Fall Porch

I have a confession to make.

Other than setting out a few pumpkins, I have never really decorated my front porch.

That’s a terrible thing for a blogger to say, isn’t it?

Well, that all changed this year (sort of).

A group of ladies came to see my house on a mini-“Parade of Homes” tour this week, and of course that sent me into a decorating tizzy.

Let’s just say I spent way too much money on pumpkins (that wouldn’t have happened if all my pumpkin plants hadn’t up and died on me this year).

The good thing is that my orange front door is right for the season!

I bought some new flowers for the one lonely flower pot.  The ones I bought in the spring were all dead.  I guess that happens when no one remembers to water them… (Yes, that’s a bike helmet in the background.  My apologies.)

I made my own version of this now-famous sign from Ella Claire.  I used different words (dessert, anyone??) and different fonts, but the idea came from her!

I nestled my sign, some grass clippings from my yard (the decorative kind…I really don’t let the lawn get that tall), and some pumpkins and gourds (the butternut squash and the acorn squash DID survive, despite their lack of water) along with some faux leaves in a cool old wooden box that I never know what to do with (usually it sits in a corner of my bedroom).

See what I mean about spending too much money on pumpkins?

Come on over for a visit!  I might even make some donuts!

This project featured at From My Front Porch to Yours 

and the All-Star Block Party.

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Linking up here:

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
	The CSI Project
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off Stone Gable
Beyond the Picket Fence	Someday Crafts
Knick of Time Mod Vintage Life	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Common Ground	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	All Star Block Party A Little Knick Knack
Cowgirl Up! The Graphics Fairy	{aka} design Coastal Charm

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Flea Market Canvas

I have been keeping a secret from you.

In addition to working on my front-room-to-office transformation (you can see the latest installment of that here), I have also been working on a major living room redecorating project!  I never know if I’m “supposed” to show it off in bits and pieces or with a major reveal…so forgive me if I’m not doing it right!

So while it may be a bit backward, I’m going to show off the most recent project for the living room first!

I fell in love with these vintage-y canvases from Mandy Lynne when I saw them at an upscale furniture store.

There are posters available through her Etsy shop for about $65/each (canvases are considerably more expensive), but that was both out of my price range and not the look I was really after.

So I spent a lot of time scheming how to “knock-off” her work.  I created a whole Silhouette design, but the thought of the layers of stenciling I would have to do to recreate the color scheme intimidated me more than a little.

Then I had the great idea of using the overhead projector, like I have on so many coffee tables, but on the night I wanted to do it—I found that I couldn’t get the image to be the right size for the canvas I had prepared.

So…I took a leap and just started sketching.  And to my great great great surprise…it wasn’t all that bad!  My layout differs slightly…it changed as I filled up spaces too quickly 

In fact, it was good enough that I took the next leap…painting!   I was able to choose colors that complemented my home better than the gray of the original.

Here’s how they look side-by-side!

I won’t lie to you…I’m super excited with how this turned out!  It’s my first EVER real painting!  (We’re not counting furniture!) 

I hung it on the living room wall today, and I’m not embarrassed to have it there…I think!

I’m proud at myself for attempting something so new and different.  I have a mother and a sister who are incredible artists, so trying anything remotely like painting or drawing has been very intimidating for me. 

But at least I can say now…I tried!

Updated to add:  Yes, I had to make the Farmers Market Canvas as well!  You can see it here.

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This project has been featured at Elizabeth & Co., DIY Showoff, and Knick of Time Interiors. 

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Linking up here:

Funky Junk’s One Scary Thing Challenge

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
Sisters of the Wild West	No Minimalist Here’s Open House Thursday
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Beyond the Picket Fence	Someday Crafts
Daisy Cottage Designs	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Simply Klassic Sundays	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	It’s So Very Cheri
Cowgirl Up!	{aka} design

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Chippy Enamel Flower Bucket

After making the faux enameled stencils, I wanted to try enamel-i-fying something else, just for fun!

I came across this cute little metal bucket at Target for $2.50, and it had to come home with me.

I primed it, and then painted it with Rustoleum spray paint in gloss white.

It took me the longest time to decide how to embellish my little bucket.  I turned to my French typography inspiration board, and this image from The Graphics Fairy caught my eye:

(click on the image to be taken to the source)

I saved the image to my computer, and then uploaded it into my Silhouette software.  After some manipulations, I was able to cut out the words in vinyl.

I applied the vinyl directly to my bucket…

…and then I used acrylic paint to randomly paint on “chipped” areas on my “enamel” bucket.  I sprayed the whole thing with a protective coat in a glossy finish.

And now I have an old, chipped, enamel flower bucket!

I kept thinking of that old commercial that said something like: 

“Is it real?? Or is it…Clairol?”

What do you think?

Would it fool YOU?

Note:  The “green tree” sign project may be found here.

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Linking up here:

Coastal Charm’s Nifty Thrifty Tuesday	Elizabeth & Co.
Center of Attention Deficit Disorder	The Graphics Fairy
Someday Crafts	No Minimalist Here’s Open House Thursday
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Mod Vintage Life
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	Domestically Speaking
Beyond the Picket Fence’s Under $100 Party	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Simply Klassic Sundays	My Repurposed Life
Thrifty Décor Chick	It’s So Very Cheri
Common Ground	{aka} design

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Please leave your boots at the door

This is unusual for me.  I am not normally a door-décor person.  I have a wreath for fall and a wreath for Christmas, but I don’t normally have anything up at any other time of the year.

Until now…

Some people put ice skates on their door at Christmas time—so I though, “Why not rain boots for Spring?”

