In His Grip

Garden Container Makeover, Again!

Two years ago I did a makeover on two planters that I had on my front porch.  My Hibiscus trees lived in these pots for a couple of years until during a crazy Kansas storm one of the trees blew over and broke the container. Off to Home Depot to find two more large containers for my trees, but I had an idea for this one lonely planter.  Paint it pink of course!  After all, when in doubt pink is always the right choice.

I took this container from a subtle black to the excitement of berry pink in the matter of a couple of coats of my favorite spray paint. 

Once the spray paint was dry, using an acrylic white paint and a sponge brush I lightly covered the detail just enough to make it really show up and have more texture.

In my own opinion, I think this turned out perfect and the bright pink geraniums that I chose to go inside were a perfect match.

Over the summer this pot will be almost covered in the vines that are planted in it but bright pink always has a way of showing through.  Believe it or not I like it that way!

Christmas in February

Our family finally was able to celebrated Christmas with Ryan and Paula last week.  It just seems hard to find a time when we all can be together.  Of course my fantasy as a mother is to have all my kids live close to me the rest of my life so we will always be able to spend every holiday and family event together and live happily ever after.  {Pop} goes the fantasy bubble and real life is where I am forced to live.  Darn!  Although, I cannot complain, Ryan and Paula only live in Lincoln, NE, just 3 1/2 hours north of us, its not like they are in another country.  But that distance, at times, feels too far.  The time we do have as a family is very precious to us and I will take all that we do get. 

 

 

To say that the wait for our Christmas presents was worth it would be an understatement.  Ryan and Paula out did themselves with their creative, craftiness.  Look at these great tables/foot stools/benches/what ever you want to make them, repurposed vintage suitcases they made for Lindsey and Anna.  Seriously, they are awesome and in super shaped on the inside too.

They made this fabulous “S” to hang on our front door.  They could not find an initial that they liked that was big enough so Ryan cut one out of styrofoam and then Paula decorated it.  Oh my heck, just look at those handmade flowers.  Does this gal fit perfectly into our family or what?  Not only that but she whipped up some homemade shower scrub as well.  She is a gal after my heart, I just have to say.  Making things pretty and smell good too, who can go wrong. 

We also received this set of tile coasters that they made using their wedding pictures.  I was trying to figure out how I would display a bunch of their pictures without making it look like some kind of Ryan & Paula gallery.  The girls already accuse me of having Ryan as the favorite, so a bunch of pictures on the wall, shelves, etc. would only perpetuate such a myth.  But coasters, now that is something that is very useful and if they display eight different wedding shots so be it. 

Look how perfect this looks on my pink front door.  I thought that I would be changing the color of the door soon, but who am I kidding?  This “S” just made the decision, the door is pink for now at least through Summer. 

Flower Themed Baby Girl Gift

I love coming up with baby gifts for my young, mom friends.  Recently I went to a baby shower for my friend Chelsea who will be having a baby girl later this month.  I made a coordinating blanket, onesie, ruffled pants, and headband.  I purchased the onesie and the pants and then added the flower applique to the top and the ruffles to the pants.  The blanket was made with a microfiber fleece on one side and a coordinating pok-a-dot on the other side and then bound with a super cute flower/paisley print.  

I purchased this brown elastic headband then crocheted this flower and attached it to the elastic.

The applique is stitched with a straight stitch and the edges left raw so that they will fray a bit once the t-shirt is washed.  I love the soft look of a bit of fray.

The edges of the ruffles are left raw as well, as they too will fray a bit once they are washed to match the t-shirt.

I am participating in the following link ups:  Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Showoff,Boogiboard Cottage, Its So Very Cheri, Sew Chatty, Dittle Dattle, Sew Can Do, Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, Coastal Charm, Ladybug Blessings, Today's Creative Blog,Sugar and Dots, My Girlish Whims, The Thrifty Home, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Woodsy, The Tablescaper, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter,Itsy Bitsy Paper, So Much Ado, One Tough Mother, Sweet Peas and Bumblebees, Handy Man, Crafting Woman, Women Who Do It All, Seven Thirty-three, Someday Crafts, Tea Rose Home. Lil' Luna, Momma Hen Scoop, Sugar and Dots, {Primp}, Sommewhat Simple, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tales From Bloggeritaville, Gluesticks, Momnivore's Dilemma, Beyond the Picket Fence, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Simply Sweet Home,Truly Lovely, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest, Someday Crafts, Passionately Artistic, Goodbye city, Hello suburbs, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Make it Great Monday,Vintage Gwen, Sew Country Chick, 5 Minutes Just for Me, Sew Country Chick, I Should Be Mopping the Floor

