Mug Decor

If I had just a little more time... I would LOVE to attempt something like this!!

http://bit.ly/4RY1Sw

Thanksgiving Vintage Banner

I just finished this Thanksgiving banner and thought I would share. I didn't want anything over the top for Thanksgiving decorations. I love all the natural elements (pumpkins, fall leaves, nuts, pinecones, burlap etc) that make Thanksgiving so simple and beautiful.

I printed off vintage Thanksgiving postcard images from The Graphics Fairy. Then I used some Martha Stewart glitter (the best) and glittered some paper clips. I clipped the images to a piece of jute and called it good.

A prepared home

I wanted to touch on a different aspect of the home--- a prepared home!! As the economy, government, and society becomes more and more unstable there is an ever pressing need to get our houses in order and be prepared for whatever is to come be it natural disaster, pandemics, financial difficulties, etc....

1. Food storage (long term and short term)
2. Water storage
3. Financial reserve
4. Medical/First Aid
5. Toiletries

There are several websites with tools to help you assess your needs and get you on your way to being prepared. Here are a few of my favorite-

provident living.org- Food & water storage techniques, food storage calculator, etc.

Costco.com- they are now selling long term foodstorage items at a great value

Emergency Essentials- Food Storage Analyzer- create a printer friendly inventory of your food storage that includes a breakdown of nutritional value & calculates the number of days your food supply would last. This is a great tool to help you ensure that you not only have food, but that is nutritionally balanced! Plus if you tyr out their food storage anyalyzer and write a review you get a free $10 gift card to use on their products.

Fall Decor!

Just some quick pics of activities and fall decorations that can be found at our house.

This was make with a cut up 2x4, paint and vinyl writing. I am sure stamps would be great too. Normally it sits outside, but I brought it in from the rain. In the basket there are pine cones, gourds, and Indian corn, and a string of leaves around the handle.

Luminary bags that line our walk. Brown paper bag, red tissue paper and card stock that I cut leaf designs from. Drop in beans to weigh it down, a battery run tea light to give it life and TA-DA!

I turned my kids loose with paints and pumpkins. They are quite the artists! They had no shirts and big smocks to protect their clothes.

These are little scrap blocks of wood I sanded and painted in a pretty pallet of fall colors. Then I added vinyl lettering. If you can't tell, they say, "pumpkin patch."

Happy decorating!

Happy Halloween!

I had to squeeze one last Halloween craft in for the month of October!! Happy Trick or Treating!

"Trick or Treat" Banner

Halloween Craft

Sorry girls, I always forget to post on this blog.

This was my craft I made last week. It's a Halloween Countdown Calendar. We move the little green ghost every morning and then we count how many more days we have until we can chow down on candy!!!

It's all very exciting. Not too much work either....

Hocus Pocus

Made a new banner for Halloween this season. Also, concaucted something for a front door wreath. These are the only new ideas I could muster-up this year.

More haunting decor

I loved the witches hat idea that Shenise shared last year, so I just had to make one for this year...and the Halloween sign was a find at Tai Pan Trading company from last October's visit to UT....Oh, how I wish they had Tai Pan in TX!

Pedestals

I saw this idea in Better Homes and Garden and tweaked it a little bit...Using a unfinished wooden candlestick and a pre-cut plaque (any craft store sells these for just a couple of dollars) you can create beautiful pedestals for anything from pumpkins to candles....I choose a beveled plaque but you can you cake rounds or any other pre-cut shape....simply paint the wood, hot glue together and cover the top with scrapbook paper & modpodge...you can also attach decorative trim around the edge to if you have a thing for frills! For a seasonal decoration choose paper that matches your decor. If you plan on using heavy items on top (or a glass cloche), you can glue a small round disk to the bottom of the candlestick to make a wider more stable base....

This was a very tall very ugly 70's candlestick that I found at a thrift store, so I painted it black and it usually holds a candle but for this spooky time of year, it made the perfect perch for my fake pumpkin!

Spooky Sentiments.....

These were my halloween cards for last month's card group......

Vintage halloween

I made this using a cute vintage halloween image that I mounted onto a board painted with crakle paint.... I thought it would be so cute used a halloween display.

Pour some Cinnamon and Sugar

I just learned this delicious tip from a good friend of mine and it adds a little extra DELICIOUSNESS to your baked goods.......When making sweet breads that have cinnamon in the recipe coat your pan with a cinnamon sugar mixture instead of flour and sprinkle some on top before baking as well.....(when making my pumpkin bread I sprayed the pan with non-stick cooking spray and then dusted the pan with a generous coat of the cinnamon sugar mixture!) It adds a sweet crispy crunch to the crust and as a bonus, the bread/rolls/muffins don't stick at all!!!

for my sister.

Dining room wall

across from the piano
up the stairway...this took me about six months :)
entry hall

This post is mostly for my sister who has asked me to send pics of my "collages" that I am JUST getting around to hanging on my walls. pathetic considering we have been in this house nearly a year now. Anyways, thought it might be a bit of a "domestic inspiration" to someone else...

or maybe not :)

My Mom Was Martha Before Martha Was Cool.

I took this picture at my mom's house in her "work room". This depicts her to a "t". Not only is her thread organized on a picture frame/cork board with straight pins but they are color coded. It has a femine vintage look on her wall and looks great.

Budget Beauty

I know this is more of a home, craftiness blog but who doesn't enjoy being a little kinder on the pocket book so you can splurge on all those cute crafts. These are two of my favorite cheap beauty secrets.

I love Cover Girl Professional Mascara. I've tried all the cheap ones. I've tried the expensive ones and this one wins hands down. It doesn't irritate my contacts, it doesn't flake, it doesn't clump, it adds volume and extends. It's magic in a blue tube. I use Cetaphil phase soap every morning and night. It is cheap-ola, in price not quality. I like the bar soap the best and it runs around $3 and lasts for about 4 months. It moisturizes just enough and cleans at the same time. A dermatologist recommended this to me along time ago and I have been hooked ever since.

Now go and spend the money that you saved purchasing these cheap beauty items on something fabulous for your house. You can tell where my priorities are. What are your Budget Beauty secrets?

Freedom

I love the fourth of July and I love vintage holiday art..... So I have been wanting to create some fourth of July deco with some of my vintage fourth of July images..... I made a cute little sign using a board that I crackle painted to make it look aged then created a festive mat for an adorable "My country tis of thee" vintage postcard...

I also made a white-washed American flag that I painted on another board.....(gotta love home depots remnant boards!)

Then I found these star boxes that I painted with a crackle finish for my metal basket.....

Chalkboard Paint

Using black chalkboard paint I painted the door panels on the inside of my pantry....It will be the perfect spot for grocery lists, meal plans, messages, etc and the bottom panel will keep the kido busy with doodles while I work in the kitchen. I also painted an attic access panel that is in our loft/playroom. It had looked very out of place before but this helps it look like it was supposed to be there. I found an adorable crystal doorknob rack at Hob Lob 80% off so I tied ribbon to the eraser and made a chalk holder out of wire and a mason jar.... Chal;kboard paint was easy to use fairly inexpensive and can be applied to almost any surface.

Birthday Banner

This is a project that I think I started OVER two years ago!!! Yikes!! My "projects in progress" bin is getting full so I am trying to be a finisher !! It is a birthday banner to display for birthdays made out of bare chipboard tiles and ribbon.

I hope to have a few more "finished" project soon!!