DIY wood spool ornament, DAY 5

DIY WOOD SPOOL CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT

Day 5 of 30 days of DIY Christmas ornaments

Hey guys! Day 5 of 30 days of DIY Christmas ornaments is a really special one for me. I have several of these old wood spools that were given to me by my grandma, the mother of all things crafty! This women could paint a masterpiece with mud and sew like no ones business! She was the most talented and creative soul I have ever met in my lifetime and I’m thankful to have been given a small fraction of her wonderful God given talents.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

In her old sewing basket she had held on to some super old wooden thread spools. Did I mention my grandma also kept everything??? I think this is a crafter gene lol! Must not throw anything away because you just never know when you’ll need it! So these little wooden beauties were among the wonderful treasures she kept in her old wicker sewing basket. I, of course, could not ever get rid of such gems! So they’ve been sitting in that basket till now. I didn’t want to alter them too much so painting them was out of the question. But glue a piece of fabric would cause too much damage so I thought ‘why not make a fun little Christmas ornament out of a couple of them?’ And so I did!

Day 5 of DIY Christmas ornaments is probably the easiest ornament I’ve made so far on my 30 days of ornament making. If you can use a glue gun and thread a bead you are a shoe in!

You can watch the WOOD SPOOL DIY CHRISTMAS ORNMENT video

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own wood spool DIY Christmas ornament

• 2 old wood spools

• 3 wood beads

• scrap fabric

• thin ribbon

• scissors

• hot glue gun

• mini hot glue sticks

First you need to cover your wood spools in fabric. I used a scrap piece of fabric I had left over from when I made this DIY 4TH OF JULY TIE RAG WREATH. I don’t think I included this particular fabric in my tie wreath but I bought it the the intent to use it for that lol. It never hurts to have extra pretty fabrics on hand!

Cut your fabric piece so it’s the size of the middle party of your wooden spool. I really like the frayed edges so I cut a tiny slit in the fabric then I ripped it the rest of the way to give it that frayed look.

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If you are more of a visual learner {this is totally me!} be sure to check out my YouTube channel. This is THE hub I use to hold all of my DIY CRAFTY VIDEO TUTORIALS

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Then glue your fabric pieces to your wood thread spools. I used as little glue as possible for this so I didn’t ruin the wooden spool.

*crafty tip- if you are making this with little ones be sure you are using a LOW temp glue gun. I have found that using the mini glue guns they don’t get as hot as the larger full sized glue guns.

I added a small ribbon bow around the larger of the two wood spools. I didn’t want them to look identical and thought this little bow broke it up just enough.

Now your DIY wood spool Christmas ornament is ready to put together. The wooden beads I used I had already painted from a previous project I did, unfortunately I don’t have a tutorial for this :/ but it’s super easy to paint them. I used white acrylic paint and painted two thin coats on each bead. To make it even easier I set the beads on the tip of an xacto knife to hold on to it while I painted. I just placed the sharp pointy end of the xacto knife in the hole of the bead and it was perfect!

You’ll need to cut a piece of ribbon that is 3x the length of what your ornament will be. Thread on one of your painted beads on the bottom, leaving an inch or so. Then tie the bottom piece of the ribbon in a couple of knots. Next place the knot so that it is just under the opening of the hole on the bead, apply a decent sized drop of hot glue and let it dry completely. This will keep your ornament from falling apart.

I tried to just tie a ton of knots that I thought were bigger than the hole of the wood bead but the giant knot kept slipping through, so I gave up and the hot glue worked SO much better!

After the hot glue is dry you can string on the rest of the pieces of your ornament. Here’s the order mine were in from top to bottom

• bead

• wood spool

• bead

• wood spool

• bead

Then tie what’s left of the ribbon on the top part of the ornament into a loop. Be sure you don’t pull the ribbon clean through the wood spools and beads. I held the ribbon at the base of then pulled it tight.

And that’s it. Your DIY wood spool Christmas ornament is finished:)!! I hope you enjoyed this easy craft tutorial and I would LOVE to hear how yours turns out if you make your own.

If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to me. Leave a comment below or send me an email.

Check out more posts below

DIY mason jar lid snowman Christmas ornament, DAY 4

How to make a super cute snowman Christmas ornament from a mason jar lid

Day 4 of DIY Christmas Ornaments

Day of 4 of DIY Christmas ornaments is this super easy and adorable mason jar lid snowman. He is complete with a mini set of mittens and a cute little pair of earmuffs! This little guy was really simple to make and is a great use for all those extra lids from your mason jar crafts. And if you follow me on here at all I’m not shy about my love for mason jars! I’ve always loved them, even before they were all mainstream lol!

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

If you missed the first few days of my 30 DAYS OF DIY CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS be sure to click here to see the full list of make your own ornaments

If you love mason jars as much as I do be sure to check out my DIY MASON JAR CRAFTS for more inspiration.

Check out the snowman mason jar lid video tutorial below or keep scrolling to read the step by step instructions.

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own mason jar lid snowman for your Christmas tree.

• regular mouth mason jar lid

• white chalk paint

• fabric scissors

• craft scissors

• paint brush

• mini pompoms

• paint pens

• orange acrylic paint

• felt

• pipe cleaner

• decorative ribbon

• glue gun

First you want to paint the bottom side of your mason jar lid {the non silver side}. I used chalk paint to paint mine but any kind of white paint should work fine, even spray paint.

First you want to paint the bottom side of your mason jar lid {the non silver side}. I used chalk paint to paint mine but any kind of white paint should work fine, even spray paint.

While your mason jar lid is drying cut out the tiny mittens from felt. I free handed this step and they were actually pretty easy to make. So that they would match I used the first one I cut out as my template to cut out the second one.

Now measure about half way around your mason jar lid for the ear muffs using your pipe cleaner. Then cut it to size with your craft scissors.

I know it’s hard to tell in the picture but I used a black paint marker, or paint pen, to draw on the eyes and the mouth. I LOVE these paint pens and I actually use them more than I thought I would for crafts like on this DIY PERSONALIZED MASON JAR LID. They come in hand for all kinds of projects. If you want to add little accent dots on the eyes with white paint be sure to do so when the black paint is all the way dry. I made the mistake and rushed that step and you can totally see the ugly error.

I painted on my snowman’s nose but if I had an orange paint pen I would have use that instead to create the nose. If you use paint it takes VERY LITTLE .You can vaguely see the little orange dot on the paper towel, that’s what I used to dip my paint brush in to paint the nose. And I didn’t even use very much of it.

Then glue down the earmuffs. You want to glue the pipe cleaner to the mason jar lid first then glue the mini pompoms down on each end of the pipe cleaner. {btw my 10 year old daughter totally had to tell me I’ve been spelling pompoms wrong lol! I was spelling them as 2 words which is clearly wrong. Hey, I’m a really great crafter lol spelling isn’t really my strong suit}.

Next, glue on your snowman’s gloves. I faced the gloves so that the thumbs were facing in which if you do that to yourself is wrong but trust me they actually look better facing the wrong direction

Last, loop a piece of ribbon and glue it to the back of your snowman mason jar lid. For extra support I recommend gluing a piece of felt over it. I cut mine in the shape of a heart so it looked pretty instead of just a circle or a misshaped cut piece of felt. You can also write on the back of the ornament who made it and what year with your paint pen.

Now your adorable snowman is ready to hang on your Christmas tree! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and you make wonderful memories with your kiddos making these for your own tree. If you have any questions about this crafty tutorial or any others I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or send me an email.

Check out more Christmas posts below.

DIY personalized mason jar lid ornament using buffalo plaid - DAY 3

DIY rusty canning jar lid ornament, personalized on buffalo plaid

Day 3 of DIY Christmas Ornaments

Day 3 of my 30 days of DIY Christmas ornaments…PERSONALIZED RUSTY MASON JAR LID ORNAMENT. I don’t know about you but I have a HUGE abundance of old mason jar lids. I save them from the hand painted mason jars I create and ship out in my Etsy shop. Here’s a tutorial I made for this adorable snowman painted mason jar set that is super popular in my shop.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

—-> Check out other DIY mason jar crafts <—-

Here is day 1 of the 30 days of DIY Christmas ornaments - DIY SCRAP FABRIC CHRISTMAS TREE

I really enjoyed making this personalized ornament for my family Christmas tree. So much so that I am going to make these as gifts for loved ones and teachers/school staff gifts! There were so easy and actually super quick to make.

If you’re a seasoned crafter you probably have everything you need to make this DIY mason jar lid ornament. But if not I will leave links to everything you’ll need to create your own canning lid Christmas ornament.

Here’s what you’ll need

• Cricut cutting machine

• Cricut Design Space

• HAND TYPE FONT

• Cricut cutting mat

• regular mouth canning rings/lids

• buffalo plaid fabric

• fabric scissors

• Oramask stencil film

• contact paper

• paint marker

• vinyl squeegee

• hot glue gun

• twine

• xacto knife

Check out the video tutorial from my YouTube channel or keep scrolling to read the written tutorial

First you want to create your stencil on your Cricut Design Space. I used the font HAND TYPEWRITER because I really like how this one looks. I use it often for different DIY craft projects I make. I made a circle that is the same size as the mason jar lid I used, 2.5”. Then I typed out my text, on two separate lines and I made my BOLD TYPE. Welded them together. I made it 2” wide. Then positioned it on the circle I offset it slightly so that there was more room on the top potion, then aligned the circle and text so they would align HORIZONTALLY. Then used the SLICE button to slice the font out of the circle. And sent it to my mat to cut.