Jumbo Scrabble Tiles

I know that I am a bit late this week in posting the fun, creative, crafty things I have been doing around here lately.  But I have had a new opportunity that has come my way (I will post about that at a later date) and I just have not had a moment to sit down and write a post.  Scrabble is a game that I remember my Grandma Nelson playing all the time with us as kids.  Even though I played this game often, it did not help me in the spelling department.  I am not sure if Grandma let me get away with misspelled words or I am just a very slow learner.  Even so, there is just something nostalgic about the game Scrabble for me.  I have purchased individual Scrabble tiles in the past for projects and you know me if little Scrabble letters make me happy, giant ones should make me jump up and down with joy, right?  I have to admit that is pretty much true.  I literally did this project in one hour.  I cut 1 x 6's into 6 inch squares, cut the letters out of adhesive vinyal with my Cricut machine, stuck them onto the wood squares, quick spray with clear coat, and wallah!  Giant Scrabble tiles.

Because I wanted my tiles up for more than just Valentines day.  I made three additional tiles so that I could spell out our name.  Four of the tiles have the letters LOVE on one side and our name on the other.  It does not take a lot to make me happy.

I am participating in the following link ups:  Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Showoff,Boogiboard Cottage, Its So Very Cheri, Sew Chatty, Dittle Dattle, Sew Can Do, Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, Coastal Charm, Ladybug Blessings, Today's Creative Blog,Sugar and Dots, My Girlish Whims, The Thrifty Home, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Woodsy, The Tablescaper, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter,Itsy Bitsy Paper, So Much Ado, One Tough Mother, Sweet Peas and Bumblebees, Handy Man, Crafting Woman, Women Who Do It All, Seven Thirty-three, Someday Crafts, Tea Rose Home. Lil' Luna, Momma Hen Scoop, Sugar and Dots, {Primp}, Sommewhat Simple, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tales From Bloggeritaville, Gluesticks, Momnivore's Dilemma, Beyond the Picket Fence, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Simply Sweet Home,Truly Lovely, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest, Someday Crafts, Passionately Artistic, Goodbye city, Hello suburbs, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Make it Great Monday,Vintage Gwen, Sew Country Chick, 5 Minutes Just for Me, Sew Country Chick

Burlap Valentine Bunting

Once I made my newest valentine sign last week, I realized that my valentine garland was no longer the look that I wanted to go with this year.  Seeing all of the burlap decorations out on blogs, Pinterest and the internet.  I figured that I would make a burlap bunting that would be just the look that I wanted.  The rough look of burlap with a splash of color is everywhere.  A designer that I work for, Brenda of Picture Perfect, told me that the burlap/linen look with a splash of color was everywhere at the Atlanta market that she went to two weeks ago.  I have been watching that look for a while now and even made some things last fall with burlap.  Burlap is a great way to give your home an updated look with very little money.  I purchased a yard of burlap for $3.99.

I cut the flap shapes out of the burlap and then doubled them up and stitching them together using red thread not only for a contrast but to add a boarder as well.  Doubling up the burlap helps give the flags a bit more somethin', somethin', and burlap tends to be loosely woven and a bit see through so this helps with that.

Using my handy Cricut machine I cut a heart and used it as a stencil.  Then stenciled a heart on each flag.  I used a light pink, bright pink, red and white color paints to do this.  Here is a free hint, make sure you put plastic or scrap paper under your flags as you stencil them.  They will soak through to the back.  I just know these kinds of things, no need to ask me how.   

Using hot glue, I folded the flags over some red and white bakers twine and secured the end over the back.  

The burlap bunting addes to my valentine look for next to nothing in cost.

I am participating in the following link ups: Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Showoff,Boogiboard Cottage, Its So Very Cheri, Sew Chatty, Dittle Dattle, Sew Can Do, Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, Coastal Charm, Ladybug Blessings, Today's Creative Blog,Sugar and Dots, My Girlish Whims, The Thrifty Home, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Woodsy, The Tablescaper, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter,Itsy Bitsy Paper, So Much Ado, One Tough Mother, Sweet Peas and Bumblebees, Handy Man, Crafting Woman, Women Who Do It All, Seven Thrity-three, Someday Crafts, Tea Rose Home. Lil' Luna, Momma Hen Scoop, Sugar and Dots, {Primp}, Sommewhat Simple, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tales From Bloggeritaville, Gluesticks, Momnivore's Dilemma, Beyond the Picket Fence, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Simply Sweet Home,Truly Lovely, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest, Someday Crafts, Passionately Artistic, Goodbye city, Hello suburbs, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Make it Great Monday,Vintage Gwen, Sew Country Chick, 5 Minutes Just for Me, Sew Country Chick

 

 

Valentine Sign

Earlier this week I was browsing around Pinterest and found this wonderful Valentine sign.  I absolutely love the saying on it and decided that I was going to make it.  Because I have been called a "creative hoarder", I had all of the supplies right in my studio already.  No need to go to the store and besides it has been freezing cold this week and who wants to get out in the cold if you don't have to.  

