Things to Make: Pumpkin Blocks Revisited!

Hey!

So I'm cheating a little this week on my "how-to."
During the holiday season I'll be revisiting some of my favorite projects from days gone by...rather than reinventing the wheel...
This week I'm featuring...
EASY 2X4 PUMPKINS

CLICK HERE to see all the details and instructions!!

Things to Make: No Sew Pumpkin Tutorial ~ Guest Posting at Rhinestone Beagle!

Hey! Today I'm guest posting over at Rhinestone Beagle with my No Sew Fabric Pumpkin Tutorial! Go check it out, and let them know I sent ya'!

Things to Make: Make a Crocheted Doily Bowl with CraftyDill

Hi everyone! I'm Michelle from craftydill and I am so excited to be guest posting here while Sarah is focusing on her family! 

I am the wife to a very kind, generous and patient man and the mother to two wonderful teenage boys. I love anything vintage and I love to thrift, craft and meet like-minded souls. On top of my day job, I also have a vintage Etsy shop called craftydill that I would love to turn into my full-time job someday.

And do I have a fun and easy project to share with you all... 

How to make a doily bowl

First, I gathered my materials:

a crocheted or knitted doily ~ I crocheted my own- granny style!

fabric stiffener

saran wrap

bowl to use as a mold ~ I used a Pyrex bowl... The size is dependent on the size of your doily and I always lay the doily on the bottom to make sure the bowl will give the doily the shape and depth I want

clean margarine bowl

water

plastic grocery sack

Next, I wrapped the bottom of the Pyrex bowl with saran wrap, placed it on a plastic grocery sack to capture drips and runs and then put stiffener into the butter bowl. I usually add a little water to the stiffener- I don't like my doilies to be crunchy! :) 

Then, I dunked my doily in the stiffener, making sure to fully saturate it and squeezed the excess out as I pulled the doily out of the butter bowl [don't wring- just squeeze]. Now I'm ready to mold my doily over the Pyrex bowl and let it dry.

I usually let the doily dry overnight, sometimes giving it a re-shape part way through. I have also been known to apply a second light coat of stiffener with a foam brush, but I always take care so as not to disturb the yarn fibers too much, which can make the bowl look hairy.

Once dried, I peel the saran wrap off the Pyrex bowl and then peel the wrap from the inside of the doily bowl. And voila! I now have a cute and preppy doily bowl!

Fill the bowl with just about anything... fruit, fabric scraps, balls of yarn or use as a general catch-all. I put vintage thread spools in mine...

Oh, and note to self...unless you want the colors to bleed causing a tie-dyed effect, don't stitch hot pink Sugar 'n Cream next to white and then get it wet. Not sure if it was just that the yarn isn't color fast or if it's the stiffener that caused the bleeding, but, it is what it is :)

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial as much as I've enjoyed being here! And feel free to visit me anytime!

Pinterest Inspiration: Jewelry Display from a Rake

Sorry about not posting this yesterday!  This last couple weeks of pregnancy are putting my brain through the ringer...SO much to do!
I feel like I'm cheating using this as my How-To Tuesday project this week...but I love the way this worked out!!
Not too long ago, on Pinterest,  I saw this cool old rake that had been used as a jewelry hanger!  Genius!
Ever since I made my Burlap Earring Display organizer (which I STILL LOVE...it's soooo perfect!), I've been trying to figure out how to get all of my necklaces...and other earrings...out of a huge tangled mess in my drawer.
This was perfect!
Then, I just happened to remember that we happened to have the head of a cool old rake, hanging up in our shed out back!  You all know how I love a good repurposed/upcycled project...plus this is vintage....Ooooooooh!
Yipee!!
I just cleaned it off a little, tied a length of jute twine around the top part of the rake, so that I could hang my hoop and lobster-claw-style earrings to it, and then mounted the rake head onto the door of my closet!
Ta-Da!!!

It works perfectly!  And no more tangled necklaces!!!!  (Plus it's out of reach of my youngest, who has a tendency to wander off with my nice jewelry!)

So, if you are lucky enough to have an old rake lying around, give this a try!!  So simple...and it looks fantastic!!!

Things to Make: 2x4 Pumpkin Blocks

Today's How-To is a little short...we've had a bit of a family crisis, so this one is a quickie!

For this project I took scrap wood, leftover from our fence-building project, and turned it into cute little pumpkins! I've seen a lot of variations on this idea recently, and it's so fun to see how other people come up with such different and cute ideas!

Sorry...I forgot to take 'process' pictures...but I think you'll get the idea....

For these little guys I simple painted them orange, allowed the paint to dry, and then sanded the edges.

After that I sprayed them with spray on stain...one of my favorite touch-up products...and wiped the excess off.

