In a Galaxy Far, Far Away Halloween

You could probably tell based on the blog title what our costumes were for this Halloween!

And to do this post differently, I made a super short video to show some of my favorite photos from today!Hope you like it...

VEL

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40th Birthday Party - Aged to Perfection

I knew that I was going to throw a big party for my husband's 40th birthday, but I wasn't really sure how to go about it since it was for my "best friend and one true love", someone who I know don't want a big fuss when he is celebrating something, and of course, in general, A GUY!

Simple invite I chose from VISTAPRINT

I was lucky to get the perfect venue that was still available in our town for Homecoming weekend, and luckily they had a bar and also catered too. So I thought all I had to think of were the decorations, which I really didn't know how to go about, since like I said, he was a guy. ;-) Also, since I would be spending a pretty penny already on venue, food and drinks, I didn't have a big budget for decorations!

So about 1 week before the party,  I stumbled upon this on ETSY...

I'D RATHER DOODLE

I knew immediately I wanted this milestone birthday poster for my hubs birthday, and after browsing for some more stuff on I'D RATHER DOODLE page, I found everything I needed to get into my decorating swing (Thank you Natalie)!!!!!

LINK HERE

See? And all for a very, very reasonable price! I went ahead and started printing away, after all, this was my venue...

The Diamond Club at our local Baseball Park

And here was how it looked at 11:30 am the same day of the party...

 Party was at 6 pm, and I only started decorating with my son's help and another friend, the same morning! I knew balloons would be out, because it just felt 'young' for me after my daughter's balloon-filled birthday party!

Centerpiece

Centerpiece was very simple, placemat, plant and votive candle holders from IKEA, plus my printed sign, and viola, a simple, elegant centerpiece for MY GUY!

Gift table

I added Kraft paper on top of the gift table so guests can write wishes and notes and then I took a photo of them afterwards for us to keep and remember!

Yup, the birthday Poster went here as well as extra photos from here...

My favorite decor

 I stole this idea from Martha Stewart, saw this I think on her website or magazine years ago and thought this would be perfect. So I printed them the night before to fill this huge black wall by the buffet table.

Cake Table

For the cake table, I brought in my fiddle leaf fig trees from home and just added the same ikea place mats and stars behind.

Pumpkin and smores cupcakes

Cake was a yummy buttercream mocha

Overall the party was a huge success, everyone loved everything and though there were kids in the vicinity and we had to share the dance floor with them, I think it was what my husband exactly wanted - a "no-fuss' party that EVERYONE including, his own kids, enjoyed!

Have  A Great Halloween Weekend!

VEL



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Dining with the Dead - Halloween Dining Room

Hello Friends! I can't believe it'll be HALLOWEEN next Monday and I am so glad I finished my home in time for this fun holiday!

You've already seen my HALLOWEEN LIVING ROOM and FRONT PORCH, which I think is usually the "subtle rooms" when it comes to my Halloween decor. But today, I will share with you where Halloween actually usually "EXPLODES" in our home, THE DINING ROOM...

Welcome?! ;-)

Notice something new?

As you can see , my Halloween Dining Room this year is just all about gauze, skulls and heads! Yikes!

I didn't realize how many blinged-up skulls I already had and decided to put them on the table en masse'!

Added some spiders all around too. Yup, love spiders!

I used my favorite Caskata salad plates and added my spider web place mats on top of the gold chargers instead. My black silverware (a score from Target years ago) and Halloween goblets, round up my setting.

Also had these cute BOO plates to use!

The Mirror shelf and buffet were just simple Halloween displays with apothecary jars filled with candy.

And at night...

Love the glow of my candles

There you have it, my most HALLOWEEN-Y room in the house! There is one more room, rather two,  that I added Halloween decors in. Can you guess which ones? I will share them on Halloween!

Hope you all have a Fabulous week, there is still time to get in on the Halloween fun!

VEL

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Linking back to... Coastal Charm, Cooking and Crafting with JJ

Halloween Living Room

Hello again my friends, here I am again continuing on with my Halloween Bonanza and today I'm sharing our Living room!

Just quick Halloween updates from Fall decor

As you can see, aside from pillow switches and the bats, not much has changed from my Fall decor, except for the staircase...

I really like the spiders from years past so I had them come back again!

Crows on my console table make for an eerie display

We also have the SWITCH WITCH this year!

As you can see, easy laid-back Halloween for us, in the Living Room at least, because as you will see next week, Halloween "Exploded" in our Dining room!

Have a Fabulous Weekend!

VEL

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Linking back to... Thoughts of home on Thursday

Halloween decor at the Porch

Hello everyone!

I hope you had a fabulous weekend! For sure, WE DID, busy but fun! We celebrated my husbands 40th birthday with a big bash at the Baseball park! Well one of the suites in it actually.;-)

It was truly a challenge to decorate such a huge venue, though we only had about 80 guests, the room could accommodate 200! I will share with you details on how I tried to decorate for my hubs party at another post. But overall, I was pleased and the guests left happy and my hubs, grateful and happy too!

So today, I am going to start the Halloween bonanza here in our humble home, starting with the front porch!

I went back and used my old black wreath and added my favorite black gauze fabric around our door.

Got the wreath years ago from Grandin Road

I added the wooden "Enter if your Dare" sign in the middle (from Kohls years ago too).

I had mums-galore too, thanks to my son's school fund-raising, and now that much of it is in bloom, it is just beautiful.

My 25 cent paper mache' Pumpkin man always makes our entry more kid-friendly

I got all the wooden signs & Spider lanterns from Target last year (post-Halloween clearance finds, my kind of shopping), including the one below....

I think this is perfect especially when we go out trick or treating.

And at night...

I hope you enjoyed this mini-tour! Can't wait to share with you the rest of the house!

Have a Great Week!

VEL


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Linking back to: Coastal Charm, Cooking & Crafting with JJ, Dwellings the heart of your home, Our Home Away From Home, Thoughts of home on Thursday

New Console Table

You know how it is when you've been eyeing something for your home FOR YEARS and eventually you wait, and wait, and wait, until finally everything falls into place (in terms of the discount), that you simply must get it? Well, this was one of those moments.

Ta-da! My new Wisteria Disappearing Console

When I say YEARS, I mean YEARS.
I fell in love with this console 3-4 years ago when Wisteria first came out with it.

 And since it was only a console table, and not something I really needed right away, I waited and waited.

Finally, it went on sale the biggest I've seen it over the years I've been eyeing it, and to top it all off, I even got FREE SHIPPING!!!! It was definitely a sign. And though I had just bought a new Dining table (Yes, that's a story for some other time), I knew I had to get it then. And I am SO HAPPY!

Do you remember my old tiny console?

Here it is again - $69 from JCPenney 6 years ago

I did not hate my old console table, but it was just really too small for the window wall I wanted it to be in. Plus, because it is wood and metal, it sort of stops your eye a bit. Now with the lucite table, light just shines thru!

See!

Pretty Books all in a row..

I also love the bottom shelf where I can do extra display for my coffee table book collection. The Table itself is not flimsy, the shelves are glass and the legs and support are lucite.

My husband, who was surprised as always to find something new in the house, complimented how beautiful the new console table is. And for a guy who doesn't care much about how the look is, that is a big deal for me!

My win-win table

How about you, any recent purchase recently that you had to wait for for so long?  Or any recent purchase that just made you so happy?

We're having another party again this weekend, and this time it's for my Hubs 40th birthday, I hope to share that with you next time!

Have a Great Weekend!

VEL

 Would love to hear your thoughts! Please share away...