A recent survey of households about Halloween Plans reveal that a lot of families who have elected to skip door-to-door trick-or-treating this year because of the global pandemic will opt for other ways of celebrating this holiday.
One popular way of reignin in the first Holiday of the end of the year Fall/Winter season is via pumpkin painting. This way of decorating a autumn gord is a trending option and alternative to gutting a pumpking and doing a full out carving.
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The beauty of pumpking painting is that it allows your final project to be desplayed well into Thanksgiving and after. The paint job does not have to be specific to Halloween or scary. It can be pretty and light and not dark.
I love the Autumn season. The crisp air. The color changing on the leaves. The pumpkin spice everything. Well maybe not that part. But my fave part of the season is Fall Fashion!
I love getting to wear warm sweatshirts and comfy cashmere sweaters and chunky cardigans. Fall is also the start of Boot season.
You can never get enough boots.
[See this post about what boots to wear this fall]
I also love scarves and getting to experiment with the different ways to tie my scarf.
I also love layering in the fall. In the office, it’s silk shells under caridans and comfy sweaters. For my go-to-casual layers, I usually start with a tee shirt then top that I’m opting with a red plaid cropped tie shirt. Plaid hopped back into season as a fashion fave for all year a few fashion seasons ago.
It’s timely because wearing plaid is very common and fits into the fall season of Harvest festivals and visits to the orchard to pick berries, apples and other seasonal fruits.
Because it is quite crisp out there, I dig out a long ribbed grey duster sweater out of my closet. The length of this cardigan adds an extra layer of style and sophistication to the functionality of keepign me warm in cooler days.
A baseball cap is great to hide a messy bun underneath.
Finally, instead of boots when it’s not too cold out, I opt for my quilt patent leather loafers by Sperry. You can get a similar style from that brand here for about $80 HERE! These shoes last a long time and look very well constructed and are an excellent investment!
I can remix this look by changing what’s underneath and pair the cardigan over top of a black wrap dress that I wear with black tights and pointy-toed black pumps!
For a total of 4 pieces, I can have a chic and fashion forward weekend! Try this look for yourself and connect with me at @Bellyitch on all the socials and tag me in your fave fall look!
While a lot of parents have decided not to let their kids go trick-or-treating this year, they are incorporating activities like pumpking carving and home and front stoop decorating
A majority of people surveyed said they do not plan to memorialize or celebrate Halloween this year, partially because of financial problems associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and also for fear of health and safety.
According to data commissioned by CouponLawn, only 58% are going to commemorate this Halloween 2020. Compared to last year’s participants, an amount of 10% would rather not participate this year.
Compared to last year’s Halloween when the pandemic did not yet exist, there was an amount of 78% adults who allowed the children to go trick-or-treating.
This year only 22% of parents who did not allow their children to ask for candies and chocolates outdoors.
What will they be doing instead? Fifty-three percent of respondents said they plan to decorate their home and another 46 percent claimed plans to carve a pumpkin.
Photo by Valeria Boltneva from Pexels
And just because people have nixed trick or treating this year, Halloween costumes are still being purchased and the pandemic isn’t stopping people from dressing up because 46 percent of survey participants said they will wear a costume.
More Americans plan to carve pumpkins for Halloween
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels
Here is the rest of the data in infographic form and head over to Couponlawn.com to see more data and analysis!
Nearly three weeks after the birth of his fourth child, the comedian posted his first picture of daughterKaori Mai on his Instagram page. The sweet photo features the newborn wearing a too-cute onesie with pink hearts and a matching pink bow.
In the picture, Hart’s mother-in-law Honey Andrea is cradling baby Kaori who is looking up at the camera with her eyes open and tongue sticking out.
“All I can do is smile 🤦🏾♂️,” the actor, 41, raved.
Hart and his wife Eniko Parrish welcomed their second child together on Sept. 29. Baby Kaori Mai joins her three siblings: Kenzo Kash, 2½, and Hendrix, 12, and Heaven, 15.
A Pittsburg couple told by doctors that they would never have children are expecting triplets in a rare double pregnancy.
Antonio Livingston and Dee Michelle are documenting their unconventional pregnancy. Michelle has two uteruses and got pregnant with one child while already in the early stages of a twin pregnancy.
The rare phenomenon is calledsuperfetation, or double pregnancy and can happen in only 1 out of a few million pregnancies.
It was quite the miracle.
“Last year, my doctors told me that I wouldn’t be able to have kids and would need surgery,” she wrote in a social media post about her miracle pregnancy. “But God said otherwise and gave us three healthy babies along with a completely healthy mother!”
She added: “During our visit to the ER, we discovered that we had not only one, not two, but three babies.”
The first-time mom-to-be of three also disclosed that while Baby A and B are identical twins, Baby C is six days older than their siblings. Michelle said that she hopes to have a healthy delivery despite the high risk nature.
