Pretty Lanterns: Diffuse Light with Lace & Fabric

 I feel like I am coming home after a really long trip...I've missed all of you so much! I realized I have not had a fun DIY in a while for you guys so I had to remedy that right away.  I am gearing up for the Christmas issue for Good Living Magazine so today's little project was one of the projects for it.

Lucky lovelies...you get a bit of Christmas fun a little early!  

Actually, this will be a warm up to November where I will begin sharing pretty packaging ideas throughout the month. I can't promise it daily but I will try to do a bunch for some fun wrapping inspiration!

But back to these pretty little lanterns!

I am excited about this one because I am also planning my table for the upcoming Christmas Tea at our church.  I think these lanterns in varying sizes would look lovely as a centerpiece.  These ones above were actually my little practice ones. :) My husband and I were at Lowe's this weekend and spotted a bunch of these lanterns on clearance at $1.08 a piece!  We literally filled up the cart with them and we bought over 20 of them. I know I will find just the perfect thing for them...oooh I can't wait!

I had this little project in mind for awhile now so I knew some spray paint love was in order. 

So I brightened them up a bit with white and found my happy place.

Sigh.  I just ♥ white spray paint.

Now for adding fabric to the removable glass panels. 

1.  I actually used craft lace and a sparkly organza material to cover the glass.
2. I used Mod Podge but I tend to be a bit heavy handed with it.
3. You can use a paint brush to spread it on.
4. But I prefer to get all messy and use my fingers.

After spreading the glue, smooth your fabric onto the glass.  Wait until they are completely dry before placing them back into your lantern.

BTW...You really don't have to be precise when you cut out the pieces of fabric.  Just lay the glass on top of the fabric and cut around it.  The edges are hidden on the inside.  

Be sure to place them inside with the fabric on the outside of the glass.

 They look so pretty with the tea lights in them!  

I love how the lace one is more see through but the organza diffuses the light with a soft glow.

I can't wait to do this for the Christmas Tea tablescape with the different sized lanterns.

Other Ideas: You could also use Vellum paper or the the plastic paper like I used for the lemonade mason jars at the girl's birthday party. Tissue paper would work too and look lovely with that diffused glow look to it.  Wrap lace around glass votives or even large vases and place larger candles in them. So, so, so pretty.  I might lace up every glass container I own!

I promise to be back soon...HUGS!

♥

P.S.  I almost forgot...today I am at my sweet friend Tonya's blog with a guest post sharing the story of my faith for her 31 days series. 15 years ago today I met my Savior...♥


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Happy Owl-O-Ween Cards and Bookmarks

There is something about the cuteness of anything owl that always draws me in the Fall.  So I was totally excited when my new friend Courtney contracted me to design some Holiday goodies for her Thirty-one consultants for both Halloween and Thanksgiving. I was pretty excited. But knowing I needed to make 100, my goal was to make it cute but easy for me to turnaround. Plus, I wanted something happy and not too spooky. So these colorful and fun owl cabochon bookmarks seemed like the perfect solution.

First I designed the card using this completely fun owl clip art from the Etsy shop KPMDoodles Digital Clip Art. My idea was to have these cute little owls look like they are sitting on the branch on the card.

I ordered the owl cabochons from Suppliesagogo (I love saying that name) and the bookmark clips are from Everything Ribbons. As for putting them together, I just hot glued each owl cabochon to the top of each button clip.  Not sure if that is how you do it but that is how I did it...worked for me! :)

To attach the bookmark clip tot the card, I made two slits with a craft knife above and below the branch so I could slide both sections of the paper clip in it.

Like this.

The clip stays in the back so that nothing hides the front of the card. 

I tied raffia around each bookmark clip to give it more Fall flair. :) 

Here is the whole lot of them!

These would be a great idea to do for your children's friends or classmates too!  

It is quick and easy and inexpensive!

Such a fun Halloween project!

Happy Owl-O-Ween 

hugs to all of you!

This post sponsored by:

Speaking of cabochons...check out Popalicious Too for some amazing variety on cabochons and other fabric buttons.  And I have to be honest...I would have ordered from her in a heartbeat!  Her selection is unbelievable...she even has cute little owl ones too.

DIY Twig Votive

Here is a simple and quick project to tackle in an hour. I showed you a sneek peek of this in the post showing all my Fall projects around the home.  And this one is going to be a FOR SURE repeat project for me.  

I got inspired by these from Martha Stewart who made this twig vase.  But I thought this idea would be lovely to make a votive and have the candle light peeking through the twigs inside the glass.  So I grabbed some twigs from the backyard, some glass votives and a glue gun and got to work.

