Fall Centerpiece

Hi everyone,

a quick note before I get into the post...I am switching to WordPress very soon. Please continue to follow my blog, I love all my followers and don't want you to miss out on a thing - thanks so much to all of you who follow along my crafting journey! The links for the various ways to follow are directly to your right. I am super excited but a little nervous too!

Beautiful fall leaves & pumpkins...I'm in love....

I was going through my totes filled with fall & Halloween decorations today, and I was inspired.

Isn't it wonderful when you pull out your decor after an entire year of being stored away?

It always brings a smile to my face.

 Here's what I have here:

A glass hurricane vase

Raffia

Decorative apples & pumpkins

A fall wreath that I made a few years ago

A metal pumpkin that I purchased a number of years ago

A square glass & metal leaf candle holder filled with pine cones

A fall leaf & berry garland

A branch from the yard

To put this together I filled the hurricane vase with raffia, place the branch inside the vase and wrapped the garland around the branches. I placed the base of the vase inside the wreath and arranged everything else around the wreath.

I'm thrilled with the impact this gives in the room, it's absolutely stunning.

Such warm colors, that's one of the best things about fall.

And the leaves, and the pumpkins, and the apples....

I have been known to link to these fantastic parties:  
Make it Pretty Monday Kampen Lane Designs Motivate Me Monday The Cure for the Common Monday A Diamond in the Stuff Just Something I Whipped Up Polly Want a Crafter Sew Can Do Boogieboard Cottage DIY Home Sweet Home Brassy Apple Polish the Stars Serendipity and Spice Destination Craft Mrs Happy Homemaker Made for You Monday Make it Yourself Monday Ask Anna C.R.A.F.T. The Southern Institute The DIY Showoff Craftomaniac  Raising 4 Princesses BetweenNaps on the Porch Bedazzle Me Monday The Life of a Not So Ordinary Wife Make Something Monday Stringtown Home Organizing Home Life Tuesday Tutorials Giggles Glitz and Glam Be Inspired Tuesday Time Out A to Zebra Celebrations My Favorite Finds Eye Heart Our Delightful Home The Inspiration Board Frugal Treasures Tuesday Too Cute Tuesday Sugar and Dots Topsy Turvy Tuesdays Trick or Treat Tuesday Naptime Creations Chef in Training Sugar Bee Crafts Hope Studios Tell it to me Tuesday Your Cozy Home Party Turquoise Lovin’ Tuesday To Do Party Cherished Bliss Anti-Procrastination Tuesdays Type A Adventures of a DIY Mom Show Me What Ya Got Get Your Craft On Nifty Thrifty Tuesday Tuesday Confessional Teagan Travels How to Nest for Less A Bowl Full of Lemons Tuesday Trade Off Tip Junkie T2T Tuesday Tuesday Treasures Ladybug Blessings Creative Itch Toot your Horn Tuesday Jillify It Tutorial Tuesday Pin Cushion Creations Embracing Change Junk in their Trunk Polkadots on Parade Laugh Love and Craft Rock N Share Clean & Scentsible Uncommonly Yours The Trendy Treehouse Beyond the Picket Fence School House Scraps The Thrifty Home Sew Woodsy Savvy Southern Style Your Whims Wednesday Wow me Wednesday A Little Tipsy Women Living Well Primp your Stuff Wednesday Show and Share Mrs. Fox’s Sweet Party Whatever goes Wednesday 36th Avenue Live.Laugh.Rowe Adventures in Dinner Easy Digital Scrapbooking Mom on Timeout The CSI Project Share Your Cup Thursday All About a Bloom   Fabulously Flawed It’s Sew Stinking Cute The Shabby Creek Cottage The Crafty Blog Stalker Christina’s Adventures Crafty Scrappy Happy 52 Mantels Bear Rabbit Bear The Vintage Farmhouse Bloom Designs A Turtles Life for Me  The Taylor House Rhinestone Beagle Schoolhouse Scraps The Brambleberry Cottage The Shabby Nest Tidy Mom Joyful Stamper My Simple Home Life Remodelaholic Delicate Construction Happy Hour Projects Chic on a Shoestring Decorating 504 Main Hating Martha The Creative Paige Here Comes the Sun Cookie Nut Creations Bacon Time Joy in the Jumble The Grant Life Dotted Line Crafts Love Notes by Lauren Raising Oranges Making Lemonade Redoux Interiors Sassy Sites Whipperberry Tidy Mom One Artsy Momma My Romantic Home Petals to Picots Pandoras Craft Box My Repurposed Life French Country Cottage At the Picket Fence Just Us Four Mommas Kinda Crafty Craftionary Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons Sweet Tooth Friday 30 Handmade Days Lovely Crafty Home Mama Mias Heart to Heart Homemaker in Heels Family Ever After Lolly Jane Lady Bird Lane Serenity You The Gingerbread Blog Cherished Treasures Re-made Just Right Under the Table & Dreaming The Sweet talk Shop Sassafrass Salvation Simple as That My 1929 Charmer Heatherly Loves The Sasse Life Joy 2 Journey The Foley Fam Petite Hermine Flamingo Toes The Sweet Detail Sew Many Ways

Front Porch Makeover & How to Dress Up Wicker Baskets

Happy Easter Monday Everyone!

