Front Porch Fall Decor

 It's Friday!!! 

Yay for 3-day-weekends, and yay for football season kicking off. 

We have a busy weekend ahead of us with lots of food, friends and football. But before all of my guests arrive, I have a long list of to-do's. 

I can check the front porch off the list though. It's done. For now at least. 

We have a tiny front porch...I'm not even sure you could really call it a front porch. It's more of a pass through. 

It's not big enough to have big beautiful displays like the front porches below:

 source unknown

source unknown

However, it looks barren when nothing is there. 

Everything has to be small in scale when decorating this porch because I want my guests to feel welcome at the front door, not claustrophobic.  

I couldn't really get a good full scale picture of the porch. The brick wall kind of takes up the picture, but in person it's much more inviting...I promise:o)

And, yes, I did just water the plants before taking the shot. It looks like my pumpkins got a little excited;o) Guess this photo won't make it to Pinterest;o)

The mums really make the bench pop, and keep it from blending in with the massive boring brick wall behind it.

To try to keep things symmetrical, I brought a small teak chair from the backyard, and used it as a plant holder. The old granite ware pitcher has holes in the bottom of it, so it makes a perfect planter now.

I will most likely be adding more pumpkins and a possible mini hay bale, but that's where I will have to be patient. The pumpkins aren't quite ready, and we'll have plenty of pumpkin farm field trips to collect those:o)

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Painting a Pillow

Is anyone else being hammered by hot temperatures right now? Even though it's blazing hot here in the South, it hasn't deterred me from working away on Fall decor. I'm so glad you are back here today with me. I have a little tutorial on how to spruce up a plain burlap pillow using stencils and fabric paint.

 I found this image on Pinterest. 

I fell in love with the pillow and thought "how fun would that be on my new bench". 

If anyone knows the source of this photo, please let me know so I can give them credit. Thanks!!

So I gathered all the supplies I needed. 

A pillow form(purchased), burlap(purchased), stencils, black fabric paint, and paint brush. 

 I made the pillow cover, and added a zipper. I am really into adding zippers to pillows because it makes it easier to clean the covers. If you are able to do it, I would highly recommend it!!

After the pillow cover was made, I taped some paper to the width of the cover and traced the letters on the paper to see what it would look like on the pillow.

One word...dumb.

These are the only letter stencils I have, and they were waaay too big for the pillow, and waaay too swirly. I could barely read what they said. So I nixed the "Fall Greetings" idea and searched through other stencils I had.

 I found this one in the stash. Obviously it's been used before, but I can't quite remember for what..oh well:o)

I centered and taped the stencil to the burlap cover and painted away making sure not to push the paint under the stencil. If you have some spray adhesive for stencils, that would work great, but we don't use that fancy stuff around here...we just stick to the trusty old Scotch tape:o) 

Here is the finished stencil. Now you should wait until the paint dries before inserting the pillow form...or be like me and go ahead and put it in anyway:o)

And here is my new pillow on my new bench. The hubs keeps telling me I need to bring the bench back inside because it's too nice to be outside..he's so sweet. It's staying put for now:o)

I plan on sprucing this little area up some more with mums and pumpkins...can't wait to finish that up and share the final reveal.

On another note, say a little prayer for me. I go tomorrow to have a scan on my gallbladder. It's been acting wonky, and I have been feeling sub-par for the last 3 weeks. I'm hoping the doctors will find that it's only the gallbladder and get that sucker out of me. I'm ready to feel normal again!

Fall Centerpiece

About two weeks ago, we had a little cold spell. The humidity was gone, and the weather was perfect. Just enough chill in the air that you had to grab a light jacket in the evenings. We actually built a fire and roasted marshmallows a couple nights in a row. It was wonderful!

Now we're back to the sticky-wearing-the-outside-weather..blech!

That cooler weather made me want Fall here in a bad sort of way. Fall is my most favorite time of the year, and I love decorating for it. Even though it's still August, I'm busting out the pumpkins, y'all!

September will eventually get here, Lord willing, so it's ok to have the pumpkins out, right?

Last Christmas, I used this planter for our center piece, and filled it with the same greenery, but just added Christmas-y stuff.

I wasn't sure if it would work for Fall because it was so green, but it seems to be working. 

The pictures are slightly over exposed, so the green is screaming right now, but in person, it's toned down:o)

 I found all of the little add-ins at Hobby Lobby.

 The sprigs and pumpkins are 40% off right now.

 I've had this little wire pumpkin for ages. Another yard sale find. It's the baby. Momma pumpkin is outside sitting beside the newly made-over bench. 

Oh yeah, I almost forgot..I made the table runner too. It's made from painter's drop cloth. I had a little extra leftover from a project I did for VBS. There was just enough length and width, thankfully. My other table runners were too skinny. I wanted this one to stand out, and not be hidden under the planter. I plan on fancying the runner up a bit, but that will be another project for another day.

I will have more Fall decorating and tutorials in upcoming posts so make sure to check back!

Old Bench Makeover

I started playing around with picmonkey.com today...yep, I know I am behind the times. 

I'm going to have lots of fun with this new-to-me site! Notice the B & A collage picture...well it's more like A & B because I'm new to this collage making business. I'll get the hang of it...eventually.

Anywhoodles, today I am sharing a little bench makeover. 

This little guy was a yard sale find. It belonged to a little old man, and he used it as his work bench. As you can tell from the top, it got lots and lots of use. He passed away, and his wife had no use for it, so she sold it to me for $1. 

I'm really digging the painted furniture with the wooden tops, so this bench seemed like the perfect piece to try out that technique.

The top & sides of the bench seat had a thin veneer surrounding MDF. The seat had to go because, well, just look at it. It has seen better days. The 90's ivy green paint was definitely an eye sore as well. 

