Kids Halloween Pillowcases

I've always had this irrational fear of the sewing machine and have never wanted to learn how to sew because of it. But I finally decided to suck it up and let my mom teach me how to sew.  :P

My very fist project were some halloween pillowcases for my kids. I thought these would be a fun way to add some halloween decor to their rooms. These pillowcases were sooo easy! I used THIS great tutorial but I used slightly different measurements. I wanted my trim to be a little bigger and my cuff to be a little smaller. Other than that I followed the tutorial exactly and am so happy with how they turned out! And now that I'm finally over my sewing fears I can start making more fun projects. :)

Here are the measurements I used:
Main body: 27"
Cuff: 7"
Trim: 4"

I made these while the kids were at school and surprised them when they came home. I added a few candies and crafts to get them in the Halloween spirit. :) I love how they turned out and my kids love sleeping on them. I'm planning to make them some Christmas ones, too. :)

-marie

DIY Halloween Spell Book

 I've been wanting to make a spell book for my Halloween decor for a while now and have seen a lot of great ones on Pinterest. But I wasn't able to find any with pages I could print off. So I created my own in Photoshop and am sharing them with anyone who wants to make their own. With the pages already created, this book is soooo easy to put together. There's still time to whip one up before Halloween! :)

To begin with, you'll need a book. I found this one at Savers in the "vintage" book section. I liked that it was already black and the pages were yellow and aged so I didn't need to do anything extra to the book.  A huge time saver!

To get the pages to curl, I used my handy little squirt bottle. I sprayed water on the corners as I lifted the pages. This gave it some texture and the water made the pages more pliable.

Next, you'll want to print the spell pages. My book was 8.25"x5.5" so if you have a different sized book make sure to size it properly. I just printed it on regular copy paper.

 This next step is completely optional, but I wanted the paper to feel just a little more aged. So I set the oven to 200º and lined a cookie sheet with foil. I sprayed a light mist of water over the pages (make sure the printer ink is dry!) and bake for about 5-7 minutes until the edges begin to curl.

 To mount the spell pages in the book, I used Mod Podge, but a spray adhesive would work really well, too.

Next, I super glued a black ribbon down the middle of the book.

 

Now it's ready to be displayed!

If you want to make your own, you can download the spell pages HERE.  Be sure to let us know if you make one, we'd love to see it!

-marie

Fall Burlap Wreath

I wanted a simple and easy wreath to hang on our front door. We are renting for now and I needed a wreath that would not blend into our door. I decided to do a burlap wreath, so here is how I made it...

First of all, I cut strips of my burlap and wrapped a $1 store pool noodle. Once at the end, I put a dab of hot glue to secure the burlap to the noodle.

 I took one of my small wreaths and pulled it all apart. I took the individual branches and placed it where I wanted them and secured them in place with the craft wire that was originally holding the branches together.

I then took some fake leaves that I already had and hot glue gunned them in place. I added a few pine cones that I had as well. My wreath was ready to be hung on the door!

-chelz

Easy Fall Tree

I had some branches in my backyard from a tree we took down forever ago and wanted to spray paint them black for some Halloween decor. But I was talking with Chelsea one day about it and we got to thinking that it might be better to paint the branches white so that we could use them for other holidays as well. 

The first thing I wanted to make was a Fall Thankful Tree. I've seen these around a couple places and think they are just so pretty. So I gathered up my branches and gave them a couple coats of white spray paint. I used the cheap white paint and it took an entire can to do two coats. I didn't cover the branches completely because I still wanted them to have a bit of a rustic feel. 

Once they were dry I found an old vase I had sitting around and I arranged the branches how I wanted them and tied a bow on it. Then I used a circle hole punch to cut out some circles from scrapbook paper and hung them on the tree. I'm planing to do a family night soon about gratitude and have the kids all write down things they are thankful for on the back of the circles.  

I really love how it turned out and think it goes nicely with my fall decor. I just love decorating for this time of year!!!

Great Finds Under $6

As many of you, I LOVE Target's $1 section. I found this cute porcelain bird and little owl in there! I just couldn't resist buying them especially since they were only $1. The owl is a dark grey color it is kinda hard to tell in the picture. I will definitely be using these in my Halloween decorations to come in October, but can be used year round as well! 