It is a beautiful and sunny day here, the birds 

are singing and I thought it would be a 

good day to share my front porch 

makeover with all of you!

We have been living in our house for a little 

more than 4 years. At the time I chose mostly 

neutral beige paint colors as was the 

style at the time but now I'm ready to brighten 

things up a bit...I have fallen in love with 

whites and light grays and pastels, opting to add 

color with accessories.

For our front porch I mostly just painted it 

a new color and added in a few new accessories. 

The shelving unit and mirror I left 

untouched because I thought it would still 

work in the room and help tie in the 

flooring which is mostly beige.

Here is the before.

As you can see our shelving unit was completely 

over run with way too many hats & mitts, 

it really needed to be sorted through!

The floor mat was worse for wear as well, 

it really had taken a beating!

But a little paint and a days work and it's 

so much fresher & brighter!

It's such a hard room to take a picture of.

I didn't have many angles to work with.

This is taken through the french door that 

separates the porch from the living room.

I love this little nook now, much cleaner & brighter!

And the addition of the 2 hooks is great for 

the kids to quickly hang their jackets on.

I think the brown shelving ties in with

 the light gray walls nicely.

The glass vase I picked up at the Dollar Store 

as well as the yellow flower. 

I grabbed some scrapbook paper from my 

stash to dress it up a little.

 I had made this wreath a couple of years ago, 

it fits nicely into this room so I pulled it 

down from the closet and gave it a new home!

This little white shelf was originally black, 

I couldn't find a white one anywhere so I 

purchased the black anyways 

and gave it a coat of paint.

I originally wanted to place it above the 

mirror but the duct work for our air 

exchange runs up through that wall 

exactly where I'd need to attach 

the shelf so that was a no go.

I printed our family photos in black and white, 

they look wonderful.

The focal point in the room is the shelving 

unit and I wanted to brighten it up a bit 

without painting it, and I knew that I needed 

to add some pops of color so this is 

what I came up with below.

I again grabbed my stash of scrapbooking paper 

and went to town creating these 

accordion folded flowers.

I used 2 strips of 3" x 12" paper for each 

flower and then a coordinating color for 

the scalloped circles in the center.

My daughter helped me accordion fold 

the paper and I hot glued one strip to 

the other making one long 24" strip, then I

 brought the two ends together and placed 

a dollop of hot glue in the center, 

holding it until it was mostly dry.

I used a scalloped circle punch to punch out  

5 circles which I glued together in a 

flower-ish shape and then attached it

to the accordion flower with hot glue.

Add a button in the center and your done!

I also used hot glue to attach it to the wicker 

basket. In time I may have to change these 

out if they get damaged but so far so good, 

the scrapbook paper was really thick and 

they are holding up fantastic!

The above is to show where I placed the glue 

when creating the accordion folded flower.

I'm very happy with the end result, the room has 

such an airy feel to it, perfect for spring!

Imagine, Improvise & Invent

Linking to: 

Coastal Charm - Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Cozy Home Scenes - Your Cozy Home Party
Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays

A Spring Wreath

I have been lovin' the

that I've seen around lately. 

I put it on my to do list except I kinda cheated.

I saw one at Wal-Mart and figured it was 

just as cheap to buy the pre-made 

wreath as it was to buy the wreath 

form & moss to make my own.

So I opted for the easy way out, but I 

dressed the wreath up a little. I added 

the tulips which I bought at the Dollar Store 

and I added the chipboard stickers 

that I already had on hand.

She's a beauty now....

Imagine, Improvise & Invent

Cupcake Wreath...Valentine Edition!!

 I'm back at it again...another cupcake liner wreath!

This time a Valentine one of course!

I started with a piece of pipe insulating foam from the hardware store. I bent it into a circle and secured it with a little frog tape.

These awesome houndstooth cupcake liners are from Michaels...they have a bunch of different colors there too!

Don't forget to turn your cupcake liners inside out.

I used the handle of a foam paint brush to create a point in the center of the cupcake liners, then dabbed with hot glue and randomly stuck them to the foam, be careful it's super hot! I used approximately 115 cupcake liners.

I purchased a wooden "X & O" from the Dollar Store and painted them a dark pink - partially red.

It was tricky getting the "X & O" to stay on the wreath. First I glued them together and then I glued them to the wreath. To balance out the weight so that the wreath hung evenly I glued a heavy magnet to the opposite underside of the wreath.

I added a cute Valentine ribbon for hanging. 

Super sweet!

Check out my Halloween Cupcake Liner Wreath here.

Imagine, Improvise & Invent

Ice Skate Wreath

How many of you cannot wait to start decorating for Christmas?

It is my favorite holiday by far. I know the next couple of weeks will fly by and I can begin to pull a few things out everyday until the house is shimmering with the festive season.

I thought I'd share one of my most favorite wreaths, I made this one last year.

My daughter had a pair of ice skates that did not fit her anymore. I was thinking of ways to incorporate the skates into our holiday decor. Hanging it from a wreath was the perfect way to display the skate.

I coated the skate with Mod Podge and then sprinkled with glitter so it sparkled! I put some artificial greenery and berries in the opening if the skate and tied it to the wreath. I topped it with a big bow in traditional Christmas colors. And a little bow around the neck of the skate.

It was hanging on my door in less than an hour!

Imagine, Improvise & Invent

Sarah