Pepper Design Blog

Spookifying the House – Halloween Inspiration

Halloween is creeping up on us! It feels like I just began decorating for fall and it’s already time to update the home with a few frightful features.

I spent Saturday garage saling with a friend for Halloween DIY project finds to add to the mantel, porch and throughout the house. Before I start out for any kind of shopping (especially thrift) I like to keep an inspiration board in mind to help focus my search and get the creative juices flowing. Here’s what I assembled for the weekend:

Picture frames and mirrors that are already hung around the house provide a great opportunity to incorporate cut out shadow shapes, creepy eyes and even tempura paint (which washes right off) in the shape of ghosts. I’m a big fan of glitter this fall as well – I’ll see if I can’t find decor ready for a diy coat.

I’m also looking for anything that can be spray painted black – there’s something especially Halloween-ish about candle sticks, ceramic animals, pumpkins, lanterns, votive holders, skulls, spiders and the like when coated in a flat black and covered in cobwebs.

I’m on the search for creative ways to incorporate creepy shadows. Lining the inside of a lampshade with black cut out bats is a fun way to do this (when the light is switched on your bats dance on the surrounding walls), but why not line candle holders, lanterns and windows with fun shapes too? I love the tissue paper candle holders above – just be sure the tissue paper is on the outside of the glass!

Will be sharing all of my finds soon – it was definitely a productive day searching and my living room mantel is nearly finished. For more inspiration, check out this great link party at The Stories of A to Z showcasing dozens of blogger & reader mantels to peruse. Happy Monday!

Images: Better Homes & Gardens, Martha Stewart

Time for Fall Decorating – A Few Inspirational Finds

So the weather is finally feeling a bit autumn-ish around here and while we’re half way through fall I’m just beginning to put up decorations for the season.

I love this time of year! There’s nothing like hot cider, over-sized scarves and pumpkin patches to make my month.

Needing a bit of new inspiration, I headed to my usual virtual hot spots (Martha, BHG, Southern Living, HGTV and even Pottery Barn online vignettes) and thought I’d share my favorites.

I’m all about bringing the outdoors in with natural elements such as fall veggies (gourds, pumpkins and the like) and big branches. You might remember my ‘favorite trends’ post on branches here – but these ideas (above and below images) are just as magical. Plus, these branch examples will last well into winter since most are already dried and dead or faux.

Other inspiring ideas:
1. Filling extra vases, bowls and cake stands with fall leaves, pine cones, gourds, seeds (dried pumpkin, split pea, yellow rice, etc make great vase fillers) and even corks popped from the holidays
2. Hanging orange paper lanterns (extra points if they have black construction paper cut out jack-o-lantern faces on them) in both indoor and outdoor spaces
3. Using pumpkins for more purposes than carving – I love the simple house number paint job the above pumpkins received or the ornament versions hanging from branches (manzanita would be sturdy enough to support them)
4. Wrapping die cut shapes or faux fall leaves around candles or candle holders with twine (real dried leaves would be a fire hazard)

Now I’ll get back to decorating… can’t wait to find more ideas and to begin working on the above!

Soft Pastels: the Life of the Party

A bit of August party inspiration coming your way… pinks, corals & oranges make the perfect backdrop for a shower or tea party and I LOVE love the upside down poms (turned flowers) hanging over the top of this table. How creative! Can you imagine sitting beneath with the flower blooms swinging gently above?

Oh sweet summer nights.

Bouganvilla, sweet peas, garden roses and boxes of ripe peaches make the perfect centerpiece. Handmade soap {scented similarly?} wrapped in scrapbooking paper works well for a great favor. I love the simple menus and the floral napkins (so easy to diy) – pictured very top.

And here’s another option with plenty of peonies in birch vases – how delicious does that grapefruit mimosa look? Details such as the drink tags help to personalize a bigger party.

Hope you have a few reasons to throw some fun summer celebrations before fall finds us! Images from A Diary of Lovely.