home decor – thehomeplaceweb

Halloween used to be one day, now it’s a season – a season which starts in the summer apparently as my first sighting of ghosts was in late July when these Martha Steward goblins made an appearance in Winners/Marshalls/Homesense. (a home decor/department store for things you didn’t know you needed.)

These are cute Martha, they light up, but really $49.99? I’m sure I can make my own with an old sheet, a foam head that you use for hats, and a string of LED lights. Perhaps not as professional, but much cheaper.

Enough is enough. If you really must buy this stuff, (plush pumpkins, ceramic ghosts with orange bows?), at least wait until after Halloween when everything is on sale. I bought a trio of hanging ghosts at Michael’s last year for $3 each. Alas I have no tree from which to hang them, as my birch tree has given up the ghost!

Just say no. Why would anyone buy this, especially for $399, unless they were into gold plated status symbols? It weighed a ton….but when I went back a few weeks later it was gone.

And does anyone really need black and white Halloween dishes? Unless you turn off the lights and hold a dinner party, you’re too busy answering the door to dine on anything but cold pizza. I must admit I did succumb and buy the salt and pepper shakers, ($10 for the set) but then I worried they might be encouraging people (including me) to add more salt to their diet, just for the novelty, so I’ve stored them in the china cabinet for now. (They will be allowed out one night a year.)

Next stop was Home Depot in mid-August, where I was looking for plants on sale, but came upon a whole aisle of scary creatures, some of them gigantic.

If animated creatures are part of your Halloween, and you have an extra $300 to add to your collection, then by all means shop early for best selection. The scariest ones sell out first. For the rest of us, it’s far cheaper to visit the neighbours display.

This Bride of Frankenstein is my favourite, followed by the girl on the swing.

Another neighbour has several of these on her front lawn. I’m not sure what they’re made of, but alternatively, you could enlist a tween who insists they are too old for Halloween to pose for a few hours.

And when did buying a pumpkin become so complicated? What color? How big? How much do you want to spend on something that’s only going to get smashed at the curb the next day. I’ve noticed it was a good year for pumpkins as they seem to be larger than normal. But the bigger it is, the more gooey goop you have to scrap out of it, a job I did not like even when I was a child. You just need something on your front porch that indicates you’re having Halloween, at least as long as the candle stays lit, which on a windy night can be a challenge. (LED lights to the rescue.)

As for costumes, when I was a kid you were either a ghost, a witch, or a tramp, and the costumes were recycled among your siblings year after year as you grew. There wasn’t a whole store full of choices, which changed every year, depending on the popular movie characters. And no one was a princess with a ballgown that cost as much as Kate Middleton’s.

There was a large selection of fall and Halloween themed candles to add some ambience to your spooky night.

We’ve had such a ‘spell’ of fine weather and I have $50 worth of candy so I hope it’s not a stormy night. One year when it was cold and windy and raining, I didn’t bother with Halloween as the forecast was so bad. I turned out the lights and looked out once in a while, and saw exactly one solitary spook being blown down the street. If it’s a school night there tend to be fewer tricker or treaters anyway. And if the weather is really bad they go to the mall or a few select stops, as the parents don’t want them eating all that candy anyway, and sometimes they can dress up for school parties. I don’t remember that ever being an option when I was a kid. I don’t remember the weather ever being a deterrent either, you just piled on more layers. As this year is a Saturday night, it’s likely to be busy.

Speaking of candy, I swear the chocolate bars get smaller every year – these are barely two bites – of course I had to sample them, what if they were stale? They were good, but more chocolately (with rice pieces) that the traditional KitKats. I also hand out Lay’s Chips and Cheetos, so I can eat the leftovers (built in portion control).

If it is a dark and stormy night, you can turn the lights off early and hold a midnight seance. Be prepared, oh deadly spirits – you may be summoned. As for the ingredients in these candles, bergamot belongs in Earl Gray tea, sage in turkey stuffing and the earthy oak was somewhat reminiscent of dead leaves. No wonder they smelled so bad. I passed on these, as they weren’t likely to entice any otherworldly visitors.

But you can’t go wrong with mulled wine after the lights are out. Although I had to look up oud – a rare fragrance note used in perfume and incense and sourced from the wood resin of a tree infested with parasitic mold. But the color matched my new witches cloak.

Never underestimate the power of a good witch’s cloak. This one is versatile, as it’s reversible. It’s black satin on one side, so with a pointy hat you’re the perfect witch. If you’re in the mood for something more regal, the burgundy velvet is reminiscent of a character from the Game of Thrones – switch out the hat for a gold crown and you’ll rule your kingdom far and wide. It’s quite long and surprisingly warm too – if the night is chilly – and at $12.50 with my store points, it was a real bargain. We witches have to be thrifty. (I do have some experience as a witch – see MacBeth -the cauldron scene – grade 12 – Double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble etc. (Link to MacBeth witches scene – By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes – I’m not sure where you’d get some of those ingredients today though….dragon scales anyone?)

