Easy Fall Pumpkin Sign....

I absolutely positively CANNOT wait for Fall, I love it and everything about it. Seriously. I love wintery snowy weather just as much but I love that in Fall there is bonfires, trick or treaters, it's sweatshirt weather, the leaves are all pretty and changing, I could go on and on...I LOVE it! I love it so much I usually bust out the Fall goodies first day of September and I'm not kidding. So while I'm patiently waiting for Fall, I thought I'd share a super easy cute little Fall sign I made with you....

This is a piece I had leftover from a 1x10, it's about 14 inches wide. I painted it Gingerbread Spice which was one of my FREE quarts from Glidden last year :)

This is seriously so easy. So I got my basecoat of gingerbread on, it's dried. Now I have a Big Pumpkin Die ( mines all painted up as I have used it a few times ) Cut and a glue stick. I got my die cut at a local scrapbook store last year, but I searched and found you one here. So turn your die cut over and paste it up with your glue stick.

No flip it over and position it where you would like it on your board, for this one I had a little more than half of the pumpkin on the board.  Smooth it out really good, I put the lid back on my glue stick, flip it over and use the top of the cap to smooth it out.

Now you need a second color, I used Dark French Chocolate, another free quart I received from Glidden last year :) I use a foam brush, don't get to much paint on it as it's like a stencil and you don't want paint seeping through. Paint your whole board with the brown, After it has a nice coat of brown peel back the die cut....

You'll be left with this! As you can see there is spots of glue, those will wipe right off. I use a baby wipe, any old rag will do. Then I go through and wipe up any little spots where a little paint may have seeped through. Then whip out your sander or some sandpaper ( sorry didn't take pictures for this part ) and sand away, I sand a lot as I like a lot of distressing. Then drill to holes at the top and use some pretty ribbon or twine, I prefer twine, it looks Fallish :)

Now you have a cute new sign for Fall!!!

I told you I'm obsessed, more board gluing. I made this one, painted the boards first, glued them together, and stenciled the letters on.

This one is my favorite, I love love love how it turned out. More board gluing, used the same technique and die cut as above, easy peasy :)

So Are you excited for Fall? Are you working on any Fall goodies yet?

 

I'm linking this post to Jen over at Tatertots and Jello weekend wrap up party :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I am Thankful for my Husband, my 2 beautiful boys, my family, I am Thankful for my Grams who started baking and cooking yesterday and is probably up doing so already so that the family can get together and eat a Delicious meal with each other :) I am thankful for her stuffing, it's seriously the yummiest, and definitely Thankful for the chocolate desert she makes! Know what else I'm thankful for? The tupperware that's bringing me home some leftovers :) Really though, I have so much to be Thankful for! I am Thankful for each and everyone of you. Your all wonderful, I have made so many friends since I have started this blog and met so many Awesome people! I hope you all have a Blessed day!! Enjoy your family time and eat lots!!!

Some early Thanksgiving Thankfullness...

Photo from Better Homes and Garden

I know it's not Thanksgiving just yet, but My husband, kids, and I were in the car tonight and he told me this Thanksgiving poem he had heard on WCIC, our favorite radio station. It could not be more true. Then he told me what he was Thankful for, it was really sweet :) I am Thankful for my Husband of almost 9 years who works so hard and does his best for his family each and everyday, I am Thankful for the 2 most beautiful, healthy, happy boys, I am Thankful for all of my family, I have so many things to be Thankful for.

 Thanksgiving

         Lord, thank you for this sink of dirty dishes,
            We have plenty of food to eat.

       Thank you for this pile of dirty, stinky laundry,
            We have plenty of nice clothes to wear.

And I would like to thank you, Lord, for those unmade beds in there,
            They were so warm and so comfortable last night.
            I know that many have no bed.

My thanks to you, Lord, for this bathroom, complete with all the
           splattered mirrors, soggy, grimy towels and dirty lavatory,
           They are so convenient. 

Thank you for this finger smudged refrigerator that needs defrosting so
           badly, it has served us faithfully for many, many years.
           It is full of cold drinks and enough leftovers for two or three
                       meals. 

