I just love a good Halloween party! But what I love more is
decorating. Over the weekend I threw a little party to get in the
Halloween mood. I put together my whole party for under $40 including
food and decor. Let me show you what I did!
I have a great
entry way in my apartment. I wanted a way to greet my guests to
introduce them to the party. Since I really love wine, and drink it
regularly I picked out some empty bottles with spooky art on them. I
then went to the dollar store and found light up LED wands and stuck
them in the bottles for a spooky look. I also picked up some LED tea
lights and a black gauze curtain to tie it all together. Voila! A simple
(and cheap) entry way for my guests!
Next
I wanted to make sure I had a focal area for the party. For me that was
the drink table. I decorated a table with spider webbing and plastic
spiders (Again from the dollar store).
On
the table I needed to add more focal points. I had a beautiful wood
bowl I got somewhere and never used so I went to the local pumpkin patch
and picked up some small pumpkins and squash. It was a heck of a lot
cheaper to purchase from the farm and I will still use the squash for
food later on. It's a win/win. I also stopped in to Pier 1 Imports where
they had all of the Halloween decor on clearance and I picked up those
cute little mummy and bat ornaments along with those cute as heck cups. I
closed the look with some dollar store lights to wrap around the bowl
to give it a more festive look.
Next
I needed a great drink for my guests. I really wanted to make an apple
cider sangria, but did not have a big enough pitcher for it, so I used
what I had. I had 3 carafes ranging in 3 different sizes. I decided to
make it a "mix your own" drink. In the largest carafe I poured some
cheap pinot grigio, honey crisp apple, a cinnamon stick, and 3 mini
bottles of caramel vodka. In the second carafe I poured more pinot
grigio, and in the third I made hot cider and let it chill. Now my
guests could pour the wine mixture into the wine and add cider if
desired.
So there you have it, some cheap ways to decorate! Shop the dollar stores, use what you have, and make it work! Some of the best ideas come out of what you already have. I hope you have a great Monday!
My life currently
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Happy Saturday you fine interweb folks! I have never done one of those "Currently" posts so I figured since my life has been running rampant the last few weeks I'd do a little update on my life :)
I took what I'd like to call an unexpected technology vacation for the better half of this week. I wasn't planning this but let me tell you what, I got SO much done this week even with having a busy calendar. I know for a lot of people it is hard to disappear from the blogging world and such for a few days, but I realized I was starting to get frustrated with balancing and my writing wasn't the greatest. I needed to step away and recharge and live my life. Living life is what makes the great posts flow. #amiright?
Currently: Work flow
Anyways a few months ago I told you all I got promoted at work. I also had a few moments where I complained about not being busy enough. We all know we should be careful what we wish for because currently my work life is INSANE! Everyday this past week I spent hours looking at numbers on a computer screen for a "special" project and by the time I got home I was so bleary eyed I wanted nothing to do with more screens. I also think I need to get my eyes checked. My vision has not been the greatest lately. (Damn you getting old and computer screens!) On a happy note I finally got my office set up and I LOVE it. I have never had an office before and being able to tell people "let's go into my office" excited me WAY more than it should! I will do an office tour soon :)
Currently: Home projects
Another reason my week was nuts is I was planning for a Halloween party that happened last night. If you have read previous post, you will know I am a fall-oholic and I love Halloween. I went out shopping last weekend to prepare for what at the time was a small get together with my girlfriends. As I fell in love with more and more Halloween decorations, that small get together turned into a full on Halloween party. This was one of my bucket list items because of all the years I have lived on my own it never happened. Now my house is decorated and ready for the holiday. I will be posting how to make your house look cute and festive on a budget. Look for that on Monday!
