Time for some FALL FUN- Inexpensive Fall Decor & Craft Ideas!

I was at the $ Tree this weekend, and I noticed they were already putting their Halloween/Fall stuff out! It got me in the mood for some FALL CRAFTING...So I wanted to share this post from last year with you. Enjoy!
I love this time of year, and I am truly the happiest AND most grateful, I've ever been! I'm always "crafting" it seems, but lately... I'm in "CRAFTING OVERDRIVE!" We just bought our dream house in March and from the first time I laid eyes on this beauty, I KNEW that decorating it for the holidays was going to be SO much fun! But with the new mortgage, I've tried to be careful about my crafting expenses. So "repurposing" has become the name of the game around here! Now- the cheaper I can make it...the MORE I seem to love it.  I wanted to share two of my latest little projects that I made... hope you enjoy!

RENEWED URNS & PUMPKIN TOPIARY

Here's how I did it...

These were an adorable addition to the front porch Halloween decorations, but I thought I could

 Re-Reuse them for my topiary!

Then I did some more rummaging around, and came up with these...

**NOTE- For plastic, you MUST use primer made for plastic**

 If you don't, the spray paint will chip off, and then you'll start to cry and then nobody's happy! 

 The pumpkins also got a coat of primer, to cover the pattern that was on them. 

How does the saying go? "She who has the MOST spray paint WINS!?" 

Then I went thru my left over ribbons, and fall accoutrement, and "prettied" her up!

I love the way it came out, and the best part is....it was FREE! 

What do you have laying around the house that you could "Revamp?" I bet you have more than you realize. Try it for yourself, and share the pictures with me... I'd love to see them. 

Have an amazing day! 

Chicken Nugget & French Fries?!

I'll ALWAYS love Halloween, the fun decorating & endless crafts. But I sure do miss making my kids their costumes! Thinking about ALL the costumes I've made over the years makes me smile. Just wanted to share a couple of my favs!

All the kids were chickens, and we were farmers, these took a long time to make but were worth it!

Linking to:

From Trash to Sass- Lamp Makeover!

Here's a quick way to add a little something extra to your holiday decor. I love to shop for lamps at The Goodwill, or as I like to call it- "The G Boutique!" Click on the link, to find one near you. On this particular day, I picked up three lamps with shades for $8! I sprayed it with some primer first, then a couple coats of shiny black spray paint (KRYLON of course) and I was off to a great start. For the shade, a light coat of spray adhesive and some "CA-UTE" zebra Halloween fabric on sale from Joanne's. Of course I had to add some fringe! Seems I can't make anything lately without some fringe, feathers or glitter...but why would you!? That's it! Super easy, quick & cheap- just the way I like it. I love the way it came out and it looks so cute with my zebra and leopard painted pumpkins by it. Stay tuned for a Christmas edition!

Linking to:

How do you mend a broken Jack-o-lantern?

How do you mend a broken Jack-o-lantern?

With a pumpkin patch!

I absolutely LOVE this time of year! And now that it has finally cooled off, it is really starting to feel like fall. I was so excited, while grocery shopping today, to see the variety of pumpkins they had at Albertson's!

It's so hard to find different varieties of pumpkins to decorate with, so I was thrilled to see these beauties...

While browsing the web, looking for some new pumpkin recipes, I came across these PUMPKIN FUN FACTS

from pumpkinpatch.com... and thought I would share:

DID YOU KNOW:

A pumpkin is really a squash?

It is! It's a member of the Cucurbita family which includes squash and cucumbers.

That pumpkins are grown all over the world?

Six of the seven continents can grow pumpkins including Alaska! Antarctica is the only continent that they won't grow in.

That the "pumpkin capital" of the world is Morton, Illinois?

This self proclaimed pumpkin capital is where you'll find the home of the Libby corporation's pumpkin industry.

That the Irish brought this tradition of pumpkin carving to America?

The tradition originally started with the carving of turnips. When the Irish immigrated to the U.S., they found pumpkins a plenty and they were much easier to carve for their ancient holiday.

Fun Facts About The Pumpkin!

Pumpkins contain potassium and Vitamin A.

Pumpkin flowers are edible.

The largest pumpkin pie ever made was over five feet in diameter and weighed over 350 pounds. It used 80 pounds of cooked pumpkin, 36 pounds of sugar, 12 dozen eggs and took six hours to bake.