Here is the sign that I orignally look at.  Landee See, Landee Do, is a great place for inspriration.  I have just recently found her blog and I really like her style.  As you can see I changed my sign up a bit by doing the pink thing instead.  You know I always say, "When in doubt pink is always the right choice." I am sure it is not shocker that I went with pink.  

One thing that I do like about Valentines is that you are able to put pink and red together without it being wierd.  Needless to say, I take very opportunity to do just that.  Pink and red for everyone.  

I was so excited to use my bakers twine that I recently purchased off of Pick Your Plum.  Pick Your Plum is a daily email that sells one craft type item each day for super cheap.  I am talking anywhere from $2 to $6.95.  I am pretty sure I have never seen anything for more than that.  Let me just warn you, if you are a "crafty" this email is dangerous.  It is hard to pass up these deals.  Seriously I could spend money everyday with Pick You Plum.

I used a 1 x 8 for my board, but I do think a 1 x 10 would be better as you can make the lettering bigger.  Using my handy Cricut machine I cut the letters out of a piece of adhesive vinyal.  Super easy project and the results are awesome.  

I am participation in these link ups: Today's Creative Blog, One Tough Mother

Tile Coaster Set -- How To

Because you have not heard from me in a while, you would think that I have not been up to much.  Well, actually the exact opposite is true.  I did take time off for Christmas and New Years to hang out with family and friends to just enjoy the season.  A gal is entitled to that every once in a while, right? However, my creative mind has been on overdrive having time to browse Pinterest, and plan some very fabulous, creative, wonderfulness for my home in the coming year.  It is this time each year that I get the urge to do something to my home. This year it started with the dinning room and then will move to the living room, and of course right on up to the now three guest rooms.  Oh, how sad to say I have three kid rooms that are now called "guest rooms", really this cannot be true.  

Today I am showing you this easy, fun, and inexpensive gift idea I made for my friends this year at Christmas.  I started out at Lowes and purchased 3x3 tiles.

I really liked these that had a bit of texture and some imperfections around the edges.  They happened to be some of the more expensive tiles, all of 33 cents each.  But you can get them for as little as 8 cents a tile.  

Picking out the scrap booking paper was fun.  I wanted the four different patterns to coordinate but have some contrast in color as well.  I cut the paper into squares that were about a 1/2 smaller than the tile so the coaster would appear to have a boarder all the way around.

Because the tiles had a rounded corner, I used a corner rounder paper punch and rounded all of the corners of each square of paper.  This also helps prevent any corners that might want to pop up when Mod Podging later.  

Laying all of the tiles on a piece of plastic, I Mod Podged each tile with probably 4 or 5 coats allowing to dry in between.  Once you have decided you have enough Mod Podge on your coasters let them dry over night and then take a piece of super fine steel wool and a bit of water and sand each one until smooth.  This takes all of the brush marks or bubbles out of the final coat.  Once that was dry, I sprayed them with a clear coat sealer to make them water resistant.  For the final step, I glue a piece of cork to the bottom of each one.  Sorry no picture of that, but really there is a piece of thin cork on the underside.

I made 12 sets of these and gave them to my friends, designers I work for, and one set went to a gal that invited me and my girls for a tour of her home which was a Christmas wonderland.

I tied each stack with a bit of twine and there you have it a handmade gift that everyone can use.  

I am participating in the following link ups:  Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Showoff,Boogiboard Cottage, Its So Very Cheri, Sew Chatty, Dittle Dattle, Sew Can Do, Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, Coastal Charm, Ladybug Blessings, Today's Creative Blog,Sugar and Dots, My Girlish Whims, The Thrifty Home, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Woodsy, The Tablescaper, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter,Itsy Bitsy Paper, So Much Ado, One Tough Mother, Sweet Peas and Bumblebees, Handy Man, Crafting Woman, Women Who Do It All, Seven Thrity-three, Someday Crafts, Tea Rose Home. Lil' Luna, Momma Hen Scoop, Sugar and Dots, {Primp}, Sommewhat Simple, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tales From Bloggeritaville, Gluesticks, Momnivore's Dilemma, Beyond the Picket Fence, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Simply Sweet Home,Truly Lovely, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest, Someday Crafts, Passionately Artistic, Goodbye city, Hello suburbs, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Make it Great Monday,Vintage Gwen, Sew Country Chick, 5 Minutes Just for Me

$2.00 Nativity

Look at this great nativity scene.  Since I have begun doing a little bit of traveling to different countries, I have started a nativity collection from different parts of the world.  I have one from, Haiti, Mexico, and Costa Rica as well as my orginial Precious Moments set.  I have not been able to get one from India quite yet but am working on it.  The gals at 10,000 Villages are looking for one for me.  One of the women that works there has a daughter who has been living in India for a year now and she cannot find them anywhere.  I thought it was just me, but I guess a nativity scene is not important to a prodomantely Hindu country.  This particular navitey scene was made in China and I purchased it after, the after Christmas sale at Wal-mart for about $2.00.  I know, what a great deal.  However, it did not start out looking like this.  I purchased it knowing that I would help it out a bit and make it look just a bit better.