Currently: Loving
Sometime last year I won one of those Bluetooth HMDX Jam Party rechargeable stereo speaker things. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it and considered giving it away. Last night at the party I wanted music to be played and my laptop wasn't jamming like I wanted it to. I decided to break out the speaker and synched it with my phone. It is the BEST THING EVER! I love that I can set it anywhere in the house and control it with my phone. I downloaded the I Heart Radio App and I can scan through thousands of radio stations form my phone. Once its charged you can take it everywhere with you and it lasts up to 12 hours. Its pretty darn convenient.
Currently: Avoiding
Can we say laundry? Ugh the only thing I hate about my apartment is there is no laundry hook ups. We do have a quite lovely laundry center in my development but I still need to lug it all up there. It is a rainy day, so perfect to get some laundry done, but I am being lazy. Anyone else avoid laundry like the plague?
So there you have it. Life unravelled. I hope you all have a great Saturday!
I took what I'd like to call an unexpected technology vacation for the better half of this week. I wasn't planning this but let me tell you what, I got SO much done this week even with having a busy calendar. I know for a lot of people it is hard to disappear from the blogging world and such for a few days, but I realized I was starting to get frustrated with balancing and my writing wasn't the greatest. I needed to step away and recharge and live my life. Living life is what makes the great posts flow. #amiright?
Currently: Work flow
Anyways a few months ago I told you all I got promoted at work. I also had a few moments where I complained about not being busy enough. We all know we should be careful what we wish for because currently my work life is INSANE! Everyday this past week I spent hours looking at numbers on a computer screen for a "special" project and by the time I got home I was so bleary eyed I wanted nothing to do with more screens. I also think I need to get my eyes checked. My vision has not been the greatest lately. (Damn you getting old and computer screens!) On a happy note I finally got my office set up and I LOVE it. I have never had an office before and being able to tell people "let's go into my office" excited me WAY more than it should! I will do an office tour soon :)
Currently: Home projects
Another reason my week was nuts is I was planning for a Halloween party that happened last night. If you have read previous post, you will know I am a fall-oholic and I love Halloween. I went out shopping last weekend to prepare for what at the time was a small get together with my girlfriends. As I fell in love with more and more Halloween decorations, that small get together turned into a full on Halloween party. This was one of my bucket list items because of all the years I have lived on my own it never happened. Now my house is decorated and ready for the holiday. I will be posting how to make your house look cute and festive on a budget. Look for that on Monday!
Currently: Loving
Sometime last year I won one of those Bluetooth HMDX Jam Party rechargeable stereo speaker things. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it and considered giving it away. Last night at the party I wanted music to be played and my laptop wasn't jamming like I wanted it to. I decided to break out the speaker and synched it with my phone. It is the BEST THING EVER! I love that I can set it anywhere in the house and control it with my phone. I downloaded the I Heart Radio App and I can scan through thousands of radio stations form my phone. Once its charged you can take it everywhere with you and it lasts up to 12 hours. Its pretty darn convenient.
Currently: Avoiding
Can we say laundry? Ugh the only thing I hate about my apartment is there is no laundry hook ups. We do have a quite lovely laundry center in my development but I still need to lug it all up there. It is a rainy day, so perfect to get some laundry done, but I am being lazy. Anyone else avoid laundry like the plague?
So there you have it. Life unravelled. I hope you all have a great Saturday!
How to define YOU
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Today is the day.. the day I officially end the series: "Defining Lifestyle". As promised I want to share with you how all of the participants answered the question: How do you define YOU?
Christine @ The So-Called Homemaker: Christine (n): A fun-loving young momma who loves to read, write, and dance to Asian pop. See also: crazy, silly, eccentric.
Helene @ Helene In Between: It's really hard to define yourself. You look in the mirror and think about your physical features but you don't often look at your inner self: your mind and your heart. I think I define myself by not necessarily what's inside but those things I hold dear around me. So my husband, my two dogs, my family and my friends. Someone asked me the other day about how I would describe my blog, which, can be difficult when you don't have a niche. But I've decided on "I Create Buzz" and I think that this also could describe my personality. I am outgoing, determined, stubborn, and somewhat creative. And clearly, I'm also all over the place, since this kind of took more direction than one!