I cut it out on STENCIL FILM. I know I totally could have used HTV but I wanted to try something a little different. Something a little easier, something that hasn’t been done a ton. That’s why I chose to use a paint pen/marker vs regular paint or HTV.

Then cut a square out of your fabric. I am using red buffalo plaid that I picked up from Walmart. It was in their fat quarters seasonal section. You want to cut your square larger than your lid. I cut mine a couple inches larger.

Then transfer your stencil onto your fabric. I used contact paper to transfer mine but you can use whatever material works best for you. After you place your stencil where you are happiest with it remove the transfer tape then pat the stencil down with your hand to make sure there are not any air bubbles.

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Now use your paint marker to “trace” the areas that are exposed inside the stencil. Be sure not to press too firmly as the more pressure you apply the more likely you’ll have paint bleed. If you make a mistake no worries, you can fix it later :)!!

TIP: place a paper towel under your fabric to catch any paint that might bleed through

After you have your stencil all painted in you can remove it. It should release easily from the fabric. I used an xacto knife to take out the middle pieces. It does a great job at lifting them up with the sharp point.

Take your marker and fill in any areas that didn’t get good coverage. This does not have to look perfect. I actually LOVE that mine came out super imperfect. It gives it so much character and a more handmade Christmas ornament look and feel to it.

Place your fabric over the metal mason jar lid then place both inside the mason jar ring. You can gently pull the fabric to center it where you want it on the mason jar ornament.

Once you have the fabric where you want it glue it in place on the backside using your hot glue gun. You’ll want to glue fairly close to where the lid, fabric, and ring meet. This will give it a more secure hold. Glue all the way around the ring.

After the glue is dry trim away any fabric that hangs over the ring. Be sure not to trim it too closely to the lid part of your mason jar lid ornament. If you trim it too closely then the fabric won’t have enough of a “seam allowance” and your fabric will likely slip thru to the front of the ornament.

Add a twine hanger. I glued a piece of twine to the middle spot on the front of the ring then looped it to the back and hot glued it there as well. If I wanted a super strong hold I would have used my drill and drilled a small hole on the top and fed my twine thru there. But for not the hot glued hanger will work.

Then add a cute little twine bow. I glued mine on top of the twine I glued to the front to hide that and it worked great. Adding a simple twine bow really adds a little more rustic touch to the ornament too!

Once your hot glue is dry you’re ready to hang your mason jar ornament on your tree! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and that it inspires you to create your own DIY ornaments and so much more <3 !

Check out more Christmas posts below

DIY gnome ornament from a paint brush, DAY 2

EASY DIY GNOME CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT

Day 2 of 30 days of DIY Christmas ornaments

On the second day of DIY Christmas ornaments I turned this boring chip brush into a fun little GNOME! I really wasn’t sure how the finished product was going to look but I couldn’t get over how much the bristles on the paint brush look like a beard! More specifically an old man gnome beard lol! I had to at least try to turn it into a gnome and it actually turned out sooooo super adorable!

These brushes is what I always recommend for applying antique wax to distressed rustic looking projects. They are the same brushes I send out in my DIY CRAFT KITS so I always have a big box of them on hand.

Did you miss day 1? Not to worry! Here is DAY 1 OF DIY CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

Seriously these ornaments are fun to make for adults and kiddos! I could have sat there all day and created one after another <3!!

Here’s what you need to make your own little gnome Christmas ornament

• 1” chip brush

• felt

• small pom pom

• thin ribbon

• decorative ribbon

• hot glue gun

• fabric scissors

First start by tying a ribbon hanger in the hole of the paint brush so you can hang it on your tree. Then cut a piece of felt just a little wider than your chip brush. Felt can be a tricky thing to cut so I highly recommend using a good pair of fabric scissors like these —-> click here to see fabric scissors. You can use any color or pattern felt you’d like, I chose green because it’s what I had on hand that looked the most festive.

Then glue the piece of felt to your chip brush. You don’t want to pull it tight around the shape of the brush because it will look like the shape of the brush and not a gnome hat. Leave it loose around the bottom part of the brush so that it’s full there. Glue it around the metal part and the back side of the handle of the chip paint brush. You may need to trim away the excess so that it lays flat and not bunched up. {see the video above for a more detailed visual on how to do this}.

Next, trim away the extra that hangs over the tip of the chip brush, you want to leave about an inch or so overhang.

Using your thin ribbon tie a bow just above the tip of the chip paint brush to finish off the top of the hat.

Add a little 1/2” decorative ribbon around the base of the hat. This will break up the felt and give it a little more Christmas-ey look.

Then hot glue on a little nose just below the metal on the chip paint brush. Let it dry and your DIY gnome ornament is ready to hang on your Christmas tree.

These gnomes are SOOOOO easy to make and SOOOOOOOOOOO cheap too!

Let me know what you think and I’d especially LOVE if you shared pictures of your finished gnome ornament here on the blog.

DIY scrap fabric & ribbon Christmas ornament, DAY 1

DIY EASY CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT

I am SO excited about my 30 days of DIY Christmas ornaments. And first up on the list is this super cute scrap fabric Christmas Tree! There are SO many really great DIY ornament tutorials out there and I can’t wait to share with you some of my favorites my family and I have made over the years…and some new ones too!

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

For this fun tree ornament I used a piece of scrap fabric, and not just any fabric I used left over fabric from a DIY Halloween costume I made for daughter # 3. I almost threw it away but I had that little crafty hoarder on my shoulder that said ‘no Megan! Keep that because you might need it later’ lol! And clearly I was glad I listened because I got to turn those scraps into a super cute Christmas ornament.

If you love DIY CHIRSTIMAS/WINTER CRAFTS here are even more DIY projects to check out click here

Here’s what you’ll need

• fabric scraps

• ribbon

• twine

• assorted buttons

• stick

• cutters (this is what I used, although it’s not the ideal tool to use)

• glue gun

• fabric scissors

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—> Want to learn how to make all those amazing hand painted signs you see everywhere? Click my SIGN PAINTERS COURSE for more details <—

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Check out the video tutorial or keep scrolling to see picture instructions. Don’t forget to stop by my YouTube channel and subscribe to keep up with all my up to date DIY crafty videos

First trim down your stick. I made mine so that it was a little wider than the width of my hand. I used wire cutters to trim mine, which truthfully wasn’t the best thing to use but it was what I had on hand and it worked.

Now cut your scrap fabric into strips. Like I said earlier, I used pieces from a costume to make mine. I cut my strips approx. 1” wide.

Cut the strips for your ribbon. I gaged about how wide I wanted my base then added about an inch. I used that piece to measure out the rest of the strips and cut them to the same size. I ended up cutting 3 strips of each ribbon but only used 2 of each.

Before I started tying the strips of fabric and ribbon onto the stick I went ahead and hot glued the buttons together. This way they were completely dry and ready when I needed them. I used 1 small white star, 1 small red button, and 1 even smaller green button. I hot glued the red button on top of the star, let that dry, then hot glued the green button on top of the red button.

Next start tying on your strips of fabric and ribbon. Be sure to leave room at the bottom for the base of the tree. Don’t pull the fabric pieces too tight. Depending on the type of fabric you are using pulling too tight can cause it to become stretched out. I’m using t-shirts scraps {from a costume I made for daughter # 3) and if pulled too tight then it would be way too stretched out and loose it’s shape.

After you have all your pieces tied to the stick you want to straight out each piece before you cut it. That way you have a nice straight tree line to cut.

Now cut your tree into the shape of a triangle. I highly recommend using fabric scissors for this step. I tried using my regular craft scissors and it totally failed {you can see it in the video at the top of the post} So I had to pull out my beloved fabric scissors and they worked SO MUCH BETTER! After you have both sides cut into the triangle shape you can trim them to make them even.

Then hot glue your buttons to the top. I glued mine to the side that didn’t show the knots. Let the glue dry. Then add your twine to hang. I glued my twine hanger around the buttons because it seemed to secure it more.

And now it’s ready to hang on your tree! I can’t wait to make more of these with my girls. When I record my DIY tutorials I don’t usually have my kiddos help, well because anxiety goes up lol. And if I let one help they ALL want to help and having 4 young kids in a small space trying to record a craft video that makes sense enough to post for the world to see is REALLY hard hahaha! In all seriousness I hope you enjoyed this crafty tutorial and be sure to check back for more 30 DAYS OF ORNAMENTS.

DIY easy dinosaur claw gloves, simple sewing project

Halloween can be a tricky thing to plan for here in the Midwest. Some years we are blessed with AMAZING weather and we don’t have to fret with lots of layers. I have to say that is not what is typical here, although that would be pretty great! Most years we are bundled up with boots, wool socks, and coats. That’s why these DIY DINOSAUR GLOVES were the perfect addition to daughter #4’s handmade costume.

—>Click here to see even more Halloween & Fall DIY projects <—

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

These gloves were such a HUGE hit too! She got so many comments at how adorable her little dinosaur claws were reaching into the bowls of candy after she said “trick or treat”. And she is going to LOVE wearing them all winter long.

How to sew claws onto winter gloves

These gloves are SOOOOO super easy to make and you just need a few supplies. You can pick these up at a local store or click the links to see what I recommend to purchase online.