This is what the nativty started out looking like.  It was less than okay in my opinion.  The painting of details was very crude, but the shapes of the figurines were good.  So, I got out my trusty spray paint and gave it a couple of coats of white.  Boy, doggies, what a difference a couple squirts of spray paint can make.  

Here are the three kings, although they are all white, the detail shows up just enough to make them the elegant, distiguished men that they were.

This is the shepard and animals as well as the Holy family.  Okay, yes, I gave baby Jesus a bath in white gold glitter, but after all He is the one that the whole celebration is about. Jeff is still a little unsure about the "sparkley" Jesus, but I like him anyway.  The baby Jesus I mean.  I still like Jeff too, even though he just shakes his head at my spray painting shenanigans.

I glittered the roof of the stable as well.  So now I have a navity from China although I have never been there. It is now proudly siting amoung my other nativities, holding its head up high even though it was only $2.

I am participating in the following link ups:  Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Showoff,Boogiboard Cottage, Its So Very Cheri, Sew Chatty, Dittle Dattle, Sew Can Do, Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, Coastal Charm, Ladybug Blessings, Today's Creative Blog,Sugar and Dots, My Girlish Whims, The Thrifty Home, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Woodsy, The Tablescaper, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter,Itsy Bitsy Paper, So Much Ado, One Tough Mother, Sweet Peas and Bumblebees, Handy Man, Crafting Woman, Women Who Do It All, Seven Thrity-three, Someday Crafts, Tea Rose Home. Lil' Luna, Momma Hen Scoop, Sugar and Dots, {Primp}, Sommewhat Simple, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tales From Bloggeritaville, Gluesticks, Momnivore's Dilemma, Beyond the Picket Fence, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Simply Sweet Home,Truly Lovely, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest, Someday Crafts, Passionately Artistic, Goodbye city, Hello suburbs, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Make it Great Monday,Vintage Gwen, Sew Country Chick

 

Santa's Boots Makeover

In January of this year as I was browsing through our local Goodwill store I found these cute Santa boots for 99 cents.  I loved the way that they are so short and chubby and knew that I could find a great use for them in Christmas decorating in the future.  Forgetting about my purchase earlier in the year I was so excited to find these as I unpacked my Christmas decorations.  Although they are cute just as they are, I figured a little bit of pink and sparkle were just the thing to make them fabulous.  

Finding this pink spray paint in my studio, I figured it was just the right color for the transformation.  The boots are about the size of a flower pot and knew that they would fit in perfectly with the pink theme on the front porch as bases for my little trees that were going out there.

I used Mod Podge to paint around the sole of the boot as well as the cuff and then sprinkled with bright pink glitter.  I use Martha Stewart brand, there are a lot of colors to choose from including several hues of pink.  

We filled the boots with sand to make them heavy enough to withstand the strong winter Kansas winds and then placed the plaster paris based Christmas trees down into the boots.  There we have it a perfect pink tree stand.  

There are three silver painted Christmas trees on my front porch this year, thanks to Grandma Sturman for remembering me when I said you never want to get rid of a Christmas tree.  Last year I experimented with spray painting Christmas trees and have found that the metallic silver paint gives a you a vintage look that I just love.  You have got to try it.

 

I am participating in the following link ups:  Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Showoff,Boogiboard Cottage, Its So Very Cheri, Sew Chatty, Dittle Dattle, Sew Can Do, Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, Coastal Charm, Ladybug Blessings, Today's Creative Blog,Sugar and Dots, My Girlish Whims, The Thrifty Home, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Woodsy, The Tablescaper, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter,Itsy Bitsy Paper, So Much Ado, One Tough Mother, Sweet Peas and Bumblebees, Handy Man, Crafting Woman, Women Who Do It All, Seven Thrity-three, Someday Crafts, Tea Rose Home. Lil' Luna, Momma Hen Scoop, Sugar and Dots, {Primp}, Sommewhat Simple, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tales From Bloggeritaville, Gluesticks, Momnivore's Dilemma, Beyond the Picket Fence, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Simply Sweet Home,Truly Lovely, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest, Someday Crafts, Passionately Artistic, Goodbye city, Hello suburbs, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Make it Great Monday,Vintage Gwen, Sew Country Chick

 

 

 

DIY Sweater Boot Toppers

I am really liking the boot topper leg warmers that I keep seeing around the internet and in the latest Fall fashion magazines.  There have been several out there on Pinterest as well and I think they can make a plain pair of boots into a WOW pair of boots.  A couple of weeks ago I was going through my closet and was getting rid of those things that I have not worn in the past year or have worn way too much and came across two different sweaters that I like but are just too worn out to wear any more and thought that the sleeves would make cute leg warmers.

