Friday Flashback: Candy Corn Edition

I love decorating with stuff that can be used for multiple seasons and holidays. I love that instead of sitting in the attic for 11 months out of the year, that I can change some of my decor up and use it year round. So when I started working on new decorations for Halloween/fall I knew I could figure out a way to makes something that would work for Christmas, Valentine's Day, and maybe even Easter.

I started with some clear glass bottles that I have been saving for three years. I knew at some point I would find a good use for them:)

 I used my Cricut and cut out some vinyl letters.

 I used some transfer paper to attach the letters to the clear glass bottles.

 I lined the bottles up to make sure that the letters were even...the "d" is a little high, but not enough to worry about.

 I spray painted the lids white so they would match almost any holiday decor.

 Then I filled the bottles up with CANDY CORN...

 ...and lined them up on my kitchen counter.

This was a SUPER inexpensive project...all I really bought was the candy corn. Now when fall is over and Christmas decorations start going up, all I will have to do is empty out the candy corn and add in some red, green, and white M &M's!

**This is a post from last year that has been one of my most popular through the year. I actually have the same jars sitting on my counter right now...they just aren't filled with candy!**

Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet! Halloween Shirts for a Trio

I love a good holiday shirt! {You've all seen my past 4th of July, Disney, birthday, Halloween, and Thanksgiving shirts:)} And I love a funny set of holiday shirts even more...especially for Halloween! So instead of making my normal initial tees {that my boys have way to many of anyway}, I decided to make some fun "trick or treat, smell my feet" Halloween shirts for my boys this year! I think they are pretty cute...Jason thinks I'm weird! The boys love them and really that is all that matters!

I started with some fabric from Hobby Lobby and a few white t-shirts. I printed out my words{I used the font Smiley Monster which is one of my new favs} in mirror image.

I used spray adhesive to attach the words to the backside of my fabric with the printed side of the word facing out. A little complicated, but it makes cutting the letters a lot easier.

I cut out the letters, squaring off any of the edges that seemed like they might be hard to sew....I've been sewing for a while, but curves and circles still give me trouble:)

My original plan was to just sew the letters onto the shirts, but when I laid them out on the white shirts they were really hard to read.

I pulled a little bit of black felt from my fabric stash and decided that they looked 100 times better against the black fabric. I simple cut the felt big enough for the letters, sewed the letters onto the felt, then sewed around the edges of the felt to attach it to the shirt. I also used my monogram machine and some orange thread to add the words "smell my" to Eli's shirt.

Now I just need to find the time to finish making their Halloween costumes!

Homemade Halloween Costume Ideas for Boys

I love Halloween!

The weather, the candy, the fall festivals, the decorations, but most of all I love a great homemade Halloween costume! I know that some people just don't have the time or the skill to make homemade costumes, but I love the challenge of it...even though it really isn't as challenging as some people think. I have made homemade costumes for my boys every year since Henry's first Halloween in 2004...that's a total of 15 Halloween costumes! They have been everything from a scarecrow to a caveman, and they have all been homemade! For the most part I use inexpensive fabrics {like felt} and most of the costumes are held together with hot glue.

I decided to share a few pictures of some of our past homemade Halloween costumes {and a few details about how to make the costumes} with the hope that it will encourage a few of you to try and make some homemade costumes this year. They will save you a ton of money and create a ton of great memories too!

*KNIGHTS*

Last year the boys were knights. I used white & grey felt, blue cotton material, and some silver sparkly trim to make the costumes...and it was all put together with hot glue. I basically cut out a rectangle big enough for each boy and then cut out a neck hole. The side were held together with ties {look closely at Eli's} that went through a hole on each side of the costume. The boys worn grey thermal underwear underneath and the the helmets came from the dollar section at Target!

*CAVEMEN AND A DINOSAUR*

The dinosaur costume was a hand me down that Grant had worn a few years ago. This was sewn using a Simplicity sewing pattern {see below for more details about the pattern}. It was one of my first big sewing projects, so I was glad it was worn more than once:) Henry and Grant's Cavemen costumes were made out of {really cheap} fake fur. I cut a basic rectangle out and then sewed up the sides and cut out a neck hole. Henry asked for a one armed costume which was a little more complicated, but still pretty easy. I made boot covers using their shoes as a template...and Jason helped me out with those!

