Okio B Designs

What do you do when you're having a really bad day? You do something that makes you happy. And for me, that means putting out some Halloween touches.

I call it Halloween-therapy.

The boys were at school. The hubby was at work. The house was quiet. I got to lose myself for a little while as I was dressing up our corner hutch.

I try to change things up from how I did them last year. Some pieces remain in place - like the vintage Underwood typewriter.

Some pieces, I've had for years.

I also created this simple banner that I have hanging in our dining room. I still need to add some ravens to each end.

I definitely felt much better once I had everything in its place.

Jeanine

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So this is the stool I picked up from the thrift store last week now...

It's so petite and I was really excited to give it a fresh look. I first gave it a few coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Grey. I wanted to try the wax paper transfer method, but it was an epic fail.

I'm not sure what I did wrong, but I could not get the ink to transfer on to the wood. So I had to scrap that plan, repaint the top of the stool and figure out my next step.

I decided to give the Mod Podge method another go. I haven't always been successful with that method either. It's always been hit or miss. This time I think it worked out well. After sanding down the top and the image, I'm happy with my vintage-looking, petite French stool!

Jeanine

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Autumn officially starts in two days, but it's in full swing in our house.

I created a sweet vignette over the weekend using the old desk in our dining room. The printable is from Pinterest - in case you are interested in printing one out too. I hit my local thrift store on Friday where I scored the wood pumpkins and...

...this cute little stool and black candle holder.

I also whipped up some Halloween tags using Scrabble tiles and stamps. I also made a raven one. Then I realized I didn't have any stamps that even remotely look like a raven. So that one is still a work in progress.

Jeanine

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Much like my blog, I woefully neglected my Etsy shop this summer. Now that my boys are back at school, I have a bit more time to devote to both.

I whipped up some cute silhouette tags earlier this week.

I really adore making tags. It's how I started my crafting endeavors years ago.

Don't kill me, but yes, I've started making Christmas items. It may be too early in the blog world, but in the Etsy world, you've got to be a few months ahead.

I really love how these Santa postcards came out.

Best of all, I had everything I needed already on hand. And it felt good to get the creative juices flowing again.

Jeanine

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I bought these paper mache houses last year for Christmas. They were a little larger than I had expected, but I still decided to make them work by painting them black and adding tea lights for the holiday season.

This year, I decided to give them a Halloween makeover. I bought black and orange glitter, and kept the black paint. I wasn't sure which glitter to use at first. I really like Pottery Barn's version of Halloween houses - which use black glitter. Still I was drawn to the orange.

So I did the first two in orange. I'm not a huge fan of glitter - mainly because of the mess it leaves behind. So this was an outside job in between rain storms this weekend.

I see a few spots that I missed, so I'll try and fill them in today. The last house, which is also the largest, will get the black glitter just to break up all of the orange.

Wish me luck!

Jeanine

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According to my calculations, there are 53 days until Halloween. Yay!

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling a little rushed this year. Looking back at some old blog posts, I usually have a ton of Halloween items made by now. Eek!

So last night, I broke out some glass ornaments that were sitting in my craft room since last year, and decided to turn them into Halloween ornaments. For this one, I used some faux moss, a creepy skull image (from the Graphics Fairy) and black & orange tea-stained seam binding.

For this one I used an image I bought on Etsy last year. I spray painted some faux reeds black and added them to the bottom. Topped this one off with some purple & black tea-stained seam binding.

I have one more in the works.

Jeanine

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Hope your holiday weekend is off to a great start! I've been relaxing after a long work week, which didn't leave any time for real crafting.

I did manage to arrange a basket o' pumpkins for my porch. The basket is a garage sale find that I painted Paris Grey (Annie Sloan Chalk Paint).

I also framed some autumn printables I found on Pinterest. After that, I decided to reward myself with a little retail therapy.

Found this cute Ouija cheese plate and Halloween-inspired candles at Marshall's this morning.

I hit Target yesterday with my boys and that's where I scored this adorable pumpkin pillow. There were only two left! So you better hurry to your local Target before they are gone, if you want one!

I also picked up two Chevron pumpkins from their DollarSpot.

And this pretty landed earlier in the week from Pottery Barn. It's patiently waiting for its debut for Halloween. I'd like to get another one, but I only shop PB when I have a coupon these days. Hopefully, they'll send me another coupon code before they sell out.

Jeanine

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My boys go back to school tomorrow. As you can imagine, we've been busy doing last minute summer activities with them and running school-related errands. I did find some time over the weekend to put out the first of my autumn touches.

White dollar store pumpkins and faux greens.

My favorite corner to decorate in the kitchen.

Neutrals on the bookcase.