Here’s what you’ll need

• winter gloves

• fabric scissors

• felt

• matching thread

• sewing needle

Check out the video tutorial from my YouTube channel. Be sure to like and subscribe, this helps me so much to continue to share crafty tutorials and reach even more fellow moms and help them with their own craft projects.

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1. CUT OUT CLAWS

First, cut out one tear drop shape from your felt.

Then use that claw as your template to cut out 9 more felt dinosaur claws

2. SEW THEM ON

After you have all 10 dinosaur claws {or monster claws they can be for LOTS of different costumes} you are ready to start sewing them on. Thread your needle using your coordinating thread. Instead of placing the knot inside the glove I suggest hiding it under the dino nail.

This way the knot won’t irritate your kiddo. I know lots of kids have sensory issues, while my daughters don’t have this too bad I was one of those kids. I HATED jeans because the inseam “hurt” and I HAD to wear my socks inside out because I couldn’t handle the way that seam felt on my toes. Back then they didn’t call it sensory issues they called it being picky. So If your kiddo has any kind of sensory issue be sure to place the know on the outside, not the inside of the glove.

Now place one felt dinosaur nail on the glove so that half of it is on the glove and half is hanging off. Then stitch it on using a simple stitch. You don’t have to get fancy with the stitch, just a simple straight will be perfect for this. BE SURE YOU ARE NOT STITCHING THROUGH BOTH SIDES OF THE GLOVE. You just want to go thru the very first layer of the glove. Repeat this for all 5 dinosaur nails on the first glove.

When you get to the second glove don’t just start sewing dino claws on it. Trust me I totally made the mistake of starting on the second glove and I didn’t realize till my daughter tried them on that I had sewn claws on them and made 2 RIGHT HANDED GLOVES. So before you start the second glove lay them both out in front of you so that you have one right glove and one left glove. It totally sucked to take the claws off of the second glove right after I just thought I had finished lol!

When you have the second glove facing the correct way you can start sewing the dinosaur claws onto that glove the same way you sewed them onto the first glove.

After you finish sewing the second glove you are done! If you have any questions about this Halloween themed sewing project please reach out to me. Leave your questions below or feel free to message me.

DIY painted snowman mason jar

How to paint an adorable snowman face on a mason jar

I’ll be honest I’m not the best free hand painter. Most of my projects I use stencils for but I do have a handful of free hand pieces that I create {and creating more every year when I gain more and more confidence}. One of which are painted snowmen mason jars. They come in a set of three and are ADORABLE!

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

I paint lots of these every year and sell the completed snowman mason jar sets in my handmade Etsy shop

I love them even more because each set is slightly different. When you handmake nothing is going to be identical, no matter how hard you try, but that’s what makes it even more special and beautiful.

These snowmen mason jars are perfect for gift giving, centerpieces, candy cane holders, tea lights, sooooo many options with these winter crafts!

Here’s what you’ll need

• pint sized mason jar {pre painted & cured}

• acrylic paints: orange, black, white, pink, gray

• paint brushes in varied sizes

• small stenciling brush

Watch my YouTube video below or keep scrolling for detailed written instructions on how to paint a snowman face on a mason jar

First you need to start with a pre-painted mason jar. You can do this on non painted glass but I’ll be giving the steps to create this exact style pictured.

I don’ t have a post on how to paint solid color mason jars but I do have a few tips to share on how I paint my mason jars

• use chalk paint {I used white}

• use a flat non stiff brush like this one ——> here’s what I use to paint solid colors on mason jars

• paint thin coats so you don’t have clumps of paint or streaks

• let your jars cure for 24 between coats {curing just means to let them sit, it allows the paint to fully dry and harden}

Ok once you have your mason jar painted you are ready to paint an adorable snowman face on it!

Paint the cheeks first. You do this first because they are behind the nose. This way you won’t have to go back and paint the cheeks and take chances on ruining the perfectly imperfect snowman nose. And the cheeks give you a guide to where the rest of the features will go. You can practice this on a piece of cardboard or scrap paper first. Use very little paint, you don’t want too much paint because once it’s on the jar it’s hard to take away without removing the base coat. Dip you brush in the pink paint, then add a little white, then swirl on the jar. Repeat this step till you’re happy with how they look.

Using a small round tipped brush paint the eyes using black acrylic paint. I make mine fairly small and I basically make two “C’s” butted up together, so that they make a bean shape. Fill them in so they are solid black.

Next use a pencil and sketch out the nose. You’re basically going to make a sideways curved triangle. To me this gives it a lot of character and makes it super cute! Then fill in the triangle with orange paint.

Now paint on the mouth with black paint using the same brush you used to make the eyes. I use the curved line on the mason jar as the guide for my snowman’s mouth. Just make little dots in the shape of a snowman mouth. My dots are never perfect, you want the to be lopsided like lumps of coal.

Make all the little accent lines, like the eyebrows and dash marks, using a pointy flat brush and gray paint. The gray paint gives the snowman face more dimension and breaks up the color a bit. On each eye I make a curved up line above the eye and a curved down line below the eye. Then, for the nose, I make a curved line around the base of the nose. I add a little dash mark below each dot on the mouth.

Using the wood end of the brush you used to paint the eyes, dip it in white paint and on each eye and mouth dot make a big and small dot. And on each eye make a dash line toward the bottom of the eye using the brush end of the paint brush.

The snowman’s nose should be dry now, paint a second coat of orange on it. While the second coat is still wet add a little bit of black paint at the base of the nose to give the nose more dimension and a tiny bit of white toward the top. This will keep you snowman’s nose from looking too flat. Then outline the nose with a flat pointy tip brush with black paint.

After the nose is dry add a little bit of “snow” to the top part of the nose. I used my stenciling brush for this step because the bristles are very stiff and give a good fluffy snow look. Use very little paint when doing this, if you use too much it will look like a fat blog and will be hard to fix without making a bigger mess.

I hope I was able to break this craft down into easier to follow steps. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

DIY stenciled rustic fall signs

DIY painted fall signs. How to make your own farmhouse style signs for your fall themed decor. These painted tiny signs are so perfect for coffee bars, tiered trays and mantles. This trio of hello fall, give thanks, and a pumpkin are hand painted in orange, black and white, the classic fall colors. This tutorial will take you step by step on how to make your own stenciled wooden signs at home.

Don’t you just love painted mini signs?! HELLO FALL, GIVE THANKS, and a picture of a PUMPKIN just scream I LOVE FALL! I placed mine on a rustic old window frame that has candy corn burlap draped across it and OMG it looks adorable! These mini signs are also perfect for tiered trays and coffee bars. How cute would these be paired with some wood bead garland painted in fall colors?

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

If you plan to hang these mini fall wood signs be sure to check out my post on how to quickly and easily attach a sawtooth hanger to wooden signs.

How to make painted wood signs for fall

Here’s what you’ll need

• 3 prestained 5.5”x5.5” wood blanks

• hello fall, give thanks, pumpkin image SVG files

• oramask stencil film

• transfer tape

• paint brushes

• stenciling sponge

• orange, white, and black acrylic paint

• vinyl squeegee

• sandpaper

• xacto knife

Helpful tools

• Cricut cutting machine

• Cricut green mat

• Cricut Design Space

• Ryobi miter saw

• Ryobi sander

If you don’t have all the tools to completely make this fall craft from scratch you can order a DIY craft kit here. It comes with everything you need to make these wood signs at home.

ONE- the first thing you need to do is cut your wood into squares. I used a 1”x6” piece of pine, the actual size is 5.5” so I cut them into 5.5'“x5.5” squares. After you’ve cut and sanded your 5.5”x5.5” wood pieces stain them and let them dry for 24 hours. After they’ve dried sand around the edges, corners, and a light sanding on the front, be sure to wipe them down so you get all of the sawdust off of them. I LOVE my RYOBI CORDLESS SANDER , it is what I use for all of my wooden projects. But, if you don’t have a sander you can get the job done with 120 grit sand paper.

TWO- Cut your stencils out. If you want to use an SVG similar the ones in this tutorial you can go here to grab your SVG files. I’ve found that using true stencil film works best for stenciling wood signs. I highly recommend cutting the designs out on Oramask stencil film. I used a Cricut Explore to cut the files for this fall craft. I weeded them with an xacto knife once they were done cutting.

THREE- Now you can start painting! You want to paint each sign a different color. Start by painting a thin layer of paint on the front of each sign. You want to leave a small border around the edge. This should look kinda rough and uneven, it will give it lots of character when finished this way. Wait for the first layer to dry completely then paint a second THIN layer on top of that. I don’t recommend painting more than two layers of base paint. the more layers you have the more problems you will run into when peeling up your stencil.

Repeat this step for all 3 signs. Once they are all TOTALLY DRY you are ready for stenciling. They must be completely dry otherwise your stencil will not stick to the wood and it will be an ugly mess.

I don’t have pictures of how to do the next steps on the fall mini signs BUT I am sharing pictures of a similar craft that I made for winter themed signs. You can read the full winter themed tutorial here. Both sign trios have the same steps, the only differences are the stencils and paint colors, everything else is the same :)!

FOUR- Start by removing the paper backing from your stencil. This works best if you use a vinyl applicator {here’s what I use} or you can use a stiff store rewards card, I don’t recommend using your bank card as it could break during the process.

If you’re using your own stencils you’ll need transfer tape to transfer your stencil onto the wood in one piece.

Start by rubbing the front of the stencil with your vinyl applicator. Be sure you move in one direction.

Then flip it over and do the same to the back.

