HALLOWEEN 2021

The Table is Set!

The seeds for this year's spookiness were inspired by a post on Pinterest.  Even though it was only July, I was scrolling through for Halloween ideas when I came across this great vignette that had a creepy hand in it.   Ok, now I was on a mission!  After stalking ebay, Etsy, and Amazon, I found it!   One problem, when it arrived, the hand was green, but I wanted a white, ghostly hand.  So, of course, I painted it.  Voila, exactly what I wanted.  Next was the need for a black lace tablecloth.  This was my idea, and I didn't want one of those Halloween lacy spiderwebby coverlets, I wanted one with that "Arsenic and Old Lace" feel to it.  So even though it was July I pulled together the first elements of my Halloween tablescape.

I tried the black lace over a white tablecloth, but the contrast was too stark, so I opted for a sparkly beige cloth that worked to my liking.

After the hand and tablecloth, came a few other items, like skulls and fans.   I found two plates at HomeGoods that worked perfectly with my scheme.  They featured a "Mr.& Mrs." skull.  Black and Beige on a creamy white background, the plates were made in England, and I love them.

The week of Halloween rolled around, and I set my table and decorated the fireplace.  The fireplace was a repeat of last year, but the table setting was my new creation.   The two tall topiaries were acquired many years ago and they seem to spice things up.  I enjoy Halloween and always prepare my classic chili served with a cold glass of white wine.  Trick or Treat!

CELLAR MADNESS CHONICLES

 Ohhhh, here we go again.  This time it's the cellar.   The basement is divided into 4 spaces.  The entire space is the footprint of our home and for the most part an open space with a 1/2 bath, laundry room, and an enclosed wine cellar under our sunroom at the front of the house.  It is subterranean and amazing how steady the temperature stays down there.   Of course, the drawback to most basements is they can get water from to time which mine did recently when we got a hurricane and tropical storm back to back.  I'm a few hundred yards from the bay, so the water table can rise quickly, but my basement is geared to handle water as long as it's not more than an inch or so.  Double tile floor on top of concrete and a sump pump. Also, everything is off the floor by at least an inch. 

The wine cellar is my focus because even though it has 4 large wine racks, it's also a great storage area because of the steady temperature.  Candles, paint, dishware, etc., are safe because there is little temperature fluctuation.  

Much neglected, the cellar became a disorganized mess, so I finally got the bug to clean it out.  In doing so, I had to clean up the walls which were in need of a new coat of DryLok.  Whew!  That stuff has a strong odor!  I woke up this morning feeling woozy, so I'm taking a little break today until this dizziness goes away.

Meanwhile, I drug all the "stuff" out of the cellar so I could organize, clean, and paint when I ran across this cute Baileys Irish Coffee Cup.  It was my MIL's and now I have it.   It's quirky and I love using it around Halloween.

I've been working away on the cellar and making great progress. I had wine racks on 1 and 1/2 walls, so I removed the 1/2 wall which left me with one wall for wine storage.  When I removed the unwanted racks, I was left with a nice framework of shelves.  It looks so much better, and the shelves will be much more functional.  The rear wall has wine storage which is plenty.

 I've got one more area on a wall that needs cleaning up and a coat of DryLok. I dread doing it, but it must be done.  The dust and fumes are killer, but I'll wear a mask and use the vacuum.  Ugh!

Now it's time to weed out.  Absolutely the hardest part of any purge.  I tend to hang on to things, but I am determined to toss, toss, toss.

  

GARAGE MADNESS CHRONICLES - Week 3

    Day 15, Monday.  Here we go, time to get in gear and finish this project.  Today I cleared off the backyard table.  I packed up four boxes and brought some items into the house to clean up and look over.  Here's the table when I started:

    As you can see, my Mom had a copperware collection.  Most of it is Coppercraft Guild made in Massachussettes.  She must have purchased this in the late 60s early 70s.  I'm thinking she bought them at home parties featuring these wares.  She has two trays, a chocolate pot, creamer, sugar, covered casserole with glass insert, a bowl, and a candy dish.  I brought them in, and except for the hammered tray which had corrosion, the pieces were in pristine condition. These pieces are on ebay.  It would be easy to price and sell them, but for now, I cleaned and boxed them up and will keep them in the garage.

    I also found a Herend (Hungary) ashtray.  It's small, but goes for about $25 on ebay.

    All cleaned up:

        Day 16, Tuesday.  Oh my!  It's been a busy day in the garage.   Moving things around, and going through boxes.  I found a real stinky one that was sitting on the floor.  It had a couple dozen of Vinnie's LPs in it.   He was able to salvage about 8 of them.  I unpacked two boxes, then repacked them.  What a chore.

    I found a vintage Coca-Cola tray amongst my Mother's things.  It features a woman in a yellow bathing suit, and on ebay it goes for $99 to $325.  Wow! Should I keep it?

    The next pic is of two pixie figurines made in occupied Japan which were my grandmother's.  She kept them on her windowsill along with a small brass pony and would let me play with them when I was a little girl.  I'm so fortunate to have these memories.

    Day 17, Wednesday.  I thought today would be a lost day because I'm meeting my girlfriends for an early dinner tonight. We haven't had a gathering for about a year and a half because of Covid.  But even so, I got in gear and managed to get through almost all the boxes in the last third of my garage.  These are all my seasonal items for home decor, such as the Christmas tree which I took a quick look at, and all of the Christmas decorations.  I threw out quite a bit, and now, there are no cardboard boxes touching the garage floor.  I managed to finish by 2-2:30 pm, rested for a while, then got ready.  We had a wonderful time.  It's so much fun to gather with friends!

    Day 18, Thursday.  Up early again, and hit the garage with a vengeance.  Today I organized and threw out more stuff.  You know those videos of little varmints digging a hole, and the sand and dirt is flying out behind them?  Well, that was me, throwing stuff out the garage door.  I mean seriously, we had seven beach chairs, and there is two of us.  Omg, so I threw out two of them.  Low and behold Vinnie came out to see what I was doing hours later and he asked me, " Are you throwing those beach chairs away?"   I didn't give him a nice answer 😡.  Come on, really?  Dozens of empty boxes came out.  However, I was running out of gas and piled them back in the garage.  After a good night's sleep, I'll break down and bundle them because everything will go out tomorrow for recycling and trash.  It feels so great to almost be done with this huge project.

   

    Day 20, Friday - FINIS! O.M.G. It's done.  I am so happy.  So, this is the way I look at it:  Rather than a can of worms, my garage is now...a can of sardines 😂.  Put another way, instead of a huge jumbled mess that was unorganized with dozens of mystery boxes, now, it's organized, labeled, and you can actually walk around without fear of something falling on you.  And it smells a heck of a lot better because anything damp was dried out, repacked, or thrown away.  

    Last night an image popped into my head of a beautiful glass fishbowl.  Backstory:  One year when we vacationed in Montauk, we stayed at the "Pool House" and there was a beautiful glass fishbowl/terrarium out by the pool.  It was slightly damaged, a crack as I remember, but it was beautiful.  Soon thereafter, I saw one in HomeGoods, and snapped it up.  It looks like this:

    So this fishbowl popped into my head, and I thought, I know it's in the garage somewhere, and today I stumbled onto it!   It was one of the last boxes I opened.   One flipper foot was chipped with very sharp edges, so I put a coat of epoxy over the damaged area.  It's so beautiful.  I packed it up in my Vitamix boxes, and it awaits its turn to come out, probably next summer.

    There it is peeps, the Garage Madness Chronicles finally comes to an end.  

Until our next adventure, I'll bid adieu.