halloween decor {on a budget} – free striped candles

This project couldn’t be simpler. I had white candles. I had black electrical tape.

I like how the candles look a little more sophisticated. And they can stay like that all year round, not just for Halloween. Orange candles will work better for Halloween, but I only had white candles {I forgot to take pictures of the candles in the dining room}. I’m not planning on lighting the candles so this is more just a decorative thing.

Materials: white candles and black electrical tape {use orange candles, purple or green, depending on your Halloween decor}

Next project: quick Halloween Spider Web Art. Stat tuned. Happy Friday!

Linking up with: eighteen25, somewhat simple, and momnivores dilema.

halloween decor {on a budget} – free halloween printables

I collect frames. I have many in different sizes and colors. And I wanted to use some of them with some Halloween related prints.

I printed a couple of images, a skull and a spider, I found on the web. And I edited a school drawing L did last year. I just changed the blue background for an orange one. I wrapped some of my decor books with newspaper so they can be more in tune with the decor. But as you can see I haven’t finished.

I still wanted to add something more typographic, so inspired by this print  from Jess LC {love her blog!}, I created my Halloween versions. They are not perfect but they look nice.

I also printed a couple of pictures of last year’s Halloween {the boys in their costumes}. I think this will be a nice tradition every year.

It was a simple, easy and cheap way to add some Halloween spirit to the house, in addition to my other Halloween DIY projects.

Materials: white cardstock and various frames.

You can download the prints here and here. Enjoy!

Coming up: free striped Halloween candles.

Linking up with: eighteen25, somewhat simple, momnivores dilema, and polkadots on parade.

halloween decor {on a budget} – free halloween pillows

Somehow this didn’t post last Friday. I thought I scheduled it but I guess I didn’t do it correctly. Anyway, here is another DIY Halloween project. This is an easy one!

Our couch in the living room was one of the spots I wanted to decorate for Halloween. Updating the pillow covers according to the occasion was the easiest way to go.

I thought about getting black and white fabric to sew pillow covers and {freezer paper} stenciling them with a Halloween design. But while looking into my stash of fabrics, I found two old pillowcases, one white and one orange, that I was saving to repurpose. Well, they were perfect for this project. I choose a spider silhouette I found on the internet and was ready to stencil the next day.

Before that I needed to stop by at Michael’s to get a hot gun pistol {I used regular glue to attach the crepe paper florets to my Halloween wreath and it was a little pain} and there I saw this Martha Stewart spider silhouettes kit on sale. I grabbed it thinking I could use them for a streamer or to decorate the walls.They were cut on hard cardstock, so instead of {freezer paper} stenciling, I had the idea to use them as templates. I placed them in my pillowcases the way I wanted them and traced around with a sharpie.  Once I had my silhouettes traced all I had to do is fill them in with my sharpie.

I put my new Halloween pillow covers on my chevron pillows and I like the way you can slighty see the chevron as a background. I borrowed the black pillows from the playroom and the black mesh is from the Dollar Store. This pillow covers are simple, and definitely not the finest, but I think they’re good enough for Halloween.

Materials: old pillowcases, Martha Stewart Spider silhouettes – $2.99 {Michaels. They were used just as templates.You really don’t need special templates. You can get any image you want from the web, trace it on cardstock and use it as a template.}

Next, free Halloween printables. Stay tuned!

Linking up with: eighteen25, somewhat simple, momnivores dilema and skip to my lou.

halloween decor {on a budget} – easy $4 halloween wreath

This year I wanted to make a Halloween wreath for our front door. First thing to do was check Pinterest to be inspired. I got many ideas but I was still undecided about what to do. With a vague idea of what I wanted, I headed to the Dollar store and bought some Halloween stuff I thought I could use. There I picked a wood wreath and orange, black and white crepe paper streamers.

One night while watching Dexter with the mister, I started. I first wrapped the wreath with white crepe paper {I considered using masking tape, but I didn’t like the yellowish color, and I didn’t have white duct tape in hand}. Right before I wrapped it all, I made a little loop out of scraps of orange fabric, tied it to the wreath and covered it with the crepe paper. After that, I wasn’t sure how to fill the wreath. I tried wrapping a frilly streamer around the wreath but it didn’t look fully enough. After a quick google search I found this great tutorial for a crepe paper wreath.

Once done, I felt it needed some color {orange} and something else to complete it. I looked into our Halloween bin {we have one with old costumes and random Halloween stuff} and found a “BOO” sign I got at the dollar bins at Target last year in my attempt to decorate {You can see it here, lonely and sad, hanging at our front door knob. I should be ashamed}.

The sign happened to fit inside the wreath, and although I didn’t like it very much, I used it anyway. I added a couple of glitter spiders I got at Michael’s and done.

I was {am still} not crazy about it, but I had one million other projects to do.  And comparing to last year, this is definitely better!

Materials: wood wreath – $1 {Dollar Store}, black and white crepe paper streamers $1 {Dollar Store}, glitter spiders $1 {Michaels, the package of six was $2.49, so about 50 cents each}, Boo sign – {Target, last year}.

Coming up {free} Halloween pillow covers!

