Thanksgiving Decor: Gather Dollar Tree Sign

 

I know lots of people went straight from Halloween to Christmas decorating but I'm contrary and like having my Fall / Thanksgiving decor in between! No judgement...that's just me. I swear I'm going to end up owning every single one of these Dollar Tree signs but I can never pass them up! They're an easy way to decorate and easy to do whatever you want to them from paint to decoupage and many things in between. I decided to do this one in the palette I used for my Thanksgiving Cards. 

Supplies: 

• Gather Sign (Dollar Tree)
• Acrylic Paints in choice of colors. I used Delta Ceramcoat Mulberry and Craftsmart Bright Gold
• Dimensional Glue. I used Ranger Glossy Accents
• Craft Foil. I used Recollections from Michaels in Copper
• Coordinating Sequins 

I always start these by painting the interior of the letters, then the edges, then the back and front. For me, it helps ensure I don't leave bare spots in the nooks and crannies!

These take paint really well so it only took one coat. Next I dry brushed with the gold. 

I really wanted just a hint of gold so I kept it very light. After that, I added some copper accents using the same foil I'd used for the interior sentiment of my cards. 

NOTE: I thought plain Elmers was going to be enough because I was going for a very light effect with the foil...kind of like a dry brush...it was not! So I brushed on some dimensional glue ( Ranger Glossy Accents ). You can put the foil down almost as soon as you brush it on and then I burnished with the handle of a pair of scissors. 

I grabbed some bright gold sequins along with the metallic brown ones I'd used for my cards and just randomly placed them using the same Glossy Accents. 

You can get a better feel for the copper in this pic. I layered the sequins, using the large gold ones and then smaller brown ones. 

Easy. Pretty, Inexpensive. Three of my Crafting food groups! 

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Fairytales Do Come True...Guest Posting at Mod Podge Rocks

My dear readers, if you're a reader of my blog you know that next to chocolate the thing I love most is Mod Podge. Suffice it to say I am over the moon to be guest posting at the epicenter of all things Mod Podge: Mod Podge Rocks!! Sharing these altered candles featuring my Fall obsession, cornhusks. 

Thank you Amy for having me! 

Chocolate and Silver Napkin Rings

I’m swapping out some of my Thanksgiving table décor this year and going with a Silver and Chocolate theme. I was looking around in my jewelry making stash and had an idea for some new napkin rings.

For this project you will need:

• Stretchy Beading Cord ( I used Stretch Magic 1MM)
• Focal Bead ( I used large chocolate colored glass pearls, available at craft and bead stores)
• Bead Caps
• Spacer Beads
• Faceted Crystal Beads ( I used Jablonex)
• Charms
• Jump Rings

You really don’t need any jewelry making skills to make these. If you can thread beads on a string, you can make these. I didn’t even take pictures of the process…decide on the order you want them, string, tie off your stretchy cord ( I always add a drop of super glue to the knot). I added my charms using jump rings ( OK you need to be able to open and close a jump ring which is super easy and here’s a tutorial how from Jewelry Making Journal

They go fast and are easy to do while watching TV etc.

Now I'm thinking I really need to get some metallic brown and silver chargers hmmm...

Quick Book Page Leaves and Thanksgiving Decor

I first started decorating for Thanksgiving when my son was in pre-school. We were in a store right after Halloween and the Christmas stuff was up and he said “What about Thanksgiving?” and then went on to opine about how Thanksgiving was getting short changed and having a very strong opinion about that. I understood I wasn’t going to hear the end of it if I didn’t decorate especially since "Mr. Too Smart For His Own Good and My Sanity" also pointed out that I had no excuse since I made all that crafty stuff. At. Four. Years. Old.

What’s that got to do with this post? Who knows. I just thought I’d share some of my Thanksgiving décor to which I added some last minute ( like 30 minutes before leaving to go see a movie last minute) easy leaves I made to hang on some curly willow I keep on my mantle.

I just cut some leaf shapes freehand from some dictionary pages; smudged some distress inks ( Ranger) over them ( actually distressed the paper first, then cut the shapes with a decorative edge scissors) added copper eyelets and twisted some copper wire on.

This sits in a vase on my mantle that I switch out seasonally. ( Dollar store vase and candlestick) .

I left the tulle I draped over a table in my living room for Halloween along with a couple of glass pumpkins and added some Thanksgiving accents:

One of the turkey’s I made over this year

"Mr. Smarty Pants Four Year Old" is now a Freshman in College and coming home for Thanksgiving in 9 days ( not that I’m counting) so I made a little extra something for his room:

Cut the pennant shapes old school ( a ruler!) but the rest using my Cricut Expression ( Doodletype and Sentimentals carts) and chose an owl accent since they’re so wise and smart…like a certain former four year old I know.

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