Fall Book Page Banner

I recently saw this darling banner made from book pages on Heather Bullard's site. She has a beautiful blog filled with tons of eye candy. I love decorating or doing projects with book pages, so I really wanted to make a banner for my mantle. It was quick, easy, and my daughter was able to join in the fun too!

Supplies needed: old book pages, pencil, scissors, watercolors & brush, letters, twine, glue, and leaf cookie cutter.

First, I used old book pages and drew a large leaf free hand. Then cut them out. For the smaller leaf I used a leaf cookie cutter I had in my stash and used it for tracing. After cutting out all my leaves, I laid them down on some paper ready to be painting.

With my daughter's help, we painted the leaves different fall shades and let them dry.

After drying for a bit, we stacked one leaf on top of another in pretty color combinations. I just glued the top of the smaller leaf down so the banner had some movement. Earlier, I had chosen the word blessed and searched through my collection of ABCs for the letters I needed. (I seriously hoard letters...lol. Maybe it's the elementary teacher in me. I don't know. The scrapbook aisle at Michaels with all the letters...hold me back. Thank goodness they are not too pricey!)

The letters were glued to the top leaf, then turned upside down so I could hot glue the twine along the top of each leaf. Just a bit of advice...make sure the word is going the right direction when you turn it around. Yep. I did it. I glued the whole thing down, turned it around...smiles & happiness. Until I saw that I had glued the entire word backwards. My little assistant thought that was the funniest thing ever. :)

But, in the end...here is how it turned out. Super cute! It dresses up the mirror on my mantle just enough and reminds us of all the many blessings we have this season. 

I am joining the craftiness with Jaime over at Crafty, Scrappy, Happy. 

I love handmade things, don't you? :)

Inspired Home - 10/19

I love all things creative. 

Of course I love art...but, I love crafting, decorating, revamping, up-cycling, jewelery making, party throwing, holiday creating...you get the picture - I love it all. So, since I am a craftaholic and it is fall...I thought I would share a quick, easy project I just finished. Plus, my bloggy friend Jaime over at  

Crafty, Scrappy, Happy has a wonderful blog & link up party full of fun, creative ideas. I know she would love to have you pop over. Between all my favorite art blogs, crafty/home blogs, and Pinterest, my project list continues to grow...
ridiculously large. :)

Here is my cutie little pumpkin. It used to be bright orange and pretty banged up. All it needed was some TLC. I adore white pumpkins and twine, so I thought I'd change up the pumpkin to match more of the decor in my house. I love them so much - I made two. The only thing I would add next time, is maybe some book pages. Gotta love vintage book pages, right?? :)

All you need is a pumpkin, spray paint, hot glue (watch your fingers), twine, scissors, and a pencil.

Everybody needs a smiley face pencil.

First, I hid a multitude of imperfections with a couple coats of white spray paint. I seriously love spray paint. It is so quick & easy. I tend to use Rustoleum's Painter's Touch, but any paint will work. 

After it had time to dry, I hot glued the stem with twine and wrote the word I wanted on the front with my pencil. Be sure to write lightly & be careful. I found out the hard way that erasing does not work very well...

hello, more spray paint!

Then, I traced over my written word with my hot glue and carefully followed with my twine. My goodness - my poor little fingers. I don't know how many times I have burned them in my crafty career. I usually keep a pair of tweezers with me to help guide what I am gluing or move things around.

Finally, I just let the glue dry and pulled away all those annoying glue strings. (If you are a hot glue groupie, you know exactly what I am talking about!) Now the "glammed" up pumpkin is ready for the mantle or another

little nook. :)

Next week I will share a fabulous book paper banner inspired by 

Heather Bullard.

XO,

White Canvas Art

I have seen these white canvases around lately and have been wanting to give one a try. I love all things crafty and I thought something for my master bedroom wall would be perfect. I am in the process of redecorating my bedroom. I am super excited about it!! It took awhile to convince my hubby that light colors would be fabulous. He was against all white bedding - with two young kids, I guess I understand. I think he pictured dirty little hand prints everywhere. In the end we are going with mainly gray, some white, and pops of turquoise/aquas. LOVE!
 

So, this cute little canvas is the perfect addition to our wall. The great thing is that you can personalize it any way you wish. It was super easy & didn't take much time either.

I used a 12 x 12 canvas, wooden letters, a wooden heart,  puffy sticker ABCs, glue, Mod Podge, and white paint.

First, I laid out the letters the way I wanted it to look. After a couple tries, I found something I liked. I had to overlook all the crazy colors of the letters and picture it white. The pink was throwing me off!

Once I was happy, I glued everything down. I used Mod Podge for the smaller letters on the top. I thought I would use my E6000 to really secure the heavier letters, but sometimes there is nothing better than this bad boy. :)

Good ol' Elmer's glue :)

Finally, I let the glue dry and painted! I used Rustoleum's semi-gloss white spray paint. I wanted something quick and easy. I used a couple light coats.  Now it is finished and I really like it. Hopefully, my hubby will too. The saying on the top is special to us, so I am hoping it tugs at his heart a bit. It will be a sweet reminder each night before we go to bed. 

:)

I am linking up to some fabulous places like Paint Party Friday (although I am not sure if this is "painting"...I did spray paint.), Sneak Peek Friday, and
Crafty, Scrappy, Happy. Oh, and Jaime at Crafty, Scrappy, Happy is having a giveaway too from The Fresh Picked Whimsy... super cute prints. I mean - adorable! I hope you have a chance to come visit. :)

Are you working on any fun projects lately??

Have a wonderful, creative weekend!