Linking up with: eighteen25, somewhat simple, momnivores dilema, skip to my lou, and polkadots on parade.

chic halloween decor {on a budget}

I think I had too much fun decorating our home for Halloween this past week. And I’m not done yet! Being the first time decorating for Halloween, I wanted to keep it simple and budget-friendly. I didn’t want to spend too much time, either shopping for decor, supplies nor crafting and putting everything up. And I wanted to use mostly things I have around the house.

I was not going to decorate all the house {although the idea is tempting} so I chose a spot in some rooms on the first floor. My list included the front entrance and door, the console table on the entry hall, the console table in the dining room, the couch and sofa table in the living room and since we have a fireplace but not a mantle, the TV. I may add a little something to the powder room later.

Here are a few sneak peaks of my Halloween Decor extravaganza! I still have to finish some details but it’s pretty much done.This week I’ll be sharing more pictures and some of my budget-friendly crafts. Stay around!

what I want now…

this Colors 201 Iphone 5 case by MadeByGirl. My kind husband gave me a new iPhone 5 for my birthday. The one I had before {which was his previous one} broke during our trip to Florida so I needed to replace it. He went far and beyond to get one for me. They were sold out almost everywhere. Finally he tracked down one left at a local store. Isn’t he the best? Now I need a case to protect it and I’m loving this one.

You can get it at the Society6 website. They have so many awesome designs it was hard to choose. I’m a big fan of Made By Girl art. I have many of her posters around my house. {You can see them here}. And this is the perfect case, modern, artsy and feminine. Love it!

Happy Friday! Have an awesome weekend.

black & white halloween

In three years I’ve never decorated our house for Halloween. You see, back in my country, Halloween is not that big of a deal. I mean, yes, kids dress-up in costumes and they go out trick or treating, and even some adults attend Halloween parties. But houses decorated? No. Being in the States for almost 7 years now {wow!} I’ve seen how special Halloween can be for the little ones here. They love wearing their costumes, trick or treating, going to Halloween parties, making Halloween crafts and more. So I wanted to add to the excitement of this Holiday this year throwing a Halloween party for the kids. And of course decorating the house, a little, according to the occasion.

G is still to little to understand, but L does, and Halloween is one of his favorite Holidays. So starting tomorrow I’ll {try to} have some type of Halloween decor up by the time he comes home from school. I decided on simple decorations. Nothing fancy, and if possible, made not bought. Black and white with little touches of orange. I already finished {well, almost} my first Halloween wreath!

Here is some of inspiration around the web.

{image via the decorated house}

{image via apartment therapy}

{image via diynetwork}

{image via that’s smart deco}

{image via craft-o-maniac}

{image via etsy}

{image via a pumpkin and a princess}

Stay tuned for my $4 wreath! Happy Wednesday!

spooky october!

What can I say. Life happens. Remember this post? Well, it’s been another month with no house makeover pictures. No, I’m not teasing you. I swear, I don’t know where time goes. I’ve been busy with other little projects and with a certain little one {He’s going through a “clingy” phase} and I haven’t even tried to photograph the house. Oh well. I’m not going to say anything this time. I’ll just post pictures when I have them. Hopefully this year.

We had a busy September {and August, July, June…you know the deal} celebrating my birthday and other events. I’m not gonna lie. I was feeling a little bummed out about my birthday this year because of some aches and pains {ankle and knee tendonitis, a glandion cyst, oh yeah, fun} that seemed to happen all at once. It’s nothing serious but they prevent me from doing something I really enjoy: crossfit. I haven’t been able to go to the gym in about two months. I’m much better now, but I’m still not sure when I’ll be able to go back since I still feel some pain. It’s really frustrating.

But then I look at my beautiful family, my kind husband and my crazy but happy kids, my family in Peru, my friends, and I know I’m lucky and blessed. And that’s the best gift ever.

So I’m excited about what this month brings: Halloween!. I’m planning a little party for the kids, I’m making some Halloween decorations for the house and I’m sewing L’s costume. I’m not sure how I’ll pull it off , but I already committed and I’ll try my best. I can’t wait, it’s going to be fun.

 

images via smashing magazine

 

today…

is my birthday…and this little space second anniversary! Happy birthday to us!

image via the light fantastic

Happy Friday!

free printable {& sneak peek} – laundry room art

One day while at Home Goods I came across a canvas art that I immediately thought will be perfect for the laundry room. However I didn’t like the colors and overall look of it. It was not my style. As soon as I came home I designed my version. Since our laundry room has yellow accents it made sense to have a yellow background with white letters.

Once again I used Vistaprint and order a poster size print. This time I chose their regular paper. To be completely honest I’m not 100% satisfied. Their regular paper is way too thin. Once framed you can’t really see the difference, though. But I liked the thicker cardstock better. We’ll see how it holds up. For now I like how it looks in there.

You can see we finally did some work in this room. We painted white and yellow stripes {what can I do, I’m obsessed} and added some hanging bars I got from Ikea. We also had someone add wall-to-wall wood shelving on one side of the room {which was not a very pleasant experience}, covered some visible pipes with curtains, added long white curtains on the other side and placed a rug. I still have some details to finish and I’m waiting for a moment when the laundry room looks decent to snap some pictures.

If you like it, you can download it here {yellow} and here {black}. Enjoy!

Happy Friday!

Update: I’m linking up with Tatertos & Jello. Hope over there to check out other amazing DIY projects!