"Give Thanks" Door hanger

I posted a picture of this door hanger I made a few weeks ago on facebook, but I figured I'd also post a little tutorial on how to make it.

It's pretty simple, and uses a lot of the same techniques I use when I make my stenciled frames!

Of course I didn't take step by step pictures because at the time I wasn't sure I would post a tutorial. So I'm going to try and do it without pictures :/

Okay so you'll need

1. A piece of plywood (or any other board/canvas)
2. Pumpkin cutout
3. Ribbon (two kinds)
4. Acrylic paint
5. Stencil
6. Paint pen
7. Foam brushes
8. Craft glue

The two things on that list that are a little strange and you may not already have at home are the wood and pumpkin cutout but.....they are easily found at your local craft store!

Below is a link to the size plywood craft board I used..and also the pumpkin cutout.

Via

Via  (or local craft store)

The pumpkin is made from craft foam and was actually a little wide for my board so I just drew some lines going along with the curve of the pumpkin and trimmed the edges following those lines. I also had my awesome husband drill some holes into the plywood before I began painting so I could string some ribbon through at the end.

First, I painted the whole board my base color which was an antique white. Then using my stencil found here...

Via

I stenciled my board with a color called "Mississippi Mud" which I now love! 

Next it was time to paint my pumpkin. Now, the pumpkin was already orange when I got it but it was a very bright highlighter orange, so I went over it with another orange paint to tone it down a little. I also painted the edges brown to cover up the exposed white foam from my trimming. I then painted the stem a combination of green and brown, and the final step was to use brown and white paint to give it some dimension. 

I then made a faux bow using this tutorial and glued it onto the pumpkin. Next, I used some painters tape and taped the pumpkin on temporarily so I could see where I wanted my text to be. Then using a gold paint pen I added on my text. After that all I needed to do was glue on my pumpkin and string some burlap through the top so I could hang it. 

I'll probably be making one of these for every season and then one we can hang when there isn't a holiday because I love the color it adds to the pantry door :) 

Chalkboard mug...take one

Ok so my first experience using chalkboard paint was a bit of a disaster, but if you don't look super close and kinda close one eye it looks great!!!

Basically I used a lot of goo gone to remove paint from where it wasn't supposed to be and ended up with a lot of jagged edges. On the bright side though the mug was $1.50 and who doesn't love a mug?! right....

I'm not even going to explain my steps bc I went about this the most ridiculous way ever...so instead you get pictures :)

Fall wreath makeover!

Last weekend after going fall crazy at hobby lobby, and coming home with an awesome fall haul...

I knew it was time to get cracking on my fall wreath makeover.

Now the wreath we already have we got at target two years ago, and it was fine for the price and what I wanted at the time, but after seeing all the amazing wreaths on pinterest I knew that I could makeover the wreath we had and spend way less than buying or making a whole new one.

so here it is before...

Not too bad right? Well when I pulled it out of the attic it was definitely smaller than I had remembered, but I thought I'd still be able to spruce it up. 

I figured I had to keep it fairly simple since the wreath wasn't that big and it had a lot going on already. So I picked up a craft letter 'S' and some ribbon (that i'm in love with) from HL.

I painted the 'S' using some off-white spray paint we already had. I also distressed it a little. I then stapled two staples in the back of it and then pulled them out a little so there was almost like to little hooks. I then took some string and by threading it through the staples I was able to secure it to the wreath. The string I used was almost exactly the same color as the spray paint so that was nice! 

However, you don't have to use string. If my wreath hadn't been so bulky and had more of a flat surface to it I would have glued the 'S' on. 

Then using an awesome faux bow tutorial found on pinterest 

Via

I created a bow out of my favorite rbbon.

I then attached the bow with glue onto a piece of ribbon I had already tied around the wreath

...and ta da !!!

I'm totally loving the makeover!