But there were good bones, and lots of hidden potential.

 Since I wanted the base to be white, I primed it with Valspar Primer from Lowes. Between coats, I had to rush the bench back inside because the humidity in the South is at 1000% right now. Terrible conditions for spray painting.

After the primer dried, I sprayed 2 coats of Valspar flat white paint. The reason I used flat was because that was what was sitting in the spray paint basket:o)

While the paint was drying, I worked on the bench seat. We had some leftover 2x6's from a previous project, and I cut them down to size. 

Then I used pressure treated 1x2's to brace the underside of the seat. No reason for pressure treat..just had that in the scrap stash.

The top was stained with a walnut stain. 

To keep from having to apply multiple coats of stain and waiting 3-4 hours in between coats, I let the stain sit on the boards for about 5 minutes before wiping away the excess.

That technique worked perfectly for me. I've never been known for my patience;o)

Once the stain had dried, I attached the base to the new seat. The power drill wouldn't reach inside the tiny holes for the screws, so I HAND screwed it to the seat....good thing I don't have carpal tunnel...yeesh!

I'm so pleased with the results, and I love how the wood grain pops on the seat. 

This bench will reside on our very miniature front porch. I can't wait to dress it up for fall. I have some really fun decorating projects in the works for fall decorating. 

Here's a sneak peak of one of. Make sure to come back to get inspired for your fall decorating!

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Burlap Wreath Tutorial

I.am.ready.for.fall.

Since Fall is around the corner, and I have a few spare moments with the kiddos back in school, I have been able to catch up on some decor projects I have been wanting to tackle.

One of them being a burlap wreath. 

You can't have Fall without a burlap wreath. It's in the rule books somewhere...I'm sure of it. 

There are so many different styles. Raggedy, bubbly, smooth, etc. I went for more of a shabby look...sounds better than raggedy, right?

Today I'm sharing how quick and easy this project is.  

Your list of supplies:

3 yards of burlap(I used two colors)(Burlap is $3.99 at my Hobby Lobby. I used a 40% off Q)

Wire hanger(Joan Crawford would die)

Needle Nose pliers

Scissors

Tape Measure

Start off by cutting your strips. I cut mine at 5" wide.

Then you will want to straighten out the wire hanger.

 Once all of the burlap is cut, do a fan fold. When finished, you will roughly have a 5x5 square.

Thread the wire hanger through the square. 

 While threading, the wire hanger was flopping around. This was driving Max bananas..it was fun to watch;o)

After all of the burlap is threaded onto the hanger, twist the ends together. I ended up snipping about 3" off of each side.

Twist it all together as best you can.

Flip, and hang on a wreath stand.

This project took less than an hour from start to finish, and was less than $10. Easy peasy. I'll have some more step by step fall decor coming your way soon!

Mickey Shorts & Random Crafts

So I guess you are thinking that it's about time that I made these shorts, since I have been talking about making them for a few weeks now:o) I made them last night and it only took 20 minutes. My only excuse for not making them is pure laziness. I am trying to wrap up a few Disney things b/c our trip will be here sooner than we know it:o) The kids are so excited...I AM SO EXCITED!

I used my usual pattern for shorts, and just added large white circles on the front. The circles are white felt that I added some Heat Bond to, and adhered them to the front of the shorts. I did stitch around the edges of the shorts, just in case:o)

I am currently trying to put Busy Bags together for my kids. We are going with friends, girls in one vehicle, boys in the other, so I need to make sure that E's bag is packed with the right stuff b/c the hubs isn't eactly creative when it comes to entertaining the little ones:o) He's a good daddy, but 12 hours is a long time to keep someone occupied and not whinny:o)...I am referring to E...just in case you were wondering:o) HA!

I am making S.R. a quiet book. I have been looking for an excuse to make her one, and this is it:o) I made one for E for his 1st birthday. It's about time that S.R. got one.

Now for the random crafts:o)

This is the center piece that I made for the Homemakers' Cultural Arts Fair. Still not sure if I like it:o/

Backside.

I went to Walmart today to do some Va-cay shopping and ran across these:

I have been cleaning out all the plastics in the house b/c I am a little freaked out with all the cancers that are hitting women at younger ages. I am quickly approaching 30, and I keep hearing about women in their early 30's getting cancer....now I don't know if plastic is the reason, but I really want to go back to glass and stainless steel. Just in case....

Anyway....

I got a Cricut the other day....OH YEAH! I am super pumped. AND I have vinyl....are ya thinking what I'm thinking???:o) 

So would anyone be interested in a water bottle?:o)

I plan on pulling the cricut out during nap time and putting my initials on a bottle.

These would make great gifts!

Let me know if you are interested in one...$12, which includes vinyl initials.

BPA free 650 mL.

Hope you guys have a great Monday!!

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Domestically Speaking

Dining Room Curtains

Just a little something I whipped up yesterday.

I love floor to ceiling curtains! These curtains have completely transformed the room.

I didn't want to go out and purchase a brand new curtain rod b/c they are mucho expensive, so I used two smaller ones I had on hand. I also had some shower curtain rings that I got at a yard sale last year for $1. I put large button holes in the tops of the curtains, and just slid the curtain rings thru. Ole Dave(Ramsey) would be proud;o)

I figured that the hubs wasn't going to be adding the trim in the dining room anytime soon, so I decided to go ahead and put my china back in the hutch:o)

Some fall love.

More things I had on hand. 

The pictures are really bright b/c I had to use my external flash. There isn't enough natural light this time of year that comes thru the dining room window, so I had to use my flash. 

It really doesn't do the mood of the room justice:o)

Happy Friday to you all!!!

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tatertots and jello

under the table and dreaming