Goodwill, The Dollar Store & My Attic

I'm in the process of decorating the house for fall. I'm wanting to do something a little different from previous years without spending a bunch of $$$, so I've been busy crafting and re-purposing and creating. Here are a couple of my favorite projects.


A couple Dollar Store vases like this...




Along with a couple Dollar Store candlesticks...




And a little Gorilla Glue (this stuff is awesome, and I swear you could build a house with it)...




TaDa! An apothecary-esque jar!




I love how they look on the table in our foyer. Everything inside them and on the table is stuff I already had, for a grand total of $3.50. My favorite thing about these is that I can use them all year round. I think they'll be especially pretty at Christmas.






This is my mantle from last year. I did pretty much the same thing the year before that, so I wanted a new look this year. I haven't actually done anything to the mantle yet, but see those 3 pumpkins made out of sticks (2 on the left and 1 beside the lantern)? I turned them into a pumpkin topiary.




First, I painted the leaves green. They were orange (not really sure why, and not really sure why I allowed them to stay orange the last 3 years either), which matched absolutely nothing in my house.




Then I took this little urn, which I got at Goodwill for $0.50, took out the moss and styrofoam, weighted it with some rice so that the topiary wouldn't be too top heavy, and then hot glued the moss and styrofoam back in.




Finally, I hot glued (my hot glue gun really got put to work today) the 3 pumpkins onto the top of the urn and then added some leaves and berries and twiggy things. Here's the final product.



This is one of my favorite things that I've ever made. I love how it turned out! The best part is that it cost me $0.50 (the cost of the urn). I already had everything else and just re-purposed it all.

A Few Things I've Learned From My Crafting Adventures

I need a new pair of crafting scissors. This is a pair of Fiskars safety scissors that I've had since I was in 3rd grade. 3rd grade! That's very close to 20 years ago! Notice that they're purple. Evidently, I was still going through my "Purple Phase" when I got them. During my purple phase everything had to be purple, and I mean everything. I'm pretty sure that phase lasted entirely too long and that it almost drove my mom crazy. When it comes to colors, I've branched out considerably since the 3rd grade, and my hands are slightly larger. Not to mention the fact that safety scissors weren't really meant to cut through wire and other such things. These poor scissors have been through enough. It's time to let them go.




Gorilla Glue is really hard to get out of your hair. Thanks to my mom for helping me chip it out. And for laughing with me (at me?) the entire time.




I need a craft room. My living room looks like Hobby Lobby exploded.

Happy Birthday, Mama!

Today is my mom's birthday. She's an amazing mom, truly amazing, and she's mine! Although, I do occasionally share her with my sister. My mom is the strongest person I know, a fact that has been reinforced over the last 7 months. She's also the least selfish person I know. She knows me inside and out, and I love the fact that she understands me so well. If anyone deserves a wonderful birthday, it's my mom, and I hope that she truly does have a wonderful day!

Busy!

I promise I haven't forgotten about this blog. I've just been busy. Busy traveling to Kansas for my cousin's wedding and to visit my hubby's family...




Busy with various crafts and sewing projects (more on that later) and busy hanging out with this adorable little guy...



I mean, who cares about blog posts when you've got this cutie pie to love on? Look at those crinkly, sparkly eyes and those squishable cheeks! He's not mine, but he melts my heart anyway!