DIY Keepsake Ornament Gift Tag

Every year at Christmas we put up our white tree covered in snowflake ornaments.  We also give a snowflake ornament to each of our nieces and nephews so they can have a collection of snowflake ornaments of their own!  

I usually buy an inexpensive multi-pack of ornaments from Hobby Lobby and embellish them with ribbons and stickers to spell their names and the year. I use the ornaments as gift tags so they also serve a purpose, and look great under my tree until they're ready to give.

DIY Valentine's Day Chocolate Buffet

Last year my family visited for Valentine's Day so we set-up a Chocolate buffet! It was so easy to do, I just bought some fun chocolates (mostly from Trader Joe's) and set them out in martini glasses. 

 A chocolate buffet would also be fun for a movie viewing of 'Chocolat' or 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'. So many excuses to eat more chocolate!

Red and Green Christmas Appetizers

I don't think you can ever go too over the top, so if you're going to set out a spread of Christmas appetizers why not make the spread red and green themed?
Here are a few that look easy and delicious:
1. Sparkling Cranberry Brie Bites
2.Spinach Roulade With Smoked Salmon
3. Marinated Cheese
4. Christmas Roll-ups

DIY Vacation Ornament

Since we got married we've always had a snowflake themed Christmas tree to go with our holiday decor.  While collecting snowflake ornaments I've also collected meaningful Christmas ornaments, including ones from our vacations.  When we were in Aruba last year I couldn't find any ornaments I liked so I decided to bring back some things to make my own.

While walking on the beach we collected a bag of sand and some shells.  When we were in town I bought a small turtle that said 'ARUBA' to put in the ornament as well. When we got home I picked-up some glass ornaments, stickers, and ribbon to make my own ornament.

I used a funnel to get the sand inside of the ornament and dropped in some shells.

Using scrap booking letter stickers I wrote 'Aruba 2015' on the outside of the ornament.  Tape worked well as a guideline.

I kept the box the glass ornament came in for storage, and to hold the extra glass ornaments until I get back from more trips!

Halloween Gift for Guys

I like Halloween even more than Christmas, which means I give Halloween gifts! Guys can be tough to buy themed gifts for, so rather than waste money on Halloween junk I chose to go with orange and back snacks and some Halloween themed and Oktoberfest beers.  It's amazing what you can find when you look outside the holiday aisle for holiday treats--jerky in a dark charcoal and black packaging looks creepy if you want it to!

Halloween Dessert Cake

 When serving an entire Halloween dinner, make one portion easy on yourself and buy a round cake from your favorite bakery with white icing and draw a spider web on the top using a tube of black icing. Simple and done!

Halloween Appetizers

We served these 'Stomach Turning Appetizers' at spooky dinner  last year.  Not only are they spooky, but they taste great too!

Stomach Turning Appetizers:

-DEVILED Eggs -Deviled eggs with an olive on top to make them look like eyeballs

-Giant Lice with Blood Sauce-Cocktail shrimp with cocktail sauce

-Witch Finger Bites -Not pictured, but a frozen Trader Joe's Pesto flatbread cut into long strips to create the 'witch fingers'

Presentation can also help make ordinary foods into great Halloween apps. Drape Halloween cloth over a serving stand, put plastic spiders on the serving tray, or serve next to candle light with the lights turned off.

Halloween Bar Cart and Drinks

Creating a Halloween themed bar or bar cart is easy and fun to put together whether you're entertaining or not! Here are a few details to help bring an average bar to a haunted bar.

Themed napkins in an elegant holder helps takes the cheesiness out of halloween for an adult bar cart

Labels easily transform ordinary beer and wine into festive beverages

Small lighting accents help guests navigate the bar area with main lights off

These crystal wine gobblets from Goodwill help add a 'haunted mansion' feel without being 'Halloween themed'

Fake bugs on a serving tray make everyday entertaining pieces scary

A few small strategically placed Halloween accents allow guest to discover something spooky in ordinary places

DIY Scary Halloween Branch Decor

This Halloween branch decor not only looks spooky and has a big impact, but it's basically free to make and doesn't need to be stored--just throw it away and make a new one next year!

I got the twigs from some brush in our backyard and spray painted them black with some paint we already had and put them in a vase

......added some fake spider web

...added some fake spiders

.....added this fake raven from the $ store and that was it!

Here it is on our Halloween bar cart. Is that spooky or what?!?

How to Decorate for Halloween

I LOVE Halloween, partly because it is such a fun holiday to decorate the house for. Our entire living room transforms, to the point that it echos when we take the decorations down!  Decorating for Halloween is great beacuse it's easy to create a large impact using just a few inexpensive items.

Fake spider web is a must for creating a lot with a little during Halloween.  I put it over our entire brick wall, but also look to add it to existing items in my living room including vases and candle holders.

I don't like a lot of little Halloween nick-knacks around, since they take-up a lot of storage space and start to look cluttered to me after a while. I do add a few accents here and there for Halloween guests to 'discover'. To me, a single skull left behind somewhere has more impact than a row of halloween figurines on a shelf.

Fake spiders are great to toss in unexpected places including the inside of lamp shades and on chargers and other flat surfaces.

My favorite item to use is this Halloween cloth that I get from the dollar store. I drape it over everything: serving stands, stair railings, candle holders, chandeliers, and I'll even take down our artwork and drape it on the nails to create a spooky wall.

There are a ton of great Halloween images to print out yourself and add to existing frames.  I even take them over the glass rather than taking the time to open up the frames.  The best part is that they take up almost no space to store!

Also, look for fun ways to make ordinary and cheesy halloween items fresh and exciting, like these window clings strategically placed under a slanting blind or a skeleton that looks up at you from under the sofa.