Fall Decor

Happy Fall Door Decor

This was fun putting together.  I got the metal hanging sconce and fall decor at Hobby Lobby.  Sorry about my finger in the lower right corner!  Did not notice that.  ;)

Gardenia and Double Delight Rose

I really don't have a green thumb when it comes to house plants or exotic plants such as the Gardenia.  So by a miracle, this Gardenia tree by my front door has bloomed with the most beautiful flowers.  I'm enjoying it while it lasts.  :)

Here was our first Double Delight rose bush blooming at our new home earlier this year.  Love the Double Delights!

Polymer Clay Wedding Cake Ornament

Polymer Clay Wedding Cake Decoration by Diana Rudolf

Wedding Cake for Fall Wedding 

Created by Betty Roebuck

Roses and Leaves 

by Karla Wadas Hickenbottom

This was so much fun to make.  The polymer clay is easy to work with.  Love that stuff!  It was great in that I could make a piece, set it aside and come back a week later and still work with it.  It doesn't dry out.  I used the Sculpey brand clay.  This is an ornament I made for my daughter and son-in-law for their tenth wedding anniversary.  The actual cake was created by my daughter's mother-in-law, Betty Roebuck.  She makes the most beautiful cakes. 

DIY Mod Podged Dispenser

Mod Podged Toilet Dispenser

This project is made using the flushable wipes dispenser you find in your grocer or Walmart.  This was fun to make and went pretty quick.  I got the idea from my daughter, Kristen.  She made me one as a gift awhile back.  This one goes great with our beach bathroom theme.  You can design your own with any of your favorite scrapbook papers and embellishments.  

 

I used The Paper Studio's Beach House scrapbook papers for my design on this box.  

First, you will need a piece of paper to trace your top pattern to.  Before you begin, place the flushable wipes in a zip-lock baggie so they won't dry out. 

Cut a section of paper to fit over the top of the dispenser.  Tape the paper to the top on both sides. 

Using the side of the pencil lead, shade over the top around the lid.  This will be your pattern piece.  Shade that entire area of the lid.  

Remove the paper from the lid and cut out your pattern on the lines you created with the pencil rub or shading.  Place the pattern over the top to make sure your scrapbook piece will fit.

Next, place the pattern piece over your scrapbook paper.  Tape it to the scrapbook paper and cut around the pattern piece.  Set this piece aside.

I placed the scrapbook paper along the bottom edge of the dispenser and measured where to cut the strip of paper to fit on the front edge by pressing with my finger along the bottom to get the cut line as shown above.  Cut out your strip. 

Next, place the strip along the front of the dispenser and cut out a notch for the closing tab as shown above.  

"Paint" on a layer of Mod Podge in the front of the dispenser with a brush or sponge and then lay your strip along that edge of the front as you see above.  Try not to get too much of the Mod Podge onto the surface of the dispenser.  You can see it has a smooth and shiny finish and too much Mod Podge will make it bubble. 

If you need to, you can cut a tiny snip that may want to stick over the edge of the dispenser as shown.  

Cut out any design(s) from your scrapbook paper that you desire to go on the sides and the lid at the top of the dispenser.  

Using your Mod Podge like glue, glue each cut out in any way you desire onto your dispenser. Next, using your paint brush or sponge, cover the entire area of scrapbook paper.  I'm fairly new to using Mod Podge, so if you know a better way of getting your paper onto an object with the Mod Podge, please share it with us.  Thank you!!  

Add any tiny embellishments you would like to your dispenser.  Place it on the back of the toilet in your bathroom. 

Cadance's Christening Gown

I made this Christening gown using McCall's Pattern 3063 for my granddaughter, Cadance.  I enjoyed sewing this so much for her.  I made the blanket using the shawl from her mommy's wedding gown as shown in the photo below.  I had purchased extra fabric for the blanket out of the same fabric I chose for the Christening gown.   I folded the shawl into a rectangle. I then cut a rectangle for the blanket to match the size of the folded shawl adding 1/2 an inch around the edge of the fabric rectangle for the hem.  I folded the edges of the fabric twice creating a 1/4 inch hem.  Press in place.  You can machine or hand stitch the hem in place.  I placed the shawl and blanket with their wrong sides together.  Doing a slip stitch around the entire blanket with a very fine fishing line type thread makes the blanket look nice.  You can then cut the fine line later to remove the shawl from the fabric if desired. 

Christening Gown from McCalls Pattern 3063.  Blanket is the shawl from her mommy's wedding gown.

 

Gown with matching bonnet and bib.  

 

McCalls Pattern 3063

 

Maggie Sottero gown with shawl.  Photo Greg Johnson Photography. 

Baby's Christening Gown with Blanket made
from her Mommy's Wedding Gown Shawl.
Gown ~ Maggie Sottero
Wedding Photographer ~ Greg Johnson

Sushi Chef Nutcracker

I love my Sushi Chef Nutcracker.  Larry found him at TJMaxx. 

DIY Cutting Board with Mom's Recipe

DIY Cutting Board with Mom's Recipe

This was a lot of fun to make!  It's much easier than I thought.  I purchased a bamboo cutting board at Wal-mart along with the wood burning tool set below.  It was in the craft department of Wal-mart.

I used the tip that was similar to a felt tip pen.  It worked on the bamboo the best for me.  You can experiment with the tip that works best for you.  This tool was comfortable to use.  

The first thing I did was scan my mom's recipe into my computer.  I then opened it in a program that made it larger.  I wanted it to fill up most of the cutting board.  I printed off the recipe.  Next, I placed a piece of carbon paper over the board and then centered the recipe onto the board.  It's easier to center if you cut away most of the paper around your recipe.  I traced the handwriting with one of those mechanical pencils.  I liked the very fine point for the tracing.  That way you can get the handwriting as close to the original.   

I then heated the iron up and began "writing" with it.  I used it like a pen or pencil and found it quite easy to fill in as shown in the image of the bread, flour and eggs.  If you can color in a coloring book, you can do this.  The bamboo is fairly forgiving and I just began coloring and it was so easy!  For the darker areas of shading, I went over a few times pressing a little harder until the desired effect was achieved.  I tried the very fine point from the tool kit and found it would take me forever, so I gave the "felt tip" type point a try and it worked perfect.  I was still able to achieve the fine lines.  This was on the bamboo.  I haven't tried using the tool on the other types of wood cutting boards.  Like the instructions say on the tool package, don't squeeze the tool too hard while working or you'll burn your fingers!  Very true!  Just relax and take your time and it won't burn.  Have fun!

Here are two I made for my mother-in-law to give to my brother and sister-in-law.  These are fun to make.  

After our move into a new home, I found this oak cutting board I had from way back in one of the older packed boxes.  I thought I could burn sunflowers onto the board for my daughter.  She loves sunflowers.  : )  The wood was easy to work with the burning.  I found this lovely wallpaper border print online and did the same where I used carbon paper to trace the image onto the board.  

 

Here's a fun idea where you can use an image from a wedding invitation to make a wonderful gift for the bride and groom.  I did this one the same as above by scanning the monogram band you see around the invitation into my computer and printing off the size I needed to fill the bottom of the cutting board.  You can get these bamboo cutting boards at Walmart.