Thanks to Sadie’s inspirational blog entry, I decided that I needed to read Jen Lancaster’s The Tao of Martha.  Since I began reading this memoir, I have cleaned out and reorganized my wardrobe closet, laundry room, and utility closet.  I have come up with some clever ideas for organizing along the way (these ideas will be posted at a later date).  Jen and Martha have also motivated me to use my creativity to decorate for Halloween.  I made a trip to Michael’s to pick up a few supplies…of course I checked out the Martha Stewart section because you really don’t need much else!  I only purchased a bottle of glue, glitter, and some fun scrapbooking labels.  This is what I came up with.  Of course, I also made a pit stop to TJ Maxx for the haunted house candles and owl candle holders.

My mantle is now decorated and it only cost about $40.  The only thing I already had was the fall leave garland that you see in the back and the ceramic pumpkin bag in the center.   I found all of the glass bottles and jars around the house.  You can use empty wine bottles, beer bottles, perfume bottles, vinegar and oil bottles…anything that you think looks good.  I simply either glued or taped the scrapbook labels depending on whether I wanted to permanently use the bottle for decoration for years to come.  If the bottle was empty, I used colored soap or spices I had around the house to fill the jars.  I have one more craft project to make the mantle complete.   Don’t worry I’ll let you have a look at that one too.  In the meantime, get inspired!