“Babies A and B are at risk for developing Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) which is a disease of the placenta…” Dee shared online. “We are believing that all three of our babies will be healthy, equal in size, and have no complications! They made it safely through the first trimester without any complications, so we believe that the second and third trimesters will be the same! Please continue to pray for us and our babies as we have a long journey ahead of us!”
Research shows that superfetation may only happen in one out of a few million pregnancies, and there may be fewer than 10 reported cases in medical journals.
The duo are sharing their journey via a YouTube channel:
Although the new editions were a surprise for the couple, multiple births are on the rise. The birth of twins has increased some 78 percent since 1980, and there are now around 34 sets of twins born per 1,000 births in the United States. Studies estimate that one in 250 pregnancies now results in twins naturally and according to the Center for Disease Control, Black people have a slightly higher likelihood of conceiving twins.
“It’s just a lot of joy, a lot of positivity is coming from all angles right now,” Livingston said.
“Motivation” singer Kelly Rowland revealed news that she is expecting her second child in a bare bump reveal on teh cover of the November edition of Women’s Health magazine.
She is shot by renowned photographer of African, French and Italian heritage and my namesake, Djeneba Aduayom.
The Grammy-winning recording artist also shared with New York-based author Dawnie Walton how the pandemic played into the baby number 2 makign process, saying that she and hubby Tim Weatherspoon, “had been talking about it loosely, and then COVID happened, and we were just like, ‘Let’s see what happens.'”
The former Destiny’s Child bandmbember also talked about how she decided to share the news during these uncertain times.
“You still want to remind people that life is important. And being able to have a child … I’m knocking at 40’s door in February. Taking care of myself means a lot to me
But also top of mind was her fans who she knew had been asking her to produce a new album.
The thought “Oh my god, my fans are gonna be so disappointed .… They wanted an album first, but they got a baby!” then added, “and I was like, ‘I have to figure this out so they get both.'”
The super mom is figuring out how to do both and says she is in fact, working on new music!
“I want it to feel very organic, coming from me,” she said about her music, adding that she likes “to touch on everything” with her songs.
While the gender of the baby has not been revealed, she did speak on the Breonna Taylor Grand Jury decision to not charge the officers in her killing and how that impacts her own parenting and child rearing of a black son.
“I promised to protect my kid. That was the main thing I was thinking about: protecting this little innocence,” she said when reflecting on these deaths.
During the current pandemic, a lot of people are using their extra time cooped up at home to do thorough cleaning of junk stored in their closets, attics, garages and basements and to redecorate and upgrade existing spaces or to expand and enhance their outdoor living spaces.
I am on that bandwagon and recently, I decided to finally upgrade the drab first floor guest room in my home which my daughter has been staying in as her personal bedroom. It lacked design and looked pretty rundown.
I wasn’t going to do it alone. My daughter had to put in some sweat equity into this project. I let her pick out the base color.
When I was a kid, my favorite color is purple and my daughter also considers that shade one of her faves so she decided that she wanted to have the walls painted purple. Purple is a color or royalty and is associated with celestial beings like the stars and the moon so we gravitated to that theme for the room.
The Budget
The total cost for the remodel: $500! Can you believe that?
My first investment was on good quality paint so I invested in the PPG Timeless brand which can cost up to $100 per gallon but gets great reviews because you only have to use one coat.
The paint has a primer built in and is supposed to go on even and smoothly so you do not need to apply a second coat at all. It was a little bit pricier than basic paint but still reasonable at $50, after shipping and tax for the gallon.
Next: Paint essentials!
Home Depot sells a reasonably priced paint kit that comes with a tray, liner, a couple of brushes, rollers and an edge brush for about $15! That’s a steal and while not professional quality, it was perfect for a small DIY job in a home.
Furnishings and Accents
We decided to keep some of the existing furnishings in that room or use some of the items I have picked up from Christmas bazaars and thrift stores here and there. Pre-Covid era, I used to like to purchase items that are heirloom quality or top quality when I see them when out and about thrifting or visiting yard sales on the weekends.
For example, I got the lamp and curtains in this photo above from a consignment shop nearby for about $7 each, or $15 total and I purchased the Ikea desk second hand for $20 from a local seller using Facebook Marketplace. It was in perfect shape!
I had previously purchased a used office chair from the same guy and he offered me the desk though he hadn’t listed it at all. Sweet!
In lieu of just an accent wall, we decided to paint the entire room purple.
The Hiccup
Unfortunately, we discovered when we were done that the deep eggplant color was too overwhelming and too dark. My daughter and I decided to balance the dark wall with white or light colored linen and decorative accents.
I got a bed in the bag at Marshallsfor about $60 and it included two accent pillows, a comforter, a flat sheet and fitted sheet, a sham pillow and a pair of pillow cases. We got it in queen size which is the size of the bed in that room. Kohlsalso sells these bed in bags for twin, full, queen and King sized beds starting about that the price I paid as well.
