Halloween Decorating ~ Black and White Elegant Fun

Those silly crows certainly enjoy a Halloween gathering. Give them a few minutes to roam freely and they are all dressed up with hats and collars, too. I think they are imitating the art of my little witch Izabella  decked out in a snazzy black hat!  For the entry table, I made a tall pumpkin topiary with white pumpkins and a more traditional orange one in the center. This way I can have some Fall color by leaving it as is when Halloween is done.

On the mantel is another (faux - foam) pumpkin painted with Annie Sloan Chalk paint. Why? I just like the way the paint looks, it covers over orange very well, and I already had it on hand. Another crow with her party hat a few spiders, and a mercury glass gourd makes a fun arrangement. 

A sister crow sits on top of a small rattan chest along with a beautiful antique vellum book and a sweet little plush velvet pumpkin with a paper clay stem. 

DIY Ideas in the post for you to try:

1. Painted foam pumpkins. Any good paint will work. You might have to use one with a primer in it to cover up the really strong orange ones. But if you have some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, it works very well. 

2. Make some little hats and collars for your crows. Really simple to do, the hats are just a cone and a circle of black construction paper. Cut a hole in the center of the circle and attach to the cone. 

For a quick collar, you can use a cupcake paper liner or weave a wire through some vintage (or new) lace and make a circle out of it. Or you can use wired ribbon, cut off one side, and pull the wire on the other side to gather it into a circle to put around the neck. 

3. Make your own plush velvet pumpkins. 

And fill with your own style and imagination! 
 

See Y'All Soon~

~ DIY : How to Make Velvet Pumpkins Plush & Pretty Fall Decorating - Tutorial

I think the lovely velvet pumpkins are still a wonderful
addition to our Fall decorating. The instructions that I posted a
while ago is still one of the easiest ones to make.
Although I have seen some highly embellished, and some
imported ones of China or wherever, to me to the simplest handcrafted ones
you can make yourself are still the nicest.
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 How to Make Plush and Pretty Velvet Pumpkins:

It's getting to be that time of year again! Here is an early Fall Project 
you can make now, and use through Thanksgiving. 

 

You can find so many tutorials for making these pretty velvet pumpkins, it didn't seem necessary to write another one in great detail with step by step pictures.  Pinterest has lots of examples for DIY pumpkins and they are mostly the same. I have a bit different way of making them and I'm going to share that with you along with some finished pictures of course!

 

It was tough finding velvet when I made these! I guess there just isn't much demand. The type of fabric the companies use who make these commercially, and sell for big bucks, is silk velvet. You can order it online, if you cannot find it in the store. But one of the fabric stores had a nice stretch velvet in cream, off-white which was mainly what I wanted anyway, and that is what I used.

Close up of Stem and Ruching Details.

Inside my pumpkin is one of those cheap dollar pumpkins. Those things are pretty ugly. They are easy to spot because they have  bulky seam running across them. Unless you decorate them in some way to cover it, they always look odd. However, used as the inside center  of my new velvet pumpkin they work great!

Here is my method of a less floppy pumpkin. But it is equally as plush!

1.  Start with a cheap faux pumpkin, and cut a circle from your fabric to cover the whole thing, plus some extra for the bulk that you are going to add. Remember you can always cut it smaller, but you can't make it bigger once it is cut.

2.  Some of the more expensive velvet pumpkins have plastic (doll making) pellets inside.  This is not my choice if there are kids or dogs around who might get them.

The best alternative that I found is to use beans instead. I used dried lentils and dried black beans. Both were equally good for this purpose. You can find large, very inexpensive bags of beans at both costco and bj's.

3.  Put your faux pumpkin in a plastic bag; I used a gallon size zip lock bag.  Then cut off the zip part of the bag,  and tape the folds of the edge of the bag up around the pumpkin to a more round shape so that the bag will lay more flatly against the pumpkin. But leave the bag open enough to put in the beans.

4.  Now fill up the between the plastic bag, and around the pumpkin, with the beans. Move them around so that you have a layer of beans all around the pumpkin.

