Fall Stick Wreath

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Well, I am starting to catch the wreath fever :)  It seems like wreaths are pretty much a staple of every craft blog - and I have had an itch to make a fall one for my house.
When I saw this pin on pinterest - I loved the simplicity, the earthiness, and the low price tag!  I also knew exactly where to get a bunch of straight long sticks - the apple orchard!

New England has great apple orchards, and my kids love picking up the sticks from the ground.  This year, I employed them to find as many as they could for me, and I ended up leaving with an armful of beautiful straight sticks.

I followed the tutorial at The Painted Hive Blog, and added a few burlap and fabric rosettes around the middle with a hot glue gun.  The whole thing was made with a hot glue gun - and I love it because it is fast!

It was so big, because even though I cut my sticks to approximately the same length, I kept them so long that I hung my first wreath on the outside of my house.  It looks really great on my porch!

I had enough sticks leftover to make a smaller one for my door...

For this one, I glued dried and flattened leaves that I have collected from years past around the middle, and hung the words "Happy Harvest" which I had cut out of paper and distressed with ink...

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Seriously, this project cost me almost nothing (even the "wreath form" was made out of a cardboard box!) - and I love how it makes the house feel instantly more festive.  I definitely suggest making one :)
Happy Wreath Making!

Check out these parties I often link up to!

Personalized Note Pad

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My daughter recently went to a little friend's birthday party.  We love giving art supplies as gifts, and got her some magic writing markers, and some other small things. 

Instead of including a coloring book, I thought it would be fun to make a personalized pad of paper!  At their age, it is so fun to see their name in print - and my daughter loves to make her own pictures, instead of always coloring in a coloring book.

And, these are really easy to make!

1) I took some nice thick paper and printed "made by [name]" on the bottom of both halves - so that I could cut my paper into 2 pieces...
I made this pad of paper tall and skinny, but you could make any size pad of paper - even really small pieces would be fun.  I just typed the words into a word document in the correct place based on where I wanted to cut the paper...

2) Line up the stack of pages and clamp them tightly together.  You could use binder clips for this too.

3) Buy rubber cement (I found this at Target in the office supplies aisle).

4) Paint 3 - 4 coats of rubber cement on the top edge of the stack of papers.  Let the glue dry completely before painting the next coat. 

And it is that simple!  The paper stays together and each page rips off the stack cleanly and easily. 

So go make a little friend happy with their own personalized pad of paper - or make one for your girl friend for her birthday, with a pack of colorful pens - or just make one for yourself!  They are addicting :)

Dragon Hoodies

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Perfect for cooler fall weather, and the Halloween spirit, this weekend I made my girls these fabulous Dragon Hoodies!  (Or dinosaur - whatever floats your boat)

I was a dinosaur (or dragon) for Halloween last year, and made these dragon tails which now go with these hoodies perfectly.  When I saw these hoodies with a tutorial here at Just Sew Sassy - I knew I wanted to make some for my kids. 

I found inexpensive hoodies at Target, and used scraps I had around the house for the rest.

For my younger daughter, I used the purple fleece, and for my older daughter I used the pink flannel (I even sewed ricrac on those pink scales!)  I would say though, that the fleece looks better when all is said and done.  It is thicker and stiffer - and stands up better.  I had the flannel on hand though - so I used it, and it is still cute :)

This project took me seriously - 20 or 30 minutes.  That's it!!   So, if you are in one of those moods  (like me) where you want to complete a quick and satisfying project - try this one!   
The kids won't take them off :)

Halloween Directional Wooden Post Sign

I have been wanting to make a directional Halloween sign for a long time.  I have been brainstorming the places to put - like Pumpkin Patch, Grave Yard, Transylvania, Haunted House, Halloweentown, Sleepy Hollow, Salem, MA, Ghost Town...and I am sure I could think of a million more. 

It wasn't until I got this beauty here for my birthday though, that I finally got around to making it...
Can you believe how lucky I am!?  A compound miter saw, just for me! (Okay, so maybe I will let my husband use it too :)  )

I picked up a bunch of wood from the scrap pile at Home Depot (which I highly recommend).  All the wood for this project only cost me $2.50!

And look at all these beautiful 45 degree angles I cut :)

I wanted a really distressed look, so I painted all the wood roughly in orange...

Painted over that with white...

Sanded it all down for a distressed look...

Stenciled on the words (using vinyl cut from my Silhouette)...

Gave it another quick sand...

And nailed it all together....

 Each board is about 14" long... The post down the middle is a square piece, probably 4 feet tall...

It is SUCH a fun Halloween accessory - for outdoors or in!  And really, this would be fun to make for any holiday - or birthday - or wedding...
So go hit up the scrap wood pile and make yourself one!

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Halloween Spider Clock

I have been coveting this clock for a long time - ever since I saw it last year here on this blog.
It is so clever, and spooky, and festive!!

When a friend was getting rid of this clock...I snatched it!  I love the shape, and the depth, and I knew immediately that I wanted to use it for this Halloween clock project!

After a bit of sanding, and a bit of paint, all I had to do was add the vinyl spiderwebs and glue on the plastic spiders.

You can find the clock workings at the craft store - and seriously, I have seen people make clocks out of ANYTHING... so don't be afraid to try it!

I just love how spooky it is!  Happy Halloween!

Snape, Snape, Severus Snape!

My daughter loves Harry Potter.  I seem to be saying often how much she loves things :)  What can I say, she is a sweet 4 year old who really gets into stuff!
We have let her watch a couple of Harry Potter movies, she plays Harry Potter Lego with my husband on the Play Station, and she has her own wand that my husband made for her out of a stick....she is a serious HP fan :)

When I saw this shirt pinned on Pinterest, I knew I had to make one for her.
If you don't know the reference, check out the Potter Puppet Pals, here on Youtube...a must see...
my children can often be heard singing the song from that video. 

I used the Freezer Paper Stencil method again, as I did here...which is to cut the freezer paper (I used my Silhouette) and iron it onto the fabric...

I painted it with black fabric paint, so that it was not quite perfectly covered, to look a bit worn and weathered.

She LOVES it!  The shirt was only $5 at Target - and so easy to make.  So next time you see a t-shirt that you like, especially ones with just a few words on them, try this out!!