DIY Thankful Sign

It's November, the month of Thanksgiving.

This DIY Thankful Sign is the perfect addition to your Fall decor.

And, it's super easy!

I used my Cricut Maker to cut out the word, thankful, in vinyl. If you don't have a Cricut you can buy vinyl letters at craft & office supply stores.

I added the vinyl to a wood sign board from Michael's.

 To help prevent the paint from seeping under the vinyl, I painted over it with the sealer Gator Hide from The Dixie Belle Paint Company. This creates a barrier over the edge of the vinyl so you will get crisp, perfect letters when you peel up the vinyl.

 Once the Gator Hide was dry, I used a makeup sponge to pounce over the vinyl using the Dixie Belle paint color, Fluff. Using a makeup sponge also helps prevent the paint from bleeding under the vinyl.

 I used a brush to paint the rest of the board.

 Once I had painted two coats of Fluff, I pulled off the vinyl.

 I added Mod Podge to a corner section of the board...

 then I placed a napkin with pretty pumpkins over the wet ModPodge. The pumpkins are perfect for Fall, but you could use other napkins to keep the sign up year round. The layers of the napkin need to be separated or the paper won't stick properly.

 I tore off the extra napkin that came over the edge of the board and added more ModPodge on top of the napkin.

 I glued a mini clothespin to the opposite corner of the board.

 I added a family photo from my recent trip to Italy.

 The clothespin makes it easy to change out the photo.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Linking To:

Ginger Snap Crafts,  Rae Gun Ramblings, Chic On a Shoestring,  Simply Sweet Home, Have A Daily Cup Of Mrs Olson, The Cottage Market,  Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Showoff, Craft-O-Maniac, Keeping It Simple, I Should Be Mopping The Floor, The Dedicated House,  Sugar Bee Crafts, Flour Me With Love,  Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie,    Domestically Speaking,  The Answer Is Chocolate, Skip To My Lou, The Thrifty Home, Flutter Buster, Nap Time Creations, The Foley Fam,  Finding Silver Pennies, A Stroll Thru Life, French Country Cottage,  Knick Of Time, Lou Lou Girls, Our Hopeful Home, My Thrift Store Addiction, The Painted Hinge, Savvy Southern Style,  Yesterday On Tuesday, Confessions Of A Plate Addict, My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia, Dabbling And Decorating

Nuts About Fall

Candy Corn... it's a Fall staple.

Do you love it or hate it? There's usually no in between.

If you hate it, then you probably haven't eaten it with peanuts! The mixture tastes like a PayDay candy bar & is delicious. The perfect ratio (to me) is 2 or 3 peanuts to 1 piece of candy corn.

You may not love candy corn, but I don't know anyone who doesn't love Fall. So, I mixed up some candy corn & peanuts and made some cute gifts to celebrate the season.

My friend, Debbie, gave me a case of lemonade bottles that were perfect for this project. I soaked them to get the labels off, then sterilized them in the dishwasher. 

 I used my Cricut Maker to cut vinyl that says, "nuts about Fall" and added it to the bottles.

 Then I filled the bottles with candy corn & peanuts.

 And, added a raffia bow.

I also played around with some other fonts & vinyl colors...

If you haven't tried the candy corn & peanut combo, try it... you'll like it. You can thank me later!

Linking To:

Ginger Snap Crafts,  Rae Gun Ramblings, Chic On a Shoestring,  Simply Sweet Home, Have A Daily Cup Of Mrs Olson, The Cottage Market,  Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Showoff, Craft-O-Maniac, Keeping It Simple, I Should Be Mopping The Floor, The Dedicated House,  Sugar Bee Crafts, Flour Me With Love,  Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie,    Domestically Speaking,  The Answer Is Chocolate, Skip To My Lou, The Thrifty Home, Flutter Buster, Nap Time Creations, The Foley Fam,  Finding Silver Pennies, A Stroll Thru Life, French Country Cottage,  Knick Of Time, Lou Lou Girls, Our Hopeful Home, My Thrift Store Addiction, The Painted Hinge, Savvy Southern Style,  Yesterday On Tuesday, Confessions Of A Plate Addict, My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia, Dabbling And Decorating

Welcome To Our Patch

My friend, Cindy, went to a yard sale that another friend, Kris, was having and bought a few projects  things for me. It looked like these boards were the beginnings of a flag. The solid board was painted blue, & came with a star. Of course, I tend not to use things for their intended purpose, & with it being Fall, I saw a pumpkin.

 I just got the Cricut Maker & look for any opportunity to use it! So, I thought this was a perfect project to play around with.

I used the Cricut Design Space to find an already made pumpkin patch design and cut a vinyl stencil. I painted the blue board with the color Caviar from the Dixie Belle Paint Company, then added the stencil.

 I added a coat of Dixie Belle's saeler, Gator Hide, over the stencil. This will help prevent the paint from bleeding under the stencil.

