Okio B Designs: September 2012

It's quite the rainy, dreary day here. Perfect for sharing some Halloween decorations that I've put up so far. Won't you come in...

I've been wanting to do this mice look for two years. I bought some of the cut-outs from the Dollar Store and the others I did with my Cricut. The boys love how they seem to be leading up to the 5 year olds room.

This shelf is by our front door. I have to be careful not to put anything glass or breakable up there because things have a way of slipping off. The white pitcher is holding some tree branches that I spray painted black for an eerie look.

I picked up this little witches hat at the Bellmore Street Fair last weekend. The little wood tray is an upcycled thrift store find.

The skull snow globe I found at Home Goods and the tall industrial clip is from Decor Steals. I have to add a creepy picture to it.

I love this little antique desk. It sits in a corner of our diningroom and I love decorating it each season.

This tray normally holds some eggs and petite nests. Now it's home to a trio of skulls.

I'll be adding more photos in the next few days as Blogger is once again telling me I've reached my photo limit. Argh!

Jeanine

2 comments

Remember this bottle carrier I picked up at Goodwill a few weeks ago?! I gave it a spooky twist earlier this week.

The creepy labels are actually from the Martha Stewart Living special edition Halloween issue. Just scan them to your printer and print out. I did mine on label paper, so I only had to cut, peel and stick.

The striped straws are from Etsy. I just love them! I picked up the pencils from Michael's last year and never got to use them for Halloween, so I added them to some of the bottles.

The cute little Trick or Treat pendant is also from Etsy.

I really love how it came out and it fits nicely on my counter top. I'm sure I'll add some ghoulish treats closer to Halloween.

Jeanine

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Sometimes I like to keep it simple.

I bought some ceramic pumpkins from the Dollar Store last year. The colors were a bit drab, so I painted two of them white last weekend and love them now!

I put one ontop of a vintage desk and this one I added to an upcycled Goodwill cloche that sits on my kitchen counter. I added the word fall to a coffee baked tag.

I love the simplicity!

Linking to: Faded Charm: White Wednesday.

Jeanine

8 comments

Here's a really easy DIY project for Halloween. I like to add decorations all over my house for any holiday, but the bathroom always presents something of a challenge. So I made some quick Halloween soaps to add to our soap dish.

All you need is some glycerin soap (I used black), paper, a printer and of course some fabulous images from The Graphics Fairy.

I used a vintage dictionary page with a skull, a vintage insect chart and an old arsenic label for these.

I print the images out onto regular paper, cut them to size (I use the wallet size) and then you can either use Mod Podge, Glue dots or regular Scotch tape to adhere them to your soaps. Super easy!

Linking to The Graphics Fairy: Brag Monday.

Jeanine

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I found this frame at an estate sale a couple of months ago. At first, I was going to paint it white but the blue hue kind of grew on me. It's kind of a weird, long size so I wasn't sure what to do with it. Finally, I decided to make it into a chalkboard frame.

I attached some self-sticking chalkboard paper to a cardboard insert. I simply slipped it in the slots. There was a little gap on top so I just painted a wood piece black and glued it on the back. You can probably notice it at the top. I can live with it though!

I still felt it was missing a little something so I added the keyhole. You can really notice the wood piece now but overall, I'm pretty happy with this quick update and even happier that fall starts officially in two more days!

Jeanine

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I popped into Target this morning because my 7 year old needed a new lunchbox. Yup, only 3 weeks into the school year and the zipper on his first one broke already. Doh! I love going down the bargain aisle while I'm there. Today I found this cute little wire basket for $2.50.

I've been wanting a small basket for our counter top. I added some Decor Steals French dish towels I ordered a few weeks ago. The oven mitt is also from Target. I love the vintage-inspired farmhouse design.

These are the towels.

Again, it's a great size for the counter and I love how the towels and oven mitt fit perfectly!

Jeanine

3 comments

I wanted to make a grain sack towel for fall. You see, I don't have a lot of fall decorations; I seem to have a lot of Halloween decorations. So, I decided to make a quick grain sack using this image from The Graphics Fairy. It's the same one I used on a bucket over the summer and it just screams FALL to me!

I used iron-transfer paper and simply ironed it onto this Ikea towel. You can't see, but it has red stripes going down each side, and for only 89 cents a pop, I always stock up on them when I go to Ikea.

Up close, it really does look like an old-fashioned tea towel.

While I was at it, I also made this Halloween apothecary treat jar for the boys. I'm probably going to add some candy corns to it this week. I'll have to stock up because that is the one candy that disappears in minutes. And yes, I'm guilty. =)

Jeanine

2 comments

Yesterday I came across a styrofoam wreath that was slated for our last garage sale. It did not sell, so I had it in the donation pile. I'm not a very good wreath maker, but I decided to give it another go by doing a sheet music one for fall.

As much as I would have loved to do the scroll-y kinds I've seen all over Pinterest, I just wasn't in the mood to hot glue. For this one, I cut some vintage sheet music into strips. Then I looped them around the styrofoam - pinching them in the middle and keeping them together with Glue Dots.

