Market Trip! 2013 Part Two

This is my second blog entry about our trip to market in January of 2013.  My first post was about the things we ordered to ship now.  We also ordered for Halloween, Fall, and Christmas.  This entry is about what we ordered for Halloween and Fall.  I have to be honest; Fall is tough for us. We have always used muted, soft colors in the store which don't always mix well with the rich, warm colors of Fall.  I made an effort this year to embrace Fall color. See the picture below?  I love the natural look of the florals in it.  I hope we can get close to this look for Fall of 2013.

 I got a few bronze colored items for Fall like the sugared pinecone below.

 We had this huge stone turkey last year but he was really popular as a centerpiece for Thanksgiving so I ordered him again. I got the wispy wreath around his neck too.

 This squirrel was in the same showroom as the turkey.

This is a bronze mercury glass turkey ornament.  I love him!

A more colorful turkey.

I ordered this mustard burlap ribbon to go with our Fall wreaths.

 

The bottle carrier below is large enough to use as a centerpiece.  I think it will be amazing with a floral stem in each bottle.  We ordered several of these.

Most of the Halloween items I ordered were black, white, and silver.  I found a few cute frames this year like this one.

 These are stacking glass boxes.  They have Halloween quotes on the glass sides.  They look cute filled with pumpkins.

 Striped frame.  It would be so stinkin cute to put a picture of your kids in their costumes in a frame like this. Why didn't we have cute Halloween frames when I was growing up??

This pumpkin man and witch were in the ESC showroom.  ESC carries mostly holiday figures done by artists.  Every year I order a few to tuck into our displays.  I only order the ones that aren't too whimsical and have a vintage look to them.

 It's hard to see in this picture but the sign has legs with striped stockings hanging below.  I just love the tulle skirt.

 

 The picture below might be my favorite from market.  It's the Bethany Lowe showroom.  Don't you love those oval silhouette prints on the wall?  I ordered a pair of them.  See the 2 pillows on the chair?  I ordered those too.  I feel like I rarely see Halloween pillows so I was excited to find cool ones. The Bethany Lowe showroom always has a fun vignette like this set up in the window.

I loved these lanterns below.  I think they had a hole in the back so you can just use one of those plug in light bulbs. Don't you love those things?!  No need to worry about a burning candle!

The ones below are just thin paper cones that you can put over a candle. I love the vintage designs on them.

This is actually a picture from last year but I reordered the crow and the jeweled pumpkins for this year.  One of the owners of this line told me that the crow with the crown was his bestseller last year and this year.

This is a wall plaque that I got.  The chandelier and words are done in silver.  It's Halloween, but classy.  Every year, we try to set up a display for those of you that want to decorate for Halloween but don't like all of the cheesy, plastic stuff you find everywhere else.  Halloween can be spooky AND pretty right?

I ordered some of the plates below.  I believe the crow's banner says, "nevermore."  Wouldn't it be fun to have these for a little party where you made those cute desserts that look like fingers and spiders?  You know, the ones you see on Pinterest that you always plan to make but never do? :)

These are boxes that look like books.  Got a few sets of these.

This cat is HUGE.  I think you can put candy in him or put a light inside.  I thought it would be a cool table centerpiece.

I hope you liked seeing a small amount of what we picked for this Halloween and Fall.  We saw a lot of fun things this year!  I'm working on the third part of the market blog next.  It will feature some of what we picked for Christmas.  I can tell you from what I ordered that this will be THE BEST CHRISTMAS yet!  Is it weird that I'm actually a little excited for it?  Yeah, I think I have a problem.  I'll have part 3 finished in a few days so watch for it.  Thanks for reading!  

Our first workshop-Pumpkin decorating

We recently decided that it would be really fun to do little evening workshops where we demonstrate a craft or a technique.  Our first idea was a pumpkin decorating workshop.  We carry several sizes of white faux pumpkins which make a great pallette for all kinds of embellishments, so we knew we were going to use them.  There were 2 techniques we wanted to demonstrate.  One was using glue and glitter to make a swirl pattern and a monogram. The other was using a lacy pair of stockings to cover the pumpkin.  Here are the 2 prototypes we came up with.

