Halloween Decor {On a Budget}

Has anyone else been so excited to get their Halloween decorations up?

I don't know about you, but I get pretty sick of the same old decor every year, so I decided to start fresh. Now the only problem with starting fresh is buy new things. And when your on a student budget, buying new things doesn't actually happen. Thankfully I managed to round up everything for these projects right around my house.

Took my boys on a "scavenger hunt" for the perfect branches. And yes, I really did tell them it was a scavenger hunt. they loved every second of it! I even let my son help me spray paint the branches black...made his day.

Found a few Mason jars laying around, so I wrapped them in cute paper and filled them with dry beans.

The bats hanging from the tree were cut out using my Cricut. Then I spray glued them and covered them in glitter.

Grab an old frame and paint a piece of chipboard(or cardboard) to slide in it. Know one will even recognize that you actually recycled an old frame. The bats I cut out of vinyl, but you could paint those on as well.

(Free printable) Subway art over at eighteen25.

{Surprisingly...I know} I have a stockpile of canvas that I inherited...SCORE!

Taped that bad boy off and had the stripes painted in no time. I didn't have any chalkboard paint but I did have chalkboard fabric. So thats what the center is cut out of. Used a little E-6000 to glue it down to the canvas and it's as good as if I would have painted it on there.

* Halloween star I made last year, tutorial found here.
* Eek sign I painted last year as well. (traced a chevron pattern on a scrap piece of wood, painted it, and cut the Eek out of black vinyl).

Don't forget to check back next month. I still have no idea how I'll decorate for Thanksgiving...but I'll come up with something ;)

Framed {Chevron} Egg

Can you believe Easter is in 3days?

Where has time gone, seriously. It seemed to have just snuck right up on us.

I wanted to come up with something fun and new...and fast, since I will only have the rest of the week to display it. 

So here it is folks, the perfect last minute project.

Supplies:

• Burlap
• Acrylic Paint(the cheap stuff I had laying around the house) & paint brush
• Frame

I cut out all my stencils on my cricut, but it would be fairly easy to paint this without a stencil at all...or use a printer to print your shapes and cut them out. That's up to you!

I actually cut my egg shape out of laminate paper and stuck it to the burlap(I just forgot to take pictures). This way you don't have to worry about the paint bleeding through the paper.

So lets pretend that the yellow paper is really my laminate paper:)

...(and don't mind my sons little drawing).  

After my laminate egg stencil was placed I painted 1 coat of white and let dry completely.

I made myself a little chevron stripe stencil(out of chipboard) that I use {and re-use} for every project I can think of. Yes, I am that obsessed with chevron.

I traced my chevron stencil (with a pen) over the entire white egg. Then very carefully, (by hand) painted every other stripe the color of my choice.

 

This took less than 1hr start to finish.

Go grab a scrap of burlap, a couple bottles of paint, and you'll have yourself a cute new decoration just in time for Easter!

Clover Pillow

{It's March}!

And we all know what that means...time to pull out your St. Patties day decorations.

Mine are lacking so I thought I better get busy making a few things!

No, tutorial this time. But no worries, it's so simple you'll whip it out in an hour.

I cut out a clover stencil with laminate paper using my Cricut(seriously, get yourself some laminate paper...I've used it for who knows how many crafts projects...it's so great to have on hand)!

• Paint the clovers onto your burlap(In a line, square, just one...)
• Let dry, then trace on your design(I went with chevron, because I'm still obsessed with it). Who doesn't love a little splash of chevron.
• I hand painted my stripes then finished it off with an outline of gold puff paint.
• Finish it into a simple square pillow(or pillow case, like I did). Or throw it in a cute frame and hang it on the wall.

Quick, and cute piece to add to your St. Pattrick's Day stash.

update: I loved how the pillow turned out so I went ahead and made a matching clover to frame.

What kind's of St. Patrick's Day decor do you have in mind this year?

