We've Been Boozed!

Very excited to find this on my doorstep this morning. 

It's a pumpkin full of treats. The best treat is a bottle of cabernet sauvignon.

                 

We've Been Boozed! Who did it?!! I NEED to know! Is this not hilarious? 

                     

Even the wine is Halloween themed. Handsome Devil-ha! 

I've been BOOed before, but never BOOZED. I love it!! Love my neighbors!

Seriously, who was it?

Wire Mesh Frame and Fall Memory Banner

Finally, I decided how I wanted to repurpose this frame that I found at Goodwill a year ago. It had no glass, so I either wanted it to hang in my craft room as a pegboard to hold tools or use it with wire mesh to hold photos or bows in my daughter's room.

Turns out, I hung it in my craft room to display memory banners. Like this one.  This one says "fall in love" so it can be used to decorate for Thanksgiving or for the entire fall season. It is for sale in my etsy store.

If you find a big frame with no glass, snap it up! You can do so much with these! To make this one, you can follow the steps below.

To get started you will need:

frame

wire mesh

wire snips

staple gun

staples

paint

work gloves

First, use the wire snips to cut the mesh to fit your frame. Make sure you wear gloves. This stuff is sharp and needlelike.

                              

See? Doesn't look like much, but it was deep. I had to get a Tetanus shot. Trust me. Wear gloves and be careful.

Once you have it cut to fit, use the staple gun to staple the wire mesh to the back of the frame. Paint your frame and you are done! I used a sample of paint from Lowe's. I had several coupons for free samples from my magazine subscriptions. The samples are only 2 or 3 dollars, but have more than enough paint for a project like this. And they will mix any color for you. 

           

My sister made this one to hang her daughter's clippy bows. I like how she attached little metal buckets along the bottom to contain all of the tiny little barrettes and elastics so they are all in one place.

          

I am so glad I finally finished this project! I love it!

           

Read more at http://www.uncommondesignsonline.com/11-last-minute-halloween-ideas-monday-funday/#5OoAQevhAKqsZwT2.99

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Repurposed Hooks

I've had this kitchen utensil hanger for years. Like 14 years.

I've carried it from house to house every time I moved.

I use the spoons and fork. I've even used the whisk to make the expensive gluten free waffles that require whipped egg whites that my daughter wanted even though she can eat wheat because does not have celiac disease. I truly feel for people and the lengths they have to go to avoid gluten.

But, I have never used the hooks. I did not want to drill holes into any backsplash, so this never got hung. Until now. 

This is the mess we dealt with trying to find a belt. And in the morning rush, most of them got left on the floor.

I spray painted the hooks purple because I had purple paint. I know I could've dressed it up more with a cute plaque behind it or something, but it is in a smallish closet so I didn't want it to stick out too much from the wall.

 Now, with more hooks, it is much easier to find a belt in the morning. No more mess on the floor. Well, no more belts on the floor. We'll tackle shoes another day.

Headbands live on the flower hooks now. 

I knew I kept this hook thingy all these years for a reason!

Canton Loot

I recently went with friends to the flea market in Canton, TX and came back with some pretty good loot.

The best score? An old sled. Because if you are from Louisiana, you just don't find sleds. It doesn't snow much here. But a lady from Connecticut had these and I'm excited to use this for my front door Christmas decor. 

My friend found this candle sconce and asked the booth owner how much it was and I thought he said $110 so obviously I said no thanks. Turns out, it was ten dollars. It's going in my craft room.

Love this guy. It's a snowflake made from a tin ceiling tile. Paid way too much for this one, though. I know because at a different store it was $10 cheaper. Doh! That is not a mistake I make very often.

Actually, this frame came from Goodwill, but I snuck it in here. This recently received a makeover, so stay tuned for that. *You can see that here.

This little brassy shelf is bent and rusty, but it was only $3 and a girl can never have enough shelves. Am I right? You know I am. I will probably spray paint it. Not sure what color.

I have absolutely no idea what I am going to do with these metal basket tray thingys, but it's going to be awesome.

Brass is all the rage right now, so I couldn't leave this basket in the booth. Click here to see what I did with it.

Alas, this one really didn't come home with me. Pooh. And it wasn't even at Canton. It's in a local antique shop. And to be honest, I'm not positive it is even old. I'm suspicious. It may just look old. BUT, I love it!!! I love all the cubbies. I love the numbers. I love the chippy paint. And I really want to take this piece of furniture home. But it is pretty yellowy which is not the right color for my other stuff. But I am willing to change everything else.

Annnd these are the friends I rode with. Annnd we ran out of gas on the way. Yes we did. Coasted downhill, then walked uphill to the gas station, bought a gas can and left it there so we didn't all get high from the gas smell.