Fabric pumpkins and scarecrows.

Jeanine

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I am obsessed with doing the laundry. Seriously, my husband is not allowed to go near the washing machine or dryer. And when my boys are older, they will be banned too. With that said, how excited was I when the folks at Selestial Soap sent me their MyGreenFills laundry detergent to try?!

MyGreenFills delivers non-toxic laundry products right to your door. You simply choose your fill (unscented laundry soap, fabric softener, etc.), choose your delivery frequency (with free shipping, I might add) and "your last laundry jug" lands on your front doorstep.

I'm a big fan of green products, and I have to say, I love that I am helping save the planet and using an eco-friendly detergent. The jugs come with the powder included. You simply add water, shake and get started on your mountain of laundry.

And since the company is big on paying it forward (#PayItForward), they are offering my readers a FREE laundry soap jug (plus S/H) if you go to Free.MyGreenFills.com. But wait, there's more.

They make these wonderful non-toxic, eco-friendly products for kids: bug spray and sunscreen. Both have come in quite handy this summer! Find them here.

Don't forget to visit Free.MyGreenFills.com for your free laundry jug!

Jeanine

Note: I was provided free samples of the products mentioned in this blog post, however all opinions, comments, experiences and text is my own.

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We have a week and a half to go before school starts here and much to my boys' chagrin, I created a little back-to-school vignette.

Of course, the pieces I used sadly can't be found in any classrooms today.

I have everything displayed on the vintage desk we have in the dining room. The vintage cursive image is from the Graphics Fairy. Everything else I already had in the house.

I added the vintage ink well and grungy Scrabble tiles to a cloche I have propped on a stack of old Bobsey Twins books.

I picked up the thermos last week at a garage sale. There's a debate in the house as to whether the little salt shaker looks like a tomato or an apple. It's actually a tomato but I'm using it as an apple.

I even found a French instruire (to teach, instruct) flashcard in my stash to display.

Sorry boys, but Mommy loves her little back-to-school vignette.

Jeanine

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Apparently there are 77 days until Halloween. I get a little reminder from one of the accounts I follow on Instagram.

And then I start to panic: only 77 days until Halloween?! Not really, well maybe just a little. So then I start whipping up some spooky creations like these peat pots.

I printed the vintage black cat and jack o' lantern onto cardstock. I tied them on using orange tea-stained seam binding. Then I just added some Halloween appropriate pieces like the 31 tag, boo carnival tickets and faux frozen Charlottes.

For the smaller ones, I added some really old and grungy Scrabble tiles spelling out Boo and RIP. Each pot also has some Dollar Store faux moss to keep things in place.

I have a couple more in the works and plan to use them for place settings for my Halloween table.

Jeanine

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My kids head back to school September 1st. Like so many others, they are not looking forward to it. Every year I try to make it a little more exciting and toss something cool into their backpacks.

This year it's Fiskar's Designer Scissors. Seriously, how cool are they?

According to the company:

"Fiskars scissors have been in classrooms for years, but with refreshed Designer Non-Stick Scissors, students and teachers will be eager to update their tools. From space-inspired designs to scissors decked with flowers, Fiskars’ kids scissors are not just safe and durable but fashionable, too. The trendy, kid-selected patterns are sure to appeal to kids’ unique styles."

I couldn't agree more. Both of my boys will be toting these back to school with them next month. I'm secretly keeping the middle one for myself. Shhhhhh...FYI, the scissors have a suggested retail price of $5.50 each and can be found at retailers including Staples, Target and Walmart.

Jeanine

Note: I was provided with samples of Fiskars Designer Scissors, however all opinions and text are my own.

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I was pleasantly surprised when I saw an Estate Sale sign around the corner from my house this morning. I haven't been able to hit many garage sales this summer and the ones I have gone to haven't had anything I'm looking for. I think I did pretty well this morning.

Vintage salt shakers. Yes, both are for salt but the S is so faded on one of them that you could easily use it as a pepper shaker. I love the plaid thermos. I'm hoping to start a collection this year.

You know me, I never, ever pass up vintage sheet music.

These candle holders are perfect for a design I have in mind for Halloween.

This entire haul cost me less than $10. Yay!

Jeanine

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And so it begins...

I checked some posts from this time last year and wouldn't you know it, like clockwork, I started some Halloween projects. This skull tea towel is my first of the season.

I used some muslin and pre-made ruffle trim that I picked up last month at Hobby Lobby. The image is from The Graphics Fairy and is one of my faves for Halloween.

First, I used TAP paper to transfer my image onto the muslin. Once that cooled, I sewed the ruffle trim to the bottom of the front panel of my towel.

I love that it's creepy and feminine all at once.

Jeanine