Fall Leaves Garland

I am finally getting around to posting my fall decorations-and this year I actually have a sewing machine to piece together this colorful garland. I love garlands of all types all through the year.  It was so easy to trace leaves from my backyard and cut them out of the felt. I chose four different types of leaves and four bright colors.

I simply stitched a straight line through each leaf and before I got to the end I overlapped the edges  just enough to attach it to the next one. I attached ribbon to each end by sewing the ribbon through the backside of the end leaf. I added a few embellishments on some of the leaves using the decorative stitch setting in zig zag shapes. It took only one afternoon to make this pretty fall garland!

Sharing at some of these link parties!

Fabric Acorns (No-Sew!)

Well, after a busy and fun summer filled with big, big painting projects I worked on a teeny, tiny fall project that I love and was so easy to make--adorable fabric acorns. The best part is the ones I made are no-sew! (and no worm...real acorns are filled with them!)

I first saw this idea in BHG from Sweet Paul. The ones he made were velvetey fabric, which looked amazing...but a weird fact about me is I can't stand the feel of it...so I made mine with soft, silky touchable  fabric scraps in some of my favorite colors, finishing them off with a tiny bead on the end. These are so easy a kid could make them! So, if you want to get started...

Simple Thanksgiving Felt Garland

I love Thanksgiving--it is such a simple season of gratitude--and life may be hard at times for many of us, but I think it's important to remember the ways we are blessed. I always think it's a shame that this holiday often gets overlooked by the rushed Christmas season ahead.

This year, I decided to celebrate a little early and decorate with a simple reminder to "be thankful". I have been loving all the machine sewn together felt garland I've seen around different blogs and on Pinterest.

Since I don't have a sewing machine yet,  I decided to put an old-fashioned spin on designing my own by hand stitching the garland.  I was excited to find some recycled felt made from Eco-Fi-made from 100% post-consumer plastic bottles by the brand Creatology. Plastic bottles never felt so soft!

Follow along with my tutorial if you'd like to make this project! This is so simple I would consider it a kid-friendly craft. Here's what you'll need:

1. Yarn needle
2. Felt in various colors
3. Fabric scissors
4. Yarn-I used two types of textures, but used the smooth kind for the lettering
5. Glue gun or tacky glue
6. Small circular containers in different sizes to trace-try a spice jar or medicine cup.
7. Pen or pencil 

First, I traced my circles around the containers-I alternated between two different sizes.

Then, I cut out each circle until I had enough to spell out my words. I used 11 circles.

Next, I threaded my yarn needle with the wavy yarn and stitched loosely through the center of the first circle.

I repeated the process, leaving about an inch between circles, until I ended up with a long chain of circles, like this:

To make the words, "be thankful" I cut small pieces of straight orange yarn and just looped and connected the pieces to form each letter. I then glued each letter to the center of the circle.

keep in mind that I formed the letters first before trying to glue them!

forming the letters while one of my sons curiously watches

Are you ready to see the finished product? Here it is!

a shot from below, the garland is held in place by the gourds.

a side shot

I love how this garland adds playful charm and an old-fashioned homemade feel to my mantle! And, of course that it reminds me to "be thankful".

Linking up with these parties: The Girl Creative, Life Made Lovely, C.R.A.F.T, and I Heart Nap Time), Skip To My Lou, Todays Creative Blog, http://funkypolkadotgiraffe.blogspot.com// House of Hepworth's, and these.

Dangly Paper Window Leaves

Only two more days till November and some of the leaves around here are still green! It seems like a late fall to me--but there are other trees so bright and colorful right now, the whole world looks golden.

I love how these little paper leaves I cut out gently turn in my windows like a mobile, from their almost invisible string holding them together.

I used the same scrapbook paper from an earlier post about paper leaves, nice because it is sturdy and has a pattern on each side. I hole punched each end of the cut out leaf and used white thread to tie them all together. So easy, simple and pretty!

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Linked up with: Life In The Motherhood Harvest Party 

Painted Number Pumpkins

Looking for a simple, stylish way to display some pumpkins? Yes, I did say "stylish pumpkins".
How about painting some numbers on them? Don't laugh!

Decorating with numbers is all over the design world and I'm loving it too. You could display these pumpkins outside with your address on them or use whatever number combo you want-like the number of family members you have, year your home was built or wedding date.

I like that this idea goes beyond the traditional Halloween time carving and would still look festive for Thanksgiving, too.

