All Things Fall Link Party

Happy Fall! We're excited to be joining a group of bloggers to bring you a link party for all things fall! Share your crafts, diy projects, decor, recipes, and activities! We're looking forward to seeing fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving ideas!

11 talented bloggers are co-hosting the party! That means lots of ideas & exposure for your posts!

Meet the Hosts!

Across the Blvd | Purple Hues & Me

 This Autoimmune Life

Stone Cottage Adventures | Two Chicks & a Mom

Our Unschooling Journey | Domestic Deadline

Sew Crafty Crochet | Comfort Spring | Cookies, Coffee, & Crafts

As one of the co-hosts joining the all things fall festivities, I'm sharing a tutorial - Add Diy Burlap Leaves to Purple Pumpkins - it's a step by step tute on how I combined purple burlap ribbon and jute twine into lovely dimensional leaves! An adorable way to dress up purple pumpkins or any pumpkins for Fall! And a fun way to bring an exciting autumn atmosphere using purple to your fall decor!

To kick off the party, all of the hosts are sharing a fall post today. You'll find their posts in the first link up below. You're sure to find lots of inspiration! Please visit their links and check out their posts. We would all appreciate your support by pinning our projects.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Now it's your turn! By adding your link, you give the co-hosts permission to use one photo with a link to your post on social media or in round up posts, including our featured posts from the party. Posts that are not related to fall will be deleted. The party will be open through October 18. Each co-host will share a features post of their favorites from the party on October 23.

We can't wait to see your Fall, Halloween, & Thanksgiving ideas!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

No-Sew Deer Antlers Napkin Ring

For crafters, it's never too early to start making Christmas projects.  Right now, the stores are stocked to the brim with holiday assortments and I'm slowly making my way around to see the fabulous displays and to find out what's trendy and inspiring before things get too picked over!
On a recent trip to Pier1, I found the cutest antler napkin rings made out of burlap and pom poms. 

Pier1 source

The antlers were stitched together but instantly I knew I could make one using fabric glue.  Check out how I did it!

Gather :

Antler template

Burlap ribbon - 2.5" wide

Fabric-Tac fabric glue

Poly-fil

Pom pom

Cabone wood 2" rings

Twine

Scissors

Hot glue gun

Skewer stick/clips

First, I googled antlers to find a pattern I could use.  I made adjustments to one that I liked and drew the following.  You can Copy and paste to Word or right click to save picture as, if you like. 

Next, I printed and cut out the pattern and used it to cut the antlers out of burlap ribbon.

Then, line up the way you want the antlers to look and carefully add Fabri-Tac fabric glue around the edges on one side. Leave the bottom clear of glue so you can stuff it. The glue can be a bit stringy and you might need to use the pointed tip of a skewer stick to keep it on edge. *Do not put glue anywhere else except on the edges. 

Press the top pattern to the glue side, first on the edges, laying it down carefully. Press down and around the edges making sure to seal. Allow to dry completely before stuffing.

 Next, after drying, insert the flat end of a skewer stick inside to make sure the antlers are open completely and then stuff with poly-fil.  Use the flat end of a skewer to push the filling into the round areas, being extremely careful not to open any edges. (like I did) If you open any edges, push in the filling, add more glue and use a clip to seal until dry. 

Once stuffed, clean up any excess glue and seal the ends with fabric glue.

I already had cabone wood rings from another project but you can find them at Walmart (5 for $1.54).

I wrapped twine around the wood ring, sealing the ends on with hot glue. 

Then, I hot glued the ends of the antlers onto the twine wrapped ring.

 And finally, glued on the pom pom in the center of the antlers for an adorable holiday napkin ring!

 Imagine your holiday table adorned with these cuties!

Take a little time to enjoy

and

Happy Holiday Crafting!

DIY Newspaper Framed Mirror

Fall represents for many of us a time to decorate and refresh our homes.  I love making things that are inexpensive and earth friendly for my home.  It's amazing how many different kinds of accent pieces you can create using ordinary newspapers.  From flowers, vases, baskets and even a holiday tree, it's interesting to see how newspaper can be transformed into very unique decorative objects. And the best part, they costs next to nothing to create.

So, how did I make this framed mirror?

I started by cutting strips of newspaper, rolling them up using a thin wood skewer and .  .  . 

gluing the triangular ends with plain white glue.

Next, I placed the tubes on a cardboard circle the same size as the mirror in a clockwise pattern .  .  .

filling tubes in-between .  .  .

and gluing in place with a fast grab tacky glue.

Next, I placed together two additional tubes horizontally, gluing in place, and then clamping down to dry. 

After drying, I glued the mirror on top with tacky glue, weighing down with a heavy object to dry.

To weave the frame, begin by taking the two tubes twisting one over the other, and picking up the next tube, over one, and between the tubes.

Continue twisting the horizontal tubes and picking up the next tube between the twisted tubes - or one tube over and one tube under.

Lengthen the twisting tubes by adding glue to the tube end and inserting a new tube.

It may be necessary to twist the tubes more between tube spaces before overlapping the next tube.

Be sure to tighten and push together the rows as you progress.

To finish off the rows, tighten any loose areas by pushing the rows together and then turn the frame over to the back. Place tacky glue on each tube at woven edge and bend the tube over, clamping down to hold until dry.

Once dry, cut off excess tubing. Spray on a matte varnish or sealant after covering mirror for protection. Add a removable command strip for hanging on the back cardboard.