"Pop" A "Corny" Question{Valentine}

Looking for a quick and cute Valentine gift. I "Popped" these out in about an hour. And the popcorn is to die for, it's a must try!

(right click and save image to print).

Head on over to Our Best Bites for this very yummy and simple Cinnabon Popcorn recipe!

Father's Day Gift Idea

I ran across this cute "mock bait box" idea over at Kmckaydesigns.com, with adorable printable's to go on the box and jars, and had to do it for my sweet husband who loves to fish!

To make it a little more Father's day related and more from our little boy, I added the "Hooked On Daddy!" The paper box came from Hobby Lobby ($3.99), & the jars as well ($1.00 each)

The jars are filled with yummy treats like, goldfish, swedish fish, gummy worms, you get the idea...I'm sure my son will enjoy the contents way more than my husband!!

And we'll top off the gift with a fun little card...Your One Great Catch!

Ruffle Frame

 

I had this frame laying around that was in desperate need of a little beauty, it even had a sweet fuzzy little rocking horse stuck to the top of it...to bad I ripped it off before I got a picture.

 

I took the frame apart and covered the entire thing in white fabric, just to be sure the blue checkers didn't show through. If I were using any color besides white I probably would have glued the ruffles on without pre covering it.

Tore up 2" strips, then I ended up glueing them in half because I decided I didn't want the frayed look anymore.

Then I glued...and glued, and glued. Squirt a long line of hot glue and lay the fabric on it, wrinkling/ ruffling it as you go.

 

Then I decided it needed a little color, but didn't want to designate the frame to one certain holiday....so I added a square of velcro so I can change out my flowers every holiday!

St. Patrick's Day Subway Art

Here's a little subway art to get you into the green mode, and start your St. Patties day decor !

Enjoy!

Boys Valentine's Card

I realize that it is actually Valentine's Day so most people have their cards send out already, but maybe you can pin it for next years Valentine's card.

Just copy the picture below and slide your own picture into the template. Simple as that.

          

Here's a few mustache choices we found on google images. I printed the mustache I wanted but I wanted it a little thicker than it was, so I glued it to some textured black fabric and cut it out. (I wish I would have had fuzzy black fabric...that would have been funny!)

I also added the stick for my son to hold onto it, only because he wasn't liking it taped to his face.

Heart Garland

Next time you walk past the paint department, make sure you grab yourself a few paint sample cards...there perfect for simple little crafts!

I Laid the sample cards across your cricut mat and cut away.

Once you have all your hearts cut out pull out a needle and thread and string them all together....seriously takes about 10 min. to finish the entire garland.

Isn't little miss Emmeline adorable, I would love to get this Valentine in the mail!

Prop or decoration, they will be perfect for any occasion!

Next time I'm at the store I definitely grabbing shades of green for a four leaf clover garland.

HAPPY {almost} VALENTINE'S DAY!

Valentines Banner

Besides the fact that I never actually took a cute picture of the banner...here it is!

And here's the templates I used to cute it out on my Cricut, with Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL).

                                       

(The circle I didn't end up using, but if you want another circle inside the scalloped circle, that's what it was meant for.)

Right click the images, save them to your computer, then upload them into as an image into SCAL.

Owl You Need Is LOVE, printables

Christmas has come and gone and it's a new year...Happy 2012 by the way! Hope everybody had a spectacular holiday season. Now it's time to bring on the Valentines decor, you may or may not be one that goes all out for Valentines day, but a little subway art is the perfect touch to get the decorating started. 

I came up with these printable's for you all, enjoy!

(I found the owls on google images, not sure how the whole copy right thing goes, so just make sure you don't use these to resale or anything...just for your own decorating needs.)

OWL YOU NEED IS LOVE

OWL YOU NEED IS LOVE- Horizontal

VALENTINE'S DAY SUBWAY ART

Right click and save image to your computer, they should print out 8 1/2 X 11.

If you are having trouble saving the image just leave a comment with your email and I'll send you the file.