Now slowly peel the paper backing away from the stencil. This works best if you start at one corner and peel away at a sharp 90 degree angle. Go SLOW.

Before you start applying your stencils decided which stencil you will put on each board.

First, you’ll want to place your stencil where you want it on your board. I wanted mine to all be centered so that’s what I did but you can place them anywhere on the board you’d like. I just recommend keeping the image within the painted part of the wood.

Using your vinyl tool rub the stencil, using the same technique as before. Now SLOWLY peel the transfer tape {the clear sticky stuff} away from your stencil. I do this at a sharp angle and I will slowly roll it off of the stencil.

After you get the transfer tape off rub your finger along all the exposed stencil edges {anywhere there is wood showing thru}. this helps to get s good seal on your stencil.

FIVE- Now you’re ready to start painting your stencil! Use one end of your cosmetic sponge LIGHTLY dip it in the paint color you’d like your design. BE SURE TO USE VERY LITTLE PAINT, this is key to getting little to no paint bleed under your stencil. Dab the sponge on a paper towel a couple times then onto your stencil, do this till you have a very THIN even coat {you should be able to see thru the first coat}. LET DRY, repeat till you are happy with the coverage.

SIX- After you’re finished sponging the stencil you can peel it up immediately. I know all tutorials can vary with peeling the stencil up while the paint is still wet or waiting for it to dry. I have had the best luck peeling the stencil while the paint is still wet. Use an xacto knife or sewing pin to aid in this step.

As with all of my DIY tutorials if you have any questions please ask in the comments below:)

How to paint plastic flower containers for fall

One thing I really wanted for my fall porch decor were fresh mums. They are just so gorgeous and scream HELLO FALL! But the only problem was that I only had $20 to spend on things fall for our home. You can read all about how I made that happen in my budget friendly fall porch decorations.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

I headed to Walmart, because I knew I could make the most of my budget there, and found some super gorgeous deep red mums for under $5 each! The only problem was that their bases were HIDEOUS. That super undesirable dark green/brown color, yeah you know that standard plastic flower base color that all the cheap plants come in 😆!

So I thought, hey just grab a can of spray paint and paint those suckers up! And I did!

I didn’t just grab any spray paint thought. I’ve had my fair share of run ins with bad spray paint so instead of grabbing a cheap $.97 can I splurged and picked up a can of Rustoleum. Since I didn’t want the bases to be shiny, I really wanted them to be dull to tie in with the rest of the fall porch decorations I opted for the orange MATTE finish and it turned out so pretty!

Here’s what I used RUSTOLEUM ORANGE MATTE FINISH SPARY PAINT

First you need to take your plants out of the ugly containers. You’ll want to set the plants somewhere that they won’t get sprayed with the spray paint.

Then take a wet wipe or damp cloth and wipe down just the outside of the container. You won’t be painting the inside so it’s not necessary to clean the inside of it.

Next shake your paint can really really well. This is pretty important because you want the paint to get all mixed together before spraying onto the container. If not you will have streaks of off color. Trust me this has happened to me before with CLEAR satin finish spray paint. I didn’t shake it enough and I got a streak of white across my project. So shake, shake, shake!

Then in short strokes spray the containers. If you spray too long in in one spot you’ll get a runny mess. I only sprayed my bases with one coat. This spray paint is AMAZING and literally covers like heaven so one coat is all you need.

Let it dry. Ideally you want it to dry for several hours before you plant back inside. I didn’t wait that long because I was pressed for time, I was filming this tutorial for my YouTube channel. If you can wait a few hours then place your plants back inside their painted containers.

That’s it! You now have gorgeous plant containers and they didn’t cost you hardly anything to makeover! Bonus if you already have the paint on hand!

I hope this helps if you are like me and on a tight budget for the non necessities. We can stay on budget and have cute things ;)!

Happy crafting!

DIY wedding guestbook alternative

Oh how I wish I had something gorgeous like this when my husband and I married almost 11 years ago. Back in those days, ha I say that like it was so long ago, but truthfully back then personalized wedding décor was not an affordable option. Our young selves scrimped together $2k for our wedding, that included the dress, the rings, and all the food, so buying a fancy sign like the ones I make for other newlyweds today was not in our wedding budget.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

But despite our small budget our wedding was beautiful. We got married on my father-in-law’s property in the fall, back before outdoor rustic weddings were a thing. I always knew I wanted to marry my husband outside surrounded by nature and God. Something about that just sings happiness. And that’s exactly what it was <3!

I know some brides are like me, and are on a little tighter budget so saving here and there really adds up. That’s why I wanted to offer this DIY PAINTED WOOD WEDDING TREE SIGN KIT. It’s an affordable option to the ones we paint for you. Instead of us making them we send you everything so you can save a little money and DIY your own.

How to paint your own wood wedding tree sign

DIY PREMIUM KIT includes everything you need to make your own sign but you can opt for other kit styles to include just the stencil or just the stencil and board.

• prestained board

• personalized stencil on professional quality stencil film with transfer tape attached

• white paint

• stenciling sponge

Helpful tools not included

• xacto knife

• vinyl squeegee

• 3/4” masking tape

If you just need the stencil we can accommodate that too. But to make it super easy for you we recommend opting for the kit that includes the prestained board. If you don’t allow enough time for your stained board to dry prior to stenciling you can run into a lot of problems :/.

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Want to learn how to paint signs like a professional? Join my SIGN PAINTING ECOURSE where I teach you everything I know about sign painting. Painting thousands of signs over the last couple of years for my online business I’ve had to teach myself A LOT and boy do I wish I had a course like this when I started out. I would have saved so much time, energy and so much money!

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If you don’t need a DIY craft kit and have all the tools to make your own stencils/prep your own board here’s what you’ll need

• 11.5”x14.5” stencil, cut and weeded {you want it slightly larger than your board so that your wedding tree will hang off of your piece of wood]

• transfer tape

• 11.25”x14” sanded and pre-stained. You want to wait a full 24 hours before painting on stained wood. You will have a very difficult time getting the stencil to stick if the wood is not full dry.

• white acrylic paint

• stenciling sponge

Painting your own wedding guestbook alternative

Your stencil will come with three pieces

• white paper backing

• blue stencil film

• clear transfer tape {this is what will enable you to easily transfer your stencil to the board in one piece without any issues, do not remove this till after the stencil is applied to your board}

Using either a vinyl squeegee {here is the exact vinyl squeegee I use for my sign painting business} or a rewards card rub the front and back of your stencil. This will help the stencil adhere even more to the transfer tape and for the paper backing to release a little easier when you remove it.

Flip your stencil over so that the paper backing is facing up and peel the backing away from the stencil, leaving the stencil attached to the transfer tape.

PRO TIP: rolling it away works best. You don’t want to pull it up, this will cause the stencil to tear. Instead roll it off. If you have little pieces that stick just push them back down and keep rolling the paper away {see the video above for a visual of how to easily remove the paper stencil backing}

After you’ve removed the paper back from your wedding tree stencil you can discard the paper, you won’t need it again. Flip your stencil over so it’s sticky side is on the wood. Align the bottom and left sides of your stencil with the bottom and left sides of your wood base. Then pull the stencil to the left so it overhangs on the wood base, this will make it so that your tree branches are hanging off the sign and you won’t have a weird edge where the tree branches just suddenly stop.

Starting from the middle and working your way out press your stencil to your board using your vinyl squeegee or rewards card. You want to apply a fair amount of pressure for this step so that you work out the air bubbles. The less air bubbles the less paint bleed you’ll have.

Then remove the transfer tape the same way you removed the paper backing. Start from one corner and work your way to the opposite corner.

PRO TIP: GO SLOW! If you do this step too quickly you will likely tear your stencil and you definitely don’t want that to happen.

Give your board a once over to make sure there aren’t any air bubbles or areas that need to be flattened. Use your squeegee if you need to take care of those spots.

To paint your wedding tree board you will need to use the FLAT end of your stenciling sponge. To keep the paint bleed at a super minimum you are going to paint 3 SUPER LIGHT layers.

Dip the end of your stenciling sponge into your paint. If you ordered the PREMIUM WEDDING GUESTBOOK DIY CRAFT KIT you will have a lot more paint than you will actually need. You will literally use a TINY amount of paint on your sign but I always send more than enough paint for our DIY CRAFT KITS.

Dab off the excess paint, you don’t want there to be any globs on there. Then dab the paint onto the areas that need to be stenciled. Try to get an even coat.

You want to be able to see the wood grain still through the first couple of layers of paint. Here’s what mine looked like on the lettering after the first coat.

After the first layer is dry you can apply a second layer, using the same technique. It will be super tempting to apply a heavier amount of paint but you definitely do NOT want to do this. All that extra paint will seep under your stencil and it will just be a big ugly mess and you’ll cry. ugly cry at that.

This is what my wedding guestbook looked like after the second layer. It obviously needs another coat. Just keep applying coats until you are happy with the coverage. You can apply up to 4 thin coats.

PRO TIP: the coverage will actually be darker than it appears while the stencil is still on the wood base.

After you’re satisfied with the coverage you need to peel up the stencil. PEEL IT UP WHILE THE PAINT IS STILL WET. I know other tutorials suggest to peel after the paint dries but in my professional opinion dry peeling does not give good results. I have painted THOUSANDS of signs over the last couple of years and had LOTS of trial and error in this department ——> if you want to take your sign painting journey even further check out my SIGN PAINTING ECOURSE

Remove the taped off areas then to peel the stencil start from one corner and peel at a sharp angle, do not peel in the up direction rather in the pull toward you direction.

