Fall, on the Cheap

Nothing excites me more than walking into Michael's or Hobby Lobby mid July and seeing all the Fall decor smiling at me, whispering "Can't wait to be yours forever". Red, Orange, different tones of yellow and green...I'm getting heart palpitations.

This year, we have a lot of things going on financially, paying some things off and trying to save, so I wasn't able to go on a Fall decor binge like I'd prefer to. My husband is proud. It's not like I didn't buy ANYTHING, I mean get real. I busted out my bin full of last year's goods, took inventory of things I wanted to add, and hit up the Dollar Tree where I found these sort of stiff, crepe paper leaves.

I wanted to do a quick post about this "Give Thanks" craft to share just in case you're looking for a cheap way to spruce up your casa.

10 in a pack for a bone, one simoleon, UNO SMACKER! They had different shapes of the leaves, but these stole my heart. What to do with these, I thought, shall I distribute them irrationally, strewn about the house. Nay, I know they were called to be something greater. I originally intended to make some Fall themed, patchwork bunting (which I will do eventually) but we have family coming in November and I'm busy getting the guest room all done up (post soon to come).

I sat down at the table with the leaves in front of me and I'm thinking why can't I paint on these leaves, when I heard a voice in my head, that sounded a lot like me, say "Paint on them you fool!!". So I obeyed.

(yes, I guess that is my fat finger photobombing...)

This project took me approximately 30 minutes from start to finish. I just used acrylic paint, didn't use a stencil, but you're welcome to. I strung some twine and hung the leaves in place. If you're feeling frisky, you can dangle each letter from it's own separate piece of twine and stagger them for a "falling leaves" effect, whatever blows your skirt up.

Voila! This is officially my 2013 Fall mantel. She's complete. I feel good about it. I'm most proud of my $2 investment at the Dollar Tree (really $1 because I only used half of the leaves- maybe I'll use the other leaves to make another set for my office at work? eh? eh?).


Happy crafting!!
-Candace

One Down, One Hundred to Go

I have multiple projects that I've started and have yet to finish; some from years ago, some from days ago. I find it a joy to get all my craft supplies out and make a mess, and I get a huge thrill from beginning something new. But I'm easily distracted by the other stuff I could be doing as well....like starting another new project. I know, I need help.

I've been looking for a fireplace screen for our fireplace for a few months now and hadn't found any I liked. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Target, but I found them to not have the character I was looking for. I'm hoping that eventually my home will feel 100 years old.

About a month ago, I received a text from my aunt (who was at the Goodwill) saying "Do you like this?"

And for $25, boy did I. While bronze/brown does not match my fireplace, or anything in my living room actually, I knew with just a little bit of paint it could work! What excited me about this screen was that it had a little bit of rust at the bottom, a nice patina on the decorative metal plates and it was heavy. Those are all the tell tale signs of something being older. It's those things that attract me, those things are special.

I had an old can of silver spray paint that I thought I'd try. Side note: I had no real plan going into this...

I laid it on some newspaper in my garage and sprayed the front and back just lightly because I wanted some of the bronze to show through slightly. I wasn't really happy about the way the front looked afterward so I grabbed me some really fine grit sandpaper. 

I gently sanded the whole thing down and tada!

Pretty pleased with how it turned out! 

Now onto the next project :-)