A few pics...

 Rats & Spiders & Crows.......oh my!!!

I'm just getting settled in from my trip Country Sampler for Boxwood & Berries and I thought I'd do a little decorating since Halloween is just around the corner.

I filled an old trophy with spanish moss, sticks and little glittery spiders.

And my favorite old rat.....he's creepy but fun.

Jeanne took Maggie and I out to the farm before we had to hit the road and let us gather some bittersweet and pumpkins.  

Oh how I love bittersweet.

I put mine in an old basket.

And if you're signed up for the newest Country Sampler event

~It's A Grand Olde Flag Girl Gathering~

June 6th - 9th 2012

you'll get to see Jeanne & Reed's farm first hand.

She has some fantastic things planned for the Schoolroom and the farm.

Maggie and I will be there along with Linda from Chessie & Me

You won't want to miss it.....it's going to be a real treat!!!

 My old crow is perched on a birdcage I found last year in Wisc.

I shopped my way home and barely got it in the truck....but there was no way I was coming home with out it : ) even if I had to strap it to the top

And as if I didn't learn my lesson about falling off a ladder.....I'm standing on my stitching chair to get this pic.  The basket of bittersweet and my old crow and birdcage are perched up high on my old cupboard.  

Thankfully I pulled it off without a spill : )

Oh....and the spiderweb is fake, although there's probably some real ones up there too : )

Ok....I bought this platform with a mirror on my way home from Wisc. this year.

Love love love it. 

I'm sure it has a name other than 'platform' but it escapes me at the moment.

I actually saw a bunch in a little shop last year but I didn't buy one.

So....this year I was thrilled that they had one left. 

I've seen them in magazines displayed with sweet little glass perfume bottles on them or a glass dome.

Jeanne has one on her kitchen island with an old glass jar filled with ribbon.  

I had to stare at it the whole time I was at her house : )

So now I have one of my very own.

And the little Witch Hazel bottle was purchased at the same store.  My little mouse is keeping watch over it.

This is Taylor's Autumn gift to me.

She spent the good part of an afternoon in the yard playing in the leaves.

And then she came in proudly displaying her masterpiece.

She collected 5 or 6 little red leaves and stacked them up biggest to smallest and attached them to the 3 green leaves.  

It's so sweet.

I have it displayed in front of a glass jar filled with rocks the kids collect for me when we vacation in Michigan.

I love that all my kids collect things from nature.....and their faces beam with excitement when they present their gifts to me. (That's my favorite part : )

Even my husband joins in.  He went to a show with me and came back from a walk with the sweetest little bird nest and tiny feather.  It almost made me cry.  I have them proudly displayed in an old mercury glass compote under a glass dome.

It's the simple things......

 Here are a few more things that I found on my way back from Wisc.

The silver tinsel garland is so fun.....I have no idea what I'm going to do with it yet but I had to have it.

And the silver footed bowl makes a perfect home for the tinsel, some old scissors and a couple spools of yarn.

 And I just love this old glass compote.  I originally thought I'd use it in the kitchen but right now it's home for some silk ribbon and old spools I found.

Maybe at Christmas I'll fill it with homemade treats.

I found this old glass battery jar on a trip to the antique mall in Madison.  I thought the shape of it was pretty cool. 

And Maggie was showing us how she grows paperwhites in old glass mason jars at Christmas and I could just picture this filled with them too.

But I couldn't wait till Christmas to display this neat old jar so I filled it with spanish moss, sticks, crows and spiders for Halloween.

And I put it on that cool old platform to add a little depth.

I like it so much I'm going to be sad to take the sticks out to make room for paperwhite bulbs : )

 I had to share this book with you ~The French Cat~......the pictures are amazing.

I found it at a new bookstore ~Arcadia Books~ across the street from Country Sampler in Spring Green.

I think I made at least 6 trips over there during my trip.  They have a nice little cafe so I grabbed a cup of coffee and browsed every spare minute I had.

And if you have small children or grandchildren I found a series of books called ~Ivy & Bean~.  We just started reading them and Taylor loves them.  The first one in the series is called ~Born to be bad~

and it's very fitting for Miss T : )

Here is a link to Arcadia's info if you're ever in the area:

Arcadia Books

I loved the store so much I've emailed them and ordered more books.

Every little bit helps.....I just want them to be there the next time I visit Spring Green.

Well I'm off.....hope you enjoyed the pics

I haven't held a needle for 2 weeks and I'm desperate to stitch.....

Smiles,
Stacy