Then tie up the plastic bag with a baggie tie around the pumpkin and the beans.

5. Take the circle of fabric, and sew a simple basting stick about 1/4 inch from the edge all the way around. Use a double thread so you when you pull, it will be less likely to break.

6. Gather the thread around the edge, making a sack or bag for the pumpkin. Leave it open enough so that the pumpkin will fit inside.

7.  Put the bean-bag-pumpkin inside the center, and continue pulling the gathering thread until it is closed and then sew it from side to side to close it tight. Now you will have a lovely ruching at the top which you can adjust after you tie off the thread.

8.  Now you can play with the beans and pinch the velvet and beans to make ribs.

9.  Hot glue, or regular glue, a real pumpkin stem on the velvet pumpkin. Be sure that has been thoroughly dried. (Do not store real pumpkin stems you collect and dry in a plastic bag unless they are very, very dry, or they will mildew.)

So now you can see that by doing your pumpkins this way they have a little different look. I like to make pretty ribs, and have them stay that way.

The stem is real, but I dry brushed some lime green on it instead of leaving it all brown. See the previous post for how to make a really pretty stem from air-dry clay.

You'll notice that my pumpkin is not floppy. It holds it shape exactly. If you want a floppy version, most of the tutorials I found make them so.  Some used polyester batting inside and nothing that holds the shape like the faux pumpkin and the beans. Those can be nice as well, it just  wasn't the look I was after.

See Y'All Soon~

Donna

How to Add a Pretty DIY Stem to Your Velvet Pumpkins

Velvet Pumpkin with Air-Dry Clay Stem

The velvet pumpkins are such a pretty addition to your Fall and Halloween décor. You can certainly have them out from September through Thanksgiving.  One of the nicest ways to finish them is by adding a real pumpkin stem which adds a touch of realism and rustic charm. You can save stems from your own pumpkins each year, or use ones you found at the market maybe.  It is so interesting to see how many different shapes the stems take on while growing.

  

Sometimes you might need a certain size or a more whimsical look than you might have saved. I had one pumpkin stem that was my favorite, but it was too large for this little velvet pumpkin. So I used the real stem as inspiration for making one the right size.. This one is made of  an air dry clay. It will say "air dry" on the package. Sometimes it might be paper clay, but there are other kinds as well. The one shown here is a paper clay type.  It is very easy to use, and you can keep it from drying out by when you store it for longer periods of time by  keeping a damp paper towel in a plastic bag with it.

 

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*Start by rolling out a fat piece of clay the size that seems good for your size pumpkin.
*Adjust the size of the roll to be fatter at one end, and slimmer at the other.
*Make some lines down the sides with a knife or other slim object like a real pumpkin stems have.   
*Give it a nice twist, until you like the way the lines and curve looks to you.
*You can separate the bottom part like the one above.
*Let it dry completely.
*Paint your pretty stem with any acrylic or craft paints in the colors that make it look like a real   stem: browns,  green yellows, grays.

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(Of course you can use a clay that needs to be baked like Sculpey as well.)

Now you have no problem if you can't find just the right real stem for your pumpkins, just make your own.  Of course these work wonderfully on the foam faux pumpkins that are just perfect for painting.

See Y'all Soon~ 

Donna

Pottery Barn Wreath Pillow Knock-Off ~ Christmas Winter Decor

After pining for the Pottery Barn Wreath Pillow for awhile, I saw there had been a few copycat knock-offs. None where quite what I was looking for. Even the Pottery Barn version was the reverse of the colors I that I really wanted.

At first it seem the easiest solution was to just buy the one at Pottery Barn, and it was very pretty with the white background and greige leaves as you can see from the picture below. But it wasn't the combination that I really wanted and the pillow was also smaller than the size I needed.

What was more appealing for my decorating colors was to have a greige cotton/linen background and white leaves and berries. The one I made which is pictured next, is the color scheme more to my personal taste.  It is a 16 inch square and of course you can make it larger or smaller to your own liking.