Seriously...this probably does not even need a tutorial. I mean, all you do is take some sticks and hot glue to glass. SIMPLE!  Do this all the way around and put them as close together as you can.

Fill in the gaps with thinner sticks to make it look fuller.  I like the look of different lengths at the top.
Gives it a more organic looky-loo to it.

Pop a tea light in there, wrap with twine and leaves...done!  A great idea is to recycle your glass candles or buy some glass votives and. vases from the dollar store for a little collection or tablescape.   

And I want to try this using  mason jars and hang them!

Happy Crafting my precious friends!

P.S.  Sorry I have been so absent from this blog and from your blogs! And I have even dropped the ball returning emails.  PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I have been so busy with upcoming projects that I can't share with you JUST YET. Just know I appreciate every one of you and I will do my best  to visit you soon.

Stunning Velvet Plush Pumpkins

First off...I did NOT make these.

But I DID win them. So I had to share. Funny that I don't really enter giveaways. But I had to enter this one over at the Lettered Cottage. I mean, look at them! And amazingly enough...out of 2000 entries...I won. They are from this amazing shop called LoveFeast Table. They have these for sale in their shop while offering several gorgeous color combinations. They were made by Plush Pumpkin and they are truly divine.

Oh my word I had no idea how one could have this deep abiding affection for pumpkins. I believe they are the most beautiful pumpkins in the whole universe.  Truly.

Velvet pumpkins with real pumpkin stems??!! 

Plushy and pretty in these delicious colors called Stone, Mushroom, Platinum, Sapphire, Snow and Dew??! 

They just about did me in as I opened my box with more giddiness then what would be considered cool.  I often wonder if my husband looks back on our courtship and has admiration for the savvy way I hid my ever present nerdiness until after the wedding.

Look at this teeny one my 3 year old is holding...is he not the cutest little thing?

The little care card says that because they are made with natural materials it is probably best to keep them out year round or store them in an air tight container.  I have never considered having pumpkins out all year but these beauties I think may be a year round treat for the eyes at this house.

If you love these and wish to pin them...I suggest pinning or bookmarking them from the LoveFeast Table website where I won the giveaway.  Thanks a bunch!

Share the Pumpkin L♥VE

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PS.  Andrea, owner of The Cottage Market just posted these gorgeous shabby pumpkins she made.  Please visit her blog and take a peek.

Fall Decor: A Tour of My Little Home

I first need to preface this post with a honest disclaimer and it is this...

I DO NOT LIVE IN A MODEL HOME.

But I wish I did.

Those who know me well, know that I have a a manic tendency to be a perfectionist when it comes to my home.  Yet it is not perfect nor do I rock magazine worthy style.  But as most of you know making a house a home is a work in progress that simply never ends. 

Pine Cone Flower Garland

PINE CONE FLOWERS...LOVE!  

This is such a pretty DIY!  I love that this simple garland is an easy one! All you need are pine cones, some felt, garden shears, hot glue, wood beads, twine and paint (optional).

And in all honesty...my obsession with garlands needed to be fed for the Fall Season. :)

Our neighborhood is full of long leaf pine trees so we have pine cones EVERYWHERE.  It has been fun hunting for pine cones with my girls and teaching them how to find pine trees.  And I must say I crack up when my youngest daughter points to a palm tree and calls it a pine tree because they have "pointy" branches.  It really is weird to have palm trees and pine trees next to each other in Florida.

I digress.  So.  It would not be the Fall season without throwing some pine cone love in the crafty mix.

Now gather a bunch of pine cones.  The bigger the better. Grab some wood beads and cut out about a dozen 2 inch felt circles.

1. Using the garden shears, cut all the little sections off the pine cone.  

2. Hot glue them around the felt circle in a flower pattern (as if they were petals) until you get to the middle.  

3. I tried using the biggest pieces on the outside edge (found towards the bottom of your pine cone) and the smaller pieces towards the middle. 

Instead of filling the middle with smaller pieces, use one of your wood beads as the center of your flower to make them look different.

I decided to paint some of them white for a bit of rustic distressing added to it. 

It nicely satisfies my cottage style heart. 

♥

And please don't tell me it looks Christmasy.  

Let's pretend it doesn't. 

I almost did not post this because I thought it looked Christmasy but then I figured no one else has to paint them or use white if they did not want to.  

So I posted it. Yay me. :)
Postscript:  I have already seen this pinned 3x under the category Christmas.  Sigh. So be it. :)

To create the garland I just hot glued twine to the top of the felt circles (they are slightly heavy) on the back while spacing my flowers out evenly. I ended up using about 5-6 pine cones to make 12 flowers.

