Fall Decor: Striped and Quilled Dollar Tree Pumpkin Sign

Happy Saturday friends! This weeks BFF Open House link party continues here.  I'm continuing to work on some additions to my Fall decor for when I take Halloween down and excited to share this fun and I hope, elegant, sign with you today!

Supplies: 

• Wood Pumpkin Sign ( Dollar Tree)
• Acrylic Paints (White Craftsmart and Light Gold Metallic Martha Stewart)
• Cream Cardstock
• Quilling Papers (White and White With Gold Edge)
• Aleene's Turbo Tacky Glue and White Glue (Elmer's)
• White Satin Ribbon
• Hot Glue Gun and Glue

When I was at Dollar Tree last month getting some goodies for Halloween, I picked up this plain wood sign. They have different ones seasonally ( I may or may not have picked up some Christmas ones since). As I talked about in a previous post, I started Quilling this year and decided to incorporate that into this project. 

I covered the sign with a couple coats of the white paint. Then, using the crackle technique I showed in my Witch Switch Girlfriend Gifts, covered with a layer of Elmer's glue and the light gold paint. 

Apply glue, then contrast color, crackles as it dries

After my crackle layer was dry, I taped off the stripes with painter's tape then used more of the white paint to make the stripes. 

While the stripes were drying, I made my leaves by first cutting them using my Cricut Explore Air 2 with cream lightweight cardstock and chose my Quilling papers: plain white and white with a gold edge. 

I went around the outline of the leaves with the white paper (you can see this process in my Quilled Sugar Skulls post  using the Aleene's Turbo Tacky glue and then used the gold edged Quilling strips (Quilling.com) to create swirls and coils. When complete, used hot glue to adhere them to the sign. 

To finish, I made a  bow from white satin ribbon. Et, voila!

Eclectic Red Barn

 

BFF Open House

 

Happy Friday Eve all! We're only a little more than a week from Halloween, which seems like it's been far away and showed up like that. We don't get any Trick or Treaters where we live but I have been seeing SO many creative ways people are thinking of giving out treats this year and the creativity is amazing. From pulley systems to PVC pipe "chutes", it's incredible. Has anyone rigged up anything cool?  

Both for Halloween and in general, you all keep coming up with some brilliant ideas. Let's take a look at some ideas! 

I look at bottles as "cycles". Upcycle or recycle! They are fabulous simple items that can be transformed into pieces of art or home decor. Like this one from Artsy Va Va! So pretty! 

If you've ever looked at an armillary in a boutique, you know they can be P R I C E Y. Naush, from Doodlebuddies has a fabulous and much less expensive alternative using embroidery hoops. LOVE!

I know many of us have been wearing "Pandemic Chic" for a while now but when we do get to go back out and dress up, these DIY Lace Up Ballet Flats from Howling Liz would be a welcome addition to any wardrobe. 

Finally, if you're looking for a special Halloween cocktail, you need to check out this one from Jodie Fitz which reminds me it's been a few years since I last watched the movie "Beetlejuice".  And it's kid friendly and alcohol free! 

OK! Let's see what everyone's been up to this week and as always, thank you for sharing your creations here at The Answer Is Chocolate! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Fall Decor: Make Fall Acorns and Pinecones from Plastic Easter Eggs

 

While Halloween hasn't even arrived yet, I think my house is sufficiently haunted so I've started in on some Fall decorations for November. I'm so excited about how these came out and I hope you like them! 

I've always loved acorns for no reason that I can put my finger on. I just think they scream Fall. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, pinecones were literally everywhere. Now living in the desert, I don't have either so I did what Makers do and made my own versions! 

Supplies: 

• Plastic Easter Eggs (had some in my craft stash)
• Acrylic Paints ( I used Craftsmart Dark Brown and Martha Stewart Rust Metallic)
• Scrapbook Paper ( Pinecones)
• Jute Cord
• Coordinating Sequins (I love the Kids Craft section at Michaels) 
• Copper Beads
• Glue Gun and Hot Glue 
• Aleene's Turbo Tacky Glue

I wasn't sure how well the paint was going to stick to the plastic so I coated a couple with Mod Podge to increase the adhesion and then I decided to try directly on the egg which worked fine. It was easier to open the eggs to paint vs paint them whole. 

I used a bamboo skewer to help hold the eggs in place as I painted. I started with a coat of the plain brown paint and then went over that with a couple of coats of the metallic rust. I made some "egg holders" from scraps of paper glued together in a circle. 

I'm a "figure it out as I go along" person so initially I didn't think I needed to paint the tops of the eggs since they would be covered with sequins but after I could still see a little of the color when I did the first one, I decided to do that w/ the rest. 

