Fall Decorating {Mantle}

Hello and happy Monday!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  Mine had a rocky start with a sick baby, but got better and better throughout the weekend. 

Last night I finally finished up my mantle!  I had taken down the Halloween stuff at the beginning of the month but struggled with this look until now.  :)

The staple on the mantle throughout the fall is the berry garland.  It is full of red, orange, and yellow berries and I stuff it a little more with fall leaves, and small pumpkins and gourds.  Then I pulled out this antique window pane (which has been sitting in my garage since I bought it a few years ago) and hung a beautiful fall wreath from the top with an orange ribbon. 

On either side of the window pane, sit chocolate pumpkins (see side note below), glass beaded pumpkins, and sunflowers.

Side note:  Do you ever feel like you share crafty brain waves with someone?  :)  Sometimes I'm hunting around blogland and see a project that is exactly what I had envisioned making or someone will leave a comment, "I was just going to make that!"  It goes to show you that great minds think alike!  I think Michele, from The Scrap Shoppe, and I were sharing crafty brain waves when we both decided to spray paint pumpkins brown!  Check out her's HERE.  She turned her brown pumpkin into a fall vase.

I decided to give these guys a coat of spray paint because they were cream and got lost against the creamy wall.  I wanted something dark and appropriate for fall so brown was the way to go (plus I already had a can from spray painting Kason's nursery furniture).  Then I dressed each one up with an orange ribbon.

Coming up this week:  Sutch an Inspiration, my fall credenza, and our Christmas card! :)  Have a fantastic week!

Mossy Fall Plaques

Hello, All!  Happy Monday!  I hope you had a great weekend!  We were able to spend time with family and that is always a good thing. :)

For this week's EEK WEEKS project, I thought I would tone it down and make something natural that could be displayed in your home for the entire season.

I'm sorry I do not have a full photo tutorial, but this was super easy to make so I'll just talk you through it. :)

You will need three wood plaques, spray paint (I used brown), scrapbook paper, Mod Podge, craft foam brush, scissors, moss sheet, ribbon, and a hot glue gun.  Optional supplies:  distressing ink and jute.

To begin, spray the plaques with spray paint.  While the paint is drying, cut out fall shapes from the moss sheet.  Have you seen this stuff?  I found it at the Dollar Tree, and I only used one sheet for this project!

I found images of a pumpkin, an acorn, and a leaf on Google images, printed them out, cut around the images, and used the cut outs as stencils to cut the moss sheet.

Measure the top of the wooden plaque and cut the scrapbook paper to fit, distress the edges of the paper with ink, and then Mod Podge the paper to the plaque.

Hot glue the moss to the plaque and embellish with jute (a curly vine for the pumpkin, a rim for the cap of the acorn, and veins for the leaf).

 Hot glue ribbon to the back of the plaque and hang on a nail.  I really wanted to hang the plaques from decorative knobs, but wanted to keep my budget in mind so I hot glued a button to the end of each nail.  Personally, I think it is my favorite part of the project! :)

I'll be sharing this project at these super wonderful PARTIES!

I have to admit that I'm a little sad there is only one more EEK WEEK project left!  I do promise that is will be positively pumpkiny deliciousness!  :)

Coming up this week:  Sutch an Inspiration on Tuesday, a giveaway on Wednesday, and a look at some of the fall decorations around my home on Friday.  Have a wonderful week!

Spider Web Wall

Hello!  I hope you had a fantastic weekend!  Fall is in the air and it is glorious! :)  Another Monday, another EEK Weeks project!  :)  So excited for this one!

I love today's spider web wall!  It's so simple, it's scary and it makes such a huge impact without a hefty investment!  My kind of craft! 

Let's get started!  You will need:  black yarn, thumbtacks, a nail, a hammer, and scissors (a stepladder comes in handy too).

Start by hammering the nail into the wall.  This will be the main point of the web.

Now push thumbtacks around the perimeter of the wall.  I put one in each corner, and three on each side.  UPDATE:  If you are worried about putting holes in your walls (I understand), then maybe you could use the 3M Command hooks.  They wouldn't leave a mark and achieve the same effect!

Tie the yarn to the nail.  Let's start by making the "spokes" of the web.  Begin to wrap the yarn around the nail, then around each thumbtack, and then back around the nail, and so on.

When you are finished with the "spokes," it will look like this. Already a touch spooky!

Now let's work on the web, start by tying a knot with the yarn around the nail.  Then hold the yarn over one "spoke," wrap it under the "spoke," and then back over (you are just wrapping the yarn all the way around the "spoke").

The circles around the main point of the web should be tight and close together.  As you move further away from the main point of the web, the circles should get bigger and farther apart.

Here is what it will look like when you are finished! :)  I discovered it's best to work with a little bit of yarn at a time so if you run out, just tie off the yarn on a "spoke" and start a new piece of yarn by tying a knot in the same place.  If you run out of wall (see top right corner), just tie the yarn off on a spoke and trim it.

Add a spooky spider (or lots of spooky spiders) and you are set!

Sorry about my hall light getting in the way, but I like this angle better. :)

I love, LOVE the outcome!  It's festive, spooky, and makes a HUGE statement!  ...and let me just say that if you do this for your little boy's Spiderman birthday party, you might be the COOLEST mom on the block! :)

I'll be linking up to






and these fantastic parties HERE!  Happy October, Everyone!