HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happy Halloween! So happy I am back from all my crazy traveling to celebrate my favorite holiday...

My love for Halloween definitely comes from my Mom. Growing up, costumes and decorations were always home-made from items we found in the basement. (Anyone looking for a last minute costume idea, a gypsy is easy to put together from vintage clothing and big costume jewelry.) This weekend, I ventured back to PA to enjoy a haunted house at her antique store, Pack Rats Place. Here are a few of my favorite pics...

Imagine seeing that creepy rabbit head in a dark basement as a kid...

My mom made her own electric chair from spare wood and lights. 

You never know what you're going to find in the basement: Here she used my red hoodie from college and blouse and skirt from an ancestor

The eyes on this Halloween prop moved and every once in awhile you'd catch him looking at you. Creepy!

FOOD TRUCK ART

I love it when something so common on the streets of NYC, as food carts are recreated into works of art. Check out these great prints by LA artist, Sean Finnocchio.

Be sure to check out his series of taco trucks, SF dim sum and LA apartments too!

HALLOWEEN GOODNESS

Ever since the Halloween, my mom and I created a haunted house that spanned our entire basement, I've loved decorating for Halloween. This year, I scoured Etsy for some vintage Halloween-inspired finds...

Tickets and Fabric

Alphabet Cards

Frankenstein and Glass Head

Target

Doll Head and Flash Cards

1940s Skeleton

RAINY DAY

A few pics from a rainy day in the Village...

 

Here's hoping the sun comes out tomorrow.

CLEANING UP...

Working at the Flea hasn't left me with a lot of time to clean my apartment. (Think laundry everywhere, storage containers piled high and a sink load of dishes, ugh!) Yesterday, I decided to tackle the mess. I found these great tips on Real Simple for tackling cleaning problems with ordinary products (think fewer chemicals.) My fave, cleaning silver with baking soda. This might save me some serious scrubbing time.

Also liked this one, have got to remember to do this before my next party...

 

Definitely doing this one. Much better than picking up the trash from the bottom of the bin.

Check out more helpful hints from Real Simple here. What's your best trick for cleaning your home?

MOVING ON UP...

I've got some exciting news (and part of the reason I've been a little quiet this week). This Sat, I'm going to be setting up a brand new booth at the Brooklyn Flea in Fort Greene.

The Fort Greene location has tons of vintage finds, delicious food (passion fruit glazed donuts, um yes!) and some serious celeb spotting. Writers from Lucky Magazine just wrote about this flea market (and other fabulous markets around the country), check out them out here.

Last week I introduced my new fall look for O&B and this week, I can't wait to make it even better. If you're around, come out and say hi.

FOUND IT! CAMPAIGN NIGHTSTAND

Ever think something is meant to be? I picked up this amazing campaign style nightstand at a thrift store in Dennis, MA for $10! I literally squealed and ran over to it. (Mine looks just like this, but with a little more character). 

My love affair with campaign style furniture started when I spotted this dresser in an issue of Lonny. I wrote about it back in August 2010 and have been dreaming about finding reasonably priced one ever since...

 

 My little nightstand needs a little work, but hopefully soon, it will look like this...

I'll keep you posted on the progress. Other cool finds from the weekend, coming tomorrow...