PILLOWS FOR AUCTION

The school where I used to teach has an auction every year as a fundraiser.  There are some really great things auctioned off - trips, sports memorabilia, tickets to sporting events, art, kids' projects, and some home made items.   Today I'm just showing a couple of pillows that I'll be donating to the auction which is this coming weekend.  One is a pillow I showed a while back, and the other is loosely based on a pillow I saw in a shop in McKinney, Texas this past weekend.  

 First, the shop pillow shown above, which was selling for $85.00.  The pillow was made out of white felted wool, and the flowers out of pastel aqua and white felted wool.  

 My pillow is made of burlap (of course) with white felted wool for the flowers.

 I love the contrast in textures.

This pillow was done with Transfer Artist Paper on burlap.

Coming soon . . . pictures from our trip to Austin, Texas for the Livestrong Foundation's Ride for the Roses.  Also, some great pictures from my latest trip to My Favorite Room, in McKinney, Texas.

SPOOKY JARS

There's a full moon tonight . . . 

which makes it a perfect night to do some Halloween projects.  

A wonderful group of friends came over tonight.  Normally this group of women arrive with a book in tow, ready to discuss our latest choice for book club.  But tonight they came armed with printed pictures from the Graphics Fairy, excited to make their own version of the dishes found in the latest issue of Country Living.  Some of those photos from Country Living are shown below.  I also blogged about these unusual dishes in late September, here. 

       

So, here's a look at what the girls came up with for their own little Halloween displays.  Their jars, bottles, and vases came from Goodwill, rummage sales, and one even came from the liquor cabinet!  I think they turned out great!

Below is the jar I decorated with a tarantula from the Graphics Fairy. 

 It now sits on my mantel with some other creepy fare, all ready for Halloween.  Well, almost ready.  I still need a few finishing touches, like spiders coming out of the top of the jar.  Fake spiders, that is!  On October 23rd, this jar, and all the other spooky items on my mantel, will be featured as a guest blog post at:

Pocket Full of Pink Blog

She is posting Fall and Halloween ideas all month long.  You should go and visit!

http://www.karismaheartsavannah.blogspot.com/

BIRTHDAY DINNER AND MORE BURLAP

Tomorrow night we're celebrating my husband's birthday with a dinner party.  Here's a look at some of the new things I tried while getting ready.
First of all, I made place cards using this idea from Martha Stewart's website.  Complete instructions for making place cards to her size are on her site.  Here's her version!

For the centerpiece, I was inspired by something we saw on our trip to Monches Farm.  They had a cloche with some beautiful French ephemera adhered to it.  The cloche from Monches Farm is shown below.

So I got out my own cloche and figured out how to do something similar to go with our fall dinner party using Inkjet Static-Cling Window Decals.   The only place around here that carries this product is Office Depot, so if you're interested in trying it out, that may save you some time.  You can also buy it on Amazon.

So here's the sheet I printed out for my cloche along with a few extra "bats" for something else.  I used graphics from the Graphics Fairy - some are for this project and some for another.  You want to fill up the paper to use every bit.  The "graphing paper-like" backing peels off as you can see below.

However, be ready to enlist utmost patience for this part.  It took forever to get the two sides apart!  There must be an easier way and I just don't know what it is!

Then, carefully lay the cut out graphic on your vase, cloche, or window - whatever.  You could also put it on the inside of the cloche.  It sticks really well and it's removable too!

Isn't that an unusual effect?  Just think of all the different graphics and words you could use for all the holidays!

See the tablecloth?  It's nothing other than . . . BURLAP!  I'm getting to the bottom of my pile.  It does make a really nice tablecloth for fall.  I love the contrast of rustic burlap and the fine crystal glasses and silver.

And there he is - the "guest" of honor!

Our Menu?

Chicken Marsala with Cremini Mushrooms
Steamed Broccoli and Toasted Almonds
Garlic Angel Hair Pasta
Crisp Romaine Salad
and
Italian Bread

A great dinner for a great man!