 Their necklaces where made with big wooden beads from the craft section of Hobby Lobby and the boys helped me make them. I tied a little twine around the boys waists and in this picture you can see the fun edge that I cut on the bottom to make their costumes look a little more primitive.

*SUPERHEROES*

I think these were some of the boys most favorite costumes ever...especially since they still play with them sometimes! I made the capes out of felt and {some kind of shiny} silky material. They were sewn together, but you can easily make a no sew cape with material that doesn't fray and some iron on adhesive for the emblem. Their shirts {I used two per costume to make the emblem and their belt} and pants came from Walmart and they were only $3 each. 

 I even made Eli a little superhero costume by sewing a small cape onto the back of a onesie and adding a belt {with an E} to the front of it.

*PIRATES*

These costumes were really simple to make, and they were no sew! I got black sweat pants for the boys and cut the leg holes kind of jagged. I probably spent less than $5 at the fabric store for the yellow fabric and the red and white striped fabric. I simple cut all the pieces to length for each boy and then tied them on! The pirate accessories came from the dollar section at Target, and if you look closely they even had a gold earring {that was clipped onto their headpiece not their ear}.

*DINOSAURS*

This is the one {and only} year that I have sew the boys entire costumes...and it was a lot of work! They were totally worth it though {especially since Eli wore the green dinosaur costume again}! This was made with a Simplicity pattern that was actually pretty easy to follow. Here's a link to the pattern { 2506 }just in case anyone is interested. 

*SCARECROW*

For Henry's first Halloween he was a scarecrow. He was an adorable little scarecrow and this was a really cheap and easy costume to put together. I used a pair of overalls from a thrift store and stitched on a few patches. Then I hot glued some raffia around the leg holes. I braided a few pieces of raffia for a belt and made a cute hat out of some black felt. Add a plaid shirt and a little face paint and you've got a cute homemade scarecrow!

I know that it may be easier to just buy a costume at the store, but think of all the fun memories that you can make by doing something homemade for you kiddos this year...not to mention the money you can save! There is still more than a week left before Halloween, so head to the craft store and start working on some fun homemade Halloween costumes! 

**If you do decide to try one of my costume ideas {or if this post encouraged you to try any homemade costume} send me some pics or a link to your blog...I would love to feature a few homemade costumes here!**

Pinterest Inspiration: Football Door Hangers

My craft {and recipe, decorating, photography, holiday, and party} to do list keeps getting longer and longer...mostly thanks to Pinterest! I am seriously pinning amazing ideas way faster than I can create them! A few weeks ago I pinned a really cute Football Door Hanger that I knew would be perfect on my front porch along with my Football Windsocks! I had all the supplies in my craft stash, I just kept putting off making them...until I finally convinced a few of my friends to come over for a craft day! We spent a few hours turning plain burlap into these adorable Football Door Hangers:

I don't have a step by step for you...mostly because I was dealing with Eli and trying to make four of these without getting too confused! {Check out Amanda's blog post to see her step by step.} They are actually really easy to make. We started by cutting out some plain burlap in the shape of a football, two footballs per door hanger. Then we spray painted one side of each burlap football with brown spray paint. After the paint was dry we added the fun painted embellishments to the piece that was going to be the front. You can also paint on two of the burlap footballs and make it reversible. My friend Tonya is apparently a great free-hand painter so she did the letters:) After the paint was dry, we layered two of the footballs together and then used a stapler to attach them to each other leaving one end open to stuff them. We added in a ribbon to the top to hang them with, stuffed them with plastic grocery bags, and closed up the hole using the stapler. Pretty easy and SUPER cute! That's one project I can mark off my {Pinterest} to do list!

Have you been working on any Pinterest inspired projects lately?

Friday Flashback: Craft Edition

**I haven't been very crafty latley, so I'm sharing a little flashback craft. This fun Mod Podge project was originally posted back in November of 2009.**
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Fall Mod Podge Pumpkins

This is how our project ended:

Despite the major mess and the {now} dry and scratchy carpet, our Thanksgiving/fall pumpkins turned out SUPER cute!

Just in case you want to make a HUGE mess and some SUPER cute pumpkins...here is the list of supplies and steps we followed to make them.