I spent more time running around trying to find the leaves pre-cut than it took to just cut them and make the pillow. And while I was out hunting, I didn't realize at first that I wanted white leaves, so it was good I never found any. Afterwards I did see pre-cut leaves for sale. But since I have no patience, I wouldn't have waited for them to arrive anyway.

If you were thinking that pillow looked pretty simple to make, you were right! Give it a try. I like that my leaves are a bit larger/thicker. But you can make them however you like. One of the things you'll notice on the Pottery Barn version is that there is a stitch down the center for a vein look. The only thing I might do differently is to choose a beige colored thread so that the veins show up a little more.  But it is one of things that really makes the pillow look great.  I'm very happy with it and it was made from  simple unbleached cotton linen cotton, and a couple of 35 cent squares of white felt for the leaves.

** Tip: Do not use hot glue to attach the leaves and pom poms. Hot glue dries hard, makes a stringy mess while gluing this many things, and it's really easy to burn you fingers with little pom poms. :) There are several different brands of Fabric Glue made just for a project such as this.

See Y'All Soon~
Donna

White & Silver Christmas Mystic Centerpiece - Inspired by Mythic Nest Anthropologie

In 2009 Anthropologie showed a wonderful Christmas decoration that they called the Mythic Nest Tree topper. It did look like the fairies might have created it. I missed it in 2009, and  the knock-offs appeared in Blogland. After seeing it pop up somewhere a few weeks ago, my searching led me to the company which had actually made it for the store. They called it a crown nest. Which made sense as well. The funky natural kingdom meets glitter world was intriguing.

After filing away the image for a while, it kept coming back in my mind how much I loved certain elements, especially from the original ones. So I set out to make my own version that went with the colors and feeling of our Christmas decorating.

The base is a simple cream/white bleached bottle brush wreath that I used as the crown/nest. I added some sparky eyelash silver yarn, and other things that mimic the colors of my favorite found nest. I had a found an abandoned bird nest which the Momma bird built in something that looked like cotton from a field, very soft, fluffy and cream colored, do I also add some yarn was the same color she used in an eyelash style with a tiny bit of gold woven in.

The glittered branches came from a  craft store, and they are glittered better than I could have done with homemade, although you could do that yourself. A few pearl and silver balls adds to the sparkle of the crown, and dried sticks from the outdoors completes the nest look.

Mine turned into a centerpiece for the dining room table with a tall candle in the center. This should be really easy to change a little each year if you decided you wanted a little change.

Fall to Christmas Handmade Decorations - DIY Magnolia Leaf Candle

How to Make a Charming Magnolia Leaf Wrapped Candle:

Slipcovers - Lots of Ideas! Chairs and More

Slipcovers are magic!
They can change the look and feeling of your room with just a quick change.
If you are making them yourself, you will finds some tutorials among the many links
that I have posted on my slipcovers board on Pinterest.

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For me, since I am better with a hammer than with a sewing machine, it would have been much easier to just reupholster the dining room chairs.  Slipcovers can actually be fairly easy to make, although if you are more skilled a sewing you ca make them  more constructed. I didn't know if I would want to have the chairs with the fabric that was on them again, so I chose to do slipcovers. It is also a great idea if you are trying to keep the chairs' fabric looking good and you want an option that can be easily removed and washed.  For me it was mostly that I wanted a white chair cover, which would allow them to be washed as needed.

How To Create a Beautiful Aged Turquoise Patina - "Secret" Tutorial - French Drawer Pulls - DIY Tutorial

 
How to create this beautiful patina for 
French Drawer Pulls 
or any other thing you might want to paint!

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The "secret" is how  darn easy this is! I certainly hope it didn't sound like the painting of the drawer pulls was some difficult or complicated secret. It certainly isn't. It's quite simple.  Don't worry about changing it to suit your needs, go right ahead, it is very adaptable. Over the years, this has been one of the most asked questions, how to create this look. So here are the directions!

