Good Saturday morning to you all! and what a beautiful Saturday morning it is here! Sunny and cool--just how I like it! Although I do love some overcast and rainy days as I am sooo productive on those type of days :) but I can't complain because I was quite productive this week with my decorating. I have posted some photos I hope you enjoy......
Greeting you, once again in my foyer, are who we refer to in the family as "the ladies" --to me they are the Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus, my favorite movie--Winnie, Mary & Sara. I was lucky enough to find a sign that says "Hocus Pocus Three Witches" and that just completed the little picture for me :) When I have visitors to my home at Haloween, they know that when they enter the front door, they will be greeted by their cackling. Being sound activated, they are quite noisy all day, and I LOVE it! I'm sure in past blog posts I have mentioned this but I will say it again for any newer readers--I purchased these three witches from a clearance shelf in a supermarket about eight years ago for *seriously* under $5 each. I still remember that moment when I saw them---let me get lost in that happy thought for a minute---what a joy. To me, when the ladies return to their spot in the foyer, my Halloween season has begun. I love traditional decorating. I absolutely despise and reject any scary or horror type--I think it's harmful for the kids to see these displays of murder and horror. That is not what Halloween is! My witches may cackle but they are cackling because they are happy you came to visit! The traditional symbols of Halloween with jack o' lanterns and black cats is what I love---not people swinging from a rope hanging from a tree in their front yard and believe me I see a lot of those disturbing scenes that people think is "Halloween decorating"---NOT. I don't like when people decorate with those plastic body parts or nooses; I think it's truly disturbing.It gives Halloween a bad rap, as they say.
Anyway.....I also made my farm basket in another corner of the foyer with some of my pumpkins and indian corn. I love that white pumpkin. It is so pretty and matches my foyer so well! I sprayed my pumpkins with a clear coat so that they would have some extra shine.
I set up my collection of electric and battery operated witches and Dracula that I have collected from friends, flea markets and garage sales. The same company that makes the Christmas animated figures that move also made a line of Halloween ones. I was lucky enough to pick up a witch in Stormville this past Summer for only $5.
I always loved the graphic of the Salem Witch Museum so I framed the gift bag :) Love it. It's in the black picture frame....Also in my foyer is my favorite table that I decorate for each season and the grapevine pumpkin my son found for me on one of his bike rides on trash day. People throw out the best stuff in Commack. Sad for their them--happy for me!!
My cousin Johanna from Bittersweet Cottage gave me the beautiful Fall painted parchment that I hang on my french doors that go into my parlor. The parlor is the room I am going to work on today. And then we can move in to my eating area where I decorate my big window and then before you get to the family room is another window I love to decorate and my Halloween tree that lights up with votives. Just a few more random shots--I hope I'm not going on too long for you..My knee hugger witch that was in a carton of vintage cake decorations I bought, plus a witch I love that was actually a McDonalds Happy Meal give away!! My Halloween stuff makes me so happy and I remember where I purchased each and every item or who gave it to me. Everything has a little story of its own. I will photograph the outside of the house and other rooms I have decorated to show you. Oh! I almost forgot the hallway of ghosts!
Stepping aside from Halloween, Billy and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary on the 17th. Uh oh, should I have mentioned that in the first paragraph? Am I a bad wife? I hope you don't think so! I love my husband with all my heart and I have since I first met him when he was 12 and I was 10. We have had 24 wonderful married years and have enjoyed an abundance of good things sprinkled with some twists and turns in the road we never expected but navigated through them together. "In his heart, a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." Absolutely! I am quite lucky--I have a loving, hard-working man who loves his family, and I'm smart enough to know it and appreciate it.
I must confess to you though, there is one "issue" I have been dealing with...My name is Maggie, and I'm addicted to Mallomars"... that feels better. For some reason, our supermarkets always push Mallomars in the Fall (??) Never any other time of the year and they are always advertising them and putting them on sale 2/$5 in the Fall! I LOVE THEM! I don't buy them in the Spring or Summer. I don't even think about them or put them on my shopping list UNTIL September and October and then it's Mallomars on the mind. So much so, I have a reputation with the neighbors. My neighbor who lives behind me, sends me over a box just because when she sees them in the store, she sees my face! And my other friend who lives around the block-- she recently had some surgery, and I had made her some chicken soup and when she returned the empty soup container, in it was a box of Mallomars--which was gone by the next day :( okay the kids helped a little but it was me--I admit it.....The first step is admitting you have a problem. So to remedy this dire situation, I am limiting myself to no more than three boxes from now until October 31st....I need all the support I can get friends. I mean, it is a little odd that when people see a certain food item, they think of only you. They may as well put my face on the box. Oh, and I think I'm also a little too attached to Archway Windmill cookies but that's another post...
Have a great Saturday--I am going to be in the kitchen preparing some apple recipes with the apples we picked last Sunday, and the kids also requested rice krispy treats. My sister brought over a delcious apple pie she made from some of her apples, and she tried a new recipe for the crust--an Amish one. It was a keeper! Have fun! :)
