A great idea

Kathleen Frances over at Grosgrain is embellishing knits everyday this month.

 Hey, that's my recycled rosette cardigan!

What a neat and flattering surprise it was to see my photo in her post. :)  

Click the button below to see my tutorial.

Sounds fun right?! I might have to participate too. :) Transforming cardigans was something of an obsession of mine. You know about the rosette cardigan, and this girls hooded jacket, but somehow I kept most of the others to myself & forgot to post them.  I will for sure be checking Kathleen's blog a lot this month. Keep checking back here for more of my embellished knits. :)

Super easy leaf garland tutorial

For a while I have been wishing I had a garland of some kind to hang on the mantle.  I thought of making one out of paper or fabric but I wasn't really loving those ideas.  Then a few days ago I realized a garland with leaves would be perfect.  With no money to spend on a real looking fake one I looked to the dollar store to see if I could get away with a cheap one.  But I was disappointed with the leaves the dollar store had.  Then my daughter brought an armful of maple leaves into the house to make fairy stuff and it hit me, I could make one with real leaves.  That sounds so stupid like I hadn't ever though of that, I did, but because real leaves are so fragile and easily torn I was stumped.  Then the inspiration came to use straws! It sounds strange but you'll see what I mean.

This is a great last minute project, I made it in about twenty minutes. It turned out so pretty and adds that final touch the mantle really needed. I love it! If it lasts long enough I think I'll leave it up till Thanksgiving. The tutorial is below. :)

Here is what you need:

• straws
• leaves
• string
• tape
• scissors

The steps are pictured bellow.

here is is again

1.  cut straws into 3/4 inch pieces
2. tape straws onto back of leaves
3. run a string through straws

I told you it was super easy! :) This might even work with hot glue instead of tape, that way you can get the straw as high as possible on the leaf so they hang more vertical. My leaves tilt forward a tiny bit, I am still very happy with the way it turned out.

With two Halloween parties to prep (one at church and one here) I will probably not be posting till after Halloween. Witch is sad because I wanted to have shared my kids' Halloween costumes by now. Oh well, I'll post them in November I guess. Have a safe and happy Halloween everyone! :)

Edit: Today my leaf garland is very sad looking.  All of my leaves have curled up from drying out.  I thought that being hug up would make them stay fairly flat but no such luck. Unless you make it the day of your party, you will probably want to press your leaves before making this garland.

Halloween decorations

Welcome! Come on in, have a sip of cider, and take a look around at this years Halloween decorations.

My Halloween banner in the entryway greets all guests. The feather wreath I purchased at Christmas time last year is a perfect touch. I say perfect because is is perfect for this spot and also because it was 50 cents.
 Notice the hand crocheted spiderweb and the accumulation of figurines.  I had no idea I had so many.  Good thing I have a nook with exactly five spots. :)

 

The pedestal bowl filled with pumpkins and gourds is a favorite of mine. The mantle was unfinished till I added that. The masked busts are ready for a spooky party to be sure. Black beads adorn the chandelier and a dollar store crow makes it its perch.

Lastly I share the haunted mansion that my super talented girlfriend created from cereal boxes and masking tape. What a treasure.  I am so lucky to have it.

 

 Happy Halloween!!