Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Vintage Gurley Halloween Candles

A few years ago I came across these novelty candles at a garage sale. The only reason I picked them up was because my mom collects Christmas candles that look similar. I had no idea how collectible vintage Halloween candles would be. This small collection was the extent of my Halloween decorations, until this year...
The candles were made by the Gurley Novelty Co., which manufactured candles from 1940 - 1960. A couple years ago Country Living ran this article... if you click on the picture you might be able to read it.
Happy Halloween!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Adding A Bit Of Halloween Around Here

Last Friday, my mom, the girls, and I went out to the pumpkin farm. It was a beautiful day (after many raining ones) so we thought we'd better take advantage of it. We had such a cool August that a lot of the pumpkins were still green! I was finally able to get a picture of Daphne without her plugging her nose! Oh thoses farm smells... ;o)
I displayed their pumpkins on our front steps. A friend of ours from church gave me the vintage milk jug this past summer. (Thanks Betty!) I thought it made a great pedestal for the pumpkin. I've been making a few decorations for Halloween this year - the boo banner is one.
Besides Christmas, I've never been one to decorate seasonally. I decided to change that this year since I've been so inspired by others who do, especially so many out here in blogland. This is what I put together on our coffee table.
I made the party hat for the little jack-o-lantern
I was inspired by this artist and created a polka dot pumpkin adorned with a baby holding his kitty in a jack-o-lantern.
My flirty eye doll head needed a party hat too.
Stella (the dress form) was crowned Miss Oct. 31st! hehe
I even bought some faux gourds to put in my apothecary jar. I'm totally stepping out of my pink comfort zone here people! hehe
Overall, I like the change of having a bit of Halloween around the house.
I guess I can handle a little orange for a month or two. hehe

Monday, October 6, 2008

Sidetracked Again...

Yesterday, I was given this gorgeous old funeral basket from a dear friend at church. It is absolutely stunning! Thanks so much Audrey, I love it!!!
I was so excited to add it to my collection - I just needed to figure out where I'd display it.
One thing lead to another and soon I was rearranging our bedroom...
Our room is quite small and it's packed with furniture!
I actually only moved 2 pieces of furniture - the chest of drawers and my vanity. It ended up making quite a difference in overall space.
I hung a vintage prom gown on the wall, and framed it with a old mirror harp.
Since I moved the chest of drawers from under the window, it freed up some space, giving me a wonderful spot for my dress form. The peg rack displaying a few of my favorite vintage batiste baby dresses was rehung under the window. I've been trying real hard to declutter and I think I did pretty well in our room... It's really hard for me - I like lots o' stuff. hehe
A picture of my most favorite piece of furniture concludes the full circle tour of our bedroom.
Oh, I almost forgot.... I did a little makeover to this bench today. Here is the before,
and the after...
I covered the seat with a vintage barkcloth remnant and painted the wood black. Since I have a few darker accent pieces now, I decided to go with black - completely opposite of my standard off white. I actually like the change!