Inexpensive Halloween 'wreath'

I just made this for my door this year to replace my harvest theme wreath that I used to hang from September through thanksgiving. I made this from very inexpensive materials and most of them I had on hand already.

I always say that I wish I was one of those people that could look at something and say "I could turn this into a.....". Sadly, I am not. I usually get my ideas from other people who can do that.

 But, not today!

I went looking at my local Dollar Tree for some inspiration and found an orange halloween platter with jack-o-lanterns all around the edge. I then picked up this sparkly 'Boo' decoration at Walmart for $1.97 (I eventually removed the pumpkin piece from the letters to be used elsewhere in the project)

 I found these really cute pieces at Christmas Tree Shops for $1 each!! I knew I could turn them into something around my house. I got three-the one I used in the wreath isn't in the photo...oops :) Those ribbons are actually about three feet long-I cut them off for the wreath and re-used them in another capacity but I am still thinking of where these two could go with ribbons intact.

 Add some scrapbook paper and here's my wreath:

 

 

I love it! I had never made the paper pinwheel things before but once I figured it out it was simple and I am so happy with it. I used three pieces of twine (tied together for extra support) as the hanger....just hot glued to the back of the platter. Those ribbons are the ones I cut off of the $1 ghost decoration in the center of the big pinwheel. The pumpkin in the other pinwheel is the one I cut off of the 'Boo' sign. Because I had the twine and paper already in my supplies I only spent $3 on my wreath.

Now, go to your local dollar store, thrift store, wherever you like to shop and find your own inspiration and turn it into something other than what it was intended for! :)

I'm participating in this week's challenge!

 

 

 

Halloween in my kitchen

I think I finally feel ready to post some of my Halloween crafts!

I made all of these last year when I really got back into the crafting thing. I had been dabbling in little things since my daughter had been born in January but there were so many cute and spooky crafts out there that I jumped in with both feet so to speak. Plus, now I had a kid who could enjoy it and I wouldn't look so crazy for going hog wild over Halloween as an adult :)

The first thing I would like to show off is my dining room table. My dining room is part of my kitchen with an island separating the two so I don't even know if it qualifies as a 'dining room' but that's what I call it. I don't really do much in the kitchen/eating are but I am slowly spreading out around the house for Halloween.

I saw a similar ceramic pumpkin last year at Hobby Lobby for $30 and thought to myself....I can do this. I went to Jo-Ann's and got one of those 'fun-kins' when they were already 50% off so I got it for $5. I also picked up a black paint pen, thick tip for this project for sure. I found a 'B' in Word that I liked, enlarged and bolded it and printed it out. Using an exacto knife I cut out the letter from the paper so I had a stencil. As carefully as I could I taped it to my pumpkin...not so easy to do on a sphere! I traced the 'B' with a pencil, took the paper off and filled it in with my paint pen. I added a few crystals from my scrapbook stash to bling it up :) I love it and keep it out even past Halloween. For Halloween it sits in a wreath I made in college out of fabric dipped in starch and tied to a wire hanger wreath form. I pull that out after Halloween but it is old and kind of crummy looking so it looks much better on the table than on my door :)All in all it's much better and cheaper than the Hobby Lobby version.

The other pumpkins that surround it are Dollar Tree or Big Lots pumpkins that are cheap-o. The glitter ones I probably don't have to explain but glue+glitter=fabulous! The bigger ones are just spray painted and the white one has graduated stick on bling in the natural creases of the pumpkin. I keep these out with the center one much past Halloween as well since they are more fall than spooky.

The last thing for today is in the corner of my dining room. I have this plant stand in the corner that used to have a big fake plant on it before I moved in. It wasn't very pretty so I got rid of it but love the stand and haven't figured out what exactly to do with it so most of the time it stands empty. I bought this container to use in a candy buffet for a shower I hosted. I think it was $7 at Marshalls and I think it's beautiful. I had the fillings already. I used to put this stuff in containers or on countertops all throughout my house. I put it all in the vase with the leftover leaves from my wreath and topped it off with another glitter pumpking and I was qutie pleased. Again, this will also probably stay out through Thanksgiving too. Fall is definitely in the air and now it's throughout my house too :)

Fall is on the way...

and I have spent most of the summer not updating my blog :)

To be totally honest though I haven't done that much crafting. I've been vacationing and getting ready for a baby and dealing with a whole bunch of little complications with this pregnancy while chasing after a toddler who seems to be growing up SO fast. I have done a few things to get back on the bandwagon recently but dont' have pictures of them yet. Or, the project is still in progress and thus unfinished.

I am spending time with my mom this week to help her out. She had surgery last week and can't do much on her own. We have the windows open today! The weather is sunny but we have a great cool, crisp breeze blowing through. It's a big difference from the chilly, wet weather we had yesterday. It really is starting to feel like fall is on the way :) I love fall; it's my favorite time of year. I go all out and decorate my whole house and do all sorts of fall related things.

I always hate finding a project I would like to make two weeks (or less) before the holiday actually gets here. I'm lucky if I can find the time to get the supplies together much less get it done in time. So, I am jumping the gun with this one because I am excited about the change of season approaching :) I made this last year and it was able to hang on my door from September until I took it down at Thanksgiving to put a Christmas decoration up.

This is entirely a dollar store project. I got the wreath form, the leaves, the fall floral pics and the Harvest sign all at dollar tree. For $4  and my handy glue gun I had a cute piece of decor.

I can't wait to start hanging this stuff around the house and showing off my Halloween decor too!