In early colonial times, pumpkins were used as an ingredient for the crust of pies, not the filling.

Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites.

The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,140 pounds.

The Connecticut field variety is the traditional American pumpkin.

Pumpkins are 90 percent water.

Eighty percent of the pumpkin supply in the United States is available in October.

Native Americans flattened strips of pumpkins, dried them and made mats.

Native Americans called pumpkins "isqoutm squash."

Native Americans used pumpkin seeds for food and medicine.

MONDAY FUNDAY! Halloween Crafts on a BUDGET!

Who says Mondays have to be blue?

This time of year is my favorite, and I thought I would share some fun, inexpensive Halloween/Harvest craft projects that you can do. Cute ways to add a little pizazz to your holiday decorations, and your little ones can craft with you. I think there is something really special about "making memories" with your kids and crafting together is the PERFECT way to do it!

The $ Tree has become one of my new favorite places to support my "crafting habit!"

I picked up a few (ok, so I bought about TEN) of these foam pumpkins, and with a few craft items you probably already have- you can transform them into fun deco's!

The $ Tree also carries a wide variety of really cute holiday ribbons.

Walmart is also a great place for ribbons and other craft items on the "cheap"...

Now, here are a few of my "MUST HAVE-CRAFT STAPLES" that I always keep on hand...

MOD PODGE is a must for me! I LOVE it and it has SO many uses... It comes in many different varieties and can be used as just a glue or as a finish or sealer! I try to use my weekend Joanne's coupon when I want to buy it, and I get it in the biggest bottle I can find. But if you don't have any MOD PODGE, and you just HAVE to craft right this second- then you can also use any white glue you have around the house & just water it down a bit!

ALEENE'S tacky glue is another "staple" I ALWAYS have on hand! But any white glue will do.

I LOVE CRAFT PENS....these are SO useful for many products and you can pick them up at the $ Tree, Walmart, Joanne's or any craft store.

My absolute FAV is the Elmer's PAINTERS....

They come in combo packs- 5 pens for about $14 (Joanne's coupon baby!) or you can pick just one color for about $3.50

SO.... for our LIL PUMPKIN MAKE-OVERS the options are endless!

This is what I came up with...

MOD PODGE (aka M.P.) PUMPKINS....

With a little M.P. and some left over party napkins cut down to size, this pumpkin is lookin' pretty sassy! I also painted some white polka dots with my paint pen.

You can also use holiday ribbon, in any pattern for a cute look!

For this one, I found a cute Halloween picture in a magazine! Magazines are a great source for your "M.P.ing" obsession. I also used my CRICUT to cut our name, and added some silk leaves. **If you don't have a CRICUT- you can paint your name on with a paint pen or cut some letters out of cute paper!**

OUTDOOR PUMPKINS...

You've GOT to spread the holiday cheer to the front of the house as well, so for these pumpkins I used my paint pens and added some cute animal print! I'm a little crazy about zebra & leopard print! SO CA-UTE!

If you are going to put these outside ( and I HIGHLY suggest you do!) Make sure to coat them with some Clear Gloss paint, to protect them from the elements.

I love KRYLON brand spray paint the best, for two reasons...

1. You can buy it at Walmart, its a GREAT product and inexpensive.

2. It has a really nice spray nozzle! When you spray paint as much as I do, this is important!

AND LAST, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST.....

$TREE - CANDY WRAPPER VOTIVES!

This is the perfect time to make these lil gems! There is about 3 isles of Halloween candy at the $TREE right now...so grab a couple bags of your fav's. Then find yourself a few glass votives, or you can use whatever container you like; buckets, tall glasses, plastic tubs, etc....

I pulled all the candy out of the wrappers (and saved it, minus what I ate! for a "candy wreath" project, coming soon!) and I cut the wrappers so that none of the printing, besides the candy logo were showing. Then just start M.P.'ing! **Glue them all into place, then let them dry pretty well (a few hours) then add another layer, or two of M.P. and voila! These also make great HOSTESS GIFTS for any Halloween Parties you may be going to.

So that's it for MONDAY FUNDAY! Hope you try some of these out.... send me pics & post some comments if you do!

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!

It's that time of year again!

Fall, Harvest, Halloween... my favorite time of year!