Once your egg is completely painted ( you can see here I reached my decision to paint the tops after I'd already added the twine to one, so it's shown here w/out paint) then add a drop of hot glue on the seam, wrap around the egg as shown and when satisfied, glue then trim the end. 

For the acorn stems, I just folded some of the jute twine over itself 2 or three times and sealed the ends w/ a dab of hot glue and then glued to the middle of the top of the egg. Then, using the Tacky Glue, start gluing the sequins around the egg, starting at the top edge of the twine. Work up to the top and voila!

I had some copper beads in my stash so I added on sequin to the bottom along with one copper bead. 

Pinecones:

For the pinecones you will need an oval craft punch or a digital cutting machine. I used my Cricut Explore 2 and created an oval shape in Design Space for my pine cone parts. 

I had some silver polka dot foiled kraft papers in my stash and I liked the way I thought they'd look with the acorns so to coordinate, I used silver sequins around the small end of the egg. Starting around the sequins, start gluing the ovals around the egg. I did use the hot glue for this. Continue until you get to the top of the egg, slightly offsetting each row of petals. Once you get to the other end, decide if you want them more open or closed and glue the petals down accordingly. 

I hope you've found some inspiration! 

Eclectic Red Barn

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Halloween : Witch Switch Girlfriend Gifts and Haunting My House

 

Pre-pandemic when I would get together with girlfriends, I always liked to bring a little seasonal something. Makers love making things right?! So will we let a pandemic stop us from showing our friends that we love (and miss) them? No, we will NOT! That's what mail is for and I get to help out the USPS. 

In this project, I'll show you how to make your own crackled surfaces without needing a specific crackle medium. 

Supplies: 

• Wood Plaques ( Dollar Tree)
• Acrylic Paints
• White Glue
• Vinyl ( I used Cricut's Glossy Black)
• Cut File (I got this fun file from designbundles.net )
• Wire
• Ribbon

I found this pack of 6 wood plaques at Dollar Tree ( 4.25 x 4.25 ) and of course I now wish I'd bought several packages. 

Since we're crackling these, you want to start with the color you want to peek through the crackles. For all of these, that was black. 

I painted both sides and the edges so I'd have a finished look when done. 

For the crackle, all you need is some white school glue. I stock up on this during back to school when they're like $.50 a bottle. After your base coat is dry, cover with a medium layer of glue. Too thin, and it will dry too quickly. Too heavy and it takes longer. So in the middle!

Wait a a few minutes (or you can speed things up with a blow dryer on cool but you don't want to dry it completely) and then go over with your accent color. The important thing here is to only paint in one direction, don't go back and forth with the second color of paint. 

You can let the top coat air dry or you can be impatient like me and use a blow dryer. Now it's OK to use a warm setting which will help the crackling. Do NOT use a heat gun which will bubble your paint. 

I kept two of the signs black and white to match my friends style; others, I used different colors to match their styles but did another layer of glue and white paint. 

While your plaques are getting good and dry, you can cut your vinyl. I re-sized the file in Cricut Design Space and then cut using glossy black vinyl.

Take a Valium and weed your vinyl. Just kidding. I hate weeding like Indiana Jones hate snakes. Do some deep meditative breathing and keep telling yourself "My friends are worth it. My friends are worth it".  Then use transfer tape to apply your vinyl to your sign. 

To finish, I cut pieces of medium gauge wire and wrapped around a paint brush handle to curl. Glue to each end with hot glue. Make bows from black ribbon and glue atop where you glued the wire ends as shown. 

I was really happy to hear from the recipients that they liked them. For a couple this is their only Halloween decor this year because have you met 2020? 

I did decorate because no matter what, I like being surrounded by seasonal decor . It's kinda what we do right? So here is a glimpse at my "Haunted House". 

Entryway table with my Witch Hat Wreath, Upcycled Goodwill Candle Holders, Mackenzie Childs Pumpkins and Glam Skulls from this year's projects. 

I also did my coffee table:

And a Poe vignette in the fireplace we don't use! I made Mr. Skully's Hat years ago and it's held up. 

Even the light fixtures aren't safe. Gold and black tulle, Dollar Tree glitter skulls and skeletons. 

And while most of my Halloween decor is black, metallics, and neutrals, I did add some color with a Dia De Los Muertos corner: 

Michaels had this pretty striped ribbon on sale which I used as the inspiration for the banner and pinwheels. I cut the images (Silhouette Design Store) from metallic vinyl. The banner itself I cut using black and orange cardstock and then added a "papel picado" (pierce paper) feel using different punches. The pinwheels are Astrobrights paper and the black pom poms are Dollar Tree. 

Happy Haunting!