Inexpensive Fall Wreath Idea

Have you decorated for fall?  

About 2 years ago, I made a wreath using materials from The Dollar Tree
and I am still using it on my front door!

The whole project cost about $3.00!

1 piece of foam board:  $1.00
2 packs of leaves:  2@$1.00

I love the look of a square wreath....it's just unique!

What fall decorations did you recycle this year??

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Fall Mantle Reveal

I'm staying out of any political discourse, but the reality is......with 

gas prices pushing $4.00 per gallon, life is expensive!

So when it comes to decorating, my options are to {mostly} use what I have.

One thing that I've had for maybe 2 years now is my corn husk wreath...

I used corn husks that I bought at a Mexican food store and cut them into triangular strips.

{Warning....it takes a lot of hot glue and many burned fingers to complete this!}

The next thing that I had was dropcloth, burlap, felt and sticks.

There are many tutorials on Pinterest that show how to make the stuffed pumpkins.

I resorted to my method of using old pillows to stuff them....free, again!

My one splurge was the "wheat"...and it's not actually wheat.  

I used a foam form from The Dollar Tree and hot glued a wheat-like grass 

to the form.  

If I had been patient, I could have gotten it for free in my backyard.....I'm not patient!

{The printable was free from Dear Lillie.}

So for spending practically nothing.....I was able to create a simple fall mantle

out of what was lying around my home and yard!

Do you decorate for fall or Halloween?

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Thanksgiving kid's crafts. . . . .

This year it is my turn to "hostess" Thanksgiving and I've been inspired by my friend, Melanie, to make it a kid-friendly, fun-filled day.....so I turned to Pinterest for some creative inspiration.

Here are some of the very fun ideas that I've found so far.....

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There are a lot of good ideas on this page!

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Someone stop me.....I could just keep going! 

What are your ideas for making this Thanksgiving memorable?

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The fall slacker. . . .

Yep!  That's me...the fall slacker!  I've got rotten pumpkins and dead chrysanthemum's decorating my front porch and had rotten gourds in my cloche.....that has been the extent, thus far, of my fall decorating!

In fact, I went to open my bin of fall decorations today and found this.....

Don't EVER get the fake gourds mixed up with the real gourds and leave them in a bin for a year.....GROSS!!

So, today, I decided to have a little fall crafting marathon.....I started by going to my Fall Ideas Pinterest Board.  Do you pin?  At first, I really drug my feet about pinning....I was concerned about the privacy issues, but wow, has it made life easier!


Prior to Pinterest, I would write my ideas down on little scraps of paper with my scribbles and drawings trying to keep a record of what I saw. 


I also kept a HUGE favorites tab on my computer.  That was great.......until the computer crashed!


So after I tried salvaging the horrid plastic pumpkins....which I couldn't!!......I came up with this for my fall mantle....

Kathy from Dandelions and Dustbunnies sent me the charger....I won it in one of her giveaways!  The books are thrift store just covered in burlap....the leaves are Dollar Tree.  I think that I used 3 strands?


I purchased the ceramic pumpkins last year at The Dollar Tree...yep, $1.00!

I made the wreath last year from a blog I had seen....that was when I first was introduced to the world of blogging!  

I bought the corn husks at a Mexican food store and trimmed them and then hot glued them onto a foam wreath. I added a little stain to the edge of my husks to give them an aged look.

I'm a little late getting into the fall decorating game, but, at least I've gotten started!

Now I am just waiting for these pumpkins to start rotting....

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Pretty Fall Porch. . .

I just had to share my neighbor's porch with you all.....it's so simple, yet is just gorgeous.....especially at night!

She put white Christmas lights in and around some grapevine pumpkins.....

And what about my porch??? Let's just say that a photo of rotten gourds isn't really inspiring!

Happy Fall!

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My 3.00 fall wreath. . .

Confession.....I have yet to make a single fall decoration...yet!  When I get the inspiration, I am sure I'll be crafting like a lunatic, but I'm just a tad bit overwhelmed with putting my basement back together. Do you ever notice how if one area of your house is out-of-order, it just spills into all the other areas?? (and....it can make one a little grumpy??)


