Happy Halloween!

Hope you're having a wonderfully spooky Halloween eve.
Costumes and jack-o-lanterns are definitely may favorite part.

The almost full moon drifting in and out of the clouds sets the perfect stage for this All Hallow's Eve.

Getting close....

We are now in final preparations for the big day.

Witchy night...

Getting ready to host my annual "witch's brew" gathering for some girlfriends tonight.No, this 15 ft. witch is not in my yard, I spotted her (how could you miss it!) on the way to school today. Isn't she amazing!! Reminds me of this old photo which I've always found incredibly creepy. They are similar in size. Look at her teeth. Yikes!What about this guy!?! creepy...

If you like creepy decor, I posted a bunch more of this yard (I do not know the creator) on my flickr.

Suspended...

This time of year, I feel like I'm suspended in time between autumn and the coming of winter. There is a very brief period of time here in Minnesota that is gorgeous almost beyond the imagination. The trees are ablaze, the blue sky goes on forever. It is truly a remarkable time. So today on a picture perfect fall day, I took a long walk. As I was walking along, there would be a gust of wind that would send thousands of leaves dancing, twirling through the air. Swirling about a slowly settling to the ground. I noticed that many of them didn't quite make it to the ground, but would get caught in a branch or a plant and would be there suspended for who knows how long, on display for all to see...or for those that noticed.
We seem to be getting a second "peak" this year with leaf color. For this last hurrah of fall, the oaks are brilliant orange and red. They made my heart sing today.Soon all the leaves will lay to rest on the ground to be covered under a blanket of snow, tucked in for a long winter.

Last Sunday of October...

Can you believe it!? Only one more week of October...yikes! I'm still hanging on to every dazzling leaf on the trees and enjoying every bit of dry weather we have (it's been so cool and rainy). I dug through my bins of Halloween decor one last time. I figure I better put it out now, or it will be another year before I see it again. So with less than a week to go, what are your Halloween plans? I'm hosting my annual spooky mom's night out this Wednesday and then there are class parties and festivities galore once we hit the end of the week. This is such a wonderful time of year! I am torn a bit between holiday's. I purposely didn't sign up for any of the Silver Bella swaps and couldn't even begin to start thinking about gathering supplies until now. I just am not in the mood for Christmas one bit...yet. I'm not a total party pooper, I will be more than game once the bella festivities are in full swing. However, this is going to help a little in the meantime. The theme for vendor night is aprons and the lovely miss Tif (aka dottie angel) made this custom artsymama apron for me to wear. Isn't it just beyond amazing?!! I certainly think so.
Now I just need to find a cute little outfit to wear with it like she has on here:) Thanks a million, tif!
So slowly I will gather holiday supplies to bring with for the amazing projects that we'll be making. But not until I carve another pumpkin or two!

five senses friday: estate sale version

I was so pleased to see that abby posted a five senses Friday on her blog today. After going to a most unusual estate sale this morning, I definitely wanted to play along.I headed to a 1920's estate this morning to find out that it was that of Chet Noice, the creator of the original dough boy story, which he sold to Pillsbury and it later became their mascot, the Poppin' fresh doughboy. The home is going to be demolished and turned into a subdivison. How sad.

The house was filled with wonderful antiques and gorgeous light fixtures.

Of course several poppin' fresh boys were strewn about.

I was enchanted by a little play room in the "maid's quarters", as they told me.

Feel: walking up to the house I felt the cold, wet sleet coming down. Inside the house was big and open. You could feel the history in its bones.

Sight: so many neat old things, but realized that I certainly don't have an "eye" for antiques. Some things I was amazed at the price and others (some that I collect) were practically free. I know what I like and I'm not getting it for it's re-sale value, that's for sure.

Hear: people talking, wanting to find out stories about the man, the objects in his home. I couldn't help but keep hearing the little giggle of the dough boy as his tummy is poked in the Pillsbury commercials.

Smell: the smell of accumulated belongings that have lived in the house over many, many years. Some would call this musty, I prefer calling it the smell of aged collections.

Taste: the sugary doughnuts and coffee they were giving out

Inspiration...

Above is a spread from my inspiration journal. I missed Vanessa's Halloween bash the other day, but each year I like to show you a lovely store here in the twin cities where I find the most unusual Halloween decor. Remember last year, and the year before? Here's Nature's Harvest all decked out for Halloween this year. Enjoy! I love this wonderful table setting. I'm seeing these pumpkins all over blogland now and love how they were used here.

Then we enter the domain of the skeletons.

Creepy crawlers all over the place. Eeeeek!
These face glasses are fantastic.

In other news, I was excited to be interviewed by Handmade News and I'm featured today.

Bitter sweet....

This weekend was the perfect weather for getting started on carving our pumpkins. We carved up the two largest ones and will savor the experience and do a few at a time over the next several weeks. Nothing says fall to me more than the smell of fresh cut pumpkin goo.
Then we took our final trip to the apple orchard. With snow and freezing temperatures last week, this is the end of the harvest. That means great deals for us, $1 a lb. when you pick your own!
The leaves on the apple trees had turned brown and the apples were deep red. It was a beautifully muted atmosphere.

Perfection.Bittersweet, indeed.

Wild things...

As Bethany says in her review here, .."my thoughts on Where The Wild Things Are tinkle in my head like a distant wind-chime. Hard to pin down exactly where the noises come from, but I do believe that’s part of the magic." I wasn't absolutely crazy about the movie when I saw it, but I just can't seem to get it out of my head. First off, you've got to see this heartwarming video about the actor Max Records, the 12 year old that carries the movie. He does an incredible job! Bethany's review of the movie pretty much sums it up for me. There's a lot there emotionally and it is absolutely beautiful. edit: I also agree with a lot of what this review says, including ""[They] took this book about imagination and escape and turned it into an hour and a half of Muppet therapy," he said. "There were obvious themes of working on divorce pains, but Max was the king of all wild things, not a family therapist. The kid uses his imagination to work through all of his issues, but that's something that you do when you're 22 and in college, not something you do when you get in your boat and sail off to where the wild things are."
But, said reviewer Avant, someone Griffioen's age is probably a better audience for the film.
"It's definitely aimed at adults," Avant said. "I wouldn't necessarily call it a kid movie, but rather a movie about being a kid."
Couldn't resist a walk in the woods today, inspired by the lovely scenery seen throughout the show. Also because it warmed up to 50 degrees and the sun came out again. YahOOOoooooooooooo...as Max would say!

Has anyone else seen it? I'd love to hear your thoughts.