Christmas House Tour Part One!

Season’s Greetings Friends!  It is shameful how long it has been since I have posted, but today I am here to share our Christmas decor with you!  We will begin our multi-part Christmas house series in the living room which is decked in red, green, and gold.

Our living room is looking a bit sparse right now since my mom is currently working on reupholstering our couches (one at a time).  To make up for our loss of a couch, we added a new 46” television.  Haha!  That’s our Christmas gift to one another this year.

The soon-to-be-history plaid couch is sporting my snowflake pillows and a plaid Christmas afghan.

I even spruced up the ottoman with an arrangement of greenery, ornaments and a candle.

The side table has been moved to a lonely corner but it is decorated festively nonetheless!  My antique wooden toolbox is filled with fresh greenery, pinecones and ornaments.

On the wall between the windows is my new snowflake arrangement that I got from Michael’s.  I love it!

And draped along each window is a tiny pinecone garland made from North Carolina pinecones!  We gathered these from the woods by my mom’s house.  Then I tied each cone with a piece of yarn and then tied those to a long string of brown yarn.  Easy and cute.  I think it might get some glitter next year, haha! :)

Continuing with the rustic meets sparkle theme, the side cabinet is displaying my cute reindeer that I got last year at WorldMarket.  I also finally took time to make myself a set of pinecone trees!   Yay, they are so cute!

And last but not least—the Christmas tree!  This year in addition to my red ribbon I added gold and red sparkly picks and some gold tinsel loops amid the ornaments.  I also got a new tree skirt—not that you could tell under all those presents!!  You’ll be getting a whole other post on the tree at some point!  So stay tuned.

Come back soon for the rest of the tour!  Only 14 days to go!  Merry Christmas!

Spooktacular Halloween Recap!

I know it’s November 8th and everyone has moved on from Halloween and is now thinking about Thanksgiving plans and Christmas shopping (woot!) but I am finally here to share the details of our 16th annual Halloween extravaganza costume party.

I shared our Halloween mantel and some of the party décor already, but here is the grand finale highlighting our new outdoor décor as well as plenty of frightful additions inside. 

Guests were greeted by a light show outside with lighted bushes lining the walkway and orange swag lights on the porch railings. 

A new addition to the yard was a sign for the “Guthrie’s Dead & Breakfast Inn” which was frequented with spooky black winged visitors.  I got the idea for this from BHG and I quickly enlisted Papa’s help to complete it in time for the party. 

Up the path…

and into the graveyard.

The porch was sporting some bats and the pumpkin topiaries like last year.

Inside our glowing pumpkins and votives lit the staircase.

The mantel was better than ever with black ivy, spooky trees and even LED lit branches at the ends. 

The graveyard silhouette and spooky branches were a big hit, too.

Dinner was served in the library with black and silver candlesticks lighting the spread.

String lights lit the shelves and the top of the bookcase which was lined with purple and black accessories.

The dinner buffet (complete with spooky names) included chicken tenders, pizza, rotted fruit, twisted maggot salad, mummy dogs, stuffed potatoes, deviled raven eggs, witches’ stew and artichoke stuffed intestines.  Yum?!

In addition to the main dinner table, there was a selection of appetizers in the kitchen

and orange punch (our Halloween party beverage of choice). :)

More food was in the dining room with a taco salad bar on the table and the dessert buffet spread out beside.  Desserts included pumpkin pie, gingerbread cookies, and chocolate cake squares.

The parlor was decorated and ready for entertaining with a pool table and scavenger hunt clues all set up on the “adventure table”.

The haunted scavenger hunt began at the adventure table where clues were sealed and waiting for eight teams.  A map of the estate was on hand to help players find specific locations listed in the clues. 

Everyone had a great time searching the house and surrounding property for hidden clues and finally made their way to the final destination—a table laden with prizes including gift cards, amish bread, and tons of candy!

In addition to the scavenger hunt we held a costume contest of sorts in which I decide who wins costume superlatives.  :)  Here are this year’s winners:

“Best Fairytale Characters” were Mama and Papa as little red riding hood and her woodsman:

“Most Spooky” was Michael in his plague doctor get-up:

Shannon and Megan were voted “Cutest Couple”:

And “Most Super” was awarded to the Roberts Family (Captain America not pictured):

“Most Authentic” was given to Brandon for his Walter White impersonation (pictured with his pirate girlfriend, Jen):

And I awarded the Myers family “Most Likely to Sprout” for their group costume as a pea farming family:

Lastly, we voted Nelson “Biggest Tool” for his representation of Captain Hammer (pictured with his daughters as Merida from Brave and Astrid from How to Train your Dragon):

After partaking of all the delicious food offerings and scavenging for clues, we wound down the evening with glow sticks, many games of pool, s’mores around the firepit, and palm reading by the fortune-teller in residence and former woodsman Papa.  Therefore I add the superlative, “Most Duplicitous” for Papa’s multiple personalities this year.  :)

And once again this party girl Raven put away all her Halloween things until next year.

Now onto Thanksgiving!