Monday, September 28, 2020

Dollar Store Pizza Pan Fall Door Hanger

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Dollar store crafts are quite trendy right now! I recently joined a Facebook group for those of us who love crafting with dollar store items. Not long ago, we were challenged by one of the founding members, Heather @Daily DIY Life to create a craft using a pizza pan or something similar since pizza pans are hard to find right now at the Dollar Tree. It's so much fun and inspirational to see what some of the dollar store crafters come up with! My idea for a Dollar Tree fall door hanger is not original, in fact, one of my blogging buddies, Niki @ Life as a Leo Wife, created a lovely one you can check out right here!  Anyway, I had fun putting together my version using a few items from the Dollar Tree:
  • Pizza Pan
  • Plaid Fabric
  • Mod Podge
  • Tinsel Stems
Plus essential craft items like chalk paint, sponge brush, scissors, pencil, measuring tape, fabric glue and a graphic fall design.

To make, start by removing the pizza pan label and washing it to remove any stickiness, dirt and grime. And let dry. 
Paint the pan with white chalk paint and a sponge brush and .  .  .
and let dry.
Once dry, lay the pizza pan face down on the wrong side of the fabric and draw a circle using the edge of the pizza pan as a guide and cut out. Then lay the fabric circle inside the pizza pan and use a measuring tape to size and mark around the fabric exactly where it fits. 

For example, I wanted the fabric to fit just below the pan rim, so I measured and marked 1/2" around the entire circle and cut off that much more of fabric. 

Then apply a layer of Mod Podge to the pan and .  .  .

lay the fabric circle on top, smoothing it out with your hand and fingers. 

Let dry. Apply an additional layer of Mod Podge to seal. 
In the meantime, find an adorable graphic design online to place in the middle of the pan: 

And then make a few fall leaves out of the remaining fabric by slathering the fabric in Mod Podge to make it stiff, let dry and draw a fall leaf image:
Outline the leaves with glittery tinsel stems from the dollar store .  .  .
all around .  .  .
the leaf edges.
And then attaching it all, including a bow, to welcome Fall!




 Everyone is having fun creating fall items using dollar store pizza pans including these awesome designers:

 Jenny @Cookies, Coffee & Crafts - Fall Pizza Pan Door Hanger
Marie @ Craft Rocker - Vintage Halloween Pizza Pan Wreath
Michelle @MJDesigns - Tiered Tray Using Chalk Paint on Glass
Heather @ Daily DIY Life  - Dollar Tree Pizza Pan Fall Welcome Sign
Michelle@Our Crafty Mom - Fun Halloween Witch Door Hanger
Beverly @ Across the Blvd. - Halloween Welcome Wall Hanging 

If you liked to join our group, please go here: All Things Dollar Store Facebook   where we inspire, enjoy and share our creations using supplies from all the dollar stores!




Saturday, September 26, 2020

Updating a Soup Tureen

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Have you ever gotten a gift and thought it just wasn't your style and put it away, - out of sight, for years? Well that's what I did with a housewarming gift that I received over nine years ago. This soup tureen has been sitting in my kitchen cabinet collecting dust! Just take a look - what do you think?I know some of you might like how this looks - especially for this time of the year with the acorns and leaves. But not me! This is just not my style! When I took it out of the cabinet to wash, hubby had the nerve to ask where it came from and how he liked it! He likes the color green and he said he liked the top, too. The top is cute with the inset leaves and acorns. But there's something about how it's painted, and that putrid green shade, along with the brown handles and trim that I truly dislike - yucky, yuck, yuck! You must be wondering who gave me this and why am I writing about it since it was a housewarming gift and the person might find out how I really feel about it. 

Well, my hairdresser at the time gave it to me. A hairdresser is suppose to know their clients' style. I think she just re-gifted this to me. I know this is not her style, either.  I stopped going to her shortly after I moved since I thought she was too far away to continue. I didn't like the over an hour drive. And besides, I had been thinking about giving her up since I stopped working and didn't need the extra expense of getting my hair done anymore. And then, she moved to Florida and we loss touch. So I think I'm safe! 

You know the saying about what a coat of paint will do? It works wonders! And that's exactly what happened when I spray painted this tureen! 

It's the perfect piece to show-off for a new group I recently joined called, 'Do It Over' Designers,' a group of talented bloggers who love to recycle/upcycle/DIY, hosted by Anne @The Apple Street Cottage. It's all about taking something old and/or unused and 'doing it over' into something new. Anything from fabric, old dishes, and decor to dressers and hutches. Items found in closets, barns, garages, yard sales, thrift stores, you name it! Sounds like fun, doesn't it!

