Spooky entry on the cheap

Since I hadn't spooked out my Fall mantel this year I decided to put this together yesterday before my girls got home from school.  I knew they would be excited about it.  I decorated on the chhheeaapp this year, can you say Dollar Tree?  I did buy some of it last year on sale after Halloween, just too good to pass up.

This guy I bought for $2.00 at Gordman's after Halloween.  The books are from Micheal's on clearance and you gotta love the spiders from Martha Stewart. 

Garland, Happy Halloween sign, and the spider web from the Dollar Tree last year, saving money!

Love the reflection of the tree from across the street. 

Apothecary jar with moss, spiders, skull, and bones.....oh scary!  Can't forget about the little black birds, they just scream Halloween.

Simple Friday No.4

Hello my friends!  It's official I missed last week's Simple Friday, and I was on such a roll.  I have a good excuse though and I am not a bit sorry, well maybe.  I  We had to go on a little vacation that we've had planned since summer.  Yes, when you book a vacation back in June you kinda forget about it until it hits you in the face.  You see we have two special friends who turned 40 this past September and this month.  To celebrate this joyous milestone we decided to take a cruise to the Bahama's.  It was a 4 night/5day cruise departing from Miami to Nassau Bahama's, Coco Cay(Royal Caribbean's private island, and finally Key West.  This was my third cruise and I have no complaints at all.  The food was fabulous, and the entertainment was priceless.  I We laughed and laughed until our stomach's hurt.  We can't wait to go again, only three more years until I'm 40, hint hint honey!

First stop the Bahama's where we all enjoyed a Segway tour around the island.  It was a complete hoot!  We had to do a tutorial to learn how to control these things and all I can remember is the tour guide saying "watch your wheels!"  That was the joke the rest of the day.  We had lunch at Senor Frogs and typical tropical weather it rained while we ate, perfect timing.  After lunch me and the hubs hit the beach and then shopped up and down the streets with the hundreds of vendors.  They are in your face too, so beware if you ever visit.

Second stop.....Royal Caribbean's private island:  Coco Cay.  There is no port to dock the ship to so we had to take a tender boat into the island.  The winds were definitly a problem, but we managed to get onto the island.  I was so thankful because last time I cruised back in 2008 we couldn't make it into the island again because of the wind and being to dangerous.  It was beautiful and so realxing.  We had a BBQ style lunch on the island (all you can eat) not that we over endulged.   

Majesty of the Sea

How did Sponge Bob get here?  My friend Lisa has this tradtion with her kids to take Sponge Bob on all vacations and get random pictures of him.   Pretty cool picture!!

My dear friends Carrie and Lisa.....I had to take some cool pictures and thought this was a neat idea.  These are the rafts you rent for the day while on the island.  Love you ladies!

Nap time people, we are on vacation

 Pulling into Key West and back on US soil which meant we could use our cell phones again!  I found out how dependent we are on technology, kinda scary.  Good thing there was only one other boat at port, can you say Disney?  I would love to do a Disney cruise, maybe someday.   

We decided to rent bicycles for the day, since Key West is only 2 miles long and 4 miles wide and we would hit the ocean eventually.  It was a blast biking around the island and definitely a welcomed mode of transporataion. We were only on the island until 5:30, so we had to get a lot done with the short time we had.

 

The Southernmost point of the United States, only 90 miles to Cuba!



Finally the beach, ahhh!  It was not easy to find the beach on Key West belive it or not.  We hung out at the beach for about an hour and took in as much of sun, sand, and sounds of the waves hitting the shore.  If I could bottle up that feeling I would and bring it out when we are stuck in cold, winter weather. 

Happy Friday everyone,

 

Simple Friday

Hello and welcome to this week's Simple Friday! 

I am not sure about you, but my weeks fly by and before I know it, it's Friday again...not that I am complaining because I love Friday's.  Anyhoo, I was thinking about what I was going to talk about this week and came up with a great idea.  I was looking through some old pictures and came across my Halloween pictures from 2010.  Keep in mind this is before I started blogging for real so yeah......here it goes

WARNING: Not the best picture quality with no editing at all, hey I was just starting out and playing around with the idea of blogging.  I am so glad I did.

 

My attempt at a Halloween mantel, I used a free printable and my daughter made the 31 for me. I bought the garland, chandelier, and spiders from Micheal's and used what I had around the house.

You gotta love these little, black crows, I bought these at the Dollar Tree.  Every spooky mantel needs a couple, right?

Skulls from the good ole Dollar Tree, last year the Dollar Tree rocked for Halloween decorations.  

Not so much this year.

  

Now this little display was pretty cool if I do say myself.  

Outside pictures. Wow, those hands and feet look so real, not!  Again found all of these at the Dollar Tree.  The tombstones were a steal because they sell the same thing at other stores for ten times the price. I laugh now at these pictures, but I've learned a ton from blogging and by following some of the most creative and wonderful people.

Now the real challenge, let's see what I can do this year. Thank you for stopping by, would love for you to follow along and on my Our Blue Front Door Facebook page...

Linking up at Sugar and Spice in the land of Balls and Sticks

Have a wonderful weekend,

  

Simple Friday's No.3

Hello friends!

Welcome to my new series here at Our Blue Front Door called Simple Friday's. I am keeping it "real" today and wanted to share a little of "me" with you today.  Here are some random facts about me that you probably don't know about me.....warning, picture free post today

1. I don't go to bed without having my kitchen clean...NO dishes in the sink, counter tops clean, and everything in place for the morning.   
2. I am legally blind in my left eye...
3. I like to ask people crazy questions, you know those ones that you want to know so bad but are afraid to ask....I will
4. I love Zumba....did you know you can burn as much 800 calories doing an hour of Zumba 
5. I'm kinda introverted or shy, and don't love to be the center of attention, refer back to question 3
6. I love to travel
7. I sing in my church's Praise Band and love serving my Lord
8. Never have gotten a speeding ticket, knock on wood please!
9. I'm not a morning person, night owl all the way
10. I can still do acrobats at age 30 something

Food for thought:  By following other bloggers and sharing common interests and thoughts , do you ever feel like they are your friends or are they virtual friends?  Even though you've probably never spoken with them, you feel like friends, right?  I catch myself telling my husband all of the time...."well my friend Shelley in Utah(you all know who she is, right?)  He looks at me strange, "what friend in Utah"  Oh yeah, my blogger friend who I feel is really my friend.  Can anyone relate with me?  I know you all know exactly what I am talking about.  I would love to hear your thoughts and stories about these special friendships formed through the wonderful world of blogging.

Anyway, someday I would love..love to meet up with some of my virtual friends in real life.  Anyone in the Midwest want to get together??    

You won't believe me

With fall in full swing now and temperatures getting cooler, there is nothing better to me

than a warm, fuzzy throw blanket.  I think every couch or chair should have one,

don't you think so?  I have been on the look out for a cream colored

 throw for over a year now, but didn't want to pay an arm and leg for one. 

 

Love this Grand Chenille Throw @ Pottery Barn for $79

(FYI, free shipping right now)

Here's mine!  I found this near perfect cream afahgan the other day at the Mission Mart and 
the best part about it, it was only $1.99.....can you even believe it?  I washed it up and here it sits
on the brown leather couch.  I love it when I find treasures, especially when it's usable.