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Plastic pumpkins {mine were $1 at Walmart}

Scrapbook Paper {8 sheets for $1 at Target}

Mod Podge

Paint Brushes

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Tear scrapbook paper into small pieces

Attach the paper to the pumpkin and continue to coat it with Mod Podge until all the paper is wet and stuck to the pumpkin really well. This is the messy part, because the only way to make the paper stick really well is to work it with your hands! Eli and I worked on some painting while Henry and Grant were finishing up their pumpkins. These SUPER cute and oh so chubby handprints are going to be turkeys and leaves once I get my paintpens after them! Just a little hint....be careful when painting with brown paint, because your kiddo might think it is chocolate and try to lick it off his hand! :)

Then use a foam paintbrush to apply a coat of Mod Podge all over the pumpkins and let them dry. 

Our pumpkins {coated with Mod Podge} drying on the table...picture taken by Henry {because I still had a two inch layer of MP on my hands}!

Our finished Thanksgiving/Fall Pumpkins!

Football Windsocks

Early this week, I confessed that my front porch was still decked out with patriotic decor even though we are halfway through September. So yesterday I got busy making my porch a little more festive for football season instead of the 4th of July! I knew that I loved the look of my Tin Can Windsocks, and I wanted to put something up in their place...and what could be better than some windsocks made to look like FOOTBALLS!

I started with the same supplies as my 4th of July version: old formula cans, spray paint, ribbon, white contact paper, and twine. I cleaned out the cans, dried them really well, and then sprayed them with a good coat of brown spray paint.

After the paint dried, I brought them inside to decorate with white contact paper. I cut one inch wide strips of contact paper long enough to go all the way down the side of the can. Then I cut 3/4 inch strips that were about 3 inches long to make the cross stitches. I used 2 of the longer pieces and 6 of the shorter pieces per can so that I had a "football" on two sides of the can.

This is where this project gets really fun, because now you can personalize them to show your team spirit! I used maroon and white ribbon because we spend most of the year cheering for the Mississippi State University Bulldogs...plus the boys' school colors are maroon and white too! I think these would be really cute with almost any team color combo...blue and orange for Auburn, purple and gold for LSU...whatever team you cheer for! I cut my ribbon into 12 inch lengths and then hot glued them inside the can alternating the two colors.

After you add your ribbon, make two holes in the top of the can with a screwdriver and hammer. Then feed your twine through to make a hanger for your windsock.

Hang your Football Windsocks proudly on your front porch and then get ready to cheer on your favorite team!

How do you decorate for {or celebrate} football season?

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Confessions of a Craft Slacker

We're almost halfway through September...two weeks into football season and well on our way to fall. Anybody want to take a guess at what my front porch looks like?!?

If you guessed all cutesied up for football season or decked out with pumpkins, hay bales, and scarecrows you would be SO wrong.
Nope, my front porch still looks like this:

Yep, the middle of September and my 4th of July decorations are still up! I have a few ideas of what to change out the flags for, but all you have to do is check out the title of this post to see why the stars and stripes are still flying proud on my front porch.

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Hi, my name is Kelli and I am a craft slacker!

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The sad thing is my front porch isn't the only place where my slacking is showing through. The back patio is looking pretty sad too after a few of my patio makeover elements gave out!

Do you remember my lovely Outdoor Toy Organizer? Well if you don't here's a little refresher...except don't look too closely because this is what it looks like now with sagging shelves and peeling paint.

Apparently my attempt to seal up a wooden shelf and make it outdoor proof failed....thank you very much in advance for not saying "I told you so"! I heard that enough from my hubby:)

And do you remember my old window turned outdoor wall art? Here's what it looked like before:

And here is what it looks like after a strong gust of wind snapped the wire it was hanging from and sent it crashing to the ground:

Obviously picture wire that is perfectly fine for indoor uses is not so great for things that are outside and might be moved by the wind!

And this just might be my worst confession of the day....do you remember this oh so pretty wall decor that I added to my kitchen back in April?

Yes it is Easter decor, and yes it is still hanging proudly on my kitchen wall. Okay, maybe not so proudly since we are closer to Christmas than we are last Easter...but at least it matches my walls:)

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I'm sure there are few more confessions that I could share with you...like my craft room that looks like it could be declared a disaster area or the rug I bought 5 months ago with plans to stencil that is still folded up on my bedroom floor...but instead, I would love to hear about some of your slacker ways! Is there anything around your house that you have been putting off? Do you need to join me at the next Craft Slacker Anonymous meeting?