Here's how I made them: I used white acrylic craft paint and a small, pointed artists brush to paint the numbers on 3 small pumpkins in a row. Ta da!! Took me no time at all.

Linked up with: Life In The Motherhood Harvest Party

Osage Oranges: Pretty Pest Protectors

This is the time of year when the weather gets colder and little creepy crawlers are trying to find a nice warm place to stay all winter. I am fine with spiders, bugs, and mice being outside of my home, but I am not interested in them sneaking INTO my home-this means war around here!

It may not be proven that osage oranges actually are pest repellers but in my opinion, it can't hurt to try! Many people have been trying it for centuries and swear by it.

You might have seen these bright green fruit hanging on trees that resemble brains-I happen to think they are really pretty sitting on a plate as a simple decoration. It is believed that they give off an odor that repels bugs and mice. Fortunately for me, I think they actually smell nice, kind of like a pine tree.

Besides decorating with them, I also put them in my garage and basement as repellant-they have lasted for months in the past. They can be sticky and drip a little as they age, so make sure you put them on a plate or in a bag for easier clean up.

So, there's your simple, cheap and useful decorating tip for today-by the way, if you can't find osage oranges in the wild, there are grocery stores that will sell them for cheap.

P.S. ReMadeSimple is now on Facebook-if you like what you see here and want to stay connected, find me there and hit the "like" button! Thanks!

Fall Display With Repurposed Chalkboard and Antique Chair

Happy rainy Thursday! (I'm trying to cheer you up here if you're grumpy because of all the rain). Well, at least here in the Midwest it has been rainy for days--good time to share a post with you (since we can't go out and play).

Here is a picture of my fall display this year-a combination of old, new and repurposed objects.

I was excited to get a great deal on this cool antique chair with a NATURAL patina! (As much as I am addicted to taking sandpaper and distressing things, I promise you I didn't touch this one! )

And it was in a color very close to my new favorite paint color I've written about before called "Rainwater". (How appropriate for the weather we've been getting here this fall...)

But the perfect barstool height chair for propping up my chalkboard at eye-level. And it has turned out to be a great prop for my husband's photo shoots, too!

I have this collection of old cabinet doors that I've painted with chalkboard paint and added different kinds of borders-from corks to ribbon to bottle caps.

This one I kept plain because it has a nice center for drawing little designs-like the nice, fat pumpkin I drew here.

To finish my display, I added a Ball jar with a candle inside for a little old-fashioned charm, just enough light to add a warm glow to our porch to welcome guests and future trick-o-treaters.

Now, are your creative wheels turning? What are some things you have laying around begging for your attention that you could revive and give new purpose?

Pretty Paper Leaf Display

Robert Frost's famous poem says "nothing gold can stay". Just like autumn-but that's what makes it so special. It is my favorite season for being outside, for decorating, for warm smelling candles and food. 

Here is a simple fall display I made on a key hook board to celebrate the golden colors of fall a little longer. Here is what I used: 

• scrapbook paper in pretty fall-like colors
• permanent markers
• low temp glue gun
• glue stick
• crinkle safety scissors
• packing tape
• buttons
• small hole punch
• small strip of lace

-My 3 year old got in on the leaf cutting fun with some safety crinkle scissors and a glue stick to paste the leaves together. We hole punched the tops and they were ready to hang on the hooks. 

-I made the "FALL" sign by writing letters with the permanent marker onto the paper.

-I placed packing tape around the front and back of the letters to "laminate" them. 

-Then I cut the letters into neat squares.

-I glued the squares to the strip of lace with a low temp glue gun.

-Attaching little buttons to the ends finished the project and I hung them onto each hook across the board. 

Here is a larger picture of my keyhook-picture board along with a glass hurricane lantern. 

My fall display

I added some real leaves around the base of the lantern that are still staying gold for me...at least for a little while. 

-Thanks for reading! 

Linking up with these parties.

Candy Corn Pinecone Owls

"Hoo" thinks these owls are cute? Or, maybe you think they're so ugly they're cute? Well, these little guys have been making me smile ever since I created them with my kids a few weeks ago. Even at their ages of 19 mos. and 3 years, they could at least help me collect the supplies outside and paint the eyes (and eat candy corn pieces along the way).

This project is so easy you really don't need much of a tutorial, but I will go through some steps and tips for you so you can have your very own adorable owl on display!

