10/31/14

A Bit of Crafting & Halloweening!

Hey everyone!  Hope you've all been having a great week!  I'm sure those of you with children, are into the big countdown until it's time to go trick-or-treating tonight.  They are probably already bouncing off the walls with excitement, so just imagine how it will be later on tonight after a few jolts of sugar!  I have loved Halloween since my own kiddos were little.  I was not allowed to go trick-or-treating as a kid, so I have truly lived vicariously through our own kiddos, grandchildren, and a neighborhood full of children.  It's such a fun-time to just be silly!

Well, in my last post, I said I would share some info about the pompom wreath on my pantry door.  Now, you might want to get out a paper & pen, because this is pretty difficult & lengthy -- NOT!  So here goes........
The Wreath

Foundation of the wreath
I used a styrofoam form, wrapped it with burlap ribbon, and then......

Used these pompom makers that I bought at JoAnn's -- with coupons, of course -- to make a bunch of cute little pompoms in different sizes, using leftover yarn in different colors.  I know, you were all prepared for a difficult something or other, weren't you?  Well, if you want it to be a bit harder, you can make pompoms by hand, but these were super-super easy!  

And because I had pompoms on the brain, I went crazy making these little cutie pies......

For my Little Miss and Littliest Miss for their Christmas Tree.  I got this idea from the very talented Jaime @Raising Up Rubies.

This framed print was one that I picked up at Michaels' many years ago.  I had just grown tired of it, which is why I hung my "word for the year" banner over it.  Anyway, while cleaning out some very old patterns (I mean like 20+ years old), I came up with this idea......

I mod-podged some pattern pieces to a sheet of poster board that I cut to fit the frame, and I also printed out some pictures of some vintagey-looking sewing room scenes, button cards (I added my own buttons for some depth), scissors, tape measure, etc. and mod podged those over the pattern pieces.  The old "picture of wood" frame got some paint-love to brighten it up.

Ta-da!  I think it turned out pretty nice, and is perfect for this area of my Momma Cave.

This bright little piece of sunshine is one of those myriad of ideas that just pop into my head.  I was inspired by all of the fun things I've seen other bloggers do with book pages.  I started out with just a cardboard triangle shape, added one layer of just book page leaves (draw your own or look on Pinterest for countless leaf patterns), then I pulled several scrapbook cardstock pages for some additional leaves & pops of color.  I also glued some book pages to some of the cardstock pages, cut them out and bent them slightly down the middle to add more dimension.

To finish it off, I tied some ribbons into simple little bows, glued them randomly all over the little swag, and added a few jewels here and there.  I used a wreath hanger to hang it over the door to my 
Momma Cave.  I think it turned out super-cute!

I've been crushing over all the cute sweater pumpkins that have been popping up everywhere, so I found a sweater at GW and got busy.  I made 2 of these little cuties just from the cowl neck of the sweater.  I added a cute little stem that I had saved from one of last year's real pumpkins -- I used a bit of Rub'n Buff Gold Leaf just for fun.  I also used one of my leaf patterns to cut out 2 leaf shapes from turquoise felt & glued them together with a piece of wire in the middle to add some "bendability!"  This little project was so easy and so much fun & turned out so cute!

Now, as much as I love Halloween, I don't have too many "Halloweenie" decorations and definitely non of the creepy crawly, spiders and eyeballs stuff -- I'll leave that to those of you with children who love all that guts and ghoulishness stuff.  For the most part, mine are very tame & all are VERY old, but I thought I would share a few pics of where I have them displayed.

Next to my kitchen sink

Hearth room game table

The "witch is in" and watching over the foyer from the entry table !

Laundry room door


Door from laundry room to garage.

I made this quilted wall-hanging several years ago, and what better place to display it than in the most utilitarian room in our home -- makes me smile even while I'm doing laundry!

