Pumpkin centerpiece

While in IA early this month, Z's parents took us to a lovely pumpkin farm for a fall afternoon outing!

It really was so colorful and such a beautiful day. I could have stayed there all day taking pictures of all the cool stuff... but I'll save that for another post. We pulled Sam around in a wagon and looked at all kinds of pumpkins and gourds... he loved it. See our little Pumpkin in with all the pumpkins?

We all selected a pumpkin or two to take home with us. Linda (my MIL) and I selected some lovely fat green ones with a fun project planned.  We made a little run to The Lob, to gather a few pretties, and when we got home, we get to work!
First, we washed our dirty pumpkins.

Then we gathered up our supplies:
Pumpkins, ribbon, burlap, artificial leaves/berries, feathers, beads, sparkly picks, wire, and a hot glue gun.

Next we sat down and layered and arranged and rearranged until we liked the way things looked... then we glued it all down and tied big bows for the top... to create fall centerpieces for our tables!

This one was Linda's and I think it turned out so fun and cute!

This one was mine... and I like the funky spiky feather and blingyness. :)

We even made a mini one for Grandma to put on her desk and she was quite pleased. It was a simple and fun project to create a centerpiece that should last the season. We were happy with the results, and I really enjoyed myself putting it all together!
Have you created any fall decor recently? Just the other day I remembered that Amy Lee and I made that cool wreath for my front door, time to get that out! And my black candlesticks to create Halloween display, maybe? Ooh speaking of Halloween... it's time to get started on the little Pumpkin's costume... FUN!

Pinterest Challenge: Project #4 And Wrap-up!

This post should probably be sub-titled: We hot glued EVERYTHING to this wreath.

SO! Are you getting tired of baby projects yet? If you aren't, you are in luck, becuase I have a ton more coming. If you are, you are in luck... because this one is in no way baby related! YAY.
This project has been over a year in the making. No joke. It's part of the Pinterest Challenge, but it's from back in the day when my personal pinterest use was more like a word document where I posted links to things I wanted to remember... (long before I knew of the wonders and ease of pinterest!)  
(Okay side note again about what was it even LIKE to be crafty before people had the internet-- yes, I know I am showing my age here, but I have pretty much had access to computers as long as I can remember, and access to internet since middle school-- but seriously, old school crafty people are hard core because they either had to be original or go to a lot more trouble to find and steal other people's ideas. I mean, right now... If I wanted to silver leaf a side table, all I would have to do is type it into google, and about 50 images and tutorials would pop up.  Easy as apple pie... which oh man sounds really good. I was thinking about making one this weekend, I think thats going to have to happen. I love fall. Wait... what was I talking about? Crap, I think I just tangent-ed my tangent. Awesome.)

Source: thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com via Valerie on Pinterest

Anywho... well over a year ago I found this lovely wreath. I liked it because it was simple, unique, and mostly because it was square. And I wanted one. Bad enough that I bought the supplies to make it. And... then I didn't. And fall came and went, as did Christmas, and I packed up my fall decor when Christmas went up and forgot about it, until a couple weeks ago I found the same image on pinterest again and though... YES! It's going to happen this year!
So last night Amy Lee came over and we crafted late into the night. But I knew I wanted to get this done for my final pinterest challenge. So let me assure you that this project was, in fact, completed (not much) before midnight on the 30th of Sept... qualifying it for the challenge, by decree of those strict strict rules.

The original inspiration included a tutorial, so check her's out if you want a how to. But it's mostly something like this: Cut a square out of foam board, glue leaves to it, done!
We got fancy and added sparkly berries. And I didn't have a nifty wreath hanger, so we improvised with some gold ribbon. But then I was all, wait, what do I tie the ribbon to? And Amy asked if I had any 3M hooks or tape. Um... no? But I did have a glue gun all hot and bubbling... So uh... you can see where this is going. We hot glued the ribbons to the top of the door, and crisis averted. Because it's so light, it holds easily to the door, but the hot glue peels off with minimal damage (just in case you were wondering.) Win.

 Glued to my door. I love it. It was late and dark out, but I wanted a picture of it from the outside too. Becuase it is made of foamboard and paper leaves it is nice and lightweight and THIN, meaning it fits nicely between our storm door and front door. But it did flop around when you opened the door... nothing a little dollup of hot glue couldn't fix. Yup we glued it to the door. Again.

 I told you we hot glued EVERYTHING to this wreath. Or this wreath to everything. Or something.

Here's a close up, I know it's a little busy, but I kinda like it, and I like how colorful it is. And I am proud that I actually finished it this year. Yay. And thank you Amy Lee for your wreath gluing help. :)
Happy Fall!

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And... That, my friends, wraps up the Pinterest Challenge. I am glad you followed along, and I love those of you who participated! It's my hope that we all learned something from this, becuase here's what I learned: Pinterest (or the internet, or creative blogs...) can be a great resource for inspiration, but they can also be a worthless time-suck if you never stop clicking and start doing. So my personal challenge is keep it up. To continue to let the inspiration be just that-- inspiring me to create and be wonderful things-- and not just stop with a computer click. Amen.