I started out by cutting off the sleeves just under the arm.  

Then I surgered aroung the raw edge.  If you don't have a surger, I would run a zig-zag stitch along the raw edge.  

Picking out buttons out of my collection, I sewed them to hold the cuff in place.  So very easy and a great way to jazy up some boots.

I made two pair in less than an hour and now I have my newest favorite Fall accessories.  

I am participating in the following link ups:  Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Showoff,Boogiboard Cottage, Its So Very Cheri, Sew Chatty, Dittle Dattle, Sew Can Do, Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, Coastal Charm, Ladybug Blessings, Today's Creative Blog,Sugar and Dots, My Girlish Whims, The Thrifty Home, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Woodsy, The Tablescaper, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter,Itsy Bitsy Paper, So Much Ado, One Tough Mother, Sweet Peas and Bumblebees, Handy Man, Crafting Woman, Women Who Do It All, Seven Thrity-three, Someday Crafts, Tea Rose Home. Lil' Luna, Momma Hen Scoop, Sugar and Dots, {Primp}, Sommewhat Simple, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tales From Bloggeritaville, Gluesticks, Momnivore's Dilemma, Beyond the Picket Fence, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Simply Sweet Home,Truly Lovely, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest, Someday Crafts, Passionately Artistic, Goodbye city, Hello suburbs, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Make it Great Monday, Vintage Gwen, Sew Country Chick

My Christmas Stocking Challenge

These are the Christmas stockings that starting hanging on our mantel 29 years.  Ryan's was made by one of my husband's best friend's mom, Barb.  I remember the box coming in the mail and being so excited that someone would take the time to make such a special stocking for our baby.  We proudly hung it from a shelf in our first home as there was no fireplace.  When Lindsey was born, again I received a box in the mail that contained her stocking as well.  Since the birth of Ryan, Barb had lost her battle with cancer but her sister took up the tradition of making a stocking for our babies and then made one for Anna two years later.   Hanging these stockings have been part of our holiday tradition and one that my kids still look for every Christmas season.  The stockings have Santa on one side and the Christmas tree on the other.  If you look closely at Anna's, Santa has a couple of moth holes that I have been meaning to fix for a couple of years.

Now that we have a new member in our family since Ryan's wedding, I was thinking I needed to make a stocking for Paula too.  I started searching the internet and books for patterns that would be similar or maybe the same one, but no luck, so I contacted, Barb's son to see if by chance they had a copy of the pattern for the famous Christmas stocking.  He said they did and would bring me a copy of it.  

First of all the copy right on the pattern is 1948 and looks very complicated for my self-taught knitting self, but call me crazy, I am going to try.  As I have found in the past with knitting, you just start and work one row at a time and try not to freak out by looking ahead.  

What was really crazy about the pattern was the pages and pages of Barb's hand writen notes that she took on the pattern as well as a page of all of the names of the folks that have been a recipient of one of the precious stockings.  There are 163 names listed as well as the hand drawn graphs of each name.  Wow, I think I really just might be crazy to think that I would even attempt to knit like Barb.  But this is my holiday challenge of the year.  I will keep you updated as to my progress and we will see how this goes.  Today I am headed to my local yarn store, Knit-Wit, to pick up my supplies.   I might not get finished this year, but I am determined to do this.  

Baby Gifts -- More Hats

This is what has been keeping me busy over the last week. I have once again been making baby gifts and this time it happens to be for a couple of little girls.The light pink hat is for the new baby Reese and the hot pink one is for the big sister.  I learned how to  make these hats last year and you can see the others that I have made here.   Because they have been such a big hit with the little people, I just keep finding reasons to make them and my friends keep having babies.  The pattern that I use can be purchased on esty at RAKJ Patterns.  She has some other great designs as well.  But I have to say the owl is my favorite.

I am participating in the following link ups:  Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Showoff,Boogiboard Cottage, Its So Very Cheri, Sew Chatty, Dittle Dattle, Sew Can Do, Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, Coastal Charm, Ladybug Blessings, Today's Creative Blog,Sugar and Dots, My Girlish Whims, The Thrifty Home, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Woodsy, The Tablescaper, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter,Itsy Bitsy Paper, So Much Ado, One Tough Mother, Sweet Peas and Bumblebees, Handy Man, Crafting Woman, Women Who Do It All, Seven Thrity-three, Someday Crafts, Tea Rose Home. Lil' Luna, Momma Hen Scoop, Sugar and Dots, {Primp}, Sommewhat Simple, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tales From Bloggeritaville, Gluesticks, Momnivore's Dilemma, Beyond the Picket Fence, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Simply Sweet Home,Truly Lovely, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest, Someday Crafts, Passionately Artistic, Goodbye city, Hello suburbs, Handy Man, Crafty Woman