So pretty!

I hope you make some pretty pine cone flowers too!

Let me know if you do!

Hugs to all of you Fellow Fall Lovin' friends!

♥
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be different...act normal...show and tell
under the table and dreaming

Fall Door Decor: Apple Bushel Baskets

Well Happy Fall Y'all!  I hope each of you are well on your way to getting your Fall decorating on...I can't seem to stop this year.  By the time I am done and sit back to look at it all...I will probably be taking it all down and putting up Christmas stuff!

Actually...this apple basket project has been on my mind for awhile.  I think it is due to the fact that I have these completely UNINSPIRED wreaths on my door.  Oh they were just fine for our first Fall after we moved into this house a little over a year ago.  I had been in a quandary because we suddenly had a double door entry.  So I just made 2 wreaths with dollar store bunches of leaves and left it at that. I do really like them but they are lacking a bit in personality.

Fallish? Check. 
Doors covered? Check.
Totally loving it?  Hmmm...not so much. 

But this year I wanted to go a totally different route. So I came up with these apple baskets to hang on the doors.  They ended up surprisingly easy and quick. And so unique and versatile!
I am still not 100% positive I am in LOVE with them for door decor but I decided if I come up with a better door plan...they are still PERFECTLY useable elsewhere.

Here's how I did it...

I just realized I spelled raffia wrong through this entire post.  I have moved on. :)

The first thing to do is make the fun little Apple Sign (or SIGNS if you have 2 doors like me). Just take your simple wood square plaque (snagged it for.99) and glue 4 craft sticks to it to form a frame.  Do this by hot gluing the top and bottom and then the left and right sides. Then it is time to paint them.

I have no idea if my painting technique has a name. I would have loved to take photos for you but my hands were covered in paint and I was not picking up my fancy schmancy camera. Here's what I do...

I start by layering with 3-4 coats of different colors of paint. Next, I dry brush over each layer with white paint to distress it.  In this case I used blue and green layers to match my front door and the apples.

When each coat got tacky I would paint on another one.  Then I covered those layers with a brown color.  When the brown got tacky I would basically begin rubbing the paint off with my fingers by pushing and rolling the paint into flakes.  My goal was to make it look like like different coasts of paint chipped off over time. Then I would dry brush that too.  The letters were just stenciled with alpha stamps and when dry I dry brushed over those with white paint to look faded. 

The last step is nailing the framed sign (the nails are all crazy on purpose because they were too long but I like the effect) into the wooden stake.

Now for the basket.  This is where you use your floral foam. 1. I, of course, am cheap thrifty and use what I have on hand and found this square of styrofoam in some box. The styro/floral foam will anchor your sign in the basket. 2. I cut mine in half since I needed two. 3. Place it where you want your sign to go.  I wanted mine towards the back but make sure you position it where the handle can still be used to hang it up if you choose to. 4. Stick your sign in there. Awesome.

1.  Now stabilize your foam with crumpled newspaper so it can't move or fall over.

2.  Lightly fill the newspaper to about 3/4 full but don't pack it too tightly.

3.  Fill the top with raffia until the newspaper is covered.

Now for your apples.  Obviously we need to make sure the apples don't roll out of the basket. Since these are made of styrofoam, it makes it easy to push skewers through them and stick them through the raffia and newspaper.  I used 4 inch ones but regular ones would probably make them even more stable. In the above shot, I show you how I poked them through a different part of each apple (blunt side in, point side out) so that in the basket, they look natural like they were just dumped in there.

I think my favorite part was arranging them in there.  It was so much fun and even my 5 year old helped me.

Just wanted to show you it really works. :)

Then I just cut a length of the burlap garland, looped it through the handle and tacked the ends to the tops of my doors.

So simple and fun.  And I think pretty unique too!

How cute would these be with bunches of pumpkins and gourds in them?  Or pinecones and leaves?

What do you think?

Hugs to all of you!
Just know I appreciate each and every one of you.  Your comments.  Your pins. Your friendship.

And I wanted to extend a special thank you to all the lovely features and comments for my yarn wrapped gourds and pumpkins.  I am completely humbled and overwhelmed by such encouragement.
You all bless me so much.

P.S.  I am so excited I have to share...we are going to a REAL pumpkin patch tomorrow!  We have not done that in all the 8 years we have lived in Florida.  These are the times I miss living further north. I will take lots of pictures and share them with you!  And we are getting a cool front...85!
That is like long sleeve weather down here!

♥
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