Halloween Crepe Paper Streamers From Germany

These crepe paper Halloween streamers are perfect for your autumn holiday decorating! The were made in Germany with traditional witch and pumpkins designs.

The black and orange nut cups, below, work well for party treats and were made right here in the USA. If you need these, you can find them in our Etsy shop.

Fall Decorating: Cone Cornucopias

One of my absolute favorite things in our shop is the millinery.  I love sorting it, photographing it and, of course, doing things with it.  Above are a couple of my top picks -- a spray of autumn colored maple leaves, vintage white cherries and vintage button mushrooms.  They mixed in perfectly with other seasonal fruits and leaves to top off a few handmade paper cones.

Much like the treat buckets, we used pretty Italian papers, ribbons and Dresden trims to create these cones.  Plus a scrap of a girl holding a cornucopia.  I'm very into the large turkey Dresdens -- we just got them in today so they'll be in the shop and on the website first thing tomorrow.

We made each cone unique but kept it pretty cohesive color-wise.  Left to right we have a velvet leaf/nut and vintage exotic fruit cone, an autumn floral cone with both vintage and contemporary flowers and, last but not least, a fruit cone with all vintage Japanese and German berries, fruits and chili.

Have you started thinking Thanksgiving crafting? Or is Thanksgiving more of a cooking holiday for you? It's definitely a time for baking around here.  And for... mmm... turkey sandwiches!

Neighborhood Walkabout Part 3: A Little Structure

Continuing with photos from our neighborhood walk....

My mom moves in for a better view of an interesting statue as I covertly snap another "I'm taking a picture of you taking a picture" shots.

This house has always reminded me of a lodge, well, except for those surrounding palm trees.

This adorable cottage received a remodel some decades ago by one of our favorite people. I'm partial to the tree house platform in the avocado tree to the right.

Looking northwest over the tennis courts of a house with a grand view toward the blue Pacific.

We passed this little U-Haul conversion about a block from home packed to the gills with a gardener's stuff. Was just about to put my camera away and couldn't resist a last shot.

Neighborhood Walkabout Part 2: Flora

Here are a few more shots from the blustery spin my mom and I took around our neighborhood.

This stay of horsetails was the largest I've ever seen -- about 6 feet tall and packed stalk-to-stalk. I have a couple of these growing in pots (my grandmother had cautioned me against planting something so invasive in the ground, "They're horrible, they'll break concrete!") but mine are downright tame compared to these.

Up the road, an avocado tree had dropped the world's tiniest avocado -- poor thing was lime sized and probably all pit.

At the risk of shooting side by side and ending up with similar pictures, I took a sneakier approach and tried to capture my mom while she was occupied and unaware.

Past the farthest houses in the distance is the Pacific Ocean and a cliff that slopes about 100 feet down to the beach. Also in the distance down the hill are the train tracks and Coast Highway.

A short cut for pedestrians along a private drive led us to a fence covered in the most beautiful purple blossoms.

Tomorrow check back for a more structured view of our neighborhood.

Neighborhood Walkabout Part 1: Curious Creatures

Yesterday afternoon I invited my mom to walk on the beach while I surfed, but the winds blowing down from the north had other ideas. The waves were whipped into a mess and, despite the warm summer water still hanging around, stiff winds promised that even the most brief dip would be a chilly one. Instead we opted for a walk around our neighborhood with cameras in tow.

Despite living in crowded Southern California, pockets of agriculture dot our area. Behind the bushes below are rows and rows of greenhouses that have been there as long as I can remember.

This pretty butterfly caught my eye as I took the above shot. He landed just long enough for me to snap his picture before moving on to a more flowered yard.

Our neighborhood is a series of slight slopes and a few steeper hills. At the very top we passed this mailbox decorated with a modern art twist.

The honking geese are a favorite stop: it doesn't matter how many times we pass, they always honk and approach the fence. My mom moves in for the shot.