Revisited: Beadboard Garland for Fall

Here’s one of last fall’s projects—I thought I’d pull it out again for this year!

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I love the look of beadboard, and I’ve been using it for signs for months now (you can see some here), …but I also love the look of pennant banners, so I thought, “How about a beadboard pennant banner?”

Why not?

The first step is to draw out your pennants. There is no magic formula here, just do whatever looks good to you. My pennants are 7” long, and 5” wide at the top. I marked the top and bottom at 5” intervals, except I started the markings on the bottom after coming in 2.5” (because that’s half of 5). Then I just had to connect the dots!

Once my lines were all drawn, I used a table saw to cut along the lines. Note: You could also use a jigsaw if you don’t have a table saw!

Once you get the first piece off, you can use a fence to cut your parallelograms easily…


…but that’s not going to help when it’s time to cut the triangles off!

I ended up with ten little triangles. Rather than drill each triangle separately, I stacked them and clamped them together. Then I could drill five at once! This is a great time saver.

I base-coated all my triangles with Rustoleum Heirloom White spraypaint, but then I decided to get further color inspiration from candy corn! I used acrylic craft paint, and didn’t even worry about getting lines perfect or anything. Have you ever seen a perfect candy corn?? Another Note: OK, so now I know that candy corns are actually yellow-orange-white and not orange-yellow-white. Sorry! I don’t actually eat them! Bleah.

I used black acrylic paint to stencil on letters…

…and the next day I distressed and glazed all my little pennants.

I tied the pieces together with twine, and anxiously hung my banner on my buffet so I could admire my handiwork!

Whoops!

***blush***

Oh, that’s much better!

I like the little-bit-faded look the pennants have.

No tricks for me….just treats, please!

Want some other ideas for an Autumn banner? Well, how about a banner that just says “autumn”? The one below was actually the first one I made. For this one, I use vinyl as a “reverse stencil,” and sprayed the pennants with Rustoleum Summer Squash paint. You may notice that these triangles are all equilateral, so you can make any size/shape triangles you like!

This particular banner now lives on my sister’s buffet!
I like this little “fall” banner with the different fonts for each letter.

The possibilities are endless! What would you put on a banner?

(and if you don’t want to make your own…contact me through my Etsy shop and I’ll make one for you!)

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This project has been featured at Elizabeth & Co.

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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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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

[ Read More ]

Autumn Buffet & Goose Creek Candle Giveaway!

The days are getting shorter and thankfully—a little cooler as well!  This weekend I decide it was time to add a few autumn touches to my home, starting with my beloved buffet.

The timing was perfect because I recently received a candle from Goose Creek Candle Company to try, and I chose the “Apples & Spice” scent.  Naturally we had to light it up immediately…and it made me long for fall even more!  In my home, we eschew apple pie in favor of homemade apple pizza (it’s divine)…and it smells just like it!  My children sniffed the kitchen hopefully, and were admittedly a little disappointed when they found that the aroma was coming from a candle and not dessert!

The pretty glass jar and deep red color fits in beautifully with my other fall decorations. 

I love the fact that the jar is so understated, without a big clunky label.  It looks pretty lit or unlit!

I am highly sensitive to many perfumes, but I am happy to report that this scented candle did not bother my nose at all!

I think scented candles make great gifts.  It’s one of those things that I rarely buy for myself, but always enjoy having around. 

Goose Creek Candle Co. has generously offered to send a 16 oz. American Heirloom jar candle to one of my readers.  To enter, simply peruse their selection of scented candles and then leave a comment here telling me which scent you’d like to try!  Giveaway will close Friday, September 21.

Please leave an e-mail if you even think you MIGHT be a “no-reply” blogger!

In addition, you can use coupon code 1050 for 25% off your entire purchase from their site through September 30.  Christmas is coming!  Wouldn’t these make great neighbor gifts?

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Imitation

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery"...I hope!

