HALLOWEEN 2022

Happy Halloween

from "TLB" 

Friends!

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FALL MUSINGS OF SEASONS PAST

 

I LOVE OCTOBER

Hello Friends-

I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers!

L.M. Montgomery

October is one of my favorite months. The changing of colors that only Fall can bring is something I always took for granted when living in the North. The beautiful foliage, apple picking, and pumpkin spiced drinks for those crispy Fall days.

We weren't able to find a "pumpkin farm," however we were able to buy two beautiful pumpkins in good ole' HOME DEPOT, one orange and one white!

Hubby sprayed the pumpkins with his famous Rustoleum Clear Laquer, giving them more longevity in the warm weather. We plan on carving the orange one for Halloween---we are hoping it lasts that long!

Our cul-de-sac of homes are all decorated and ready for Halloween. Since our development is new, we haven't been able to meet our "new neighbors,"  except for a wave or my favorite..."I'd be over with a plate of cookies, if it weren't for this darn Covid!"

There is one thing we can all start out our morning's with, a little treat in our coffee "Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer!"

Have a spicy Fall day!

Kathleen

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Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer

 Ingredients

Makes about 2 cups of creamer

2 cups Almond Milk*

2 tbsp mashed pumpkin (canned is fine, but make sure it’s just pumpkin and not pumpkin pie)

2 tbsp maple syrup**

1 tsp cinnamon***

¼ - ½ tsp nutmeg***

¼ - ½ tsp ground cloves***

¼ - ½ tsp ground ginger***

½ tsp vanilla extract*

* If you use Vanilla Almond Milk, you may not need to add any additional vanilla. You can also use Soy Milk, Rice Milk, Flax Milk, or Hemp Milk. Do not use animal milk - it will separate, go spoil quickly, and taste off.

** Adjust to taste and desired sweetness. If you use sweetened Almond Milk, you won’t need as much sweetener. Fair Trade/Equal Exchange brown or white sugar or agave nectar can be substituted for the maple syrup. The Maple just Falls up the flavor that much more.

*** Adjust spices to taste. You can also substitute pre-mixed “pumpkin pie spice.”

                                                   CHEERS!

 

NORTHWEST FALL

Hello Friends!

Welcome back to THE LAVENDER BOUQUET!

I'm not quite sure where this year has gone, but I am excited about our first "Fall in the Northwest." The evenings are becoming much cooler, the students have arrived back on campus and the town is bustling once again. Summer's are pretty quiet here.

I found that the typical mums I was used to from the East aren't as plentiful here, although

I did find some along with some Lantana to provide color on the front porch. The selections were limited so my tried and true Eastern big box stores came through for me for the Mums, and I was able to find the Cabbage, Lantana, Dusty Miller and Fountain Grass at our local nursery.

With a majority of our worldy goods stored in Texas I don't have the decorative

seasonal items that I am used to grabbing from my boxes. I round a TJ MAXX 

where I found the corn husk wreath (bare) on the front door. I added the ribbon and leaves for some color.

I found the decorative pot online at:

Pumpkins and Gourds 15" Art Planter, Outside/Indoor Planter, Gardening, Pot, Fall, Autumn, Thanksgivingand the pumpkins at our local Costco. The sweet bird pillow I couldn't resist because our grandaughter LOVES birds. I found it at our local Wal-Mart. I brought the large gray planter with me from the Texas house.

Chain stores make shopping so much easier when you move from State to State! I'm always looking for something familiar, something that I am used to. You would be surprised how many are not located in our new little town.

DIY Cornhusk wreath......

Please feel free to leave a comment and share with me how you are 

decorating for Fall this year.

I'd LOVE to hear from you!

                           Kathleen

COMPACT AND COZY FALL PORCH

Good Morning TLB friends! 

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Have you been bitten by the Fall decorating bug yet? I've planted a few planters and urns, and added clusters of mums to our front landscaping. 

COME ON OVER AND CHECK OUT THE PROGRESS......

FALL PORCH REVEAL

One of the best ways to get into Fall is doing a little outside decorating. Since we're living in an apartment until the house is completed, I thought there would be rules that wouldn't allow decorating of our patios or front porches. But when we returned home this weekend there was a flyer attached to our door that read....October 2015 Patio & Front Door Halloween Contest....October 30th. The winner is awarded a $25.00 gift card. That's all I needed to read. I got busy!

Decorating my porch for Fall is one of my favorites.The air in the north is crisp and cool. The summer flowers have lost their luster and it's time for a new burst of color in the form Mums, Cruciferous plants and grasses. It creates such a beautiful new palette that only Fall can bring.

The palette I chose this year is rust, golden yellow, purple, bright orange and steel gray with hints of purple. 

I added a couple of Mums, a clump of purple Prairie grass, one Ornamental Kale plant, and a few of the branches from my wreath sprigs. A small pumpkin nestled in the Kale gives the pot some great contrast. As my plants open more and more color will explode into a Fall like wonder.

This year it's time to bring back the straw wreath. Straw makes a great base, doesn't scratch your door and is always fall like. (in my eyes anyway) Continuing with the same
color palette, I made at trip to Hobby Lobby and loaded up with sprigs, a straw wreath and a burlap black stripe spool of ribbon.

All you need is a glue gun to assemble the wreath.

Since all of my planters are in storage I found the urn at Wal-Mart. It was perfect size
and shape for the apartment porch. I also picked up the Welcome mat at Wal-mart.

Here's the final look.........

The straw actually looks great with the Texas stone too. I'd like to say I planned it 

that way, but I was just lucky! I can't wait till the plants grow and the pot is 
bursting with Fall color!