Use and xacto knife to get up and under the stencil film. Do not force it under as this will gouge your board.

After you’ve removed all of the stencil film your sign needs to cure for about 24 hours before using it. You can spray your sign with either a matte or satin finish but this is not necessary. Here’s the one I use for my signs, satin finishing spray.

My customers have had great luck with the SHARPIE EXTRA FINE POINT MARKERS to have their guests write on their boards the day of the wedding.

Please let me know if you have any questions on how to paint your wedding guestbook alternative. If you want to take your sign painting journey even further you can’t miss my sign painting E-course. I spent endless amounts money {seriously more than I’d like to admit}, wasted a ridiculous amount of time and energy to find the exact way to easily and efficiently paint wood signs for my sign painting business. I don’t want you to have the same stress. I wish I stumbled across a course like this when I was starting out. Someone to tell me and SHOW me exactly what to do {bc let’s be honest some tutorials are just WAY off on their DIY sign painting}. And not only that but tell me EXACTLY what to buy. I could have been making a HUGE profit a lot sooner if I didn’t have to go through all the trial and error.

Save yourself the headache learn the RIGHT WAY to create professional one of a kind signs.

Decorating your porch for FALL on a BUDGET

I’ve never been one to spend a lot of money on decorations. And this year is even more a reason to keep the fall decorations budget to a minimum. My husband and I are on track to be totally debt free by the end of 2019! This is something we’ve been working on for awhile {with a few setbacks though} and we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! So this year for the fall decorating budget we put aside $20…yes TWENTY dollars to create a beautiful fall scenery on our uncovered front porch.

And truthfully I wasn’t worried at all because I knew I could make that happen! A few things I knew I wanted were fresh mums and pumpkins. A bale of straw and some dried corn stalks would have been icing on the cake but sadly there was no room to splurge for these…maybe next year.

How to decorate your uncovered front porch on a BUDGET for fall

If you’re like me and don’t have a lot of money {or maybe nothing at all} to put toward your fall porch decorations here are some tips to help you to create a beautiful porch on a budget.

FIRST use what you have. This is a rule I use for decorating year round. If you incorporate things you already have you are literally spending nothing.

SECOND this one is a favorite of mine…if you have relatives that are tossing things out ask if you can have them. My father in law had this AMAZING pile of, well junk, on his property and every time we would go over there I would search through his junk pile lol! He gave me full permission to take whatever my little heart wanted and boy did I always find good stuff to take home. My husband didn’t always agree ha! A couple things I picked from his pile that I used in my fall porch décor

• the rusty old chair

• old broken window

Both of these things I keep on the porch year round and thank goodness I rescued them because they are absolutely perfect!

THIRD check your Facebook swap n shop pages/groups. People love getting rid of things, even for free. This is so my personality type too! When I’m tired of looking at the clutter I go in full on purge mode lol! Just this last weekend the overwhelm from daughter # 4’s bedroom was really getting to me. So, naturally like a lot of moms do, I took in the roll of trash bags and just started tossing anything and everything that I hadn’t seen her play with since the start of summer. It’s a little embarrassing but I filled 7 kitchen sized trash bags full of gently used toys and some clothes that he had outgrown.

FOURTH shop around for the best prices. Even though supporting small business is always on my mind because I own a small business, I do shop at Walmart. And I don’t feel guilty about it. One day when we are rich we will be able to shop small all day everyday but for now, while raising four daughters, I have to pick and choose when we can afford to support small business.

FIFTH make your own décor. If you’re crafty jump on some DIY PINTEREST boards to get some ideas of what to make. I suggest skimming your crafty stash to see what you have too. The OG barn wood looking sign is one I made, DIY PALLET SIGN for our front porch for fall. It’s actually a school spirit sign. We live in a pretty small town and school spirit is alive and well here. Since our school colors are orange and black I try to incorporate school spirit into our décor. It makes it a little more fun for our girls too because we are visually saying ‘go school’ and I know that’s encouraging for them. Just be sure whatever pieces you put out there that they are protected from the elements if needed. To make this sign I just used leftover pieces from other projects, check out these SCRAP WOOD PUMPKINS

Now that you have some tips on how to make the most of your budget here’s how I spent my $20 for my DIY fall porch decorating

• $3.98 large pumpkin at Walmart

• $2.98 bag of mini gourds

• $4.84 mum x2

• 3.96 orange spray paint, I only used 1/3 of it

Technically I went over the $20 by .60 BUT I do have 2/3 of a can of spray paint left over for another project, so in my mind I only spent 1/3 of the price for this project lol!!

I really wanted fresh mums but I couldn’t afford the GORGEOUS ones from the local farms. Just one mum would have taken up my entire budget. I opted for the cheapest large mums I could find at Walmart but they had UGLY bases. The green/brown color that just screams cheap flowers. I loved the more decorative bases but those too were not in the budget. Instead I grabbed a can of spray paint, and not the $1 can because I knew the coverage on that would be awful, and sprayed the bases orange in matte finish. This was the PERFECT solution!

See my video below on how to easily spray paint your ugly fall flower bases.

I’d love to hear how you are planning to decorate your front porch for fall. Leave a comment below ;)!

DIY cute ghost yard stake

How to make a super cute ghost for your outdoor Halloween decorations

Between my online business and being a mom to four little girls I seriously don’t know where I find the time to make things for myself but I do lol! Like this cute outdoor ghost stake I HAD to make for our front yard. I had been slacking the last couple years with holiday decorating. Usually I go all out but lately I just hadn’t been up to it. So for this fall I decided I was getting back in my holiday décor groove! And this adorable little ghost is just one small part of my DIY fall/Halloween decorations. Check out this DIY PALLET SIGN I made, it’s actually a school spirit sign but with our school colors it ties in perfectly with our fall décor!

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

And this fun witch’s brew coffee mug I made using my Cricut and some vinyl. And just one more… this rusty pumpkin I made from mason jar lids. So cute!

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Real quick…if you have ever wanted to learn how to paint wood signs, the way the PROs do, you don’t want to miss my COMPLETE GUIDE TO SIGN PAINTING. It is a whole course that you complete on your time. I am teaching you EVERYTHING I know without you having to go through the headache and expense of trial and error. If you’ve struggled with paint bleed, designs not lining up, paint peel up, sticky residue left behind you are in for a treat! Click on the image below or go here for more info.

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DIY CUTE WOOD GHOST CUTOUT

If you don’t want to read the tutorial you can scroll to the bottom to watch the video tutorial or go here to watch it on my crafty YouTube channel.

Here’s what you’ll need

• WOOD {I used leftover OSB}

• RYOBI SCROLL SAW

• RYOBI BRAD NAILER

• RYOBI SANDER

• 120 GRIT SANDPAPER

• ORANGE, BLACK, WHITE, PINK ACRYLIC PAINTS

• WHITE & BLACK PAINT PENS

• SPRAY SEALANT

• PAINT BRUSHES

• ROUND FOAM BRUSHES

• GORILLA WOOD GLUE

• GLUE GUN

• ASSORTED RIBBON

• THICK STRING IN A COORDINATING COLOR

Fist you want to draw the outline of your ghost onto the wood you’re using. We had some leftover OSB so that’s what I used. I also used this same OSB wood to make this pallet sign on the letter cutouts. We had made triple loft beds for the older three girls and WAY overbought for the project lol! So now we have a full sheet and a half still left over.

Then cut out your design on your scroll saw. Honestly this probably would have been much easier if I used a jig saw BUT this is what I had to use and it still worked pretty good to get the job done.

Once you have it all cut out give it a quick sanding to knock down the rough edges. I used a 120 grit sandpaper on my Ryobi sander.

Then paint your ghost cutout all white. I didn’t paint the back of mine and I really wish I would have. I used a leftover paint we had in our garage but you can use acrylic for yours if that’s what you have.

After your white base coat is dry on your wood ghost you can start doing the artsy stuff :)! I like to sketch out my design before I start painting. This way if I make a mistake it’s much easier to fix it vs painting it, messing up big time, then wanting to throw it across the floor lol! I sketched out eyes, eyebrows, eyelashes, mouth, and then I used an off brand K-cup to draw my circles for the large polk-a-dots. {actually I painted the cheeks before I traced the circles but if I was thinking I would have traced those first}

To paint the cheeks you need pink and white paint and I also used a stencil brush but you can use a round brush for this step. Dip your brush into the pink paint then dip one side into the white, but just a little bit of white. Then swirl it around in a circle at the corner of each side of the mouth. Add more white if you need just a little more highlight in there.

Then paint the other facial details, except for the mouth. Somehow I forgot to paint the eyelashes so I did mine later but you can go ahead and paint those now too. I used a round brush for the eye painting and a fine flat brush for the finer details.

Now paint all the polk-a-dots. I used orange and black for my dots. I painted the large ones in with a paint brush. I used a medium sized round sponge brush {black dots}, a small sponge brush {orange dots}, and the wood end of the small brush for even smaller dots . I didn’t plan any of these out too much, just kind of scattered them wherever they looked best.

When the cheeks are dry you can paint the mouth of your wood ghost using black paint and a fine paint brush.

Add the white features to the eyes. I used a white paint pen and made a curved line on one side of each eye {be sure you are making them on the same side of each eye} and I added a dot towards the outside of the other side of the eye then a little accent dot right above that dot.