Note to self: Don't listen to the girl in the back who wants to wait for the good gas station with the Sonic inside so she can get fruit water. Just stop when the Empty light comes on. Definitely when the alarm goes off. 

I can't wait to go back to Canton! With gas.

Skull and Crossbones String Art

                     I really wish I could say this was all my idea, but of course it isn't. 

              

                  I'm sure you've seen string art all over Pinterest, but not this cute, right? 

         

I LOVE it! It was pretty easy, but it sure did take a long time to create. The best part? It cost six bucks!! I know, right?! String $3. Nails $3. The wood came from the construction site across the street. (The builder said I could have scraps.) I already had paint because my husband came home with a whole gallon of orange paint because "it was only $7." Now I know what to do with it. 

In case you haven't seen a tutorial, here is what I did to create this bad boy. First, I  searched skull and crossbones, found one that I liked, and resized it (right click) by trial and error until it fit my board. I printed each piece on a separate page to get it bigger. 

Then, I painted orange and white stripes with Frog Tape. I had absolutely no idea what to do with a whole gallon of orange oops paint until I realized it is the perfect pumpkin orange. (Oops paint is the paint people have mixed at the store and then leave it because they don't like it or got satin when they wanted flat, etc. So they sell it really cheap. They have pretty decent colors sometimes. Maybe I shouldn't give that secret away.) 

Next, lay the picture where you want it and nail all around it with small nails. Make sure to put a nail anywhere the edge changes direction. 

                      

That part takes awhile with a picture like this one. When you are done nailing, pull out the paper carefully. 

                        

Now you are ready for string-the fun part!

                           

Tie a knot around a nail and trim excess string. I went around my design first to define the edges then started zig zagging from nail to nail. The key is to keep your string taut! Seriously. Do not let go once you start. It doesn't end well. 

Totally worth the time and effort!

Linked up at chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com and tatertotsandjello.com and ourroseylife.com.

Chore Chart

Around here it is pretty hard to get little people (or big people, for that matter) to do chores. Especially without complaining. 

              

After searching through heaps of chore chart ideas, I finally decided to go with the "work for hire" idea. There are some chores that just need to be done because you live here and you are part of this family. Like putting clothes in the hamper, not on the floor and walking the dog and picking up toys. I don't want to raise a child who grows up to be a dissatisfied adult because life doesn't hand her everything she wants. Also, this way I don't have to nag. Visible cash is a pretty good motivator.

                                                                

Myloveforwords.com had a good list of chores and prices that I got some ideas from. I used a receipt holder to clip chore tags and cash. The chore tags were decorated with a Cosmo Cricket scrapbooking kit that had tons of little letters. I also use my mini alpha stamps again.

Help enforcing chores:

• Don't expect perfection. This one is hard for me. I believe if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right correctly. See what I mean?? I have a hard time not correcting people.
• Give praise for good work. 
• Be consistent. Even if you are tired. I promise it is less work in the long run to make sure your child follows through.

Maybe now my house will stay clean so that when someone stops by and wants to see my craft room I can say yes, of course, and not have to cringe at every dirty sock and ding dong wrapper on the floor.

Linked up at chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com.

Halloween Teacher Gift

The teachers are getting small tokens of appreciation for Halloween. I was a teacher, so I know how unexpected gifts made my whole day and frankly, helped me survive. Anyone who talks smack about teachers should have to sub. That's all I'm saying. 

               

***OH. MY. GOODNESS. I just drove by a sign that says we are getting Hobby Lobby five minutes from my house!!! No, I am not blogging and driving. I am waiting on my daughter to get out of gymnastics class.****

Guest towels are a gift I would have liked. There are so many cute ones out there and I love letting my guests use paper towels instead of sharing a hand towel. Why, oh why didn't I buy myself a package of these?? I might have to go back and get some from Marshall's.

                 

I made the tags with leftover cardboard packaging. (No, I am not a hoarder. If it doesn't fit in the one drawer, I don't keep it. It's amazing how often I use this stuff. The thin cardboard is perfect for tags and embellishments.)

                 

I stamped the back instead of writing with pen, because the stripes were embossed and shiny, so ink would run.

                

Staz-on ink is perfect for surfaces where ink would run. It goes on dark and stays on. 

 I purchased this ink pad myself. I am recommending it because I truly do like it, but if you click the link and buy some, I do get paid a small amount.

                

The tiny alphabet stamps can be found in dollar bins at Michael's. Love these!!

If you give a Halloween gift to your teacher, she will love it. I promise!

Linked up at http://www.creatingreallyawesomefreethings.com/ and dolendiaries.com.