We diluted an entire wall by purchasing a white tapestry linen in a paisley print to drape that side of the room. It was only about $20 and was a popular brand, Ralph Lauren though Dormifysells plenty starting at just $11 for quality linen!
We let the celestial print in the bedding and tapestry drive the the theme and hung accent string lights from the ceiling and framed the wall and artwork framed in white with lights. The lighting also helped soften the dark colored purple walls too.
DIY Dresser Update
There was dark furnishings in the room before that we moved them out and to further lighten up the room via furniture, I decided to DIY spray paint a brown dresser in the room white. It was a bit of task because I did not have an electric sander and did not put enough energy sanding it with sand paper.
As you will see if you watch my video documenting the makeover, it was initially, a disaster because the first coat of chalk spray paint I purchased just ran over the sheen of the original paint job. Ugh!
I went to YouTube and found a video of a young lady, Desia Jean,who painted her furniture but who decided to skip the step of sanding it down first. I followed her lead and learned from her mistakes and subsequently, headed back to the store to pick up two more cans of semi gloss and that worked!
I really liked how the final paint job turned out. The paint was distributed evenly and without the blotches and sheer patches that were visible in previous coats. Phew! I had to have patience and trust the process!
I got new drawer pulls at the home design store that had a Victorian look to them for about $2 a knob (or $8 total) to tie in with the purple, mystical, celestial theme I was going for with this room makeover.
Luckily, I had already purchased some framed crafty cloth art work with green and purple in them which tied in well with the color scheme.
I went to Lowe’s and purchased a lamp shade a rustic old lamp we had in the basement for about $30 and we kept a steel grey side table that was in the room before because it blended in better with the new aesthetic than the old wooden chest and side tables that were in the old version of the room did.
Decorating the Walls
While we were shopping for the linen and accent pieces, we found a large canvas sketch of a woman’s back and I thought it matched perfectly with a framed sketch of a ballerina’s back I had in my first apartment after college.
I fetched my old artwork from the basement and hung it up next to the white canva and framed it with the star string lights. Together, the grouping matched perfectly.
We got three other pieces of white framed artwork that cost about $15 each.
Finishing Touches
Finally, we picked up a couple of accent area rugs in white with a print and a light gray one at TJ Maxx for about $20 each and found the same brands online for similar price or slighty higher so I felt I got a steal, as usual!
I got wooden letters from the home modeling store and painted it white with the left over spray paint. The cost of the letters were abour $30 and the Command strips ran us about $20 for a few packs to hang up everything.
I got replacement blinds for about $40 for the pair at Home Depot as you can see in the video, the ones in the room in the before images was beat up and a hot mess!
The total output for the entire project is about $450 and maybe a little more. We love how it came out and it is a far cry from how it looked before! You’ll see it in the video of the project below but first a few other photos:
Halloween will be different this year so you may want to experiment with fun ways to dress up your face and nails to dazzle friends and those you encounter at work or while out and about. As I posted in my last post about Halloween for kids, another option is to just do a fun panedmic-era photo shoot and post up the photos on social media to share with famiy and friends.
Find design source from my Halloween Nails Group board HERE!
My fave Halloween eye make up look is this one right here which includes bright sunset eyeshadow look that I found years ago and blogged about and shared in a now, popular and widely shared pin.
Finally, I assmebled 20 of my fave Halloween themed nail art designs on my group DIY and Nail Art Board (click here for source) and am sharing the images below to give you ideas.
So… Halloween is probably going to be a lot different this year. The CDC is recommending that parents skip door-to-door trick or treating and even parking lot trunk or treat events.
Whether you try to do a low key gathering with just family, attend a socially distant costume parade or visit a haunted forest in lieu of haunted house, as the CDC recommends, you can always just dress up the kiddies and take photos to share on social media.
If a familly Halloween photo shoot is in the plans this year and you’re thinking of ways to dress the baby in the family, there are tons of creative ideas on the Internet.
You can go with traditional like pumpkin, a store-bought costume or you could go brave and try a DIY costume based on pop culture.
POPSUGAR assembled a list of 60+ of the most searched costume ideas and among them are baby ideas like Starbucks employee, Harry Potter, Chuckie from the horror flick, Child’s Play, and Boss Baby!
Congratulations to rapper Nicki Minaj who reportedly gave birth to her first child this week.Minaj and her husband Kenneth Petty welcomed the new addition on Wednesday, September 30 in Los Angeles according to media reports.
The Queen recording star only recently announced the news while in her final trimester back in july.
“#Preggers,” captioned her first post. She followed up with another message, “Love. Marriage. Baby carriage. Overflowing with excitement & gratitude. Thank you all for the well wishes.”
The couple got married one year ago this month.
They got their marriage license in July 2019, but did not finally tie the knot until three months later.”Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty 10•21•19,” the singer posted at the time with a video that showed all of her bridal-themed merch.Congrats!