Once I had my sheet music all around, I used my Cricut to make the crow/skull image. I attached it also using Glue Dots. The last part was to add the two banners which spell out never and more. I glued them to some twine and then glued each banner on to the wreath. I added some tea-stained orange seam binding so we could hang it on the door.

Linking to: Between Naps on the Porch: Met Monday.

Jeanine

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Quick, easy project for today! I got these pumpkin-scented candles from the Dollar Store earlier this week. After peeling off their generic labels, I thought they were missing a little something. I headed over to The Graphics Fairy and added this great vintage pumpkin label to each one:

I printed the image onto label paper so all I had to do was crop, peel and stick!

I thought adding twine to the top would add a nice autumn touch as well.

For $2, I now have some yummy smelling candles to add to my fall decor.

Jeanine

3 comments

I am itching to get my Halloween decorations up, but I'm trying to wait another week so my neighbors don't think I'm crazy. I found a way to soothe the itch by adding some Halloween touches to my tearoom!

Yesterday, I popped into the dollar store and bought the black netting which I'm using as a small tablecloth. I also picked up a few black crows to scatter about.

The witches' hat I got at Michael's over the weekend. It was just a plain craft color so I gave it a few coats of black paint. I added some tea-stained orange and black seam binding above the brim. The creepy lady, poison label and banner are from The Graphics Fairy. For the banner, I typed up Happy Halloween in word and then just played around with it until it fit into the banner.

Not sure if you can see the spider ring at the top of the hat. One of my little guys added that!

In a few weeks, my quaint, little, girly tearoom will look like a haunted house!

Jeanine

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I popped into my local Ikea yesterday and found these really cute apple baskets. For only $9.99 each, I knew I could add a spooky twist to them. So I did!

Because I also want to be able to use them for other holidays/seasons, I knew I did not want to spray paint anything on them. I recently bought Cricut's Halloween cartridge, so I printed out this spooky graphic onto black cardstock.

I used Sticky Dots to stick it onto the front. Now I can peel it off when Halloween is over and use the basket again and again! I'm working on the other one as we speak.

I'm not sure how the paper will stand up to the elements, but I am planning on displaying these on our porch.

Jeanine

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Thank you Karen from The Graphics Fairy for featuring my Halloween candlesticks on today's Brag Monday! Yay!

Jeanine

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TGIF! I don't know about you but I seem to be having problems uploading photos to Blogger. Some invalid server message keeps popping up?! Very frustrating as it only happens on one computer - not the others and of course it's the computer I use to blog with.

Anywho, yesterday, I came across some wood blocks that somehow ended up in our garage (oh, honey????). I gave them a quick "Boo" makeover.

I only had three so I was definitely limited on what I could do with them. I painted each block black first. Then I glued on some random spooky-ish craft paper that I've had for a while. Sometimes it pays off to keep those little scraps destined for the circular file.

I used my Cricut to cut out the letters and glued them to the front of each block. Voila! Done!

I'm hoping to hit some garage sales this weekend so I don't bore anybody with continual Halloween posts!

Jeanine

5 comments

So I'm 90 percent sure we are having a Halloween party this year. I figure I'd better get moving on some ideas I've been toying around with. I have this feeling that in the blink of an eye, Halloween will be here.

These little white cups I picked up last year from Michael's. I thought the little eyes could make them look like cute, little ghosts. They will definitely be good for holding snacks for small partygoers.

I have a bunch of these little photo hangers that I use in my Etsy shop. Not sure if you can see the "boo" in the middle but I hand-stamped it on a coffee tag. I also wanted to use something other than orange and black so I used purple and black ribbon.

I think hanging a bunch of these around the house might be a nice touch. The skull image is from The Graphics Fairy.

Loads more to do and the countdown has begun!

Jeanine

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I've had this little basket for a few years now. I can't recall where I bought it, but we've used it to hold plastic cutlery whenever we have a party. This year, we left it outside and the elements left it a little discolored. After I chased all the little spiders out of it, I gave it a quick makeover:

I don't have a before photo but it was kind of a natural wood color. I gave it the same color I gave our knife block a week or so ago. I also added a cute little fork, knife and spoon image (from the Graphics Fairy) with some twine.

I think our plastic cutlery will look sweeter in this now thanks to the vibrant color!

Jeanine

3 comments

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend! I whipped up these candlesticks last week and just put the finishing touches on them this morning.

I spray painted each one black to start. I don't work with glitter a lot (mainly because I seem to get more on me than my actual project), but I wanted to make the smaller two stand out. I covered them with Mod Podge and then just sprinkled orange glitter on. I gave them a coat of clear spray paint hoping it would hold the glitter on better. Nope. Still shedding.

I added some of my French script candles to each stick. For the smaller two, I printed out the boo letters from The Graphics Fairy onto label paper and simply stuck them on. For the middle candle, I tied on a trick or treat tag (image also from The Graphics Fairy).

The finishing touches were the orange seam binding and black tulle ribbons. Happily, I had everything I needed to make these.

Not sure if there are linky parties tomorrow because of Labor Day, but I am hoping to link up to The Graphics Fairy: Brag Monday and Between Naps on the Porch: Met Monday.

Jeanine