So I didn't actually make this wreath this fall....I made it last year and just today hung it on my door....but, it really did cost only $3.00!


I love all of the round wreaths, but I wanted my door to look unique, so I opted for square.  My inspiration came from Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick.


(I apologize in advance for some of these pictures...it was before I learned how to use the manual settings on my camera and how to edit with Picassa and Picnik.)


I started with a $1.00 piece of foamboard from The Dollar Tree, a utility knife, a large measuring squarish device and my hubby!

I decided how large I wanted the opening and then drew a perfect square in the center to cut out with a utility knife.

After I had my square, I took some $1.00 packs of leaves from The Dollar Tree and started randomly gluing them on with hot glue.

My compulsive personality made me do a pattern so that no two identical leaves were next to each other....

Overall....it was an inexpensive solution to a rather boring fall door and I love the unique square look to it!

What does your door look like?

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Pretty chalk paint pumpkins. . . .

I have been working hard in my basement and I can't wait to show you what we are doing!!  It's a completely different look and I am lovin' it!  


My husband keeps telling me that I got an extra special gift for my 40th birthday.....a new basement!  (I punched him in the arm!)  Actually....I am grateful for ALL that he is doing and has done....he is working like crazy down there and he trusted my vision and is loving the result.


I hope to have a sneak peek later this week.....


But today....welcome to Bonnie, from a wee Meenit....

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The fall is my favorite time of the year!
Nothing beats the changing color of the leaves, cooler temps, the need for a jacket in the evening. I would live in a climate like this all year round!
I also love to decorate for fall. I figured I better get started before I had to add the Halloween decorations that I love too, but that is just not as pretty as just fall!

So here are a few things I did (with my super awesome, 6 year old helper girl!) ;0P

I just got back from an Annie Sloan Chalk paint workshop & was excited to see what I could do to the finish on faux pumpkins. I did a few in Greek Blue (LOVE that color, I see a table in my future in GB). I started with an assortment of faux pumpkins, mostly orange. I love the shape of these two, got them from local craft store (they are all running together so I don't know which store), they are not your standard 'round' faux pumpkin.

I only did one coat as I knew I would be doing a wash on it with Old White: after completely dry I added a bit of water to Old White & brushed it on over my kitchen sink, while wiping away what I wanted to with a damp paper towel. When it gets too full of paint to wipe away, just rinse it out & use it some more. I found it easier to break it up into a few sections and that way I didn't have to work so fast.

The picture frame in the photo above I finished in the workshop

& as soon as I get a new hard drive for my laptop ( back it up people!!!) I will do a post about that.

I also did a taupe pumpkin using an oops paint tester from Home Depot, it was only $.50! I did the same Old White wash over it & I love this one too!
I painted another small one Paris Gray but no wash on it but did use some of the high gloss spray paint from Deco. It is in a photo below with all the other pumpkins.

Lastly I did a cute little pumpkin that started out white & covered it with Provence. After it dried completely I painted thick & thin spots on top with Old White.

I hit it with a hair dryer so the thinner spots would be dry but the thicker spots not.

I then took a damp paper towel & started to rub off the thick areas.

I then took a sanding block & distressed the pumpkin!! The last step I glazed it with a wash of Old Ochre but no high gloss spray as I liked the matte finish on the ASCP pumpkins!

The Metallic pumpkins on the bottom shelf are a knock off of pumpkins I saw & loved @ Hobby Lobby and can be seen here&l t;/a>.

what do you think, did I make them look better than the craft store orange faux??

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Thanks, Bonnie!  And remember.....if you want to try making your own chalk paint, you can go to HERE to get a link to a tutorial!

As part of our basement redesign, I am going to be painting the furniture downstairs......I am going to try the make-your-own-chalk-paint tutorial and I bought some paste wax recommended at my local True Value Hardware store....

I'll keep you posted!

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