Painted Pumpkins Craft Night

Our last craft night was all about pumpkins.

We painted them with craft paint, acrylic paint, paint markers and even some chalkboard paint. 

My friend Melissa made two of these ghosts. 

This masterpiece was by Ericka.

I used some gold and silver to paint the stems of my pumpkins. The idea was from the latest Martha Stewart magazine. It is a super easy and fun craft that works for adults and kids alike.

Maddie made these beauties.

And here they are around my house. 

This is the chalkboard paint gourd.

I used a few of them to add an autumn touch to the dinner table.

Silk Dyed Easter Eggs

If you're looking for a very easy, but impressive easter egg project, this is it! I have to give credit to the infamous Martha Stewart Show, which is where I learned this technique.

Materials:

• Patterned Silk. I used silk scarves, but you could use any silk fabric (ties, scarves, shirts)
• Raw eggs (they will cook while they are being dyed)
• White cotton
• Twist ties or rubber bands or string
• Non reactive (glass or enamel pot) although I don't have either of these so used metal and it works
• White vinegar and water

Directions:

Cut your silk into squares that will fit around the eggs. Also cut the white cloth to the same size. You can eyeball all of this, it does not need to be exact.

Wrap each egg in the silk and tie with a twist tie, rubber band or anything that will tie it tight (I used baking twine). The tighter you tie it, the more pattern you will have.

Wrap each silk covered egg in white cotton. I used an old t-shirt that had seen better days. The layer of cotton helps to keep the dye in place.

Place the eggs in your pot and fill with water so that they are covered. Add approximately 3 tablespoons of white vinegar to the water and bring to a boil.

Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove the eggs from the water and let them cool. Unwrap each egg and see your work of art.

Each one will be unique. An optional step is to add a little bit of vegetable oil to a paper towel to wipe each egg to make it shine.

You can also paint or use markers on the eggs after they are dry. I added some green marker to the one on the bottom to add some extra interest. I should also add that you can save the used silk to use again. The purple pieces were previously used a few years ago for the same project and still came out great!

What's your favorite way to dye eggs?

let's celebrate!

Celebrations are one of the most wonderful experiences of life. You can celebrate anything, babies, marriage, graduation, a new job, a birthday, an anniversary, or insert-your-own-celebration-here! I think it's really important to be able to throw together a celebratory party at any time, under any situation. It's almost easier (actually definitely easier) to invest a minimum amount of time in planning and executing it. You just have to think outside of the box and take advantage of what's already there and available.

In the age of pinterest, it's easy to get overwhelmed with the millions of ideas that you find all around you. I speak from experience of getting caught in the black hole of infinite ideas and trying to plan an event. You could go crazy with the amount of food ideas, decoration ideas, invite ideas, game ideas, etc... But you know what? Most likely people are just going to remember the event and not pick apart the minuscule details. Sometimes you just gotta set a date, invite a few friends, and order a goddamn pizza!

We did a teeny bit more for this party, but actually not much. We picked a date (which was actually was the hardest part), then ordered food (Indian), bought desert (Termini, of course, the best dessert in probably the whole universe) and set the scene. It helps that I have a collection of candles and planters. But all I actually bought for the party decorations was a banner and letter kits from Target and plants from my local grocer. But these ingredients for our "BABY" party can be used and re-used for any number of parties.

Here's the breakdown:

Decorations: Usually I would DIY the banner, but I was seriously running out of time and found these in the dollar (or $3) bins in the front of Target. I took the banners and letters, spelled baby, sewed them on with some  yard I had laying around and then strung it all with the same yarn. Voila. Then I centered a bunch of candles on the table with some plants that I picked up at the grocery store. I decided on pansies, but a close second was house plants. The plants served two purposes, to decorate the table, and to be the favors so that everyone could take one home.


Food: Order it! DIY is also awesome and my number one choice, but if time is of the essence, just order it. If it's between spending hours in the kitchen that you do no have, or just ordering your favorite foods from your favorite joint; order it. No one will judge you. And if they do, screw them and their ideals.




Then it's time to sit back and enjoy the company of hanging out with friends, because that's what it's really all about.

wallpaper sample project and bedroom update

While trying to decide on a wallpaper to use in the dining room, I ordered a bunch of samples from York Wallcoverings. You can order large format samples and then use them for DIY projects in your house! This pattern was a close second choice for the dining room, but I am happy that I talked Dave into my first choice. 

Wallpapering can be a real commitment and expense if you use it in an entire room or wall. If you don't want to make that big of a commitment, but really LOVE wallpaper (which you should) you can just paper a small area, as I have here. Our bedroom has a built-in vanity area with a couple of high shelves with a set of doors. The doors were the perfect canvas for this project. This wallpaper is called Wild Poppies and is flocked with a slightly shimmery base. It is a super cool and modern print. 

Sewing / Craft Room Update

I spent the Saturday of the blizzard rearranging and organizing my sewing / craft room. The room was set up in a way that just wasn't working for me. Now I can easily access the shelves again!

