Halloween Mantle and New Baby

What a cah-raaazy week it's been.

The BEST news is that my sister, Audrey, gave birth to a beautiful, healthy, super-cute baby boy named Kevin.

Oh my goodness, you have no idea how smitten I am with this little boy.  Perhaps it is because I have the honor of being his Godmother (so excited), but I seriously could just eat him up.  Audrey and her husband Andrew are two of the kindest, most generous, most thoughtful people I know, and this little guy is just so lucky. Could you not stare at that photo for hours, just admiring his perfect little mouth?  LOVE.

Also, I am in the middle of completing my thesis for a Masters in Reading, and a huge part of it was due this past week.  I haven't gone to bed before midnight in days.  Thus, the blog was a little neglected this week.  I'm hoping that since a large chuck of the thesis is now out of the way, I'll have more time to write.  It won't be finished for-real until December.    Can. Not. Wait.

So, the real reason for this post is to show you my Halloween mantle.  It's nothing too fancy, because as you are now aware -- I've had limited time lately!  It includes some ideas I've seen floating around the web.  ("Floating" around the web.  Ha ha!  It's funny because I'm talking about ghosts! Get it?)

Okay, so the stuff on the topiaries is cheesecloth.  It was supposed to look creepy and spider-webby, but I think it just looks like cheesecloth draped over topiaries.  Maybe because it's wrinkled? Maybe it's because you can see seams in it? Oh well, next year maybe I'll try those fake cottonball cobwebs.

I painted the ghosts on the mirror with white Tempura paint.  It just washes off.  Easy!  (Ignore the spots on my mirror, please!

This pumpkin planter is my favorite.  It was an antique flea market find.

I used one of my Halloween Cupcake Toppers on the inside of the apothecary jar, and filled it with candy corn.  I love using candy corn, because I think it looks so cute, and there is absolutely NO temptation to eat them.  Yuck.  You can download the cupcake toppers here.

And there you have it!  My *kind-of-lame-because-I'm-so-busy* Halloween mantle!