{happy halloween}

{card from Paper Relics}
Happy Halloween from Southern Flair

{día de los muertos}

{Traditional Sugar Skulls}

Trade in a typical Halloween for one with a twist! Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a Mexican holiday celebrated on the 1st and 2nd of November. The traditional Mexican holiday is reserved for gathering together with friends and family to honor and remember loved ones who have dies. Traditions include building alters made of sugar skulls to passed loved ones, decorating with marigolds and serving favorite food and drink of the departed. My roommate's family is from Mexico, although she was raised in the United States, and she said they used to decorate their house with sugar skulls for Halloween/Day of the Dead and on November 2nd she would finally get to break off little pieces of the decorated sugar skulls to eat! If you still haven't gotten your fill of ghouls and ghosts after October 31st - why not celebrate Latin style and throw a Día de los Muertos party! Try this site for authentic party supplies.

{wicked wishes}

Papyrus is one of my favorite card companies and their Halloween greeting cards don't disappoint! Give one to your favorite ghoul or goblin this year!

{diy spooky halloween}

I fell in love with these "Beware" pumpkins last year, but needed an affordable alternative {I don't have $60 to blow on season decorations} so I decided to make my own version!

Ta-da! Spooky pumpkins! I went to the craft store, bought 6 small pumpkins, some white spray paint and a black paint pen and made my own for around $10! I think they're pretty cute and I definitely recommend trying your hand at a pumpkin message for your home!

{halloween kid craft}

I don't post about a whole lot of things for kids... but, then again, these are pretty cute for anyone... Inspire Co. has a really cool online magazine, Inspired Ideas, that features crafts, blogger spotlights, sewing projects, recipes, etc. I really love one of her more recent posts about these Jack O' Containers... they would be very cute as Halloween decor or a fun craft project for kids!

{witchy women}

I am a huge fan of pin-up art, so today I thought I would share some of my favorite Halloween pin-up girls with you!

{m.a.c. halloween}

M.A.C has compiled 10 different looks for Halloween! All 10 looks are perfect for a truly authentic looking Halloween costume. The best part is you don't have to figure out how to recreate the look yourself AND you don't have to worry about buying all the different products used to create each festive creature. Simply print out the look you want and bring the sheet to a M.A.C store near you, one of the M.A.C artists will recreate the look right in the store!

{beguiling bath & body}

Haunt, Etsy shop, is a alluring bath and body store front that fits perfectly with the Halloween/harvest season. The soaps, body oils and lip balms are all handmade with fresh good-for-you ingredients. With aromas like pumpkin lavender, orange tea blossom, caramel apple, golden pumpkin, bittersweet and marzipan & shortbread, Haunt is sure to evoke memories of crunching through fallen leaves or drinking apple cider while cuddled under a warm fleece blanket.

{godiva halloween treats}

Godiva never seems to disappoint! Their Halloween goodies are ADORABLE! I love the chocolate lollipops - such a great Halloween treat! There is a Godiva store in Lenox Mall, my favorite mall in Atlanta, and whenever I am shopping I just have to stop in and get a little treat. My favorite thing out of all of their delicious chocolates is their Godiva biscuits, chocolate and shortbread like cookies - YUM!!

{pbk halloween}

I was perusing Pottery Barn's website and stumbled across the most hilarious costumes for kids! If only there had been a banana costume when I was a trick-or-treat-er... If you happen to have a little one I'm sure they would love to dress up as a hamburger or maybe a hedgehog!

{halloween costume}

Every year my beau's fraternity hosts a HUGE Halloween party and every year I try to find a really cute costume that no one else at the party will be wearing! This year, I have decided to be Sherlock Holmes! I love the little houndstooth dress + caplet PLUS I'm pretty sure no one else will be the same thing! The skirt is WAY shorter than my normal clothes, so I will definitely be wearing tights!! The beau is going as Sherlock too, we found him a hat/pipe combo and we'll be heading to the thrift store to look for a cloak! I love Halloween!!

{mcspooky}

{early 90s version}

{late 90s version - notice the subtle updates? cookie cutter lids, improved face detail... such vast improvements!}

Does anyone else remember these?! I was crazy for these plastic Happy Meal buckets when I was little {yes.. I was little in the 90s, I'm that young}!! I LOVED them! My sisters and I would collect them {I'm sure it drove my mom NUTS} and we were just the kind of precocious little girls that marched right up to the counter and requested a different bucket "if we already had that one"... There was a purple one I can't find a picture of that I was my favorite.

I must admit... If McDonald's still served their Happy Meal in a Halloween bucket today I might have to go get a cheeseburger Happy Meal!

{a primitive halloween}

I really love the creepy yet sweet look of these primitive Halloween decorations from RagsNTags Etsy shop! RagsNTags is so creative! Each pattern is complete to the last detail on how to create these ghoulish Halloween items. I love the cinnamon roll {even though it's not technically Halloween} it's so yummy looking and would serve as a cute decoration all the way through Christmas!

{Trick or Treat Lamp}

{Bat Ornament}

{Flying Jack}

{Candy Corn}

{Jack o' Lantern with Perched Crow}

{Witch Sacks}

{venus halloween}

Today is the first day of Southern Flair's 13 Days of Halloween posting series! For the next 13 days, leading up to Halloween, Southern Flair will be featuring Halloween inspired posts... So, break out the candy corn and licorice ropes and pop in your wax fangs!

