A Little Fall in a Light Bulb

Necessity breeds Creativity.  I have heard it over and over.  Now, I am putting this challenge out to myself.  Due to our financial status - out of necessity, I am hoping that creativity is born.

For the next month, I will only be doing projects in which I have all the supplies for.  I plan on depleting my stash of fabric, spray paint, drop cloths, lamps, and acrylic paint.  I plan on finishing painting rooms that I have been putting off and using trash to make some treasures (hopefully).  I am giving myself a $10 allowance because that is what I have in gift cards. 

I'm sure you didn't need to know all of that, but I wanted to challenge you to not go spend money on supplies for projects if you don't have it to spend.  Seems like a Duh, but for me sometimes it's hard to distinguish between a need and a want.  Use what you have to create a similar project instead.

My first project came from the trash and my back yard (don't click away just yet!)  I saw these beautiful little vases on pinterest made out of lightbulbs.

via Pinterest

I found a great tutorial on how to hollow out a lightbulb here.  Once I hollowed it out I used gorilla glue to glue a round washer on the bottom so it would have a flat surface.

I went outside and found an acorn that was still stuck to it's stick and painted it silver (I promise I'll stop painting acorns soon :) 

Just for fun, I focused my camera on the reflection in the bulb rather than on the bulb itself.  You can see my neighbors house perfectly upside down if you look carefully :o)

It's a fun little versatile piece that will change with the seasons.  I have some super fun ideas for these babies at christmas time!  

Love ya!

Katie

Linking Here:

Tatertots and Jello

Be Different, Act Normal

One Artsy Mama

Flamingo Toes

Under The Table and Dreaming

I Heart Naptime

Confessions of a Stay at Home Mommy

Skip to my Lou

Between Naps on the Porch

Craft-O-Maniac

Not Just a Houswife

Tip Junkie

DIY by Design

House of Hepworths

Yesterday on Tuesday

Release Me Create

The Gingerbread Blog

Dittle Dattle

Fall is in the Air.

It seems like it would get easier to decorate a mantel when you move from a house with 3 mantels, to a house with 1.  But it didn't.  I have had such a difficult time decorating this mantel since we moved in.  I think it has something to do with the big black box in the middle of it.  Stupid T.V. ....

BUT ANYWAY.... I came up with a cheap and easy fall mantel this year and I couldn't be happier with it.

I started on the left side with an old window sash I got from a yard sale for a buck.  It's rustic charm is gorgeous.  I created a little fall pennant out of scrapbook paper and hot glued pennies on the back so it would hang nicely.

I got the candleholder on the left from goodwill for $1.50 and replaced the candle with a little pumpkin that came from the produce section at Wal-Mart.  Some Painted Acorns went into a wine carafe and a stick from the backyard gave it a little more pazzaz.

I used some really old books to hold up my favorite ceramic blue bird (well, I guess it's my only ceramic blue bird which makes it my favorite by default :)

On the other side of the giant box, I put my Pumpkin Acorn Wall Art along with my Family Sign that I made from an old cabinet door.  I used a method similar to the one I used to put the graphic on My Little Blue French Desk.

This little pitcher was $2 at goodwill and the pumpkins came from that same Wal-Mart bag (isn't the color on them great?  The berries came from an overgrown bush in my front yard.

The candle is a necessity this time of year.  I love to have a yummy smelling candle burning while the windows are open and the breeze is blowing.  I also included some silver painted acorns in a mason jar.

While the t.v. is a hindrance, it makes a good frame for my watermark.  I'll probably keep tweaking until it's time to take it down and put my christmas mantel up :)

This is what it looks like most of the time if I'm gonna be honest with you.  Caillou is bound to be a part of every mantel in this house!

And in honor of my new lens.  I created this :)

This was the first picture I took with my new AF-S 50mm 1:1.4G lens!!

I decided to link this last picture up with the weekly photography challenge at A Step in the Journey

The challenge this week just happens to be bokeh (blur) which this picture works perfectly for. 

Excited to link up to my first photography linky!

I still have some practicing to do because it's a big change, but some photography posts are bound to be coming soon :-D

Love,

Katie

Linky Party Love:

A Crafty Soiree at Yesterday on Tuesday

A Step in the Journey

Hookin Up with HoH at House of Hepworths

Fireflies and Jellybeans

DIY by Design

Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Show Me What Ya Got with Not Just a Housewife

Home Sweet Butterfly

Pumpkin Acorn Lineup

When nature gives you something beautiful for free, I intend on using it for every possible project that I can.