Thanks you, Lord, for this oven that absolutely must be cleaned today,
           It has baked so many things over the years. 

The whole family is grateful for that tall grass that needs mowing,
            The lawn that needs raking: we all enjoy the yard.

Thank you, Lord, even for that slamming screen door.
            My kids are healthy and able to run and play.

Lord, the presence of all these chores awaiting me says you have richly
           blessed my family.

          I shall do them all cheerfully
           And I shall do them gratefully.

 This time of year, with the Holidays, and the cold I remind myself of the everyday necessities that we sometimes forget to be Thankful for, like heat, food, water, being able to buy my kids warm coats, hats, and gloves. It's tough for so many, it's tough for us. But we have what we need, our kids have what they need, and I cannot imagine them going without. My husband and I were talking about it tonight and how so many people are in need of so many things, including little things like coats for their kids. I just can't imagine. This is the happiest most joyous time of the year and it always breaks my heart just thinking about those who don't have these things.

This year I signed up for the Angel program through JCPenney's.com you can pick a child by age and location, buy what is on their need and want list, and if you order it from JCPenney's website you get free shipping, it does not ship directly to the child, none of that info is disclosed of course but it goes to the local Salvation Army where you live who then delivers them. Your items do not have to be purchased from JCPenney, you can buy them anywhere and drop them locally. I chose a girl, I have none and now I get to buy a cute little doll and a girly coat. Is it something we could really afford? Not really, but with my bargain shopping abilities I knew I could find something nice.

What do you do to help? What are you Thankful for?

How about that cute centerpiece up there from Better Homes and Garden, That would be super cute filled with Christmas goodies!

Have a Great One!

Happy Halloween!!!!

Images from Better Homes and Garden

I know I haven't posted in a few days, been busy planning this here which is tomorrow from 9am to Noon so if your in the area stop over and see me!!! Until then here are some drool worthy pictures from Better Homes and Garden, love love love these!!

Love those lanterns!

How cool is that witch?

What are your plans for today? After my event, we are heading to the mall for some halloween fun for the little guys, then off to Grammas house for trick or treating! We go there every year and the kids trick or treat there and we eat chili and pass out candy!! Love it! This is the littlest guys first Halloween :)

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!!! See you on Sunday, lots of fun projects to share!

Pumpkin Topiary....

Finally finished up the pumpkin topiary, well kind of. Still tweaking it a bit. I originally had it in a black paper mache box but ewwww it looked awful after seeing it in the pictures. I like the pot myself but think I will paint it black. Not sure yet. I am also making a little sign on a stick to stick in the pot that says Happy Fall. But wanted to share it as I won't have time for a few days to work on it. I am finishing up projects, 5 to be exact and they have to be done by the end of the day tomorrow. Plus I FINALLY cleaned the craft room and now I am just organizing it! I am so happy it's almost done, I am finding sooooo many things I had forgotten I had and making room for lots of new goodies that I will share soon.

I made the topiary out of 3 of these that I got on my shopping trip here at Factory Direct Craft!

I like it! I got the idea from my mom, she made one for my Grandma several years ago but a lot nicer, she cut out her own pumpkins and they were thicker, and made her own box for out of wood for them, me I don't use the power tools just yet :)This whole thing was FREE to make, all stuff I had.

I also finished up these for the salon. Finally. They will go above the Makeup counter there. This was so hard for me. She wanted an asian/modern theme, wanted greens and browns, earthtones, not much red ( eek! ) which I realize yes there is red in there but the paper for what she wanted was so stinkin hard to find, I cried, I stressed, I looked, I cried some more, it was bad. But that's how I roll, lol. And it doesn't help that I am a perfectionist when it comes to doing things for others. There is more green than I would have liked, I wanted to use a completely different paper on the Studio 117 part but as I said it was hard to find and the green patterned paper was the closest I could find, so there it is. These papers I used were actually made to coordinate together but when you get them on what your using them on it's completely different. I think they will look alot better on her wall.

It's DIY day over at Kimba's a Soft Place to Land and I am linkin up this week! It's been a few weeks and I am excited to link up this week and see everyone's projects! Go over here or by clicking the button above and check out everyone's DIY projects this week!

