country living: october, how i heart you: not halloween

country living: october isn't just good for halloween stuff--they had a great popover recipe that just looked so divine i couldn't pass up making them that very afternoon! (let's not overlook the super sweet cupcake tins in the picture...what a good idea!)  the recipe i coupled the popovers with was this wonderful autumn soup...one i think is wonderful, but my husband will only eat a half-bowl of it and then he's on to the leftover pizza in the fridge.  more for me!

it also has great decor--this is not something that is realistic in my life right now, but i certainly do think it's gorgeous.  I think the key for the clothes looking pretty are the wooden hangers--my mismatched, plastic, seafoam green, blue, and don't forget the silver ones, walmart special, would just not cut it if i was looking for elegance.  the pink satin curtains are absolutely divine, and the duvet cover is of COURSE from anthro--i think it would be pretty easy to make, but probably cost the same in fabric as it would to just buy it, so you might as well just save time and go buy it.  i love the top-to-bottom curtains behind the bed.  i might have to try that in our next apartment, since we won't be able to paint.  it has a really pretty, old style to it, but the colors and minimum use of patterns make it a little more modern.  

this is in a house that's super old-school, but has some of the coolest rooms.  they have a room with lamps that look like WWI army helmets, and a bust of abraham lincoln--it's their dining room...why not?  this is their mudroom.  i don't think it's super logical to have a rug in their mudroom, but i do think it's genius to cut the legs down on a gymnastics horse for a bench, and to also wallpaper the doors covering their washer & dryer in order to hide that the washer & dryer is in there.  i would not have even guessed...










that is the end of our country living: october collection!  hope you enjoyed it--i know i loved every second!

country living: october, how i heart you: halloween edition, part deux

this floral arrangement and the wreath are made out of black streamers--i know, right?  it shows in the back how to make them, and i feel like the flowers aren't explained very well, but i'm sure it could be figured out, but the wreath--the wreath is e-a-s-y to make!  i'm thinking about it, very strongly.  i really REALLY like my autumn, barbed wire wreath i put out in the falltime, but for the month of october, or even the last couple weeks of october i'd be happy replacing it with this bit of awesomeness.  don't you just love the black fruits, also in this picture?  for our wedding i wanted a so-dark-purple-it's-almost-black bouquet, but it didn't happen.  i'm happy to have them on my table during the month of october, though.  i think one of those fruits on the plate are figs--have any of you just eaten a fig (nope--not a fig newton, but a legit fig)?  they are GREAT.  i had one in june, so i don't even know if they're ripe in the fall, but if you can find some eat them, because they are very tasty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

has every home in america had the snow cities on the mantle, or bookshelf, or on top of the piano during Christmastime?  well, ours certainly did and i love this idea of making it halloween!  if you have a lot of pumpkins, this is perfect!  they have moss & things to look like a fence--how cool!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

these people have a fireplace, but for those of us living in apartments without a fireplace, here is the answer!  i would never have thought of this, and it is such a great idea!  i think those flames might be a little tough to make look so smooth, though.  maybe i'll need to start practicing now.  what is the trick to making pumpkin carvings smooth?

i wish i had thought of this last year--we had lots of pumpkins and we definitely had a bookshelf that could have had a tree in it!  you don't even have to carve this--it's just paint! 

country living: october, how i heart you: halloween edition, part une

i've only been reading country living a couple years--i don't subscribe to it (how i wish i did...maybe one day), but my grandmother does, so i get her left-overs. what joy entered my heart when i went to pick up her mail and there it was, anxiously awaiting my excited fingers to finger through its every page and gaze wide-eyed, trying to absorb every divinely creative and beautiful image. the next couple of posts will be dedicated to the divinity that is...country living: october.

i don't know why i love halloween, but i love it. i don't like the scary stuff people try to do with it, but i certainly do adore the silhouetted (let's be honest--i'm a sucker for silhouettes) witch cupcake toppers that are on the front cover. i don't think i've even ever worn black and orange together--even on halloween. it's always orange and brown--i even just bought a shirt from forever21 that was orange and brown. i love making making the most fantastic halloween treats (which starts october 1st), thinking up genius, creative costumes (even though sometimes those are just ideas that turn into "oh crap--i was too busy making spiderweb caramel apples! on to kmart!" [i don't know why, but their halloween stuff is AWESOME--i don't even go there any other time of the year...])

this great idea to festive-ize your mirror i think is just the genius idea! the film you're supposed to buy to make this work is a little expensive, so i was wondering if you could get a similar look by painting glue onto the mirror and making the image by taping off the areas you don't want glue on. has anyone tried anything like that? i need to give it a go before the wonderful 31st day comes along...

also, i wish i had more white sheets (and by more i mean, even one set), because what a stupendous way to make your house look like a haunted house! we might be hitting up the DI a couple times in the next few weeks to check out their white sheets...







check in soon for the next country living update!