Vintage Brooches for Sale!

I stumbled upon these lovely vintage brooches the other day and I had to list them on my etsy shop. They're too cool not to share with the world. If you're interested in purchasing one, just click on the title to go directly to the etsy listing. 

Vintage Gold Tone Skeleton Key with Pearl

Gold Tone Vintage Abstract Daisy and Ribbon Brooch

Vintage Gold Tone Monet Abstract Swoopty Curl

Is this a treble clef? Is it a swooshy swoopty thing? I don't know, but it's lovely.

Vintage Enamel Strawberry Brooch Pin

The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew

Stumbling upon "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" on Netflix was just about the best thing ever. Parker Stevenson is a doll and Pamela Sue Martin is a feisty whipper snapper. Why they thought they could swap out Nancy characters towards the end of the show is beyond me. But anyways...here's a little eye candy...I mean "Costume Studies", if you will.

Frank Hardy

Frank and Joe!  (I actually found a Shaun Cassidy record the other day at Goodwill...we'll see how that turns out.) 

Nancy...

Sorry these are weird quality...I definitely was taking pictures of her outfit while I was watching the show. Thought about being her for Halloween...but I don't think I'm ready yet. 

I mean who's name is "Parker Stevenson"....he's bound to be adorable and an actor. 

And this is totally unrelated but I found it in a google search. 

( I think this is hilariously true of most Christians...can you really validate the things you're doing?..)

(Uh oh...soap box.)

T-Shirt Yarn Spider Web Halloween Photo Booth Display

Well, that was a wordy title...but I wanted to give all the guts up front. I was inspired by seeing this done with gray yarn on pinterest...but I needed a little more pizzazz for a bold backdrop. (Just found out how to spell "pizzazz".)

Anyway, here's the final product and how you make it! It wasn't too hard...the tweaking at the last minute will get ya, but after I realized I should have stopped "messing with it" about 5 times it was almost too late and then it just 'settled' into something wonderful and slightly 3-Dish. I'm really excited about this being my Halloween party photo booth backdrop.

I cut these letters from black poster board paper to add a little holiday spirit. 

HOW TO MAKE IT:

Materials Needed

- Black (XL) t-shirt

- Sharp scissors

- Clear or Black Push Pins

- Forgiving Husband

- Patience...maybe like an hour (or watch your favorite scary movie)

 Step One: Cut roughly 1" strips from a black t-shirt....or whatever color you want...you could make a hot pink spider web if that's what you're into. The sky's the limit.

Pull the strip until it gets skinny and curls up. This is how you make the "yarn". 

Amass a pile of yarn which will look like a creepy pile of worms. 

Start by pinning up a large X on the wall space where you will be installing this giant spider web. Luckily my husband doesn't seem to care that I've put zillions of tiny holes in this wall. 

 [ I guess he'll be fixing that later for me. ]

Build your spider web lines with more X's or T's. I stopped at 4 lines (one X and one T)...but you could do a few more for more detail. I call these the "skeletal lines". Everything is Halloween themed right now ya'll. 

Here you can see where I started out thinking a curved web lines would be a good idea....

Then I made the early decision to just tighten them. This was the right decision for my personal sanity....hard to battle against gravity sometimes.

So sometimes I tied a little knot...but most of the time I'd take a long piece and just make a loop around my skeletal lines until I got to the end of my yarn. Each new start requires a new knot, but that's not a big deal. It's easy to work with when your yarn isn't too long. 

Less tangly possibilities. 

Voila! T-shirt yarn spider web! I love how this photo has a green glow to it...oooooh, scary. Radioactive spider web!

Fall Break=Halloween Party Decorations Done!

Every year my husband and I throw a Halloween bash with all the fixins. I have accumulated a ton of decorations and pinterest ideas throughout the years. This year we haven't designated a costume theme and instead we are having a costume contest. I haven't officially quit decorating...I just thought I'd get these ideas out there for anyone who is needing ideas.



So, a new addition to the party this year is a photo booth complete with a handmade black t-shirt yarn spider web. For a tutorial on how to make this, click here: tshirt spider web tutorial.

Below you can see me and my wonderful husband modeling the concept.

Standing Pose

Sitting pose

Next we come to one of my new passions...tablescaping, in the words of Gene Belcher: 
"It combines accurate table-setting placement with creative themes and costumes."

My hubster and I are going to be vampires this year...no "Twilight or Buffy/Interview with a Vampire" references. I'd say we're more of your East Nasty rebellious non-conformist type. So here's my tablescape...obviously this will look way different with actual food on it and not just lightbulbs. But here's a good base anyways... 

I made a black spiked bunting that is getting lost in the curtains, so I might replace that elsewhere...

Here you can see my striped witches legs...super easy with masking tape and a cut in half pair of Halloween clearance tights.

Next I bring you to the back of the front door...I tried the spiraling black paper bats. I'm not sure if I'm a fan...but a new way to hang these super cheap-o paper bats I cut out is fine by me. I like using fresh ideas for old things and the budget appreciates that too.

A couple of years ago I made this wire spider web using rebar tie wire and smaller wire. I spray painted the whole thing matte black. This is something I use every year so it was worth the sore fingers of working with rebar tie wire. 

Some painted wooden pumpkins...made from scraps of different sizes of wood. Painted orange and black with acrylic and latex enamel, then hot glued a cut tree branch to the top. 

These are actually pretty creepy. I haven't decided what else to do with this table yet....but it needs something a little more. 

Of course there will be candles everywhere, but I hope you enjoyed your Halloween party sneak peek.