Fall Porch

 I have a confession to make. I've never carved pumpkins with my sons. I know. But, before you judge and think my boy's are being deprived, let me explain. They do carve pumpkins every year,  just not  with me.  My husband has always been the one to do it and I've never complained. I am content with being the photographer of the event. I enjoy watching them carve, I just have no interest in carving. Never have. Never will. I know lots of people that LOVE carving and are great at it, but I'm not one of those people. Something about taking all that time carving all the little details and then it only lasts a day or two. Just not my thing.
  However, painting pumpkins ...now that is what I'm talking about! No carving needed and they will last through Thanksgiving.

Makes me happy!

I probably spent a total of an hour painting these 4 pumpkins and it was pretty simple.

For the black and white striped pumpkin I taped it off with frog tape and then sprayed painted it black and then removed the tape.

For the deer head silhouette I printed the silhouette (downloaded from the internet) on card stock and cut it out. 

I then traced the silhouette with a pen onto the pumpkin. I purposely found a pumpkin that was a little flat on one side, which made it easier to trace onto.

Once traced I then painted it using a Rustoleum paint pen

For the "hello" pumpkin I painted it with chalkboard paint and then used my white chalkboard pen to write on it. The yellow pumpkin I taped off with frog tape on a diagonal and used yellow spray paint that I already had.

Also, why I was already sprucing up our front porch I spray painted an "H" on our door mat. Years ago it did say "welcome", but faded over the years. I printed off an "H" from the internet onto card stock and cut it out, and then used it as a stencil.

I then taped it to the mat and then sprayed over it with black spray paint.

                                                        

So tell me...are you a pumpkin carver or painter?

xoxo,

My BFF's

I love Ikea for a lot of obvious reasons, but one of them is for the fact that you can buy something from them and easily put your own twist on it.  Earlier in the week I showed you my office, which has pretty much been done for well over a year and a half. However, I didn't put the "finishing touches" on it until last week. By "finishing touches" I mean organizing and styling it.  I've had the expedit shelving unit in my office for a long time, but it didn't always look as pretty and organized as it does now. Partly because I have project ADD and usually start another project before I finish the one I'm currently working on and partly because I couldn't bring myself to spend the money on the baskets I originally wanted for storage.

 So, in wanting to finally finish my office I decided I would use the Kassett Box from Ikea which would cost me $20 for four, rather then $70 for the baskets.

It's no secret that spray paint and I are BFFs, but I have found two new friends that I can easily become BFF's with too. Want to meet them? Let me introduce you to my new friends  Rub N Buff and contact paper. I have used a lot of both of these products lately and am loving the endless possibilities. 

Since I have gold accents in my office I wanted to add gold to the boxes to glam them up a little. I added Rub N Buff to to name plates on the boxes. Rub N Buff is a metallic wax paste that can easily be rubbed on with your finger or paint brush.  Since the name plates were not attached to the boxes yet, I found it easiest to just rub it on with my finger.

I then added a 1 1/2 inch strip of gold contact paper to the top and bottom of the boxes. Since this contact paper was a little pricey, I just added it to the front of the boxes.

I also used the Rub N Buff on the Kassett Magazine Files

The top pieces were not yet attached, which made it easy to Rub N Buff.

The label holder was already attached to the file, so I found it easiest to use a paint brush when putting the Rub N Buff on.

The paper tray  is also from Ikea and for this one I used my true BFF, spray paint! I used this Gold spray paint.

Enjoy your weekend!

xoxo,

                                                        

PINTEREST: Pinned it for real!

Sometimes I "Pin" things on Pinterest knowing darn well that I may never tackle the project. Other days I "Pin" something and think to myself why didn't I think of that and want to get started on it right away. 

Today's project was like that and I hope it will inspire you to make something you've pinned on Pinterest!

One of my little men, who will remain anonymous is a hoarder junk collector. I'm not sure where he gets it from?? I try to keep the above quote in mind, but I have to admit, sometimes I have a hard time seeing the beauty in his random collections. Over time I have learned to respect his collecting habits. He finds beauty in everything and I love that about him. I just don't have the space to keep it all...you know with my hoarding thrifting habits and all.  So, we've pinky promised each other (no joke) that as long as he puts his stuff where it belongs and doesn't HIDE his treasure/collection (that's a story for another day), then he gets to keep it.  I've given him jars/containers and designated spots to keep his things. It's been working for both of us so far. He's happy and Momma's happy! 

When I saw this on Pinterest..I knew the perfect little guy to make these for!

                                                                   

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Here's what you'll need: 

Remove all labels and wash the jars. You can also use mason jars, but luckily for me my kids LOVE pickles and had no problem finishing off the jar per my request. 

We already had the plastic animals, but Michael's carries them if you don't have any. 

Add some glue to the bottom of the animals feet and press down for a couple minutes. Don't add too much glue because it does spread and thicken fast. 

We let the glue dry overnight before spray painting them. 

Here's how they turned out:

This was an easy and inexpensive way to display a collection. Even if you don't have kids, these are great to store rocks, shells or other meaningful things.

 Here are some others that caught my eye on Pinterest:

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Hope this inspires you to take a moment and "Pin It" for real!

Have a great day!

xoxo