Halloween is here!

Venus Ribbon has over 15 Halloween-inspired ribbon designs as well as super cute ideas for how to use their ribbon in holiday projects, gifts, etc. Their Halloween designs are currently 25-50% off so order quick!

{psst... Hobby Lobby carries Venus designs}

{peace love and dogeared}

Dogeared Jewelry is one of my favorite jewelry lines. Everything they create has a nice, organic feel... while being pretty, instead of granola. I have always loved the happy nature of a peace sign and apparently so does Dogeared! They have over 70 items featuring the peace sign! I selected a few of my favorites to share with you... I really love the peace wreath... so pretty and welcoming {indoor or out} year round and the peace house blessing would be a perfectly unique housewarming gift!

{sponsoring southern flair}

{take it to the streets}

{Street Sign Trash Cans}

In the spirit of going green - which everyone, everywhere seems to be doing nowadays, I was in search of some really cool eco-friendly product to share, when I discovered all of these really cool things made out of recycled road/street signs! Definitely more industrial for my taste in chair form, but I could go for some cool street sign coasters!

{ Street Sign Chairs}

{Street Sign Coasters}

{Street Sign Bowls}

{new outfit}

I recently went to a party in New Orleans and needed an outfit on the fly! I knew I wanted to be able to use my gold Hobo clutch {that I love - they have the same style in soo many awesome colors, go get one!} So, with that in mind, I ran to Dillard's and found THIS dress {I chose the purple color} + these J-Simp shoes - I was literally in and out of the store in 30 minutes flat! My girlfriend was with me and was like, "That was easy!" Ha! The dress didn't even need to be altered - talk about LUCK! I definitely recommend Dillard's for any spur-of-the-moment outfit needs and I have been a Jessica Simpson shoe fan since the line was started a few years ago. Her shoes are always right on and the deep plum colored patent croc peep-toe I picked up will go with just about anything this fall/winter season. I love fast + easy, work-with-what-you-got shopping!

{day at the outlet}

I was home visiting my family this weekend, so we HAD to make a trip up to the North Georgia Outlet - which is hands down the best outlet EVER! It has stores like Kate Spade, William-Sonoma, JCrew, Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Pottery Barn, the list goes on... I found so many things that I "needed" but like everyone I'm on a budget, so I only left with my absolute favorites!


I found the MOST perfect LSU game day table cloth (and matching oven-mitt and pot holder) from the William-Sonoma outlet. GEAUX TIGERS!


I also went to the Polo Factory outlet and found a really great purple turtleneck sweater with gold buttons on the neck, that will be perfect for the only cold game we'll have at the end of November, an adorable pair of black cable-knit gloves with metallic gold embroidered polo men on the edge and grabbed a handful of tortoise shell bangles, which I have been on the hunt for FOREVER and plan on wearing them with everything! I think everyone would agree it was a successful trip!


After leaving the outlets we went for dinner at Tin Lizzy, a really cool Cantina in Atlanta with a younger crowd and AWESOME food! It has a really great vibe with live music and big TVs for watching all of the football games on Saturday and Sundays. We started out with a Three Amigos, which is your choice of 1 of 3 salsas, 1 of 4 quesos and their delicious guacamole + an extra large "tin" of chips - so good! I ordered the grilled chicken taco {on a whole wheat tortilla} and a side of veggie black beans. The food is incredible + it's all served in really cool shallow galvanized "tin" buckets! I can't wait to go back when I'm in town again and just hang out, listening to the live music and enjoying a margarita with a Three Amigos!

{well behaved women rarely make history}

Well behaved women rarely make history! Ain't that the truth!! I have been in love with Junk Gypsy ever since I first discovered them several years ago... I'm not sure why I haven't shown the love sooner! I wish I could fully embrace my inner Junk Gypsy because I know she's in there just kickin' and screamin' to be let out! Until then I'll throw in bits and pieces of my gypsy side in little doses here and there when the feeling is right... Now check out my favorite junk and if any of you girls want to be a legend, just go ahead and BE ONE!

{retro decoupaged wallet}

{wild child belt buckle}

{recycled coffee bag}

{liberty saloon sign}

{calamity jane tshirt}

{vagabond pillow}

{vagabond tshirt}

{new obsession}

I am totally and completely obsessed with new Sharpie pens! They are AMAZING and write soo smoothly! You'll never use a crummy old ballpoint again... I found mine at Target but I'm sure WalMart and other places carry them as well!

{oatmeal chocolate chip cookies}

With fall approaching, I got the urge to make a batch of my favorite cookies {with a little tweaking}. Everyone in my family will tell you how much they LOVE my chocolate peanut butter chip oatmeal cookies {they literally BEG me to make them whenever I'm home} and I have been craving a WholeFoods oatmeal chocolate chip cookie for weeks now, but whenever I go to the store they are always out! So... I decided to make my own version of an oatmeal chocolate chip and they turned out delicious!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat baking flour
½ cup white sugar
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup light brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
¼ cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup milk chocolate chips, Hershey’s Mini Kisses®

Directions
Mix all dry ingredients together in large bowl.
Add remaining ingredients. Fold together until all combined.
Place lightly packed 1 1/2 inch balls on un-greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350°.
Place cookies on cooling rack after removing from oven.

Makes 24 cookies
Baking time 10-14 minutes

ENJOY!