I saw this adorable candy corn at Chapman Place:

I have a candy-corn-loving sister, so I knew I had to try to make some for her. My version is considerably more "rustic" looking; obviously I haven't mastered the use of the jigsaw yet! But they still turned out pretty cute.

I hope she likes them!

The beadboard I had on hand from another project. The 2x6 board was from the cull bin at Home Depot. I had to buy three new colors of craft paint ($1/each), but the other stuff I had on hand!

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Ever Autumn

Remember the little summery pots I showed here? There are actually four, and they were 25 cents each at Target. I painted them, used my Cricut to cut numbers out of cardstock for them, and filled them with some fake boxwood greenery.

Well, after visiting Jhenna's blog, I decided they needed to change for the season!

I visited Dollar Tree and came home with three sprigs of fall leaves and some floral foam.



See how good I am at cutting the floral foam. Each piece fits perfectly! (not!)

I cut apart the leaves and divided them among the pots. I should have purchased at least one more, probably two sprigs. I gave up on filling the fourth pot! But I know where to get more leaves!
I think they turned out pretty cute!
This is definitely what my table needs. So much nicer that school papers, Harry Potter books, toys, lotions, etc. etc.!


I have mentioned before that my house is pretty much always Autumn-inspired! Here's a glimpse of what I mean!


My walls in my living room hold my favorite artwork...

...and it's all Autumn-related! The painting (above-left) was painted by my very talented older sister. I stole it out of my parents house about a dozen years ago. The preserved leaves on the right is one of my past Swiss Days purchases. (More about my love affair with Swiss Days here.)

This is my favorite set of leaves, and the first one I ever bought. The people who made these beautiful arrangements weren't at Swiss Days this year...I was so sad.

The leaf on the left is from the same people. On the right is a photograph (also a Swiss Days purchase), and the preserved leaves next to that were a Craigslist purchase that my sister-in-law re-matted and framed for me.

Hmm...now that I think about it, is my living room an Ode to Autumn?? Or an Ode to Swiss Days??

The gourds are from Swiss Days too!

Linking to the DIY Fall Festival.

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Fall Vignettes

"Vignettes." Isn't that just the most marvelous word? I don't think I've ever said it out loud...but it sounds good in my head. I feel very Anne-of-Green-Gables-ish when I say it.

Vignettes. Vignettes. Vignettes!



OK, I'm done now.

I have a shocking confession to make. I don't do Halloween. I don't do spooky. My kids can dress up and go trick-or-treating and all that, but I don't choose to decorate with skeletons or shrunken heads or disembodied hands. I'm quirky like that!



But I do love Fall with a deep and abiding passion! I already showed you some of my Fall favorites here and here. Here are the rest of my Fall favorites.

My bookshelf gets a little Autumn color on the top. I think that is because I finished these shelves last Fall, and they looked a little bare--so I splurged on some garland. It was a new thing for me to decorate for anything but Christmas...and now I CAN'T STOP!!





I showed these scales in a previous post. I sold the one in the case, and just kept the two I love. And yes, I know it's not Thanksgiving yet--but "Give Thanks" are surely words to live by in any season!

I had to go to Hobby Lobby to find some flowers to fill my little urn.





The candle holders are a new addition. The one on the right used to be white--it's now ORB. The one on the left used to be two candleholders (brown). I flipped one upside down and glued it to the other one, and now I have one TALL candleholder! (Or pumpkin holder, if you want to be persnickety about things.)





Here's my little entry table again. There are pinecones and a knitted pumpkin in the basket, and one more...





...yes, I jumped on the silver pumpkin bandwagon! Oh, Pottery Barn, how we love thee! I bought a few inexpensive foam pumpkins and Hobby Lobby, and sprayed them silver. Why are they so appealing? My theory is they make us feel Cinderella-ish!



Cinderella-ish?



Anne-of-Green-Gables-ish??



OK, I'm lousy at making up my own words! I'll go back to chanting Vignettes softly to myself...



Happy Fall, everyone!!







Linking up to the DIY Fall Festival!

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