3 Quick & Easy Decor Projects

I decided to put these three projects in one post, because I am rarin' to move on to my Christmas blogging. Can you say gifts and decor and great ideas?

Project 1-Here are the spooky Halloween branches from our front deck. By the end of a wild and windy week they were looking shabby and tired. But no problem!

Dollar Store clearance sale, two packs of fake leaves for a dollar. Score!
I took the cobwebs and bat garland off the branches and straightened them up in the urn with florist foam and duct tape. The urn, by the way, was a clearance item at Kmart for $1.66!! I added the leaves with hot glue and.......

...voila! Now it is a colorful vertical accent in the corner of the living room. I like it alot. And when I switch to Christmas decor, a blast of my heat gun will loosen those leaves so I can add snowflakes, etc. A bit of fabric draped at the base hides the foam and duct tape.

Project 2-This project uses a Dollar Store vine wreath and satiny fabric in fall colors. I made oversize rosette flowers, two and a half to three inches across.

I wanted them bigger so I could use less of them. I love the shiny sheen of the fabric against the two cream muslin rosettes.

Hot glue is my friend. Way way back in the sixties I would have wired all this stuff in place.Thrift store leaf bunches are the perfect touch, but not too many so the twiggy wreath can show through.

Project 3-Here's a quick way to dress up and display your pumpkins, real and fake. Taking more of those Dollar Store leaves, hot glue them around the rim of a candlestick, of glass, metal or wood.

Or, glue the fake leaves around the bottom of your pumpkin. This gives it a nice ruff of color.

Perch your pumpkins on the candlesticks for a colorful display. Here they are on my baker's rack, all switched over from my black and white Halloween. I added gold berry picks and propped it on the top shelf, along with a bunch of leaves in a spray painted bottle and my silver button blingy decor ball.

I'll be switching this all over to Christmas decor right after Thanksgiving. I'm wondering if I can pull off a black, white and silver Christmas theme on this rack. I guess we'll all find out!

I'll be linking up to the fun parties in my sidebar. Come check them out and join the fun!

Book Page Leaf Garlands

Here is an easy project that turns out great, and you can probably do it with stuff you have on hand. I use old book pages for alot of things but this is one of my favorites. I add leaf cutouts from old books to Dollar Store garlands and really kick up their style factor.

Using a leaf pattern traced from a real life, a fake leaf or online, simply trace the shape onto a printed page of an old book. With good, sharp scissors you can cut through about six pages at a time. Here you see one size leaf we cut to add to the garland.

And here's a smaller size. Please excuse the painty, gluey crafting hands! Use a glue stick on one leaf, add a length of florist or craft wire, then put another leaf on top. You can make as many as you like, it's easy peasy and they look so cool. I believe Pottery Barn had some similar leaves a few years back for a very pretty price.

Just use the wire to twist the leaves into the garland. Here is one garland we made last year. I love the way the book page leaves "cool down" the vibrant colors of the garland. You can add as many as you wish and the wires let you "fluff" them any way you want for a fuller look.

Here they are with another more muted garland. This was for the long stair banister in my daughter's country style house. I love the way they look!

Here is a garland of oak leaves hung on a muslin curtain. Such a complement to the colorful leaves and the creamy colored muslin.

And here is one, paired with my primitive star garland, that I've looped around my entry way mirror. I really like the way the book page leaves look with all the vibrant hues!

And here's a shot of a garland used in a Thanksgiving tablescape. Add a few book paged balls and some glass ware and you have a stylish and colorful centerpiece.

Try it, you'll like it! If you make something using book page leaves, please let me know. Link back! Attach a pic! I'd love to see them.

Recyled Halloween Wreath

Even as Halloween ended and the decorations came down, I knew I wanted a bit of color for the Thanksgiving season. I dove into my stash of autumn colored silks and took another look at the wreath I spray painted black for Halloween. I came up with this.....

I love how it looks on my blue door! The colors against the black really pop.

Here's how it looked for Halloween, properly dark and spooky and fun. Perfect for the season.

I took some real miniature pumpkins and put them on skewers, then hot glued them in place amongst the black roses. A few silk flowers and fall leaves later and voila, the finished wreath! I love the off center design with the "breathing room" on the rest of the unadorned wreath.

Not only do I love how it looks, it cost me nothing but a $1 for the 3 pumpkins and a few minutes' time. After Thanksgiving I'll switch it over to Christmas, still using the black wreath as a base. I've got some colorful ideas for THAT design and I'll post the finished wreath here.

And now I'm thinking....what could I do for Valentine's Day with that black wreath as a starting point? Easter? Mother's Day? Just what I love, a creative challenge. Check back to see this black wreath in all of it's disguises.

I'll be linking up to the parties on my sidebar. Come visit and be amazed at the creativity out there in blogland.

Pretty Lace Pumpkins

Since we've moved I have not yet found all my holiday stuff, and I've been itching to get some things changed up. What to do? Why, make some decor with what I can find, of course.

So I shopped my stash and found scraps of black lace yardage, and fabric in white and rusty orange and some crochet thread.....and ta da! Lacy pumpkins to get me kick started.



Cut your lace and backing fabric the same size. Make the length twice as much as the width. This gives you pleasing pumpkin proportions.



Sew both pieces together on the long edge with your longest stitch. Or you can do this by hand with needle and thread. Pull your thread up tight and gather it and tie it off. I put a dab of hot glue on the thread ends to keep them taut. Then sew your short side seam.

Turn it inside out.

Stuff your pumpkin full with fiberfill or whatever you have at hand. I've even used plastic shopping bags in a pinch. Lord knows we have plenty of them!

After stuffing, pull thread on the top edge tightly to gather and tie your threads, then secure with a little bit of hot glue.


Thread a sturdy, long needle with black crochet thread or string. Tie a knot in one end and run it through your pumpkin, straight through the middle. Draw it tight. The tighter it is, the fatter your pumpkin will look. Do this about six times.

Look! Plump pumpkiny goodness!

Glue a stick and some fake leaves at the top for a bit of color. So cute! By this point you will be smiling and quite pleased with yourself. Or is that just me?



And here is the combination of black lace over orange fabric. Gorgeous! I'm thinking now I need to make some black ones with white lace, just to complete the lacy look. And the best part? These didn't cost me a dime since I made them with scraps from my stash. Win win!

Ooh aah. I love the look of the black lace over the solid colors. At the top left is a plain white pumpkin with no lace. I like the pure simplicity of it. Now to the fun part, putting this all together for a colorful display.

I'll be linking up to the fun parties in my sidebar plus The Fall Festival below.  Stop by and take a look, there are always tons of creative ideas out there.