Homemade Fall Decor

I love fall, I love trees, and I love quick, cheap projects.  You can buy these place mats at Ikea for 4.99/4 mats.  I just colored in the leaves using Sharpies and Sharpie highlighters (I liked the highlighter affect more than the markers).  I have one pinned up in my work cubicle and the rest in my living room.

When it is raining and the husband is studying....

In case you weren't aware, it tends to rain in Portland, and while we didn't experience this until this month, we are quickly realizing that this is a true fact.  I happen to like rain, a lot, especially when I can be home when it is raining and not have anything I have to get done or do.  Today consisted of cleaning, and once everything was nice and clean?  I started on projects creating lots of messes.  One of them was this banner/garland that I am in love with.  While enjoying Karate Kid III, I cut, pieced together, and sewed something fun and cute, for now it will be a cheery decoration for my cubicle at work.  Now I get to clean all over again.  Yippee!

Piglet

When I was growing up my mom would always call us piglets when we had made a mess.  This was not necessarily a term of endearment, but rather one of exasperation.  This expression would come from projects being left out, socks left in the living room, dishes left in the sink after a cooking experiment etc.  This week I have been a 100 billion percent piglet.  The key part of being a piglet is that you don't really notice what you have done, you make your messes and over time they build up into what could be referred to as a pig sty. My projects that have culminated into such a mess include:

• Assembling my new bike
• Creating an amazing card for Erin's graduation
• Experimental enchiladas
• Primary lesson
• Remnants from our trip
• Redoing my Summer blocks
• To do pile

I am not proud of this mess, but the first step in piglet recovery is to observe the individual projects on a whole and come to the conclusion that it is indeed a mess.  Now I am trying to wrap everything up as quick as I can to get this mess out of sight so that full remission can be obtained. In the mean time: I am a piglet.

Silver and Gold

I love decorating for fall and Christmas. All of our decorations are up and we are ready for the holidays. I had to relight our Christmas tree this year, it took forever and I have a bazillion tiny scratches all over my fingers, hands, and arms, but I would say it was worth it.

Christmas Craftiness

Tara and I got crafty today and made some blocks for Christmas. She made super cute presents and I made the Grinch. It has been a very long time since we have done anything and it was fun to finish a project together. The foot print happens to be in a pile of rogue glitter that escaped the container as Tara bedazzled her presents, everything was quite sparkly by the time we were done, but the finished products are very cute.

Of Witches and Pumpkins

There is a contest at work where they provided little pumpkins for each staff member to decorate. The completed pumpkins will be put throughout the clinic for staff and patients to vote on. The pumpkin pictured is my final product minus the bow since it was drying at the time. I used four pieces of scrapbook paper, tore it to small pieces and modge podged both sides of the paper pieces as I put them on the pumpkin. I painted the whole thing black first so that small gaps don't show. I then glittered the stem.

Wicked has been on my to do list for quite some time and it is now finished minus the witch hat that I am still waiting for inspiration and ideas on. I LOVE Wood Connection and Wood Creations, they are wood shops in West Haven and Salt Lake City that sell "raw" blocks like the ones below to be decorated. The Wicked cost around $10.00.

Summertime