One Last Goodwill Find, for Hubby...

So when I was at Goodwill I found something else, my favorite find and forgot to share it with you....

This!! Isn't it cute? I have the perfect outfit for it! How cute will this chunky belt look with a cute dress? And it was only $1.99! Okay, you all know I'm kidding, right? Well I hope. Seriously. And me in a dress? Hahahahahahahaha! Anyways...I found this stylin belt got my hubby who is dressing up as a wrestler for my grams and gramps yearly Halloween party. Oh it shall be a treat. Would you like to hear why he is dressing up as a wrestler? Okay, I will tell you. I know your dying to know.

One day we he was cleaning out the bedroom dresser and he found a girdle of mine, I guess that's what it is. Yes, I have a girdle, no I don't wear it, I should but it's probably way to small, haha. That's really not funny, but anyway, he comes out of the bedroom modeling said girdle, and it was hysterical! It's one of those that come up really high and it looks like those things that wrestlers wear, at least for some reason that's what wrestlers wear in my mind. So he mentioned that he could so wear it for Halloween and be a wrestler, well he shouldn't have said that because I was all over it and now he has to. So he is. So I found this kids size belt at goodwill that I will add some elastic too, yes it needs to be bigger, and it will go perfectly over his black girdle.

But now I need more ideas. I will google, but I want some ideas from you. Got any? I am thinking he needs some kind of funny silky short robe, uh he mentioned tights, but I have never seen a wrestler in tights, am I wrong? But just for fun and a good laugh I will probably find him some cute tights, hehe.

So do you dress up for Halloween or just the kids? Here it's usually only the kids, this was just random and funny. Maybe I will now, who knows. I would make a great princess ( not really )!

What are your littles dressing up as?

I think this is what my 7 year old will be, he wanted to last year but we waited to late and couldn't find it anywhere.

And I have been obsessed with my 10 month old being a monkey and was obsessed with this $50 ( I have never spent that much ) costume, but the more I look at it, I don't know. I have it narrowed down to a piggy ( cause he is one ), a monkey, and there was a cute teddy bear costume, or I did see a cute pumpkin. It has to be cutesy as I don't get to dress up a boy cutesy for long.

So any ideas on the wrestler costume? What are you and your littles dressing up as if you do?

Can I really have an addiction to paper? And some cute pumpkin ornies.

Now I know I am not the only one addicted to scrapbook paper, Seriously it's a problem. I drool. Alot. When looking through all the pretty papers. I go in for a few sheets and come out with a stack. I stopped in Hobby Lobby the other night looking for asian themed scrapbook paper for a project I am trying to finish up for a friend and well no Asian themed paper but I came out with all kinds of other pretty paper. If you need paper, check Hobby Lobby, mine has it on sale for 5/$1 on the smaller sheets, and the bigger sheets are 3/$1, that is a great deal! Plus they had TONs in the clearance section. I found so many pretty holiday ones. I bought about $22 worth, add that up and that's alot of paper. I would have walked away with much more but the hubster was with me and well I do not need him to see me spend $50 on a stack of paper. Because I seriously could. I don't need it, I have TONS, like I have alot. I will use it someday and it's so nice to have a variety on hand as we all know you can do so much with it.

You really wanted to see all the new paper I got, right?

Oh yea, love the toile paper. I found red Christmas toile paper in the clearance.

Ok enough with scrapbook paper. Am I the last person on earth to find out that the beloved heirloom white paint comes in quarts too? Hello, I am in love.

And of course I had to have it in black too. I love this paint.

I am seriously addicted to these. I found the tutorial for these awhile back on the Creative Crate ( awesome blog by the way ) and love making them. Necklaces out of washers, inexpensive, easy, fun, and Great gifts! This was my first, so no laughing. I also cannot find diamond glaze anywhere locally so the stuff I used on this stunk. It does not work, it caves, bubbles, and looks bad up close, plus takes like a week to dry.