Wishing you a wonderful Fall day!

Kathleen 

Just a quick note:  While I was planting my urn, Texas temps were 93 degrees, 
and beautifully sunny!

AMAZING FALL...DALLAS ARBORETUM & BOTANICAL GARDEN

Welcome to TLB's first Tuesday blog!

The new schedule may take a bit of getting used to, but I believe it will work out quite nicely. The next 8-10 months are going to be quite busy in many ways for me.

Hubby and I did a little more acclimating over the weekend. We ventured to the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. What a pleasant surprise it was for us! 

The day was simply lovely......the temperature was perfect and our tour was breathtaking! The colors and creations were outstanding! The talented artisans are to be commended on the painstakingly executed buildings and grounds that simply take your breath away.

Here is one example.......and yes, these horses are made from corn stalks!

FALL HOME TOUR

Thanks for stopping by my home today......

No home is complete without a Fall greeting in the foyer.......warm, and welcoming.....

DIY CUTEST PUMPKINS EVER!

Welcome to Wednesday friends! 

Last week as I entered Hobby Lobby I couldn't believe the store....it was full of FALL and CHRISTMAS decor. 

HALLOWEEN PORCH

Welcome to Wednesday!

It's time to bring out the Halloween photos.......

Easy wreath I decorated for Fall, and then at Halloween
added the witch hat and the sign. It was a quick change and only required one wreath for both Fall and Halloween.

The fireplace mantel is kept simple by using fresh pumpkins and terra cotta votives.

Hope you enjoyed my Halloween front porch!

Have a wonderful Wednesday! 

BOO!
Kathleen

FALL HAS ARRIVED AT OUR HOUSE!

 Good Morning Friends!

I hope your weekend was a good one. We had a nice relaxing couple of days.

A few weeks ago hubby and I made the trek to the garden centers and picked up some mums, pumpkins and gourds. Today I'm sharing the front of our house that's now  Fall ready!

Every year I try to change the decor up a bit. I'm still a fan of using the typical Fall colors. But this year I added a simple copper lantern filled with Stargazer lights to the mix.

To give you an idea of how beautiful the lantern glows in the evening.....I snapped this pic.

The light from the copper lantern projects over the porch and sidewalk. The lights inside the lantern are called Stargazer lights. I purchased the light strings and Copper lantern on our recent trip to Terrain in Glen Mills, PA. 
(http://www.shopterrain.com/glen-mills/)

Using purple fountain grasses at the back side of my pots adds a nice height to them. I love the airy feel of the grasses as they sway in the breeze. The colorful mums add just the right amount of color to the mix.

The monogram pumpkin shown here I made last year. It's quite simple. I used a stencil to trace the letter and then used a fine paint brush dipped in black paint to fill in the outline.

The wrought iron hanger that the pumpkin is hanging from is actually a rod that goes through the pumpkin with special washers at the end. We purchased this at the Country Living Fair in Rhinebeck, NY from 1st Creations. 

Here is the direct link where you may order them -----they are called flower pot hangers. (http://fuerstcreations.com/store/garden.html)

I like to use 3 colors when I decorate for Fall. This year my cushion mums are yellow, rust and a ruby pink color. Similiar to some of the Fall foliage we will shortly begin seeing.

Well, that's it for outside Fall decor at our house. How are you coming along on your decorating? What color is your favorite mum?

I hope you've enjoyed the photos of the Arrival of Fall at our house. 

Don't forget to stop back on Foodie Friday!

Kathleen

****Thanks for stopping by! 

Marvelous Monday----Fall Foyer

Last week the weather was so beautiful it begged me to get outdoors and create. I took some time to decorate the front porch. The addition of my new Fall wreath (previous post), and by taking advantage of the still beautiful purple Petunias, Dusty Miller and Licorice Vine, left-over from my Spring planting in the urns.......I only needed to add the color of Mums, and my decorative pumpkins. The white monogrammed pumpkin (I told you I love Monograms) was a project from 2012.

I purchased a  faux white pumpkin from Michael's and since my husband is great with a steady hand,
he painted the black "B" on the pumpkin for me. A little stencil paint and some patience can achieve this. You could use a stencil if you don't have a "hubby with a steady hand."

Then I turned my juices to the inside. After all the party is only 11 days away so it is time to check everything outdoors off my list!  Speaking of the party........the invitations were mailed 3 weeks ahead of time (as Emily Post recommended) and the RSVP's are coming in!!

Now focusing inside...... I started in the foyer. Since the Foyer is where first impressions are formed I wanted to add something a little bit more impressive using my Fall theme. I purchased a Starburst mirror at Homegoods (I love Starburst mirrors made from any material) and thought I would try to use it to add a bit of glitz to my vignette. I love combining shiny mercury glass with glazed and Tuscan pottery pieces. Since the wall is curved where I needed to hang the mirror, it presented a bit of a challenge but by using a little longer screw than normal, and the mirror hangs nice and straight.

Always, group in odd numbers and don't make things too matchy, matchy. It makes the look much more interesting. (To add some needed height to some of the objects, I love using books in complimentary colors.) I filled the Mercury glass vase with willow branches and twigs with green berries. Faux silver and gold pumpkins were added with beaded garland in the urns. Laying a few leaves around the base of the urns makes the vignette complete. Not bad for using leftover Fall decorative items from previous years and a Homegoods mirror! This is my result--

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How about this for a "HELLO and WELCOME?"  Remember those words--first impressions.

Did you start on your Fall projects yet? Please share with us.....we would love to hear about them.

Wishing you a Marvelous Monday!!