The lace one was done by Sarah and the "K" was decorated by Kristin. Pretty impressive for a first try right? 

 

 

 

After making our prototypes, we determined the supplies we would need.  Tons of glitter, glue, sequins, and stockings were collected.  We got a huge response from the invitation we sent out, so we split the class into 2 sessions.  It was so great to know that people were excited to attend!

 

 

 

Sarah and Kristin also made pumpkin pie bars, cake pops, and apple spice cakes.  We bought champagne and oj for mimosas. (because drinking and crafting is always a good idea right?)

 

 

Here is everyone working on their creations.

 

 

 

 

 

And here are a few of the finished products!  I posted all of them on our Facebook page and I'm sending a little gift to whoever gets the most "likes" on their pumpkin.

 

 

 

We seriously had more fun doing the workshop than we had ever imagined.  It was great!  Everyone was so happy, and much to our surprise, talented!  There wasn't a single pumpkin that was ugly!  I mean, not that we expected ugly ones,but they were really all wonderful!

 Now we are brainstorming for future workshops.  Everyone was asking what we're doing for Christmas.  Maybe a wreath?  Maybe how to decorate a mantle?  Maybe an ornament?  Maybe all of the above!  Let me know if you have an idea!-Lindsay

Put a Little Glamour in Your Halloween

We are so thrilled with the look of our Halloween decor this year.  We ordered it in January and had a black, white, and tan theme in mind.  There are touches of orange and a little bit of glamour.

  Don't you just love the look of a classier Halloween? I don't understand why so much of the Halloween decor you see in stores is so cheesy. It's all plastic and shiny. Why can't Halloween be pretty AND spooky? 

We had these jeweled pumpkins last year and sold out of them instantly so we got several sets this year.

 

Old top hats are so cool for a Halloween table.  You can fill them with pumpkins or put them on top of a skeleton's head.  We used some hay to add a special touch to our top hat and pumpkin.

My favorite part about the pumpkins we sell is their twisty stems.  So cute!

 Susan from Knollwood Lane made some fun pennant banners with different images on them.  I love this BOO banner.

 We pretty much believe that you can never have too much glitter!  These are glass glitter pumpkins.  They are $8 and $12 each.

 I love the hanging witch in the moon.  She is so cool.  We ordered her from the Bethany Lowe showroom.

 

Halloween decor looks cool against the temporary wallpaper from my recent post. We made it even more glamorous looking by mixing in mercury glass and old silver like the tray and candleholders below.

 They're watching you....

 These boo blocks have been really popular because you can put them anywhere.

 I ordered the black candleabra for our display a long time ago.  I just knew it would be perfect!

Another cool Knollwood Lane creation.  Susan made door hangers like this skeleton one below.  I love the glass glitter.

 

People have been so tickled by these Ouji board placemats.  We've been collecting them for a few months so we'd have enough to make a whole table setting.

 We've also been collecting the white ironstone for our table.

Mr. Crow is wearing a crown.  He's so fancy. 

 

 These silhouette ornaments are really cool.  It's one of my favorite things we ordered this year.

 

 

This is a fun, inexpensive way to decorate for Halloween.  I bought one bag each of white lima beans, black beans, and black eyed peas.  You can fill jars in layers with them or use them to fill in around displays.

 

We can make you a gorgeous bow for your fall wreath this year.  Just stop in and we will help you pick the ribbon and make whatever size you need.

 

If you are in the St. Louis area, I hope you can come in and see the Halloween displays in person.  We will be happy to help you pick out the right pieces for your mantel, table, cabinet, or front door.  We can always ship things too!  Just give us a call at 314-963-9784 and let us know what you saw on here that you want.  I'll send it right out.

We are working on planning a pumpkin decorating workshop for September too!  I can't wait!  I'll post about that when we figure out the details.