Prepping for fall...

It's been almost two years since I blogged.  And I think I'm ready to get back to it.  I've been pinning more again, so I'll try to post results from time to time.  One pin per week?  We'll see! ;)

I was in need of a good craft day.  It had been a while, and it's been a busy few weeks and months, so unplugging and spending time in my craft room was just the ticket!  I got my inspiration from quite a few different pins... and put my own spin on each one.  My goal was to have a mantel decorated for fall at the end of the day.

Welcome fall sign:



Mason jars with "wheat" in them:



Leaf banner for mantel:




Homemade pumpkins:



In the end, here's how my projects came out...

Somebody told me I need to add the word "y'all" at the end...

Bonus points if you can figure out any of the hymns I used!

I think I still need to add some things to these, but it's a start.

Success!

Minions!

I knew I wanted to do some sort of a pumpkin craft this year, and was thinking of carving one of those fake ones.  Whatever I decided to do, I knew I wanted it to last beyond October 2015.  There were minion things all over the place this Halloween, including lots of costumes.  I saw this on Pinterest and decided to give it a try..



I began with a plain, orange craft pumpkin.  I started by painting the whole thing yellow (except at the very bottom).  It took several coats to get the whole thing covered.  Once the yellow layer dried, I began painting the blue for the denim.  I just freehanded this, but I did draw it in pencil first and then paint over it.  I found it helpful to do it upside down on a bowl:

Once the blue dried, I outlined the edges with a black sharpie, drew on the pocket, and added two yellow dots so it looked like button holes. I then drew the mouth, added teeth with a white paint marker, and painted the strap for the glasses.  I used lids from mason jars for the eyes (painted the inside of the lids white) and added googly eyes.  I hot glued the lids to the pumpkin and voila!

I have a colleague who loves minions, so I knew from the start where this project would end up. :)

Etched Glass

A Saturday with nothing on the schedule except crafting? Sounds like heaven... and sounds like it's time to try a new craft! I had seen this several times on Pinterest and wanted to try it, and today was the day! 

Inspiration came from here: 



Thoughts on this project... 
-much easier than anticipated 
-more fun than expected! 
-leaves room for creativity 
-shows up better on empty glass than on glass with a colored material inside it (a red candle, for example) 

Such a fun project and I just may have to find more and more glass around my apartment... or go buy new stuff! 

Here are the supplies you'll need... don't get fooled by the sales tactics at the craft store. You only need a very small bottle. A little goes a long way!

First time through, I used an adhesive stencil and stuck it to the glass. Then applied the Armour Etch with a paint brush.

Directions say to leave it on for five minutes but it doesn't seem like that's enough.  We left it on for 30 and then rinsed with water.  Using a paper towel helps to get it all wiped off.

Ta da!

See what I mean about the red background?  Here's one that was on clear glass with nothing behind it to show you the difference.

If you don't have adhesive stencils, you can trace a design onto contact paper and then cut it out with an x-acto knife on a cutting mat.  Adds a step to the process but works just as well!

Have fun!

Gratitude

Last year, I made a conscious effort to practice gratitude on a regular basis... Not just in my mind, but on paper. At the end of each day, instead of thinking about the things that did not go well or that I didn't get finished, I wrote down three things for which I was grateful. It completely changed my outlook on many days. While I will continue that practice this year, I'm going to add to it. I made this "gratitude jar" and when I'm moved to do so, I'll write down things for which I'm grateful and put the slips in the jar. At the end of the year, I'll open the jar and read over all the slips from 2015.

Inspiration from here...

http://pinterest.com/pin/140948663313768268/

Here's a picture of the jar I painted... The jar itself came from the "one spot" at Target, athough it was a $3 item. I used acrylic paint.

And here is the whole project, ready to go, with the first slip in the jar!

Give it a try... I think you'll be glad you did!

Christmas burlap wreath

I have been wanting to try a burlap wreath for a while now... And in fact bought all of these supplies last December. Had I known just how quick and easy this would be, I would have done it much sooner!

Inspiration from here...

http://pinterest.com/pin/221239400420489834/

Although the result is not perfect, it is a good first effort. Plenty of burlap left over to try another one sometime!

Winter Wreath

Making wreaths is one of my new favorite craft activities.  I made one for fall, spring, and football season... over the course of the last 12-15 months... and although I managed to skip right over Christmas (maybe I'll have time to do that in August), tonight I made a winter wreath.  I had been intrigued by the tulle wreaths on pinterest and thought it would be fun to try one in winter colors. Silver and white, to be exact!

Inspiration came from here...

It was very easy to do.  The most time-consuming part was cutting the tulle.  And although some blogs recommended folding the tulle in half and looping it through itself, I found that it wouldn't stay put like that.  I went with tying knots.  

Think I'll leave the (store-bought) Christmas wreath up for a few more days before I switch it out for this one..

M & M cheesecake bars

I had my family over for dinner tonight and wanted to try a new dessert. I have no idea what makes these Weight Watchers friendly... And haven't figured out the points or the calories. But they were tasty! If you like cheesecake and like M & M's, it's a win win!