The last few weeks of my life have been complete craziness…I started a new full-time job after being self-employed for 25+ years, but I have not given up any of my freelance projects yet. And – I decided it would be a good idea to DIY all the Halloween decor for one of my restaurant clients. Super smart, don’t you think? And I’m also determined not to let this blog fall by the wayside.
And I don’t drink coffee.
My days consist of getting up at 4 or 5am so I can put 3 hours in before I go to work for 8 hours at the new job. Then I come home and work until I pass out from exhaustion. Days off? They don’t exist….I spend them chained to my computer trying to get caught up. My plants are dying, the house is dirty, I’ve got 3 inches of dark and gray roots in desperate need of attention, and we’ve exhausted all our take out options in the neighborhood. The DRG and I are living like roommates who don’t like each other much. Except I adore him…and I’m amazed he’s still hanging around.
It’s not forever, and I’m not afraid of hard work. But….I’m thinking I probably can’t keep this up very long.
One night last week the DRG was helping me cut out bats for the restaurant (we turned it into a drinking game) and helping me decide whether “Wolfbane Potion” should be blue or green.
“What do normal couples do on Friday nights?” I asked.
He replied, “I dunno….I think they watch TV or something”.
Sigh…
I’ve got to make some adjustments – and SOON.
In better news – the Halloween parties I’ve been working on were a big success! Everything looked great.
All the big tables got a spooky vignette.
I got so many nice comments on them….they weren’t the run of the mill Halloween decor you usually see in restaurants and public spaces.
The small tables all got a Pretty Poison Vase:
We had a long buffet table set up in the main dining room. I draped some boxes with black fabric along the back to give it some height and vary the levels.
I placed my potion bottles, candlesticks, and skulls on the boxes and along the window sill.
The “spell books” were especially popular – I had a lot of people pick them up to see if they were really full of spells.
I hung black mesh fabric from all the window and doorways, taped black bats to the walls and stretched cobwebs over everything. You don’t realize how much stuff it takes to decorate a commercial space with Halloween decor….it’s a much bigger undertaking than tackling a room at home.
I’m pretty happy with how everything went, and both the kid’s party and the adults had a very respectable turnout. The only downside was waking up Sunday morning (still exhausted after working 15+ hours the day before) and finding a message from one of the moms at the children’s party. She felt that the way we judged the costume contest wasn’t fair because her daughter didn’t win, and it “really left a bad taste in her mouth”.
Seriously?
I’m usually pretty good with diffusing potential issues with customers, but I had to retype my response several times. I suppose if her daughter HAD won that she would have thought the judging was fair and accurate?
She’s probably a Trump supporter. 😉
Want to know how I made all of this spooky, budget friendly Halloween decor?
Halloween Decor on the Cheap: 5 Fast Thrift Store Fixes
Halloween Decor on the Cheap: Spooky Spell Books
Halloween Decor on the Cheap: Pretty Poison Vases
Halloween Decor on the Cheap: Bloody Candles
Halloween Decor on the Cheap: DIY Potion Bottles
I’m linking this post up at some terrific blog parties – you can find the complete list of places I party HERE.