Jenn @ Jenn Wells Design:
Becca @ Becoming Adorrable: I'm a wife, a furmom, and a fighter.
Trish @ Beyond the Khaki Pants: Lifestyle is blogging about life. Which is anything and everything. Mothering, relationships, career, embarrassing moments, the highs and the lows. These blogs are marked by perspective of the unique view of the blogger, not necessary by topic. Which is why I could read 10 posts about the same topic and they could be completely different.
ME: I define my lifestyle as a project in process. I am always learning and creating new ideas both personally and professionally. This blog will always be a view of me and how I am changing.
Now it's your turn! Link up with either your 5 questions and answers or your definition of lifestyle. Or combine them together! Do it however you please! I can't wait to read your responses!
Christine @ The So-Called Homemaker: Christine (n): A fun-loving young momma who loves to read, write, and dance to Asian pop. See also: crazy, silly, eccentric.
Helene @ Helene In Between: It's really hard to define yourself. You look in the mirror and think about your physical features but you don't often look at your inner self: your mind and your heart. I think I define myself by not necessarily what's inside but those things I hold dear around me. So my husband, my two dogs, my family and my friends. Someone asked me the other day about how I would describe my blog, which, can be difficult when you don't have a niche. But I've decided on "I Create Buzz" and I think that this also could describe my personality. I am outgoing, determined, stubborn, and somewhat creative. And clearly, I'm also all over the place, since this kind of took more direction than one!
Jenn @ Jenn Wells Design:
We have to define ourselves all the time. Every time you join a
social media site, they want you to sum up your entire personality into
a short, catchy "About" paragraph. With online dating you get to write
more, but you still have to think about how to get across the most
important things concisely enough to not scare people away.
And I'm not brief. If you've ever read my blog, you'll know. I cling to my paragraphs. I keep them short, but short for me is 4 sentences, and the occasional single sentence for important points. So when Trish asked me to define myself for her lifestyle series, I thought, "Oh crap."
Because I can't do it in a tidy, little sentence. Or even a paragraph!
If you want to know about my personal philosophies, you can read my post about mistress shaming or my thoughts on marriage. If you want to know about my day-to-day life, you can read the broken ankle diaries, or the post about my recent engagement. If you want to know my style, you can see my (as-of-now) only fashion post ever, or my Design-Day Friday posts.
But I can't take all those things and summarize. I even made an infographic for my About page but it's just not the same. So I guess if you really want to know you'll have to read more.
And I'm not brief. If you've ever read my blog, you'll know. I cling to my paragraphs. I keep them short, but short for me is 4 sentences, and the occasional single sentence for important points. So when Trish asked me to define myself for her lifestyle series, I thought, "Oh crap."
Because I can't do it in a tidy, little sentence. Or even a paragraph!
If you want to know about my personal philosophies, you can read my post about mistress shaming or my thoughts on marriage. If you want to know about my day-to-day life, you can read the broken ankle diaries, or the post about my recent engagement. If you want to know my style, you can see my (as-of-now) only fashion post ever, or my Design-Day Friday posts.
But I can't take all those things and summarize. I even made an infographic for my About page but it's just not the same. So I guess if you really want to know you'll have to read more.
Becca @ Becoming Adorrable: I'm a wife, a furmom, and a fighter.
Trish @ Beyond the Khaki Pants: Lifestyle is blogging about life. Which is anything and everything. Mothering, relationships, career, embarrassing moments, the highs and the lows. These blogs are marked by perspective of the unique view of the blogger, not necessary by topic. Which is why I could read 10 posts about the same topic and they could be completely different.
ME: I define my lifestyle as a project in process. I am always learning and creating new ideas both personally and professionally. This blog will always be a view of me and how I am changing.
Now it's your turn! Link up with either your 5 questions and answers or your definition of lifestyle. Or combine them together! Do it however you please! I can't wait to read your responses!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)