Trick or Treat Banner -- Free for the Printing

Here is a Trick or Treat banner that I created for some Halloween events that Indian Creek Community Church will be putting on through out our community on the 31st. The idea is to  "live out" the love of Christ in our neighborhood by having a great trick or treat house that not only passes out candy but is there to greet folks and have a great time.  Each house participating will be giving away a $25 gift card to Amazon.  The house events range from giving out candy along with some kind of raffle for the gift card, to having the TV outside on the driveway so that the Dad's trick or treating can get an update on the game.  Some folks will have their fire pits in the driveway and offer fixings to make s'mores and hot coco.   We wanted to make a banner for folks to download and print that they can hang from the porch, garage, etc.  You can access the file here print and hang the banner in your house.  There are two sizes.  The large size has each candy corn printed on an 8 x10 sheet of card stock and ends up being approximately 100" long with the candy corns 10" high.  

The small size prints two candy corns per page and ends up measuring around 50" with each candy corn 6" high.  

These Halloween events are not so much about the day itself, but giving each of us the opportunity to get to know those we actually live around.  Halloween is the only day of the year that it is expect to ring every doorbell in our neighborhood and people not only smile but give us a treat.  Let's make our houses a welcoming place and one that folks just might want to hang out for a while and get to know each other.  Happy trick or treating!

Participating in: The Thirfty Home, Blue Cricket Design, My Grilish Whims, Sew Much Ado, Sugar and Dots, {Primp}, Passionately Artistic, Someday Crafts, Momma Hens Coop, Seven Thrity Three, Sweetpeas and BumbleBee, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Somewhat Simple, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tales from Bloggeritaville, Gluesticks, Monivore's Dilemma, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Simply Sweet Home, Finding Fabulous, Its Fun to Craft, The Shabby Nest

Autumn Wreath

A couple of weeks ago  I went with my daughter Lindsey to a craft night that she and her friends do about once a month.  This time they were making wreaths.  You can read more about how they plan this event over at Just Paint it Pink Lindsey's new and fabulous blog.  I have really come to like this whole burlap look that is out everywhere and again with my fall decorations taking on a more natural look this year I thought that a burlap wreath would be in order.  And yes, if you don't visit my blog often, that is a hot pink front door and you can read more about how that came to be here.

I started with a straw wreath and wrapped it with 1 1/2" strips of burlap overlapping as I went.  You will need to put hot glue every so often to keep the wrap in place.  

I purchased an "S" initial and wrapped it with jute, also hot gluing as I went in keep the jute in place.  

Because I wanted the "S" to be a contrast color and could not find a color that I liked in jute, of course, I decided to paint it.  The color I used was soft black.  This is a super color because it is almost black, but is also almost brown.  Love it!

Using some scraps of silk that I had in my studio I made some twisted flowers and then attached some of the thousands of buttons that are hanging around here too.

Shopping around this fall I found this six inch wide burlap ribbon and purchased a couple of rolls.  I have no idea what I will be doing with it but figured that it would make a perfect bow to top off my burlap wreath.

I am participating in the following link ups:

Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Showoff,Boogiboard Cottage, Its So Very Cheri, Sew Chatty, Dittle Dattle, Sew Can Do, Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, Coastal Charm, Ladybug Blessings, Today's Creative Blog,Sugar and Dots, My Girlish Whims, The Thrifty Home, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Woodsy, The Tablescaper, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter,Itsy Bitsy Paper, So Much Ado, One Tough Mother, Sweet Peas and Bumblebees, Handy Man, Crafting Woman, Women Who Do It All, Seven Thrity-three, Someday Crafts, Tea Rose Home. Lil' Luna, Momma Hen Scoop, Sugar and Dots, {Primp}, Sommewhat Simple, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tales From Bloggeritaville, Gluesticks, Momnivore's Dilemma, Beyond the Picket Fence, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Simply Sweet Home,Truly Lovely, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest, Someday Crafts, Passionately Artistic, Goodbye city, Hello suburbs, Handy Man, Crafty Woman

 

Book Pumpkins

I found a tutorial on line to make pumpkins out of old books.  Creations By Kara has a great step by step instructions on how to make these lovely little beauties.  They really are easy and everyone has old paperbacks hanging around, why not make them into these cute decorations? I found that the fatter the book the fuller the pumpkin.  I used scissors to cut the pumpkin shape but I think that a box cutter would make for more uniform pages and you would less likely make the shape bigger as you go as I actually did on both and then had to do some trimming in the end.  I really like how they turned out and may be making some more soon.  