So there you have it!  Just wanted to let you know what I've been up to, lest you think that all I do is sit around eating bonbons, watching TV & blogging......teehee!  I hope you enjoyed your visit and, please come again soon.  You are always welcome here!
I sometimes like to party with these lovely bloggers:
Monday
Cindy at Dwellings--The Heart of Your Home for Amaze Me Monday
Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
Kathryn at The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Mondays

Tuesday
Maria Elena at Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at Our Home
Marty at A Stroll Thru Life  for Inspire Me Tuesday
Leslie at House on the Way for Twirl & Take a Bow
Mary Beth at Cupcakes and Crinoline for Project Inspired

Wednesday
Suzy at Worthing Court for The Scoop
Karin at The Style Sisters for Centerpiece Wednesday
Kathryn at The Dedicated House for Before and After Wednesday

Thursday
Kelly at Live Laugh Rowe for Live Laugh Linky Party
Richella at Imparting Grace for Grace at Home
Pamela at From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday

Friday
Kathryn at The Dedicated House for Anything Blue Friday
Jody & Stan at Rooted in Thyme for Simple and Sweet Fridays 

Amanda at Serenity Now for Weekend Bloggy Reading

17 comments:

  1. Cute! I have one of those pom pom makers. I use it to make Christmas ornaments for Church. Easy & so cute!

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  2. I have to say...you have the BEST momma cave around!!! I had no idea they made pom pom makers! Oh, and I love the triplet black cats on your laundry room door!! Happy Halloween!

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  3. Carol, You are just one of the most creative people I have the pleasure of knowing! It seems each time I visit here, you have not only created again, but used a different type of creativity!! I don't really do Halloween anymore but I hope you enjoy your evening passing out candy to your 'sweet' neighbors! Blessings, Cindy

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  4. I have never seen a pom pom maker, Carol and now I want one desperately!! I must make those sweet ornaments...they are just too cute!

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  5. I didn't know there was pom pom maker -- how cool! Your wreath and all of your decorations are gorgeous. :)

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  6. Love the pom poms and all the colors! You are so creative, Carol! Yeah, my kids had fun last night but we all have a sugar hangover today...ugh. Enjoy your weekend!
    Shelley

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  7. That is so bizarre that you just showed your pom pom maker. I just made a template to make pompoms for our annual Christmas craft day. Looking forward to trying it out.. Your place looks awesome for Halloween. How sad that you didn't partake as a kid. I think I loved Halloween more than Christmas or my birthday.

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  8. So much goodness in one post Carol!! Your pom pom wreath is tooo fun! I love your pumpkin and the leaf is perfect!! And my favorite decor piece is the trio of kittens on the door. So sweet!
    I'd love for you to link up your creative projects... these or others... at Project Inspire{d}, the weekly link party I co-host. It goes live on Monday nights at 8 Eastern.

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  9. Carol, all your creations are adorable, but those black cats are TOO cute!

    Happy Sunday, my friend!

    Poppy

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  10. All pretty decorations Carol. Thanks for sharing them. So colorful and cheerful. Your quilting on the Halloween wall hanging is superb. I am just learning to quilt :)

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    1. Thank you, Danice! That was a fun little wall-hanging to make. I don't think I would call it superb quilting (I do "thank you" for saying that), but it was my first effort at "free-motion" quilting. I really do like how fast you can do that method.

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  11. I love your cream colored sweater pumpkin. In my heart I am a cream/white girl. Looking at my home and it's rich colors that's hard to believe but a girl can change her mind right?

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  12. wow...how talented you are. The sweater pumpkin is so cute.
    xo bj

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  13. You have been a crafty busy bee! I love the pom pom wreath!
    Have a beautiful week.

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  14. Oh my, Carol! You are having fun crafting and sewing, I see! I have been crushing on those sweater pumpkins for a while now and yours look absolutely adorable! Love that pompom wreath, perfect for the holidays.......never knew about a pompom maker until now. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! Hugs, Poppy

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  15. Hi Carol!!!! You are just so talented and crafty! love the child-friendly displays you've made! I especially adore the pumpkin! I hope all is well with you dear!

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  16. That is one of the cutest wreaths I've ever seen. Will you make one for Christmas? I want to see it!

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I truly love to hear from you and try to respond to each and everyone. If you have "no reply blogger," I will respond in my comments section and then visit your blog as soon as I can.

Make this a great day!
Carol