To continue with the Halloween theme from last week, I wanted to share another themed download and introduce you to an amazing new blog!

Maddy Hague, the author of Inspired Bride (one of my all time favorite wedding blogs), just launched Somewhere Splendid; a lifestyle blog that covers home renovation and decor, entertaining, and cooking. Maddy puts her own creative twist into all her posts and with her keen design eye, you know it’ll be good. Take for example, this Crackling Annie’s Holloween Party Favor, SO cute! Designed to be affixed to small potion sized bottles and filled with Pop Rocks, this is a quick and easy treat your guests will love! Click here to get the download and see the full post.

Be sure to check out Somewhere Splendid and congratulate Maddy on her new adventure!

I am so thrilled to share today’s post with all of you! The lovely Shauna of Shauna Younge Dessert Tables was kind enough to send me the most AMAZING holloween dessert table. And lucky for us, she’s also included a few DIY freebies!

Shauna, a dessert table designer from Minneapolis, put her amazing skills to work on this sweet feast! Inspired by the always acessible retailer, Target, Shauna put together a no-fuss buffett using items found at her local store. A ghost and a bat cake take center stage on black cake stands. Bat cookies hover above the chocolate cake, while marshmallow ghosts cluster atop the vanilla cake. Brain cupcakes, spooky brownie pops, and rice crispy tombstones flank either side. Shauna ingeniously repurposed ice cube trays to make skull and bones chocolate molds and brown lunch bags were transformed into broomstick favor bags.

Teaming up with Bethany Hway of b*spoke, the pair created a printable coordinating invitation, as well. The invitation comes complete with a printable wraparound mailing address label which you can download from b*spoke. Also available for download are the brownie pop flags which alternate between spider’s webs and sayings like, “Howl”, “Beware”, and “Boo!”. And last-but-not-least, Shauna’s custom candy bar wrapper adds the finishing touch to otherwise simple chocolate bars.

How amazing and inspiring is this whole table?! Seriously, I am in total awe of her talents and am so delighted to share her amazing pictures with all of you. Happy Halloween planning everyone and thanks again to Shauna for sharing!

Downloads:
Printable Halloween Invite
Printable Brownie Pop Flags
Printable Candy Bar Wrappers

For tutorials and tips to recreate your own Totally Target dessert table visit Shauna’s blog Sweet Tooth. And even more yummy images can be found on Emily Steffen’s blog.

Credits: Dessert table: Shauna Younge Dessert Tables Photography: Emily Steffen Photography Invitations and styling: Emmy Lu Design Studio

I’m back today with complete instructions on how to make the Leaf Wreath I made for the Better Homes & Gardens Contest. With fall in full swing, now is the perfect time for a quick DIY project and some colorful home decor. I wanted something a little less predictable color wise so I choose to use shades of purple for a pop of color. I can imagine this in any shade so have fun and get creative!

Supplies
Fabric Leaves
Matt  White Spray Paint Primer
Varying Shades of Matte Spray Paint
Foam Wreath Form
Pins
Coordinating Ribbon (Enough to wrap form and for hanging completed wreath)

Instructions
1. Arrange leaves on a paintable surface and secure with pins. A flattened cardboard box or flat sheets of foam work well. Spray leaves with one layer of white matte primer. Once primer has dried, spray leaves with colors and get creative! Some may require two coats – if so, wait 15 minutes between applications.
2. While leaves are drying, wrap foam wreath form in coordinating ribbon making sure to overlap so no foam shows through. Secure ends with pins.
3. Once the leaves have dried, place them on top of wreath form and secure with pins. Continue to overlay leaves around the entire form.
4. After the leaves are in place you can add a decorative flower in the lower right portion for visual interest. To create the flowers; cut approximately thirty 3″ circles of coordinating fabric. Pinch the circle in the center with your thumb and forefinger, making a petal like shape and pin to form. Continue to add petals closely together and fluffing along the way. Add as many or as few as you like.
5. To complete the look, add a ribbon to the back with pins for hanging.

I hope you enjoy the project and don’t forget to vote for your favorite here!

Today marks the second leg of the Better Homes & Gardens Home for the Holidays Contest! I have been so excited to share this project with all of you, as I had so much fun putting it together.

The task was to create a fall home decor item using real or fake leaves. I ended up making a wreath by spray painting fabric leaves from a craft store in gradated purple tones then pinning them to a foam wreath form with craft pins. The wreath ended up being quite versatile and I found it worked well as a traditional door decoration, above a fireplace and even a dramatic centerpiece. I’ll be back tomorrow with the complete list of supplies and how to instructions so stay tuned!

In the mean time, I would love your votes! You can vote once a day from now until Sunday, October 17th. I didn’t fair well in the last round so I’m stepping up my game this time with a link at the top of each page for voting convenience. Thank you all so much for voting for me so far, it means the world to me!

I’m loving metallics this year and West Elm has some of my personal favorites for the fall season.