The soup tureen went from this .  .  .

     

to this!  With a few light layers of Rustoleum Universal White Gloss Paint & Primer spray paint!

And sealed with several more light layers of Rustoleum American Accent Gloss Clear sealant. 
Pretty cool looking now, don't you think! And it's ready for decorative purposes only!
The power of white paint! 
Now, classy and chic!
Quite an easy transformation to do!
Perfect for a fall flower arrangement centerpiece!




My kind of updating, for sure!


Be sure to check out all the 'Do It Over Designers' listed below to see their lovely "do overs" too!  

Thursday, September 24, 2020

Whimsical Scarecrow Gourd DIY

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Add a touch of whimsy to your Fall decor creating an adorable scarecrow gourd.   Gourds are part of the pumpkin and squash family and a fun addition in decorating for the fall season! It's perfectly designed for many types of craft projects - especially the whimsical ones! But cleaning and drying gourds can take a lot of time and effort - sometimes up to a year to dry out completely. You can take the easy way out and decorate an already dried gourd or simply buy a paper mache gourd like I did. Either way, crafting gourds may become a creative obsession. There are so many unique ways to craft and use them in seasonal decor. 
Just by painting on a funny face and adding a few whimsical decorations, you're sure to put a smile on everyone's face who see it! And the whimsical gourd looks great as a centerpiece, as well as a fun conversation starter, too! Here's a fun way to decorate one:

Materials Needed
  • Pot Belly Gourd (paper mache)
  • White chalk paint/metallic acrylic paints
  • Paint/sponge brushes
  • Raffia
  • Hot glue gun
  • Scissors/
  • Pencil/Magic marker (black)
  • Burlap
  • Mod Podge/sponge
Let's begin by painting the entire gourd with white chalk paint.  Once dry, paint the top portion with a few layers of a metallic bronze shade and .  .  .
let dry.
Then sponge paint the bottom area with a complimentary color like this golden brown acrylic.
Applying several layers for a rich autumn look and let dry.
To add to the whimsy look, make a raffia brim using raffia from the dollar store. This brim adds to an illusion of a scarecrow hat on top - that's why it's done in a different color.
To make the raffia brim, measure around the neck of the gourd with a strip of raffia, allowing for a few extra inches to tie the ends together and then cut off the measured piece from the bundle. Next, start cutting off lots of six inch strips of raffia for the fringe brim. I used two bundles to make strips. And it was more than what I needed to fit around the top of the gourd.  Next, line up a few of the 6" pieces together and fold in half forming loops on one end and place over the longer strip.
Make a lark's head knot by placing the loop over the long piece of raffia and pulling the raffia strands through the loop around the raffia, as pictured, 
pulling the raffia strands tight into a knot. 
Continue making larks head knots with groups of three to four 6" strips of raffia around the longer raffia strip until it is completely covered - leaving enough raffia to tie in a knot around the gourd.
Then evenly cut off the raffia to mimic a scarecrow hat's brim.
And tie it tightly around where the different colors of the gourd meet. Use hot glue to keep the brim in place.
And finally, fluff and separate the raffia around for a cool brim look.
You can take it up a notch and make a real hat out of burlap. Simply soak  burlap with Mod Podge to make it stiff using a sponge and .  .  .
hang up to dry.
Once the burlap has dried, use a large plate to cut out a circle - then cut the circle in half. 
Bring the two ends of the half circle together to form a cone.  Adjust the size of the cone so that the base fits the widest portion of the top of the gourd and sits perfectly on the raffia brim. Hold in place and apply glue to the edge of the burlap to seal.
Now it's time to make the face! Draw on a whimsical face using a pencil, starting with the eyes. Hmm - caution: I can't draw or paint, so please bare with me. I looked online for a funny scarecrow template - there are zillions of them, so I'm just winging it here by looking at some the examples. After drawing on the eyes  -
go over the lines with a black magic marker.
Then add the eyebrows, nose and mouth. Filling in the eyes with white chalkpaint, and nose, with a spicy orange acrylic.
Too cute!
How's this for whimsy!

Perfect for our Creative Craft Blog Hop!

Welcome to our monthly Creative Craft Blog Hop created by Chloe @ Celebrate & Decorate and Andrea @ Design Morsels!  I've teamed up with a talented group of creative bloggers to bring you lots of 
wonderful ideas and inspirations! 


Have fun and get inspired by all of the wonderful creations this month by clicking on the links below!

If you're hopping along this blog hop, I hope you enjoyed Rachelle's adorable rustic autumn craft! Your next stop is Lynne @My Family Tyme sharing her lovely stamped tea towels!