BFF Open House

 

Happy Friday Eve, Creative Peeps. We're about halfway through November, and it's going quickly. It's funny...most holidays I plan out a menu, but Thanksgiving tends to take care of itself. If I even joke about switching things up, Mr. Chocolate's take is, "well if you want to ADD those", but not replace the standards. There's some comfort in that. 

Do you serve the same dishes without fail, or do you mix it up? 

This week, I wrapped up Fall projects with a final two that I'm really happy with. 

Dollar Tree Stacked Pumpkin Centerpiece

Pool Noodle Hack Centerpiece 

Now it's full on Christmas and Hanukkah projects! 

Obvious from last week's party that you're all equally busy so let's take a look at some inspiring ideas! 

If you're looking for Thanksgiving table decor inspiration, look no further than My Thrift Store Addiction. The combination of colors and textures of Copper and Velvet is beautiful! 

Whether you have a "kid's table" or kids at your table, Press Print Party has a wonderful way to make them feel special with this Free Printable Thankful Turkey! 

Looking ahead to Christmas, save some cans from Thanksgiving meal prep and check ot this sweet Metal Can Into Winter Scenery from Crazy Little Lovebirds! 

Finally, while this isn't edible gingerbread, see how My Thrift Store Addiction uses Gingerbread Decor that's pretty enough to eat! 

Thanks to everyone who linked up! Can't wait to see what you've got to share this week. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Fall Decor: The Only Way I'll Do Centerpieces Now...The Pool Noodle Hack

 

I tried my hand at the pool noodle hack for creating centerpieces with Halloween, and I'm never going to do them any other way! If you aren't familiar, follow along to learn what I'm talking about. 

Supplies

• Foam Pool Noodle
• Assorted Silk Flowers, Picks, etc. 
• Fairy lights (Optional)
• Table Runner (Optional)
• Wire Cutters, Zip Ties, Wire Cutter

This was an early Fall find from Dollar Tree, and I knew it was an "if you snooze, you lose" item, so it was a no-brainer to buy. 

The basic construction steps are:

• Fold pool noodle in half (or you can cut into two pieces if you want)
• Secure with zip ties or wire (I used the extra long ties from DT)
• Thread candleholders through the middle 
• Go wild

I started with the pumpkins shown in the first pic just to give myself some sense of balance. I had these pumpkins in my Thanksgiving decor already so I just used them differently this year. This is my favorite part about DIYing things. You can reuse your existing supplies in different ways!

I tend towards non-traditional colors mixed with traditional ones. When I saw these lavender leaf bunches, I fell in love. I really love how they worked with the copper and other Fall colors. I cut each "branch" from the stem, and this is the best part: you stick the ends directly in the pool noodle. It provides the perfect surface. And when you're ready to change it out? Equally easy. Just pull them out! 

I already had the white and taupe pumpkins. I picked up other stems from DT and Michaels. This is a great way to use the bunches they have every season, since you end up cutting everything apart anyway. I spent less than $10 on florals I didn't already have, between 60% off florals at Michaels and $1.75 stems from DT. 

Keep filling in blank spots until you're satisfied wit hw things look. 

You can use candles or not. If you don't want them, skip the earlier step of threading candle holders in the middle of the pool noodle. The next step I did is also optional. All up to you! I found some remote control fairy lights for a good price online so...

I threaded them throughout the centerpiece and...

I'm so happy with the outcome! I loved my Halloween centerpiece. I love this one even more, and I can't wait to play with Christmas! The pool noodle hack allows for dimension and depth. 

Have you tried the pool noodle hack? 

Sharing At:

Vintage Charm Party 516

Fall Decor: Dollar Tree Stackable Pumpkin Centerpiece

 

This week's BFF Open House continues here through tomorrow. 

I found the Dollar Tree stacking pumpkins WAY before Halloween, but I've learned, grab it or lose it when it comes to DT finds. I knew I wanted to save them for AFTER Halloween for Fall decorating. There are so many ways to use these stacks. Run NOW, if you want any of the Christmas ones. Confession: I bought both the snowmen and tree stacks. Mr. Chocolate doesn't even blink anymore. 

Supplies:

• Dollar Tree Stackable Pumpkins
• Rustoleum Spray Paint, Copper
• Multi-surface Acrylic Paint, Black
• Baking Soda
• Misc. Ribbons

They were cute as is, but we're Makers so that rarely happens, right? 

Somewhere in my online travels, I saw these done with three different colors, an idea I really liked. I also wanted to try the popular baking soda paint technique and this project was perfect for that. 

I decided to make the middle pumpkin copper and the top one black. I used the Rustoleum Copper for this. 

I did the baking soda paint for the top layer by mixing some into the paint, then shaking more atop and brushing it off with a dry brush. I painted the stem with some Craft Smart Multi-Surface acrylic paint in Copper. 

What I learned: Less is more. I didn't think I had enough baking soda at first, so I added more. It got a little clumpy but that brushed off and I went back over with plain paint and then pouring the baking soda over it took care of things. 

If you haven't played with these, they just click into place. I've seen projects done where people glue the stacks together but I knew I wanted to disassemble for storage so I didn't do that. I don't need to hear about storage from you know who. 