 Once the Gator Hide was dry, I used the color, Sand Bar, over the stencil. I have found that the best tool for stenciling is a makeup sponge.

 I pulled up the stencil and the design came out perfect. No bleeding under the stencil thanks to the Gator Hide & makeup sponge!

 On the unfinished boards, I painted them with the colors Terra Cotta & Colonel Mustard, blending them as I painted. Then I added a little Van Dyke Brown Glaze.

 I made a stem by using Voodoo Gel Stain in the color, Tobacco Road, on the raw wood. I added a little of the Caviar paint to define the bottom of the stem.

 I had 3 of the boards, so I used the text feature on the Cricut Maker to make more stencils that say, "welcome to our patch."

I'm loving the Cricut Maker. I may never do hand lettering again!

Linking To:

Ginger Snap Crafts,  Rae Gun Ramblings, Chic On a Shoestring,  Simply Sweet Home, Have A Daily Cup Of Mrs Olson, The Cottage Market,  Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Showoff, Craft-O-Maniac, Keeping It Simple, I Should Be Mopping The Floor, The Dedicated House,  Sugar Bee Crafts, Flour Me With Love,  Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie,    Domestically Speaking,  The Answer Is Chocolate, Skip To My Lou, The Thrifty Home, Flutter Buster, Nap Time Creations, The Foley Fam,  Finding Silver Pennies, A Stroll Thru Life, French Country Cottage,  Knick Of Time, Lou Lou Girls, Our Hopeful Home, My Thrift Store Addiction, The Painted Hinge, Savvy Southern Style,  Yesterday On Tuesday, Confessions Of A Plate Addict, My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia, Dabbling And Decorating

Preserve Your Petals

Before Summer comes to an end and flowers fade, preserve your petals with this easy project.

Grab a few flowers from your garden & place the petals between two pieces of parchment paper. I used petals from knock out roses and hydrangeas. Cover the parchment paper with a towel and use a hot iron to flatten out the petals.

 Working in small sections, add a generous amount of ModPodge to a battery operated candle.

 Place petals on the candle then cover with another coat of ModPodge.

 You can cover the entire candle, but I chose to cover only half of the candle.

 And, of course, everything looks better in threes!

 They're pretty when lit, too!

What is your favorite Summer flower? Will you preserve it?

Linking To:

Ginger Snap Crafts,  Rae Gun Ramblings, Chic On a Shoestring,  Simply Sweet Home, Have A Daily Cup Of Mrs Olson, The Cottage Market,  Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Showoff, Craft-O-Maniac, Keeping It Simple, I Should Be Mopping The Floor, The Dedicated House,  Sugar Bee Crafts, Flour Me With Love,  Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie,    Domestically Speaking,  The Answer Is Chocolate, Skip To My Lou, The Thrifty Home, Flutter Buster, Nap Time Creations, The Foley Fam,  Finding Silver Pennies, A Stroll Thru Life, French Country Cottage,  Knick Of Time, Lou Lou Girls, Our Hopeful Home, My Thrift Store Addiction, The Painted Hinge, Savvy Southern Style,  Yesterday On Tuesday, Confessions Of A Plate Addict, My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia, Dabbling And Decorating

Hope For The Chest

This hope chest was minutes away from going on a burn pile!

A friend called to tell me that he had a few things I might be interested in, but the fire was lit and if I wanted anything I'd have to come right over. Luckily I was able to get there in time to rescue a few things. 

This hope chest was missing the skirt around the bottom that forms the legs. 

 It was also missing the knobs on the faux drawers.

I gave the chest a fresh coat of paint using Dixie Belle's color Caviar.

 Rather than put new knobs on, I used re*design with Prima molds & modeling material to create medallions to cover the holes.

 I painted the medallions with Dixie Belle's Moonshine Metallics using the color, Gold Digger. Then I glued them over the holes using E6000.

 I also painted some small legs that I found at Lowe's using the Gold Digger.

 What a shame it would have been if this chest had gone up in flames!

The lesson...

Call before you burn!

There are plenty of us out there that love to rescue & revive discarded furniture.

Linking To:

Ginger Snap Crafts,  Rae Gun Ramblings, Chic On a Shoestring,  Simply Sweet Home, Have A Daily Cup Of Mrs Olson, The Cottage Market,  Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Showoff, Craft-O-Maniac, Keeping It Simple, I Should Be Mopping The Floor, The Dedicated House,  Sugar Bee Crafts, Flour Me With Love,  Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie,    Domestically Speaking,  The Answer Is Chocolate, Skip To My Lou, The Thrifty Home, Flutter Buster, Nap Time Creations, The Foley Fam,  Finding Silver Pennies, A Stroll Thru Life, French Country Cottage,  Knick Of Time, Lou Lou Girls, Our Hopeful Home, My Thrift Store Addiction, The Painted Hinge, Savvy Southern Style,  Yesterday On Tuesday, Confessions Of A Plate Addict, My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia, Dabbling And Decorating