Taking the Easy Way Out!

In my last post I stated that when I made my Halloween tags, I was going to cut it down to two tags to see if they wouldn't hang better. But when I started to plan the designs, I wasn't getting excited about any of the normal Halloween images...for example, bats, witches, brooms, BOO, etc. And, since I am always drawn to letters and numbers, I decided to just go with the path of least resistance - the number 31 and Oct. And, since that would all fit on one tag, I kind of took care of the hanging problem at the same time. I got the inspiration for this tag from chalkcreekboutique.square.site.

Again, I headed to my Cricut machine and cut the numbers. I wanted them to be a bit more gothic than any I would draw myself. I painted the tag with black chalk painted and this time I simply traced the numbers on the tag and free handed the letters.

I had to use the tiniest brush to get those curves so the paint didn't flow quite as I would have liked but, I just went with it.

My plan had been to use my orange and white paint pens for the letters and the web but, when I opened the orange pen I found that it had not been capped tightly enough and it was dry. The white worked just fine and made those thin lines so simple...the orange, not so much. I had to use the thinnest brush ever and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get those lines both thin and straight. Each time I would try to go back, a few bristles would pop out and it would need even more tending to. I finally cried "uncle" and left it where it is! Don't look too closely! Lol

I tied it with a piece of black cording and some Halloween butcher's twine.

And, since my house is not yet decorated for Halloween, I don't know exactly where it will end up so this is the best I could do for now for a photo op.

My plan had been to make some tags for every holiday...and I might still do that...but for now, I'm going to wait and see how this gets used in a few weeks when all of the house is ready for the holiday and I know if it is something I want to do with the kids for them to give as gifts. If not, I'll make plans to whip out some for Thanksgiving and Christmas...we shall see. Until then, stay safe and stay tuned.

Another Fun and Fast Week

This past week was another one of those weeks that I don't think I'm going to enjoy...but then I do. You all know that I like big projects so, when a week opens where I don't really have anything on the calendar, I'm a bit unsettled. But, with the virus and all of its restrictions, I'm actually learning to embrace the absence of plans and "just go with it".

That is how this last week went. I did what I wanted and, somehow, one thing always leads to another for me and, before I knew it, the week was gone. Even though our temperatures are still really high and we have rain off and on every day, I managed to get lots of yard work accomplished, I am always surprised at this time of year how much things have grown and gotten out of hand. This is usually when I start out trimming and end up taking things almost down to the ground! All of the branches get so thick and the new growth is not pretty so I just decide it is time to give them all a new start!

And then, as if in the blink of an eye, all of the gardens that were just weed free are now covered with weeds. So, I did a lot of that as well. I still have more to go but at least I put a dent in it.

This was also the week of things breaking down. Some of them I could goggle and fix...others, I wasn't so lucky with and will probably be spending some money as it gets closer to Black Friday sales.

And, of course, I always try to find a craft...and lately the new ideas have been few and far between. I had seen an idea on Pinterest and so, I gave it a try...it came from The Unpolished Barn.

I also think this might be something I could do with the kids, so while I was buying the wood, I bought a bunch. Then I got out my trusty chop saw and cut some tag shapes. I also drilled a pretty big hole in each because I really wasn't sure at this point what I was going to use to hang them.

I decided to start by making a set of three autumn themed tags. I knew I wanted the word "FALL" on one of them so I cut the letters from cardstock, lightly sprayed them with adhesive and put them on the wood.

Then, I painted the tag with white chalk paint and peeled off the letters.

I painted in the letters with a brown paint and then found some old felt leaves that I had from a long time ago. They were the perfect size to trace onto the others tags. Then, it was a simple matter of painting the leaves, adding a bit of detail and "grunging" up the tags with a brown wax stain.

I ended up using jute and then some colored butcher's twine I found that just so happened to be in the exact same three colors as the paint on the tags.

Of course, once I got to this point, I finally realized the problem with these tags. Everywhere I had seen them, they had been photographed laying down...not hanging off of something as I had envisioned. Once you try to hang them, they all slip in behind each other. I tried altering the length of the cords, but that didn't work so I set out to find the place they could best be displayed now that I had them made...and the wood to make many more as well! Lol 

This is what I came up with. Not the best solution but the best at the moment.

