Easy Fall Banner

 

 

Normally I’m the last one to admit summer’s over but after seeing an inspiration photo this morning (I forgot to save the link, oops!) I couldn’t help but get into the fall crafting spirit!

There are a lot of steps but it’s easy, I swear!

 

 

First I made a template and cut out pages from an old book. Pendants are super easy to free hand but if you need a template click here.

 

 

Then, I ran all the pages through my crimper to give them a little extra somethin’ somethin’. If you don’t have a crimper you could crumple the pages t get all that delicious texture.

 

 

Here they are looking all crimped and ready for pumpkins!

 

 

My pendants are about 4 inches wide so I cut 3 different 12x12 scrapbooking papers into 4x4 squares to ensure I couldn’t goof up.

 

 

Because I had already cut my papers to the maximum size I for my pumpkins I could free hand cut my pumpkins without worrying if they would be too small or too big. Don’t be too hard on your pumpkin cutting skills. They are an organic shape, just go with the flow.

 

 

I pulled out my distressing in and just rubbed the entire pad over the edges. This helped define them a little so they wouldn’t blend in with the book paper.

 

 

I didn’t actually find any orange paper I wanted so I added a little orange with a floral stamp and some orange ink.

 

 

Almost there I promise! I gathered up some random buttons and turned my glue gun on low/cool.

 

 

Normally I’m an all High setting kind of gal. Ain’t nobody got time to wait for the glue to melt!  BUT for this project the Cool setting is better because it will give you a little more depth. I’ve learned by trial and error that glue sticks or pop dots flatten your crimping right back out and hot glue solves all that.

 

 

Glue a button on each pumpkin then, glue the pumpkin on your pendant. Attach it to you string by folding it over and gluing the sting inside the fold.

 

 

Hang it up and you’re done!

 

How about you all? Are you ready for Fall?

 

 

Upcycled Gardening Containers

I wrote earlier about how I would love to try a key hole garden this year. I thought and thought and thought about different materials I could have used to make one but they all required buying at least a little money or a lot of work to make them. BUT as my mind was chewing on the idea we were working on the chicken coop and ended up doing this instead!

It’s made out of wooden garage doors that my husband picked up for free off of Craigslist. They came with a garage door motor and he was going to use them as a garage door. I kindly pointed out the lack of insulation and light they would provide in the winter so they just sat in our back yard for over a year!  Finally I said he had to think of something or toss them, what I ended up with is a MASSIVE garden bed! Early next spring we will add pvc pipes and contractors plastic to make a wonderful little hoop house.

Need some other ideas?

How about a feeding trough? 

We used to keep our turtle, Fred, in this 50 gallon rubbermaid trough. They are pretty expensive to buy new but if you see one laying around…

Tires

I thought about ditching my tire garden this year but even though it’s ugly you can’t beat the practicality of it. Used tires are free and the black rubber does and excellent job warming the soil for our cold northern climate.

Bet you weren’t expecting trash cans to make the list!

Our entire neighborhood switched trash services and they only take square trash cans. I think it’s weird but whatever, we just take our trash to the dump. After thoroughly cleaning the trash cans my husband came up with the idea to use them to grow potatoes in.  He starts out with just a little bit of dirt at the bottom and adds dirt as the plants grow. In the fall he just dumps the whole can upside down on a tarp to harvest!

5 Gallon buckets

The wonder and glory of the 5 gallon bucket never ceases. I’ve seen them used for upside down planters, hydroponic systems, containing invasive plants… the list goes on. Here my husband is trying potatoes this year. We also have one in the chicken coop that grows chick weed.

Don’t for get rocks and trees!

A great deal of my gardens are raised and separated from the grass with rocks we’ve collected over time. They never decay away and they are everywhere! A good sized log will last you quite a while too.

Painted Bathroom Backsplash

Once up on a time I found this pin for Moroccan tiles.

Could you not just drool over that all day?! The website says, “Each of these tiles is hand-made and hand-antiqued; a layer of stain is applied to the surface and the edges distressed to give an aged appearance.”

*whimper*

I didn’t even look to see how much they were. Right now the economy tile at Home Depot is out of my budget! But do you know what’s not? Paint. Especially found-it-in-the-garage-paint. And so, inspired by these painted back splashes, I did.

Isn’t it gorgeous!!!?