Now that my kids are back in school, my 1st grocery trip to Walmart with out them again turned up some surprising things. Since I didn't have my older two kids with me, I took my time and wondered up each isle. I found this cute frosted mason jar with the bird and twig for just $2.97! It would cost me more to make this so, I snatched it up. Down another isle I found this cute barn lantern and was shocked to see it was only $5.97. Again I couldn't resist. 

I love it when you find great finds when you are not expecting it!

-chelz

Personalized Christmas Ornaments

I love to have personal touches in my Christmas decor, so I decided it would be fun to have each member of our family's name on the tree! I was so excited to start this project and my kids just loved the idea of having their own special ornament on the tree. 

Here's how I made them:

I used 2 frames that I already had and got 3 more from the dollar store. I used 4x6 frames cause I did not want them to be too heavy for the tree. 

I spray painted the frames white and roughed them up a little with sand paper. I chose white for the frames cause I wanted it to pop against the tree but you could use any color.

I used the stencils that I had gotten from the Martha Stewart campaign. I think you could achieve the same effect with vinyl or paper and mod pod.  I baked the glass in the oven for 30 min at 350 degrees to set the paint. Then I used a hot glue gun to secure the glass to the frame.

 I then cut strips of ribbon and hot glue gunned it to the back of the frames. Finally we placed them on the tree!

These were so easy to make and I love how they turned out! They just add so much to our tree!

Merry Christmas!

-chelz


Linked to: Rea Gun Ramblings

Christmas Mugs

This was such a fun project to do! I found these cute mugs at the dollar store and had originally planned to do this project with vinyl, but when I was asked to try out these Martha Stewart products I knew they would be perfect for my mugs. Every year, on my husband's side of the family, we do a siblings gift exchange and these mugs are what I chose to make for their gift this year! When I got the box in the mail this is what I found:

Im not sure who was more excited about what was in the box, my kids or me. I told my kids that they could decorate their own Christmas mugs and they wanted to get started right away. They were disappointed that when I told them they had to wait til December to make theirs. Ok, so there are endless possibilities to the things that you could make with what was in the box, but I decided to keep it simple and stick to my original plan.

Step 1: Clean off the surface that you will be painting on. I used alcohol as the products recommended.

Step 2: Place the letter stencils in place where you want them.

Step 3: Run a line of paint across the top of the letters and use a glass paint squeegee to drag the paint down.

Step 4: Choose an embellishment and place it on. I used a paint dauber to apply the paint for these.

I found these stencils very easy to work with and the paint was very forgiving. When I found smudges and bleeding, I took a toothpick and was able to clean it up easily. I had used a more fancy font on a different mug and I wasn't sure how I felt about it, so I left it until the next day. I decided I didn't like it so I took a spatula and was able to scrape it off easily and start over. 

Step 5: Let the paint dry over night and then bake it in the oven for 30 min on 350. This will keep the paint from chipping off.

I made 7 mugs and I love how they have turned out! I love this little reindeer that I used on Brandon's mug. I plan to make more for my kid's teacher gifts and for friends.

These are fun gifts to give out and you can put anything inside such as candy, hot chocolate, and maybe a little gift card.... so many options!

These were such fun and easy products to use. I was very impressed with their quality. My favorite product was the adhesive stencils, it was easy to use on the mugs to help them stay in place. 

I can not wait to make more crafts with the Martha Stewart products that I received! Marie is gonna fly out and spend a weekend with me to see what we can come up with together! 

What would you make with these products?

-chelz

If you want to find out more about Martha Stewart Crafts and Plaid be sure to follow them on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

I received product and payment via The Blueprint Social (www.theblueprintsocial.com) for this post, however, opinions are 100% my own.

Linked to: Fingerprints on the fridge

Halloween Floating Frames

I just LOVE the floating glass frames Chelsea made and had to make some of my own.  These are such an easy and inexpensive project to make.  I'm thinking I need to make some for other holidays, too!

To start off, I used some old frames that I had.  I spray painted them white and used sandpaper to rough up the edges.  For this one I used a cherry wood frame and I like how both the cherry color and natural wood color come through. 

 I removed the back of the frame and added a dab of glue to each corner to keep the glass in place.  

I also added ribbon to mine so I could hang them, but they look cute sitting on an entryway table like Chelsea's, too!

 I used my cricut to cut some black vinyl.  I used the Paper Dolls cartridge for the skull and tree and and svg file for the bat.  

I just love the way they turned out!

-marie