Using a paint pen I made a long dash line all the way around my ghost and I also added dashes on each circle. For the outline and all of the orange circles I used a black paint pen. For all the black circles I used a white paint pen. Btw….isn’t my little helper just the cutest?!! This is daughter #4 <3

Since this will be outside I sprayed mine with this indoor/outdoor clear satin Krylon sealant.

Attach your stake part to the back of your ghost using Gorilla wood glue and a brad nailer. I really like this Ryobi one I use. My husband has one that I would use before I got my own and omg what a world of difference. You can read more about why I chose to go with Ryobi power tools here for my crafty business.

I made a super simple pinwheel bow to make my wood ghost a little more girly. These are also super adorable bows to make for your little girls to wear in their hair. We have tons of these that I’ve made over the years for my own four little girls. Then attach the bow with hot glue.

Once the hot glue is totally dry you can stick your wood ghost in the yard. I absolutely LOVE the way this little cutie turned out! Even when our girls got off the bus they got so excited because she is just sooooooo darn adorable!

I have a few more of these wood yard decorations to make so be on the look out for a DIY CANDY CORN and a DIY FRANKENSTEIN wood stakes.

Let me know below what you think of this DIY HALLOWEEN CRAFT.

Watch the full crafty tutorial below

DIY CRAFT KIT how to paint your free standing BOO wood cutouts

How to paint your DIY CRAFT KIT, BOO WOOD CUTOUTS

I just love these little wood cutouts. They are so adorable and tie in perfectly with our simple Halloween décor. I primarily decorate for fall but I do like to add touches of Halloween to our decorations because I have little kiddos and they LOVE the Halloween stuff far more than the traditional fall décor. So we compromise and get the best of both worlds.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

If you love this DIY CRAFT KIT check out another popular fall craft kit, DIY FREE STANDING PUMPKINS

Don’t feel like reading the tutorial? No worries I have a short video tutorial on my YouTube channel. Scroll to the bottom to catch it or click here to view the HOW TO PAINT YOUR CRAFT KIT, DIY BOO WOOD CUTOUTS

If you need a CRAFT KIT you can order yours here —-> DIY CRAFT KIT BOO WOOD CUTOUTS FOR HALLOWEEN

If you want to make yours from scratch check out this post on how to make your own BOO WOOD CUTOUTS using a Cricut cutting machine and a Ryobi scroll saw. I show you exactly how I make my BOO cutout sets and if you have the tools you can make your own too! There’s even a video tutorial at the end ;)!

How to paint your BOO wood cutouts

If you didn’t but the DIY CRAFT KIT here’s what you’ll need

• WOOD CUTOUTS

• MIDDLE CUTOUT PIECES

• PAINT BRUSHES OR FOAM BRUSHES

• BLACK ACRYLIC PAINT

• WHITE ACRYLIC PAINT

• PENCIL

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Real quick…if you have ever wanted to learn how to paint wood signs, the way the PROs do, you don’t want to miss my complete guide to sign painting. It is a whole course that you complete on your time. I am teaching you EVERYTHING I know without you having to go through the headache and expense of trial and error. If you’ve struggled with paint bleed, designs not lining up, paint peel up, sticky residue left behind you are in for a treat! Click on the image below or go here for more info.

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First you want to decide if you want to paint white or black letters. Heck, you could even mix it up and do both! I chose to do white ghosts but I wanted black distressing on my cutouts. There are lots of different ways to achieve this look but my favorite is to paint the distressing color first then paint my project whatever color I want it to actually be.

So on these BOO cutouts I first painted them with a SUPER thin layer of black paint {remember this is going to be the underneath/distressed color}.

After the underneath color is dry you can paint your wood cutouts the actual color you want them to be.

Some important things to know:

• use a VERY LIGHT hand when painting the top color. You do not want to press hard as this will put too much paint on your wood cutouts and it is far easier to add more paint than it is to take too much paint off.

• do NOT get your brush wet. For almost all of my paint projects I always use a DRY brush.

• use very little paint, dab off excess paint before applying

• work from the middle out

• paint lightly around the edges as this is where the “natural” wear would be

• if you need a little more coverage wait till your paint is dry then add more paint

Paint all sides of each cutout this way.

Trace around your cardstock cutouts. You will have a total of 5 - 2 cutouts for the letter B and 3 cutouts for the ghosts {you will reuse the ghost cutouts for both ghosts}. Place them where they need to go on your cutouts then trace around them with a pencil. This does not have to be perfect ;)!

Using a fine paintbrush paint inside the traced lines with the same colored paint you used for your distressing color. I used black for my distressing color so I also used black for areas I traced around.

And then you’re done! If you have sandpaper on hand you can lightly give it a little more distressing but that is totally up to you.

Click here to shop even more DIY CRAFT KITS

Check out the full video tutorial

If you have any questions about your DIY CRAFT KIT please leave a comment below or feel free to send me a message. If you purchased through my Etsy shop please message via their platform to stay in compliance with Etsy’s policy.

DIY free standing BOO cutouts using your Cricut & scroll saw

DIY- use your CRICUT to make BOO wood cutouts for Halloween

I don’t have the latest fancy Cricut Maker, but that doesn’t mean I still can’t create AMAZING projects with my older model, CRICUT EXPLORE. Especially when use it with my Ryobi scroll saw…pure magic happens! Ok, obviously not real magic but the projects you can create with this combo is everything to write home about!

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

I wanted to add another DIY craft kit to my crafty line up for my online business and thought these BOO cutouts would fit in perfectly with the craft kits I already offer.

If you don’t have the tools to make your own BOO cutouts grab your own

—-> BOO DIY CRAFT KIT <——

After you read this tutorial check out how I finished my own BOO WOOD CUTOUTS

Here’s what you’ll need to cut out your own Halloween BOO wood letters

• CRICUT EXPLORE AIR

• CRICUT CUTTING MAT

• CRICUT ACCESS in CRICUT DESIGN SPACE

• RYOBI SCROLL SAW

• RYOBI SANDER

• RYOBI MITER SAW

• 120 GRIT SANDPAPER

• PINE WOOD {I used a scrap piece}

• PENCIL

• CARDSTOCK

Don’t feel like reading the tutorial? Catch the video below or click here for the DIY BOO cutouts tutorial using your Cricut & scroll saw

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First, design your BOO in Cricut Design Space. I used the font beefcake for the letter “B”. I used a ghost image in DS {design space} that is included in my Cricut Access monthly subscription plan. It had arms but I took those away using the slice function. I resized them too fit the piece of wood I was using so mine are 6”x3.25”.

Next, cut them out on cardstock. I used some scrap cardstock that I had leftover from a previous DIY project. After I started cutting them I realized that I really didn’t need to cut out two ghosts. So really you just need 1 letter B and 1 ghost. Don’t toss the middles of the ghost or B, you’ll need those for later when you paint them.

Now trace around your cutouts using a pencil onto your wood. I have TONS of scrap wood so I used a scrap piece that I had on hand. I used a 1” pine board that you can find at most home improvement stores. Check out the DIY SCRAP WOOD PUMPKINS I made using this same method. They turned out SO CUTE!!

You don’t need to trace around the middle cutouts because we won’t be cutting those pieces out. Remember to trace around your ghost twice ;)

After you have your Cricut cutouts traced it’s time to cut them out using your Ryobi scroll saw. If you don’t have a scroll saw you can use a band saw and maybe even a jigsaw but I’ve had great luck with cutting things out on my scroll saw so for now that’s what I’m sticking with.

Once you have them all cut out you’ll want them to be able to stand on their own. I used my miter saw to do this. My miter has a laser on it making it SUPER easy to line things up and to show me exactly how much I’m taking off. By cutting a sliver off the bottom with your miter saw you get a nice straight base so your projects are able to stand freely on their own.

SIDE NOTE: if you’re thinking about investing in a set of your own power tools you’ll want to read this WHAT ARE THE BEST POWER TOOLS FOR CRAFTERS. It wasn’t that long ago when I had some serious anxiety about using power tools so I wrote a little about that and why I’ve chosen the tools I have for my crafty projects and business.

Then just give them a quick sanding and you’re ready to paint them. I always use a 120 grit sandpaper and most of the time I don’t sand my projects to a super smooth finish. A little bit of bumps and divots just add to the rustic look ;)!!

There are so many projects you can do when you start pairing your tools together. Like this DIY MERMAID CUPCAKE STAND I made for my daughter’s birthday party this year. And a bonus is that she has a pretty awesome new room decoration she was able to decoration then hang in her bedroom after the party was over.

Check out the DIY BOO cutouts using your Cricut & scroll saw video tutorial below

COMING SOON…a complete guide to paint wood signs without the stress and headache of trial and error. Click here for more info

DIY make a wood CUPCAKE base using your Cricut

Use your Cricut & scroll saw to make a wooden cupcake base in the shape of a mermaid tail

I love throwing birthday parties for my four daughters. I love the excitement in their eyes when they see all the work and thought that’s been put into THEIR big day! I love sitting with them and planning out the details. And when the oldest three were much younger I LOVED making their cakes. As the years have passed though, I found my self getting busier and busier and it was just easier for me to run to Sams club and grab a cake from there.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

But this year when the second oldest was planning her birthday she asked if I would make her cake. I felt so honored. Really? She didn’t want a store bought cake but one that momma made! Seriously bring on the happy tears!

