Halloween mantel on a budget!!

I finished my mantel and it came together in probably 15 minutes...I was a happy little camper to say the least!  AND I probably spent $10 total.  (Some things I had from before.)  So here is what I spent and some little tips I've got, hopefully you can find something useful!

Halloween buckets stacked on top of each other: $1 each Target 1 spot.

Glittery haunted house: $3 Kirkland Home (are these anywhere else other than AZ?? Love it!)

Glitter skull: Dollar Tree, $1 :)

Black birdie: Present from my mommy

Old medical book: Free from my honey's school!

Black crow: Dollar Tree, $1

Skulls in apothecary jar: Dollar Tree, $1

Candy Corn in Walmart glass: Probably $2 for candy and $1 for the glass

Tip: REPURPOSE!  For 30 days you can mess up some of your other decor to make your mantel, table, etc. adorable!  The candle stick I spray painted and it is usually in my kitchen, I paid $3 for it originally.  The apothecary jar is usually in my bedroom with seashells.  I also tied some leftover fabric strips around the top of the lid.  And I left my little boys in the frame up...they aren't too spooky but I thought the gray frame still worked fine!

Spider: Dollar Tree, $1

Cute banner: From Ms SewSara herself

(there are so many tutes out there on how to make one of these cuties, so fast!)

Spider/web: Also from Ms SewSara!

There you have it!  My Halloween Mantel on a Budget!

What are your holiday decor on a budget tips?

PS Don't forget to check out these great linky parties, including Get Your Craft On!

Boo!

I want to make lots of monster creatures.

I made this little guy for our mom, and I guess I kinda invented him. He's crocheted, and I used this free ball pattern for his body alternating colors every four rows. His arms started with a chain four and increased to eight I believe for probably 5 inches. His eyes, mouth and ears are all made of felt and stitched onto his face. I was happy with this quirky little guy!

Our mom loves to host a Halloween party with loads of grandchildren. So I wanted to add to her cute decorations, and I love me a banner.

Using a cardboard template and rotary cutter I got my perfect triangles and sewed them to a ribbon. Using fusible web I traced the letters and ironed them accordingly. A good tip: If you aren't the best with your applique skills (me) it's awesome to use invisible thread. I think colored thread can make more of a statement, but until I can sew straight better, I'm sticking with invisible thread.


And there you go! Happy Halloween everybody, can't wait to check out all the goodies and eat a few too.

Let me know if you need any more specifics!
PS This was a re-post from last year, however it's probably new to you, right??? :)

Fabric Bracelets

I recently got back from a 2 week vacation back to my "home".  I had to leave my love here and got to go stay at my parents with my two little rascals. 

We had a blast.
We missed the man.
I spent many a craft night, afternoon and a weekend with my dear sister Heather.
Miss you.

About an hour after I left she sent me a text of a picture of her giant crying eyeball.  Sad.

Earlier this summer I was flipping through a catalog of a fabulous designer.  I wanted to cover myself head to toe with fabric I love it so much.  If it were socially acceptable I'd drape myself in fabric. (Seinfeld anyone!? :)

Immediately I got out my scrap fabric and started on a bracelet I designed in my head.

We are very impulsive.
Heather has paused a movie, ran to her bathroom and cut bangs to match the actress. No lie.

This is what I came up with.

Since this summer I've been debating about offering a tutorial on how to make these or selling them or both.

They are made with scrap fabrics into small yo-yos and then glued to a thin elastic piece.  They are simple, but take a decent amount of time.

I quite like mine and wear it often.  It gets me that much closer to my ultimate goal of being covered in darling fabric. :)

What do you think?

PS If you are interested in purchasing one, contact us at freshpoppydesign{at}gmail{dot}com!

And check here to see the wonderful parties we're linking up to!

Another sneak peak. Mod Podge Star...

MOD PODGE STAR TUTORIAL

Okay, here is what you do. First buy one of those giant metal stars. Spray paint it black.

Make a pattern out of card stock the size of each of the angles. It will always be the same shape, you just have to flip it over for every other angle of the star. You know the drill. Mod Podge. I got all my pieces down, then did 1 coat over the whole star.

Next you are going to do a wash on the angles. Alternately, you can "ink" the edges of each paper before you mod podge. I like to do a wash. Just acrylic paint with water.

Get an angled brush and dip the edge in the watery paint. Go along all the edges of the shapes. This is very forgiving. Just to make sure you do it on top of the mod podge layer, otherwise you would be painting raw paper and it wouldn't be forgiving.

FINISHED!

You have your star...

We'll be linking to some fun and crafty parties here, check them out!

Sneak Peek...nursery...

Why does everything take so long for me?

Maybe it is because I generally make nearly everything in the room myself (or with the help of a giving mother and mother in law)

Sometimes it would be easier to just go online and buy everything. Maybe Weston's nursery would be done by the time he was born. Not after he was one year old!

I have been in my house for over 5 years and my Master Bedroom has still never been finished. (part of that is being a scaredy cat).

I just need to focus my ADD and get this done. I think I have all the bits and pieces, but I need to get them on the wall, hung, etc.  a little mad at myself about it all...

Okay this "board and batten" (or whatever you call it) Was a pain in the butt serisously. I think between my husband and myself it was about 25 hours labor. (When was the last time you and your husband had that kind of spare time?

Was it worth it? I LOVE IT! I want trim work and moulding all over my house!

Pinky Promise a reveal super soon!

Our Mommy is the nicest Mommy in the world...

Turns out I (Heather) am a taker not a giver (lets be honest, so is Megan). Several people in my family agreed. So a few months ago I bought canvas, paint, and found a cute photo online. I brought everything to my Mom. Told her in detail what I wanted. What I wanted different from the online print. Then I gave her a 2 week deadline.

Does that make me a taker?

Fortunately for me, my Mother is a giver...here is the canvas she produce for me, ahead of schedule by about a week...

SERIOUSLY! Does it almost make you cry? This is for Weston's nursery.  I LOVE IT! I have a thing for elephants because of Dumbo. All my girls loved dumbo when they were around 2 years old. Plus I really love the Baby Mine song. Alison Kraus has a beautiful version.

That is me and Weston (no fat jokes please)... The grey and aqua are the colors of his nursery. (which will be revealed within 2 weeks..promise!

Our Mother can make or do anything! She is an artist, decorator, sewer, quilter, crafter, plumber, handyman, tiler, wallpaper..er, hardwood floor installer... etc. Seriously everything!

She is the best Mommy and Grandma ever!

I don't want to be sentimental here, but really, people get jealous of just how nice our Mom is.  She is such a compassionate person. When we have babies we are in Heaven because of how she cares for our other children and pampers us like we are at a spa. She cleans out my fridge regularly, and my car. She is a little OCD about cleaning...but that is another post where we will mock her!

Love You MAMA

(She is a loyal blog follower too)

Pottery Barn Tray project...

I didn't want to post this because in the end I am not super happy with it, but I thought I could get advice from you all?

I got this pottery barn tray just like this at a outlet type sale. It was $5. I imagined all the grand things I could do with it. First spray paint it all...

Second, tried unsuccessfully to line up some cute scrapbook papers...

Slapped it together...Don't like the seams....don't like the glare...

Love the pretty tray table and all of it's potential...

Sprayed the cute birdie too...and found the darling vase at DI.

Now, what to do?

Wallpaper?

Fabric???

Tile???

ANY ADVICE PLEASE???