Eat, Drink and Be Scary - Halloween Sign

I love when September rolls around!  Not only is it my birthday month (whoop, whoop!) but it's time to start thinking about decorating for Fall and Halloween.  Last year, I started making Halloween signs and received such positive feedback that I decided to do it again this year!

Today, I want to share how I made this sign...

Cute, right?  It all started out with a sheet of bead board from Lowe's.  I had them cut me three 12x12 squares - one for each of my frames that I had on hand at home.

Then I layered my paint.  I started with two coats of orange paint, then dry brushed with white and finally finished up with a semi-dry brush of a deeper orange.  I love the look of layered paint.

Then it was time to transfer my design.  I spread yellow chalk on the back of my printout, flipped it over to lay the chalk side down and traced over each letter with a pencil.

See the yellow chalk outline?  I then used a pencil to trace over the chalk.  Once I had each letter in pencil, I wiped away all the chalk.  Now I was ready to paint!

I have to apologize because I didn't capture any pics of the type of paint I used or the brush, but any acrylic paint will do.  As for the brush, I used a small liner brush.  Once I had each letter filled in, I gave the whole thing a quick sanding.

The last step is to add your finished piece to a frame and enjoy!  Perfect! :)

This is the only part of my house currently decorated, but I have big plans to take out the rest of my decor tonight - after all, Fall is officially a couple days away!

-Ashley

DIY Fall Wreath

I have been wanting to try my hand at wreath making for quite some time and during my recent trip to Hobby Lobby, I loaded up on all the materials I would need.  After making just one, I realized what an addicting project this is!  It is the perfect creative outlet where the options are endless and each one turns out a bit different.  I enjoyed it so much that I want to head right back to the store to pick up more materials and do it all over again!  But before I jump back in the car, I'll share with you how my first wreath turned out.

Isn't she cute!?  It all started with this.

A 14" straw wreath, some garden wire, two types of burlap and a bunch of florals.  I started by wrapping the straw wreath with burlap.  When it was fully covered, I glued the end piece in place.  I suggest trying to put the final piece in a place that will eventually be covered.  This helps to give your wreath a seamless look.  Mine is underneath the bow!  :)

Next was the bow.  I started with a short piece of the orange burlap that I folded over half way, glued in place and did the same with the other side.

Then I pinched right down the middle and secured the shape first with glue, then with garden wire.

For the tail of the bow, I folded a longer piece of the orange burlap in half.  I then folded one side over the other.

I actually gave it one more fold in order to get the tails to open in opposite directions.  I then secured it to the wreath.

And finally, I wrapped a small strip of burlap around the garden wire.  I love how it turned out!

Then came the most creative part for me - placing and securing all the floral pieces into one bunch.  I only snapped one pic because once I got in the groove, I totally lost track of the camera. :)

And there you have it! My new Fall wreath!  I decided to keep this one for indoors since during staging it found a pretty good home and I can't stand moving it. :)

Gotta love Fall!
-Ashley