Ignore my paint clothes and the 3 burnt out light bulbs and just drool with me here for a second.

What’s that? you need a close up? Ok!

How’d I do it? I bought a roll of stencil making material and cut it out using my Cricut. It’s such a simple design that you could totally cut this out by hand though.

You can see where I cut the stencil and taped it back together with painters tape to get into the spaces I needed around the edges and the bottom. I used repositionable spray adhesive to hold the stencil up while I was using it. Spraying over a pizza box help not make my entire bathroom sticky.

And one more time burnt out bulbs, paint clothes, and all!

For the record I bought new CFL bulbs for the light fixture and they show off the “tiles” even more! It’s crazy amazing how beautiful they are in person! New pictures will have to wait though while I finish up all the other craziness I have going on right now!

A VERY Unexpected Favorite

A while back we were unknowingly gifted with pet store snails. No big deal, we bought 5 skunk loaches and while they didn’t make the snails disappear they certainly kept them under wraps.

Fast forward through an unfortunate tank cleaning session and we were down to 2 and our local store that carried the loaches isn’t selling fish anymore! Boo!

So I checked out the local chain stores and all they had was a $12 loach that grew up to a foot long. Ew. I have a big tank but I don’t like big fish, especially the kind that look like snakes.

I had googled before I went and pretty much everything I read had some kind of loach to fix a snail problem. My problem would be finding one. When the store associate asked if I needed any help I jokingly asked if they had anything that ate snails that wouldn’t eat me. Surprise! Surprise!

She said the reason they had feeder fish in the tanks was to eat the snails!!!!

What?!? Why isn’t THAT listed on all the fishy websites?

So we went home, snagged a long time resident of the turtle tank, put it in the 100 gal and poof! 3 days later the snails the snails have gone from over running the tank to a rare sighting!

Total cost for snail population control: $0

What's hiding in YOUR closet?

So does ANYONE remember this post from *cough* February *cough* when I picked up this craft closet?

I told you I go it for FREE but what I didn't tell you in that post was that I drove through one of our worst snow storms and almost got involved in a multi-car pile-up that I couldn't see in time because the snow was SO THICK. Then when we got there the elderly lady told me to get out of my truck and she whipped in into her driveway herself because they thought I was taking too long. I was mortified of sliding in the snow and hitting their car. Slow and steady plus a big pickup doesn't really jive well with a foot of fresh now. Then, when we got out she whipped out the power tools and took this bad boy apart pretty much by herself! What an inspiring lady! 

Obviously I'm not so on top of it as she is because it's taken me 7 months to write up this post. In my defense the room we put it in has undergone 3 MAJOR changes in those 7 months and, in fact, it's not even in that room anymore! But those are posts for another day. 

It's in my living room! Kind of a strange place for it, I know, but sometimes you just have to work with what you've got. and all closed up it looks pretty unassuming. 

And what I've got is a LOT of craft storage! I'll admit that this is not everything. I have a closet in my daughters room that is full of Scentsy/Crafting/Velata supplies but this holds the stuff I use most often. You'll see most of my sewing stuff on the left and mostly scrapbooking stuff on the right.  The sewing machine only comes down when I'm using it, being on the shelf keeps it up and out of the way for when I am scrapbooking.

The top shelf holds all my papers and a few extra scrapbooks. 

Each side has 3 shelves. Some of them are empty to accommodate the things on the other side when they are closed. I have thought about using some command hooks to squeeze in a few more inches of storage.

The drawer holds fabric and shelf holds sewing notions. The lazy susan holds scrapbooking and sewing supplies it goes back in the center when it's closed up. The holes were cut by a previous owner. I am waiting to find the perfect thing to cover them up. Maybe even a curtain? Since it is in a corner for now a curtain would allow the cords to go through and I could use the empty space behind it for storage! Hmmm... wheels are turning! 

So, spill it. What's hiding in your closet?

Break Out the Fall Colors!

Around here there's been more rain and wind than I would like, enough that I'm sticking to the inside these days. So, while moping about inside I decided to cheer myself up with a little fall decor! 

I read a blog the other day that was talking about the "new" trendy fall colors and aqua and orange were high on her list. Good to know I'm in good taste I guess. Oh, and keep an eye out for a project involving those insulators in the corner ;)

My 3 little birds given to me by my husbands grandma last year are still some of my favorites. They look so cute scattered among some little fall leaves.

