Halloween Mantle

Up on the blog today : a Halloween mantle. Or in my case, my dining room buffet because I don't have a mantle yet. I only dream of the day I do! But in the mean time, my buffet is my faux mantle :)

 

I chose a purple, orange, black and silver color scheme this year. Something about that color combo just speaks to me. I bought some black Christmas Halloween trees last year on clearance at Hallmark, but I didn't have any ornaments and they honestly looked a little depressing without any color on them, so I went to Walmart (when am I not there?) and purchase some mini purple ornaments.

Oh look, there's my DIY glam pumpkin, too!

 

I purchased those cute owl candle holders at JoAnn Fabrics for $6 each! What a steal!

The glitter crow was from Walmart and the spooky moss, which in my opinion makes the mantle, was from Walmart, too!

 

The banner was a free printable off of Pinterest, which you can find here. I added some purple scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby to each letter to make it pop against the spooky black material on the mirror. I think it turned out nicely.

 

 

Orange glitter spider from JoAnn Fabrics:

 

And another:

 

Pre-spooky moss shot:

 

 

Up-close shot. I love the details. The moss really adds to the overall look of it!

 

The finished product!

 

 

I'm so happy with how this turned out!

Have you tried your hand at a Halloween mantle this year?

 

 

 

Pumpkin Painting (& Carving) Party

Just wanted to share the pumpkins my husband and I did this year for Halloween!

He carves, I paint. It's a house divided.

This year I chose to paint a spooky witch over a cauldron:

 

My husband carved this creepy face. He did a pretty awesome job if I do say so myself!

(Don't mind the mess in the background!)

 

Another shot of our little pumpkins:

 

All lit up on our doorstep:

 

 

...along with the cutest pumpkin flower pot ever!

 

 

Happy Halloween!!

 

 

DIY Glam Pumpkin

My first DIY Halloween project of the year was inspired by this photo from Pinterest:

I fell in love with this chic and sparkly pumpkin the second it popped up on my Pinterest feed. I just knew it was something I wanted for my Halloween décor, so I headed to the store to purchase the necessary supplies and re-create this beauty!

I purchased a regular orange craft pumpkin at Hobby Lobby, bought some spray paint and gave it SEVERAL coats of white paint. It took awhile and I'm not a patient person!

After the paint dried, I added what felt like hundreds of little rhinestones, purchased from Walmart, with regular glue to the pumpkin in the shape of a spider web. I laid part of the pattern out on the table and lightly drew an outline on the pumpkin with pencil as a guide.

I also purchased a sparkly spider from Walmart (for $1.47, woo hoo!), and glued that on top. It's a simple Halloween project that anyone with a little patience can tackle! I absolutely love the finished product...

 

 

Isn't that spider just the cutest little thing!?

 

 

 

 

I had a lot of fun with this project and hope it inspires you to tackle some DIY pumpkins!

 

Amanda

 

 

 

 

 

I'm baaaack!!!

Since I've started this blog, a lot has happened in my life. A move, a marriage, another move, a deployment and yet another move. I thought I'd have time to write more, but frankly, I didn't. I wanted to spend time with my family and friends in Illinois as much as possible during my husband's deployment. Now I'm settled in at my current home in sunny Florida (yay!) and I'm ready to share this new adventure with the blogging world!

I've recently added my Instagram feed to the blog (it's that little purple button to your right under that cute photo of me and my hubby) and I'd love for you to follow me! I update the 'gram almost daily with photos of my recent craft projects, places I visit and other random things that make me happy!

I hope to have my next blog post up very soon - including my sister's wedding (gorgeous!), her bridal shower that I co-hosted with my sisters, and some adorable Halloween décor!

Thanks for stopping by!

Amanda



 

Fall Porch Sign

Fall is my ABSOLUTE favorite time of the year. And I celebrate by decorating in any way I can. Of course Pinterest is a constant inspiration as it was for my second Fall project of the year. An adorable front porch sign, found here. As for every project I post on here, I cannot take credit for the idea, only for getting off my lazy butt and recreating something wonderful that will add a personal touch to my home. And allow me to be creative when boredom strikes.

This project started out with a trip to my local Menards (which was, by the way, not woman friendly, but that's a whole other story). I purchased six 6' Gothic style fence pickets and had them cut down in store to the height of 4'. About an hour later, after getting stuck in the Halloween decor section of the store, I was on my way home to create my Fall front porch sign!

I nailed the pickets to some scrap wood and started painting away. White as the base coat:

 

 

Followed by some green, and then brown strokes of paint (excuse the 1970's style tile on the basement floor):

 

 

I then added some very light tan paint on top, leaving some green and brown spots to get that "aged & weathered" look:

 

 

Now, I don't own a Silhouette CAMEO (yet), so instead of using a stencil, I drew the lettering on free-hand, and painted the words in various Fall colors:

 

 

It took a couple coats of paint on each word, and ta-da! My very own Fall porch sign :) 

I stood it up on my bale of hay next to my mums and pumpkins...looks very Fall-like if you ask me!

 

Happy Fall Everyone!

 

 

 







2x4 Halloween Decorations

My first Fall/Halloween project of the year...and it's off to Home Depot. Boy, do I love that hardware store. My project was inspired by this pin. A simple Halloween decoration made from a 2x4! I purchased one 2x4 that was over 8' in height, for $2.12, not too shabby. I had the nice gentleman at Home Depot cut my 2x4 into the following sizes: 10", 9" and two 8" pieces. I then stopped by JoAnn Fabrics for some raffia, craft paint (yellow, orange, green, black and white), and burlap. I headed home and on the way into my house, picked up stick from the yard and was ready to start this project!

I started by painting each 2x4 it's respective color, orange, green, white and googly eyes (not a color, but the ghoul doesn't need much painting!)

 

I painted two of each because I made a second set for my mom :) Then waited patiently for them to dry....

 

 

 

Next, I painted the faces on these adorable little Halloween monsters (pumpkin, Frankenstein, ghost and ghoul). Then, used my hot glue gun to attach the tree branch to the pumpkin and tied some raffia around the base. For the ghoul, I cut strips of burlap and wrapped it around 2x4, gluing as necessary.

 

I am just in love with these characters! Such a simple project for easy and cute Halloween decor!

 

 

 

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!