i love hosting the Spooky Spark Soiree each year with my daughter Meg and i am so grateful to my true Jamie for letting us gather in her beautiful Home! This year was our second Spooky Spark Soiree and we had over 50 darling girls join us for a night of friendship, crafting and yummy treats!
Our hope is to offer fun and affordable projects so that everyone can come and go home with a project or two finished and ready to decorate their homes with!
Most of our Spark Sisters created at least 2 and some even created more!
A HUGE thank you to My Mind's Eye as our Creative Partner and in giving each one of our Spark Sisters went home with fun Prezzies provided by MME! The Frightful line was perfect! We all appreciated their generous gift!
Spoky Spark Soiree was tons of FUN, now we are preparing for Spark your Chirstmas and our Christmas Spark Soiree!
If you are Utah local we'd LOVE to have you join us!
Today on Studio 5 i am sharing some fun tips and ideas for Halloween mantles and some great Dollar Store finds!
{halloween 2013}
i am a HUGE fan of Shopping my home before heading out to buy new. i love taking what i have and recycling it or updating it! Giving it a new purpose!
Here is a list of the standards i love working with for my mantles Halloween or anytime of the year.
1: Old empty frames:
these i gather at Garage Sales, Thrift Stores, and Flea Markets
2: Old books:
i love gathering old books, i have used them as raw, by pulling off the book covers, spray painted gold for Christmas last year and recently i have started gathering colored books to match the holidays! {this is a new FAVE}
3: Clocks:
i love clocks, i love time, need more of it! So i have a fun collection of clocks that i use on my mantles! These are from all over my home i just recycle!
4. Milk Glass:
one of my favorite collections is my milk glass. i use it in most of my mantles, vases, jars, bowls etc! i love the pop of pure white it adds to the mantle!
5. A's for Aslett:
i collect A's they are all over my home and it's rare not to find an A or two on one of my Mantles!
6. Vintage Pieces:
these are the bits and pieces i "borrow" from around my house. Cameras, Globes, Typewriters, Bird Cages, Tea Cups etc. i love this kind of "stuff" and love the texture it adds and well as fun history.
In our home we didn't have a traditional fireplace mantle, so i put my Mr. to work and he built me a beautiful 6ft. shelf! i love it. One of the things Grant did do for me when building my shelf was he built it extra deep so that i had plenty of room to display all my fun things on. The top of my shelf is a foot deep!
LOVE.
Once i have "shopped" my home and have gathered some of the things i might want to use on my mantle, i lay them out onto the floor. This gives me an idea of what i have to use. i am a very visual person this process helps me to see in my mind size, color and if i have any holes.
Once i have it laid out and see what i have, i get to work!
It always helps to have a second eye and for me a second opinion! Meg is a great help i even put G to work!
For me personally, i love lots of fun stuff! i am kind of a MORE person. I love loading up my mantles with great finds, collections and my "stuff i love."
i love adding layers and texture. This is one of the reasons i had G build my mantle extra deep.
you can see that i love layering, i love adding all kinds of texture and visual eye candy!
you can see here i have stuff tucked behind the frame, in front of the frame and in front of the spiderweb still another layer.
Garlands are a staple on my mantles as well. I LOVE them!
They are easy to create and these paper type are inexpensive too! i use old book paper and my scraps!
{halloween 2012}
when creating your Spooky Mantles look around your home, see what you my "borrow" from a bedroom or wall in your home that you can use. Create some fun Halloween projects to add to your decor that's what Spooky Spark is all about, and for me any holiday at our home.
i love using what i have, creating some fun new decor to add to my collections and i LOVE decorating for the holidays!
Join me in this year's Spooky Spark! Workshops start a week from today!
Today is the LAST day for the EARLY BIRD price of $22.99!
The workshop is 3 videos, 2 Halloween and 1 Fall projects and decor! Close to 30 projects and ideas!
this is a really fun time of year to decorate our homes starting with Halloween going into Fall and then of course Christmas!
i love decorating my home my Mantle is my favorite places to decorate!
hopefully you're inspired to do the same, take my upcoming workshop and if you're local join me and Meg for our Spooky Spark Soiree, a Girls' Craft Night out!
the official last day of Summer this year is the 23rd of September!
but, i LOVE Fall too.
September is my Birthday month!
September brings warm days, cooler nights and the start of the changing leaves and start of Fall.
September also brings traditions like heading to Brigham and the fruit stands, getting ready for Halloween and Spooky Spark and of course an all time family and friend favorite,
the baking of my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins are back!
{i only make them in the Fall}
yesterday i woke up with the goal of getting my first batch out!
the house smelled like heaven.
it was 90 yesterday so it didn't feel like Fall but the smell was definitely Fall!
my tradition is to make them the first week of September and share them with neighbors and friends!
because you aren't all my neighbors but are my friends i always share my tradition with YOU and hope that you make them and share them with your neighbors and friends!
Margie's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
2 Cups oil
2 Cups brown sugar
4 Cups sugar
mix
8 beaten eggs
1 1/2 TB baking soda dissolved in 1/3 cup warm water
4 cups canned pumpkin
mix in
7 cups flour
2 tsps baking powder
2 tsps salt
1 1/2 tsp ginger
2 tsps cloves
2 tsps nutmeg
4 tsps cinnamon
mix
add 1 cup warm water
stir in 3 cups chocolate chips
back 20 mins @ 350
***this recipe makes 70 regular muffins so cut it in half if you're NOT feeding an army!
Fall is a busy time at home and here in my studio!
i'm working on Spooky Spark projects, getting ready to film next week!
***this is the last week to sign up for the Early Bird Price of $22.99*** FYI
planning on, and getting ready for the 2nd annual Spooky Spark Soiree!
we are cutting Fall & Halloween, the kit comes with everything to create 2 Hooties, 1 large and 1 medium! You sew and stuff but the rest of the goodies are in the kit!
this week i am working on another Studio5 appearance too!
I will be talking about and sharing some fun Spooky Spark Mantle decor!
i film this Thursday and it airs Monday September 8th!
So, as you see, even though i don't have kids and back to school i am keeping pretty dang busy!
just the way i like it.
creating, baking, sharing and spending time with family & friends...