She had been pinning on Pinterest for a couple of months and decided she wanted a MERMAID cake! As soon as she said those words I knew what I was going to do to make that happen… MERMAID PULL APART CUPCAKES! So much easier than an actual cake and less mess on the day of the party. Years and years ago I did a similar one for the oldest daughter when she turned 4. I made pull apart cupcakes in the shape of a 4 and it was ADORABLE and SOOOOOOO easy!

Thank goodness for tools like Cricut and Ryobi, if I didn’t have those then her cake might have turned out a little….less than edible looking lol!

If you want more little girl birthday party inspiration be sure to check out these ADORABLE UNICRON party centerpieces I made using my Cricut too!

Don’t feel like reading the full tutorial? Skip to the bottom to catch the video or go here ——-> MERMAID TAIL CUPCAKE BASE on my YouTube channel

How to make a wood base for pull apart mermaid cupcakes

Here’s what you’ll need

• CRICUT EXPLORE AIR

• CRICUT DESIGN SPACE

• RYOBI SCROLL SAW

• RYOBI SANDER

• 120 grit sandpaper

• CRICUT CUTTING MAT

• 1” thick pine board {or whatever wood you prefer}

• masking tape

• 12”x12” cardstock

• pencil

First select your design in CRICUT DESIGN SPACE. If you are like me and create a ton of projects each monthly I highly recommend signing up for CRICUT ACCESS. You will have access to thousands of images, fonts, and projects for a small monthly fee…and it’s SO worth it!

Here’s the mermaid tail I chose in Cricut Access. I just simply searched MERMAID TAIL and chose one that I liked.

I chose the pink one on the bottom row. I really like that this one had some movement in it. But I didn’t really like the white spaces on the mermaid tail. So after I added it to my canvas I used the CONTOUR function to hide those white spaces. I also adjusted the size of the mermaid tail so that it was 11.45” wide. I left the size lock on so that it would adjust the height for me so that everything would be proportionate.

Since I was using cardstock for my stencil and I didn’t have a piece big enough I butted two pieces together and taped the seam so that it would be like one big piece. Feed your mat through your Cricut machine and press GO when the button starts to flash.

I used a piece of scrap 1x12 to make my mermaid tail cupcake base out of. I had some plywood which probably would have worked just as good {and would have been cheaper to use} but I knew I most likely wouldn’t use this again and I wanted my daughter to be able to use it to hang in her room after her party.

Trace your mermaid tail cardstock stencil out on your piece of wood.

Then cut the mermaid tail out using your Ryobi scroll saw. You can use a band saw, and even a jig saw for this step if you don’t have a scroll saw.

Then you want to smooth it out using your Ryobi sander. I used 120 grit sand paper on mine. I also slightly rounded some of the edges so that it wasn’t so pokey.

Add your cupcakes and decorate. I just slapped a little bit of frosting on the bottom of each cupcake to stick them to the board.

. I used a combination of purple, teal, and white for the frosting colors and I didn’t even use any fancy piping tips {I was a little pressed for time lol}. For under $10 I was able to make the cake of her mermaid themed birthday dreams!

Watch the video tutorial below on how to make your own MERMAID TAIL CUPCAKE BASE

EASY witch's brew coffee mug decal using your CRICUT

DIY - how to apply a Halloween vinyl decal to a white coffee mug using your CRICUT

I just love how a simple decal and totally change the look of something. Truthfully I NEVER use this coffee mug. Why? Because it’s all white and not at all fun to drink out of. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but it’s honest. So when I go for my morning cup of room temp coffee {because I am not a big fan of warm/hot coffee} I always pass by this guy and reach for a cheery option.

I wanted to do a tutorial on how to apply vinyl to coffee mugs and knew this coffee mug would be the perfect sacrifice for the job! And I am totally going to start drinking out of this one now that it got a little Halloween decal makeover!

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

I chose a super simple font and saying, because I wanted to keep it easy for my first tutorial on applying a vinyl decal to a coffee mug. If you have Cricut Design Space you can use the font for free on there, but if not you can find a million different fonts on a number of font downloading websites. The font on Design Space is FOUR SEASONS HOME DECOR

PSSST if you need to make your own striped wood pumpkin that’s peeking on the side of this pic go here ——> DIY WOOD PUMPKIN

How to apply a Halloween vinyl decal to a coffee mug

Here’s what you’ll need

• CRICUT CUTTING MACHINE

• BLACK ORACAL 631 VINYL matte finish

• SISER TRANSFER TAPE

• VINYL SQUEEGEE

• SCISSORS

• WHITE COFFEE MUG {or stop at your local dollar store and pick one up}

• XACTO KNIFE

• CRICUT CUTTING MAT

• CRICUT DESIGN SPACE
  

First make your design. I used FOUR SEASONS HOME DECOR font in CRICUT DESIGN SPACE. I made my decal 3”x3” so it would take up a good portion of the area I was applying it to. Before you send it to the mat be sure your design is SAVED and either WELDED or ATTACHED. This way your design cuts out like you see it on the screen instead of the letters jumbled around.

TIP: I usually always save my font name into the title so I can remember what I used

I used a Oracal 631 vinyl in BLACK and in a MATTE FINISH. This grade of vinyl is for temporary or indoor use. I can not go in the dishwasher and I would not recommend using this grade of vinyl if you’re wanting it to last longer than one season. I plan to remove this after Halloween and apply a Christmas or wintery decal. If you do want a more resistant vinyl use ORACAL 651, that is outdoor grade and is what is recommended for a long lasting decal.

Weed your design. I use an Xacto knife for this but you can use whatever weeding tool you are most comfortable with, even a sewing pin will get the job done.

Before you can apply your decal you need to be sure that your mug is free and clean of any oil or residue. Use a lint free cloth and rubbing alcohol to clean the area you are applying the vinyl decal to. Do not use a cotton ball for this as it will totally leave behind fibers that will get stuck under your design and they will stick out and you will be able to see them ;)!

Apply your transfer tape to the front of your decal. Rub the front and back with your vinyl squeegee {if you don’t have one you can use a rewards card from the store} then slowly peel the paper backing away from your decal, leaving your decal attached to your transfer tape. The purpose of transfer tape is to easily transfer your design from the paper back it comes on to the base you are applying it to.

Hover your decal over your mug to decide where exactly you want it. If you need to apply tape to use as a guide that is ok. Do not press your decal down until you are positive that is where you want it. Then press down the middle and work your way out. Applying decals to curved surfaces isn’t always easy so go slow and give yourself grace if it is a crooked disaster the first time. It’s ok if you transfer tape doesn’t lay flat on your mug, you’ll see mine do this in the video, but the important thing is that the design does.

Starting in one corner slowly peel/roll the transfer tape away from the mug leaving the vinyl decal attached to the mug. If your letters want to come up with the transfer tape just push them back down with your finger and keep rolling the tape away. After you completely remove the transfer tape take your finger and rub along each letter to make sure that they are adhered and there aren’t any air bubbles.

I know I will be loving this mug now. And the saying is pretty fitting for my grouchy days lol!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and it helps you create your own DIY vinyl decal. If you have any questions please ask away:)! I am honored to help you on your crafty journey.

Check out the full video tutorial below. I would LOVE if you subscribed to my YouTube channel. It’s how I am able to reach even more people who want to learn more about the crafty world.

For more fall themed projects click the button below

DIY school spirit pallet style porch sign

DIY porch sign to show off your school spirit

It was an absolute PERFECT day in our small town today that I took a couple hours to make something for my own front porch. I could just feel the fall weather coming in and that reminded me that I needed to decorate for the upcoming season. Which totally meant that I NEEDED to make a new sign lol! Every year I try to incorporate a school spirit pieces on our porch, really it only makes sense because our school colors are ORANGE & BLACK but truly I do it because my husband and I absolutely adore the schools where we live.

The teachers are amazing, the staff in general is amazing, they take such great care of our girls while they are there for 8 hours a day. We can’t say enough nice things about our small town schools! So we show off our school spirit every fall blended into our fall décor.

I wanted a bigger sign than what I usually put out. The old one is a small 40”x5.5” leaning sign that honestly I’m tired of looking at lol! So today was the day for a new one! I had a pretty general idea of what I was going to do but I didn’t know it was going to turn out even more perfect than I planned!

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

Here’s what you need to make your own school spirit rustic porch sign

• repurposed wood

• 7/16” OSB {oriented strand board}

• 1”x2” pine wood

• Cricut

• cardstock

• Ryobi miter saw

• Ryobi scroll saw

• Ryobi sander

• hook & loop sandpaper

• Ryobi brad nailer

• brad nails

• paint brushes

• black acrylic paint

• orange acrylic paint

• white acrylic paint

First

You need to decide how large you want your sign, mine is approx. 24”x 22”. Then decide how large you want your lettering to be. I wanted my letters to take up a big portion of the base so I made my lettering roughly 11.5” wide and 14” tall each.

Measure out your wood base pieces and cut them to size using your miter saw. Then cut two pieces of your 1x2 a little shorter than the height of your sign. These are the pieces you’ll use to attach your pallet sign together. Place the pieces that you’ll be using for your sign face down on a flat surface. Then place your 1x2’s on it so it looks like the picture below.

Second

Use wood glue {I use gorilla wood glue} to glue the 1x2’s in place, then use your brad nailer to nail them down.

Third

Cut your letters out on cardstock using your Cricut.. The cardstock I had on hand wasn’t long enough so I butted two pieces together and taped the seam and it worked perfectly!