Here is the whole thing, assembled. Now for the fun. I neglected to take pics, but I grabbed some ribbon from my stash and made a couple of whatever this style of bow is called. Then I wrapped ribbon around the top/middle and middle/bottom pumpkins, and added my bows. 

I am really happy with how it turned out and it ties together different color schemes in my Fall decor. I found the vinyl table runner at Dollar Tree, and made over the "Gather" sign, another previous DT find from another year. It had been deep burgundy and gold. The black and copper pumpkins are tissue-paper-covered DT Foam Pumpkins with stems I made from aluminum foil. 

Sharing At: 

Vintage Charm Party 516

BFF Open House

 

Happy NOVEMBER and Happy Friday Eve, all! I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween. It only gets crazier from here, right? With American Thanksgiving and the holiday season upon us, it's my favorite time of the year. 

I don't know about you but I'm in combo meal mode, working on a few Fall projects while gearing up with Christmas projects. I just roll with it! 

This week I shared: 

DIY Christmas Card Holder 

DIY Fall Simmer Pot

Now let's take a look at some of the great ideas shared at last week's party! 

I love the blank wood signs at Dollar Tree, and especially love what Creatively Beth did with this Harvest Dollar Tree Acorn Sign! 

Steph Creates shared a beautiful piece of Fall decor that would elevate any table with this Harvest Pumpkin Floral Centerpiece. 

Press Print Party shared a two-in-one great idea with these "Pumpkin" Place Card Holders. They double as a sweet treat for guests. Visit to see what's inside! 

Finally, if you're looking for a fun dessert for Thanksgiving, look no further than Hunny I'm Home DIY and get the scoop on these Mini Bundt Cake Pumpkins. 

Thanks so much to everyone who linked up, and as always, can't wait to see what you've been up to this week! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

A Touch of Fall: Easy Simmer Pot

 

This is such a quick project I hesitate to call it a project! A simple way to add a touch of Fall to your home. 

Supplies:

• Tea Light Wax Warmer
• Small Glass Bowl
• Simmer Pot Ingredients
• Tea light

The wax melt warmer and bowl are both from Dollar Tree. You can usually find the wax melt warmers with the candles and the bowls with their dishes or kitchen supplies. 

For my Simmer Pot ingredients, I dried some oranges and lemons in my air fryer. Then added to a mason jar with cinnamon sticks, cloves, bay leaves, and whole allspice berries, because that's what I had on hand. You could also do dehydrated apples, star anise, rosemary...any fragrant ingredients! 

Place some of your ingredients in the glass bowl. Add a bit of water. Insert and light tea light candle into warmer. Place bowl on top. DONE!

Doesn't get much easier than that! 

Holiday Making: DIY Christmas Card Holder

 

Taking down Halloween today. After years of working for Nordstrom in another life, which used to be adamant about no Christmas decor before Thanksgiving, and a son, who when he was with me at Michaels one year as a young child, gave a whole soliloquy about Thanksgivng getting short-changed because stores went from Halloween to Christmas without passing go, I still can't do Christmas until after Thanksgiving. That makes it hard in the Maker-Creator world because I see everyone doing their decorating now!

Speaking of which, I've been curious. I see all these "influencer" videos with curated trees...by color or character themes...does ANYONE have trees that aren't like that anymore, or am I the only one? I have decades of annual collectible ornaments that I've invested a small fortune in, but I feel like I'm alone in not re-doing a tree every year. 

Back to this! When we downsized, we got rid of the Christmas Card holders we used to have, and we don't get as many cards as we used to. For the past couple of years, I kept meaning to make something smaller but dedicated to the ones we do receive. 

I'm planning a Sweet Shop theme for our kitchen island so I made this with that in mind! 

Supplies:

• Wood Cigar Box
• Multi-Surface Acrylic Paint
• Mod Podge
• Coordinating Scrapbook Papers

I removed the lid from the cigar box which will get used in something else. I thought I'd use both red and white paints but ended up only using the white. And from my holiday paper stash, I chose these fun papers. 

Measure the spaces you want to cover with paper and cut to size. 

I covered the edges only with paint since I knew the rest of the space would be covered by the papers. 

Did this for both the outside and the inside. 

Section by section, apply Mod Podge and your papers. 

You can use a scrapng tool and/or brayer to smooth out any bubbles. 

I've seen people do this in videos, and decided to try it myself! Grabbed my Cricut Mini Heat Press and went over the paper once adhered to both get it really smooth and also speeds up the drying process a bit. Once all of your papers are applied, use Mod Podge to seal. 

My math didn't math so my interior sides were a little too tall. No biggie. Once the paper was dry, I creased the edges as shown here and then just sanded them off. 

Now for the fun part! I picked up these ornaments at Walmart last year after Christmas. They were perfect for this! 

I used them around the box to add a little more glitz and fun. Used a combination of hot glue and tacky glue to ensure good adhesion and clamped them in place to make sure.

Not gonna lie...I'm itching to put my Sweet Shop together but, Thanksgiving first! 

Sharing At:

Vintage Charm Party 515 atOur Hopeful Home 

Sundays on Silverado #274