After I allowed them to dry for a while I simply tied a wide piece of green grosgrain ribbon into knots, cut them apart, and hot-glued them onto the tops of my 'pumpkins.'

Easy as Pumpkin Pie (which, by the way, is NOT that easy! These are waaaaaaaaay easier that that!)


I think they turned out really cute! If you're looking for a really easy, fast, and cheap decorating idea for the fall...this is it! The best part is that this project cost me NOTHING!

(Well...obviously I purchased the wood, paint, stain, sandpaper, ribbon, and hot glue at some point, but I used things I already had on hand...so it was kinda like free!)

Anyway....... I came across a really fun craft blog called Lorajean's Magazine, where she's posting tons of links to FREE Halloween decorating and craft ideas! I was so thrilled to find it!! Check it out, by clicking the linky button below to see some really great FREE Halloween tutorials and crafts!!! Fantastic!

Things to Make: Glass Cake Plate

Ok...so this idea is NOT original to me...

The first time i saw this done was, when I had my wares at the cutest craft boutique, called Patina Market. Nichole, the proprietress made these fantastic cake plates from old candlestick holders and dinner plates! They were gorgeous! So...I recently decided to try my hand at making one of my own!


I picked up the candlestick holder from our recent yard sale endeavor. (It was my sisters...and I totally stole it off the table...so no one else could have it...tee-hee...)


I got the plate from a local thrift store for $1...I know. I rock.


The total cost of this project was: $1 - I'm sure the glue cost about $5..but I've literally had it for over a year now...so I don't think that counts.

You can use a variety of different things to make this, or similar, projects. Here is a fun example that my sister-in-law just did recently - so cute!

For mine I used the following ingredients:

Amazing Goop Glue (You can also use E6000)
Sandpaper
A large glass serving plate
A large glass candlestick holder


Here's the process:

I lightly sanded the top of the candle stick holder, and the bottom middle of the plate.

I applied a fair amount of goop to both surfaces. (Confession: I smoothed it out with my finger after I squished it out of the tube...not recommended unless you have gloves on.)



I let the goop sit for about 10 minutes, as directed on the label, to allow the glue to begin to cure.

When the goop had been sitting there for a bit, I put the two pieces together.


(Confession #2: After it had been sitting for a few hours I went back and wiped off the still jelly-like glue that had squished through the grooves in the plate. It took me a couple of tries. It had the consistency of dried rubber cement.)


Then came the hardest part: waiting for it to dry! I let it sit overnight (about 22 hours)...and here is the finished result!


It looks amazing! I love it!

Things to Make: Easy Peasy Topiaries

Earlier this summer I found three of these fantastic green styrofoam topiaries at a yard sale. They were about 2 feet tall, and had some bedraggled greenery and berries poking out of them, but they were each only marked with a $1 sticker...which would have been a great deal, since at the craft store these babies can cost up to $14.99 each! (I know...I looked.)

When I took my finds to be purchased, however, they gave me all three for just $1! I know...a steal! Unfortunately, I don't have any BEFORE pictures.... Sorry! But you can still get the idea of the process I used to transform them!

So....here's what I did:

I took a can of spray adhesive (my favorite is 3M, pictured below), and sprayed the top ball all over. Make sure that when you do this you use gloves...or that you don't care of you get sticky! This stuff is impossible to get off of your skin right away, unless you have Fast Orange Hand Cleaner!



I held the topiary over a tray, and then took a bag of decorative moss (which I had purchased from the dollar store...I know...I rock), and dumped it over the ball. After I shook it off a little, I smooshed the moss down onto the adhesive so that it wouldn't look so 'hairy'.



I then repeated the process with each of the other surfaces, including the top of the base. Here's what it looks like!



After I allowed them to dry overnight (You wouldn't want them to stick permanently to anything valuable!), I put them in these wonderful vintage ceramic pots! (Um...sorry...you probably won't be able to find anything this awesome to put your own topiaries into...unless you find a killer deal at a yard sale! Happy hunting!)



I've had these beautiful pots for several years now. They are so pretty! The colors and glazing are amazing! They were my husband's grandmother's, and I got them after she passed away... which just adds to their charm, for me! I know absolutely nothing about them...except that I LOVE them!



The finished project!



I've always been sad that I didn't have a way (or a place) to show off my pretty pots...but now that I've made these fun topiaries and we live in a charming victorian home, and I have this gorgeous mantelplace to put them on! (Too bad the lighting in the parlor isn't the greatest! It really looks amazing in real life!)



This project was SUPER EASY! These only cost me $2 to make, and only took about 30 minutes! The hardest part was waiting for the adhesive to dry thoroughly! I highly recommend giving it a try!