Please, please don't stress over Halloween decorations. I have wonderful friends who decorate for Halloween as much as Christmas, and they love it. For me, it is a little much. Here are some ideas you can use that don't break the bank, are simple and fun.
1.
All you need are: a black sharpie, a pumpkin, and a crow from the dollar store. You could use a spider or a rat or a ghost if you want.
2.
Go and find some fall leaves (or better yet, have the kids or grand kids gather them), throw them in some sort of large container: wheel barrow, wagon or planter. Add a crow (or ghost or rat or whatever) and maybe some small pumpkins and you are done! It is perfect for Thanksgiving, too.
3.
Use your existing decor and just add a crow or pumpkin...you get my drift. It does not have to be perfect or hard. But it should bring a smile to your face.
What did you decide to do?
Maggie Mack swabbing out the house:
When my two children were little, it was definitely not to clean. It was always more important to go for a walk, play with the animals, roll in the grass, garden, wash the car, go shopping and such, plus most of the time I was working full time. Not that we were slovenly (well maybe), rather it was just chaos ALL THE TIME. And we had a lot of stuff - probably stuff we didn't need. Probably stuff we didn't even want. It was just so unorganized. Not enough closet space. Laundry - wow, there was always a pile to be washed and then folded, then sometimes put directly on a child never making it to a drawer. Money was tight, and with the troupe growing so fast the investment in a lot of clothes was not a possibility. Therefore, more laundry. Endless cycle. We always had one or two shedding dogs or cats or both...hum, probably not the smartest thing, but so worth it. I would much rather be out in the yard gardening or mowing the lawn. For awhile I wouldn't allow myself to garden until the house was clean, the problem with that was the house was still the same and the yard was a mess, too! I just could not get ahead of the cycle.
Today, I don't spend all day Saturday cleaning which is what I did in the "olden" days. Just a few minutes here and there with one to two hours weekly vacuuming and mopping and dusting. Of course the children have grown and left home and I'm no longer working full time. But I cook now, which I didn't do so much of before. But once you can get things in place and manage to put them back in place, it makes keeping things clean so much easier. Well, mostly.
I keep my kitchen counters clutter free.
My bathroom counters the same - both the Master Bath
and Guest Bath.
And I make my bed first thing in the morning as soon as my husband gets out, tee hee. There is still an inordinate amount of laundry...folded and in drawers, with the most recently cleaned item on the bottom...towels, tee shirts and underwear are all treated this way. Okay, you can laugh, I also rotate my dishes and glasses so that they wear evenly. My life is so much calmer. I loved the time that I took to spend with my children when they were young and am very glad that I did. Now I have time to have a lovely clean, calm home and a home with storage galore. I am really enjoying this time in my life! No high drama!
My husband's office is a lost cause...I just don't go in there except to vacuum! The problem area that I have some control over is the craft room/spare bedroom. Still working on keeping the clutter contained. I've tried keeping each project in bag, but that definitely is not working Are you doing a better job with this than I am? Any ideas?
