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

DIY Wall Art Collage - Clip Frames

Upstairs we have a big open space that we like to call the loft.  When we had Hudson, we gated off the majority of that area to give him a safe place to play.  And as Hudson grew and began coloring, drawing and painting, I wanted a place to display his artwork.  A quick search for inspiration on Pinterest led me to this post on Shanty2Chic.  I fell in love with the fabric and knew it'd be perfect for this project.  Here was my first crack at it...

 

However, I was never exactly happy with it.  So after sitting on it for months and months, I spent the labor day weekend shopping for a couple more frames and some spray paint to give that wall a little more color!  Before we get to the final reveal, let's walk through how I created each frame.  Here are the materials you'll need.

I went to Lowe's and bought a large sheet of plywood which I had cut down into 4 8x10's and 2 11x14's - one board for each of my frames.  I then cut the fabric to size, leaving about an extra inch all around.   Next up, a little staple gun action.

I then used my hot glue gun to secure each of the boards to the frame.  And finally, I finished it off with a large silver clip.

I repeated the same process for each of the frames.  The only difference was four of them received a quick paint job.  The coverage and finish of the Vaslpar spray paint I got at Lowe's was fantastic!

With all six of my frames ready to hang, I got out the blue tape.  I made a rough tape outline of each of the frames and designed my collage.  The blue tape also helps with knowing exactly where to put each nail.

And there you have it - complete with Hudson's latest masterpiece. :)

I LOVE how colorful the wall is now!  And it ties in perfectly to the colors already in the loft.  Hudson loves pointing out his artwork, saying "I made that!!".  Seeing him so proud makes me one happy mama.

-Ashley