So I was diggin through some more boxes and found some more fall pretties. Don't you love finding stuff you forgot you had? It is so much fun. These my mom made me a few years back. Well she made them and I took them anyway. She sewed them, cinnamoned them with her special mix, and dipped them in wax, and grunged them somewhere in the process. She added little sticks for the stems, made a cute little tag, and tied a bunch together with a scrap of ribbon. Years later and they still smell yummy and look good. I have to try these. When I learn to sew, that is.

Another pretty I found while searching through some boxes. It's missing the hanger, but I can fix that. I love this just the way it is.

A cute pumpkin make do?

Edited to add to DIY day over at Kimbas A Soft Place to Land! Go over and check out everyones DIY projects! I have a Great one to share with you next week!

 I have had this little primitive grungy pumpkin for a few years now, I purchased it off of ebay. I wanted to make it into a little pumpkin make do....I took the above candlestick added a little circle disk to it to hold the pumpkin, gave it a coat of black spray paint and this is what I have now....

What do you think?

Or I could use this one but painted black? I personally think I am leaning towards the taller one but wanted all of you lovelies to give me your opinion. Or do you think the whole shebang is just hideous? Shall I put it back in the closet? haha.


I love me some pumpkin decorations! I have a pumpkin topiary I am wanting to make as well as a few more pumpkin goodies! What fall pretties have you been crafting?

I have a couple of giveaways going on and I am still adding more!! Check them out here and here

I will be adding more tonight!!

I'm back with so much to share and Happy September 1st!!!

First, Happy September 1st!!! I am sooooo excited for September, and the fun Holiday months to come! Ok now on to business....I have been a horrible blogger the past week or so. So horrible I even missed my favorite Thrifty Treasures party and have also missed the last few weeks of DIY day. We had company as you know, the little guy started 2nd grade, then we had our sale ( horrible by the way ), and now it's getting my house reorganized as I have a dining room full of junk leftover from it, yippee! I'm glad it's all over, things are settling down, I can breathe, get some much needed organizing done, and craft. Yes craft, I am so excited to be making Fall and Holiday goodies, it's my first year doing it and it's my favorite time of the year! Anywho, I have so much to share with you just putting some finishing touches on a few things and I should have them up tonight or definitely in the morning. My littlest guy ( 9 months old ) was up ALL night, not feeling so good, he had a fever of 100.3 and has that nasty congested cough and is all stuffed up, I had him in bed with me and about 4am he woke me up and he was so hot, so I gave him some motrin and he played awhile yes played. As terrible as he sounded, and looked he was still his happy little self, he finally fell back asleep about 6am and slept for a couple hours and is MUCH better, no fever, just a slight cough and stuffiness. Sorry keep getting off track, here is a few things I have been doing...

Remember this Goodwill desk?

Yea doesn't look much different does it? It needs something, I gave it a fresh coat of paint and though you can't tell much difference in the pictures it looks so much better than it did. I was going to go black with it and decided to do white now I am thinking how shapr would this look in black...Ahhh...No idea what to do, what would you do?

Remember this Goodwill find for $3.99 I think....

Well it got some black spray paint and some pretty paper, this was sooooooo easy to do and I love the look! However in person it looks awful, I sprayed it in the dark yes. the dark. And I think I gave it to heavy of a coat some some is chipping away but it still looks way better. Sorry I know this picture is awful...



I finished up lots of letters, and picture frames. The frames are so fun and easy to make. I love scrapbook paper and modge podge so much! Plus the frames are $1.00 at Michaels so it's an easy and cheap fix for some pretty art. I have so much fun doing the letters too, the possibilities are endless.


I have been working on some jewelry, I have this ring done and several necklaces that just need the bails glued on then I will show you. These are fun and easy to make too!


See my mirrors? Remember them here that I got at Hobby Lobby for $1 something, I just brushed them with some white paint and did a little distressing! Much better now!




That's all for now! Tonight I will show you another jewelry box redo, a clock redo, and some art I am working on for my office/craft room. I also have a new toy to show you, I haven't used it yet but cannot wait! Can you guess what it is? Here's a big hint....



Hehehe!




Oh and guess what? I am coming up on my 100th post!!! Can you guess what that means???