Fall Art with Scrabble Tiles

Well, once again, I fell in love with ideas on Pinterest.  Since I had most of the supplies on hand already, I knew I was going to be crafting again! 

Here’s a breakdown of the supplies:
picture frames (from my stash)
burlap (I paid $3 for a couple yards at JoAnn using a 50% off coupon)
random patterned paper & brown cardstock (from my scrapbook supplies)
scrabble tiles (I bought these off ebay.  To pay for them, I sold some uneccesary scrapbooking items on ebay and used that moolah for the game!)
colorful buttons (I paid $5 for them; they would have been cheaper if I waited until I had a coupon…but I was too impatient.  😦 )
glue gun
scissors
paint & paintbrush (optional, if you feel the urge to paint your frame)

So…I paid $8 for both pieces of art, or $4 a piece…not too shabby.  I also have a *ton* of burlap and buttons left over to use in the future!  🙂

P-U-M-P-K-I-N-S art

I tore apart a picture frame, popped in a double layer of burlap, and replaced the back.  I found a pumpkin clipart image on my computer and ran the scrapbook paper through the printer so the image printed on the back.  Then, I cut out all the cute, teeny tiny pumpkins and arranged them in an order I liked.  I wanted a 3D effect, so I cut up foam board and used hot glue to attach everything together.  I picked out the p-u-m-p-k-i-n-s letters and hot glued them on!  All done…almost.

I used my free Valspar paint sample in black-something-or-another and a sponge brush and just slapped on some paint.  I just adore how it looks!

I propped up my new art on the top of the fridge.  (*psssst…How do you like that adorable yellow pitcher?  $0.25 at a thrift store!*)

 I think I might also be changing the paper shapes and scrapbook tiles for each season (I’m thinking snowflakes, flowers, and sunshines…what do you think?)

 

F-A-L-L  L-E-A-V-E-S art

Once again for this project, I just popped burlap into a frame and replaced the back.  I cut out a tree stump shape and a few leaves from brown cardstock and hot glued them onto the burlap.  Then, I just layed out the scrabble tiles and used hot glue to attach them.  I played around with a few different button combinations till I got it “perfect”; then, you guessed it…I hot glued them on as well!  All done!

I perched this new piece on the top of a bookshelf beside an arrangement of pinecones and a blue glass vase.  Smiles all around!  🙂

Are you working on any oh-so-simple (or elaborate?!?) fall projects???

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Book Page Pumpkin

linking up with Works for Me Wednesday

I made a book page pumpkin.  Well, actually it kind of looks like an apple, but that’s because my cutting was a little crooked.  I almost made another one that looked more “pumpkin-ish”, but then my hubby pointed out that apples are “fall-ish” too.

Any guesses where I got the idea???  If you guessed Pinterest, you guessed right!  (love that place!)

I picked up a $0.75 paperback book at a thrift store; the rest of the supplies I already had!

All I did was tear the cover off the book, trace a pumpkin outline on the book, and start cutting it apart.  After the pumpkin (errr…apple?) was cut out, I hot glued it into the shape of the pumpkin(?) and used binder clips to clamp it together until the glue held itself.  Then, I stuck a stick down the center and topped it off with a bow.  And…here’s what it looked like…

And there it sits on top of a few books next to my Pumpkin Buttercream Yankee candle…

And, here’s the whole fall vignette on my piano.  It makes me smile!  🙂

Have you made any fall DIY projects yet?  I’d love to hear about them!

Olive Oil Picture Jar

Today’s Work for Me Wednesday project was easy-peasy!  I found the project idea at my one and only addiction inspiration… … … Pinterest!

I had all the materials that I needed on hand right in my kitchen…

I found a picture to drop in my mason jar, grabbed my olive oil to dump in, and screwed on the lid very tightly!

I decided to add a twine bow, and Voila…’tis done!

My new picture jar found a happy home in a little corner of my kitchen!

Are you working on any projects lately?  I’d love to hear about them!

Coffee Filter Wreath

Today, I’m linking up my new project with Works for Me Wednesday!

I originally found the idea for this great wreath on Pinterest.  I wasn’t confident that my wreath would turn out quite as pretty as the picture I found, but I ended up being very pleased with the final product!  It was so simple to make, only took a quick hour, and cost just around $5!

First, I gathered my materials:

I already had my trusty glue gun, so the only items I needed to purchase were the coffee filters and wreath form.

I made my own wreath form using a nifty tip I found on pinterest:

  (photo credit)

Before I started assembling the wreath, I took the time to separate and lay out my coffee filters.  I am so very glad that I did!  Trying to pull apart the coffee filters with sticky, hot-glued fingers isn’t easy!

It took a couple different ways of crunching up the coffee filters to figure out what worked for me.  The best way I found was to grab the bottom of the coffee filter and then smash the entire filter in my fist.

Once I had the filter all nicely crinkled up, I pressed the (pointy) bottom of the filter onto the table to flatten it out.  I found that a flat surface on the filter bottom worked best when I glued them on the wreath form.

Next, I applied a generous amount of hot glue onto the coffee filter bottom and stuck it to the wreath form.  Time for the magic to start! Well almost…

The wreath looked like a preschool craft project for a while.  I became a little worried at this point that I would be blogging about a Frugal Failure, rather then a beautiful DIY project…

But, I stuck with it and kept gluing the coffee filters all over the wreath.  This really wasn’t a difficult process, but when I first started, I was having trouble with the filters sticking to the wreath.  I discovered you can push those babies on the the wreath form pretty firmly; the coffee filters are already very smashed and crinkled, so you won’t ruin anything!

Finally it was beginning to look like a nice DIY project rather than the preschool craft!

I decided to add ribbon to my wreath for a little extra pizazz!  I had a little trouble with attaching the ribbon though…

Attempt #1  Hot Glue

Fail.  The hot glue made a mess on my pretty coffee filters and wasn’t making the bow stick.

Attempt #2:  Twine

Success!  This worked sooooo much better!  I just threaded the twine through the knot in my bow and around the wreath.

I fiddled around with the bow (I’m the world’s worst bow maker! 😉 ), and eventually got it to look sorta like I envisioned it!  When I was done being a perfectionist with my bow, I made sure the twine was very secure and just cut off the tails of twine.

Finally, the most satisfying part of the project!  Hanging it on the front door of our apartment!

The second best part of the project was my sweet hubby’s exclamation when he got home from work:  “Wow!  You made that?!?!”  🙂

A fun project for fall!  The bow could also be changed to fit different seasons!