Nature has indeed given us something beautiful this season.  Acorns, Acorns, Acorns.  They are beautiful little things with amazing details.  And each one is unique.

My first acorn project, the turquoise acorns, have been followed up by yet another pinterest project.

via pinterest

I fell in love with these little bitty pumpkins.  Aren't they adorable?!  I knew I had to try them with my massive abundance of acorns laying in the yard.  And while this website suggests doing it with your kids, the idea of giving my 3 year old a permanent marker didn't sit well in my stomach.

Here is my version of the pumpkins above :o)  

This was an incredibly easy project.  And one that I would definitely do with my kids if they were about 2 years older!

I started with an old picture that I got from my grandmothers attic (the same time I got my new Hope Chest!)

Man the sun is harsh in my backyard around 3 o clock.

I took out the back and covered it with a little burlap using hot glue (I would have used spray adhesive, but I couldn't find it!)

I used some black spray paint to cover the frame and 5 paint stirrers.  I am aware that there are 6 there... I promise I can count!

Next I laid out the acorns and sprayed them with a can of pumpkin orange spray paint. (perfect color choice, huh?)

TIP~  When you are laying them out and taking 30 minutes to balance them all perfectly on the top, make sure you don't do it under the tree that they all fell from.  More will fall and knock all of them over and you will have to start all over.

When they were dry I used a black sharpie and got creative on my faces :o)  I then glued them in rows onto the paint sticks.

The reason I have no pictures of the next part was because it took some trial and error and lots of hot glue to figure this out.  I ended up making "shelf supports" out of toilet paper roll slivers and colored them with the sharpie to match the paint stick.  I also hot glued the back of the sticks to the burlap.  It's pretty strong, believe it or not!  

I glued the back onto the frame and ended up with this.  Isn't it fun!?

 

Of course, every time I look at it...  this is what I imagine is going on.

I know this totally overlaps the sides which is tacky, but otherwise it wouldn't have made any sense :o)

I put it on my fall mantel (which I have yet to show you completed.) You can see the completed mantel here!

I am havin' some serious fun with all these acorns!

What do you have in your yard that you can decorate with?

Linky Love:

Think Pink Sundays at Flamingo Toes

Sunday Showcase Party with Under the Table and Dreaming

Metamorphosis Mondays with Between Naps on the Porch

Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative

Made by You Mondays at Skip to My Lou

Market Yourself Mondays by Sumos Sweet Stuff

Tuesday Confessional Link Party at Confessions of a Stay at Home Mommy

Show Me What ya Got at Not Just a Housewife

What I Made Wednesday at Sweet Peas and Bumblebees

A Crafty Soiree at Yesterday on Tuesday

Hookin'Up with HoH at House of Hempworths

Show Your Stuff Party at Fireflies and JellyBeans

Fingerprints on the Fridge

Who says Turquoise isn't a fall color?

With a new house comes lots of new discoveries, including what happens around your new yard at different times of the year.  What flowers will pop up?  What animals will pop out with each season?  

I guess I should have expected that we would have acorns in the fall, we are surrounded by 6 gigantic oak trees.  I never thought we would have this many.  They are everywhere.  But I never knew how relaxing it would be to sit in the stillness of a quiet house at naptime with the windows open listening to the acorns hit the roof and roll down.  It's amazing.

Anywho... I decided to go for a little different color in my fall decor this year.  I wanted to make turquoise work as a fall color.  Maybe other people have tried it, but I just always think of yellows, oranges, reds, and browns as the only fall colors.  

I found a picture on pinterest that I figured was worth a shot considering my overwhelming number of acorns. 

I went outside and picked some acorns (not all of them were whole, but a glue gun can fix that :)  and painted them with some turquoise paint.  I sealed them with a little gloss poly and they are SO CUTE!  I filled a couple of glass jars and placed them around the house. 

I love how the brown and turquoise work together so well!

One place I used them was in my fall tablescape.

They will be used in lots more places during the fall season.  Keep an eye out for them!

Make sure to check out my other acorn project

Pumpkin Acorn Lineup

Partying Here:

The Shabby Nest

Think Pink Sundays at Flamingo Toes

Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative

Made by You Mondays at Skip to my Lou

Tuesday Confessional at Confessions of a Stay at Home Mommy

Turquoise Lovin at Sweet Little Gals