle.

Whomever lived here before must have had quite the menagerie of plastic animals. I have also found a giant beetle and a Lego shark. I'm starting a collection.

We are inching closer to our clean slate... I should have a pretty big reveal for tomorrow so stay tuned!

Cheers!

Falling

I went for a run and noticed that Fall is suddenly in the air...

Just thought I'd share that.

Cheers!

Covering Up

When we upgraded our door hardware there was just one thing that got left behind.

That ugly brass deadbolt was a bit of an eyesore. To top it off, there was no key to it (the house had five different deadbolts and one key when we moved in) so if you locked it there was no way in without unlocking it from the inside. As you can imagine, that caused some problems. 

So here is a nice little before and after for you (I'm full of them right now aren't I)

Before

After

Not bad right? Obviously there was a huge hole in the door when I removed the deadbolt but never fear, Home Depot is here! The cover only came in brass which wouldn't have been any better than what I had but that's nothing a coat a ORB can't fix right?

The idea is simple. They are just metal plates that attach through the door (I threw the package out before I took a picture so this is the closest I could find). Like so

Here it is installed from the other side

Simple easy and done. Besides waiting for the paint to dry the whole project took around 5 minutes and about $5 (I already had the paint). Maybe one day we will get a new door but I rather like this one, so for now, this is perfect. 

Who doesn't love an easy fix? 

Cheers!

Cooking on Display

Ever find yourself in a cooking rut? I find that between trying to stay on budget and trying to eat well I end up cooking the same four dishes all week. Turkey tacos, tortilla soup, quiche/ fritatta, and Schezwan green beans to be exact. Usually there is some roast veggie mixture thrown in there too. All tasty but very rarely different.

And yet, I have a ridiculous number of cook books. Cook books I've used, full of recipes I love. So I started thinking (since we have been moving the kitchen around), why don't I use them more often? That's when it hit me, I don't even know where they are. After a bit of searching I found them on a bookshelf down in the office (which you may remember the state of) and brought them up. At first they lived on my open shelving

It was better but I still didn't find myself just idly flipping through them like I used to. It got me thinking...

I had pinned this inspiration pic a while back from the Ikea catalog

but was always worried about how well the books would stay on the shelf. That's when I stumbled on this post from 6th Street Design School and thought, perfect! (and how cute for a kid's reading nook).

They are deep and clear (so no visual space) and kind of funky and modern (which is fun). I knew just the wall for them.

Before

After

Unadorned. You can barely see them.

Full!

I just fit all of my books but there is still room to add another shelf above.

See how little space they take up? Perfect!

I love how fun and bright they are. Like they are floating there just waiting to be used. I've already cooked three new recipes out of my Organic book and loved them! I ordered two 30" and one 24" from Clear Solutions to make the space look even. So far they are holding everything up great. I did end up having to put an extra screw in the middle of the shelves to support the weight of my cook books (if they leaned forward they would often jump ship when the plastic bent). I can also add more as needed and I love that they don't take up as much space as a traditional book shelf would so they don't get in the way of the door to the bedroom. Even better Daniel loves them! Maybe I can convince him that Lucite chair I've been eyeing would fit in the house somewhere... A girl can dream right?

Is it just me or does Fall just bring out the cook in all of us. I've made apricot bars, and soups, and have been dying to make something with squash. No wonder I gain so much weight in the winter.

Cheers!