I am participating in the following link ups:  Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Showoff,Boogiboard Cottage, Its So Very Cheri, Sew Chatty, Dittle Dattle, Sew Can Do, Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, Coastal Charm, Ladybug Blessings, Today's Creative Blog,Sugar and Dots, My Girlish Whims, The Thrifty Home, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Woodsy, The Tablescaper, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter, Itsy Bitsy Paper, So Much Ado, One Tough Mother, Sweet Peas and Bumblebees, Handy Man, Crafting Woman, Women Who Do It All, Seven Thrity-three, Someday Crafts, Tea Rose Home. Lil' Luna, Momma Hen Scoop, Sugar and Dots, {Primp}, Sommewhat Simple, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tales From Bloggeritaville, Gluesticks, Momnivore's Dilemma, Beyond the Picket Fence, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Simply Sweet Home, Truly Lovely, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest

Mossy Twig Jar Candle

Spending time in the north woods always inspires me to do some thing creative with the things that I find outdoors.  In the woods near my Mom's home there is an abundance of mossy twigs.  I have always loved the way that the moss grows and makes the branches of the trees look like they have a fine lace hanging from them.  Again, with the fall decor in my home this season taking on a more natural look I thought I could use these twigs to make a jar candle that I will use on the table in the dinning room.  

I collected a bunch of branches covered in the lacy moss making sure I had a variety of size twigs to be able to cover the jar.

Using a jar from a jar candle, I began hot gluing the twigs to the jar being sure to cover the area completely.  When the twigs did not fit close enough to cover the glass, I just took some of the really fine ones and glue them in to fit.  

This is a perfect addition to my natural dinning room table decor.  Adding a candle to it so that the light shines through the small spaces looks so good.  I wish I would have made several sizes, but this is the only one that I made.  Shoot, I guess that I will have to go back to the north woods to make a whole display of these.

I am participating in the following link ups: Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Showoff,Boogiboard Cottage, Its So Very Cheri, Sew Chatty, Dittle Dattle, Sew Can Do, Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, Coastal Charm, Ladybug Blessings,Sugar and Dots, My Girlish Whims, The Thrifty Home, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Woodsy, Keeping It Simple, Today's Creative Blog, Somewhat Simple

Bowl of Twine

This is my most current creation.  A bowl of twine.  I made this similar to how I made the globes of string for Ryan and Paula's rehearsal dinner decorations.  As I began to dream about a natural kind of Autumn decorating, I wanted to have some containers that looked natural and did not cost any money.  This limited my choices to making something with things that I already had on hand or were super cheap.  This led my mind to this idea of bowls of twine.  I already had the fabric stiffener from the rehearsal dinner globes, so the only thing I had to purchase was the twine.  I knew we had some somewhere but could not put my hands on it, so shopping in the good old Wal-mart one day, I purchased a couple of balls for $2.19 each.  Cheap right?

I chose a large mixing bowl from my cupboard and covered it with plastic wrap. For the globes, I used different sizes of balloons.

Using the twine, I cover the whole bowl with the stuff.  Making sure to not to leave any large spaces and changing directions often.

This is the messy part.  You will need to cover the surface that you are working on, and this opened up plastic grocery sack is not enough, believe me.  I covered the twine with the fabric stiffner that I had watered down a little bit.  This helped the stiffener soak into the twine.  I really think that you could use school glue for this and it would be cheaper, but I used what I had on hand.  This will need to dry completely which will take at least 24 hours.

Once the bowl is completely dry, I used some kitchen shears to cut the top off.  This is hard work as the twine is pretty tough.  You don't have to be that careful as you will trim it again once you get the mixing bowl out of the way.

This what it looked like once I trimed it nicely.  You could leave it just like this but I wanted my bowl of twine to have little more finished look.  So I glued several rows of twin around the top to give it a more finish look as well as a little for stability.

This is just how I had it pictured in my mind.  I love it when things turned out how I plan.  There are a couple more ideas cooking up in my head, so I am thinking I will make a several more "bowl of twine" designs.

I am participating in the followng link ups:  Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Showoff, Boogiboard Cottage, Its So Very Cheri, Sew Chatty, Dittle Dattle, Sew Can Do, Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, Coastal Charm, Ladybug Blessings, Today's Creative Blog, Sugar and Dots, My Girlish Whims, The Thrifty Home, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Woodsy

Burlap Table Runner for Fall

One of the things I really love to do is to change the look of my home for the seasons.  I don't really decorate for Halloween any more as I don't have little ones at home, but more of a fall harvest theme.  That way my decorations can stay up clear through Thanksgiving.  Last year I made these great birch bark pumpkins and wanted to display them with a more natural look so I decided to make a burlap table runner for the dinning room table.  Burlap is cheap, cheap, cheap, but kind of icky to work with.  It is so scratchy and makes me sneeze. 

