Pumpkin Time!

I was browsing around the internet the other day and saw something that I thought was just so cute!  It was at a home decor website which was showing Halloween decorating tips.  They wanted you to purchase a set of black dishes to be arranged in a china hutch.  Mixed in with the dishes, they had placed a bunch of Jack-o-lanterns! This was adorable!  I was hooked!  Not wanting to copy exactly and not wanting to go out and purchase an entire set of black dishes..I improvised!  I scrounged through the cabinets and found just enough odds and ends to put together a rather pleasing grouping. I found a small cappuccino set of four tiny cups and saucers, a black pitcher, four large mugs (from my son's college days), three odd shaped candy dishes and a single black candlestick!  These would work! Mark had bought me about a dozen of the tiny pumpkins back a few weeks ago and I finally knew just how I was going to use them..the problem was..where? Since I had already decorated my china cabinet and had no hutch available in the dining room, I improvised there as well!  Down one wall around the fireplace, there are built-in bookshelves.  These shelves were entirely too large to house my small collection so I pondered the fact.  A small knickknack shelf was pulled from the kitchen and placed on one bookshelf.  Pumpkins were stacked on cups, in candy dishes filled with moss and on the candlestick!  A bit of homemade "creepy cloth" (also known as dyed cheesecloth), a few fall leaves, some Spanish moss and the look was complete!  I was pleased!  Whoever came up with the original idea was ingenious!  My take on their idea may not be as elaborate but then again, nothing in the Little Bayou House is elaborate!  Simple, down-to-earth and inexpensive is my motto!

Since I was taking a break from chores anyway, I might as well decorate another area!  In a corner of the dining room, there is a small round table.  This table sits in front of a closet which is rarely used so I can decorate to my heart's content without worrying about ever moving the stuff!  A large jug of dried grasses wrapped with a twining fall leaf branch set the theme here.  A bit of creepy cloth and some more little pumpkins and the table was decorated!  This was simple yet effective!  I had purchased one bundle of the dried grasses at the local Dollar Tree.  To that, I added whatever twigs, grasses and seed pods I could scavenge from the hillside and marsh.  It was like a treasure hunt!

Now that I had avoided work for the morning, I decided that duty called.  Chores must be done!  All the while, my mind rambled to what I could decorate next!  Aha!  Several buffet tops and mantles were in need of some festive decor!  The creepy "old house" look was soon to be achieved!  If I hurry through the chores today, tomorrow will see me clambering around hunting for the perfect old and dusty items!  I am quite sure more creepy cloth will come into play with this theme! Just as a note...if you check back a few years, I explained in detail how to create your own creepy cloth!  http://msbayoulady.blogspot.com/search?q=creepy+cloth