Happy Birthday, Bobby!

Sharing at:
Funky Junk Interiors - Saturday Nite Special

THE LETTERED PUMPKIN

Yesterday, I showed this pumpkin from our front porch.  I have painted it this color - it was originally orange.  I just used white acrylic paint and let it dry.  Then I wiped it down with Old English Scratch Cover - but any stain would do. 

I also mentioned that it looked a little plain, so today I got out the paints again and made some changes.

 I decided to paint the date of this fun holiday - but the possibilities are endless.  I also think it would look great with a crow, or a bat, or a face . . .  I printed out these numbers from the Graphics Fairy at about 350% so they'd be large enough to fill the front of the pumpkin, and taped them together.  What would bloggers do without that website?

Using just ordinary carbon paper, I taped it on the pumpkin.  Be prepared to make some paint repairs after pulling off the tape because the white paint comes right off with it!

You can see the orange spots at the top of the pumpkin.  I fixed those later - but first, I traced the numbers onto the pumpkin.  Then I went over the tracing marks with a black magic marker to make the painting part easier.

 Then, just fill it in with black acrylic paint. 

 Here is where I did some touch-ups in the areas where the paint came off with the tape, or little blips happened with the black paint.

Once the touch-ups are dry, rub the pumpkin all over again with Old English Scratch Cover or a dark stain.  Then a good coat of clear satin polyurethane is a good idea for protection against the elements.

Now it's sitting back outside as an ominous reminder of the spooky day ahead!

And here is a little peek at something else I'm working on for Halloween.  With a group of friends coming over next week to put together some "Insect Dishes", things need to be a little creepy around here . . . this should help.

LAST GARDEN PHOTOS BEFORE THE SNOW FLIES

Indian Summer is happening in our corner of the world.  It's beautiful!  Crisp mornings, sunny and clear afternoons, and crisp nights.  We've had some light frosts so quite a few of the flowers have been nipped.  I had lunch with a fellow retired teacher friend today and thanks to her prompting (Thank you Marji!) I thought I'd take one more trip out to the garden to take some photos of what survived before I start to pull them up and put the garden to bed for the long, snowy, blustery winter ahead.   The weatherman just predicted a very snowy winter, so this year, every day will be a "snow day"!

 I made these guys a long time ago and they are one of my favorite door decorations.  They're just made of plywood, painted with acrylic paints, then sprayed with clear polyurethane for protection.  i tried to replicate the old Halloween cats found on vintage postcards.

They have wire whiskers that are pulled through some small holes drilled by the nose.

  I love white pumpkins but they're so much more expensive than the orange ones.  I got around that by painting an orange one and rubbing a little Old English Scratch Cover all over it to warm the color up a bit.  Who knows - that may just help preserve it a little longer too!  I think I need to put a little something on the front of the pumpkin, though.  Maybe paint something?  I do love the shadow on the right side!  Look carefully . . . do you see the witch with her hat blowing away?  I planned that!
(Just kidding!)

 The birds have left the nest inside . . . they probably thought it was haunted.  It sure LOOKS haunted! I guess that works for October but a fresh coat of paint is in order.

 This is one of my favorites because of its heart shaped leaves - Brunnera Macrophylia.  It blooms with brilliant blue baby's breath-like flowers in the early spring, and then develops much larger leaves as the summer moves on.  It needs no care whatsoever and always looks beautiful.  You can also get this plant with variegated leaves.

One of the last roses of summer . . . 

Those zinnias are so hardy - they're some of that last ones to give up!

 This pink hydrangea tripled in size this summer!

This is a good old-fashioned Cleome - it game to the garden all on its own - a volunteer from last year's crop.

 And last of all, especially at this time of year, we can't forget to look up at the trees!  This is one of the trees in our front yard - so gorgeous and majestic!

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Thrifty Decor Chick's 

FALL OUTDOOR SPACES PARTY