You will need :
-1 large pinecone for each owl (I cheated and used store bought cinnamon ones because I couldn't find the fat ones anywhere outside...they smell really good! )
-2 small pinecones for the wings (we did collect these under a pine tree in my neighborhood)
-4 acorn tops
-acrylic craft paint (I used yellow, white and dark brown)
-bag of candy corn (9 pieces per owl)
-low temp glue gun
-scissors

-First, I had the kids paint the inside of two acorn tops yellow and allowed to dry. Then added a dot of white to each center for the "eyes". Allowed to dry and finished the eyes with a small dot of dark brown.

-Next, I hot glued two acorn tops face down to the bottom to help the owl stand up straight.

-I added the candy corn to the center of the pinecone for the nose, and two at the top for feather tufts. Here's a little helpful hint: I had to snip off small parts of the pinecone to make room for the candy corn.

-Here's a BIG hint: To avoid melting the candy corn, hot glue the PINECONE first, then add the corn.

-After the candy corn is firmly glued to the pinecone, I added the two eyes with hot glue.

candy corn talons

-To finish, I cut off 6 candy corn ends (the white part) with scissors for the owl "talons". Follow the same tip to hot glue the acorn feet FIRST to avoid melting the candy.

-Attach the talons and you're done!

A tall and short owl for each of my sons

Hi there! Let me know if you liked this project or if you have any questions...thanks for reading!

Pottery Barn Copycat Metallic Pumpkins

If you saw my last post about "acorn bling" you'll know how much I love glamming things up with shiny silver paint.  And adding unexpected punch to the traditional reds, yellows and oranges of fall.

I got inspired to make these pumpkins while browsing one of my favorite sites called Copycat Crafts, looking for some unique fall decorating ideas.

They featured a blogger,  Nice Girl Notes, who didn't feel like paying $24 a pumpkin that Pottery Barn was asking. I didn't either.

Pottery Barn calalog pumpkins

I liked how her version turned out so much I decided to try my own spin on it too.
Here's how I did it:

-Went to Hobby Lobby and bought a few small hard plastic orange pumpkins, like these:

-Bought Rust-oleum Bright Coat Metallic spraypaint (look for the bright shiny silvery-gold caps). This way, they will look more like shiny mercury and not a grayish silver like regular silver spray paint.

-Laid the pumpkins out on newsprint and got ready to paint!

Sprayed one light coat of paint on all pumpkins. Allowed to dry, sprayed another coat and allowed that coat to dry. (About 30 min).

-After the pumpkins were completely dry, I lightly scuffed them with sandpaper (oh, how I love distressing things) to show a hint of the orange underneath.
And...I was done!

shiny pumpkins sitting pretty on my cabinet

Linked up with: Life In The Motherhood Harvest Party

Acorn Bling!

It's my favorite time of year...Autumn is here!  I couldn't wait to start decorating this year. I have been bursting at the seams with creativity!

Don't think you have time, energy, or money to decorate? This craft took me around 30 minutes, cost under $4 and I let my kids get in on the fun by helping me collect the acorns...and we were lucky enough to get to them before all the squirrels did!

I love all of the oranges, reds, yellows and browns of fall, but wanted to add a little metallic sparkle to it all. So, here's all you need to glamorize some acorns:

--a handful of acorns, silver or whatever color you choose of spray paint, a cardboard box or newspaper. I used Rust-Oleum Bright Coat Metallic spray paint-(look for a very shiny silvery-gold cap, not the dull gray ones).
--or for a kid-friendly version: craft acrylic paint, paintbrush, newspaper, small cups for putting paint into.

-Now I learned the hard way that acorns need to be prepped before using inside the home-little larvae started to come out into a vase I had them in. Yuck! But there is an easy way to kill them...

-Bake the acorns on 350 degrees for 15 min. I wrapped them in foil on a baking sheet for a cleaner prep.
-After they have cooled, I put a handful of acorns in a small cardboard box.

-Then, I lightly sprayed them with shiny chrome spray paint, rolled them around in the box, sprayed them again. Allowed to dry in the box.

-After they were dry, I wanted to expose some of the brown, so I lightly sanded them with sandpaper.

If you want to do this craft with kids, I would suggest using the acrylic craft paint and a paint brush instead of spray paint.

Or, they could dip just the ends of the acorns into a cup of paint, then allow to dry on newspaper. That simple! A variety of bright colors would be fun.

To finish and add a little elegance, I put the acorns in a small glass vase and wrapped a sheer bow around it. Such a pretty transformation of the humble acorn!

I would love to hear from you! Let me know if you try this idea how it turns out.

Well, now it's time to hunt down some acorns...and be careful around those squirrels!