~ Potting Bench ~ Garden Shed ~ Create & Recycle

A little revisit to the Potting Bench area:

I love updates to see how things are progressing in the garden. In this case, there are no new pictures. Since my Sweet Hubby is home now, he seems to think that a potting area should be used for messy outdoor garden stuff! So while I am off in another part of the yard, this area has gone to pot. But I am keeping an eye on it all, hoping to have enough energy to get back to this side again, soon. Bet it happens to you as well. Get one thing done, and you turn around and whatever you finished a few months ago needs tending again. Enjoy this little revisit to the Potting Shed.

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Outdoor furniture! That's what wood shelves and other building elements are when they become a space to pot your plants and other gardening activities as well as areas to sit and relax. After all you have shelves and pots and spoons inside, these are just outside. Whatever you would like to call it, a potting

Easter Decorations ~ Pretty Decorated Peat Pots

Altered, decorated peat pots! Looking for a simple and inexpensive Easter decorating idea? You can paint these, and decorate them anyway that pleases you and goes with your decor.  They can be dressed up or left more rustic, whichever way appeals to you. I love the combination of rustic with a touch of elegant. 

No matter what you choose, they can be very inexpensive to make and you will find so many ways to use them from setting the table, to making little gift baskets or using them to display some of your other decorations like the painted and embellished eggs.

The first one was left rustic and lovely

just the way it came without any paint. 

I added some vintage laces and trim

and a vintage rhinestone pin.

Items Used Above:

• Peat Pot - Unpainted
• Vintage Lace & Trim
• Vintage Rhinestone Pin
• White Ribbon
• White Coffee Filter Ruffle
• Craft Sphagnum Moss
• Burlap Twine
• White Ribbon
• Painted Egg, Paris Grey

 For the one above, I painted it with Annie Sloan Paris Grey Chalk Paint. 

You can use any paint that you like. 

Items Used Above:

• Peat Pot - Painted Paris Grey
• Vintage Lace & Trim
• Paper Leaping Bunny - Grey/Gray
• White Coffee Filter Ruffle
• Craft Sphagnum Moss
• Burlap Twine
• Gray Ribbon
• Painted Egg, Old White

I used this paint because the color was exactly what I wanted.

You can mix up any color you like with bottled or tube acrylics.

You could paint and decorate a batch of these in an afternoon, 

and they would be so pretty for your Easter decorating. 

Perfect for a little cookie or  treat, or a gift certificate. 

Or a chocolate bunny of course!

Two of the ones I made are on the entry table this year. The things I used for this display are:

• Paper Flower & Leaves Wreath with Burlap Bow
• Bunny Weathervane 
• Decorated Peat Pots
• Painted Plastic Eggs. Old White and Paris Grey
• Ceramic Bunny Painted ASCP Old White
• Bunny Nest of Vines & Moss
• Pink Paper Flower
• Antique Vellum Book

There are so many great ideas for you to try with these little peat pots. These also can be made into the sweetest little baskets if you just punch a hole in each side and add some wire for a handle. I hope you think of many more uses, too!

See Y'All Soon~

The Decorated House ~ Etsy

~ Magnolia Leaf Candle - Fall Decorating ~ 1 Little Project at a Time

 Magnolia Leaf  and Burlap Ribbon Wrapped Fall Candle

with Flower Rosette and Rhinestone Button

~ How To : Antique Glaze and Wet Distressing - A Perfectly Imperfect Frame with Annie Sloan Paris Grey Chalk Paint

Fall is my favorite time to fluff the nest! The shorter days means less daylight to work on projects, the cooler temperatures sure help. So let's get painting!

I'm sure the shop owners shop owners and workers were laughing as we walked out the door with the old frames. The frames looked really bad and didn't give much hope of looking better any time soon. The sellers must have thought what a stroke of luck to find anyone who would actually pay money for that old junk. But their junk was a perfect find for me.

This one was actually in two pieces. The inside needed to be reattached to the outside molding. And some of the original carving was missing. It was certainly past its prime in life. It made me so want to make it look good again. Here's how work with different colors and using a wet distressing technique.

~ How To Create a Faux Cement Paint Finish ~ Urn & Succulents Gardening

How to Create a Faux Cement Paint Finish

using an inexpensive plastic - resin urn. 

