Falling for fall

I love fall.  And fall loves me.

My children were born in the fall (well, late August, that's fall in Minnesota!)

I got married in the fall.  

Okay, that's all I've got.  But those are pretty good, right?

I love the leaves changing and the crisp air.  I love the sense of anticipation -
a new student, a new mother, a new wife.
Although none of those things are new to me this year,
I still remember when they were!  

And that feeling comes back to me every fall.

But the whole Halloween holiday in there kinda throws me every year.

I love the colors of fall - the reds, golds, browns and oranges.
 Just not orange and black.

I love the gourds and pumpkins.  Just not hacked up into silly faces.

I don't particularly enjoy the creepiness of the holiday or the gaudiness.

Regardless, it is October and Halloween will be here before we know it.

I have kids that are planning their costumes and mapping routes, 

so it's time to get a little (teeny-tiny) bit in the spirit!

I do not have a mantle, so this console table in our living room
is what gets dressed up every season.  

A pile of books, a small lamp, and a clock stay there year round,
and a picture of my kiddos 

(that should really be changed out soon!).  

I normally add some candles - for fall two candle sticks that I got from my mother
that say "Autumn" and "Harvest" 

(For about a day and a half I had a hurricane full of candy corn and a candle there, 

but my little man decided the temptation was too great,
so it got dumped out and these are the replacements!)
Another frame holds a picture or a saying - this one says "Eat, Drink and Be Scary", 

downloaded from Craftily Ever After.  Love Jessica.  

Of course now she has a super-cute downloadable Halloween subway art 

thingie that I just may have to print off too!

Anyway!

Above the console table is a long mirror that I stuck some bats and a spider to.
Gotta love the cricut!  I just cut them in vinyl and stuck 'em on.
Okay, really what I did was cut a super cute pumpkin frame
that ended up folding in on itself b/c I was way
too excited to get it up to think about the best way to apply it.
 *sob*
So THEN I used the black left-over from inside the wasted frame
and cut out the bats and spider.
Still looks pretty cute so I'm going to
climb out from under the table and pretend to be satisfied.  

Also hanging is my Halloween DIY art.  My butterflies are much cuter,
but kinda summery, so away they flew,
replaced with little circles of cute, whimsical Halloween paper.
I thought about cutting it into bats or spiders (I don't have a pumpkin),
but it seemed a little too cutesy.
 Don't worry though, I have my eye on the Thanksgiving cartridge,
so these boring cute little circles will be gone in a few weeks! 

I do adore the shadows that appear when the lamp in on.

Now I'm off to cut out more bats.  Apparently they are "cute" 

and my daughter wants some in her bedroom!