I finally figured out a floor plan that works. On Black Friday I saw a deal for a free Homepolish session so I bought it. This gave me an hour session with a designer who I facetimed with, Marcy Garcia. And by the way I never use facetime and hate being recorded, so I am pretty sure I was terrible at it. It was so great to get a fresh opinion on everything. She found me a lot of sofa beds that would have fit in this space. She also believed that the dark wooden trim at the top of the room should be painted white and I agree! I have been thinking that about the whole house ever since I first saw it. This is definitely in the future plans. As is getting new flooring.

DIY pine cone wreath

The best crafts are made with what at least one item that you already have. This wreath was made with the pine cones from our yard and a store bought wreath form. You can wither use a plain metal one, but I was digging this white one, so I bought it instead.


Ingredients:

• pine cones
• metal wreath form
• florist wire
• latex gloves (optional, this helps to keep the sap off of your fingers)

Directions:

• Start by winding an end of a piece of wire around the frame.

• Or you can also start by winding the wire around the cone and then twist the end of the wire around the frame. Do whatever works easiest for you.

• Place the pine cones where they looks best. 
• Wrap the wire around each and then around the back of the wire frame until it is snug.
• I worked with wire pieces that were approx. 18" long and you can wrap it around the cones multiple times (twice is good, one at each end, or one in the middle if it's small).
• End the piece of wire by wrapping it around the wire wreath form a couple of times so that it is snug.
• Continue to work your way around the wreath form until it's covered.

And there you have it, a beautiful wreath. You can also add berries for a pop of color.

 

 

craft night!

I've been slacking on the craft nights lately, but this weekend I had my wonderful gal friends over for some good old fashioned crafting and eating pizza. Make it easy on yourself and just order take out and have  a couple apps to nibble one. A couple of cheeses and crackers are a great appetizer.



My friend Jenn made this "reef." She came prepared with some store bought greenery which she gave up on. I couldn't let a friend fail, so we went foraging in the yard for the holly and used some of the leftover bottom-of-the-Christmas-tree-braches to make a cool off-center wreath.

Extending the Lives of Coleus

I always look forward to the beginning of Autumn and the crisp chill in the air. But the part of fall that I enjoy least is that most of the outdoor plants die for the season. What if I could tell you that this doesn't have to happen. (Writing that sounds like I am in an infomercial.) But it's true. There are a few plants that you can take clippings from and overwinter inside your home. This means that you will have to buy less next spring and having them inside your home will cheer you up all winter. WIN WIN!

 

coleus propagation

i don't know about you, but i am a huge fan of coleus. they are excellent for shade, which is something that can be hard to find. and more importantly, they are hardy! they will tell you that they need water by drooping, and even if you ignore it for a couple of days, once you do water them, they will perk right up. even better is that they are easy to keep from year to year. these pictures are from last fall, and to be honest, not all of them made it. but if you have even the faintest shade of a green thumb, at least half of them will make it. i'll take it. 

this is what you do:

• cut off some nice stems from your existing coleus
• place them in water (cut off some of the smaller stems at the bottom of each piece, if needed)
• add water as needed
• after you see a pretty good amount of roots form, place them in a planter with potting soil
• water as needed
• in the spring, replant to outside pots and enjoy all spring, summer and fall

 this is what you can enjoy in your home during the fall and winter months.

and this is a picture from a couple of months later, still going strong. just be sure to add additional water when needed. 

a little turquoise spray paint

the day after we moved in i found this little side table sitting by the side of the road in our neighborhood. i snagged it, because i loved the lines of it. i picked up some spray paint and made it turquoise. have you seen the selection available now for spray paint? it's great! lots of very cool colors.

before:

after:

and i won't mention the turquoise spray paint remnants in our carport due to overspray. oops. :-( anyone know how to remove it?

and here it is with our vintage fireplace outside. my dad picked this up as a trade on one of his jobs. we LOVE it. thanks dad!!

five minute pillow makeover

want to snazz up some pillows? all you need is some trim, your pillow cases and 5 minutes.

so you'll want to grab your pillow cases. then cut a length of trim that is long enough to go all the way around the edge, with an extra 1" to fold under.

start at the seam and fold the trim under itself 1/2". you can pin the trim first, but i like to just jump right in and sew.

sew along the edge of the trim. if it's thick trim you may want to sew along each edge, but mine was skinny enough to just sew one edge.

once you get to the end, fold the edge under again and voila. beautiful pillow cases :-)

from bag to tag and the clover market

i had been keeping this bag around (from my trip to the amazing terrain), because it was too pretty to throw away. today i noticed that it was falling apart so i was just about to put it in the recycling, when i had the idea to cut it up to use as tags. i planned to go to the craft store today to buy some, so this saved me a trip, and recycled something that would have been in the trash.



while cutting up the bag, i noticed this, which i thought was appropriate :-)


and why, you may ask, do i need tags? because i'm doing my first show! i'm super excited about it and nervous at the same time. i'll be at the clover market in ardmore, pa on october 10, 11-4. you can check out lots of details about the market here. hope to see you there!

flower box

our railing was slowly rotting, so dave ripped it out. it was one of his summer projects since he had off all summer (must be NICE). once he ripped it out we agreed that it looked better and he suggested a planter box instead. great idea, so he made it and i painted it and here it is.

i love it :-) it adds a nice punch of color to the house. i just need to balance it out by having one more thing that color on the porch. oh, what to paint....