This witch walk sounded like fun, but it was last Saturday night when the moon was full. You were to meet at dusk and walk along the waterfront park, join in anywhere, it ended at a restaurant parking lot. What a unique activity for the witching hour, and I love the slogans. Not to mention a great marketing idea, as I’m sure there was plenty of witches brew served along with the usual pub food. I’ll be prepared for next year. In the meantime, I may light my candle, don my cloak, and pen something in the fantasy genre which is so popular now. Maybe something with a dragon and a spell or two for inspiration. Happy Hauntings My Lovelies!

(PS. When I was in the store yesterday, all the Halloween and autumn decor was packed away, and it was full of Christmas stuff – the buying season is upon us, with not a snowflake in sight.)

: Ski Lodge – 2016

Now that I’m no longer working and my daily commute is a walk through the snow drifts to the mail box, I’ve realized that my life is already pretty hygge, at least compared to what it was. No more watching the weather forecasts for potential snowstorms or laying awake half the night worrying about the roads, (I had one of those jobs where the only option for staying home was if you called in dead), or driving home late at night through whiteouts, where the only good thing was that you were the only fool on the road and hence could drive down the middle of it. One of the benefits of getting older is that you don’t have to work anymore, and if you are elderly like my mother, no one expects you to go out at all, so you can stay at home and paint.

A big part of hygge is appreciating the things you have and do that make winter a bit more bearable. (see previous blog Comfort and Joy: How to survive January, for more on hygge, which is a derived from a Danish word for “well-being”). So, what are the things that make a home hygge? The Danes are big on coziness, candles, coffee, blankets, fireplaces, mulled wine, sweets, relaxed decor, soft lighting, comfortable clothing and casual entertaining. Sounds like a recipe for a snow day. Hygge is even better if you can arrange for a snowstorm, preferably one with howling winds, the kind where the weather forecaster tells everyone to stay inside and off the roads. Then after it has passed, and the world is a winter wonderland, you can go outside and make a snowman.

: Blue Snowman – 2017

And of course no snow day would be complete without grilled cheese and tomato soup, it’s the stuff childhood memories are made of.

There’s nothing worse for your house than to feel bare and cheerless after the Christmas decorations have been taken down, (your house has feelings too, see Tidying up blog Jan), so I keep some of them up until the end of January, sometimes mid-February, if it’s a particularly harsh winter. You can put the Santa and reindeer stuff away for a much-deserved rest, but the greenery, pine cones, berries and fairy lights can help provide a hygge atmosphere.

The Danes are the biggest consumers of candles, (mainly unscented), so light some pretty candles.

Comfort food is a big part of hygge. Homemade beef vegetable soup simmering on the stove, leftover turkey pie, mac and cheese,

or a big pot of chili, with a simple green salad and some warm bread, all make a nice evening supper. Dempster’s baguettes are so good, you could pass them off as homemade – eight minutes in the oven, and they come in whole grain and rosemary/garlic too. Baking itself is very hygge, brownies from a box are quick and can bribe snow shovelers, while a date nut loaf takes more work but can give your house a wonderful smell. If you don’t want to bake, you can spray some cinnamon room spray around and buy some treats.

The Danes love reading nooks, so a plump lounge chair with some cozy pillows and a throw, is a good place to sip cocoa and read your favorite magazine, even better if the chair faces a window where you can watch the snow falling outside or the cardinals at the feeder.

If you are lucky enough to have a fireplace, then nothing beats reading a book by the fire. You can start in on that stack you got at the second-hand sale last year. Popcorn and mulled cider make a nice fireside snack. Add some mellow music, Ella Fitzgerald is always good.

If you haven’t got a love to keep you warm, a cat is good company, maybe two, but no more than five.

Tiger Cat – AMc – 2017

Five Cats – AMc – 2016

Reading in bed with a cat purring, and tea and cookies, is pure hygge.

There is something about plaid that is so cheerful. I put a red plaid flannel duvet cover on my bed before Christmas and leave it on all winter. It looks nice with crisp white sheets and lacy pillows, an idea I saw in a decorating magazine once. A plaid flannel housecoat with a fleece lining (Vanity Fair at Sears before they closed, but L.L. Bean carries these too), can keep you warm and cozy while you do your final check around the house before bed, and when you look outside, yes it is still snowing. It’s really piling up out there, you may be snowed in tomorrow too. As you drift off to sleep, listening to the north winds howl, may you have sweet dreams….of summer!