This handcrafted framed mirror from recycled newspapers is an earth friendly inspired accent piece that's very stylish, innovative and inexpensive!

Take a little time to enjoy

and

Happy Crafting!

Easter Egg Flower Napkin Rings - The Hoppy Easter Blog Hop

  What better way to welcome guests during Easter with a beautiful tablescape to go with that wonderful meal you are preparing.  And a tablescape is not complete without lovely napkin rings to add to your awesome Easter décor.  And the best part is, these napkin rings are so easy to make using inexpensive items from the dollar store.


You will need:

• Easter eggs - small table scatters (Dollar Tree)
• Jumbo craft sticks
• Hot glue gun
• Washi tape
• Small container

To make the craft stick napkin rings:

Begin by soaking jumbo craft sticks in hot water overnight or longer, making sure the sticks are completely submerged.  Once the sticks are completely saturated, soften, and out of the water (cools fast), grab the ends of the stick with your fingers and gently bend slowly, bringing the ends together. Don't worry if you break a few, that's bound to happen!

As you are bending, insert the stick into a small round container to dry.  I used small ramekins so I could overlap the ends.  Make sure the stick is level in the container, touching the bottom, and evenly placed or it will dry crooked.

Wait until the craft sticks are completely dry before removing and continuing with the next step.

When you have the shape you desire, in my case, overlapped ends, apply the washi tape beginning at the exposed end, wrapping it around. 

You might have to open the curved craft stick sideways to apply the tape evenly and straight.  Once the tape is evenly placed on the curved stick, cut off excess.

Hot glue the end overlapping sticks together and clamp in place until glue is dry.

To make the egg flower:

Take two small eggs and dab a little hot glue on one of the narrow ends and press together. 

Continue dabbing hot glue on the next egg until you have glued together six tiny eggs into a closed circle.

Start gluing on a second row between two in the first row until you have a closed circle of five eggs.

And finally glue on an egg in the center of the last layer, (Oops, forgot to take a picture) and you have a pretty egg flower!

  To attach the egg flower to the craft stick napkin rings:

Apply hot glue to the bottom center eggs and press the flower to the center of the overlapped craft stick ends until dry.

Cute, cute, cute!

                          Happy Easter Crafting!

Foil Flowers Wall Decor

I finally decided how I would hide the clips I used for the ornament wall tree I made for Christmas. I previously had a very large picture hanging there but I don't think it would have covered all the clips.  The command clips are easy to remove but I don't want to go through using a level to hang them again next Christmas.  Besides, I wanted a change for that area.  Something new and different. 

 I remember seeing a video by Aileen's (tacky glue) daughter, Eco Heidi, on how to make pretty wall art (butterflies) that has the look of metal.  It was a simple technique that transformed kitchen aluminum foil into the look of burnished metal.  I liked the idea, but wanted something bold and colorful.  Like a wall of flowers.  I decided to cut out different sizes of flowers from foam board and add an embossing effect with jute rope to emphasize the petals. Then cover and glue the shape with foil and paint them different hues of purple, including the 2014 color of the year, radiant orchid or something like it.

Here's a picture tutorial on how I did it:

Using foam board, Styrofoam, foam, tops and cardboard circles for the flower centers, jute rope, hot glue, Aileen's tacky glue,  heavy duty aluminum foil, exacto knife, foam brushes, scissors, acrylic paints and liquid gloss varnish.

1. & 2.   I made my own flower patterns using round objects such as plates, tops and plastic cups on the foam board and cutting them out using an exacto knife.  I realized that the first flower I made looked rather strange or wonky with just four petals and a hole in the middle. I made sure the rest had five or six petals and no holes.

3.   I glued the bottom of a top to the center for this flower.  I liked the look of using Styrofoam balls cut in half and slightly flattened best. For one, I glued on small bead balls to the Styrofoam for added texture. 

4.   The jute rope was cut into strips and hot glued on.

5.   It's best to make as many flowers at one time since this project can be very time consuming, depending on how many flowers you want to have.

6. & 7. Tacky glue was used to keep the foil on and smoothed out first by hand, and then with a plastic spoon.

8.  Excess foil was trimmed away.

9.  The remaining foil was glued to the back and smoothed down, too.

10.  The facing foil was smoothed down again, especially around the edges with the back of a plastic spoon and allowed to dry.

11.  The flowers were painted with different types of acrylic paints I had on hand.  Coverage was better with the metallics  and some of the cheaper brands, believe it or not.  And in some areas, the foil peeked through, adding to the texture.  I learned to be careful handling the flowers after the paint dried. Adhesion was not that great on foil.

I painted on a liquid glossy varnish to add sheen and protection to the paint and finish. It was too cold outside to do any spray painting with a primer or sealer.

12.  I randomly placed the finished flowers on the wall.  Adding more as they were made or needed.


For this project I used five sheets of foam board from the dollar store and I had most of the paint on hand.  I think it cost less than ten dollars to make the flower wall décor. I worked off and on for about three weeks, starting just after the holidays and between vacation and getting sick.  

 I hung the light weight flowers using the same clips and adding a few more in different spots.



Art work can be so expensive and it's difficult finding exactly what you want.

Getting creative is always the best way to go!

I love, love, love the look and feel this gives the room!

With pops of my favorite colors added to a stark white wall . . .

. . and especially complimenting the area rugs that are in place.

There's lots of light coming in from the windows and sliding door that adds to the awesome atmosphere this wall décor has created!

Take a little time to enjoy

and

Happy Crafting!

Linking To:
Be Bold Linky Party