Ahhhh!

 This was happening at my house and the temperature must have gone down 20 degrees in here! Lol

I happened to be looking back at last year's autumn decor and I realized that after coffee staining one of my velvet pumpkins that I made so many years ago, I decided that before I decorated this year, I wanted to go back and stain them all. When I made them, the only velvet I could find locally was a very bright one and I like my tones a bit more subdued these days. And so, I mixed up some of the very inexpensive instant coffee that I buy only for crafting and started painting it on. The change is subtle but it definitely knocks down the brightness.

They do get pretty wet as the velvet soaks in lots of the coffee so I ended up letting them dry overnight in the sunroom windows and now I have this bundle of beauty. Oh...if only the rest of the house was dressed in those colors right now!

And, of course, that got my mind going. I'm really not sure I want to use peat pots again on the living room shelf but, until I get everything out-which won't be until the end of August-to see what I have or what the stores will be putting out this year I decided to go ahead and make some up so I will be covered "just in case".

Since I already have all of the supplies I need, I came up with a few different ways to fill the pots but in the end I went with using a pumpkin image as the filler. I might change this up by putting in a small faux pumpkin if I can find any that look realistic and then decoupaging an image on the front of the pot...we shall see. I think HL has their autumn out already so there will be a trip there soon to see what's happening in the craft world for this season.

I used Waverly "pumpkin" chalk paint on the peat pots. I was prepared to tone them down a bit with either the "plaster" or a dry brush of the antique wax if necessary but I liked the color the pumpkin dried on the pots so no extra steps were needed. I did hit the top and bottom edges with some walnut distressing ink when they were dry...and then just a few random swipes on the body of the pot as well.

While the distressing ink was out I hit the edges of the images and then hot glued on a piece of a dowel so I could insert it into the floral foam that I filled the pots with-as well as some shredded paper.

I wasn't sure what I would do next but I felt like it definitely needed something so I found a bag of  small autumn leaves that I have had forever. I just used a big "glob" of Tacky glue on the back of each leaf before dropping them on to the top of the shreds. I really just thought this might be a temporary fix until I came up with something better but, I surprised myself by how much I like the way it looks. We'll see if anything comes down the pike that I like better. Lol

So now I am off to clean up a few things before calling it a day. Daughter #1 comes tomorrow to stay through the holiday and, honestly, I really have no idea what the 4th will bring. Our weather predictions aren't great but, since the two remaining "kids" will probably be off with friends at the lake or beach for the day, we adults won't be worrying about fireworks or the like. I'm guessing we will do a bar-b-que at daughter #3's house but since they all literally JUST got home from two weeks in Europe, they're all still totally jet lagged and not ready to think about plans a few days away. We have plenty of time to make a grocery store run if we need to and whatever we do, I know we will enjoy just being together.

I want to post one of the pictures I saw of grandson #1 as he is back at the Coast Guard Academy this week and now that he is a junior, he is a cadre over the latest class of swabs. The cadre is kind of like a drill sergeant and their job to to pretty much stay on top of all of the newbies for the next few weeks. I remember when Harrison was a swab. It is a difficult time because they can have no communication with home but, there is a photographer with them at all times taking and posting lots and lots of pictures and families play "where's my Waldo" all day long making sure they can see their loved one's face. Of course, this also works for us now because the cadres are in a lot of the pictures so I am constantly perusing the site. Of course now Har can communicate and we know he's fine but I still love seeing his sweet face. Lol

I got a message last night right before the first pictures of this summer hit. It was from my grandson preparing me that I would be seeing him yelling at the swabs but making sure I understood that that was his job and he was bein evaluated on his leadership skills as well. I'm sure none of this comes easily to him because he is just such an empathetic kid but I know he will find a way to make all of the swabs feel welcome and know that what they are going through will only serve to make them stronger!

In this picture, he is just getting them started on their marching skills and his voice was so strong and assertive that I had to laugh-left, left, left right left. If they only knew what a softie he is! Lol Stay safe and stay tuned.