I went on the hunt for some child’s rain boots, and I came up with these at a thrift store:

I liked the $4 price tag, but I didn’t think purple was the look I wanted with my orange front door!  Someone else may be able to pull it off.  Not me!

So I taped off the sole of the boots……

…and sprayed on Rustoleum "Summer Squash.”

Note:  I foolishly did not prime the boots first—and I should have.  The paint dried, but remained VERY sticky.  Like gum-on-your-shoe sticky.  Or jam-on-a-toddler’s-hands sticky.  Ugh.  Thankfully a couple of coats of Rustoleum clear coat (leftover from the faux enameled stencils) greatly reduced the sticky factor.  Now they’re only Post-It Note sticky.  Hopefully not Venus Fly-Trap sticky, since they’re hanging outside!

I spent $15 on some silk flowers at Michael’s, and $1 for a cool paper ribbon at Ben Franklin.

How did I attach the ribbon, you ask?? Staples!

Staples and duct tape.  Where would we be without them??

And that’s my version of a spring “wreath” for about $20.

I think the yellow was a much better choice than the purple, don’t you?

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This project has been featured at From My Front Porch to Yours.

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Linking up here:

Coastal Charm’s Nifty Thrifty Tuesday	Elizabeth & Co.
Domestically Speaking’s Countdown to Spring	Mod Vintage Life
Censational Girl	No Minimalist Here’s Open House Thursday
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Thrifty Décor Chick
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Beyond the Picket Fence’s Under $100 Party	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Simply Klassic Sundays	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	It’s So Very Cheri
Common Ground	{aka} design

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Faux Enameled Stencils

My guess is that upon reading the title of this post, most people will be thinking: “????”

Well, it was an experiment—and the jury is still out as to whether is was a “success” or a fail.  I’ll let you be the judge!

Here’s the deal.

Last August the lovely and talented Suzanne of Meridian Road posted a tutorial showing how she made these cute little faux enameled tags.

I loved ’em.  With a deep and abiding love.  I love the cute little number 5 above the mostest, because she actually sent it to ME!  It has a place of honor on my suitcase shelves.

So when I came across these cute little chipboard stencils at Ben Franklin (39 cents each!), I decided to give her technique a try.

First I used my 3-hole punch to…well, punch holes…in the corners.  I briefly considered using my drill, but cooler heads prevailed.

Next I gave everything a coat of Rustoleum Primer, followed by gloss white paint.  Would you believe I didn’t have gloss white paint in my stash?  I had to go paint shopping!  It’s one of my very favorite things to do. Thanks, Suzanne.

Next step…no pictures.  Whoops.  I used plain old black acrylic paint to simulate chippiness (is that a word?) on my little stencils.  Then I had to get creative to figure out how to attach the center of the “p” and the “g”—so I broke out the toothpicks and hot glue!

“Mother (that’s me) is the necessity of invention.”  …or something like that.

Last everything got a coat of Rustoleum clear gloss topcoat.  That’s when the magic happened—suddenly, they started to look like chippy enameled stencils (now you see where I got the title of this post). 

Some of it crackled a little…see?

I love that!

      **Here lies the problem.**

Have you ever made a project you liked, but couldn’t figure out where or how to display it?  You HAVEN’T?  Could you fib a little and tell me you have?

I tried it on the buffet.  UGH!   As in UGH-ly!

Then on the stair railing…maybe.

…draped on an old door…

…or draped across an empty frame.

That’ll do.

If, in your mind, you added, “Pig” after the previous sentence, please stop and give me a virtual high-five.

I think it works well on my “wall of frames!”

If you think you’d like to make your own faux enameled something-or-other, trust me when I say…visit Meridian Road!

Where would you hang it??

 

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Linking up here:

Coastal Charm’s Nifty Thrifty Tuesday	Elizabeth & Co.
Domestically Speaking’s Countdown to Spring	My Repurposed Life
Censational Girl
The CSI Project	No Minimalist Here’s Open House Thursday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Beyond the Picket Fence’s Under $100 Party	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
From My Front Porch to Yours	{Primp}

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Love Makes the World Go Round

I just barely got around to showing my post-Christmas buffet, but now it’s been changed up for Valentine’s Day!
The jumping-off point for me was when I found an out-of-date globe at the thrift store. I painted it with chalkboard spray paint, and wrote “Love makes the world go round” on it. I wish I was one of those people who had beautiful handwriting (especially on a chalkboard)—but alas, it is not one of my gifts!
I covered five balls with strips of maps cut out of an old atlas I found at a garage sale. They make interesting little globes, as long as you don’t expect them to be geographically accurate!

Using my Silhouette, I cut out a bunch of hearts from the same old atlas, and sewed them together to make a banner.


Other map hearts were sewn together in pairs, then folded to make a 3D “ornament” for my twigs leftover from the funky twiggy garland I made for Christmas.

My other globe got to join the display, with a few more map spheres.

I tried to go along with the ‘theme” by writing, “The best place to be is wherever YOU are” for my family. Quite frankly, I don’t think they ‘got’ it!

So I have to ask…do you ‘get’ the theme?

Maybe it only makes sense in MY head!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Linking up here:

Coastal Charm’s Nifty Thrifty Tuesday	It’s So Very Cheri
Common Ground	My Repurposed Life
Hookin’ Up with House of Hepworths	{Primp}
Elizabeth & Co.	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	DIY Show Off
Primitive & Proper	A Simply Klassic Home
Beyond the Picket Fence’s Under $100 Party

[ Read More ]