Update: May 2016
The urn was painted 4 years ago. It has been on a covered step/porch area
 out of the direct elements of sun, wind, etc., but it has also been outside with my other pots for   months at a time. It looks exactly like it did when it was first done. The only changes have been keeping the plants to a nice size. Even succulents can get quite large. The aloe grew a lot and was cut back and some put in the ground or in other pots. The other succulents have been clipped as need, but all did very well. It is now about time to replant the whole thing, but it lasted for a few years with very little attention. The urn itself is doing a bit more aging with the rain and humidity, but the paint has held up very nicely.
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After going without rain for some time and spending so much time watering to keep all the pretties alive, we had a few days of non-stop rain. Another downpour early this morning, before the plants could dry out even a little from the last few days. Mother Nature teaches us patience or why it's good to buy plants where there is a one year guarantee.

Click on "Continue Reading" Link Below for the Instructions:

~ How To Make a 5 Minute Pillow ... Maybe 10 Mins.

You can make a pillow like this in 5 minutes!
(Or maybe 10 if you are like me with sewing.)

Tutorial and Step by Step Directions:

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Click on "Continue Reading" Link Below for the Instructions:

~ Valentine's Day Decorating Ideas

Valentine's Day Pillow Tutorial

It's almost Valentine's Day! 

Here are a few ideas for your holiday decorating. 

Click on the pictures for more pictures and 

the full post for each one. 

Valentine's Day Mantel

in  Black and White with Pink 

Click on "Continue Reading" Link Below 

~ How-to Create an Antiqued Silver Paint Finish. Diy. Tutorial

It's funny how you really never know how some little gift you give will be something the person will treasure for a long time. Nor do we ever know how quick something that was more costly to purchase ends up at the GoodWill or a charity like it.  But it's the thought behind the gift that counts, right? After that you just have to let it go even if you worked hard or spent generously, if it just wasn't something the receiver wanted, you did give from your heart.

CLICK ON CONTINUE READING FOR INSTRUCTIONS: 

~ Is Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Worth The Price? And A Few More Tips

As you check out blogs and see some fabulous makeovers using chalk paint you could be thinking that you might give this ol' chalk paint stuff a whirl. Then you see the price, especially if you have to pay shipping! It's expensive enough if you can find a local source, but by the time you add shipping it is really expensive. I've been using it for a few years now, and my thoughts on it haven't changed.

** Please note if you are not familiar with these paints, it is NOT "chalkboard" paint that you buy at the craft store. Although they now sell a folkart version of chalk paint which you might like to try if you use a 40% off coupon. But it is not the same "recipe" for chalk paint as the ASCP.

Here are answers to some of your questions you have asked me:

~ How to Create a Beautiful Antique Look with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint ~ Blues - Wet Distressed & Waxed

There's a lot more to these chalk paints then just painting a quick coat of paint and doing a little sanding! Sometime ago I read Annie Sloan discussing working with her chalk paints and waxes to get different looks. So this was an experiment to see how to make a beautiful more aged look.  The finished look is really worth the work. (Click on Continue Reading Link Below for more Information.)

~ French Chair Makeover : Distressed French Blue : Wet Distressing with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

Oh no! I am longing for a nice, not too rustic, distressed chair. Oh well,
sometimes we just have a need for a little change. And since it is only paint, we can
certainlyrepaint a chair  ... once or twice or maybe 20 times!

Not this chair, but maybe a couple others are about to get a simple, new look.

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Looking for a really rustic, distressed French Blue look? Try this method.

Click on "Continue Reading" Link Below for the Instructions:

~ Decorating with Succulents & Silver and How To Create a Succulent Dish Garden

It's a great time of the year to bring in a little touch of the garden. After cold weather or too much rain (or too little) in some parts of the country, wouldn't a little touch of living green add some warmth?!

You can grow succulents in any number of containers, and silver is a

really pretty choice. Complemented with white, the silver

adds a bit of reflective light and show offs the rich green. 

Click on "Continue Reading" Link Below>