I cut my table runner the width and length that I wanted.  In this case it is about 17" wide by 72" long.  Next I stitched a row of stitching all the way around about 1" in.  This will stop the fraying once I start making the fringe along the sides.  I used masking tape to outline a stripe a couple of inches in and about 1/2" wide.  Then using a stencil brush I painted the stripe a soft black with acrylic paint.  

Once the stripe was dry, I cut the words "fall harvest" out with my Cricut machine using the adhesive vinyl and place it about 1/2" above the line and painted it as well.

Once the lettering was dry, I began pulling the threads of the burlap to create a fringe all the way around the edge. (Don't look at the mis-matched chairs, one of my chairs broke beyond repair so until I find a replacement this little old thing will have to do.)

I love the way this turned out and how it works so nicely with my birch bark pumpkins.

I am participating in the following link ups: Between Naps on the Proch. Dittle Dattle, Sew Can Do, Its so Very Cheri, The DIY Showoff, Skip to My Lou, Coastal Charm, Today Creative Blog, Fabric Bows and More, My Girlish Whims, Goodbye city, Hello suburbs, Blue Cricket Design, Sugar and Dots, Sew Much Ado, The Thrifty Home, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Gluesticks, Momnivore's Dilemma, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Sew Woodsy, Its So Stinkin Cute, Primp

 

Pumpkin Topiary Redo

Autumn is just around the corner and I have been planning what I would do to update my porch for the change of the season.  I have been admiring the ghost pumpkins that have been out the past couple of seasons.  So I decided to update my pumpkin topiaries.  You can see what they used to look like here. I thought that a neutral theme for the front porch with a splash of orange would be different and give me a chance to give my topiaries redo in the process.  These topiaries have been on our front porch for over ten years and they have had several make overs.  So I figured a little spray paint might just give them a fresh new look. 

If you look closely, you will notice that the pumpkins are slightly different color.  I used Krylon khaki (for the bottom), pebble (for the middle), and almond (for the top) all had a satin finish.  I used spanish moss to cover up the wire of the garland that has all the little berries on it as well as between each pumpkin.  Besides, spanish moss will cover up a myriad of imperfections not only from the age of the pumpkins but my amateur floral skills.

 I have more ideas for the rest of my porch and as soon as it is complete I will share what I come up with.  Go out enjoy the beautiful weather.  I love autumn.

I am participating in the following link ups:  Between Naps on the Porch, Boogieboard Cottage, Dittle Dattle, Pinkopotomus, Its So Very Cheri, DIY Showoff, Skip to My Lou, Coastal Charm, Today's creative Blog, Truly Lovely, Simply Sweet Home, Its a Blog Party, Its Fun to Craft, The Shabby Nest

Repurpose Light Bulbs

Over the weekend I had some time to catch up on inspirational blogs as well as Pinterest.  I just needed to do something creative that would give me immediate gratification.  After looking at some sites of hanging canning jars with candles in them I decided that I wanted to do something like that too.  But as I was changing a light bulb in my studio I had an idea to use the light bulb for a small bud vase, similar yet different than the canning jar idea, but that's just how my mind works.  One idea leads to another and another, and so on.  I did a Google search on how to make a light bulb into a vase I found this great tutorial.  Needless to say, I found a total of three burnt out light bulbs in the house.  It was not that hard to do and I love the results for the amount of effort involved.

I immediately went out to my garden and cut a bunch of Zinnias to put in my new light bulb vases.  Normally, every Spring I plant a huge patch of Zinnias so that I can have cut flowers all Summer and well into the Fall.  With the Spring being so wet every weekend and then the temperatures zoomed up into the 100s I never was able to get my Zinnias planted.  Happy day, I had a bunch of volunteers show up unexpectedly.

Here I just used clear water in them, but I'm thinking you could add a drop of food color to the water and make a whole new look.  Matching the water to the flower for a monochrome design.

So, so cute.  I tried a flood lamp light bulb, but it broke in the process.  You need to be super careful as the light bulb glass is so stinking sharp.  But the next time one burns out I will have that shape as well. I also think that adding wire to the top and hanging them like my original plan will be awesome too. 

I am participating in the following link ups: Coastal Charm, Domestically Speaking, Today's Creative Blog, Momma Hen, Blue Cricket Design, My Girlish Whims, Sweet Peas & Bumblebees, Goodbye City, Hello Suburbs, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Woman who Do It All, Seven Thirty-three, Someday Crafts, Tea Rose Home, Lil' Luna, Sugar & Dots, Somewhat Simple, Alchemy Fine Living, Paisley Passions, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Momnivore's Dilemma, Tales From Bloggeritaville, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Simply Sweet Home, Its a Blog Party, Its Fun to Craft, The Shabby Nest, Tidy Mom, Chic on a Shoestring