My next set was going to be for Halloween so, I am thinking I will only do two tags and see if I can maybe get those to hang more the way I had wanted. We shall see and I will let you know.

My weeks won't be quite as empty from here on out as football has returned. My youngest grand son (and his head coach dad) had their first game this past weekend - albeit between raindrops and wind gusts - and my oldest grand son's H.S. team starts this week...barring any more outbreaks of the virus now that school has started again.

Life is definitely different these days but, some routine has started to return and we are all getting used to our new normal. I was surprised on Grandparent's Day with a delivery of dinner, flowers and a lovely bottle of wine as well as many messages from my grand children, so the weekend definitely ended on a high. We'll see what this week brings...by the looks of the sky, at least the weather will bring no new surprises...rain with a chance of rain. Lol And, I'm guessing, followed by weeds and more weeds. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Finishing Up

I just realized that I never showed you the guest bath dressed up for autumn. It's really not enough to do a whole blog about but, since I like to have these things documented for me for next year, I thought I'd go ahead and throw it in. On to the guest bath...

And, just for the heck of it, I'll throw in a quick picture of the master bath. I don't over-decorate in there because that room needs to be less cluttered and functional but, I always have to have a bit of a nod to the season or holiday to make me happy.

Well, that was short and sweet. I hope everyone had a nice Labor Day weekend. I got a lot of yard work done and also got to dog sit my grand dog Parker. He is a huge black labradoodle who belongs to daughter #3 and her family. They were heading off for another day of boating and taking their golden doodle, Hazel, along. Hazel absolutely loves the water...Parker, not so much. But, they felt bad leaving Parker home alone as they all drove off so he came to spend the day with me. He is pretty low maintenance and we had a fun visit. Of course, as the day wore on we had our routine afternoon thunder storm and I had a very large dog practically all the way up on my lap with the first clap of thunder...he is definitely not a fan of storms! Lol

So far it's looking like a pretty quiet week. Hopefully that means that I will have time to do the rest of the end-of-summer yard work and start  a new craft project or two. We shall see where the road leads. Stay safe and stay tuned.

It's All in the Family

My family room is one of my favorite rooms in the house. I love every afternoon when I finally make my way in there. As the sunlight starts to fade, the candles all start to come on and I always make sure there are a few real seasonal candles lit so the fragrance of the season is there as well. And then there is always some kind of glimmer coming from lights strung across the mantle. It is peaceful and calm and definitely my happy place...all times of the year but perhaps none more than autumn!

And so, let's take a look. This is how the room looked when I first took these pictures a few weeks ago. Some things have changed since then. I didn't re-do some of the whole room pictures but I did update the details and I will show you the difference as we move along.

I am so drawn to this little vignette. I think if I didn't have one other bit of autumn decor, I could be happy with just this. There is something about the rustiness of the lantern and the simplicity of that little white jug with just a bit of autumn finery...I don't know but I can just see it sitting on a round table in a little cottage in the mountains somewhere...ahhhh.

And once again the book stack and bead garland ended up here. This is getting too predictable...might have to mix it up a bit for Halloween. On the other hand, I AM trying to have more vignettes that can stay as is with just a quick seasonal/color change...so, we'll see.

This is how the mantel started out...

...and here it is after I added a bunch of the burlap leaves. I definitely like it better now.

This is how the book pumpkin started out...

...and here it is with its burlap leaves.

And here is the view from my favorite spot as night begins to enter. I took these with my phone, so they're not great but I think you can see why I love this room so much.

So that's it for this year's family room. I ventured out yesterday looking for a few things. Bought some wood at Lowes and some Halloween goodies at the Dollar Tree so I have my next few projects lined up. I'm saving the Halloween one to do with the kids but am chomping at the bit to get out there and rev up the old chop saw. The only reason I'm not is because it will probably be a few day project and my girl friend is coming over for the day tomorrow. Once I get going, I don't like to stop so I am saving this for a few free days. I'm thinking if I enjoy it, it could become one of my favorite "make one for each season/holiday" kind of projects...and I love those! I'll do the first one and see how I feel...and you'll be the first to know.

Stay safe and stay tuned.