I decided that I would hang my burlap wreath on top of my sheet music wreath and I LOVE the look! 

Click here for tutorials on the Toilet Paper Roll Garland, How to make the Fall Wreath, and the Sheet Music Chalkboard Wreath. 

My cute little owl from Hobby Lobby stuck around too. I think he looks ultra nerdy/sweet next to my ABC balls. Tutorial on how to make those here. 

This little guy fills the gap between the mirrors. I love the natural wrapped wreath and the little pumpkins. 

And just let me add in one more close up of the layered wreaths because I am head over heals for all that texture! 

As always the BEST part is I didn't buy ANYTHING this year so this little up date costs $0!

Click on the links above to see how I made a lot of it last year and saved myself some $. 

If you are in the Anchorage/Valley area make sure you don't miss out on the Fall Festival at Pyrah's Pioneer Peek U-Pick Farm this weekend and next! We go every year and it's a BLAST! There is a small entrance fee but once you get in they have all sorts of FREE stuff to do for little kids! 

How about you guys? Have you been decorating for Fall? 

Linking up with:

DIY Home Sweet Home

Craft-OManiac

I Should Be Mopping the Floor

Positively Splendid

I Heart Naptime

It's SEPTEMBER!!! + TP Pumpkin Garland Tutorial

Get out those Fall decorations 'cause it's September!!! 

As if any of you needed the reminder! This year I don't have any munchkins headed off to school but Anberlynn sure wants to go! She has a friend down the street that started Kindergarten this year and she would be more than happy if she could go with him. Instead we are trying to have some school liek fun here at home. 

First we made Oobleck.

I didn't take any pictures because it can get pretty messy with both girls but it's just 2 parts corn starch to 1 part water (add a little more at a time if it's too dry). The result is fun and entertaining. 

Then I pulled out the toilet paper rolls! And the paint! Around these parts that makes me "Mom of the Year." 

I didn't have any orange paint so we went ahead with yellow and red, purposely making the color as uneven as possible- I even left some blank! 

Add caption

We painted several, some were striped, some were spotted, and some were plain. 

 Next I sliced them into skinny little loops. I purposely cut them different widths, no measuring here! Just make sure they are wide enough for your hole punch! 

I used my Crop-A-Dial as my hole punch. I layered 3 loops inside of each other (they were already flat from when I cut them) and punched them all at once. Anberlynn tried to help with this but it too too much hand strength for a 4 year old. 

Cutting them all together made the next step easy - threading yarn through. 

Take a LONG piece of green yarn and tie a bow at one end and tape the other end for easy threading. 

Pull the taped end through your 3 hole punched loops and you'll end up with this. 

Slide your loops all the way to the bottom of your yarn, fluff it up and tie another bow between each set. 

When you are done you'll have a fun little pumpkin garland.  

 I hung mine on my mirror with two manipulated paper clips for hooks. 

And that's it.  I made a few extras and cu them apart for my cloche but of course it wasn't gonna cooperate for a photo.  

The girls love that they got to help out and point it out to all the guests that come over. What do you think I should write on the chalk board? 

Total Cost $0 I had everything on hand. 

Upcycled Crib Mattress to Reading Nook

Here's Evelyn's new favorite place to read before bed. 

If you have been following along for a bit you may remember I got this bed for her off Craigslist a few months ago.

We have been so busy with chickens and summer that I haven't done much indoors but this is one thing I really wanted to get done. I though't I'd just pop the crib mattress in there and call it good. 

Wrong. 

It was a few inches too long. So they had to go.

Yep. I had my hubby cut it off using scissors and wire cutters. I used the batting from the part I cut off to recover the top. 

I cut the corners so there wouldn't be a bunch of extra bulk for the next step.

I tucked it all in all the way around. 

I used the last little bit of the only duct tape we had to tape it down. 

It was probably unnecessary but I taped it down both ways just to make sure nothing was going to shift around and to make sure all the wire ends were covered by duct tape too. 

I slipped the part we cut off earlier right back over the top. I would have taped this down some too but  I ran out of tape! 

I put on the same crib sheet we used before and it fit just fine, not super snug like before but good enough that I don't feel a need to sew it smaller. 

Now it fits PERFECTLY in it's space. 

Evelyn has all of her reading needs ready to go in her little nook. 

Total cost for a perfect little nook? 

$0

That's my kind of project!