Fourth

Trace the letters onto your OSB. You can use pine for this but I chose OSB because we had this leftover from building TRIPLE LOFT BEDS for our older three girls…and yes, they came out AMAZING! I still have yet to write the tutorial for their U-shaped lofts but I promise, I will have it written before the end of the month ;)!

After you have them traced, cut them out using your scroll saw. Then give them a good sanding just on the front and around the edges. You won’t see the back so don’t worry about sanding that.

Fifth

Paint your letters. I chose to paint mine all black but you can get as creative with this as you’d like.

I wanted to add a pop of color to my sign so I painted just one of the boards orange, just lightly brushed over it so it was medium coverage.

Now add your letters to your sign. I didn’t align mine because I like the offset look. I didn’t bother gluing these down I just popped a few brad nails in each letter using my brad nailer.

Now for the fun part! I love making these adorable free hand painted garland. I wanted the color to pop so I painted the triangles white, then once those dried I painted over them with the colors I wanted them to be. At first I wasn’t going to paint any of the triangles black but once I started painting over the white with orange I decided to break it up a little with every third triangle painted black. Then I used the end of my paint brush to add polk-a-dots to them. So CUTE!

I just LOVE this rustic porch sign and it will tie in PERFECTLY with the rest of my fall décor.

I hope this inspires you to show off your own school or town spirit where you live. Let me know what you think below.

Click on the pic below to PIN for later

How transform your crafts with antiquing wax

How to transform your rustic craft projects with ANTIQUING WAX

I talk to so many people all the time that have never used antiquing wax for their crafty projects because they think it’s just for furniture or cabinets. Well, do I have news…it’s totally NOT just for those things! The truth is you can use it for SO MANY crafty projects especially if you are going for the rustic look.

When I google ‘how to use antiquing wax for crafts’ most of what pulls up are tutorials on how to apply it over furniture. And yes, antiquing wax is GREAT for large pieces like furniture, but it’s also AMAZING for regular home décor pieces. I want others to be aware of the secret craft ingredient they might be missing out on.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

You can use antiquing wax over SOOOOOO many different bases {I’ve linked a few projects below}

• painted Styrofoam

• paper

• painted wood

I have tried several different brands of wax that are affordable and I can say they are all good. You can get them on amazon, I usually recommend Folk Art Antiquing Wax, but you can pick up Waverly wax from Walmart and the one pictured above, from Artminds, at Michael’s craft store

But you can’t just go applying this magical stuff like you do paint because it isn’t paint. There are few things you need to know to make your project turn out the best. And I’m sharing them with you because I wish I would have read an article like this YEARS ago :)!!!

Here are my tips for using antiquing wax on your home décor craft project

• MIX, MIX, MIX when you first open your wax you’ll likely notice that it’s separated. It tends to do that, especially if it’s been sitting for awhile. I recommend using a popsicle stick and stirring it really well. There will probably be clumps on the bottom of the jar, be sure to smash those clumps into the liquid part of the wax, that’s where the color is.

• Wax comes in a few different colors as well as clear {if wanting a rustic look use antiquing wax} but be sure that your bottle says WAX. If you’re looking for this at the craft store it will be with the chalk paints. The bottles look the same so don’t go on color alone as it might just be a dark colored chalk paint and not wax.

• Don’t use your fancy paint brushes to apply wax. You can buy fancy waxing brushes but I use a simple chip brush, specifically 1.5” or 2” sized ones. The ones I send in my DIY CRAFT KITS are 1” brushes.

• Cut the bristles down on your chip brush so that your brush is stiff instead of wispy. This will give your projects a much better look.

• A little wax goes a LONG way when it comes to your home décor pieces. I typically dip just the tips of the brush in the wax then dab the brush off onto my drop cloth I cover my workspace with. Then apply it to the piece I’m working on. This will give you more control over how much is applied.

• Apply only to DRY paint. If you apply to wet paint your paint will just look muddy :/.

• If sealing your piece with any kind of protective clear coating do that first then apply wax on top of that once it’s dry. Your wax will likely wear off and you will have to reapply it BUT if you apply wax then the clear coat the clear coat will flake off.

• Focus on the edges and corners, where things would naturally be worn.

Here are some projects that I’ve used antiquing wax on. Click on the pictures below to see their tutorial ;)

DIY 2x4 wood candy corn

DIY 1x4 American flag

Dollar Tree pumpkin rustic makeover

Check out my YouTube channel where I share even more crafty tips and tricks.

DIY embroidery hoop winter wall hanging

How to make an EMBROIDERY HOOP wall hanging for winter

Embroidery hoops are such a versatile craft tool. You can use them for the obvious of embroidery OR you can use them for so many other projects. Like a nursery mobile, a hoop to hold your screen for faux screen printing, or this fun winter wall hanging that you’re reading.

If you love the little pinecone accents check out this EASY PINECONE DOOR HANGER. And if you have little ones you HAVE to try this EASY & MESS FREE PINECONE ART! My older girls had SO much fun making their own pinecone paintings.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

Don’t have access to the right tools or just don’t have time to gather the supplies? No problem:)! I’ve put together this super easy craft kit just for times like this! Click I NEED A CRAFT KIT below to order yours from my Etsy shop.

Don’t need a craft kit? Here’s what you’ll need

• 9.25”x9.25” wood base

• sticks

• 6” embroidery hoop

• rustic bells

• assorted accents

• paint brush

• white acrylic paint

• twine

• floral wire

• Rustoleum KONA stain

• Ryobi sander {or 120 grit sandpaper}

Skip to the bottom to catch the full video tutorial

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First you need to stain your wood base and your hoop. I recommend using a quick dry stain. Let dry

Next, after your wood base is dry you want to distress it. I used my Ryobi sander for this step but you can use a piece of 120 grit sandpaper. Focus on the edges and corners and lightly sand the sides and front

Now paint your sticks completely white and the outer edges of your pine cones white. Use a dabbing motion when painting the pinecones.

Measure out how long you would like your bells to hang down then add a couple of inches. I made my bells to hang at staggering lengths.

Feed one end of the twin into the hanging part of the bell and tie it off. Repeat this step for all three.

After your stick are dry gather them together and wrap the green floral wire around the center. This will help to keep them together while you are placing the accents on. Then place your accent pieces on top of the sticks and wrap the middle section of the sticks and accents with twine.

Now glue down your embroidery hoop to your wood base. Apply glue to back side of the hoop {whichever side you prefer} then place it on your wood base and press down firmly.

Tie your bells around the metal part on the top section of the embroidery hoop. Pull this very tight. Add a dab of hot glue to the knot and pull it tight again.

Use your glue gun to glue down your accents. To get a secure hold, hold the accents in place till the hot glue is completely dry.

Trim down the pieces of twine from where you tied them onto the embroidery hoop and the you are done!

Check out the full video tutorial below

DIY rusty pumpkin from mason jar rings

How to make a rusty pumpkin from a mason jar lid

I’ll admit I have an obsession with MASON JARS!! Seriously though, who doesn’t in the days of rustic décor? But our family doesn’t just do crafts with them like this DIY LIGHT UP FAIRY JAR. Or these adorable DIY GLASS ETCHED MASON JARS. Other than storing food our family actually uses them as our drinking glasses. They are just so darn versatile! You can even buy these plastic mason jar lids so you don’t have to hassle with the two pieces that traditionally comes with mason jars.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

Ok, so enough about how much I LOVE and use mason jars lol! Let’s get to the rusty mason jar lid pumpkin tutorial. These rusty pumpkins will tie in perfectly with your rustic décor. You can place these on the table as a centerpiece, on a mantle, sit them on a deep shelf, you could even put them on your front porch with the rest of your gorgeous fall decorations.

Here’s what you’ll need

• regular mouth canning jar rings

• twine

• glue gun

• felt

• wire cutters

• scissors

• stick

• rustic wire

• pliers

If you aren’t in the reading mood skip to the bottom to catch the full rusty pumpkin video tutorial.

You’re probably wondering…how do I make my canning jar lids rusty? I don’t have a tutorial up just yet for how to make your mason jar rings rusty. But don’t worry I’m working on it and it is SUPER easy! You basically just soak them in a mixture of vinegar and salt for a week or so. Take them out when you're satisfied with the rustiness. Rinse them off. And let them air dry. That’s it!

You can make yours as full as you like but I don’t like that super uniformed look that most mason jar ring pumpkins have. I use a few less rings than a lot of the other tutorials call for but the others are still gorgeous 😍. For mine, I used 12 rings but you can use more if you like that look better :)!

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First, string your rusty mason jar lids on a piece of twine. Be sure they are all facing the same direction

Next, make your mason jar rings curve into a circle and place the stick in the center. Then move your rings around so that they form the circle shape of the pumpkin. Tie the twine in a few knots. Remove the stick. Move the rings around to where you like them.

Once you have your lids where you want them place a ring of hot glue around the base of your stick and place your stick back in the center of the lids.

Then cut a piece of your wire, fold it in half and use your pliers to twist the ends. Place some hot glue on the curved end of the wire and then stick it in where your stick is.

Turn your pumpkin upside down and add more hot glue around where the stick is. This will give it more stability.

Cut a circle out of either fabric or felt and glue it to the bottom. This will give it a more finished look.

Now you’re ready to display your perfectly rusty mason jar ring/lid pumpkin!

Check out the video tutorial below

Check out these other pumpkin themed crafts